The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bank of Agriculture (BOA)

  • Stakeholders express optimism on Bank of Agriculture’s reforms

    Stakeholders express optimism on Bank of Agriculture’s reforms

    A palpable sense of anticipation hangs in the air within Nigeria’s agricultural heartland following the appointment of Ayo Sotinrin as the new helmsman of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA). A farmer, Rishama Aboki Solomon, welcomed his appointment with enthusiasm. “Seeing a young, vibrant person occupying the Managing Director seat of BOA is amazing,” he declared.

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    “This is what we have been saying. Whoever needs to be put into this position should be someone who is in the field, who has field experience, not just someone picked due to political ties or mere competence. “In the area of his competence, I have no doubt, but I have huge expectations on him, expectation in the area of finance and credit facilities for agribusiness and small farm holders.” His critique of past inadequacies was pointed. “The public aspect of our government has not been doing much in that regard,” he lamented, before casting a hopeful gaze towards the BOA.

  • FG to divest 60% stake in BOA

    In the bid to restructure the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) for efficiency, the Federal Government has moved to divest 60 per cent of its stakes in the bank.

    The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A. Okoh broke the news at the kick-off meeting for the recapitalisation of the Bank in Abuja.

    A statement that the Head, Public Communications of the Bureau, Amina Tukur Othman, on Thursday noted that Okoh said the Bank had performed sub-optimally due to the myriad of challenges it faced since inception in 1972.

    According to him: “The process will lead to the privatisation of equity of the bank. We envisage that the Central Bank equity will be reduced to 20 per cent, Federal Ministry of Finance (incorporated) will be reduced to 20 per cent.

    “The government agencies equity in the new bank will be a minority of 40 per cent.

    “We will then invite private sector investors who will own 20 per cent and the remaining 40 per cent equity will be owned by farmers and farmers’ cooperatives”.

    Okoh stated that the new strategy envisages that BoA will be transformed into a truly agriculture finance bank modeled along the lines of Agriculture Bank of China and Rabobank of the Netherlands, adding that upon its establishment in 1972 to serve as an agricultural and cooperative bank to provide services of a development finance institution, it was vested with the responsibility of providing low cost credit to small holder and commercial farmers.

    He, however, lamented that the Bank had been unable to realise its responsibilities due to its current structure, stressing that the proposed restructuring and recapitalisation of the Bank seek to transform it strictly into an agricultural finance bank with functional branches in all the local government areas and major towns in Nigeria.

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    The Director General said that the model was sure to encourage farmers to form clusters of cooperatives and thrift societies throughout the six geo-political zones for the purpose of participating in the ownership of the Bank.

    Okoh added that the model would fundamentally ensure that the BOA becomes a farmers’ bank owned by farmers.

    On the sustainability of the strategy and attracting investment, the DG, BPE explained that measures would be put in place to take non-performing credit facilities off the balance sheet and books of the Bank and possibly sold off to a factor agent. He said further that the measure is  to make the Bank attractive to investors and also attract cheap funding from multilateral development institutions and other institutional investors with a focus on agricultural financing.

    Okoh commended the Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh who doubles as the Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Project  for his passion and commitment to the development of agriculture in Nigeria.

    He congratulated Lead Consortium-the Adviser for transaction and said that upon conclusion, BoA would be placed  on a platform to optimise its potential to make positive impacts on the  nation’s natural endowments for arable farming.

  • FG to take delivery of N10.7bn rice mill Dec 2019

    The Federal Government has said the N10.7 billion integrated rice milling machines procured by the Federal Government will be delivered in December, 2019.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, disclosed this Monday at the pact signing with MV Agro Engineers, suppliers of the farm equipment, in Abuja.

    Ogbeh explained that the benefiting states would indicate interest as off-takers, make 10 percent down payment and express technical capacity to own and operate a mill.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in April approved N10.7bn for the establishment of 10 new rice mills in the six geopolitical zones.

    The 10 participating states include Kaduna, Anambra, Kogi, Benue, Bayelsa, Niger, and Bauchi. Others are Kebbi, Ogun, Zamfara while the mills are expected to produce 100 tons of rice per day.

    Read Also:Fed Govt to rice millers: we’ll reduce interest rates

    The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) is expected to take over the loan repayment in the next 10 years.

    “As these people arrive, they will install these mills and the BoA will take over the loans repayment over a period of 10 years,” Ogbeh said.

