AfDB Signs Pact To Boost Fertilizer

The African Development Bank and the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership have signed two grant agreements for the implementation of fertilizer trade credit guarantee projects in Nigeria and Tanzania.

The signing was held on the sidelines of the African Green Revolution Forum 2019 in Accra, Ghana on Thursday, September 5.

According to a statement, the agreement gave official backing to the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism trade credit guarantee projects in Nigeria and Tanzania.

It added that the AFAP would be the implementing partner operating in the two countries on behalf of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism, a special fund administered by the AfDB to unlock the financing of the fertilizer value chain in Africa.

The statement read in part, “Under a two-year implementation plan, the projects will lead to the enhancement of Tanzania’s and Nigeria’s fertilizer importation and distribution capacity and will target 10 importers, five blenders/manufacturers, and 37 hub agro-dealers as direct beneficiaries, 520 retail agro-dealers as indirect beneficiaries and 700,000 smallholder farmers as final beneficiaries.”

It stated that the projects would also contribute to achieving the objectives of the bank’s Feed Africa strategy in the two countries by increasing agricultural productivity and food security.