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The Federal Government has said plans are underway to restructure the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) as part of an effort to make it easier for Nigerian farmers to access credit facilities on offer in the bank.   Chief Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who announced this at the Ministerial Press Briefing on the celebration of the World Food Day in Abuja, stated that the process of restructuring BoA has commenced. He explained that the bank will be reorganised to stimulate an increased interest of people in farming as a source of livelihood and for effective performance through the provision of credit facilities to agribusiness in the country. He condemned the high-interest rate charged on loans by commercial banks, saying that the agriculture sector cannot survive more years of lending money at 25 percent to farmers. Ogbeh said the vision and mission of the ministry include ...

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Kaduna Zonal Office, has recovered N297 million diverted from the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) in Kebbi and Kaduna states. A statement by the spokesman of the commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said the funds were diverted by beneficiaries of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers Programme, disbursed by BoA. Ibrahim Bappa, Head of Operations of the EFCC office in Kaduna , formally presented a bank draft for the N102 million to Mohammed Babangida, representative of the BoA Managing Director. Bappa assured the bank that the EFCC would continue to assist it in the discharge of its statutory duties. He, however, decried the worrisome trend in which beneficiaries of the scheme diverted the funds, and urged the BOA to ensure proper orientation before loans were disbursed. Responding, Babangida lauded the efforts of the EFCC in the recovery, saying the action had restored confidence in the bank. The EF...

Bank of Agriculture (BoA) has flagged off an egg production scheme in Abia State in a bid to boost the protein component of the school feeding programme, create sustainable poultry industry and increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, recently Kabir Muhammed Adamu, Managing Director of BoA, represented by Gabriel Okenwa, Executive Director, Partnership, Strategy and Corporate Services, Bank of Industry (BoI), said one million jobs would be created in the scheme and that over 50 million eggs would be produced daily. Adamu said the scheme will empower farmers and make them employers of labour which can lead to 1.6 million profit cash at hand and massive wealth creation. He said participants of the scheme are entitled to a loan of N4.3 million to be repaid in two and half years with a single-digit interest rate. He explained that Abia was chosen as one of the pilot states due to Governo...