AATIF invests EUR 20m in Oragroup S.A., a Pan-African banking group with focus on the ECOWAS region
PRESS RELEASE
On June 28th 2019, AATIF signed a EUR 20m facility agreement with Oragroup S.A. to increase its agriculture loan portfolio, especially in trade finance.
ORAGROUP S.A. is a Pan-African banking group with focus on the ECOWAS region which is majority-owned by Emerging Capital Partners (“ECP”), one of the oldest and largest private equity investors with an Africa focus. The group offers financial services in 12 countries and has 1,857 employees across 149 branches as of December 2018. One of the predecessor entities (Financial Bank) was founded in 1988 in Benin and the group has since grown both via internal and external growth, rebranding to Orabank in 2011. The group offers services such as retail banking, corporate banking, trade finance and structured finance. Customers include retail clients, corporates, sovereigns and financial institutions. Oragroup S.A. is the holding company of the Orabank group, incorporated in Lomé, Togo.
AATIF’s Euro 20m loan with a tenor of 1 year will be used to increase the group’s agriculture loan portfolio, especially in trade finance. Supporting the agricultural sector has been identified as a priority for the group due to the sector’s significant share in the GDP of the countries the bank is active in. The group aims to increase its current agriculture related trade financing portfolio. For instance, an SME finance team is based in Benin and shall focus on small-scale agro-industrial project financing. For AATIF, this investment is part of our mission to ensure that we are working with partners providing innovative financial solutions to their customers. It is aligned with our work in enhancing local processing, value addition, increased intra-african trade and import substitution.
"This financing confirms our commitment to the private sector and agriculture, which are two essential levers for the development of our economies, creating wealth and jobs.”
Dr. Thomas Duve, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AATIF said, “We are very pleased with this partnership with Oragroup that will enable the group to extend and deepen its investments in the agricultural sector. We are convinced that the development of the agricultural sector requires better access to financing for private operators."
The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF)
AATIF is a public private partnership dedicated to promote the food / agri sector across Africa by providing patient capital and technical assistance. The fund provides debt financing to small, medium and large-scale agribusinesses along the entire agriculture value chain as well as financial institutions active in the sector. Ticket sizes range from USD 3.5m up to USD 30m per project with a possible maximum tenor of 12 years.