Economy
Ecobank, NIRSAL Give Farmers Single Digit Interest Loans
By Dipo Olowookere
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Ecobank Nigeria Limited and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).
This signals the beginning of a collaboration between both institutions on agri-business financing and the development of products that will support lending to actors in the agricultural value chain in conformity with Ecobank’s risk acceptance criteria and credit process.
Under the arrangement, Ecobank has committed a portfolio of N70 billion in series that has the bank immediately releasing a lump sum of N15 billion take off funding.
Ecobank and NIRSAL would jointly select and develop projects that will meet the financing needs of actors in NIRSAL’s focal commodity value chains. These include maize, soybean, wheat, cassava and cotton for industrial commodities.
The list also includes consumer commodities such as hibiscus, sesame, ginger and shea, rice; controlled environment agriculture commodities including sweet potato and beans, fresh fruits and vegetables and agriculture and integrated livestock commodity. The intent of the partnership is to ensure farmers get single digit interest rates to make agriculture attractive to both the elderly and the young population.
In his comment at the MoU signing ceremony in Lagos, Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, said the bank was actively promoting agriculture as a strategic initiative to support national development which is critical to the wellbeing of Nigerians.
According to Mr Akinwuntan, Ecobank is committed to working with NIRSAL to open up the vast opportunities that abound in agriculture and to ensure citizens benefit ultimately.
“This is a collaboration and the federal government had made it clear that investing in the agriculture sector is very critical for Nigeria to succeed, especially taking into consideration the natural endowment God granted us in terms of population, land and weather.
“We have the opportunity to make agriculture the economic spinner for Nigeria. What we are doing is to fulfil this policy direction of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” he noted.
Further, Mr Akinwuntan reiterated that “in Nigeria, Ecobank hopes to contribute positively to move the economy forward, creating employment for the teeming population through agriculture. We found a natural partner in NIRSAL, as they have the requisite intellectual and technical capacity to act as meeting point for the stakeholders in the sector.
“The de-risking participation of NIRSAL gives us the will to provide these facilities at single digit rates at a maximum of 9 percent to ensure that the users are able to make profit. When our customers make profit, we are also able to make profit. So it is a win – win business for everyone”.
Also speaking, Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, revealed that under the agreement, and in line with its Mapping to Markets (M2M) strategy, NIRSAL will identify and refer structured projects to Ecobank to support the bank’s deal origination and financing operations in agribusiness.
On its part, Ecobank will finance the projects leveraging NIRSAL’s Credit Risk Guarantee (CRG) which is a further comfort for lenders to agriculture and agribusiness.
Shedding more light on the M2M, Mr Abdulhameed noted that the strategy is “a closed loop financing system that mandatorily operates via one bank or a consortium of banks.
He added that NIRSAL will refer input and service providers under the M2M to Ecobank for account opening, hence, driving the growth of the bank’s business.
In addition to growing the bank’s business, Abdulhameed said that NIRSAL will develop a program for training Ecobank staff on Agribusiness Finance, with emphasis on how to channel customer applications and requests for effective and streamlined agribusiness lending.
The MoU ceremony had in attendance top executives of both institutions including Akintayo Dada, Executive Director, Corporate & Investment Banking, Biyi Olagbami, Executive Director / Chief Risk Officer and Carol Oyedeji, Executive Director, Commercial Bank, all of Ecobank Nigeria and Babajide Arowosafe, Executive Director, Technical, Eze Nwakanma, Assistant General Manager, Agricultural Value Chain Finance & Investment Services, Ernest Ihedigbo, Head, Balance Sheet Financing & Portfolio Management and Michael Adeoye, Head, Credit Risk Guarantee Operations and Portfolio Management, from NIRSAL Plc
By Bon Peter
The Area 11 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Onne, Rivers State surpassed its 2024 annual revenue target by N16 billion.
This information was revealed to newsmen by the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Mr Mohammed Babandede, at a news conference last week.
He also disclosed that the command recently intercepted 12 containers of illicit drugs worth over N20.30 billion concealed in various items.
According to him, the content of the seized container included 1,721,100 bottles of 100ml cough syrup codeine, 510,000 tablets of 50mg Really Extra Diclofenac, 7,100,000 tablets of 225mg Royal apple Tramadol and Tramaking, 3,461 pieces of sanitary ware fittings used for concealment, 840 pieces of Chilly cutter used for concealment, and 153 cartons of TVS rubber.
