Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading commercial bank, has reassured stakeholders in the agricultural value chain of its steady support by pledging to partner with operators that are committed to the development of the sector.
Group Head, Agric and Solid Minerals, Sterling Bank, Mrs. Bukola Awosanya, disclosed this at the virtual Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) held recently in Lagos and Abuja concurrently with the theme: Fast Forward Agriculture: Exploiting the Next Revolution.
“Our goal is to ensure that the farmers experience minimal or no post-harvest losses by linking them directly with off-takers at the best prices for their produce.”
She stated that the bank had done a lot in the agricultural space such as pioneering the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and partnering with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to provide finance, advocacy and capacity building to farmers in a bid to ensure food security.
Director of Advocacy and Country Alignment in the office of the IITA Director-General, Dr. Kwesi Atta-Krah, reiterated the need for the private sector to partner with governments for agriculture to move forward on the continent.
Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Abubakar Bagudu, commended Sterling Bank for consistently hosting the agricultural summit in the last three years, remarking that it is turning out to be a significant gathering of stakeholders in Nigeria.
Bagudu echoed the view of President Muhammadu Buhari that, “We must grow what we eat,” saying Nigeria needs to learn from countries such as Thailand and Bangladesh where resources are maximised to grow what they eat and for export, particularly rice.
Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, said the state is focused on agro-industrialisation in a bid to replicate what Great Britain did during the Industrial Revolution of 1776.
The governor said Cross River State had prioritised creation of opportunities by having several factories from garments, pharmaceuticals, noodles, frozen chicken processing, feedmill, organic fertilisers to rice milling.
