BFA Bank & Rabo Partnerships seek to unlock potential in F&A in Angola
BFA Bank (Banco de Fomento Angola) and Rabo Partnerships sign a 3-year alliance which aims to boost the development of the food and agribusiness sector in Angola, while making it more climate resilient.
Utrecht, September 14, 2023 - Angola has all the right conditions to become an agricultural powerhouse. It has abundant agricultural land, favourable climate, fertile soils and water supplies for irrigation. Despite all these important natural resources, Angola’s food and agribusiness sector has not been developed to its full potential yet. The main reason for this is that until now Angola’s economy has been mainly oil-driven, which has meant lagging investments in the food and agribusiness sector.
Cognisant of this, the Government of Angola has pledged to diversify the economy by boosting the agriculture sector to guarantee food security, reduce food imports and contribute to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The goal is to reduce the economy's dependency on oil products, and tapping into the agriculture sector in a sustainable way.
BFA Bank wants to take on this transition challenge. BFA Bank is a leading, all finance-bank in Angola. It has a large branch network and approximately 2.4 million clients serving all segments in the market. Its ambition is to become a leading food & agribusiness bank in Angola. To achieve this, BFA Bank has established a dedicated food- & agribusiness team and wants to be recognized as a ‘thought leader’ in the food-& agribusiness ecosystem. Special attention will therefore go towards making the value chain more integrated and to serve all the parties in the value chain. The ‘farm to fork’ approach will also be beneficial to family farmers with the proposed sustainable solutions.
The aim of Rabo Partnerships is to leverage on Rabobank’s enablers such as knowledge and networks and to identify best practices and capabilities that can also be applied by BFA Bank in the food and agri sector. An important emphasis will be placed on digitalization and sustainability.
“Rabo Partnerships is eager to get started and to play a role in this joint journey.”
Mr. Corné de Louw, Senior Project Manager at Rabo Partnerships, and Program Lead is enthusiastic about this new partnership. For him, ’financial institutions play an important role in the development of the food and agribusiness sector.’ He says: ‘This is why we are excited that BFA Bank has taken the first steps toward achieving a climate-resilient food & agribusiness sector and making itself future proof. Rabo Partnerships is eager to get started and to play a role in this joint journey.’
“We promote a series of opportunities crucial to the sustainable development of the F&A sector”
Mr. José Cambamba, Program Lead for BFA Bank, states that this partnership represents a ’significant milestone for BFA Bank in the financing Angolan agribusiness.’ ‘With this program’, he says, ‘we promote a series of opportunities crucial to the sustainable development of the F&A sector which will contribute to increase food production and distribution. This will ensure that great strides are made in food security, job creation and income generation, resulting in a positive impact on rural communities and the Angolan economy as a whole.’
Rabo Partnerships and BFA Bank look forward to collaborating and achieving their joint ambitions in the coming years.
Additional information about the new alliance press here.
For more information you can also contact: Mr. Corné de Louw: corne.de.louw@rabobank.nl.