Agridex International has announced a strategic partnership with Tradeflow Capital Management aimed at accelerating the deployment of institutional capital into Kenya’s agricultural sector and other key African markets.
According to Agridex International, the collaboration will strengthen access to structured trade finance and modern payment infrastructure for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), addressing long-standing challenges around cost, speed and transparency in cross-border transactions.
At the centre of the partnership is Loam, Agridex’s proprietary digital payments and treasury platform, which will be used by Tradeflow as core infrastructure for deploying trade finance capital across agricultural and commodity value chains. According to the company, Loam enables near-instant settlement with transaction costs below 0.2 per cent, compared to traditional cross-border payment systems that often exceed 3 per cent and take several days to process.
“Loam was built to solve real payment and settlement challenges in emerging markets,” said Henry Duckworth, Founder and CEO, Agridex International.
Duckworth said the partnership demonstrates how modern payment systems can unlock efficiency and scale in African trade finance. He noted that faster settlement and reduced friction at the payments layer allow capital to reach businesses more quickly and with greater certainty.
Under the arrangement, Tradeflow Capital Management will leverage Loam to deploy structured, asset-backed financing into SME trade flows. Tradeflow said it has facilitated more than US$5 billion in SME trade transactions since its inception, using data-driven financing models and real-time supply chain risk management.
“Tradeflow’s adoption of Loam as a core conduit for capital deployment demonstrates how modern payment rails can unlock scale, efficiency, and resilience in African trade finance,” said Duckworth.
The initial phase of the partnership will focus on priority African markets, with an emphasis on commodity trades and structured financing solutions designed to improve liquidity for SMEs operating in emerging markets.
The initiative is also backed by Imara Group, which has supported the development of financial market infrastructure across Africa for over two decades. Imara Group has invested more than US$400 million in the continent, focusing on expanding access to finance and enabling digital payment systems that support trade and economic growth.
Agridex said the partnership comes amid growing demand for efficient trade finance and cross-border payment solutions in Africa, as businesses seek alternatives to slow and costly legacy banking systems.