The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is providing a three-year US$300mn revolving global credit facility to Export Trading Company (ETC), a subsidiary of Export Trading Group, to support its agricultural trade business across Africa.

The agreement will according to Afreximbank president Benedict Oramah “address some of the key bottlenecks faced by African agricultural exporters, particularly small and medium-scale enterprises operating in agro-processing and light manufacturing sub-sectors, in effectively competing in international trade and increasing their participation in regional and global agricultural value chains”.

ETC is an agricultural supply chain manager specialising in African commodities. By financing ETC’s activities, the idea is to help African farmers access new regional and international markets.

Oramah describes the firm as “a catalyst for the growth of intra-African trade”, noting that it is creating “strong and reliable agricultural value chains across Africa” by bringing agricultural produce from the farm gate to processing facilities and processed and manufactured goods to the market.

Specifically, the facility will fund the sourcing, processing and transportation of soft commodities of African origin, and support procurement of key agricultural inputs, such as fertiliser, seeds and other chemicals, which would be supplied across the continent.

The facility is provided as part of Afreximbank’s intra-African trade strategy, in which the bank commits to support the emergence and expansion of export trading companies as a quick way of accelerating the growth of intra-African trade.