PAUL Dijkhoffz, business development manager of FactorPlus, a financing company based in Curacao, is exploring avenues to expand its services to the wider Caribbean, including Suriname and Guyana.Accordingly, rice farmers in Suriname and Guyana could be offered a new opportunity to finance their businesses, rather than wait idly for delayed payment by millers and exporters.

Speaking to reporters on the margin of the Caribbean Pacific Agri-food Forum in Barbados, Dijkhoffz noted that FactorPlus has vast experience in trade-financing, and is currently offering services to farmers in the Region, since most have difficulty in accessing traditional financing.

Dijkhoffz said that after farmers or producers sell and deliver their produce to buyers, like supermarkets or hotels, his company buys the invoices, paying the sellers, within 48 hours 80 per cent of the amount due upfront. The remaining 20 per cent minus factoring fee is paid after that is collected by FactorPlus.

This type of financing takes away the hassle from farmers who have to go after their monies, while the financing company takes all the risks, Dijkhoffz explained. He further noted that while traditional financers may offer loans for 30 to 40 per cent interest to farmers, FactorPlus is very competitive, with fees ranging from 4 to 7 per cent.

FactorPlus currently provides services in Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, St Maarten and Miami, and plans to expand services to the agricultural sector in the Region.

(Excerpted from Caribbean News Now)