MlimiPay Limited is a digital financial technology company, dedicated to revolutionising the agricultural sector through innovative financial solutions. Founded in 2021 by Mr Stanislaus Sakwiya, a computer science graduate based in Lilongwe, MlimiPay has quickly established itself as a pivotal player in the fintech space. Mr Stanislaus Sakwiya, who owns 100% of the company, leads a small, dynamic team of four employees, including himself as the CEO.

The company has two flagship products: Mlimi Digital Wallet and Mlimi Digital Advisor. The Mlimi Digital Wallet enables smallholder farmers to purchase farming inputs, such as maize seeds and fertilisers, in instalments and, using mobile money applications, allows farmers to pay in advance for inputs at a time convenient to them. The savings accumulated in the smallholder farmers’ MlimiPay digital wallets can also be repurposed to use for other pressing needs on exceptional occasions like disasters. Currently, the service supports 1,000 active savers and MlimiPay is in the process of registering 5,000 dairy farmers in conjunction with Central Region Milk Producers Association (CREMPA), who will use the wallet to save for dairy mash. 

In the 2022/23 growing season, MlimiPay facilitated lay-by payments for over 240 tonnes of fertiliser and seeds valued at over £184,359. Additionally, the Mlimi Digital Advisor offers on-demand agronomic advice through a digital repository accessible via mobile phones when the farmers register with MlimiPay and pay their registration fee. This service includes a digital weather information feature for registered users, further aiding farmers in making informed decisions.

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With seven employees, Teren Agro Limited is a social enterprise subsidiary of Teren Investments, which boasts a decade of successful operations and was co-founded by Lilongwe-based entrepreneurs Temwanani Phiri and Taziona Chigwe, who hold a 50% stake each in the business. Teren Agro was initially launched as the agricultural commodity trading division of Teren Investments, specialising in the procurement of soybeans from smallholder farmers and exporting to high-demand markets like Rwanda. Recognising the need for a structured growth path, Teren Agro was registered as a limited liability company in 2022 after over a decade of steady progress. In 2023, Teren Agro strategically diversified its product line to include livestock feeds, tapping into a burgeoning market with significant demand and supply gaps. The company, with grant support from the Centre for Agriculture Transformation and Catholic Relief Services, has invested in machinery and production space for producing floating fish feeds for tilapia at their facility located six miles outside Lilongwe city centre.

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Commercialising Smallholder Aquaculture through Digital Innovations for Access to High Quality Inputs

This project demonstrated the business incentive of reducing delivery costs through aggregated orders for improved fish feed stimulated by a flexible lay-by payment mechanism enabling smallholder fish farmers to access quality feed at reasonable prices. This is expected to influence market-led incentives for investing in the aquaculture value chain by emerging anchor firms.

Through this 9-month project, CASA facilitated the formation of a partnership between MlimiPay Teren Agro and smallholder farmers in Malawi. In this partnership, the two companies collaborated to deliver high-quality inputs and extension and advisory services on favourable terms to smallholder fish farmers. By enhancing access to high quality inputs for smallholder farmers, this intervention was expected to increase their production output volumes and reduce their transportation costs, thereby increasing their incomes. The intervention aimed at improving the resilience of smallholder farmers to adverse climate events by ensuring stable input prices and providing them with access to digital banking services that will enable an increase in their savings.

The intervention facilitated the establishment of a business model where Teren Agro sells fish feeds to smallholder farmers using a combination of lay-by and credit models, prior to bulk delivery to nearby agents, while MlimiPay provides digital payment aggregation and aquaculture best management practices advisory services, enabling the smallholder fish farmers to make payments for the feed via mobile money and build their technical capacity in growing fish. Teren Agro and MlimiPay in collaboration are mobilising and organising smallholder farmers into groups, which will not only make them easier to serve but reduce delivery costs for inputs. At a total cost of £96,156 (CASA contributing £60,523), the businesses planned to reach 1,000 smallholder farmers and have so far registered 636. 

Mlimi Pay is looking for £50,000 in equity investment for long-term capital and to bring additional technical expertise to enable expansion of the business’s product portfolio and to reach more smallholder farmers in aquaculture and other value chains.

Updated: July 2025