“Our vigilant officers and men have successfully intercepted and seized an additional 12 containers (40 feet) of illicit medicine.
“This is a testament to our unwavering commitment to safeguarding public health, ensuring security of our nation and compliance with Nigeria’s import regulations. This also justifies our commitment to trade facilitation, transparency, effective and efficient service,” he said.
He said last year, the command received the support of different stakeholders, thanking them for working with the agency to achieve success.
“We appreciate the continued support and collaboration of all stakeholders, including the media, in amplifying our message and efforts to combat smuggling,” he said.
Mr Babandede stated that, “It is worth noting that the morale and dedication of our officers have been significantly bolstered by the Comptroller-General of Customs’ award, recognizing Area 2 Command as the Best Command in Anti-Smuggling Operations.
“This honour has further strengthened our resolve, and I assure you that we will not relent in performing our duties to protect the lives and well-being of Nigerians.”
The customs chief said earlier last year, the command was given a revenue target of N618 billion but as of December 31, 2024, it generated N634 billion, higher than the N321 billion recorded in 2023, promising to do more in 2025.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 0.39 per cent on Friday as the demand for local equities continued to increase.
During the final trading session of the week, the insurance maintained its upward trend with a growth of 7.81 per cent as the banking index appreciated by 1.08 per cent, the consumer goods sector rose by 0.52 per cent, and the industrial goods counter expanded by 0.33 per cent, while the energy space went down by 0.49 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) jumped by 406.19 points to 103,586.33 points from 103,180.14 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N248 billion to N63.166 trillion from N62.918 trillion.
The bourse recorded 67 appreciating shares and 11 depreciating shares, implying a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Chams, Omatek, NCR Nigeria, Learn Africa, and Regency Alliance topped the gainers’ table after they gained 10.00 per cent each to finish at N2.31, 88 Kobo, N6.05, N4.95, and 88 Kobo, respectively.
On the flip side, TotalEnergies lost 9.74 per cent to trade at N630.00, CWG depreciated by 6.04 per cent to close at N7.00, Thomas Wyatt went down by 5.26 per cent to N1.80, ABC Transport crumbled by 4.07 per cent to N1.18, and UAC Nigeria shed 3.19 per cent to N31.90.
Yesterday, investors traded 709.3 million stocks valued at N8.2 billion in 13,593 deals compared with the 829.8 million stocks worth N5.7 billion transacted in 11,752 deals on Thursday, representing a slowdown in the trading volume by 14.52 per cent and a rise in the trading value and number of deals by 43.86 per cent and 15.67 per cent, respectively.
At the close of business, Chams topped the activity log with 58.1 million equities sold for N133.8 million, Veritas Kapital traded 55.1 million shares valued at N89.2 million, Abbey Mortgage Bank exchanged 50.1 million stocks for N165.5 million, AIICO Insurance transacted 39.7 million equities worth N68.3 million, and NPF Microfinance Bank sold 34.3 million stocks valued at N64.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its positive start to the year with a 0.08 per cent rise on Friday, January 3.
The market saw a gain of N840 million, with the value of the alternative bourse growing to N1.046 trillion from the N1.045 trillion it closed a day earlier as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) made an addition of 2.43 points to wrap the session at 3,052.34 points compared with 3,049.91 points recorded at the previous session.
The appreciation posted yesterday at the NASD OTC exchange was caused by two price gainers led by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc which jumped by 2 Kobo to end at 20 Kobo per share compared with the preceding session’s 18 Kobo per share and UBN Property Plc, which improved its value by 16 Kobo to close at N1.98 per unit, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price f N1.82 per unit.
The market posted a price loser, which was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc as it dropped 18 Kobo to finish at N39.76 share versus the previous day’s N39.94 per share.
There was an 856.6 per cent surge in the volume of securities traded in the session to 11.3 million units from the 1.2 million units traded in the preceding session.
Equally, there was a jump in the value of shares traded yesterday by 1,078.4 per cent to N56.8 million from the N4.8 million made previously, and the number of deals increased by 22.7 per cent to 27 deals from 22 deals.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.4 units worth N55.8 million, IGI Plc came next with 10.6 million units valued at N2.1 million, and 11 Plc was in third with 6,45 units sold for N1.4 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc came next with 1.4 million units valued at N55.8 million, and UBN Property Plc followed with 275,740 units worth N545,965.
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