How Alexander Zanders Is Using Fintech to Revolutionise African Agriculture

When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt, most people went into survival mode. But for Alexander Zanders, a fintech entrepreneur from Baltimore, Maryland, it was an opportunity to plant seeds, quite literally.

Zanders sold off his cryptocurrency holdings to purchase 100 acres of farmland in Nigeria, a bold move that laid the foundation for UfarmX, a tech-driven agricultural finance platform aimed at helping African farmers access credit and scale their businesses.

The venture, launched in 2020, is the culmination of a journey that began with trading mobile devices across global markets. While studying at Temple University in Philadelphia, Zanders founded an export company during a critical shift in global supply chains.

His dealings in Nigeria, the UAE, and the Dominican Republic eventually introduced him to cryptocurrency, back when Bitcoin was trading at just $10.

But it was the birth of his daughter in 2015 that reshaped his priorities. “I always tell people I did what any rational person would do when the world feels like it’s ending,” Zanders said. “I started farming.”

A transformative moment came during a visit to Moultrie, Georgia, where he witnessed Black workers hand-picking cotton. It raised a pressing question in his mind: Why are African labourers still using the same backbreaking methods, despite the continent’s vast arable land and human capital?

“The math didn’t make sense,” he said of Africa’s ongoing reliance on exporting raw goods and importing finished ones at high cost.

UfarmX aims to correct that imbalance by giving farmers access to tools traditionally out of reach — credit, data, and trust. According to Zanders, many African farmers are excluded from formal banking systems. “Banks don’t trust farmers. No data. No collateral. No credit history. So they get nothing,” he said.

To solve this, UfarmX uses AI-driven software and field-level data to create farmer profiles that banks can rely on. The platform captures photographs and GPS data from each farm, tracks inputs, crop cycles, and mobile usage, essentially creating a digital footprint that builds a credit profile for the farmer.

The model also tackles Africa’s low agricultural productivity — an issue often linked to limited technology use, especially in sub-Saharan regions. To close this gap, UfarmX employs local youth agents who are more tech-savvy and can serve as bridges between farmers and the digital platform.

“By leveraging the social capital of these agents, we can build trust more easily with farmers who might be skeptical,” Zanders explained.

And the model is already yielding results. In Senegal, for instance, farmer Fatoumata Mballo suffered crop losses due to an unusually wet harvest season. With UfarmX’s regional data insights, she learned that post-harvest losses were common, and actionable solutions were offered.

Operating across Nigeria, Senegal, and Liberia, with planned expansions into Ivory Coast and Kenya, UfarmX now supports over 1,000 farmers. Through its “Buy Now, Pay Later” feature, farmers can purchase essentials like seeds and fertiliser and pay after harvest.

Importantly, UfarmX remains self-funded, a point of pride for Zanders, who says that while metrics matter, the real impact lies in restoring dignity to those who feed the world.

“It’s not just data, it’s dignity,” he said. “We’re not just handing out loans. We’re building infrastructure for the people who feed the world.”

As the platform scales, Zanders’ vision represents a broader shift in African agriculture, one where fintech, data, and grassroots trust converge to empower farmers at the heart of the global food chain.