- Partnership will support local farmers to increase yields, drive productivity and connect to markets making the East and Central Africa Region an Agricultural Net Exporter
- Signing will give access to superior tractor equipment through Case IH Tractors and Baraka fertilizers providing advanced bio stimulant fertilizers
Nairobi, Kenya, Monday 27th June 2022… Equity Group, CFAO Kenya Ltd and CFAO Agri Limited (CFAO Group) have partnered to provide local farmers and other primary players in the agriculture value chain easy access to farm inputs and machinery. The partnership is intended to enhance food security and empower small-scale farmers to farm the future, as per the `Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan’, which was recently launched at CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) 2022 in Rwanda.
Through the partnership, farmers and other players within the agriculture ecosystem will continue enjoying affordable financing from Equity therefore offering them opportunities to purchase Case IH and Captain Tractors through the Bank’s asset finance credit facilities. The arrangement continues to further Pillar 1 of the `Africa Recovery and Resilience’ Plan which seeks to underpin ecosystems of natural resources in agriculture to become more coordinated, connected, and capacitated supply chains, with mechanization driving higher throughput of raw materials and lead to a more inclusive industrialization of Africa.
The partnership between CFAO Group and Equity will see farmers and individuals provided with up to 80% financing with flexible terms and at attractive rates with an additional option of structuring their repayment terms based on the farming season therefore promoting the increased adoption of mechanization in agriculture.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, Dr. James Mwangi said, “We are doing everything we can to increase agriculture production. We want to secure the values and aspirations of our people and with agriculture contributing 33% of Kenya’s GDP, providing 40% of employment with 40% of that in rural areas and with almost 65% of agriculture accounting for foreign exchange, for us at Equity this is important.” He continued, “I commend CFAO for focusing on what is critical to our people. As Equity, we are happy to partner with CFAO and seek to expand this partnership beyond the national level to the regional level, given that CFAO is present in 53 African countries.”
Also speaking at the partnership launch, CFAO Chairman Ambassador Dennis Awori said, “Africa is endowed with favourable climate that allows farmers to grow food throughout the year, a potential that the private sector can tap through partnerships such as the one between CFAO and Equity Group. Africa has lagged behind the rest of the world in agricultural productivity mainly due to low mechanization and poor agricultural practices, and we are looking forward to working with Equity Group in other countries to support the empowerment of farmers, who in turn can support the world in its broken food supply chains due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” he said. “We are with Africa, and for Africa and we must lead the private sector in the development of the continent.”
Equity has launched the “Africa Recovery and Resilience” Plan which is a Ksh 700 billion stimulus plan that aims to champion the building back better of the African economy through supporting various sectors of the economy, with agriculture productivity and ecosystem financing and development – from production to distribution to retail to customers – at its core. A partnership with CFAO Group will allow local farmers, farm input distributors and other primary players within the agriculture value-chain to not only have easier access to inputs such as fertilizers and seeds, but the partnership between Equity and CFAP will make it convenient for them to access short term, medium term, and long-term loans to increase stock and purchase farm machinery such as tractors, processors and much more.
CFAO Agri Chairman Thomas Bernard said CFAO aims to help farmers improve their yields and embrace commercial agriculture as opposed to practicing only subsistence farming. “I thank Equity for this relationship which will go a long way in supporting smallholder farmers. Agriculture is a risky business, and it is important that private sector stakeholders combine efforts to help hedge against the risk by providing mechanization, fertilizers, and financing,” he noted. CFAO Agri is the agribusiness division of CFAO Kenya.
The partnership between Equity and CFAO Group is a dual partnership that will see CFAO Kenya Ltd and CFAO Agri Limited collaborate with Equity’s asset finance and agribusiness units to ensure that local farmers and other agribusiness players enjoy financial access for various agriculture products and inputs.
“With the average age of Kenyans being 19, and with the critical need to scale up agriculture production for Africa and for the world at this momentous time in history, it will be difficult to convince young people that farming is an exciting and worthwhile endeavor without mechanization, digitization and new technologies and techniques which can excite them in seeing impact and productivity in the food and agriculture sector,” said Dr. Mwangi.
