ABC avails $25m facility for agriculture

ABC avails $25m facility for agriculture
Published: 08 April 2014
ABC Holdings Limited has signed an agreement with the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF) that has resulted in a $25 million funded risk sharing facility becoming available to agriculture.

The facility will benefit Zimbabwean agriculture, and will also extend to Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia.

The facility will be administered through BancABC, which is the financial subsidiary of ABC Holdings.

Announcing the deal today, BancABC chief operating officer Francis Dzanya, said the agreement signed with AATIF would see $25 million made available by the AATIF for lending through BancABC subsidiaries to a wide range of participants in the agricultural sector.

"The mission of the AATIF is to help Africans maximise the potential of the continent's agricultural production, manufacturing, service provision and trade activities for the benefit of the poor.

"By making loan capital available the Fund aims to help stimulate agricultural output, production levels and add value across the entire chain of agricultural activities.

Knowledge and skills transfer is a major focus that is promoted through AATIF support for contract farming operations," he said.

AATIF chairman Thomas Duve added, that the AATIF risk sharing will allow BancABC to increasingly step into transactions along the entire agricultural value chain ideally with longer term funding and fair collateral policies.

"The 45 percent AATIF pari passu risk participation initially covers an incremental agricultural lending portfolio of up to USD 11m, with the remainder being extended as senior loan. This risk participation limit may be raised going forward, subject to a successful roll out of the program."

"BancABC will manage the entire credit assessment and lending relationship with beneficiaries, while sharing the risk equally with the AATIF. The agreement between the two institutions was natural and offered benefits for both parties," added Dzanya.

ABC Holdings was last week acquired by former Barclays chief executive officer Bob Diamond's investment vehicle Atlas Mara.
- BH24
Tags: ABC, BancABC,

Comments

Latest News

Latest Published Reports

Latest jobs