Vice-President Vigliotti highlights EIB support for agricultural development at FAO World Food Forum and unveils new financing for Sub-Saharan Africa’s private sector

• EIB Vice-President Vigliotti underlines the bank’s global support for sustainable and resilient food systems, with a focus on developing countries
• EIB lends $110 million to ETC Group to modernize processing plants, storage and transport infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa
• The investment will strengthen agricultural competitiveness, climate resilience, and livelihoods for smallholders

At the World Food Forum in Rome, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti reaffirmed during her keynote speech the bank’s commitment to strengthening agriculture worldwide, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

“Agriculture is at the heart of global development,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti. “The way we produce, distribute, and finance food will determine not only food security but also climate resilience, economic growth, and the livelihoods of millions of people. The EIB plays a key role to support this transformation.”

Since 1965, when the EIB approved its first loan to support agriculture outside Europe, the Bank has financed more than 3,000 agricultural projects beyond the EU, for a total of over €85 billion — with more than 80% of this volume committed in the past decade, reflecting the Bank’s growing focus on agricultural development and food security.

This approach is reinforced through close cooperation with Rome-based UN agencies - FAO, IFAD, and WFP. Joint projects blend financial capacity with technical expertise, ensuring impact even in fragile and low-capacity contexts. For example, a landmark €500 million loan to IFAD, is already scaling rural development and food security in over 70 countries across geographies, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, at the Financing for Development (FfD4) summit in Seville in July, the EIB also deepened its collaboration with FAO and WFP through new Memorandum of Understanding.

EIB lends $110 million to ETC Group (ETG) to strengthen agricultural development across Sub-Saharan Africa.

On the margins of the World Food Forum, Vice-President Vigliotti signed a major financing agreement with ETG, one of Africa’s leading agribusiness supply chain players. The $110 million loan will support modernisation of processing plants of commodities such as cashew and soy, as well as essential, storage, and transport infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, including in Mozambique, Malawi, Benin, Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda. The project also supports ETG’s Farmer Extension Services (FES) program that is in line with its long-standing commitment towards promoting sustainable agriculture. These include training and technical assistance programs to support technology and knowledge transfer to smallholder farmers, as well as community-based initiatives to help farmers improve yields and adopt sustainable practices.

The initiative stands as one of the largest EIB Global financing operations for the private sector in Africa in recent years and reflects the bank’s ambition to build long-term partnerships that boost competitiveness, foster climate resilience, and improve livelihoods across the continent.

“This partnership with ETG shows how targeted private-sector engagement, supported by EIB Global, can deliver real change,” added EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti. “By unlocking sustainable investment, we are helping smallholder farmers and rural communities build a more resilient future.”

Paul van Spaendonk, ETG Chief Treasury Officer, welcomed the new agreement: “This significant financing will accelerate our efforts to enhance agricultural competitiveness and food security across Sub-Saharan Africa. With this facility, we can drive impactful projects of varying sizes under a single umbrella, reaching more communities, more quickly.”

Background information

About EIB Global

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives.  

EIB Global is the EIB Group’s specialised arm devoted to increasing the impact of international partnerships and development finance, and a key partner of Global Gateway. EIB Global aims to support €100 billion of investment by the end of 2027 — around one-third of the overall target of this EU initiative. Within Team Europe, EIB Global fosters strong, focused partnerships alongside fellow development finance institutions and civil society. EIB Global brings the EIB Group closer to people, companies and institutions through offices across the world. High-quality, up-to-date photos of the organisation’s headquarters for media use are available here.

About ETG

ETG has developed into a global player with a presence in more than 45 countries, spanning 6 continents.  The Group has a diverse portfolio of expertise across various industries, encompassing agricultural inputs, chemicals, logistics, processing, food and food ingredients, energy, metals, technology and supply chain optimization. Over 9 000 employees contribute every day to achieve its vision and purpose, and live its values of Respect, Integrity, Pursuit of Excellence, Leadership and Meritocracy. ETG’s verticals are structured in a manner to emphasize focus and optimize strategic growth opportunities.  ETG adapts and grows responsibly as a diversified enterprise, creating a sustainable future for all its stakeholders.