• Mali’s BNDA secures $40M IFC loan to boost SME agricultural lending.
• Funds target farmers, women-led businesses, and climate-smart agribusiness projects.
• IFC support includes $10M for trade finance and technical assistance.
  

Mali’s state-owned agricultural bank BNDA has secured a $40 million loan from the IFC to expand SME lending. The funding, announced on October 30, will support smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and agribusinesses as part of a broader effort to strengthen the country’s agricultural economy.

 The IFC will also provide an additional $10 million facility to support trade finance, helping facilitate imports and exports of essential goods.

The funding will enable the state-owned BNDA to expand its SME loan portfolio to more than $270 million over the next five years. The new resources will primarily target smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and environmentally responsible agribusinesses. Under the program, 25 percent of loans will go to women-led or women-owned enterprises, and 10 percent will finance projects in climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, and sustainable irrigation.

The IFC estimates the loan could increase BNDA’s green financing portfolio by nearly 90 percent and help generate between 8,600 and 14,200 direct and indirect jobs over five years.

“This partnership with IFC will enable us to increase our support for farmers, SMEs and women entrepreneurs across the country,” said Badara Aliou Coulibaly, BNDA’s Managing Director. “It will also allow us to integrate digital and sustainable solutions more fully, thereby expanding access to finance, boosting productivity, and strengthening national food security.”

In addition to financing, the IFC will provide technical assistance to help BNDA enhance its agricultural lending strategy, risk management practices, and integration of green finance and gender inclusion principles. The partnership will also develop customized credit scoring tools to better serve small businesses and cooperatives.

The deal comes as Mali’s agricultural sector, which employs 70 percent of the population but contributes only 38 percent of GDP, continues to face structural challenges. Most farms are small, averaging 4.8 hectares, and suffer from low yields due to limited access to water and insufficient investment in production systems.

SG