Agrofinanzas: Recognized by Second Occasion by the Financial International Community

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, Agrofinanzas was recognized by the financial international community. In this occasion, the International Financial Corporation (IFC), granted the "2013 Inclusive Business Leader Award" before the World Bank Group and the IMF annual meetings. In June 2012, Agrofinanzas was awarded the "G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation" during the G20 meeting at Los Cabos, Mexico.

The award was given by Jingdong Hua, IFC Vice President of Treasury and Syndication, and Toshiya Masuoka, Founder and Director of IFC's Inclusive Business Models, to Francisco Mere Palafox, CEO of Agrofinanzas, who said "We are very proud to be recognized by the IFC due to our innovated business model, which has allowed us to finance small farmers who form part of the value chain in a commercially viable way. Moreover, by financing Mexican small farmers, they are able to become part of the formal financial system and begin to build a credit history and expand their business. We present flexible and innovated products by offering tailored products and maintaining strategic alliances with renowned companies in the sector."

Mere mentioned that Agrofinanzas has financed 10,000 small producers, and 80 per cent of them had never received a formal loan before, since there had not been a financial intermediary which believed in the financial capacities of the low-income segment of the population.

Agrofinanzas' CEO added that "The challenge is to offer financing in areas where there are no banks and increase investment. Our mission as financial intermediaries is to bet for innovation, search for new ways to attract and, most of all, new ways to include the population that until now has not been served by the financial system. This segment of the population has always been viewed as a risky sector because of climate conditions and price volatility."

The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global investor in companies with 'inclusive business models'. Over the past 9 years, IFC has invested 9 billion US dollars in companies with inclusive business models, including a 2010 equity investment in Agrofinanzas.

Agrofinanzas became a Bank on July 20, 2012, but since 2006, it has offered financing solutions to producers and companies in the agribusiness sector, with special emphasis to support sustainability and financial inclusion in Mexico. By the end of September 2013, Agrofinanzas manages more than 20,000 loans and $1,800 million pesos in assets.

SOURCE Agrofinanzas, S.A. de C.V.