The infrastructure-agriculture nexus becomes particularly critical as the African Continental Free Trade Area gains momentum. Muganwa points to a practical example: “A cassava producer in East Africa looking to supply West African markets doesn’t just need production financing; they need access to hard currency, digital payment solutions, and risk-mitigation tools.”
Standard Bank CIB’s integrated systems across 20 African countries address these complex requirements through a single platform that connects importers with vetted suppliers while embedding payment solutions and trade facilitation services. This eliminates the traditional barriers that have historically constrained intra-African trade.
The group’s co-operative financing model offers another innovative approach to scaling agricultural impact. Rather than financing thousands of individual farmers, Standard Bank CIB finances agricultural co-operatives as single entities, creating accountability mechanisms and giving smallholders meaningful negotiating power in global value chains. This model recognises that small producers feed 70% of Africa and must be central to any sustainable solution.
Climate resilience, too, remains paramount in this evolving investment landscape. All the group’s agricultural activities comply with global environmental, social and governance standards, including the Equator Principles, to ensure that projects promote sustainable practices. “Climate change is reshaping global supply dynamics,” says Muganwa. “We’re seeing increased demand for African agricultural products from Eastern markets like China and India.”
As the CAADP introduces a critical shift from agriculture-led growth to a broader agro-food systems approach, the focus will be on building systems that don’t merely increase productivity, but that are resilient and interconnected, capable of adapting to climate change, serve growing urban populations and compete globally.
With infrastructure expertise and innovative financing at the heart of their approach, financial institutions like Standard Bank CIB are positioning themselves as catalysts for building the cross-continental agriculture industry Africa needs to fulfil its potential as the world’s food basket.
This article was sponsored by Standard Bank, Corporate and Investment Banking.