GUIDE
Building a bankable file
The 7 items funders really expect — and the mistakes that get a file rejected out of hand.
Most agricultural financing files fail before they are even reviewed: missing items, unverifiable figures, an undemonstrated market. This guide lists what development partners and banks really expect.
An updated version of this guide is in preparation: it will incorporate the continuity budget and use-matched financing.
The 7 expected items
- Market study: demand demonstrated, not assumed (identified buyers, observed prices).
- Technical and economic feasibility study with sourced assumptions.
- Business plan in FCFA: CAPEX, OPEX, cash flow per production cycle.
- Clear legal status and governance of the sponsoring entity.
- Mobilisable guarantees: secured land, equipment, sureties.
- A milestone-based implementation plan, with owners and deadlines.
- A monitoring system: who checks what, with which indicators.
The mistakes that disqualify
- An "expected" yield with no local agronomic reference.
- Selling prices taken at the best moment of the season.
- No provision for contingencies or working capital.
- A structure where everything rests on a single person.
How XP-NOVA secures financing
- Files built to the funders' formats (cycle, steps 6 to 8 — Finance).
- Tripartite OHADA escrow account: funds are released against verified milestones.
- Independent execution monitoring (cycle, step 9 — Build) that reassures the funder over time.
Version 2026.1 — updated 19 August 2026