Thus, from the mid-2000s, a number of innovative Africa-wide solutions, such as AfDB’s Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism, which now provides credit guarantees to wholesalers, distributors, retailers, or other agro-dealers, emerged to tackle this old challenge. Another model that emerged was the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) framework, for example in Nigeria with the “Promoting Pro-Poor Opportunities in Commodity and Service Markets” (PrOpCom) program. The idea was to address market gaps, such as ineffective distributing channels, and – to some degree – completely avoid the challenges in dealing with weak government capacity. But was “avoiding the state” and focusing only on the “private sector” the right direction? China’s experience sheds some light.