ALMA Sustainable Finance and DFC Announce Guaranty Facility in Pakistan and Egypt to Expand Digital Logistics in Region
Oct 13, 2022
New York City, New York Oct 13, 2022 (Issuewire.com) - ALMA Sustainable Finance (ALMA) and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) today announced the launch of a loan guarantee transaction in Pakistan and Egypt. The guarantee facility, valued at $4.2 million, will allow ALMA to deploy $6 million in debt financing to support the operations of Trella, an innovative digital freight marketplace in Pakistan and Egypt.
ALMA's borrower Trella is the fastest-growing digital freight marketplace in Pakistan and the Middle East, having facilitated over two million tons of shipments in 2021. Trella's platform connects corporate shippers with trucking carriers across the region, driving efficiency in a highly fragmented logistics industry. ALMA and DFC's support towards Trella will drive several development impacts including an increased income for truckers who are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), decreased GHG emissions in logistics due to better routing, and higher load utilization. The transaction also qualifies as a "2X Challenge" investment by advancing employment opportunities for women in the logistics industry in Pakistan and the Middle East, where women are traditionally underrepresented.
"DFC is excited to support ALMA to finance growing, innovative businesses in emerging markets, especially Pakistan and Egypt. DFC recognizes that innovation and technology will be the driver to modernize operations in sectors such as logistics. We are looking forward to the economic and environmental impacts of this transaction," said Jim Polan, Vice President of the Office of Development Credit at DFC. "Furthermore, this transaction is an example of DFC's work and operation in Pakistan, which DFC hopes to grow in the coming years."
"With the signing of this facility, we hope to expand economic opportunities for small and medium enterprises, and sustainably improve the environmental impact of logistics operations in Pakistan," said Reed Aeschliman, Mission Director of USAID/Pakistan.
"We are very pleased to have the support of DFC to be able to extend more capital to high-growth digital businesses such as Trella," said Gautam Ivatury, managing partner at ALMA Sustainable Finance. "As debt lenders, we want to extend more financing in lower middle-income countries such as Pakistan and Egypt, and having the DFC guaranty facility allows us to reach more companies in these regions and have broader development impacts."
"Trella's operations will benefit greatly from the additional debt financing extended by ALMA with the support of the DFC guaranty," added Omar Hagrass, CEO of Trella. "In an industry like ours, we need new sources of capital to maintain our high-growth trajectory and reach the thousands of truckers across the region who need support to access more shipments, faster payments, and other integral services."
ALMA's debt financing, backed by the DFC guaranty, will support the expansion of Trella's platform for MSME truckers in lower-middle-income countries Egypt and Pakistan, where MSMEs provide the bulk of employment but face operational challenges. The project will also benefit from technical assistance provided by both USAID/Pakistan and USAID/Egypt.
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About U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world today. We invest across sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology. DFC also provides financing for small businesses and women entrepreneurs in order to create jobs in emerging markets. DFC investments adhere to high standards and respect the environment, human rights, and worker rights.
About United States Agency for International Development / Pakistan
Pakistan is one of America's largest recipients of foreign assistance, a sign of its long-term partnership and commitment. This year marks 75 years of the U.S-Pakistan bilateral relationship (1947 - 2022). Over the past decade alone, USAID has generously provided nearly $7.7 billion in assistance to the Pakistani people. The United States and Pakistan have worked together to forge a relationship that benefits the people of both countries. This cooperation has produced transformative ideas and institutions that are still considered landmark accomplishments for Pakistan. Find more details here: https://www.usaid.gov/pakistan @USAID_Pakistan on Facebook and Twitter.
About United States Agency for International Development / Egypt
Since 1978, the United States has provided Egypt with more than $30 billion in economic assistance, including $15 billion (EGP 287 billion) to support the Egyptian government and businesses in modernizing and growing the economy. To learn more about the U.S.-Egypt partnership visit: www.usembassy.gov and https://www.usaid.gov/egypt and follow @USEmbassyCairo and @USAIDEgypt on Facebook and Twitter.
About ALMA Sustainable Finance
ALMA Sustainable Finance is a global debt platform that creatively deploys capital for sustainable development. ALMA uses real-time data and analytics to provide debt capital to high-growth companies in sustainable asset classes such as inclusive finance, cleantech, and carbon solutions. ALMA seeks to be a permanent, on-tap source of debt that can grow alongside its borrowers. Learn more at www.almavest.com.
About Trella
Trella is a B2B technology platform and trucking marketplace connecting shippers with carriers, and the fastest-growing digital freight marketplace in Pakistan and the Middle East. Trella is reinventing trucking to bring transparency, reliability, and efficiency to an antiquated logistics market. Trella has 350+ shipper partners including blue-chip brands such as Coca-Cola, Maersk, Mondi, Henkel, Amazon, and Cemex. It also has 30,000+ carrier partners. Founded in 2019, Trella has successfully expanded into Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates.
For more information
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
Nicole Pasricha, ALMA Sustainable Finance
Alsharif Alhassan, Treasury Manager, Trella
Source :ALMA Sustainable Finance
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
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