Having operated using a cooperative investment structure since 2021 out of Nigeria, Halvest is poised to expand its Shariah compliant investment offerings upon receiving a full asset management license from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sometime in Q1 2025.
Founder and CEO Ridwan Sanusi told IFN Investor that Halvest is also launching its mobile phone app in February 2025, which will operate in a manner similar to its web-based investment platform to provide Islamic investment opportunities to Nigerians within this country and abroad.
“We have over 600 investors currently registered even though we have not been really invested in user acquisition. These include Nigerians in countries like Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, the UK and the US. We are building the biggest global investment community for ethical investors.”
Ridwan is realistic about how Halvest is still in the infancy stage of working toward achieving this lofty ambition, mainly due to the lack of the SEC license. “We can then start introducing new products and open up to a larger investor pool.”
Halvest charted transactions valued at NGN4.2 billion (US$2.71 million) last year and is aiming to see this total increase to over NGN20 billion (US$12.92 million) in 2025 with impetus from the SEC license, together with an increase in the investor base.
“We are very careful of the users that we are currently advancing onto the platform. Their risk profile must match the risk profile of the investments that we have. We set a minimum US$1,000 entry because these people must be in the medium to high net-worth assets category.”
As Halvest is now running as a cooperative, screening qualifying members, Ridwan said this approach will continue once the SEC license is obtained. “We will not be accepting retail investors for the moment because our focus is on helping businesses grow, not just on investor returns.”
Investor funds go toward Murabahah financing contracts, which Halvest has so far committed to 25 firms for a total valuation of around US$6 million. “At Halvest, we have so far chosen to stick with clients that we already know and trust to be operating actively and have a track record to repay borrowings.”
Halvest also made an initial foray of investing in start-ups. Ridwan said Halvest was among those invested in Malaysia’s Hasan Venture Capital, in collaboration with Ethis Global Group. “This is still a new area for us and the risk is higher than financing business capital. We are still exploring this aspect.”
Ridwan said that Halvest has grown in reputation within Nigeria and receives at least one funding request a week now. But on the international arena, the company is the active pursuer because there are so many other funders actively pitching prospects.
“We are not limited by geographical location in terms of our investments. We can invest anywhere as long as it fits our investment thesis and objectives.”
