The amount allocated by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) will allow the Senegalese National Oilseed Marketing Company (SONACOS) to cover “about 45 percent of the needs” in the 2021-2022 marketing season.
In Senegal, the start of the groundnut marketing phase is scheduled for November 25. This year, the government has set a floor price of 250 CFA francs per kilogram of groundnuts.
In this country where agriculture contributes about 16 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has made 40 million euros (26 billion CFA francs) available to the Senegalese National Oilseed Marketing Company (SONACOS).
“This facility is dedicated to the post-Covid recovery of the Senegalese agricultural sector and is intended to finance part of the 2021-2022 groundnut season,” the financial institution said in a statement shared with APA on Wednesday.
Thanks to the support of ITFC, Sonacos will be able to buy “150,000 tonnes of peanuts from farmers and from this year’s harvest to be processed into peanut oil, livestock feed and food peanuts,” the source said.
During the signing of the agreement, Nazeem Noordali, Chief Operating Officer of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, said: “We believe in the growth of the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa and we are ready to support key players such as Sonacos on projects that bring financial value and also have a direct impact on agricultural and rural communities.”
For his part, Modou Diagne Fada, Director General of Sonacos, said that ITFC funding is “an indispensable resource and a fundamental step to ensure the success of the 2021-2022 groundnut marketing year in Senegal.”
During the previous crop year, Senegal’s revenue from groundnut exports amounted to €329.3 million, or 215 billion CFA francs.
ID/fss/abj/APA