Agribusiness is a vital sector in the global economy, both in terms of production and employment. The ACP countries are no exception to this. In the era of the Sustainable Development Goals, food security and decent jobs are priorities, and the EIB is supporting both of these by investing in agribusiness.
At this workshop in our Brussels office on Wednesday 19 October, we explored several different ways we can provide finance for agriculture projects, through support for value chains as well as equity investments in microfinance institutions which lend to small producer businesses on the ground.
We heard from Eva Krampe, Agricultural Economist at the EIB and Pascal Auger, Secretary General of the Compagnie Agricole de Saint-Louis du Sénégal, on his company’s innovative and ground-breaking River Valley Rice project. Also the National Bank of Malawi’s Agristorage Facility and the FEFISOL Microfinance Fund were presented respectively by Adam Gross of USAID and Jean-Marc Debricon, FEFISOL board member.