The Moroccan OCP Group and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have concluded a financing agreement worth $ 100 million.
The funding is intended to support OCP Group’s efforts to consolidate its value chains in Africa and to promote the emergence of sustainable food systems in the region.
According to a statement from the OCP Group, the partnership will strengthen OCP’s supply chain and improve the availability of fertilizers adapted to the soils and crops in Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania.
The funds will also be used to develop new support programs for local farmers.
In addition to this funding, the two partners have also launched joint projects in the areas of improving corporate governance and promoting gender diversity, the same statement said.
Quoted in the release, OCP Group Chairman and CEO Mostafa Terrab said “the agreement signed today is a testimony to the common values and high level of trust that our institutions share. We are fully committed to generating sustainable and inclusive growth, while maximizing the potential of phosphate resources|.
“Through this new agreement, we will be able to support more crops, more farmers, more communities, and more ecosystems, to better feed the planet. This is another step towards our common goal of developing sustainable agriculture in Africa, which will enable the continent to play its full role in global food security,” he added.
For his part, the Director General of IFC, Makhtar Diop said that this partnership with OCP is part of IFC’s strategy to promote regional integration through support for the development of a Moroccan champion in sub-Saharan Africa, which will create jobs and encourage technology transfer.
He said the partnership will enable small-scale producers to access climate-smart agricultural practices, which will enable them to improve their productivity and thus their livelihoods. It will also enable local communities to be more resilient to the effects of climate change.
OCP Group, which employs over 21,000 people, is one of the country’s largest companies and the world’s largest exporter of phosphate.
The agreement builds on two previous partnerships, one to strengthen the rice sector in Cote d’Ivoire and the millet sector in Senegal, and the other to support OCP in achieving the world’s leading corporate certification for gender diversity – EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality).
IFC is committed to alleviating poverty and creating opportunities in Africa while helping the region overcome the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis.
HA/fss/as/APA