The partnership between CFAO Group and Equity will see farmers and individuals provided with up to 80% financing with flexible terms and at attractive rates with an additional option of structuring their repayment terms based on the farming season therefore promoting the increased adoption of mechanization in agriculture.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, Dr. James Mwangi said, “We are doing everything we can to increase agriculture production. We want to secure the values and aspirations of our people and with agriculture contributing 33% of Kenya’s GDP, providing 40% of employment with 40% of that in rural areas and with almost 65% of agriculture accounting for foreign exchange, for us at Equity this is important.” He continued, “I commend CFAO for focusing on what is critical to our people. As Equity, we are happy to partner with CFAO and seek to expand this partnership beyond the national level to the regional level, given that CFAO is present in 53 African countries.”
Also speaking at the partnership launch, CFAO Chairman Ambassador Dennis Awori said, “Africa is endowed with favourable climate that allows farmers to grow food throughout the year, a potential that the private sector can tap through partnerships such as the one between CFAO and Equity Group. Africa has lagged behind the rest of the world in agricultural productivity mainly due to low mechanization and poor agricultural practices, and we are looking forward to working with Equity Group in other countries to support the empowerment of farmers, who in turn can support the world in its broken food supply chains due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” he said. “We are with Africa, and for Africa and we must lead the private sector in the development of the continent.”
Equity has launched the “Africa Recovery and Resilience” Plan which is a Ksh 700 billion stimulus plan that aims to champion the building back better of the African economy through supporting various sectors of the economy, with agriculture productivity and ecosystem financing and development – from production to distribution to retail to customers – at its core. A partnership with CFAO Group will allow local farmers, farm input distributors and other primary players within the agriculture value-chain to not only have easier access to inputs such as fertilizers and seeds, but the partnership between Equity and CFAP will make it convenient for them to access short term, medium term, and long-term loans to increase stock and purchase farm machinery such as tractors, processors and much more.
CFAO Agri Chairman Thomas Bernard said CFAO aims to help farmers improve their yields and embrace commercial agriculture as opposed to practicing only subsistence farming. “I thank Equity for this relationship which will go a long way in supporting smallholder farmers. Agriculture is a risky business, and it is important that private sector stakeholders combine efforts to help hedge against the risk by providing mechanization, fertilizers, and financing,” he noted. CFAO Agri is the agribusiness division of CFAO Kenya.
The partnership between Equity and CFAO Group is a dual partnership that will see CFAO Kenya Ltd and CFAO Agri Limited collaborate with Equity’s asset finance and agribusiness units to ensure that local farmers and other agribusiness players enjoy financial access for various agriculture products and inputs.
“With the average age of Kenyans being 19, and with the critical need to scale up agriculture production for Africa and for the world at this momentous time in history, it will be difficult to convince young people that farming is an exciting and worthwhile endeavor without mechanization, digitization and new technologies and techniques which can excite them in seeing impact and productivity in the food and agriculture sector,” said Dr. Mwangi.
Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO (right), Thomas Bernard, CFAO Agri Ltd Chairman (centre) and Toyoki Kuno, CFAO Kenya Ltd Managing Director (left) sign partnership agreement documents at Toyota Kenya Academy. Behind them are Amb. Dennis Awori, CFAO Kenya Ltd Chairman (centre), Brent Malahay, Equity Group Chief Strategy Officer (right) and Joy DiBenedetto, Equity Group Director Communications (left).
Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO (right), Thomas Bernard, CFAO Agri Ltd Chairman (centre) and Toyoki Kuno, CFAO Kenya Ltd Managing Director (left) display signed partnership agreement documents at Toyota Kenya Academy. Behind them are Amb. Dennis Awori, CFAO Kenya Ltd Chairman (centre), Brent Malahay, Equity Group Chief Strategy Officer (right) and Joy DiBenedetto, Equity Group Director Communications (left).
Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO (2nd left), Amb. Dennis Awori, CFAO Kenya Ltd Chairman (2nd right), Thomas Bernard, CFAO Agri Ltd Chairman (right) and Toyoki Kuno, CFAO Kenya Ltd Managing Director (left) pose at a Case IH JX95 tractor at the Toyota Kenya Academy.
