The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, has announced a partnership with Tolbi, a Senegalese agricultural technology company, to expand access to finance and markets for smallholder farmers. IFC’s announcement is dated 4 November 2026 and datelined Dakar.
According to IFC, its investment in Tolbi, in partnership with the GAFSP Business Investment Financing Track (BIFT), “aims to provide 2 million farmers and cooperatives with agronomic advice, access to finance, and links to markets” by 2030.
The release does not state the size of the investment or the financial instrument used. Trade-press coverage we reviewed also gives no amount. IFC calls the deal an investment and a partnership, and we have not characterised it further.
Tolbi combines satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and data collected by field agents to monitor crops, estimate yields and advise farmers on planting and input decisions, IFC says. That data, the release adds, gives lenders, insurers and buyers more visibility into production and risk. IFC notes that Senegalese financial institutions often lack the agricultural data they need to assess risk and extend credit to smallholders.
Beyond its financing, IFC will provide advisory services to help Tolbi expand its field-agent network and deepen partnerships with cooperatives, agribusinesses and financial institutions. IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop said the partnership connects farmers with banks and buyers, unlocks private investment and creates jobs in Senegal’s agricultural sector.
The release describes Tolbi as a pan-African AgTech company. Its platform, TOLBI OS, offers crop monitoring, yield forecasting, traceability, EU Deforestation Regulation compliance and digital measurement, reporting and verification for carbon. IFC’s release, citing the company, says Tolbi operates in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, the Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, works with more than 37 partner cooperatives and over 19,000 farmers. IFC’s headline frames the partnership in West Africa; the company description covers countries beyond it.
The timing of the deal is not uniform across sources. Catalyst Fund, an existing Tolbi investor, said in a LinkedIn post dated 3 November that Tolbi signed the investment agreement with IFC on Friday, 30 October, at a ceremony in Dakar. Catalyst’s post also says Tolbi supports “over 16,600 active farmers and 38 B2B clients,” a different count from IFC’s 19,000 farmers. We have not independently verified the 30 October signing date. IFC’s public announcement is dated 4 November.
Separately, Google named Tolbi, which it lists as Senegal-based, to the first cohort of its Africa Applied AI Lab, announced on 11 November. That selection is not part of the IFC partnership.
