IFC is lending $36.5 million to agribusiness company BIDCO to support expansion of the company’s consumer goods operations into new market categories and create more...

When considering challenges faced by farmers in the Caribbean – of which there are many – it is important to appreciate first the breadth of the region, says Niko...

With the vast ocean of financing required in African agriculture, banks alone – at least in the current climate – are insufficient. The same was true of Brazil and the...

Most weather-index insurance pilot projects in Africa fail within three years because of inadequate budgets that don’t allow for scale, weather-station maintenance or...

Equity Group Foundation is targeting Kenya’s under-served mid-sized farmers with a new training programme that seeks to provide them with key business skills. The...

Developing internal trade corridors for agriculture in Africa and removing obstacles to formal trade will help farmers benefit from rapidly rising food demand in African...

Key innovations and technologies are helping to drive change across Africa’s agricultural value chains, from mobile payment systems to centralised information registries....

“Africa requires $21 billion over the next 10 years to fill the finance gap in agricultural financing,” remarks Jean-Louis Ekra, president of African Export-Import Bank...

At the 2nd African Continental Briefing at the Fin4Ag conference in Nairobi, participants discussed how to strengthen value chains, build trust and help the public sector...

Haiti has found itself at the forefront of agricultural microfinance with an initiative that is shaking up misconceptions about the bankability of smallholder famers and...

Despite having nearly 20% of the world’s cultivated land, Africa’s share of the global agricultural market measured by insurance premiums paid is smaller than 1%,...

Value chains like livestock and dairy face a unique set of challenges, giving them a reputation as being higher risk than those for soft commodities like grains.

In a landmark development for agri-trade in Eastern Africa, the commodity-focused East Africa Exchange (EAX) has been officially launched. The regional commodity exchange...

Governments in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries have a huge responsibility to support agriculture, which in many cases employs more than half the population and...

The love affair between banks and traders is sometimes resented by producers, who struggle to access bank finance directly. But traders are the arteries and veins of...

One of the biggest challenges small farmers face when they try to access finance is that they are an unknown risk. More farmers in African, Caribbean and Pacific...

Warehouse receipt finance is spreading fast, giving smaller traders and bigger farmers or cooperatives the chance to tap finance immediately while they protect their...

Development finance institutions (DFIs) have of course always led the charge in sweetening deals in emerging markets – using their own liquidity, quasi-sovereign rating...

African banks are taking the lead in financing the continent’s farmers, traders and soft commodities. With more local money in the system, they are also reaching further...

Now in its 21st year, the annual pre-export financing of Ghana’s cocoa harvest is an example of how African agriculture really can attract big international banks – and...