Ugandan agritech startup SANDI AI Technologies has won the 2026 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize at the Africa Food Systems Forum Summit in Kigali, receiving US$50,000 for its artificial intelligence platform designed to improve smallholder access to finance. The company took the female-led grand prize, bringing continental attention to a solution that seeks to address one of African agriculture’s most persistent constraints. Founded by entrepreneur Nabakka Sandra, the startup aims to help farmers who are routinely excluded from conventional lending systems.
A Win Built on Alternative Credit Scoring
SANDI AI uses artificial intelligence to assess farmers through productivity signals rather than fixed asset registers, formal income records, or conventional collateral. The platform builds a broader picture of a borrower’s potential, reflecting land use, farming experience, production capacity, and relationships within agricultural value chains. This approach is intended to unlock financing for smallholders whose economic lives do not fit standard financial models.
Closing a Persistent Financing Gap
Access to agricultural credit remains severely limited across Africa, where smallholder farmers often lack the assets required by traditional lenders. Many financial institutions view farming as high risk because borrowers cannot offer fixed property or formal employment records as security. SANDI AI positions itself as a response to this gap, helping lenders understand farmers through data that reflects their actual productive activity.
Prize Supports Expansion and Product Development
The US$50,000 award is expected to support SANDI AI’s technology development and help the company reach more farming communities. Founder Nabakka Sandra said the ambition is to make access to finance smarter, fairer, and more inclusive rather than limiting farmers to systems that were not designed around their realities. The recognition also provides visibility among investors, development partners, and other players in Africa’s growing agritech ecosystem.
Alternative Credit Scoring Faces a Test of Proof
Alternative credit scoring for smallholders is a crowded field with a long record of startups that failed to sustain performance. SANDI AI has not yet publicly disclosed its lending partners, the number of farmers scored, its default rates, or the specific data feeding its model. These figures will matter more than the prize itself because the durability of such platforms ultimately depends on portfolio performance over multiple agricultural seasons.
Recognition for Ugandan Technology
The award adds to a small group of Ugandan technology firms that have drawn recognition beyond the country’s borders. Agriculture remains central to Uganda’s economy, yet many farmers continue to operate at a small scale and face limited access to formal financial services. The GoGettaz competition, run by Generation Africa, recognises young African entrepreneurs developing businesses across the agriculture and food value chains.
The prize gives SANDI AI capital and continental visibility, but the larger challenge will be proving that its artificial intelligence model can deliver real financial access at scale. If the company can demonstrate reliable repayment outcomes across seasons, it may help shift agricultural lending away from rigid collateral requirements. For now, the recognition positions the startup among a growing African movement working to make financial systems more inclusive for smallholder farmers.