    Asked if the 18 months deadline could be reviewed upward, the minister noted that, “building machines is not cheap. It’s a scientific thing. These people say they may do it faster but we give them 18 months, so there won’t be issues for delays.”

    According to him, there are about 16 existing large rice mills from the already procured 100 mills.

    The minister added that 16 large machines would mill 100 tons of rice paddy daily while others could mill about 300 tons daily.

    “Dangote just brought in 10 milling machines which will produce 1 million tons of rice per annum but there are smaller ones we gave out, about 200 mills of 10 tons and 20 tons per annum operating in villages and small corners equipped with the stoners.

    “We are buying smaller mills and giving them out because the smaller mills produce more rice than the big mills added up but they are scattered all over the country. Virtually every state has small rice mills somewhere, Niger, Bayelsa, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Katsina and Jigawa,” he stated.

    He commended the contractors advising them to supply adequate quality spare parts.

    In his remarks, the Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture, Kabir Mohammed restated commitment to ensure the project is successful while meeting the delivery targets.

    He said the project financing would not be a challenge.

    The Managing Director, Jamu Babba Dan’agundi, leader of the delegation commended the federal government for the gesture.

    He promised to deliver the machines as scheduled.

  • Oyo: Rice farmers receive inputs worth N17.8m – CBN

    Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria ( RIFAN ) in Oyo State says it has received farm inputs worth N17.8 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) through the Bank of Agriculture ( BOA ).

    The state Chairman of RIFAN, Mr Victor Korede, said this in an interview with newsmen on Monday in Ibadan.

    He said that no fewer than 59 rice farmers had received farm inputs for dry season farming, while about 100 rice farmers were similarly expected to get inputs for wet season farming.

    “The inputs include water pumps with accessories, two bags of NPK and Urea fertilisers each, ten litres of pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides and two sachets of organic fertiliser to replenish the soil.

    “Other services include farm mapping, extension services and aggregation of harvested produce and insurance by Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Company ( NAIC ).

    “The RIFAN/CBN model is a strategic partnership between the CBN and RIFAN to increase domestic rice production, in support of the Federal Government’s agenda to ban rice importation in 2018.

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    “The partnership came right on time, as it will surely boost our protection and make our members to sell their produce in a profitable and ready market,” he said.

    Korede also noted that the scheme would enhance the ability of the farmers to engage in dry-season and wet-season rice cultivation.

    He urged the beneficiaries to resist the temptation of selling the products, saying that they should use the facilities judiciously so as to enable them to enjoy other agricultural development programmes of the Federal Government.

    He pledged the readiness of the rice farmers to increase rice production in the state.

    NAN

  • Katsina trains 60 journalists on poultry, fishing, bee-keeping

    Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State has emphasised the need for journalists to embrace vocational training to enable them have a sustainable livelihood after retirement.

    Masari said this known on Tuesday in Katsina during the opening ceremony of training of 60 members of the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ ) on poultry, fisheries and bee-keeping.

    The training was organised under the Katsina State Economic Empowerment Directorate ( KASEED ).

    Masari, represented by his Special Adviser on Economic Empowerment, Alhaji Abdukkadir Mamman-Nasir said the trainees were expected to educate the public on the management of poultry, fisheries and beekeeping after the training.

    The governor said the participants would also be taught on entrepreneurship course after the training.

    According to him, after the course, there will be a test, adding that those who score 40 per cent and above will be given loans by the state government to start business as entrepreneurs.

    He said this was why the state government involved the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) and Bank of Agriculture ( BOA ) in the programme.

    Also speaking, the Director, Business Development in KASEED, Alhaji Abdurrahman Abdu-Zango, said journalists were selected for the programme because they were agents and medium of awareness creation in the society.

    In a remark, the Chairman of NUJ in the state, Alhaji Buhari Mamman, thanked the state government for organising the training.

    Mamman, who was represented by the Secretary of the council, Alhaji Hassan Dan-Ali, promised that participants would put what they have learnt during the training into practice.

    NAN

  • EFCC recovers N102m for Bank of Agriculture

    EFCC recovers N102m for Bank of Agriculture

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ), Kaduna zonal office, has recovered N102 million diverted from the Bank of Agriculture ( BOA ) in Kebbi.

    A statement by the spokesman of the commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said the funds were diverted by beneficiaries of the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) Anchor Borrowers Programme, disbursed by BOA.

    Uwujaren said so far a total of N297 million had been recovered by the commission in favour of BOA in Kaduna and Kebbi states.

