Singapore, October 9, 2024 – IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Absa Group Limited, a South Africa based bank, acting through its Corporate and Investment Banking division (Absa), will provide a commodity trade finance facility to Singapore-based Valency International Pte Ltd, a key player in Africa’s agricultural commodities market, to support the company’s pre-export of agricultural commodities in West and East Africa.
The US$50 million facility will provide Valency with working capital for the purchase of agricultural commodities including cashew nuts, sesame seeds, shea nuts, ginger, and soya beans. These products will be sourced from Valency’s network of an estimated 150,000 smallholder farmers and local traders in Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania. An estimated 80 percent of Africa’s farmland is managed by smallholder farmers and agriculture is an industry on which they rely for jobs and livelihoods. However, many smallholder farmers lack access to financing.
Absa and IFC will each commit US$25 million to the facility, which will allow Valency, through its procurement activities, to provide much-needed working capital financing to cooperatives and local buying agents to support sourcing from smallholder farmers, which in turn provides the farmers better access to the market. IFC’s investment is part of the Global Warehouse Finance Program envelope of IFC’s US $1 billion Africa Trade and Supply Chain Recovery Initiative, which is supported by the IDA Private Sector Window.
“As one of the largest global investors in agribusiness in Africa, IFC sees a tremendous opportunity to support economic growth and job creation in this critical industry,” said Sérgio Pimenta, IFC’s Vice President for Africa. “We are pleased to work with Absa and Valency to help ensure that farmers across the region are better integrated into the marketplace and have the opportunity to grow and thrive.”
“IFC and Valency share our strategic vision of supporting Africa's growth and development,” said Tshimbi Ntuli, Head of Structured Trade and Commodity Finance for Absa’s Regional Operations at Absa Corporate and Investment Banking. “At Absa, we believe that partnerships like these are crucial in driving the continent’s economic transformation and are excited to collaborate with the IFC and Valency to drive sustainable impact in the African agricultural sector. Together, we are making a meaningful impact on the continent’s agricultural sector and the communities we serve.”
“Valency is excited to work with partners like IFC and Absa as we continue to develop the West and East Africa agricultural sectors,” said Sumit Jain, Valency’s Group Chief Executive Officer. “This facility will enable us to engage more directly with thousands of farmers, further integrating them into the value chain and bringing their produce to more markets.”
About IFC
IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2024, IFC committed a record $56 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging private sector solutions and mobilizing private capital to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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About Absa Group Limited
Absa Group Limited (‘Absa Group’) is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups.
Absa Group offers an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance.
Absa Group owns majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (Absa Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia and has insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. Absa also has offices in China, Namibia, Nigeria and the United States, as well as securities entities in the United Kingdom and the United States, along with technology support colleagues in the Czech Republic.
For further information about Absa Group Limited, visit www.absa.africa.
About the IDA Private Sector Window
The International Development Association’s (IDA) Private Sector Window was launched in 2017 to catalyze private sector investment in the poorest and most fragile countries. Recognizing the key role of the private sector in achieving IDA’s objectives and the World Bank Group’s vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet, the window provides a source of co-investment funding and guarantees to de-risk private investments supported by IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The IDA PSW is an option when there is no commercial solution, and the World Bank Group’s other tools and approaches are insufficient. For more information, visit: http://ida.worldbank.org/psw.
About Valency
Valency International is a Singapore headquartered food ingredient supplier with a highly differentiated product portfolio across 21 product categories. Valency has strategic equity investment from British Internationally Investments (BII), the development finance arm of the Government of UK.
Founded in 2007, Valency has established a sizeable global presence, with offices and operations in 40 countries and a passionate team of more than 3,000 people. Valency operates across agricultural commodities, processed Agri products, Agri Inputs, Industrial Chemicals and FMCG food products. Valency's efforts in building a sustainable supply chain for agri-products has been widely recognised and awarded at industry forums.
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