Ashcroft & Grey will connect investors with traders and financial institutions in Africa’s southeast and west, addressing trade and climate risk financing challenges.
Former Bank One executive Carl Chirwa has founded Ashcroft & Grey, a financial advisory firm specializing in commodities, metals, and climate risk financing. With a mission to bridge the gap between investors and traders in Southeast and West African countries, where trade liquidity and climate risk finance are limited, Ashcroft & Grey aims to facilitate partnerships and provide financial solutions. The firm focuses on financing soft commodities imports, supporting smaller miners, and structuring facilities with extended credit terms. Based in Mauritius, Ashcroft & Grey is poised to enhance trade and financing opportunities in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Connecting investors and traders in Africa
Ashcroft & Grey, led by Chirwa and three other founding partners, is dedicated to strengthening financial connections between investors and traders in Southeast and West African countries. The firm seeks to address the challenges of limited hard currency liquidity for trade and climate risk financing in the region. By facilitating partnerships between trade finance funds, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, and traders, Ashcroft & Grey aims to unlock trade and financing opportunities.
Supporting soft commodities and smaller miners
One of Ashcroft & Grey’s key focuses is on financing the imports of soft commodities, including fertilizer and fuels. Additionally, the firm aims to collaborate with trading houses to provide liquidity to smaller miners operating in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, which face difficulties in accessing international markets for their products. Recognizing that cash constraints often hinder these mid-scale mining producers from transporting and selling their minerals and resources, Ashcroft & Grey has formed a strategic partnership with warehouse operator Access World. This collaboration enables miners to obtain warehouse receipts through London Metals Exchange facilities, which can then be leveraged to secure pre-shipment financing.
Targeted markets and extended credit facilities
Ashcroft & Grey will concentrate its operations in key African countries, namely Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. Given the ongoing challenge of accessing US dollars in many of these regions, the company is actively involved in structuring facilities that offer extended credit terms. By providing financial expertise and solutions, Ashcroft & Grey aims to support trade activities, foster economic growth, and address liquidity constraints in the targeted markets.
In other commodities news, AFEX, a leading player in Africa’s commodities market, secured the top position in the Financial Times’ (FT) Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies for 2023 list.