Unity Bank disburses N24bn to farmers
Unity Bank Plc says it has disbursed over N24 billion to Nigerian farmers under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).
CACS is a sub-component of the Federal Government of Nigeria Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (CADP) and is aimed at promoting commercial agricultural enterprises in the country.
The scheme targets the promotion/production of cash crops, food crops, poultry, livestock, aquaculture, processing, storage, farm input supplies and marketing for agricultural commercial it enterprises with asset base of N50 million to N100 million.
According to the bank’s Head of Agribusiness, Mr. Olugbenga Emmanuel Adelana, “It is understandable why Unity Bank is making inroads and being reckoned with when it comes to disbursing the intervention funds.
“The key beneficiaries which the intervention programmes are designed for ply their agribusiness mostly in the rural areas and this is a space that Unity Bank has not shied away from.
“Unity Bank is therefore unleashing the strength of its business model and placing its structures at the disposal of the intervention schemes in its bid to support government’s key initiatives to drive the growth and transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural economy,” he stated.
Unity Bank is currently the 4th largest provider of single digit interest loans (9 per cent max) to agribusinesses under the CBN’s CACS, with a CACS loan portfolio of over N24 billion.
In June 2017, it executed a channel partnership agreement with Nigerian Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), to provide a platform for disbursement of loans to farmers; targeting over 9,000 farmers for rice, maize and wheat across seven states of Kebbi, Zamfara, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna and Adamawa states.
The bank is also active in the CBN’s Anchor Borrower Scheme, having disbursed over N1.6 billion to 11,000 wheat farmers in Jigawa and Sokoto states thus providing raw materials for flour millers and invariably supporting the Federal Government’s import substitution policy.
“The commitment of the bank towards participating in the on-lending schemes is borne out of Unity Bank’s belief in pursuing benefits of greater financial inclusion and reaching out to greater number of farmers all around Nigeria initially excluded with financial services, all of which is made possible by the bank’s deep knowledge of rural economy,” Adelana said.