📋 Tender Overview
PCN Approval: 1 7 June 2022
Appraisal Mission : 10 - 19 August 2022
Planned Board Presentation : 0 7 November 2022
Effectiveness : 31 December 2022
Projec t Implem entatio n Pe r i od: 1 s t J anuary 2023 – 31 December 2025
lanned Mid - te rm Review : 1 - 30 September 2024
Project Closing Date : 31 December 2025
Scope : African Development Fund approves a grant of 6.4 million USD to increase access to finance for agricultural value chain entrepreneurs
The project will increase access to loans from financial institutions for agricultural value chain stakeholders. It will mobilize resources to promote private investment in agricultural value chains and sustainably transform Gambian agriculture.
The project, which will run from 2023-2025, will also expand financial institutions' access to risk mitigation instruments with a view to attracting more investments to the agricultural sector. These institutions will improve their knowledge of the agricultural sector and strengthen their skills in the analysis, financing and portfolio management of agricultural projects. Furthermore, agricultural value chain entrepreneurs will strengthen their skills in financial and credit risk management and climate risk management.
The project is expected to provide beneficiaries financing that is tailored to their needs, boosting their productivity and strengthening their resilience to climate change. In turn, this will drive agricultural growth, increase exports, and enhance food and nutrition security. The modernization of agricultural value chains for inclusive growth is the only priority area identified in the Bank's 2021-2025 Country Strategy Paper for The Gambia.
All agricultural sector projects will benefit from the risk-sharing mechanism that will be established under the project.
Gambian agriculture receives only about 4% of total financing to industry, and at high interest rates and without adequate collateral. The effects of climate change have made the sector less competitive, thus reducing the volume of loans available to farmers and agribusinesses. This is compounded by the informal structure of agricultural value chain stakeholders, the low level of mechanization, and the predominance of rain-fed farming, which is highly vulnerable to climate change. Access to finance remains a challenge for agricultural value chain entrepreneurs, mainly due to the lack of relevant risk mitigation instruments and innovative products.
The Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending Establishment Project will contribute to the achievement of strategic priorities to stabilize the economy, stimulate growth and transform the economy
It will also help to modernize agriculture and fisheries with a view to ensuring sustained economic growth as well as food and nutrition security for poverty reduction. It will strengthen the role of the private sector as the engine of growth, transformation and job creation in The Gam
