• Babban Gona secures $7.5M BII funding for Nigerian farmers
• Investment to expand finance, training, and climate-resilient agriculture
• Goal to support 140,000 smallholders in northern Nigeria by 2029

Nigeria-based agricultural technology platform Babban Gona has received a $7.5 million investment from British International Investment (BII). The British development finance institution announced the funding Tuesday, September 2, 2025.

The investment is intended to support smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria, a region that produces more than half of the country's corn but is affected by food insecurity, a lack of funding, and extreme weather.

“This investment will help scale an innovative, tech-enabled model that empowers farmers with access to finance, training, and services, boosting yields and incomes while building climate resilience,” said Florence Eshalomi, a Member of Parliament and the UK’s trade envoy to Nigeria.

Babban Gona's model is centered on a franchise system for farmers. The highest-performing farmers are trained to create and manage their own agricultural micro-businesses, becoming key economic players in their communities. Babban Gona then helps structure their operations and facilitates their access to funding from local banks, bridging a structural financing gap.

The company's goal is to support up to 140,000 smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria by 2029, improving their yields, incomes, and ability to withstand climate shocks.

Kola Masha, CEO of Babban Gona, commented on the deal, stating, “The British government played an instrumental role in our story, becoming the first institutional investor in our 2013 public debt raise. Now, a little more than a decade later, to have British International Investment commit an amount 10x larger is a powerful testament to our shared vision for bettering the lives of smallholder farmers.”

In a country with significant agricultural potential like Nigeria, this type of investment not only helps stimulate local initiatives but also improves the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers. By extension, it strengthens the agricultural sector’s contribution to national economic growth. Agriculture currently accounts for about 22% of Nigeria’s GDP and employs nearly 38% of the workforce, making it a vital pillar of the country's development.

SG