Aceli Africa Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Aceli africa's target is to unlock $1.6b in private sector lending for inclusive agricultural smes in east africa through year-end 2030. With access to lending, agricultural smes can drive improvements in the productivity and market access of smallholders, while creating jobs across the value chain. During our first four years of operations (september 2020-december 2024), 42 active aceli lending partners registered loans totaling $283m across the initial four focus countries (kenya, rwanda, tanzania, uganda) and newly, zambia. Of these loans, 61% are to new borrowers (defined as not having received a loan of $25k+ from any lender in the prior three years), 57% meet our high standard for providing economic opportunities to women, 69% contribute to food security in africa, and 17% meet our climate & environment impact bonus. The smes receiving aceli-supported loans have created market access for 1.5m smallholder farmer suppliers and employment for 52k full-time workers.as of december 2024, 42 lenders had signed legal agreements with aceli and an additional 8 were in negotiations or in the process of signing. Of the 42 accredited lenders, three-quarters are commercial banks or non-bank financial institutions domiciled in east africa. Aceli africa's target is to increase addressable demand by providing technical assistance to over 1000 agricultural smes through year-end 2030 to improve their capacity to access and manage finance. Aceli offers a technical assistance program for early-stage agricultural smes with annual revenues of $50k-500k, limited access to finance, and basic needs in business and financial management. Our partners implement the hybrid technical assistance program, which includes a series of webinars and collaboration in a peer learning network paired with individualized coaching for the leadership team from each agri-sme as well as in-person kick off sessions for networking. The selected smes are located across all four focus countries. Overall, participating smes provide positive feedback from the program. We have also developed and launched our ta offering for growth and late-stage agricultural smes that have outgrown the basic needs of early-stage smes but still struggle to qualify for and/or manage financing (annual revenues of $500k-$5m). Our offering is targeted to address specific barriers, including internal operations, data management, and managerial capacity. Technoserve is the service provider for growth-stage sme cohorts. In light of the divergent and specific needs of late-stage smes, we have contracted seven providers across aceli's four focus countries to offer customized to ta to late-stage smes. Interested smes undergo a diagnostic and are offered a voucher that covers a portion of the cost of ta.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 83.9%; rating input score 84
• Program expense ratio: 95.1%; rating input score 95
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Fail
  • Conducts field audits: Pass
  • May suspend future funding: Fail
  • Requires financial reports: Pass
  • Conducts site visits: Pass
  • Requires grant agreements: Fail
  • May require repayment: Fail
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 12%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.79; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 3.1%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 42.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 46.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 35.5% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings