Nigeria Plans $3.2 Billion Capitalization for Farming Lender
- Bank of Agriculture will start taking deposits, minister says
- Government to distribute 110 rice mills at 40% subsidy
Farming in Nigeria.
hotographer: George Osodi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Nigeria plans to capitalize its state-owned Bank of Agriculture with 1 trillion naira ($3.2 billion) and will allow the lender to take deposits as Africa’s most-populous nation seeks to boost farming output and reduce food imports.
“We are looking at 25 million farmers” as stakeholders or depositors, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Audu Ogbeh said in an interview Monday in the capital, Abuja. “We are probably going to take a major step by the end of this year, and by February, March, have a structure in place for the changes we want to carry out.”