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Former President
Olusegun Obasanjo has urged commercial banks to lower their interest
rates to enable farmers access loans for improved agricultural
production.
Obasanjo made the
call at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Niger State Investment Summit
held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna.
According to him, doing agriculture and charging the rate of interest in double digit is to promote failure.
"The interest rate of banks in Nigeria is one of the obstacles that are affecting our farmers.
"They are not able
to pay banks after taking loans and at the same time still able to run
their agriculture business successfully," he said.
Newsmen report that
the summit's theme: "Advancing Agricultural Economy through Innovation
and Truly Niger," was organised to attract investors in various fields
to boost the state economy.
The summit attracted experts, industrialists, manufacturers as well as governors across the country.
The former Nigeria
leader described agriculture as 'a renewable business' that could create
jobs and catapult the nation to economic prosperity.
He said paucity of
funds and high interest rates were part of factors responsible for the
under-development of the nation's agricultural sector.
The former
president, however, advised the Niger Government to take advantage of
the arable land to attract investors to embark on commercial farming in
the state.
He urged the state government to create employment and market through agriculture because of its proximity to Abuja.
"A state cannot
develop in isolation, you have to work with other states and take
advantage of economy of scale and identify areas that are profitable;
then utilise them," he added.
He called on the
Federal Government to develop infrastructures in the state to enable
farmers transport their farm produce to urban centres.
Similarly, a former
Head of State, Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami, expressed optimism that
agriculture was taking a centre stage in the nation's drive to diversify
the economy.
He urged commercial banks to lower their interest rates for farmers to obtain money for their agricultural activities.
According to him,
the interest rate in Nigeria is 18 to 25 per cent, while for farmers it
is nine per cent and 2.5 per cent in some other countries.
"If we want to make
progress as a country, we need to look into our interest rate to make
it easier for our farmers to access loans," he said.
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