FG sets 9 month target to revitalise structurally weak BOA

Federal Government had set for itself nine months targets of revitalising the structurally weak Bank of Agriculture,BOA,which has left Nigerian farmers at the mercy of the high-biting of lending rate of not less than 22 percent from the commercial banks. of the commercial banks to farmers.

Audu Ogbeh,the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja on Thursday said the decision to structure out a better bank is to allow is to allow easier lending rate for farmers,whom he said has been subsidising food for the Nigerian populace.
Nigerian farmers had been the one subsidising food for us.The lending rate is so high. We at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN,and the Bureau for Public Enterprise are working hard to revitalise the structurally weak Bank of Agriculture”Audu Ogbeh informed in Abuja during interaction with newsmen.
The Bank of Agriculture Businessday learnt is in deficit to the tune of N40bn in debts owed. The debt it was further gathered stretched back to 20 years and has made the banks not to intervene in supporting farming business in the country as it ought to. In this respect Ogbeh revealed,”The bank are very weak now. We are about commencing with measures to recover them,to ensure lending to farmers to the tune of 5 percent rate.

The bank is structurally weak,It is not digitalised, and management has to be strengthened now,a programme is on the Bureau of Public Enterprise to re-structure and re-energise the bank”Ogbeh explained further.
We are working so hard in collaboration with the Central Bank on an agric fund also .Once we do,farmers would have to find their inputs on their own. We may not continue with GES,but we structure a model to ensure farmers access inputs at a better rate”

When they do,we shall pattern the banks along the Rabobank of Netherlands and the Credit agriculture of France.These two banks emerged towards the end of the 19th Century because the commercial banks were doing to farmers what they are doing to us now”Ogbeh said.

The process is going on,and the federal government capital in the new bank is going to be about 20 percent,with the Private sector investment also coming in”

The target of the banks Ogbeh said,”is that the bank would become the biggest bank in the country,servicing the rural areas. We need to give funds cheaply to people to farm,especially now we are asking the younger people in this country to get into agriculture”

We think in another 9 months,we should be there on restructuring the bank. The CBN is working,the President is pushing,and the Vice President is working on it” Ogbeh affirmed.

Harrison Edeh,Abuja