IN THE FIELD
Since 2014, the OPEC Fund has committed approximately US$250m
to cotton-related trade in Burkina Faso
PHOTO: Sunshine Seeds/
Shutterstock.com
SUPPORTING COTTON INDUSTRIES IN AFRICA
The OPEC Fund and ITFC have co-financed cotton-related trade in Burkina Faso since 2014, with approximately US$250 million in commitments from the OPEC Fund. In Burkina Faso, cotton is the major cash crop for local farmers and a vital source of foreign exchange and employment. With an estimated 575,000 ha of land harvested each year, the country is one of the largest producers of cotton in Africa and the sixth largest cotton exporter in the world. It accounts for about three percent of the country’s GDP and around 18 percent of exports. It is also a vital source of foreign exchange and employment. Cotton is also one of Cameroon’s
main exports. The OPEC Fund has participated in six ITFC-led transactions supporting the country’s cotton sector. The interventions helped 500,000 farmers directly
– and far more indirectly – by enabling the government to provide agricultural inputs and ensure timely payments at harvest time. Recently, the OPEC Fund signed
an agreement to participate with ¤31 million in a syndicated Murabaha trade financing operation in favor of Cameroon. The facility will be used by the government’s Société de Developpement du Coton (Sodecoton) to finance the purchase of agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers and seeds as well as seed cotton to be processed into cotton fiber. The resulting products will be exported through international commodity traders.
ARAB-AFRICA TRADE BRIDGES PROGRAM
In 2017, the OPEC Fund extended a grant to support the establishment of the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program. The AATB is a multi-donor, multi-country and multi-organization program, formed with the objective of promoting trade and investment flows between African and Arab member countries; providing and supporting trade finance and export credit insurance; and enhancing capacity-building tools relating to trade. The program focuses on the key sectors of: agriculture and related industries, including textiles; the health industry, including pharmaceuticals; infrastructure and transport; and petrochemicals, construction material and technology.
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PHOTO: Gilles Paire/
Shutterstock.com
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