Nigeria Should Revamp The Anchor Borrowers Program
The Nigerian agriculture looks great on paper but when you get into it, you will experience a mafia system, tougher than the oil sector one which Aliko Dangote referred to in his Afreximbank event interview: "Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has dragged top executives from 13 commercial banks into court. This legal battle, involving a staggering N17 billion loan under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Anchor Borrowers Programme, has brought to the forefront the intricate details stymieing agricultural development in Nigeria."
At least this loan does show that banks actually lend. Hope GTBank gets its money back. Yet, Nigeria must change the operating model of the Anchor Borrowers program: “the programme has been marred by challenges. Loan defaults have been a significant issue, with a 2023 statement from the CBN’s corporate communications department revealing that only 48% of the loan had been repaid. The CBN disclosed that it had released N1.079 trillion under the programme, out of which over N500 billion was due for repayment.”
Note this: when you need an experienced financial consultant to get a loan as a farmer, you know that something is wrong. That is why this initiative must be revamped; it should not be scrapped, but must be upgraded.
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