THRIVE AGRIC’S INVESTMENT SAGA OF 2020 (PART 5).
This issue has since been resolved. Read the concluding part here.
This is a different story from the one initially scheduled to be published on the 6th of November, 2020. I decided to give the new management at Thrive Agric the benefit of the doubt and wait until after the second Zoom meeting that was held on the same day.
An apt decision as some topics covered in that article were discussed at the meeting. Publishing then would have been redundant.
Having said that, this is essentially the same article with some sections revamped or deleted and the rest left as they were because there are still many valid concerns surrounding the saga with the Y Combinator funded Thrive Agric, founded by Uka Eje and Ayodeji Arikawe, and presently led by Adia Sowho.
This is the fifth story in this series.
For Part 1, read it here.
For Part 2, read it here.
For Part 3, read it here.
For Part 4, read it here.
For Part 6, read it here.
Pre-Zoom Meeting Payments
Since my last article, which can be found here, Thrive Agric had made some payments before the Zoom meeting held on the 6th and 7th of November, some in part and some in full. In fact, in a mail sent out on October 20th, Thrive Agric claimed that they had paid over 1582 investors and counting.
Additionally, payments (mostly in part) had been made sparingly for some September and October investments with many investors still unpaid at that time.
Deferral Proposals
Days after those payments, Thrive Agric contacted some investors, asking them to reschedule their payouts for later, preferably end of the year and months into 2021, claiming they can’t payout sums within certain thresholds when they still have so many others to pay.
But Thrive Agric is completely missing the point. The Thrive Agric investment model doesn’t have their investments stratified into groups. Everyone pays the same amount for the same ROI when investing.
Whether you are buying 1 unit or 100 units or 1000 units, there is no discount, no part payment, no shortened duration and no preferential treatment whatsoever. This fact is even stated on Thrive Agric’s website.
So, it beats me why Thrive Agric thinks it’s OK to stratify payouts for investors based on investment value when no incentive was granted to those high-value investors at the start of their investment.
Hence, it goes without saying that if Thrive Agric is paying a 1 unit-investor due in September now, they should know that they will also need to pay a 1000 unit-investor within the same time period. Unless the high-value investor expressly agreed to the terms of the deferral that was proposed.
Second Zoom Meeting
Like I stated in the preamble, there was a hold-off on publishing this article earlier because I was waiting to hear what Thrive Agric had to say during the second Zoom meeting that was held with us.
During the meeting, the Thrive Agric team finally launched the demo of the long awaited payment queue portal (payout.thriveagric.com) as well as answered some questions that investors had. However, the major takeaway and crux of that meeting was the portal.
Unlike what was expected, the queue wasn’t based on due dates which would have been more transparent but on some arbitrary numbers given out by the Thrive Agric team. It might not be ideal, but it is not a deal breaker, in my opinion as long as Thrive Agric sticks to those numbers.
For now, only September investors can access their numbers on the queue portal. Payments have started trickling in for September investors, albeit very slowly.
It is imperative that Thrive Agric hastens up with the September payouts instead of the snail speed they have adopted. They can also grant access to the October investors so that they can start checking their queue numbers on the portal as soon as possible.
Thrive Agric has shown some goodwill with the payments they have made so far. But, that might not make much of a difference to the many who are still owed as discussed in some quarters.
What matters to me (and I guess everyone owed by Thrive Agric, if I can speak for them), is money, reflecting in everyone’s bank account and not just a select few.
With the strides made so far, Thrive Agric (and I am purely speculating here) might be wondering why we have not yet had a “Go tell it on the mountain” moment. Or a break into dance of Kumbaya.
The answer is quite simple; we are not swayed by small victories.
These funds are not handouts. They are rightfully ours, albeit, depreciated by the delay (inflation rate is currently pegged at 14.23%). So, we are not going to act like Thrive Agric is doing us all a favour, especially, when you consider that these funds are coming months after the fact.
Don’t get it twisted. Normal is paying on or before due dates. Abnormal is owing and paying later after many ‘village square’ fights with ripped clothes, skinned elbows, knuckles and knees. Figuratively speaking, of course.
So far, Thrive Agric has paid me 15.82% of what they owe me. I will keep updating this series until they completely pay. Look forward to the next update soon.
Today is Day 71 of the Thrive Agric Twitter protest. Please add your voice by following the hashtag #ThriveAgricPayYourInvestors.
If you have been a victim of Thrive Agric, founded by Uka Eje and Ayodeji Arikawe, please leave a comment below telling us your experience.
This article is part of a series.
For Part 1, read it here.
For Part 2, read it here.
For Part 3, read it here.
For Part 4, read it here.
For Part 6, read it here.
This issue has since been resolved. Read the concluding part here.
