BOA differs on recapitalization

The Executive Director, Bank of Agriculture (BOA) Limited, Mr. Olabode Abikoye

The Executive Director, Bank of Agriculture (BOA) Limited, Mr. Olabode Abikoye has expressed that the Federal Government’s fund injection into commercial banks for onward lending to farmers may not really proffer solution to finance challenges of farmers saying government cannot continue putting money for the purpose of lending, but rather the farmers should engage in saving and lending to do farming business.

 Mr. Abikoye’s position was coming on the heels of farmers’ request at the 1^st NACCIMA Annual Agribusiness & Policy Conference held in Abuja where the Federal Government (FG) was being asked to ensure fund release through recapitalization of BOA in order to assist farming loan, pointed that the demand may not conform to banking processes and operation of saving and loaning to customers.

The BOA ED opposed the position of farmers who believed that the bank recapitalization was an access to lending, stressed the principle of saving and lending would still be upheld for the recovery of any loan to farmers.

Abikoye advised that farmers should strive to own their own bank so as to be able to ensure savings and lending to members, saying by doing this; issues of high interest rate may be at their discretion. 

When Food Farm News cornered the bank official on the issue for more clarification especially on the demand for his bank recapitalization, he response was that farmers’ savings to the bank is the surest way to ensure agriculture financing, added that you can imagine fifty Naira (N50) per day from each farmer multiply by 30 days, and again multiply by 14 million farmers in Nigeria. You can imagine what this would amount in a shortest time. Why can’t farmers own their bank because government cannot continue to put money in the bank for farmers?

However, the Managing Director of NAIC Mrs. Folashade Joseph enjoined farmers to take opportunity in the agricultural insurance to de risk some of the losses the sector is prone to saying that “farmers who had one time or the other insured their farms with NAIC will have the opportunity to give testimony of their experiences. I will like to urge the farmers to be honest with us. Whilst praises will be fine, we shall be more delight to know areas where you expect improvements in service delivery from us”