SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 7 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
AgroBank, the division specializing in the agri-food sector of CaixaBank, has financed the entire agri-food chain in the Canary Islands with a total of 438.4 million euros in 2022, which represents an increase of 179% compared to the previous year.
In addition, the entity currently has 189 million euros in pre-approved loans available to its Canarian clients, with immediate availability, so that they can carry out the projects necessary to boost their businesses.
AgroBank closes the 2022 financial year with 12,400 agricultural clients in the Canary Islands, where it has 39 specialized AgroBank offices and a team of 157 specialized managers.
“The significant increase in the financing figure reflects CaixaBank’s commitment to the agri-food sector and to being close to our customers. In 2022, which has been marked by the uncertainty generated by the invasion of Ukraine, the agricultural sector has returned to be up to the task”, said the territorial director of CaixaBank in the Canary Islands, Manuel Afonso.
AgroBank’s value proposition combines the development of the best products, services and tools adapted to the needs of farmers, ranchers or cooperative members, in addition to close and comprehensive advice, not only with financial support, but also offers planning together, aid for training and specialization to offer a really useful service, collects a note from the entity.
To this end, CaixaBank’s agricultural managers have extensive knowledge of the sector and receive continuous and specialized training.
Thus, those responsible for AgroBank in all the territorial departments of the entity have specific knowledge depending on the types of crops and livestock of each population, and the risk teams are specialized in their areas of influence so that they know very well closely the needs of customers and understand their financial flows.
OFFICES, PRODUCTS, AGRO AND AGROTECH COMMUNITY
AgroBank’s value proposition is based on four verticals. Thus, as a differential value, it has an extensive network of offices present in all the territories in which the agri-food sector plays a leading role in the economy of the area and the specialized teams that provide service to customers.
Specifically, it is a network of 1,152 AgroBank branches throughout the country, the largest in the sector, all of them with a thematic and personalized design based on the main productive sector of the territory where they are located.
The second vertical is the most comprehensive catalog of products, services and tools on the market, without forgetting the strong specialized financing capacity, such as ‘confirming’ and ‘factoring’, or foreign trade activity.
Specific products for the conversion to organic or for the transformation of the olive grove are some of the innovations for the 2022 financial year that are already part of the new catalogue.
The third pillar are actions to promote the sector where, through the Agro Community, customers and non-customers will have access to all the information that makes AgroBank a benchmark in the sector, such as participation in fairs and conferences, the ‘Chair AgroBank for Quality and Innovation in the Agri-Food Sector’ of the University of Lleida or the ‘Cátedra Mujer, Empresa y Mundo Rural’ with the University of Castilla-La Mancha.
In addition, the entity is committed to plans to promote generational renewal in the sector for young farmers, focused on the use of new technologies, with training in innovation, digitization and sustainability.
The last vertical of AgroBank’s value proposition is AgroTech, to accompany clients in the transition towards an agro of the future, based on innovation, digitization and sustainability.
Among the initiatives is the AgroBank Tech Digital INNovation program to accelerate startups specialized in the agricultural sector.
On the other hand, AgroBank collaborates actively with the main organizations in the sector –both nationally and regionally– through collaboration agreements, and it also does so with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with which in 2022 has signed an agreement to promote innovation, the inclusion of rural women, training in rural areas through CaixaBank Dualiza and rural entrepreneurship together with MicroBank, the largest microcredit institution in Europe.
