The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved $20.8 million financing for Nigeria’s Starlink Global and Ideal Limited to build and operate a 30,000 tonne per annum sugar cane plant in Lagos.
According to the financial agreement signed on July 22, 2024, the African import and export bank will provide $7.48 million for the use of the factory in two phases and in the first steps.
In an article published by the African Press Organization (APO), the Bank’s representative said that the centre should contribute additional value, thus guaranteeing additional income to the company, creating and supporting up to 400 new jobs during the operation of the factory. Small and medium-sized businesses consisting of about 40 households.
Afreximbank Vice President for Intra-Africa Trade and Export Development, Mr. Kanayo Awani, commenting on the agreement, said that the lender supports the company in establishing modern products, making it more profitable for the African production farm. Thus, exports and much-needed trade to the African continent will increase.
“We are delighted at this partnership which promises to deliver significant impact on employment in Nigeria. It will contribute to value creation and to the development of the local community while also improving the lots of smallholder farmers and small business suppliers that will work with Starlink across the value chain,” Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra Africa Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank.
The first tranche of $7.48 million will be used for the capital used for facility construction, while the second tranche of $13.25 million will be used for planting capital.
