On paper, Francophone Africa’s economic landscape looks conducive to investment and integration. There is the West African Economic and Monetary Union, which comprises eight countries that share a currency - the West African CFA franc - and a central bank. Another six francophone countries are part of the Central African CFA franc zone. 14 countries with only two currencies and two central banks should be favourable to financial coordination - but the reality is quite different.

The history of financing for African agriculture has gone through a series of false dawns. State-led credit in the years after independence gave way to market reforms and microfinance in the 1980s. Warehouse receipts and value chain finance aimed to tempt banks into lending with produce as collateral. But these solutions all fell short of being truly transformative. Now, it is agriculture-related financial technology, or agri-fintech shouldering hopes of revolutionising lending in a sector critical to the continent’s future.