- Banks Release N77.4bn for Agric Projects
The Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending has facilitated the release of a total of N77.4bn from the Deposit Money Banks into agribusiness in Nigeria.
The Managing Director, NIRSAL, Aliyu Abdulhameed, gave the figure on Wednesday in Abuja during his investiture as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management.
NIRSAL was created by the Central Bank of Nigeria to stimulate the flow of affordable finance and investments into the agricultural sector by de-risking the agribusiness finance value chain, fixing agricultural value chains, building long-term capacity and institutionalising incentives for agricultural lending.
Speaking at the event, Abdulhameed said that NIRSAL had trained over 700,000 farmers in best agronomic practices and financial education.
He added that the agency had provided high quality agricultural inputs and affordable finance to more than 500,000 smallholder farmers.
He commended the institute for the recognition, adding that the award would spur the agency to continue to maintain high standards in the transformation of agribusiness in Nigeria.
He said, “It is one thing for an individual to make a lifetime effort to abide by the qualities of transparency and integrity, but it is another to be recognised for it by a prime institution such as CIPSM.
“As a non-bank financial institution mandates to de-risk agriculture and facilitate agribusiness, NIRSAL with me at the helms of affairs is dedicated to abiding by good procurement principles to achieve these goals.
“Under my stewardship, NIRSAL has facilitated the flow of N77.4bn from commercial banks’ balance sheet into agric businesses, trained over 700,000 farmers on beat agronomy practices and financial education and directly facilitated high quality agricultural inputs to more than 500,000 smallholder farmers.”
