Bamako, Mali, 18 February 2021 – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, announced the recent disbursement of a loan to the Centre d’Etude et de Développement Industriel et Agricole du Mali (CEDIAM), Mali’s largest mango processing industry. The financing is intended to support the company’s development, which will improve producers’ access to markets, and increase its production and exports.
IFC’s loan aims to help CEDIAM modernise its production facilities and acquire the equipment needed to increase its mango collection capacity. It will also enable the company to connect up to 1,000 additional small producers to its already strong supply chain of 2,000 farmers and support 300 direct and indirect jobs.
The financing, of up to €2 million, consists of a loan from IFC on its own account and a concessional loan from IFC in its capacity as manager of the Private Sector Window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), each for up to €1 million.
The loan, which will also provide CEDIAM with permanent working capital, will enable the company to increase its exports of mango puree and concentrate to Europe and other markets. In addition, IFC will implement a technical assistance programme to help CEDIAM strengthen its corporate governance, financial management and environmental and social risk management practices.
Farmers will receive direct support in the form of training to improve their farming practices – not only in mango cultivation, but also in intercropping – and increase their incomes. This technical assistance programme is co-financed by GAFSP.
« This partnership will help our business become more modern, sustainable and profitable. It will increase local mango production and processing in Mali, and will benefit all actors in the value chain, » said Diadié Sankaré, President of CEDIAM. « This cooperation will also strengthen our capacities and enable us to meet the standards of the international market. »
« The partnership between IFC and CEDIAM will create jobs and strengthen Mali’s agricultural sector, an important sector that contributes significantly to employment and the country’s GDP. The project also highlights how IFC and the World Bank are working together to support the resilience of the private sector in the Sahel region, particularly in the face of the major challenges imposed on markets by the COVID-19 pandemic, » said Aliou Maiga, IFC’s director for West and Central Africa.
IFC’s support is part of the joint World Bank-IFC action plan for agribusiness in Mali, which aims to support partnerships between small farmers and agribusiness actors. The projects financed by the World Bank, through the Project to Support Agribusiness Competitiveness in Mali (PACAM), aim to address infrastructure challenges through the rehabilitation of rural roads and the construction of collection centres.
The $30 million PACAM programme has already rehabilitated 300 kilometres of rural roads in the mango-producing areas of Mali and conducted campaigns to improve the quality of mangoes for export.
« The development of CEDIAM and improving the international competitiveness of Malian mangoes will create more opportunities and income for Malian farmers, a concrete example of how the World Bank Group is working to create markets and strengthen local economies in the country, » added Soukeyna Kane, the World Bank’s director of operations for Mali.
The investment was supported on the ground with technical support and funding from IFC’s Fragile and Conflict Countries (FCS) program in Africa and its African Conflict Affected States Initiative (CASA), implemented in collaboration with Ireland, the Netherlands and Norvège.
