MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIC-BRED, FMO Commit $30m in Working Capital for Sucafina to Expand Coffee Purchases from Smallholder Farmers in Africa, Colombia

Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently agreed to fund half of a USD 30 million facility provided by the Swiss bank Banque Internationale de Commerce-Banque Régionale d’Escompte et de Dépôt (BIC-BRED) to Sucafina, a Switzerland-based coffee trader. The deal is meant to support Sucafina’s origination activities in East Africa and Colombia and in this way support smallholder coffee farmers. For example, Sucafina will be able to use the funds to pre-pay for the purchasing, transport and storage of unroasted beans. Founded in 1977, the firm buys and roasts coffee from 178,000 growers in approximately 30 countries.

Established in 1970, FMO is 51-percent held by the Dutch government and 49-percent by private investors. The institution works toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals by funding capacity development and placing debt and equity investments in sectors such as agribusiness, financial institutions and energy. As of December 2021, FMO reports a total committed portfolio of EUR 9.7 billion (USD 10.2 billion), having brought in net profit of EUR 491 million (USD 518 million) during that year.

By Saulius Simonas Ramanauskas, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Sources

FMO transaction overview
https://www.fmo.nl/news-detail/817bdd72-b3fa-47cd-afd7-e1f6fe7cd22b/monthly-transaction-overview-may-2022

Sucafina homepage
https://sucafina.com

BIC-BRED homepage
https://www.bic-bred.com

FMO homepage
https://www.fmo.nl

Previous MicroCapital brief on FMO
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-fmo-lends-20m-to-sathapana-bank-of-cambodia-to-speed-recovery-from-adjustment-to-covid-19

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