MYC4 – Cyber Capital - Rob Gould - Uganda

27-09-2010

As we turn off the main road about an hour from Kampala, in Uganda some market stalls lined the road. Almost every one is bent under the weight of pineapples. People we pass on the road are carrying them. One man’s motorcycle labours under a mountain of the fruit. We are in pineapple country.

The Bwaziba farmers group, which is where we are headed, is a group of farmers producing certified organic pineapples for export to Europe. They are smallholders with each farming a hectare or two of land.

Their pineapples are in demand and if they could produce more, they would sell them. The problem is not a shortage of land – many of the farmers have as much land again but it remains unfarmed because of the costs of clearing it and planting it. "In this business, generally the whole tilling process takes money, from buying the suckers, to putting them in the ground all costs money, then tending the crop costs money and weeding costs money." Masembe Teopista says.

In the developed world, a small business with a clear case for expansion would get a loan from the bank. Here it’s not that easy. Banks demand collateral that these people simply don't have.

Microfinance institutions are not suited to farmers either. "We have had loans from microfinance institutions but they expect you to pay back the loan in five months and your pineapples are still in the fields, so you then have to look elsewhere for the money to pay back the loan" Says Sekitoleko Yokana, another of the farmers.

These two farmers are expecting their luck to change, they have applied for finance through MYC4 an online platform that connects individual investors with African businesses looking for a loan. The terms are more suited to farmers, and the interest rate is better than they can get from microfinance companies here.

"This loan is going to work out better because its flexible to me – I am going to pay back after harvesting and selling my products, which is easier compared to the regular loans where you get the money, invest it in your farm and have to pay back even before harvesting, while you’re still paying labourers to do the weeding." Sekitoleko Yokana adds.

3,500 kilometres away and I'm in a Kvickly supermarket in Copenhagen, Denmark. Shoppers are browsing the "økologisk" section for fresh fruit and vegetables grown under strict organic conditions.

With me is Peter Schmidt, one of the investors in MYC4. He's keen to explain that the profits he makes from his investments on the platform are ploughed back into other businesses on the website.

"Its like a revolving fund," he says. "We have quite a good life here in Denmark and its one of my concerns that I try to help people in places where life is harder. So when I heard about this I liked the idea that I could directly help African businesspeople."

Posted by Rob Gould

MYC4 – Cyber Capital – Tim Vang

21-10-2010

We have worked closely with FDB/Coop (Denmark’s largest supermarket chain with 40% of all Danish retail shopping) for a couple of years on realizing an innovative concept that will enable FDB’s customers to invest directly in the African producers of goods – becoming a finalist in World Challenge 2010, everything was suddenly REAL!!

BBC wanted to start with our Kenyan office to get the supply chain story of the African farmers and afterwards travel to our main office in Copenhagen to get the story of the customers that daily buy the African goods in the supermarket.

We heard from our Nairobi office that filming went really well and that it was easy to understand what this new supply chain set-up is all about and what it would actually mean for African farmers to be connected to the developed world – both in terms of getting access to fair priced loans but also in terms of exporting their goods outside of Africa.

We contacted Peter Schmidt, a pediatrician, who has been following MYC4 since the beginning in October 2007, as we think Peter is a good representative for the investors we have on MYC4.com.

We went to a local supermarket and had the footage made of Peter buying an organic yoghurt fom Thise dairy that contains mangoes from a farmer in Uganda - a farmer that Peter also can invest directly in so he can buy more mango trees.

The filming has helped serve as a good foundation for us to structure a dynamic process with many stakeholders in an easy to grasp way – thank you very much and we look forward to see the end result of the film on 16. and 17. of October on BBC World News!

Posted by Tim Vang