    The Head of Operations of the Kaduna office, Ibrahim Bappa, formally presented a bank draft for the N102 million to one Mohammed Babangida, who represented the BOA Managing Director.

    Bappa assured the bank that the EFCC would continue to assist it in the discharge of its statutory duties.

    He, however, decried the worrisome trend in which beneficiaries of the scheme diverted the funds, and urged the BOA to ensure proper orientation before loans were disbursed.

    Responding, Babangida lauded the efforts of the EFCC in the recovery, saying the action had restored confidence in the bank.

    The EFCC spokesman said investigations into the matter began in 2017 following a complaint.

    According to him, the complaint bordered on the diversion of part of the N12 billion disbursed to some rice farmers through BOA in which Kebbi acted as uptaker for the purchase of paddy rice.

    “In the course of investigations, it was revealed that some rice mills in Kebbi collected bags of rice but failed to remit the total agreed sum.

    “So far, the Kaduna zonal office of the EFCC has been able recover N297 million in favour of the Anchor Borrowers Programme in Kaduna and Kebbi States,” he said.

    NAN

  • BOA recovers N375m in Kogi

    BOA recovers N375m in Kogi

    The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) Friday said it has recovered N375,906,289.72 out of the over N1.4 billion loan facilities extended to customers in Kogi State, since the bank’s inception.

    Managing Director and Chief Executive of Bank of Agriculture, Mallam Kabir Muhammed Adamu disclosed this during the inauguration of the BOA branch Friday in Okene.

    Describing the development as not encouraging, he said that of the over N1.4 billion disbursed in Kogi State since the inception in 1972, only N375,906,289.72 has been repaid, leaving a balance of over N1 billion.

    Represented by the Executive Director, Retail Banking, Mr. Emmanuel Ameh, he said that before the closure of the former Okene branch, N91, 915,624.42 was disbursed to members of the community, adding that the repayment has not been too encouraging.

    He pointed out that with the new beginning, the branch will have 100 percent repayment in all subsequent disbursements.

    He called on those who have benefited from its facilities to pay up in order that others benefit, explaining that without so doing, they depribe themselves of any future relationship with the bank.

    The Sole Administrator of Okene Local Government Area, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Mohammed Yusuf commended the Federal Government for inaugurating the Okene branch.

    He said that the bank was brought to Okene to alleviate the suffering of the people in the central senatorial district of the state.

    He said that his administration provided farm implements and supplied 600 bags of 50kg NPK fertilizers to farmers in Okene local government at no charge.

  • FG to launch One-Stop-Shop for MSMEs

    FG to launch One-Stop-Shop for MSMEs

    In fulfillment of its mandate to significantly spur Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises ( MSMEs ) the Federal Government would launch one-stop shops in no fewer than seven states across the country.

    The measure is to facilitate smoother government regulation and interface between entrepreneurs and agencies of government.

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    The Vice President’s Spokesman, Laolu Akande, said in a statement on Monday that already one such one-stop shop for MSMEs in Plateau State was launched in Jos on Aug. 24, and was being housed by the Plateau State Micro-Finance Development Agency (PLASMEDA).

    According to him, the states that are next in line are Abia, Cross River, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Kano, Benue and the FCT.

    He said that the shops were slated to take off between September and October, adding that more of the one-stop shops are expected to be launched in other states before the end of the year.

    The one-stop-shop is aimed at bridging the information gap between micro and small investors and regulatory agencies of government.

    Such agencies include the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and others.

    Akande said that the MSMEs clinics which held in several States already had provided the opportunities for entrepreneurs and local producers in the MSME level to interact with regulatory agencies.

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    He added that the One-Stop Shop would create an ongoing opportunity in a permanent location to achieve the same purpose.

    The One-Stop Shop programme is part of the on-going Nationwide Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Clinics for Viable Enterprises (MSME Clinics) initiated by the Presidency in January 2017.

    The MSMEs Clinics, one of the diversification initiatives of the Buhari administration, was designed to give small businesses the opportunity to interact with the industry regulators in an effort to spur local production and harness the nation’s export potential.

    Read also: Entrepreneurship, Key to ending Youth Unemployment in Nigeria- YPNI

    The agencies to be housed in the One-Stop Shops are the Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), CAC, FIRS, SON, NAFDAC, and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).

    Others are the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and Small & Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).

