The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday approved a budgetary allocation of US$ 11.70 million for the African Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM).
According to an AfDB press release, this special fund created by the African Union will be able to carry out its activities properly during the year 2023, thanks to this budget allocation.
The same source said that the total 2023 budget of the African Fertilizer Development Financing Mechanism will be increased to US$ 16.40 million, taking into account the US$ 4.7 million budget approved in 2022 and postponed to 2023.
Thus, MAFDE will continue its efforts to mobilize resources from other partners and will seek the remaining $10.15 million pledge from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) in 2022, which has already disbursed $8.6 million.
Thus, the Board also validated MAFDE’s 2023 program of activities, which aims to strengthen the fertilizer sector by focusing on access to finance and supporting the development of sustainable policy reforms to improve fertilizer production, trade, and use.
In addition, MAFDE will actively work with African countries and other key stakeholders on the detailed design of the National Food and Agriculture Pacts that the continent’s leaders presented at the “Feeding Africa” summit in Dakar in January 2023.
Established by the African Union in Abuja in 2006, the African Fertiliser Financing Mechanism is a special fund that aims to improve agricultural productivity by providing the necessary funding to boost fertilizer use in Africa.