The African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) is saddened to receive news of the passing of Mrs. Jema Hillal on 11/7/2021. Mrs. Hillal was the Senior Agribusiness Manager at CRDB Bank Plc (Tanzania) and was a very active member of the AFRACA Network who shared her expertise with other members on rural and agricultural finance. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time. Her absence will really be felt by the Association....
Handmade canoes propelled by paddles or sail power depict the typical equipment features of the artisanal fisherfolk plying the Kenyan coast. Only a few fisherfolk have motorized boats enabling them to take the opportunities offered by offshore fishing. Majority of artisanal fisherfolk are disempowered and unable to access any of the largely untapped offshore pelagic resources. To address this, AFRACA and FAO collaborate to support provision of ‘Technical services in the development of credit programmes to finance private sector innovation...
AFRACA congratulates Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, MD & CEO Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) who recently was recognized as one of the Best Global CEOs according to the CEO Today Magazine Global Awards. NIRSAL plc is a non-bank financial institution formed in 2023 to derisk agriculture, fix broken agricultural value chain, institutionalize incentives for agricultural lending and stimulate flow of finance and investment into the agricultural value chains. Some of the innovative and sustainable solutions in agriculture by...
The African Rural and Agricultural Association (AFRACA) is saddened to announce the passing of Mr. Gilead Musinga who died on 25th June 2021 after a short illness. Mr. Musinga was the Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Marketing Department at the National Savings and Credit Bank (NATSAVE). Mr. Musinga was an active member of the AFRACA network who played a key role in our major activities/programmes as well as shared his extensive knowledge on rural and agricultural finance. We will miss him dearly at AFRACA...
Le financement à long terme (LT) est essentiel pour guider les investissements dans le renforcement des infrastructures et des capacités agro-industrielles, des technologies améliorées et des équipements pour rendre l’agriculture plus productive, efficace, rentable et résiliente. Cependant, le financement à long terme aux PME et aux petits exploitants agricoles est plus limité que le financement court terme (CT) traditionnel des cultures, de la pêche et de l’élevage, ainsi que le financement LT pour les PME dans d’autres secteurs. Le déficit...
The African Rural and Agricultural Association (AFRACA) has formed an Impact Task Force to deliberate on specific indicators that will be used by the Association to measure the impact of its members lending activities to rural smallholder farmers in Africa. The three-year initiative was launched during the 21st AFRACA General Assembly held in February 2021 in which members collectively agreed to develop a Financial Indicator Framework and a single database of members credit data that will assist regulators and key industry...
The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agriculture Lending (NIRSAL Plc) has secured N5Billion from Providus Bank to enable it increase lending to rural small holder farmers. NIRSAL is a non-bank financial institution formed in 2023 to raise commercial bank agriculture lending with an aim to reduce agribusiness related credit risks, fix broken value chains and stimulate flow of finance along the value chain. NIRSAL has developed innovative models that offer sustainable solutions for agricultural financing Agro Geo-Cooperative Model: The finance industry...
The African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) in partnership with the Central Bank of Congo recently held a one-week Training of Trainers workshop on Agricultural Value Chain Financing (AgVCF) at Serena Lake Kivu Hotel in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The training enabled staff from different financial institutions in DRC, Burundi and Burkina Faso who are AFRACA members to gain knowledge on AgVCF, reducing risks while lending along the value chain, product financing instruments, ICT’s role in AgVC financing...
Long-Term (LT) finance is critical for investments in building infrastructure and agribusiness capacity, improved technologies, and equipment to make agriculture more productive, efficient, profitable, and resilient. However, LT financing for SMEs and farmers in the agriculture sector is more constrained than traditional short-term (ST) crop financing, fish & livestock as well as LT financing for SMEs in other sectors. The significant financing gap is caused by a combination of supply and effective demand issues inherent in the agriculture sector as...
The Government of Kenya is implementing its Warehouse Receipt System, a move applauded by different stakeholders as a solution to address some of the challenges faced by smallholder farmers as a result of unstructured markets and gaps along the value chain which reduce farmers’ income. The Warehouse Receipt System is a process whereby producers or dealers deposit their commodities in certified warehouses and are issued with a warehouse receipt as proof of ownership to curb loopholes along the value chain,...
