AfDB to Boost Cold Storage in East Africa

By Development Diaries
October 28, 2021

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved funds to support the development, construction and operation of greenfield cold storage, temperature-controlled solutions and distribution facilities in East Africa.

The funds, an equity investment of $10million in the ARCH Cold Chain Solutions East Africa Fund (CCSEAF), are expected to be used to develop cold chain operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Development Diaries understands that the lack of temperature-controlled solutions has severely impacted processed food and medicines in the aforementioned countries.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), globally, roughly 14 percent of food losses, excluding the retail stage, occur following harvest and before reaching consumers. This is mainly due to poor cold chain infrastructure.

Also, the impacts of climate change, including supply chain interruptions and higher temperatures, exacerbate the problem.

Additionally, the Covid-19 pandemic has sharpened the need for facilities to store and distribute vaccines and other medicines requiring storage in controlled temperatures.

In partnership with conglomerates in the region, CCSEAF will develop and operate up to eight cold chain operations in the countries, according to a statement from AfDB.

‘ARCH CCSEAF’s vision to become a regional operator of third-party cold chain logistics services is expected to address the critical issue of post-harvest food loss and food safety hazards in East Africa’, AfDB’s Director of Agriculture Finance and Rural Development Department, Atsuko Toda, said in the statement.

‘Its plan to serve pharmaceutical clients for their storage and distribution of medical supplies is also very timely as the continent continues to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic’.

It is understood that traders and retailers represent roughly 40 percent of the total gross value of sub-Saharan African value chains.

The Fund is expected to be a strategic contributor to backward integration of local producers into regional as well as global markets.

Source: AfDB