Washington, DC, April 7, 2015
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the private sector window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program today announced support for Nedbank’s $ a $50 million facility to help commodity traders in Sub-Saharan Africa import agricultural commodities and export cash crops.
Signed under IFC’s Global Warehouse Finance Program, the facility will first finance rice importers in Liberia, a country heavily impacted by Ebola. Food security is critical in Liberia, where the economy is suffering due to border closure and restrictions on air travel. Through the facility, IFC and GAFSP will provide risk mitigation to Nedbank to support lending to the agriculture sector against warehoused commodities. Nedbank will lend to rice traders in Liberia to ensure that food is delivered to the country without delay.
“Working with IFC, we intend to use our expertise in commodity finance to keep trade active in those countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nedbank is willing to expand its operational reach to commodity traders in this region and is grateful to launch the new collaboration with IFC today,” said Sekete Mokgehle, Head of Global Commodity Finance of Nedbank Capital.
German Vegarra, IFC’s Regional Head of Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services for Sub-Saharan Africa said, “The private sector has a crucial role to play in containing the economic effects of Ebola. By partnering with Nedbank, IFC and GAFSP will support commodity trade in Liberia, to maintain economic activity and ensure food security in the country.”
Donor partners to the Private Sector Window of GAFSP are the governments of Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. This funding makes it possible for IFC to invest in riskier projects with strong potential to promote food security and reduce poverty.
Marcel Beukeboom, Head of Food and Nutrition Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands said, “IFC is financing this facility with support from the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands under GAFSP. Food security is depending on trade and investment. This support through IFC and GAFSP to rice importers in Liberia is securing food supply and economic activity for the longer run. It is very important to invest in this region at this very moment, hopefully more investments will follow.”
The World Bank Group is mobilizing $1 billion in financing for the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola crisis. This includes $518 million for the emergency response. The funding is helping Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone provide treatment and care, contain and prevent the spread of infections, help communities cope with the economic impact of the crisis, and improve public health systems. IFC aims to deliver at least $450 million in commercial financing that will enable trade, investment and employment in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About Nedbank
Nedbank’s participation in this facility is through its Global Commodity Finance business unit. The GCF team covers all aspects of commodities financing from procurement of raw commodities to production and consumption. The business finances mainly commodity-based transactions across Africa focusing primarily on agricultural commodities as well as energy and metals, by meeting the working capital requirements of borrowers across the value chain of exchange-tradable commodities. Our funding solutions include pre-export finance, borrowing base financing, collaterally managed agreements, renting credit facilities, payment undertakings, purchase letters of credit, confirmation and discounting of letters of credit and customized solutions.
IFC Global Warehouse Finance Program
IFC’s Global Warehouse Finance Program (“GWFP”), created in 2010, aims to increase working capital financing to farmers and agricultural players by leveraging their production. The program supports the agriculture sector by providing banks with liquidity or risk coverage backed by warehouse receipts or other inventory financing schemes, which are used to provide financing in the form of short term loans to producers and traders ahead of export. To date, IFC has financed US$5.1 billion commodity finance transactions in more than 20 countries. The program is expected to reach up to 241,000 farmers across emerging markets in all regions and contribute to food availability for 15 million people by 2017.
Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP)
The (GAFSP) is a multilateral mechanism to assist in the implementation of pledges made by the global community to support country-led investment plans. GAFSP Private Sector Window (PSW) plays a catalytic role by supporting private sector investment projects and promoting sustainable agriculture in developing countries. GAFSP aims to improve the livelihoods of SMEs and small hold farmers through sustainable solutions to improve access to finance and reduce risks in agriculture. GAFSP is funded by five donors including the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom through DFID, and the United States.
