THE African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has urged businesses to use its US$2 billion facility to transform primary agricultural production, processing, and exports as the region faces severe climate challenges driven by El Niño.
Addressing delegates at the 19th COMESA Business Forum and Exhibition at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) on Tuesday, Dr Gainmore Zanamwe, Afreximbank’s director of trade facilitation and investment promotion, said the money was ready for deployment and challenged the private sector to submit viable investment proposals.
“At Afreximbank, we developed a US$2 billion facility that will support primary agriculture production, processing, and export,” Dr Zanamwe said during his presentation on the Export Agriculture for Food Security Programme.
“The money is there. What I need are bankable projects.”
He said accessing the fund required private sector initiative rather than State-led execution.
“This will probably not be done by the government or the commercial secretariat. I’m speaking to you, the business people in the room,” he said.
“I want to see those with bankable projects to support agriculture, production, processing and export.”
Dr Zanamwe explained that the bank was seeking anchor agribusinesses capable of absorbing major funding allocations to build integrated value chains that incorporate smallholder producers.
“We want to replicate what we did with Dangote in the agricultural sector,” Dr Zanamwe said, making reference to Afreximbank’s strategic financing model of backing large-scale anchor projects—such as serving as the lead arranger and underwriting US$2,5 billion of a US$4 billion syndicated facility for the Dangote industrial project—to build sustainable supply ecosystems across Africa.-herald
