Ecobank Ghana has donated four Dehusker shellers to Yedent Agro Bulk processing aggregators in Sunyani.

The presentation ceremony was held on Friday as part of the bank’s efforts at strengthening and supporting the agribusiness value chain in Ghana.

Welcoming guests to the event, the CEO of Yedent, Samuel Ntim-Adu said, “We are immensely grateful to Ecobank for their support to our business and their commitment to the agribusiness value chain.

"The support from Ecobank demonstrates that if the right partners come together, we can create the right synergies for the transformation of agriculture in Ghana.”

Presenting the machines to the aggregators, the Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Dan Sackey, said “As a bank, we remain committed to positively impacting the communities we operate in, and we have chosen to support the agribusiness value chain as one of the ways to achieve this objective.

"It is in line with this objective that Ecobank is today donating these four dehuskers to the aggregators of Yedent Agro Company. These dehuskers will support a total of 6,000 out-growers and smallholder farmers, 60% of whom are women from eighty-three communities within the Bono region.”

“It is expected that this donation will spur on our hardworking farmers to cultivate more acreages with the assurance that come harvesting time, these dehuskers will be available to assist them efficiently process their maize for market consumption.

"Leveraging our world-class and robust digital platforms, we have also brought banking services to the doorstep of every Ghanaian, including farmers and all operators in the agribusiness value chain through solutions such as Ecobank Xpress Point, Merchant Account, and Xpress Accounts.

"This donation strengthens the Yedent Value Chain and showcases Ecobank’s commitment to the achievement of inclusive and sustainable financing for agribusiness value chains”, Mr Sackey concluded.

Speaking at the event, the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, said, “This donation from Ecobank will not only offer our farmers a ready market for their produce, but job opportunities for our young men and women as well as stimulate economic activities in the region and we are indeed very appreciative of this gesture. In furtherance, I wish to appeal to other banks to emulate Ecobank Ghana and tailor their lending facilities to support farmers expand their output.”

On his part, the Technical Advisor to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Asante Krobea said, “In the last five years, the government has invested so much into agriculture to ensure food security both now and in the future.

"This effort however cannot be borne by government alone and so today’s donation by Ecobank is laudable and to ensure further development of the agribusiness value chain, we need many of such private-sector partnerships.”

Ecobank offers a suite of solutions that comprehensively address the financial needs of Agribusinesses including Processors, Aggregators, Input Suppliers, Out Growers, and Small Holder Farmers.

Whether these businesses are micro, small, medium enterprises or local corporates. Ecobank also provides Merchant Accounts for Micro Enterprises, Collection and Payment Solutions, Financing Solutions, Business Credit as well as Prepaid Cards.