BARBARA BAKO, Abuja
The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) on Wednesday said it would provide Agro Traders Limited – a Cocoa processing and export company in Ondo State with N2bn working capital facility. The incentive which is a 50 per cent credit risk guarantee for the N2bn would enable the company export 22,000 metric tonnes of cocoa. As part of the plan, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank and United Bank for Africa are financing the purchase, storage, processing and export of 22,000 metric tons of cocoa beans.
The business between the four parties would also support thousands of smallholder cocoa farmers who supply agro traders with a guaranteed off-take market for their produce every year. While proposing similar collaborations with specific development finance institutions that have mutual objectives, NIRSAL is wooing all commercial banks to open up their balance sheets to agriculture. The call is made with the assurance that the NIRSAL CRG would secure substantial part of bank loans to agriculture and that its comprehensive risk management framework would forestall defaults.
Speaking during a tour of Agro Traders factory in Akure, NIRSAL’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed NEXIM’s nine per cent interest rate, together with NIRSAL’s 50 per cent guarantee would present an even more attractive financing proposition for the cocoa beans processing company. Abdulhameed in statement issued by NIRSAL said that the move would help Agro-allied companies to grow their agribusinesses with NIRSAL’s support. He said NIRSAL adopts a value chain fixing approach in facilitating finance and investments for agribusiness. He said NIRSAL is crowding actors from various value chains around the primary production of commodities through its mapping-to-market strategy launched recently.
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