Ifeanyi Onuba, AbujaThe Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ecobank on N70bn portfolio commitment to agribusiness projects initiated by NIRSAL. The facility will be drawn down in series, with the pact effectively kicking off with an initial N15bn agribusiness financing provision by Ecobank. A statement from NIRSAL on Thursday said the attraction for Ecobank, and indeed other commercial banks that have recently made portfolio commitments to NIRSAL-supported agribusiness projects are anchored on NIRSAL’s mapping-to-markets strategy. The strategy was conceived to de-risk and make operations in commodity value chains more efficient through optimised primary production in a closed financing loop. Akinwuntan said Ecobank was committed to working with NIRSAL to open up the vast opportunities that abound in agriculture and to ensure citizens benefit ultimately.

Source: Punch July 19, 2019 03:13 UTC