AFC Holdings through its Land and Development bank is expected to finance at least 18000 hectare of winter wheat crop this season, an official has said.
This will be supported by agro-bills which will be backed by government guarantees.
“We have applied for a government guarantee worth US$42 million to enable raising of funds from the market.”, said AFC Holdings group CEO Francis Macheka.
“The guarantee will be split into two - US$31.55m or its Zimbabwe dollar equivalent towards the open financial markets and US$10million or Zimbabwe dollar equivalent guarantee will be towards the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to access the Productive Sector Medium Term Accommodation Facility.
“Winter tillage preparations are also at an advanced stage and our equipment is clustered around 22 cluster centers which makes it easy for farmers in winter farming hotspots to access this equipment for their winter tillage requirements.”
He also advised that the AFC Leasing Company had already started deploying combine harvesters across the country to support the harvesting of the summer crop, in preparation for winter tillage, with over 56 combine harvesters strategically positioned to support this.
Macheka was speaking on the sidelines of a media event hosted by AFC Holdings and attended by various media houses.
The event was attended by the AFC Holdings group board bembers from AFC SBUs as well as managing directors of the group’s trading units.
AFC Holdings is a one-stop -shop that houses the AFC Land and Development Bank, AFC Commercial Bank, the AFC Insurance Company, and the AFC Leasing Company.