IPNEWS: The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), through its Regional Fund for Agriculture and Food (RFAF), has signed a USD 600,000 Seed Funding Agreement with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). This partnership provides a significant boost to the West African Initiative for Climate-Smart Agriculture (WAICSA) project, marking a decisive step in regional efforts to expand climate-resilient agricultural value chains across ECOWAS.
The signing ceremony, held at EBID Headquarters in Lomé, Togolese Republic, on December 11, 2025, reaffirmed the collaborative partnership between both institutions in support of sustainable agricultural transformation. The Seed Fund will play a catalytic role in expanding technical assistance and facilitating resource mobilisation for WAICSA. It will also establish a support system for financial institutions, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and agribusinesses, empowering them with the tools and capacity needed to build resilience against climate change impacts and contribute to adaptation and mitigation efforts.
During the ceremony, the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, Dr. George Agyekum Donkor, highlighted the collaboration’s transformative potential, emphasising that climate-smart agriculture remains central to the Bank’s mandate of fostering sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient development across West Africa. He noted that WAICSA, implemented under the RFAF’s Climate Change Response Operational Area, is a flagship intervention designed to enhance regional food security, promote green investments, and unlock new economic opportunities for millions of smallholder farmers and agribusinesses.
The GGGI delegation, led by the Regional Director for Africa Ms. Katerina Syngellakis, commended the leadership of EBID in advancing climate action across the subregion and
reaffirmed GGGI’s commitment to accelerating green investment initiatives in West Africa.
The agreement solidifies EBID and GGGI’s shared vision of championing climate-smart agriculture as an indispensable foundation for food security and economic resilience in the ECOWAS subregion. The Seed Fund will provide essential support for WAICSA’s ongoing efforts, including project preparation, investor outreach, and comprehensive ecosystem mobilisation.
Through this partnership, both institutions reaffirm their dedication to empowering agricultural value chain actors, enhancing regional climate adaptation capacity, and driving long-term, sustainable development in West Africa.
*************About EBID
ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is the Development Finance Institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Based in Lomé, Togolese Republic, the Bank is committed to financing developmental projects and programmes covering diverse initiatives from infrastructure and basic amenities, rural development and environment, industry, and social services sectors, through its private and public sector windows. EBID intervenes through long, medium, and short-term loans, equity participation, lines of credit, refinancing, financial engineering operations, and related services.
