Accra, Sept. 24, Climate Watch – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced partnerships with Absa Bank Ghana Ltd and Ghanaian AgTech company Complete Farmer to expand agricultural finance, improve farmers’ access to inputs and markets, and support more sustainable and climate-resilient farming in Ghana.
The partnerships will deploy financing across different parts of the agricultural value chain, including a $50 million risk participation facility for cocoa financing through Absa Bank Ghana and a $2.4 million convertible loan to Complete Farmer to scale input financing and agronomy services for farmers. (IFC)
The arrangements also include advisory and grant support for Complete Farmer to strengthen its systems and capacity to expand farmer financing.
The initiative comes as Ghana’s agricultural sector faces the combined challenges of limited access to finance, changing climate conditions and the need to improve productivity and market access.
Financing a more resilient cocoa value chain
Under the IFC-Absa partnership, the $50 million unfunded risk participation facility will enable Absa Bank Ghana to extend up to $200 million in financing to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to purchase cocoa from farmers during the buying season. (IFC)
The facility, supported by the Private Sector Window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), will finance the purchase of traceable cocoa from farmers across Ghana.
It is expected to help sustain market access for more than 139,000 smallholder farmers.
The financing will also support more sustainable farming practices aligned with the Paris Agreement on climate change, bringing climate considerations into financing across the cocoa value chain. (IFC)
Cocoa is one of Ghana’s major export sectors, with nearly 800,000 registered cocoa farmers and millions of people depending on the industry for their livelihoods.
Edward Nartey Botchway, Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana, said the partnership would help protect reliable market access for farmers while supporting a more productive and sustainable cocoa value chain.
“Ghana’s cocoa sector carries thousands of farming households and anchors our export economy,” he said.
“Through this partnership with IFC, we are financing Licensed Buying Companies to purchase traceable cocoa across the buying season — protecting reliable market access for farmers.”
He said Absa’s financing and expertise would support a cocoa value chain that is productive, sustainable and resilient.
Technology meets agricultural finance
IFC is also partnering with Complete Farmer to address another challenge confronting smallholder farmers: access to finance for inputs and agricultural services.
The Ghanaian AgTech company’s digital platform connects farmers with buyers, financial institutions, input suppliers and agricultural service providers.
The partnership is expected to expand Complete Farmer’s support to 240,000 farmers by 2030, including by facilitating greater access to finance. (IFC)
Through the Business Investment Financing Track (BIFT) of GAFSP, IFC is providing Complete Farmer with a $2.4 million convertible loan to scale up financing for agricultural inputs and agronomy services.
The financing is complemented by advisory support to strengthen the company’s systems and capacity to expand farmer financing.
Desmond Koney, CEO of Complete Farmer, said the partnership would help address persistent financing constraints facing commercially oriented farmers.
“For us, this partnership is about making finance work better for farmers,” he said.
Mr Koney said Complete Farmer had invested in technology, data and market infrastructure to better understand farmers, support production and connect agricultural output to market demand.
He said the IFC partnership would allow the company to scale its input financing model and enable more farmers to obtain the resources and support required to grow sustainably and participate more meaningfully in agricultural markets.
Linking climate resilience to finance
For Ghana’s farmers, access to finance can influence their ability to obtain inputs, improve production systems and respond to changing conditions.
The IFC partnerships therefore bring together finance, technology and market access across different stages of the agricultural value chain.
Nathalie Kouassi Akon, IFC Division Director for West Africa Gulf of Guinea, said reliable access to finance, technology and markets could help agriculture create jobs and strengthen rural livelihoods.
“Ghana’s agricultural sector can create more jobs and strengthen rural livelihoods when farmers and businesses have reliable access to finance, technology, and markets,” she said.
“These partnerships address different gaps across the value chain, from financing cocoa purchases to helping farmers access inputs, services, finance, and buyers.”
She said the partnerships demonstrate how private investment can contribute to a more productive and resilient agricultural sector.
Scaling support for smallholder farmers
Complete Farmer currently has a network of more than 72,000 farmers and operates across eight regions in Ghana, supported by eight fulfilment centres. The company also has an active presence in Togo. (IFC)
Its digital agriculture model uses technology and data to connect farmers with resources, services and markets while helping buyers source agricultural produce.
The IFC-backed expansion is expected to widen this network and strengthen farmers’ connections to financial institutions.
The two partnerships also form part of the World Bank Group’s broader agriculture agenda in Ghana and the priorities of AgriConnect, which seek to mobilise private investment, strengthen food security and create jobs.
The initiatives reflect a growing role for private finance in addressing structural gaps within agricultural value chains, while linking investment in farming to sustainability and resilience.
For Ghana’s smallholder farmers, the intended outcome is not only greater access to capital, but stronger connections between finance, productive inputs, technology and markets—elements that can determine the ability of farming households and agricultural businesses to remain productive as environmental and economic pressures evolve.
The Private Sector Window of GAFSP, managed by IFC, provides blended-finance instruments including loans, credit guarantees, equity and technical assistance to private-sector companies and financial intermediaries working with smallholder-linked agribusinesses. (IFC)
This latest intervention positions agricultural finance as part of the broader effort to build more productive, sustainable and climate-resilient food systems in Ghana. (IFC)
Source: www.climatewatchonline.com
