From Cows to Credit: How AI is funding Africa’s forgotten farmers

Congolese engineer Jenny Onya is turning livestock into bankable assets through Halisi Livestock, an AI tool that gives rural women financial visibility. Powered by biometric tech and supported by AFAWA, the innovation is a giant step toward closing Africa’s gender financing gap one cow at a time.

Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya, co-founder of Neotex.ai, is transforming livestock into digital collateral, giving rural African women access to finance through AI-powered innovation.

By Nhlanhla Moyo

On a dusty path in rural Kenya, a woman stands beside her cattle as a loan officer snaps a photo of one of her cows.

But this is no ordinary picture. Behind the lens is Halisi Livestock, an AI-driven innovation created by Congolese engineer Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya that’s turning livestock into collateral and unlocking access to finance for Africa’s underserved rural women.

Onya’s company, Neotex.ai, is at the forefront of a digital revolution that blends artificial intelligence with livestock identification. “A cow’s face is like a fingerprint. We use biometric algorithms to give each animal a unique, unfalsifiable digital identity,” she explained.

That simple photograph enables financial institutions to verify livestock ownership, value the herd, and issue loans backed by real-time, tamper-proof data, a game-changer in regions where women have traditionally been excluded from formal banking.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, women make up as much as 60% of smallholder livestock farmers, yet they receive less than 1% of agriculture financing. The reasons are structural, including lack of documentation, weak asset verification systems, and biased financial frameworks. Neotex.ai's AI system directly addresses these challenges.

Backed by the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative, Neotex has expanded into new rural areas in Kenya, already registering over 1 250 animals. The platform is proving that technology can formalise informal economies and bring visibility to millions of rural women.

“This is more than fintech. It’s visibility. It’s dignity. It’s agency,” further stated Onya.

As World Youth Skills Day 2025 was celebrated today, the innovator’s message resonates - invest in the digital skills of young Africans, especially women, and they will transform entire sectors.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Onya and co-founded of Neotex.ai urged banks to trust local economies by investing in areas that are often overlooked by other funders. She further encouraged Africa’s youth to embrace the digital age in their creativity.

“Dare to imagine the impossible. I built a tech solution with just a smartphone and a herd of cows. So can you,” she said.