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Agriculture Fast Track Fund Opens Bidding From African Entrepreneurs

Agriculture Fast Track Fund Opens Bidding From African Entrepreneurs

From BusinessDay

Agriculture Fast Track (AFT) Fund, a new pool set up by the U.S., Sweden and the Africa Development Fund (AfDB), has started taking applications from agribusiness operators to enable them improve their infrastructure profile and attract more financing from lenders.

The $25 million AFT fund provides grant funds up to $1.5 million for project development costs such as feasibility studies, market research, financial modeling, business plan development, and environmental and social impact studies.

“If you are in the agriculture business and qualify, then we want to hear from you!” said Josephine Mwangi,  AfDB’s agriculture and agro-industry department manager.

The fund will serve members of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition launched by President Barack Obama at the 2012 G-8 Summit. They include Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania.

USAID committed $15 million to the fund. The government of Sweden pledged $10 million. It will be managed by the African Development Bank.

The Fund’s main objective is to reduce the infrastructure deficiency in the agriculture sector by developing a pipeline of projects that are attractive to Development Finance Institutions and can engage the private sector as project sponsors.

By offering entrepreneurs an opportunity to transform their good ideas into bankable investments, AFT aims to attract financiers by ensuring that the grantees present low-risk profitable investments.