Africa-focused commodity trade and logistics company ETG Group has renewed and upsized a sustainability-linked loan from an expanded group of development lenders.
The US$600mn syndicated deal was co-arranged by Dutch development lender FMO and the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), according to a joint statement from ETG and the lenders. It was originally signed in 2024 at US$394mn.
The facility was expanded thanks to a bigger commitment from FinDev Canada, as well as five new participating development lenders: the Asian Development Bank, Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Finnfund, Impact Fund Denmark and Austria’s OeEB.
The other lenders on the deal are: German development finance institution DEG, the OPEC Fund for International Development, Proparco, FMO Investment Management and ILX Fund, a fund focused on emerging markets.
The proceeds of the facility will help fund Mauritius-headquartered ETG’s operations across Africa and Asia. The firm processes, exports and trades soft commodities and agricultural inputs, while also providing logistics assets and supply chain management services.
A key aim of the loan for the development lenders is to help smallholder African farmers access finance and inputs, as well as reach global markets.
“Agriculture employs millions of people across Africa, but too much value is lost when farmers lack access to logistics, financing and markets,” said Søren Peter Andreasen, Impact Fund Denmark’s deputy chief executive.
The facility is structured to give ETG an interest discount if it reaches targets on emissions reduction, a deforestation-free supply chain, extending services to farmers and gender-oriented support services to women farmers, according to FMO.
ETG “has so far exceeded several of its impact objectives” contained in the deal, the statement said.
In 2024, ETG also signed a US$115mn sustainability-linked loan with a group of commercial banks, led by SMBC.
