WorldStage– The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated the Board of Directors of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), charging it to reposition the institution to expand access to agricultural financing and support the country’s food security agenda.
Speaking during the inauguration on Friday in Abuja, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, said the bank was established to take financing to farmers across the country.
He said that although the bank had, for years, lacked the resources required to meet Nigeria’s agricultural financing needs, President Bola Tinubu had begun addressing that challenge.
Kyari said the bank was digitising its operations, from loan appraisal and disbursement to recovery, to ensure that credit reached farmers faster and with greater efficiency.
He added that the BOA was central to the Renewed Hope National Agricultural Mechanisation Programme, which he described as the largest of its kind in Africa and designed to serve more than one million farmers annually.
According to him, the bank recently commenced the distribution of agricultural inputs to nearly 500,000 smallholder farmers under the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Fund.
“The work of renewal has already begun. Your task is to give it scale and permanence.
“From today, there is no old guard and no new arrivals: one board, one management, one institution, one mandate.
“Food security is your founding mandate. Access to capital is the reason you exist. Every loan that reaches a farmer, a woman processor or a young entrepreneur creates jobs, promotes inclusion and strengthens peace,” he said.
The minister said a bank that lends on merit and recovers loans without fear or favour was contributing to the fight against corruption.
He urged the board to align the bank’s operations with the ministry’s programmes and those of its development partners.
“We expect credit that reaches genuine farmers, agribusinesses and other credible actors along the agricultural value chain, appraised on merit and recovered with discipline.
“A development bank that does not recover its loans develops nothing.
“We also expect the ongoing recapitalisation to translate into increased lending to smallholder farmers, women and youths, not higher overhead costs.
“The bank must become a lean, digital and service-driven institution that puts the customer first,” Kyari said.
Responding, the Chairman of the BOA Board, Muhammad Babangida, said the bank occupied a strategic position in Nigeria’s economic development.
He said, as the country’s foremost agricultural development finance institution, the BOA had a critical role in expanding access to finance for farmers, cooperatives, agribusinesses and rural entrepreneurs.
“At a time when food security, economic diversification and inclusive growth remain national priorities, the importance of this institution cannot be overstated.
“We are fully committed to providing sound strategic oversight anchored on integrity, transparency, accountability, professionalism and good governance.
“We accept this responsibility with humility and a firm commitment to justify the confidence reposed in us,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, the Managing Director of BOA, Mr Ayodeji Sotinrin, expressed confidence that the new board would strengthen the bank’s operations.Sotinrin said the bank was committed to providing appropriate financing that would address farmers’ challenges of access to affordable credit and support increased agricultural productivity.
