New financing is being put in place to ensure food security in Africa. The IFC (International Finance Corporation) and the OCP Group (Office Chérifien des Phosphates) are launching a new financing platform for the agricultural sector which will deploy 800 million US dollars to build sustainable food systems in Africa. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and of the International Monetary Fund, whose proceedings continue in Marrakech until October 15. This is a platform that will contribute to skills development, job creation, and food security. In detail, thanks to financing and professional training, the new platform will make it possible to strengthen 30 agricultural value chains in Africa. Sixty financing operations are planned. These operations cover different types of crops and aim to address the challenges that are hampering the growth and resilience of the sector. This is because agriculture is vital to the African economy. It contributes to around 20% of the continent’s GDP and represents more than 60% of its jobs. However, Africa today still imports a large part of its food products, which reduces its resistance to external shocks.
In the continent, food sovereignty is increasingly taken into account. It depends on smallholder farmers from a food security perspective. It is also a sector which concentrates most jobs on the continent, and African youth, numerous and talented, offer new prospects to better make the most of the enormous potential of Africa, which can transform itself into the breadbasket of the world. The targeted investment strategy for the new agricultural financing platform of OCP and the IFC will thus support the sustainable growth of the sector and increase food security across the continent. “Today, we are taking a major step towards an equitable African agricultural transformation, by mobilizing major new financing for African farmers and for the value chains that support them”, underlines Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of the OCP Group. “This partnership between the IFC and the OCP Group aims to unlock the full potential of Africa so that it can feed itself and the world.”. Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of the IFC, says something along the same lines. “Agriculture is an essential sector for Africa. Intensifying our partnership with the OCP Group aims to improve food production and attract investments to the continent”, declares Makhtar Diop. “The IFC and the OCP Group will provide the resources that will allow the platform to be developed. We invite like-minded partners and investors to participate in this important and timely project”.
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