Gbagolo Integrated Farms Limited and TOAJ Nigeria Limited have received N232 million to boost poultry and cocoa value chains in Cross River State.
This follows the issuance of a 50 percent credit risk guarantee (CRG) and 20 percent interest drawback (IDB) by the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) plc on the loans for Gbagolo Integrated Farms Limited – a livestock producer and TOAJ Nigeria Limited – a cocoa dealer.
Leveraging on its CRG – an instrument that NIRSAL plc utilises to share agribusiness risks with financiers – NIRSAL facilitated the approval and disbursement of N81.8 million and N150 million from Union Bank plc and Sterling Bank plc respectively. While Gbagolo Integrated Farms will use its N81.8 million loan to finance the purchase of 25,000 point of lay birds, 25,000 capacity battery cages and feeding compliments, TOAJ will channel its N150 million export/trade finance facility towards the sourcing and purchasing of cocoa for export.
The injection of the funds into the poultry and cocoa value chains in Cross River State will create a positive knock-on effect for players along each segment of both value chains and the agribusinesses’ host communities at large. Specifically, the purchase of 25,000 point of lay birds by Gbagolo will impact poultry feeds sellers and other inputs suppliers in the pre-upstream value chain segment; producers/sellers of point of lay birds in the upstream segment, and consumers of eggs and spent layers in the downstream segment.
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Meanwhile, TOAJ’s facility will support thousands of farmers who supply its inventory by providing them with a secure, sustainable, and guaranteed offtake market. Furthermore, the export of cocoa will increase Nigeria’s stake in the global cocoa market and boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
Speaking during the official launch of the Gbagolo Integrated Farms and TOAJ Nigeria projects in Akpabuyo local government area of Cross River State, Aliyu Abdulhameed, managing director/CEO of NIRSAL managing, said both projects are testament to the fact that NIRSALin a bid to realise its vision of “transforming the economy, delivering inclusive growth and positively impacting the lives of Nigerians”, supports all sizes of businesses, whether small, medium or large across the length and breadth of the country.
Abdulhameed noted that as a guarantor, NIRSAL’s intervention positively impacts both the lender and the borrower, as well as the overall economy, implying that the lender invests safely and earns competitive returns; the borrower’s capacity utilisation and productivity is increased, and the economy reaps the benefits of the backward integration occasioned by increased local production at the expense of importation of essential goods.