About CFAO Kenya Ltd.
CFAO Kenya Limited is a subsidiary of the CFAO Group based in France (A Toyota Group Company). CFAO Kenya Limited, a champion for technology in farming, provides Agri-mechanization solutions to farmers as the official distributors of Case IH and Captain Tractors in Kenya. In addition, the company is also a champion in energy and infrastructure supply, i.e., gas reticulation and solar energy, as well as accelerating investment and scale-up of the various growing sectors (renewables and last-mile logistics) in the country.
About Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited
Equity Bank Kenya is the largest bank subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc with a footprint of 191 branches, spread across the country and is supported by over 44,532 agents, 26,167 merchants and 375 ATMs.
Equity Group Holdings Plc is a financial services company listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock Exchange. In addition to Equity Bank Kenya, the Group has banking subsidiaries in Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, DRC, and a Commercial Representative Office in Ethiopia; with additional non-banking subsidiaries engaged in the provision of investment banking, custodial, insurance agency, philanthropy, consulting, and infrastructure services.
Equity Group is the largest bank in the region in assets of Kshs 1.3 trillion. It is also the biggest bank in deposits, market capitalization of USD 2 billion and with a customer base of over 16 million customers. The Group has a footprint of 339 branches, 62,8542 Agents, 40,053 Merchants, 693 ATMs and an extensive adoption of digital banking channel.
Brand Finance 2022 ranked Equity Group the 5th strongest banking brand in the world and 338 overall among the top 500 banking brands, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) of 90.8 and a brand ranking score of AAA+, the highest rating that a brand can attain.
The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2020 ranked Equity Bank 754 overall in its global ranking, 62nd in soundness (Capital Assets to Assets ratio), 55th in terms of Profits on Capital and 20th on Return on Assets. The Banker’s Top 100 African Banks 2020 placed the Bank in position 7 overall among the top 10 Banks in Africa, 5th place on soundness, position 9 on growth performance, 8th on return on risk and position 6th in terms of profitability and on leverage category.
In the same year, Moody’s gave the Bank a global rating of B2 with a negative outlook same as the sovereign rating of the Kenyan government due to the Bank’s strong brand recognition, solid liquidity buffers and resilient funding profile, established domestic franchise and extensive adoption of digital and alternative distribution channels.
Equity Group and Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya
Equity Group Holdings Plc is a financial services company listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock Exchange. In addition to Equity Bank Kenya, the Group has banking subsidiaries in Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, DRC, and a Commercial Representative Office in Ethiopia; with additional non-banking subsidiaries engaged in the provision of investment banking, custodial, insurance agency, philanthropy, consulting, and infrastructure services.
Equity Group is the largest bank in the region in assets of Kshs 1.3 trillion. It is also the biggest bank in deposits, market capitalization of USD 2 billion and with a customer base of over 16 million customers. The Group has a footprint of 339 branches, 62,8542 Agents, 40,053 Merchants, 693 ATMs and an extensive adoption of digital banking channel.
Brand Finance 2022 ranked Equity Group the 5th strongest banking brand in the world and 338 overall among the top 500 banking brands, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) of 90.8 and a brand ranking score of AAA+, the highest rating that a brand can attain.
The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2020 ranked Equity Bank 754 overall in its global ranking, 62nd in soundness (Capital Assets to Assets ratio), 55th in terms of Profits on Capital and 20th on Return on Assets. The Banker’s Top 100 African Banks 2020 placed the Bank in position 7 overall among the top 10 Banks in Africa, 5th place on soundness, position 9 on growth performance, 8th on return on risk and position 6th in terms of profitability and on leverage category.
In the same year, Moody’s gave the Bank a global rating of B2 with a negative outlook same as the sovereign rating of the Kenyan government due to the Bank’s strong brand recognition, solid liquidity buffers and resilient funding profile, established domestic franchise and extensive adoption of digital and alternative distribution channels.
Equity Group and Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya
