When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill, many people paused. But for Alexander Zanders, a fintech entrepreneur from Baltimore, it was the moment to act.
He sold his crypto holdings and used the funds to purchase 100 acres of farmland in Nigeria. His goal? To give African farmers better access to credit, resources, and tools to scale their work.
Zanders launched UfarmX in 2020. The company operates across Nigeria, Senegal, and Liberia, with plans to expand to Ivory Coast and Kenya. Over 1,000 farmers currently use the UfarmX platform to manage their farms and access essentials like seeds and fertilizer, all through a “Buy Now, Pay Later” system tailored to smallholder farmers.
Despite not having a farming background, Zanders brings deep entrepreneurial insight. A graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, he previously ran an export business during global supply chain disruptions. His trading work took him across Nigeria, the UAE, and the Dominican Republic, where he first encountered cryptocurrency, back when Bitcoin was just $10.
But in 2015, with the birth of his daughter and the world shifting, he began to think differently about legacy and impact. “I always tell people I did what any rational person would do when the world feels like it’s ending,” he said. “I started farming.”
Zanders was deeply moved during a visit to Moultrie, Georgia, where he saw Black labourers still picking cotton by hand. “That image stuck with me,” he said. “Then I saw similar things across Africa. With all this land and talent, why were farmers still exporting raw goods and importing finished products at a high price? The math didn’t make sense.”
This question drove him to build a system that brings dignity and data to farmers. UfarmX uses AI, GPS, and smartphone technology to track each farmer’s activity. It creates digital credit profiles by logging photos, coordinates, crop cycles, and usage patterns. This builds trust where traditional banks see only risk. “Banks don’t trust farmers, no data, no collateral, no credit history,” Zanders explained. “So they get nothing. We’re changing that.”
To tackle technology gaps, UfarmX trains local youth agents who understand how to connect with farmers and explain the platform’s benefits. “This model allows us to overcome both technological and trust barriers,” he said. “By leveraging the social capital of these agents, we can build trust more easily with farmers who might be skeptical.”
One such farmer, Fatoumata Mballo from Senegal, struggled after heavy rains ruined her harvest. But UfarmX used local data to show that post-harvest losses were common in the area, and offered strategies and support to improve results the next season.
Zanders says UfarmX is fully self-funded, and while the numbers matter, it’s the impact that counts most. “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.”
