IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide a $20m equity investment in Agrivision Africa, an investee company of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed agribusiness group Zeder Investments.

The financing will support Agrivision's $30m expansion program, helping the company expand its grain production to become a market leader in Zambia, and eventually outside its home market.

German Vegarra, IFC Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Services Industry Lead, said: “Agrivision is demonstrating the opportunity that exists in Africa today to modernize agricultural production and processing. With about 60% of Africa’s population relying on agribusiness for their livelihoods, IFC is investing and providing advice across the agribusiness value chain to facilitate services to improve the output of one million farmers by 2020.”

Agrivision Africa, formerly named Chayton Africa, focuses on large scale commercial farming of wheat, soya beans and maize as well as milling in Zambia. It produces 20,000 tons of maize, 12,000 tons of soya beans, and 30,000 tons of wheat per year.

It also has a mill that processes annually 40,000 tons of maize and 20,000 tons of wheat. Agrivision owns 18,000 hectares of land of which 5,568 hectares is suitable for grain cultivation and 4,368 hectares is irrigated land.

The IFC investment supports modernization of existing grain production operations, contributing to increased food security by helping expand the agricultural and food processing industry in Zambia.

In addition to showcasing modern, efficient agricultural in a country with plentiful resources for food production, the project is expected to create jobs, contribute to the smaller businesses in the local economy, and apply IFC’s high environmental and social standards.

Norman Celliers, CEO of Zeder, said: “With the financial support and agribusiness sector knowledge IFC brings, Agrivision will expand to become a leader in its market and demonstrate the opportunities in Zambia’s agricultural sector.”