The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has called on the private sector to submit projects that could benefit from a $2 billion mechanism designed to finance agricultural production, processing and exports, as the region grapples with severe climate disruptions linked to the El Niño phenomenon.

Gainmore Zanamwe, Afreximbank’s Director of Trade Facilitation and Investment Promotion, addressed the 19th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Business Forum and Exhibition in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Tuesday. Presenting the Export Agriculture for Food Security Programme, he confirmed that financing is available for viable projects. “At Afreximbank, we have developed a $2 billion mechanism that will support primary agricultural production, processing and export,” he said.

Zanamwe identified the central challenge as finding business initiatives capable of deploying those resources. “The money is there. What we need are viable projects,” he said, urging entrepreneurs to bring concrete proposals to develop agriculture.

He stressed that the initiative aims to mobilise the private sector rather than rely on state-led projects. “This will probably not be done by the government or the trade secretariat. I am talking to you, the business people in this room,” he told participants.

Zanamwe called for proposals covering the full agricultural value chain, from cultivation through to processing and sales in external markets. “I want to see those who have viable projects to support agriculture, production, processing and export,” he said.

According to Zanamwe, the bank is looking for anchor agro-industrial companies capable of absorbing large-scale financing and developing integrated value chains that include smallholder farmers. The objective is to link agricultural production to processing and export, creating opportunities for a range of sector participants.

“We want to replicate in agriculture what we did with Dangote,” he said, referring to the model Afreximbank applies to large-scale project financing — backing major companies able to stimulate economic activity and build sustainable supply networks across Africa.

In the case of Dangote, Afreximbank led a $4 billion syndicated financing package for the group’s refinery in Nigeria, of which it underwrote $2.5 billion. The bank now intends to apply a similar model to the agricultural sector.

Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=554442