CAMEROON – The government of Cameroon is seeking XAF64.3 (US$106.9m) financing from The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), member of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) for acquisition of soybean and cotton seed for processing.
Through a presidential decree dated March 19, 2020, the Minister of Economy was authorized to sign a loan agreement and its post-renewal documents with the ITFC.
The resources to be acquired will help relaunch the operations of industrial giants like Sodecoton, which failed to position its soybean oil and soya-meal in 2017.
Cameroon’s yearly soybean imports are estimated to the value of XAF14 billion (US$23.2m) while local producers’ current resources are estimated at XAF4 billion (US$6.6m).
Other recent projects the Cameroon government have undertaken in partnership with IDB include the launched of XAF750m (US$1.25m) livestock and fisheries industry development project.
The project aimed at granting microcredits to the farmers will see the credits delivered in kind and cash to reduce delinquency in repayment and build confidence.
To further promote livestock farming in West Africa, IDB recently financed the small ruminant production and enhancement project in Gambia to the tune of US$26m.
The small ruminant production and enchantment project is a four-year initiative and will be financed through a two-step finance approach focusing on four major areas.
The development objective of the project is to contribute to the improvement of the livelihood of pastoral communities in Gambia, by strengthening the productivity and resilience of rural communities as well as to stimulate business entrepreneurship on the Livestock sector.
The project will be implemented in 39 districts of all the regions of the country and its expected to reach more than 30,000 households.
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on islamic finance located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
There are 57 shareholding member states with the basic condition for membership being that the prospective member country to be a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
IDB has evolved into a group of five Entities, consisting of Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Islamic Research & Training Institute (IRTI), Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).
