The Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc and Polaris Bank have provided a N1 billion working capital facility for Globetrot Farmsponsor Limited, an integrated poultry farm in Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State.
With a mandate to share agribusinesses related credit risks with commercial lenders, NIRSAL provided a 50 per cent guarantee on the facility to boost Globetrot’s operations across the farm’s hatchery, breeder, broiler, feed mill, and processing components.
In a statement it released yesterday, NIRSAL said the support for Globetrot Limited has positive implications for farmers and consumers of poultry products alike in Oyigbo, Port Harcourt, and environs, as suppliers of inputs, buyers of day-old-chicks and organic manure, and off takers of poultry get potentially better deals.
Executives from NIRSAL and Polaris Bank visited Globetrot Integrated Farm at Obeakpu in Oyigbo LGA and were given a tour of the facility by its business development and finance manager, Charles Adigwe.
Speaking during the visit, managing director/CEO of NIRSAL Plc, Abbas Umar Masanawa, stated that Polaris Bank had demonstrated foresight by financing Globetrot under NIRSAL’s de-risked financing model. He added that the bank is set to maximise the economic opportunities and returns available in Nigeria’s agricultural landscape.
Masanawa was pleased with the passion and professionalism of the management and staff of Globetrot Farmsponsor Limited, a confidence booster with regard to optimum loan utilisation and prompt repayment.
In his welcome address, Charles Adigwe, who represented the managing director of Globetrot Farmsponsor Limited, Mr. Akpa Innocent Nnanyereugu, thanked NIRSAL and Polaris Bank, not just for the credit facility made available to the farm, but for also finding it worthwhile to pay the business a visit and showcase its value offerings to a large audience.
Branch manager of Polaris Bank, Garrison Branch, Ejike Aroh who was represented, celebrated the valuable business they are doing with NIRSAL Plc and Globetrot Farmsponsor Limited. He restated Polaris Bank’s commitment to agribusiness financing, not just for its profitability, but also for the empowerment it directly or indirectly brings to rural Nigerians and their communities.
The tripartite relationship between NIRSAL Plc, Globetrot Farmsponsor Ltd., and Polaris Bank is part of the growing outcomes of NIRSAL Plc high-level engagements with Deposit Money Banks, Merchant Banks, Finance Houses, MDAs of government, local and international Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and sub-national governments, wooing them into an agriculture/agribusiness space that is witnessing paradigmatic changes on account of NIRSAL’s work.
Weeks prior, the NIRSAL boss had led a small team on a sustained run of visits to MDAs in Abuja and banks and other financial institutions in Lagos, seeking partnerships for outcomes like the growth of Globetrot Farmsponsor Limited, and the development of new vistas for impactful investment in and around agriculture.
Buoyed by the federal government’s commitment to the pursuit of food security, the team also plans to visit state governments to propose mutually beneficial partnerships in the design and implementation of viable agricultural development programmes for job creation, food security, and economic growth.
NIRSAL is a creation of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and the Bankers’ committee. With it, the parties sought to address the low levels of credit going into the agriculture sector by unlocking sustainable financing sources for agriculture and agribusiness in Nigeria.
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