By Sodeinde Temidayo David
The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has secured about N232 million loans from Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and Sterling Bank Plc to finance poultry production and cocoa export in Nigeria.
Part of the credit facility has been disbursed by NIRSAL to Gbagolo Integrated Farms Limited, a livestock producing firm and TOAJ Nigeria Limited, a cocoa dealing firm located in Cross River State.
This was initiated in a bid to promote the vision of transforming the economy, delivering inclusive growth and positively impacting the lives of Nigerians.
According to the Managing Director of NIRSAL Plc, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, this leverage on the Credit Risk Guarantee (CRG), an instrument the organization utilises to share agribusiness risks with financiers.
Mr Abdulhamed disclosed that the body facilitated the approval and disbursement of N81.8 million sourced from Union Bank and N150 million from Sterling Bank, respectively to the poultry production and cocoa export firms.
According to the NIRSAL boss, Gbagolo Integrated Farms Limited will use its N81.8 million term loan to finance the purchase of 25,000 Point of Lay, 25,000 capacity battery cages and feeding compliments.
TOAJ Nigeria Limited, on its part, will channel its N150 million export or trade finance facility towards the sourcing and purchase of cocoa for export.
The financing (N231.8 million) is set to boost the poultry and cocoa value chains in the state and is expected to generate significant gains for the local and national economies.
The injection of these funds into the poultry and cocoa value chains in Cross River State will create a positive knock-on effect for players along each segment of both value chains and the agribusinesses’ host communities at large.
Specifically, the purchase of 25,000 Point of Lay birds by Gbagolo Integrated Farms will impact poultry feeds sellers and other input suppliers in the pre upstream value chain segment, producers, sellers of point of lay birds in the upstream segment, and consumers of eggs and spent layers in the downstream segment.
Also, the TOAJ facility will support the thousands of farmers who supply its inventory by providing them with a secure, sustainable, and guaranteed off-take market.
Furthermore, the export of cocoa will increase Nigeria’s post in the global cocoa market and boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
NIRSAL reiterated that it was set to positively impact both the lender and the borrower, as well as the overall economy, indicating that the lender invests safely and earns competitive returns, the borrower’s capacity utilization and productivity is increased, and the economy reaps the benefits of the diffident addition caused by increased local production at the expense of importation of essential goods.
