Economy

Ecobank, NIRSAL Give Farmers Single Digit Interest Loans

Published

7 years ago

21/07/2019

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

Economy

Sell-Offs in GTCO, First Holdco Crash NGX All-Share Index by 0.62%

Published

1 hour ago

20/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock exchange remained in the red on Friday after it further depreciated by 0.62 per cent due to panic sell-offs in some bellwether equities.

NAHCO lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N148.50, Royal Exchange depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.53, GTCO slumped by 9.97 per cent to N115.55, First Holdco dropped 9.84 per cent to quote at N55.00, and Neimeth slipped by 9.60 per cent to N28.12.

On the flip side, Deap Capital increased by 9.89 per cent to N4.89, RT Briscoe expanded by 9.62 per cent to N13.10, International Energy Insurance advanced by 7.43 per cent to N5.06, Jaiz Bank gained 7.14 per cent to sell for N9.00, and Living Trust Mortgage Bank rose by 5.26 per cent to N4.00.

During the session, the energy index chalked up 2.35 per cent, but this was not enough to lift the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm to signify the close of trading activities.

This was because the banking sector lost 4.41 per cent, the insurance counter shed 1.52 per cent, the industrial goods space declined by 0.71 per cent, and the consumer goods segment tumbled by 0.13 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,463.45 points to 235,941.27 points from 237,404.92 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by M939 billion to N151.327 trillion from N152.266 trillion.

The activity chart was topped by Access Holdings, which posted a turnover of 65.0 million shares valued at N1.5 billion. Zenith Bank sold 35.2 million stocks worth N3.9 billion, Sterling Holdings exchanged 28.4 million equities for N217.8 million, UBA transacted 16.3 million shares valued at N650.7 million, and GTCO traded 14.0 million stocks worth N1.8 billion.

In all, investors transacted 440.4 million equities for N24.7 billion in 50,273 deals, in contrast to the 691.6 million equities valued at N116.9 billion traded in 50,025 deals on Thursday, implying an uptick in the number of deals by 0.50 per cent, and a decrease in the trading volume and value by 36.32 per cent and 78.87 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,370/$ at Official Market, N1,390/$1 at Black Market

Published

2 hours ago

20/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira again depreciated against the United States Dollar by N7.16 or 0.53 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 19, to N1,370.46/$1 from the previous day’s N1,363.30/$1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian currency lost N9.07 against the Pound Sterling at the official market yesterday to trade at N1,814.76/£1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,805.69/£1, and crashed against the Euro by N6.43 to settle at N1,571.50/€1 versus N1,565.07/€1.

Also, the Naira weakened against the greenback in the black market during the session by N5 to sell for N1,390/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,385/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it shed N3 to close at N1,376/$1 versus N1,373/$1.

The official market’s FX liquidity has been facing pressure over the last three trading sessions, contributing to a decline in the official exchange rate due to rising demand for foreign payments.

FX reserves rose to $51.03 billion, the highest level since January 20, 2009, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The figure also represents the highest since the beginning of the year and under the administration of the current Governor of CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso.

The latest figure underscores the steady strengthening of Nigeria’s external buffers, which continues to reinforce investor confidence in the Nigerian economy and support exchange rate stability.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was mixed, with Bitcoin (BTC) up by 0.8 per cent to $63,225.80 after trading activity was relatively subdued due to a US federal holiday, as the absence of stock and bond market activity led to quieter conditions across crypto markets, even though digital assets continue to trade around the clock.

Further, TRON (TRX) also gained 0.8 per cent to sell at $0.3230, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.5 per cent to $579.84, and Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.1 per cent to $1,704.23.

On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.9 per cent to $1.13, Cardano (ADA) shed 0.8 per cent to trade at $0.1611, Solana (SOL) fell by 0.1 per cent to $69.23, and Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 0.1 per cent to $0.0831, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

Brent Rises to $80 as Israel, Hezbollah Agree Ceasefire

Published

3 hours ago

20/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Brent crude gained 66 cents or 0.53 per cent to sell for $80.38 per barrel on Friday after Israel and Hezbollah agreed on a ceasefire in Lebanon, though Iran set conditions for using the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Also, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 94 cents or 1.23 per cent to $77.54 per barrel, amid light trading volumes due to the US Juneteenth holiday.

In spite of Friday’s gains, Brent was down about 8 per cent week-over-week, reflecting a significant easing of supply concerns in the wake of the US-Iran deal to end the war.

Gulf producers were preparing to raise exports after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire, which began on Friday.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fighting in southern Lebanon after days of escalating clashes threatened to derail the fragile US-Iran peace process, reducing the risk that the first major test of the agreement would turn into its first major failure.

At least four tankers carrying crude, oil products and liquefied petroleum gas (LNG) entered the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, heading for Iraqi Gulf ports. However, despite the uptick in activity, Iran signalled ⁠tighter control over shipping.

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said “no vessel is permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without a valid passage permit issued by the PGSA”.

Concerns also remain as a planned meeting between Iranian and American officials in Switzerland on Friday was postponed, with arrangements underway for talks in the coming days.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the meeting was no longer urgent because a memorandum of understanding on ending the war had already been signed digitally between the two sides.

Analysts expect the deal to release more than 85 million barrels of oil stranded in the ⁠Middle East Gulf into global markets. The agreement also includes the lifting of US sanctions on Iranian oil, which would add more supply.

However, recovery in flows of supply that transits Hormuz and production after the US-Iran deal could take several months.

On the demand front, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its 2026 World Oil Outlook that world demand will rise to 113.3 million barrels per day in 2030 from 105.1 million barrels per day in 2025.