$50 million capital for Green Revolution in West Africa

AN initial $50 million capital for a green revolution in West Africa has been launched in Ghana under the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
The fund was launched in Accra on June 12, 2008, with a call on applicants, mainly private sector organisations, to present innovative business ideas to support policies that would boost agricultural productivity, create new jobs and develop enterprises in the rural areas to lift millions of Africa’s small-scale farmers out of poverty.
The first call for applications from applicants within southern and eastern Africa was made at the AECF Africa launch of the fund in Cape Town and Nairobi earlier this month
The AECF is a private sector fund hosted by AGRA and it was set up to encourage private sector companies to compete for investment support to establish new business projects in the agricultural and financial sectors.
By stimulating investment in financial and agricultural markets, the AECF will support policies to boost agricultural productivity, create new jobs and develop enterprises in rural areas.
The AECF will provide grants and non-recourse loans up to a maximum of $1.5 million for each project and an average of $250,000.
The fund will put out several calls for proposals every year for the next six years. To benefit from the fund, applicants would need to contribute at least 50 per cent of the total cost of the project.
The proposals from applicants will need to show a positive impact on the rural poor in Africa, such as increased employment, reduced cost or improved productivity.
According to the Chief Executive of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr Hughes Scott, the AECF would operate across Africa from three regional hubs — Nairobi in Kenya, Johannesburg in South Africa and Accra in Ghana.
He, however, noted that the fund would initially focus on 13 countries, including Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Mali. The rest are Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Burundi.
He said an independent investment committee put together by the various donors had been entrusted with making the final decision as to who benefited from the grants, loans or a mixture of the two, adding that their intention was to find suitable ideas that would have an impact on a large number of people.“We will make it a success and we will make sure it goes through a private sector procedure, instead of a donor procedure, in the selection of beneficiaries,” he announced.
The Chief Operations Officer of AGRA, Mr Kwame Akuffo Akoto, said it had been a long journey trying to get the AECF to this level and believed that it was an important step in alleviating poverty in Africa and achieving the dream of a Green Revolution in Africa.
He said because of the importance attached to the AECF and the expertise needed, KPMG Development Advisory Services Limited had been selected to be the fund manager in Ghana.
He called on other donors to contribute to and increase the fund to $100 million to make the programme a success.
A representative from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Mr Mike Hammond, said the UK government strongly believed that the fund would go a long way to alleviate poverty and reduce hunger in rural areas in Africa.
He stated that Ghana had made it clear that it was ready for business and had created the enabling environment for growth in its economy. That, he indicated, stemmed from the fact that Africa was ready for growth.
Mr Hammond said the DFID placed growth and private sector development at the heart of reducing poverty in Africa, noting that private sector development could be encouraged only by governments that believed they could succeed.
The AECF is supported by the AfDB, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, the DFID, IFAD and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.