Oragroup S.A.
On June 28, 2019, AATIF executed a EUR 20m senior debt facility with Oragroup S.A. (“Oragroup”) in Togo. The facility has a 12-month tenor and a renewal option at the end of the initial term. Oragroup is the holding company of the Orabank group of banks composed of seven subsidiaries present in Benin, Chad, Gabon, Guinea-Conakry, Togo, Mauritania and Cote d’Ivoire (with branches in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sénégal and Guinée-Bissau) and has a network of 139 branches and 1,811 employees.
AATIF’s loan shall be applied to finance agricultural export trade transactions. Oragroup focuses on inventory and pre-export financing for crops such as cocoa, cashew, cotton, sesame, shea nut and sugar. Oragroup targets mid-sized exporting corporates and co-operatives.
The facility from AATIF provides liquidity into the market as and when needed. Demands for liquidity peak during the harvesting periods and institutions like Oragroup are seeing liquidity become a scarce asset. At the same time, the household income of farmers can only be secured if off-takers and exporters have access to liquidity at that point in time. Providing liquidity to Oragroup therefore is a contribution to allow Western African businesses and farmers expand their practice and at the same time allow the African exports to be competitive in global markets.