Ugandan AI Startup, SANDI AI Wins $50,000 to Help Farmers Access Finance

Ugandan AI startup SANDI AI Technologies has won a $50,000 continental prize for using artificial intelligence to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing smallholder farmers across Africa: access to finance.

Founded by Ugandan entrepreneur Sandra Nabakka, SANDI AI emerged as the Grand Prize Winner of the 2026 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.

The award recognises young African entrepreneurs building businesses around agriculture, food systems and rural development.

For SANDI AI, the focus is on a problem many farmers know too well.

A farmer may have land, experience, crops and a viable business, but still struggle to obtain a loan because they do not have the traditional collateral or financial records required by conventional lenders.

SANDI AI is using artificial intelligence and agricultural data to develop alternative ways of assessing farmers and connecting them with financial opportunities.

The company’s approach is designed to help lenders better understand farmers while creating pathways to credit that do not depend entirely on conventional collateral.

For farmers, access to financing can determine whether they are able to purchase seeds and fertiliser, invest in equipment, expand production or simply survive a difficult farming season.

The $50,000 prize will support SANDI AI’s continued technology development, expansion into new markets and efforts to reach more farming communities.

For Nabakka, the recognition is also a validation of an approach that puts the realities of African farmers at the centre of technology development.

“Farmers should not be limited by systems that were not designed around their realities,” Nabakka said.

The GoGettaz competition attracted agrifood businesses from across Africa, making the win a significant recognition for Uganda’s growing technology and agritech ecosystem.

It also highlights an increasingly important intersection in African innovation: artificial intelligence is moving beyond consumer applications and fintech into sectors such as agriculture, where better data and decision-making can directly affect livelihoods.

SANDI AI’s ambition is ultimately bigger than winning a competition.

The startup is building toward a financial system where farmers can be assessed on the realities of their businesses rather than being excluded simply because they do not fit traditional lending models.

And for millions of smallholder farmers across Africa, that difference could determine whether an opportunity remains out of reach or becomes the capital they need to grow.