Trade and Development Bank head Admassu Tadesse said financing agriculture is not as risky as is often perceived. “A key challenge of the sector is the understanding of the risks…We need blended finance for things that are riskier to be done,” said Wagner Albuquerque de Almeida, Global Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services at the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The experts urgedlenders to explore blended finance to help de-risk agricultural transactions, reduce transaction costs and attract private financing by improving the risk-return ratios. It will also strengthen agricultural value chains and improve food security across the continent. The Agri-food SME Catalytic Financing Mechanism aims to catalyze and de-risk investment for agriculture SMEs. The session, titled, Closing the Financing Gap was moderated by Alan Kasujja, Presenter, BBC World Service.Īt the summit, the African Development Bank Group and the Government of Canada announced the establishment of a new special fund to support Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector. The discussions come in the wake of supply chain disruptions as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, high commodity prices that have led to increased food and nutrition insecurity.

Global experts meeting during a panel session at the second international summit on food production in Dakar ( ) called for accelerated avenues to close the financial gap in agriculture and address barriers to the growing finance market for agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, February 10, 2023/APO Group/.

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