By Staff Reporter
The Agriculture Finance Corporation AFC commonly known as “Agribank” is a commercial bank that was licensed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and began operating in 1999.
Although it has remained a commercial bank, it has a thrust for Agricultural development with particular emphasis on extending loans to farmers.
Since Zimbabwe is an Agro-based economy, the part that Agribank has played in the growth of Zimbabwe’s economy cannot be downplayed.
Thousands of farmers owe their success to this bank which is 100% owned by the government of Zimbabwe.
In 2008, the bank was unfortunately placed under United States sanctions, which hindered its growth and in turn affected thousands of Farmers.
Thankfully it was removed from the sanctions list in May 2020 allowing it to do international business smoothly and obtain lines of credit from international monetary institutions, leading Agribank to declare a profit of 19 million dollars in a single year.
The government, through Agribank, has extended a stop order facility that will see farmers without collateral getting tractors and other implements on time.
The stop order facility is expected to improve the yields of farmers and is in line with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s call to cushion farmers without collateral, for the development of the agriculture sector.
