Ecobank Nigeria Limited and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signalling the beginning of a collaboration between both institutions on agri-business financing and the development of products that will support lending to actors in the agricultural value chain in conformity with Ecobank’s risk acceptance criteria and credit process.
Under the arrangement, Ecobank has committed a portfolio of N70 billion in series that has the bank immediately releasing a lump sum of N15 billion take off funding. Ecobank and NIRSAL would jointly select and develop projects that will meet the financing needs of actors in NIRSAL’s focal commodity value chains. These include maize, soybean, wheat, cassava and cotton for industrial commodities. The list also includes consumer commodities such as hibiscus, sesame, ginger and shea, rice; controlled environment agriculture commodities including sweet potato and beans, fresh fruits and vegetables and agriculture and integrated livestock commodity. The intent of the partnership is to ensure farmers get single digit interest rates to make agriculture attractive to both the elderly and the young population.
In his comment at the MoU signing ceremony in Lagos, Patrick Akinwuntan, Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria Limited said the bank is actively promoting agriculture as a strategic initiative to support national development which is critical to the wellbeing of Nigerians. According to Mr Akinwuntan, Ecobank is committed to working with NIRSAL to open up the vast opportunities that abound in agriculture and to ensure citizens benefit ultimately.
“This is a collaboration. The Federal Government had made it clear that investing in the agriculture sector is very critical for Nigeria to succeed, especially taking into consideration the natural endowment God granted us in terms of population, land and weather. We have the opportunity to make agriculture the economic spinner for Nigeria. What we are doing is to fulfil this policy direction of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)” he noted.
Further, Mr Akinwuntan reiterated that “in Nigeria, Ecobank hopes to contribute positively to move the economy forward, creating employment for the teeming population through agriculture. We found a natural partner in Nirsal, as they have the requisite intellectual and technical capacity to act as meeting point for the stakeholders in the sector. The de-risking participation of NIRSAL gives us the will to provide these facilities at single digit rates at a maximum of 9% to ensure that the users are able to […]
