AI-Powered Livestock IDs Open Credit Doors for Rural African Women.

Friday 4th July 2025

By inAfrika Reporter

In the heart of Kenya’s vast savannah, a quiet transformation is unfolding, thanks to the ingenuity of a young Congolese engineer, Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya. In a setting where cows represent wealth, stability, and a family’s entire future, Jenny’s innovation is turning livestock into verifiable digital assets. With a smartphone camera and a specialized AI algorithm, Halisi Livestock enables loan officers to photograph cows and instantly create tamper-proof digital IDs for each animal. This breakthrough is not just technical it is economic liberation for millions of African women.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to roughly 200 million smallholder farmers, with women representing up to 60% of this population. Despite this significant presence, the vast majority remain financially invisible. Traditional banking systems often demand documentation and guarantees that rural women simply cannot provide. Livestock, their most valuable asset, is typically unrecognized in formal credit assessments due to the challenges of verification. Ear tags and other physical markers are unreliable, leading to mistrust from financial institutions.

Jenny’s AI-based biometric solution changes the game. A cow’s face, like a human fingerprint, has unique features. Halisi’s software analyzes these traits to generate a digital profile that’s resistant to fraud. This digital identity verifies herd size and ownership, offering lenders dependable data and transforming cows into credible collateral. Jenny’s startup, Neotex.ai, has already registered over 1,250 livestock in rural Kenya, bridging the gap between informal economies and formal financial systems.

This innovation would not have flourished without strategic backing. The “Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship for Africa” programme, part of the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), played a pivotal role. The programme helped refine the product and expand its reach into underserved rural regions. The result is a scalable solution that not only provides loans but also validates and uplifts the economic value of women’s agricultural contributions.

For Jenny, this journey is personal and symbolic. Her message to young African women is one of boldness and invention: “Dare to create even in sectors where you are not expected to.” Through her work, Jenny is not just leveraging AI; she is reshaping the perception of rural economies and placing African women at the heart of financial inclusion and development.