FinDev Canada’s ETG investment will support African farmers to help reduce global food insecurity.
FinDev Canada is providing a five-year fully amortized term loan of up to $55 million to ETG, an agribusiness that plays a key role in increasing the availability of food staples globally by connecting smallholder African farmers to international markets.
Since establishment in Kenya in 1967, ETG has grown into a global conglomerate. The Group empowers farming communities through the distribution of quality Fertilizer and Agricultural Inputs to optimize yields, through its network of strategically placed distribution centers and storage facilities, logistical solutions and creating local and international markets for their produce. With the support of its foundations, ETG developed numerous initiatives developed to uplift farming communities and is a key player in the Sustain Africa program, which supports quality input products, such as fertilizer, as a necessary step toward food security.
“This loan is a real opportunity for FinDev Canada to contribute towards food security in a moment when different global challenges have had a severe impact in food supplies,” said Paulo Martelli, Chief Investment Officer of FinDev Canada. “In addition, this provides an opportunity for future engagements and increases FinDev Canada’s impact across the African content.”
Anish Jain, ETG’s Chief Treasury Officer commented: “One of ETG’s top priorities is to play an active role in establishing food security in Africa. We remain passionate and committed to uplifting farming communities through the provision of quality inputs, agronomy support, training and development on smart agriculture techniques and to implement value addition through processing locally. We are extremely grateful to FinDev Canada for providing us with another facility to increase our efforts. We have built a strong relationship with the institution and look forward to creating positive impact with their support.”
FinDev Canada is already a lender to ETG, who has since developed a gender action policy to be finalized early this year and is working to improve women’s economic empowerment, which is a key priority for FinDev Canada.
ETG also supports Sustain Africa, an emergency response and resilience initiative to improve availability, affordability and effective and sustainable use of fertilizers while avoiding market distortion, founded by AFAP, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rabobank and International Fertilizer Association with the support of AGRA.
Through this investment, FinDev Canada becomes the first development finance institution officially recognized as a supporter of Sustain Africa.
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