Morocco’s Banque Atlantique has contributed to the funding of Mali Shi, the first shea butter processing plant in Mali, for a total amount of 2.755 billion CFA francs.
A statement shared with APA on Friday indicates that Banque Atlantique, a subsidiary of the Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) group of Morocco, took part in the financing, together with the Omnium Invest SA and Endeavor Mining companies.
Mali Shi is involved in the collection and processing of shea nuts into butter.
The official inauguration ceremony took place on March 11, 2021 under the chairmanship of Mr. Harouna Niang.
With a production capacity of 14,000 tonnes of butter per year, the plant expects an annual turnover of more than $16.8 million (9.2 billion CFA francs) as well as the creation of 128 direct jobs and 120,000 indirect, mainly targeting nut collecting rural women.
Through this financing to the tune of 1.981 billion CFA francs, Banque Atlantique is providing support to the Malian agricultural sector, and in particular to the shea value chain, as part of a global approach to support structuring projects in strong social impact, in line with the solidarity and civic commitment of the BCP Group, the statement explains.
With a production of over 200,000 tonnes per year, Mali is the second largest producer of shea butter in the world.
The country also supplies nearly 20 percent of the world supply of shea kernels.
PIG/ls/fss/as/APA