Press release -
Swedfund supports local food processing and smallholder farmers in Africa
Swedfund supports increased local processing capacity in African through a working capital loan of up to USD 15 million to Robust International (Robust). The loan is part of a joint initiative together with the Dutch, British and French development finance institutions and the Dutch fund manager ILX.
The loan will enable Robust to source local commodities to new processing facilities and thereby spur job creation, economic growth and trade. The company will buy sesame seeds and cashew nuts directly from cooperatives, aggregators and farmers locally to support operations at its new processing facilities in Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique and Burkina Faso.
— Africa exports many agricultural products for processing and refining. Robust now takes the step to do this locally instead, leading to job creation, development of the local supply chains, increased capacity and lower emissions. Robust has a strong focus on human rights and decent conditions for workers and farmers in their supply chain. Through the working capital facility, we offer funding where local banks are not able to, says Sofia Gedeon, Head of Sustainable Enterprises and Food Systems, Swedfund.
Robust is a multi-national trader of agricultural commodities, specialising in sesame seeds and cashew nuts, sourcing primarily from East and West Africa. Swedfund now joins FMO (the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), British International Investment (BII), Proparco and ILX, the Dutch fund manager, to further support the development of enhanced local processing. The total working capital facility amounts to up to USD 105 million.
Topics
Categories
About Swedfund
Swedfund is Sweden’s development finance institution with the mission to reduce poverty through sustainable investments in developing countries. Swedfund plays an important role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate. Swedfund shares the same goal as development cooperation in general, but the tools Swedfund uses are different. Swedfund has two instruments to fulfil its mission: sustainable investments in the private sector and technical feasibility studies through the Project Accelerator targeting the public sector.
Swedfund's investments contribute to the creation of decent jobs and increased access to essential products and services such as electricity and food. Swedfund is a long-term investor and is additional and catalytic through its investments and by mobilising private capital. Swedfund's feasibility studies support sustainable public infrastructure development, trade, and export opportunities for Swedish solutions.
We are part of Swedish development cooperation, and we measure and report all our results. As a state-owned company, Swedfund is managed by the Ministry of Finance and financed through portfolio reflows and annual capital injections for which the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible.
For more information: please visit www.swedfund.se/en
