FG to restructure BoA for efficient service delivery–Ogbe


The Federal Government on Tuesday says it will restructure the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), to support the diversification programme of the present administration.

The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe gave the hint at the launch of Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening of Bank of Agriculture in Kaduna.

Represented by Mr. Godwin Obinna-Opara, an official of the ministry, Ogbe said the present administration had approved the restructuring aimed at strengthening the bank for optimal service delivery to farmers.

According to the minister, restructuring, re-capitalising and repositioning of BOA is one of such programmes President Muhammadu Buhari has given his approval.

He said the bank remains key instrument required for funding agricultural activities to help diversify the economy and move away from over reliance on oil.

“At no other time in the history of Nigeria that government had taken such interest and time to assess the operations of BOA with a view to exploring these potentials by adopting appropriate financing measures needed.

“Our country currently needs a financing mechanism that will help small holder farmers, agro-prenurials and SMEs access credit facilities at affordable cost.

“As a matter of fact, we’re looking at single digit interest rate, that is what we believe in the Ministry,” Ogbe said.

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor on Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Mr Paul Eluhaiwe, said that the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) “is sick and needs restructuring.”

Eluhaiwe, however, explained that BOA had the needed resources to turn its fortunes for the better.

“Posterity will not forgive us if we fail to turn it around because the bank has all the resources in this world to be turned around for the good of Nigerian farmers.

Also, Dr Vincent Akpotaire, Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said that BOA would be restructured to meet a model that would assist in doing agro- business particularly with rural populace who are mostly farmers.

“Specifically, policy and regulation of the bank would undergo the needed restructuring, staff capacity and financial base.

“Its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will also be restructured to meet international standard in agro-allied enterprises.

“I wonder why BOA will not succeed in Nigeria, if others have succeeded somewhere else in the world; there must be checks and balances in loan being given out.

“BOA should not just be a conduit for giving out loan, it should also be a conduit to recovering the loan being given out,” Akpotaire said.

Meanwhile, Mr Andoh Mensah, Chief Country Programme Officer, AfDB, said the on-going economic downturn had financially weakened BOA in bridging the gap between rural and urban populace in terms of accessing loans.

Mensah pledged the support of the AfDB to BOA even as he said, “we remain committed to working with BOA.’’

Earlier, BOA’s Acting Managing Director, Mr Babatunde Igun said that the bank was financially weak in addition to other challenges militating against its optimal performance.

He said the bank was working to improve its staff skills to enhance their capacity for effective service delivery.

Igun assured that the bank would brace up for modern agricultural activities that would attract competitiveness and deliver its core mandate to farmers.


The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the AfDB had recently approved a grant of $1.1 million dollars for the Bank of Agriculture to undertake the restructuring programme aimed at staff training to strengthen service delivery.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more