World Bank takes journalists to AHCX

The World Bank recently took a group of journalists, undergoing training on economic reporting sponsored by the World Bank, to AHL Commodities Exchange (AHCX) head office in Lilongwe.

The journalists were drilled on modern market for agricultural produce in Malawi and how it was supporting farmers to access loans from banks through its Warehouse Receipt System.

The World Bank, through its International Finance Corporation (IFC) arm, is supporting Malawi through the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop legislation on Warehouse Receipt Financing as one way of improving access to finance by smallholder farmers in the country.

World Bank Malawi Communications Officer, Zeria Banda, said the visit was aimed at providing the scribes with a practical insight into the activities of the exchange.

“We wanted the journalists to interact with beneficiaries of interventions supported by the World Bank Group. One such is the Warehouse Receipt System. AHCX is one of the companies that has been using the system as an intervention that was supported by IFC,” she said.