IFC invests in Kifiya, the Ethiopian company using AI to lend to farmers
Kifiya builds credit scores for people with no borrowing history and says it has supported more than US$1bn in loans.
Addis Ababa — The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested in Kifiya, an Ethiopian financial technology company that uses artificial intelligence to help farmers and small businesses get loans. The size of the investment was not disclosed.
Founded in 2010, Kifiya uses more than 10 billion alternative data signals to build risk scores for first-time borrowers who have no formal credit history. Its models help banks price risk, approve borrowers, set limits and spot fraud and climate risk. Loans are paid out and collected digitally through a network of agents and rural cooperatives.
One profile per farmer
For agriculture, Kifiya creates a single profile for each farmer that banks, insurers, input suppliers and buyers can all connect to, so a farmer can get credit, insurance, seeds and fertiliser, machinery, advice and buyers in one place. The company says its system has supported more than US$1 billion in credit.
The investment, announced at the Africa Financial Summit in Luanda, will be used to improve its agricultural data and risk models and reach further into rural communities.
"Our purpose is to make Africa's invisible economy investable," said Munir Duri, Kifiya's founder and chief executive. A joint project launched with the IFC in 2025 to digitally profile one million Ethiopian farmers has now reached more than 1.2 million.
Source: Disrupt Africa, November 2026.
