$100mn deal to help African farmers access global markets

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a seven-year US$100 million non-sovereign guaranteed corporate loan with ETG – an agricultural supply chain manager specialising in African commodities – in order to finance agricultural projects across the continent.

Proceeds from the loan will go towards ETG’s five-year Agricultural Investment Programme, which consists of an array of projects aimed at supporting agricultural production, storage, transport, processing and logistics across 14 countries in Africa. In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said that through the new programme it aimed to “build a bridge between smallholder farmers and international supply chains, as well as promoting intra-African trade”.

The agreement comes at a time when Africa faces a considerable food security challenge, with the AfDB predicting the continent’s spend on food imports will rise from US$35 billion in 2015 to reach US$100bn by 2025.

Most of ETG’s projects will be focused around developing warehousing and processing facilities, alongside supplying fertilisers to local farmers.

In a statement, the AfDB said the programme would “significantly contribute not only in improving food production in Africa but most importantly in value addition and the wide distribution of food across the continent using the sponsor’s broad distribution networks”.

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