BOI, RMRDC Sign MoU To Address Agric Value Chain Challenges

Bank of Industry (BOI), and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) have sealed a partnership agreement to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural value-chain and boost country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value.

The agreement was formalised at the weekend with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both organisations.

The agreement was a culmination of extensive engagements between key stakeholders of both institutions and seeks to enhance the value addition of key agricultural commodities and raw materials, addressing challenges in critical areas such as value chain development, harvesting, post-harvest losses, seedlings, cultivation, storage, processing, packaging, logistics, and marketing.

The initiative aligns with BOI’s mission to boost the Nigerian economy, entrench national goals of reducing post-harvest losses, drive promotion of import substitution, improve the nation’s GDP, enhance wealth sustainability through job creation, and foster entrepreneurship and industrial capacity in the country.

To ensure the sustainability of the MoU, BOI says it has established a Joint Steering committee to oversee the implementation of the objectives which include: the development of a comprehensive strategy for minerals value-chain, agricultural value-chain development, covering seed development, cultivation, post-harvest management, processing, packaging, and market access, and facilitate the adoption and scaling of RMRDC’s locally developed machinery for raw materials value-chain development.

To address the challenges of post-harvest losses, the agreement ensures the development of a framework that improves storage, processing, logistics, and undertakes joint feasibility studies and pilot projects for key commodities such as onions, cassava, kenaf, leather, kaolin, and other industrial raw materials.

Speaking at the signing of the MoU, the managing director/CEO of Bank of Industry, Dr. Olasupo Olusi said, “this partnership brings together two institutions with complementary strengths: RMRDC’s deep expertise in raw materials research and development, and BOI’s capacity to translate viable projects into financed, executable industrial investments.

“Together, we can do what each institution cannot do as effectively on its own. We can convert research into bankable projects that add value, create jobs, and retain wealth within our economy.”

He noted that “in practical terms, this means identifying and developing raw material-based opportunities across agro-processing, solid minerals, and industrial inputs, and channeling BOI financing to the entrepreneurs and enterprises ready to process local resources into finished and semi-finished goods. Nigeria’s raw materials should not be leaving our shores as commodities. They should be leaving as products.
“At BOI, we are ready. Ready to co-identify opportunities, structure financing, and support the enterprises that will turn this framework into concrete industrial outcomes. Let this be the beginning of a collaboration that Nigerians will feel, in the factories that open, the jobs that are created, and the value that stays here at home.”

The director-general/CEO, Raw Materials Research Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, said, “we, at the Raw Material Research and Development Council, deeply appreciate this relationship, and we are thrilled to initiate the formalisation process. We are uniting on key aspects, primarily focusing on value exchange development and promoting the advancement of process technologies.

“These elements serve as the foundation for industrialisation, the creation of prosperity, and the generation of employment, along with all the indicators that guarantee that people live the kind of lives that they deserve.”