Zimpapers Logo

 Enacy Mapakame 

Business Reporter 

ProParco — a private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), has extended US$25 million to Zimbabwe and the region’s biggest seed producer — Seed Co Group for its expansion in Africa. 

The seven-year support loan will go towards development of maize dryers in Zimbabwe and it’s other operations in Africa.  

The loan will go a long way to improve farmers’ production capacity, double harvest and address climate risk. 

According to ProParco, the loan is divided into two US$12,5 million tranches and will finance the seed giant’s international expansion via a loan to Seed Co Zambia and the development of Seed Co Zimbabwe. 

“This loan will allow Seed Co to finance a corn dryer in Zimbabwe which will double the harvests of farmers (one in the summer and one in the winter) and help improve efforts to address the climate risk. 

“It will also allow the Group to increase its production capacity, in particular in Zimbabwe and Zambia, enter new markets (West Africa) and diversify its activity through the development of new types of seed — vegetables, rice. 

“By supporting Seed Co Group, whose activity is improving food security in the region by helping to increase agricultural yields, ProParco is contributing to the development of the economic fabric of the region, job creation, the promotion of quality industrial facilities with high environmental and social standards and the adaptation of Sub-Saharan agriculture to climate change,” said ProParco. 

Apart from mining, agriculture is central to the region’s economies. In Zimbabwe and Zambia for instance, it employs 65 percent and 75 percent of the population, respectively, and accounts for 15 percent and 19 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). 

It is estimated that over the next five years, a million more people in Zimbabwe and Zambia will have access to corn from Seed Co seeds. 

The group — set up in 1940 in Harare before growing into a leading seed company in Africa selects — produces and markets hybrid field seeds, including corn, wheat, soybean, sorghum, groundnuts, beans and cowpea. 

“The project should contribute to creating some 95 additional direct jobs and should support some 14 000 indirect jobs. 

“In terms of the climate, the installation of a corn drying unit by Seed Co will allow  external farmers to harvest their wheat earlier in the year (May or June instead of September) and thereby considerably reduce losses due to disruptions in rainy seasons,” said ProParco. 

ProParco has been working for 40 years to promote sustainable economic, social and environmental development. 

It supports companies and financial institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East whose activities contribute to job creating jobs and decent incomes, the provision of essential goods and services, and the fight against climate change.