CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will almost double its African agribusiness investments to $400 million by 2011, one of its senior investment officers said on Tuesday.

The IFC is the investment arm of the World Bank.

“We have 7.1 percent of our portfolio in agribusiness in Africa and we are looking to increase it significantly,” Washington-based Anup Jagwani told Reuters on the sidelines of an African agribusiness conference in Cape Town.

Jagwani is due to head IFC’s agricultural operations in Africa this year.

“We are hoping that it can be at least 10-15 percent of our overall portfolio… This is over time and we are hoping that within one or two years we will get to a much higher percentage of 10 to 15 percent,” Jagwani added.

Africa, the world’s poorest continent, is attracting millions of dollars in investment to spur its ailing agriculture sector.

Some analysts think large swathes of arable but idle hectares could provide an answer to global food security concerns.

Jagwani said the 7.1 percent represented about $195 million at the end of December 2008.

Jagwani said that the IFC would look for fundamentally viable projects, so even if the global economy was suffering, those projects would be able to survive and come out strong.

He said it was a good time to invest across the entire spectrum of agriculture, as the spectre of global food shortages raises concerns of violent protests.

“Demand for food is going to continue, there’s food security issues, so I think there will continue to be increasing investment in agribusiness across the world. So, it makes sense to invest,” he said.

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