AgDevCo, a London-based investor focused on African agribusiness, will receive USD 90 million in funding from the United Kingdom, United States, and Norway’s Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to boost Sub-Saharan agriculture.
AgDevCo, which invests in and offers technical support for sustainable and gender-balanced small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) across the agricultural chain, will receive money from the CDC Group, the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Norfund.
“Securing investment from CDC, Norfund, and DFC is a big milestone in AgDevCo’s history,” said Keith Palmer, the company’s founder and chairman. It’s a huge compliment to AgDevCo’s team and our endeavor.
He described the agreement as “recognition of the critical contribution that AgDevCo investments can make to productivity, sustainability, and inclusion in Africa” by the funders.
A further USD 5.4 million in technical assistance will be provided by CDC, Norfund, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in addition to this agreement.
Over the last ten years, CDC, which is set to rebrand as British International Investment in April, has funded AgDevCo.
Agriculture is “important for creating jobs, promoting gender equality, and assisting people to build a better life for themselves and their families,” according to CDC managing director for Africa Tenbite Ermias, who added that the investment “reflects our sustained focus on climate finance.”
CDC announced support for female-led enterprises and SMEs in Nigeria earlier this month.
The AgDevCo agreement came barely a week after the European Investment Bank launched a new wave of investment and pledged a renewed commitment to collaboration between Europe and Africa.
In January, the UK’s own Africa Funding Conference was held, with promises of green infrastructure investment.
AgDevCo “has increased sustainable agriculture across Sub-Saharan Africa over the last ten years, including deepening impact on smallholder farmers and SMEs,” according to UK Minister for Africa Vicky Ford.
Ellen Cathrine Rasmussen, Norfund executive vice president of scalable enterprises, said the DFI and AgDevCo shared a common goal of “creating jobs and improving lives by investing in firms that drive sustainable development.”
She went on to say, “A vibrant commercial African agriculture sector is critical for economic growth and employment creation.” “Agriculture employs more than half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population, but the continent does not produce enough food to feed itself.”
Norfund invested in solar energy projects in Kenya and West Africa last year.
Algene Sajery, DFC vice president of external affairs and global gender equity programmes, said the loan “would enable AgDevCo to link more farmers to markets and provide jobs for underprivileged people, with a focus on women farmers.”
