AFROGEO, ESWAMCU, and Digimate Join Forces to Digitise Eswatini’s Agricultural Value Chain
Mbabane, Eswatini | 2025 | Agribusiness Media
In a landmark development for Eswatini’s agricultural sector, three pioneering organisations have signed partnership agreements to integrate geospatial intelligence, cooperative mobilization, and digital financial services into a single, unified platform — E-MAKETHE. The signing marks a decisive step toward a data-driven, financially inclusive, and commercially viable agricultural economy for the Kingdom.
Agriculture remains the backbone of Eswatini’s rural economy, yet for decades, smallholder farmers have operated in isolation — cut off from formal markets, excluded from financial services, and underserved by agricultural extension systems. That reality is now changing, driven by a tripartite partnership between AFROGEO, the Eswatini Multipurpose Cooperative Union (ESWAMCU), and Digimate (creators of the EPayNet platform), all united around the E-MAKETHE digital agriculture ecosystem.
The signing ceremony, held in Matsapha, brought together technology, cooperative leadership, and fintech innovation to formally activate the integration of their respective platforms and networks into E-MAKETHE — a platform that promises to reshape how Eswatini’s farmers access inputs, markets, training, and financial services.
| The Tripartite Vision |
The partnership brings together three institutions whose mandates, though distinct, converge on a single imperative: connecting Eswatini’s farmers to the tools, markets, and financial systems they need to thrive in the 21st century.
| Organisation | Role | Contribution to E-MAKETHE |
| AFROGEO (E-MAKETHE) | Technology Developer & Platform Architect | GIS mapping, Earth Observation, digital agriculture infrastructure, E-MAKETHE platform development |
| ESWAMCU (NETWORK) | Cooperative Mobilisation & Market Conduit | Cooperative network access, bulk purchasing, aggregation, farmer training & SWAFCU digitalisation capacity building |
| Digimate (EPayNet) | Financial Technology & Inclusion | Mobile payment processing, Mobile money–bank interoperability, digital wallets for rural farmers |
AFROGEO: The Technology Backbone
AFROGEO, a 100% Swazi-owned geospatial information management company established in 2003, brings more than two decades of experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Earth Observation, and spatial data infrastructure to the partnership. As the developer of the E-MAKETHE platform, AFROGEO provides the technological foundation that enables farmers to map their land, track production cycles, access real-time market intelligence, and make data-driven decisions through an intuitive digital interface.
The platform is built on AFROGEO’s enterprise geospatial portal — accessible at https//agric.markets — and integrates satellite imagery, land parcel mapping, and agricultural analytics into a single dashboard tailored specifically for Eswatini’s farming context.
“E-MAKETHE is designed to connect data, people, and policy. By partnering with ESWAMCU and Digimate, we are ensuring that our technology reaches the farmers who need it most, and that they have the financial tools to transact seamlessly.”
— Bheki Ginindza, Managing Director, AFROGEO
ESWAMCU: The Cooperative Conduit
The Eswatini Multipurpose Cooperative Union (ESWAMCU), operating under the umbrella of the Eswatini Farmers’ Cooperative Union (ESWAFCU), serves as the critical bridge between E-MAKETHE and the thousands of smallholder farmers who form the backbone of the nation’s agricultural sector. Representing 84 cooperative organisations with over 2,500 members — and providing approximately 650 jobs across the country — ESWAMCU brings unmatched reach into rural communities in all four of Eswatini’s regions.
ESWAMCU’s mandate extends beyond simple market linkage. Through this partnership, the cooperative union will leverage E-MAKETHE to strengthen collective bargaining, inputs/produce aggregation, streamline bulk purchasing of inputs, and improve governance transparency across its member cooperatives.
“Sibumbene, sakha umalelo! — United we stand, let’s plough forward! This partnership means our member cooperatives will have direct access to markets, subsidised inputs, and digital payments — all through a single platform.”
— Thami Phakathi, Board Chairperson, ESWAMCU
Digimate: Closing the Financial Inclusion Gap
For Eswatini’s rural farmers, access to formal financial services has long been out of reach. Geographic remoteness, lack of formal banking documentation, and the cost of transaction fees have historically excluded smallholder farmers from the financial system. Digimate, operating the EPayNet fintech platform, is changing that equation.
Since its launch — supported in part by the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) with a specific focus on empowering rural women through microfinance — EPayNet has processed over E20 million in transactions and amassed more than 5,000 downloads. Its core functionality enables seamless interoperability between MTN Mobile Money and commercial banks, allowing farmers who may not hold a formal bank account to participate fully in the digital economy.
The integration of EPayNet into E-MAKETHE means that every marketplace transaction on the platform — from purchasing subsidised seeds to receiving payment for harvested produce — can be executed digitally, securely, and in real time, even in areas with limited banking infrastructure.
“The EPayNet integration with E-MAKETHE ensures that farmers can receive payments, purchase inputs, and save securely — all from their mobile phones. Our commitment to financial inclusion means that even farmers in the most remote areas can participate in the digital economy.”
