TIRANA, Jan. 11 – London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Albanian government are supporting the country’s agribusiness sector through an innovative facility that will support local entrepreneurs through risk sharing and credit lines.
Agriculture is a vital sector of Albania’s economy. It provides employment for almost 50 percent of the population in rural areas and accounts for around 20 percent of the country’s GDP. However, the sector remains underserviced by financial institutions, with loans to agribusiness accounting for only 2 percent of total lending to the economy.
The Albania Agribusiness Support Facility will address this challenge by enhancing access to finance across the country.
“Albania has great potential in agribusiness. But fragmentation, informality and limited access to finance stand in the way of realizing this potential,” said Christoph Denk, Head of the EBRD’s Albanian office.
Albanian Agriculture Minister Edmond Panariti said this is the right step towards achieving significant growth in lending to the agribusiness sector, which is crucial for its further development.
Since the start of its operations in Albania, the EBRD has invested almost €1 billion in over 70 projects in various sectors of the country’s economy.
