Photo by: Bloomberg
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swiss bank BIC-BRED (Suisse) and Swiss commodity trading group Agro Companies International (ACI) have partnered to help finance the importation of grain into Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana and other African countries.
The partners aim to boost food security in West and Central Africa amid a growing global food crisis.
The IFC has agreed to invest $20-million through a risk participation agreement, in a $60-million trade finance facility arranged by BIC-BRED, for ACI.
The facility will help ACI buy wheat, corn and animal feed from international suppliers and distribute these products to West and Central African buyers, mainly local milling companies.
Africa is highly dependent on imported wheat and other grains, with 44% of the continent’s wheat have been sourced from Russia and Ukraine in 2020.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to wheat supply chain disruptions and highlighted the urgent need for grain trade financing to ensure food security in Africa.
IFC regional industry director Aliou Maiga says strengthening food security in Africa is imperative at the moment, as inflation and market turbulence are hampering trade and imports.
He adds that supporting firms such as ACI speaks to the IFC’s strategy to fill the trade finance gap in Africa and help limit disruptions in the food commodity supply chain.
ACI CEO Erwan Boubet considers the financing support from the IFC as instrumental to sustain the milling wheat and animal feed supply chains of the company’s clients in West and Central Africa.
In turn, the partnership with the IFC enables BIC-BRED to increase its existing trade finance facility granted to ACI at a time when the need for more financial support has become crucial for Africa, explains Suisse deputy GM François Monnier.