The current positive attitude of some banks towards lending in the agricultural sector has been linked to the de-risking of the sector through various innovative approaches introduced recently.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), gave this revelation at the weekend at an event organised by Kano State Farmers Association to honour Akinwunmi Adesina, minister of agriculture, who was recently honoured as the Forbes African Person of the year.
Also, Sanusi revealed that he collaborated with Adesina in the designing of a programme that co-ordinated all the value chain links in the agricultural sector that propelled the banks to go into agricultural business, specifically lending to the sector.
According to Sanusi, “I met Adesina at a conference abroad while he was the vice-president of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa. After he delivered a lecture on food sufficiency in Africa, I encouraged him to come home and work with me to support our farmers; we can all bear testimony to what is happening now.
“In 2009, sum total lending to the agricultural sector was zero percent; but now, total lending to the agricultural sector is put at 5 percent of total bank lending in the country.”
He further advised Adesina to deepen efforts on research prospects, quick access to market and fast tracking the process involved in the stable crop processing zone across the different zones of the country.
In his response, Adesina lauded the support of the CBN governor in boosting lending to the sector as he revealed that some banks had already formed themselves into groups known as Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Bankers Group, because of innovative approach in the sector.
Harrison Edeh
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