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The Federal government has declared that the recapitalisation of Bank of Agriculture will be completed before first quarter of 2025 ends to support funding of smallholder farming activities.
The recapitalization of the bank which has dragged for years, is seen as panacea for inadequate funding of commercial agriculture, as statistical evidence show that the highest commercial bank loan the sector had between 2014 and 2021, was N1.04 trillion in 2020 which was only 5.15% of the total commercial bank loan, in seven years.
However, Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, while speaking on efforts to bring down food inflation — currently at about 34% — said the “ recapitalisation of the bank will be concluded before the end of the first quarter of 2025.”
He noted that the bank with about 109 branches has the potentials to aid funding for the agric sector.
At a meeting of the National Council of Privatisation (NCP), last year, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the chairman of the council had inaugurated a committee, headed by Wale Edu, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy to work out modalities for the resuscitation of the bank.
The move is part of the government response to the escalating food insecurity, as part of strategic interventions aimed at mitigating the crisis.
He announced that with the recapitalisation, “ it is hoped that farmers will get the needed financing to upscale their businesses, as loans to farmers from conventional commercial banks have been poor in recent times.
On the positive side, Kyari said the “country experienced positive harvest in the 2024 farming season that have far exceeded what we had in the previous years” .
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