— Sindiso Dlamini, CEO, Digimate
| What This Partnership Delivers |
For Smallholder Farmers
- Marketplace access: Subsidised agricultural inputs
- Market information: Real-time commodity pricing and demand forecasts from integrated market intelligence
- Digital payments: Secure digital transactions without requiring a formal bank account
- Land management: GIS land mapping tools to record, monitor, and optimise land use
- Capacity building: Structured digital literacy and platform training through ESWAFCU
For Cooperatives
- Streamlined procurement: Aggregated bulk purchasing that reduces input costs through collective bargaining power
- Market access: Direct connections to formal off-takers and commercial buyers
- Governance: Digital tools for transparent financial management and audit-ready record keeping
- Financial services: Access to digital credit and lending platforms integrated into the E-MAKETHE ecosystem
- Digital training: Structured onboarding support and train-the-trainer resources from ESWAFCU
For the Nation
- Food security: Improved productivity and supply-chain efficiency contributing to food self-sufficiency
- Economic inclusion: Digital financial empowerment, particularly for women and youth in agriculture
- Climate resilience: Satellite and GIS-based monitoring enabling proactive responses to climate variability
- Digital transformation: A scalable digital agriculture model replicable across Southern Africa
| Context |
Digital Agriculture in Eswatini
The journey toward agricultural digitalisation in Eswatini has been incremental but purposeful. As early as 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture supported by United Nations Agencies: FAO, UNDP, WFP was experimenting with digital connectivity for agriculture traders through, which leveraged social media platforms to link market vendors with customers — an early proof of concept for digitally mediated commerce in the Kingdom led to MoA-owned and RSTP-hosted Agriculture Integrated Information Systems (AIIS) and other related platforms that serve specific Institutional mandates. These initiatives, modest in scale but significant in intent, established the conceptual and technical groundwork for today’s far more ambitious, multi-stakeholder, multi-platform approach embodied in E-MAKETHE.
What distinguishes E-MAKETHE from its predecessors is integration. Where earlier initiatives addressed single dimensions of the agricultural development challenge — connectivity, or finance, or market access — E-MAKETHE brings these streams together into a coherent ecosystem, governed by a formal tripartite partnership and supported by a structured digitalisation training mandate that ensures uptake, not just access.
Cooperatives as Catalysts for Rural Transformation
Cooperatives have been foundational to rural development in Eswatini since their formal introduction in 1931, originally conceived as a mechanism to advance the economic interests of indigenous farmers. In the nearly a century since, they have evolved into sophisticated institutions capable of negotiating market access, managing collective assets, and channelling external support to member farmers.
Today, ESWAMCU together represent 84 cooperative organisations with 2,500 members across the country’s four regions, providing approximately 650 direct jobs and serving as anchors for rural economic activity. By embedding E-MAKETHE within this cooperative infrastructure, the partnership leverages decades of trust, established leadership structures, and community-level accountability — assets that no technology platform can manufacture from scratch.
| The Way Forward |
With the partnership formally activated, the immediate focus of the tripartite collaboration will be structured around five priority work streams:
- Regional rollout: Farmer and cooperative onboarding across all four regions — Hhohho, Manzini, Lubombo, and Shiselweni — with ESWAMCU serving as the primary mobilisation channel
- Payment integration: EPayNet technical integration into the E-MAKETHE platform, enabling seamless payment processing for all marketplace transactions
- Training launch: Launch of ESWAFCU’s digitalisation training programme, beginning with a pilot cohort of cooperative leaders and extension officers before cascading to the broader membership
- Pilot phase: Pilot implementation in selected cooperatives to validate the platform’s functionality, user experience, and financial transaction reliability before national scale-up
- Monitoring: Data collection and impact assessment to document adoption rates, transaction volumes, and livelihood outcomes, informing future platform improvements and policy engagement
E-MAKETHE is more than an app — it is an ecosystem. A living infrastructure where GIS mapping meets financial technology, where farmer cooperatives meet digital markets, and where traditional agriculture meets 21st-century innovation. The partnership signed today is not an endpoint. It is the foundation.
| About the Partners |
AFROGEO A geospatial information management company established in 2003, providing GIS solutions, Earth Observation services, and digital agriculture platforms including E-MAKETHE. Enterprise portal: afrogeo.co
ESWAMCU The Eswatini Multipurpose Cooperative Union, the national apex body representing farming cooperatives across Eswatini. Dedicated to improving access to inputs, equipment, markets, and technical information for member cooperatives and their farmers. It represents 84 cooperative organizations and 2,500 members across all four regions of Eswatini. Within the E-MAKETHE partnership, ESWAFCU leads the digitalisation training programme, equipping farmers, cooperative leaders, and extension officers with the skills to engage confidently with digital agricultural tools and financial platforms.
Digimate (EPayNet) A Swazi fintech company operating the EPayNet platform, enabling mobile money interoperability between MTN Mobile Money and commercial banks, and delivering inclusive digital financial services to rural communities across Eswatini.
From left to right: Thami Phakathi (ESWAMCU Board Chairperson), Bheki Ginindza (AFROGEO Representative), and Sindiso Dlamini (Digimate CEO) exchange signed partnership agreements formally integrating the EPayNet digital payment system and ESWAMCU’s cooperative network — together with digitalisation training mandate — into the E-MAKETHE digital agriculture platform. 02/09/2026, Mountain View, Mbabane Eswatini, Eswatini]
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