STANDARD Bank has been named winner of the Africa Investor Agribusiness, AIA, Awards for 2010.
The bank won in the Development Finance Initiative of the Year category for its groundbreaking Agricultural Guarantee Fund Scheme that has improved access to finance to smallholder farmers in Africa.

The Agribusiness Awards recognise achievements across the main Agribusiness and finance sectors in Africa and reward the personalities driving transactions and improving the continent’s Agribusiness investment climate.

The awards also emphasises the important need to invest in developing Africa’s Agribusiness sector.
Speaking on the award, Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Standard Bank Africa , Mr. Clive Taske said:

“The Agricultural Guarantee Fund Scheme demonstrates Standard Bank’s commitment to creating, with fellow stakeholders, workable solutions to the obstacles that hamper African development. We believe this award is an acknowledgement to that commitment”

“It is not very often that we can be part of initiatives that make a difference to the lives of people on many levels. We are fortunate here to see an impact that permeates across many spheres, from sustainability, economic development and growth, to job creation and poverty alleviation.”

Standard Bank’s winning initiative, The Agricultural Guarantee Fund Scheme, is an innovative fund for Africa’s smallholder farmers and was created by a partnership between Standard Bank, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), OPEC Fund for International Development, Kilimo Trust, Millennium Challenge Account Mozambique, Ministry of Agriculture Mozambique and The Millennium Development Authority.

Initiated in March 2009, the US$100 million scheme aims to reach about 750,000 small farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda over three years. Under the scheme, the partners provide a Risk guarantee while Standard Bank provides the funding for lending.