Market News

…reaffirms commitment to N1trn recapitilasation plan

The Federal Government, through the Bank of Agriculture (BoA), is gearing up to recover over $20 billion debts owed the agriculture-based bank. This is as it reaffirms its commitment to a N1 trillion Recapitalisation Plan ($1billion) for the bank.

This was revealed by Ayo Sotinrin, the newly-appointed Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Agriculture (BoA), while briefing newsmen on the sidelines of the National Youth Dialogue on Inclusive Food Systems hosted by the Action Aid Nigeria in partnership with the Nigerian Senate and support from GIZ in Abuja on Thursday.

“The bank is launching “Operation Recover All” to appeal to debtors to repay their loans. We’re sending letters to everyone who owes the bank money, appealing to them to bring all our monies back without omitting words.

“If you are able to pay all your loans, if we’re able to recover this facility from you, then you’re entitled to a new facility, but with a different condition”, he noted.

The bank’s efforts to recover the debts are part of a broader strategy to recapitalise the bank and its operations, giving it a new face.

The BoA boss further re-affirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to inject fresh capital into the bank with a proposed recapitalisation fund of N1.5 trillion (approximately $1 billion).

“We’re not going to blow up our balance sheet. We intend to also raise international capital. We want to leverage our balance sheet to actually do a few X more so that we can cover a lot of the value chains within the sector”, Sotinrin noted.

The bank’s focus on rural agriculture financing aims to support 40 to 70 million farmers across the country, promoting agriculture as a business rather than just a way of life.

With a goal to increase yield from 1 ton per hectare to 9 tons per hectare, BoA hopes to solve food insecurity and reduce food inflation in Nigeria.

As part of its restructuring efforts, BoA plans to digitise its operations, enabling faster access to capital for farmers and other stakeholders. The bank’s CEO noted that enforcement action would follow the appeal to debtors with sanctions likely for those who fail to meet their payment obligations.

The recovery of $20 billion debts is crucial to BoA’s recapitalisation and revitalisation plan. “With the support of the Federal Government, the bank is optimistic about achieving its goals and becoming a key player in Nigeria’s agricultural development” he concluded.