Absa Group, led by South African banking executive Arrie Rautenbach, has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to provide a $60-million trade finance facility to Volcafe, a global leader in green coffee.
The facility seeks to support Volcafe’s operations in East Africa, thereby benefiting tens of thousands of coffee farmers in the region.
The year-long facility, with Absa and IFC each contributing $30 million, will provide Volcafe with the working money it needs to buy coffee cherries from smallholder growers and local dealers. The monies will also go towards the processing, storage, and transportation of coffee beans to export ports.
Volcafe will use this infrastructure to link over 75,000 farmers to the market. Furthermore, through its established Volcafe Way program, the company will provide training on sustainable production techniques and best agricultural practices, with the goal of increasing crop resilience and profitability for farmers.
“Volcafe is excited to collaborate with partners like IFC and Absa to unlock the potential of East Africa’s coffee sector,” said Melvin Wenger Weber, Volcafe chief financial officer. “This new facility will empower us to directly engage with tens of thousands of coffee farmers while introducing their produce to a wider range of markets.”
East Africa is a coffee production powerhouse, accounting for more than 80 percent of the continent’s output and 10 percent of the global total. An estimated five million smallholder farmers in the region rely on the coffee business for a living. However, these farmers frequently lack access to critical financial resources, and climate change is a major threat to crop harvests.
With a large branch network and a customer base of more than 12 million, Absa stands apart under the strategic direction of Arrie Rautenbach, a respected banking veteran with a long and successful career in South Africa’s financial sector.
Rautenbach, who took over as CEO of Absa Bank Group in 2022, has led the company to financial success. In fiscal 2023, the organization broke the $5 billion revenue barrier, achieving $5.37 billion. Rautenbach owns 0.026 percent of the financial services behemoth, which translates to 218,412 shares worth $1.82 million.