FG inaugurates BOA Interim Management Board

The Nigerian Government has inaugurated an Interim Management Board for the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), as part of efforts to restructure the bank.

Speaking on Monday in Abuja, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who inaugurated the board, directed it to begin the recovery of loans owed by farmers and other customers within 90 days.
 
Chief Audu Ogbeh
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Ogbeh charged the board to find ways of making the bank proactive, strong and capable of sustaining the needs of farmers who require credit facilities to enable them to contribute to food security in the country.

The minister urged the board to work toward reducing the interest rate on loans to a one-digit level so as to encourage more farmers to patronise the bank.

He expressed optimism that the bank would be one of the largest banks in the country, with branches in all the local government areas of the country to facilitate its interaction with farmers.

He urged the bank to take over the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) set up to give loans to farmers.

Ogbeh said that the Federal Government would explore partnerships with the Bank of Holland and the Credit Agricoup of France and Morocco to see how they could assist the bank.

He said: “We are going to need you to deploy everything within your capacity to make your assignment successful.


“One of the challenges we faced in agric lending in the past is the cost of the fund; so you have to design how to make the interest rate one digit. We are going to depend on your ingenuity to make it a reality.”

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