  • BOA decries attitude of farmers to loan repayment, begins loan recovery

    The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) says the poor attitude of farmers toward loans repayment has impacted negatively on the operations of the bank.

    Mr Ibrahim Alamba, the Zonal Manager (North Central) of the bank, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that most farmers viewed the bank loans as part of their share of the nation’s resources.

    Alamba, who was reacting to complaints by some farmers over the delay in loan disbursement by the bank, said that the bank was, however, embarking on aggressive loan recovery to recoup all the monies owed by its customers.

    He said that some of the benefits, which could have accrued to the bank from the loans, had been eroded because of the resources spent on pursuing loan defaulters.

    “One of the tough things to do is loan recovery. Giving out funds is easy but when it comes to loan recovery; that is when you know the true nature of most of the loan beneficiaries.

    “The trouble with loan recovery, as experienced by the BOA, is that farmers always complain of not having enough harvest; they often complain of one failure or the other to dodge loan repayment.

    “We have low recovery rate and it is spanning over the years. We are making efforts through sustained, organised and aggressive loan recovery to recoup the amount in default.

    “We follow these farmers and where we discover some difficult ones who are determined not to pay, thinking it is their opportunity to grab money and go, we assign receiver managers and trained debt collectors to assist in the recovery.

    “As much as possible, we try to avoid litigation because of the Nigerian culture: if you take someone to court, you are no longer friends.

    “We talk to them but if it doesn’t work, then we invoke the terms of agreement and the receiver manager or debt collector takes over,’’ he said.

    Alamba, however, conceded that one of the major constraints of the bank was inadequate funding, saying that it was the major reason for the delay in the disbursement of funds by the bank.

    He listed some of the loan schemes of the bank as micro-credit loans and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) loans, adding that the interest rate on the loans were currently 12 per cent for micro-credit loans and 14 per cent for SMEs loans.

    According to him, the bank is trying so hard to bring the interest rate to a single-digit level but has yet to achieve that because of certain factors.

    Alamba, nonetheless, expressed optimism that the ongoing restructuring of the bank by the Federal Government would boost the loan disbursement capacity of the bank and improve agricultural production in the country.

    He advised farmers to ensure that they met the bank’s conditions for loans, saying that the failure to meet the stipulated conditions was part of the reasons behind the delay in the disbursement of funds.

  • Recession: Bank of Agriculture to assist farmers, youths with loans

    Recession: Bank of Agriculture to assist farmers, youths with loans

    The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) says it is ready to provide financial assistance to farmers and youths in the country to boost food production through mechanised farming.

    Mr Babatunde Igun, an Executive Director of the bank, said this during a courtesy visit to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Thursday.

    He expressed the bank’s willingness to partner with the traditional ruler on engaging youths in farming.

    Igun added that with the dwindling effects of crude oil price and the negative impact on the economy, there was urgent need to assist farmers and youths in diversifying the economy.
    “We have all seen the dwindling effects of crude oil price on our economy in the last one or two years.

    “We need to feed ourselves, stop importation of unnecessary food items and that is why BOA is relevant.

    “We are ready to assist farmers as well as youths to go back to farming. Our plan is not for them to go back to hoes and cutlasses farming but rather mechanised farming.

    “I believe with the assistance BOA is ready to give, our agriculture system will begin to take a new shape in the next few years,’’ he said.

    Igun also said that the bank was ready to partner with the Ooni’s agriculture development initiative for the youths in the town.

    He said that BOA would assist 150 youths who were being trained by the traditional ruler on agriculture mechanisation and production skill with loan facility.

    “The most important thing for anyone going to agriculture is skills acquisition.

    “That is where the Ooni has played a dominant role by bringing 150 youths together in the last four months to train them in agricultural mechanisation.

    “And that is why we are interested in giving them loan after their training.

    “In BOA, once we see an organisation, state or individual that is passionate about youths, women and agriculture, we try to come to them and find a way we can work together,’’ he said.

    Igun added that more than 400 farmers had been empowered in Ile-Ife with N500 million loan facilities in the last few years, adding that the bank would do more.

    In his remarks, the Ooni said he was ready to partner with the bank to encourage youths in food production.
    The monarch, who noted that there were a lot of unemployed youths, said governments and the private sector, should be willing to assist youths to embrace farming.

    He, however, urged BOA management to make their presence more visible by providing loans to farmers.

    “If BOA can be used as a proper conduit in terms of giving soft loans on a long term basis, it will encourage the youths to go back to the farm,’’ the monarch said.