Bridget Ezeonu

A Nigerian social entrepreneur revolutionizing African agriculture through fintech solutions

Bridget Ezeonu is the founder and CEO of FarmDrive, a groundbreaking fintech company that provides credit scoring solutions for smallholder farmers in Africa. Since its launch in 2011, FarmDrive has empowered over 50,000 farmers across Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria with access to financial services previously unavailable to them. Ezeonu's innovative approach uses alternative data sources like mobile money transactions and agricultural records to assess creditworthiness, bypassing traditional banking requirements that exclude marginalized communities. This has directly increased crop yields by 30-50% for participating farmers and created sustainable income streams for 15,000+ households.

Her work addresses three critical UN Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger (Goal 2), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), and Reduced Inequalities (Goal 10). In 2022, Ezeonu was named one of Africa's 100 Most Influential Women by Forbes Africa and received the SEED Award from the United Nations for her environmental entrepreneurship. She frequently speaks at global forums like the World Economic Forum and Stanford Social Innovation Review, advocating for inclusive financial systems. FarmDrive's impact has inspired similar models in Bangladesh and Indonesia through strategic partnerships with local NGOs.