The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has entered into a framework agreement for the Export Agriculture for Food Security (ExAFS) Initiative with ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) and the governments of Chad, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Egypt.
Afreximbank, through the ExAFS initiative is committing $2 billion to boost production, processing and intra-African trade in agricultural products and provide African farmers and agribusinesses with opportunities to access larger markets across the continent.
The initiative seeks to improve food security in Africa, which experiences a near 20 per cent hunger rate, by reducing dependence on other regions for much needed food commodities.
The promoters agreed on the terms during the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023), in Cairo, where President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, signed the framework agreement on behalf of the Bank.
The Minister of Industry and Trade of Chad, Robertine Walendom; the Malawian counterpart, Sosten Gwengwe; Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of Zimbabwe, Dr. Anxious Masuka; Minister of International Cooperation of Egypt, Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat; and Founder and CEO of ARISE IIP, Gagan Gupta, all signed for their parties.
ATCs will also provide additional services to farmers, including micro finance, basic social services, cold storage facilities, extension services and training.
ExAFS will also increase sales, lead to better prices, and improve profitability for Africa’s agricultural value chain stakeholders.
It will leverage upon the establishment of agricultural transformation centres (ATCs) – under a public-private partnership model – in agricultural production zones to provide facilities for agricultural produce from farming communities to be collected, sorted, stored, and transported as raw material for processing or distribution.
ATCs will also provide additional services to farmers, including micro finance, basic social services, cold storage facilities, extension services and training.
Afreximbank will act as financier, facilitator and advisor and will lead the implementation of partnership activities while governments of pilot origin countries of the agricultural produce (Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Chad) will play the role of policy enablers and ensure conducive environments for the ATCs.
ATC anchor investors, such as zone developers, large scale commercial farmers, seed companies and development finance institutions, will invest in the ATCs and their necessary infrastructure, and will be the primary purchasers and aggregators in origin markets while anchor buyers, such as the Government of Egypt, will be the primary export markets for agricultural produce.
