The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has approved a €70 million loan to support crop processing in Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, marking its first major food-sector backing in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will target value chains for cashew, cocoa, and sesame. This is to help local producers process their crops further domestically rather than exporting raw materials.
According to the bank, the backing will support agribusiness companies that work directly with smallholder growers. The design is anticipated to ameliorate storage, processing capacity, and quality norms, allowing directors to capture further value before goods reach transnational requests.
Both Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria are major exporters of agrarian goods. Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s largest cocoa producer, while Nigeria ranks among Africa’s top producers of sesame and cashew. Still, a large share of these crops is packed abroad in raw form, limiting earnings from finished orsemi-processed products.
The EBRD said boosting original processing could produce jobs, strengthen supply chains, and reduce vulnerability to global price swings. It also aims to ameliorate access to finance for lower producers and agribusiness enterprises operating in pastoral areas.
Development economists have long argued that adding domestic processing is crucial to artificial growth in African husbandry, where commodity exports remain a primary source of foreign exchange.
The bank stated that further investments in agribusiness across the region are under review as part of its expanding operations inSub-Saharan Africa.