Agriculture stakeholders have urged the federal government to prevail on the management of the Bank of Industry (BoI) and Bank of Agriculture (BoA) to assist Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with lower interest rates in their development finance initiatives.
Speaking during a panel session at the 2025 First Bank Agriculture Exhibition in Lagos on Tuesday, they pointed out that the inability to access funds due to high interest rates had been a significant challenge confronting small and medium enterprises, thus dragging back agricultural growth.
On his part, the minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, said Nigeria was spending $10 billion annually on agro-imports, including wheat and fish.
The minister, who was represented by the special adviser, Ibrahim Alkali, reiterated, “President Tinubu’s administration has made it clear that food sovereignty is the goal. Nigeria must not only feed itself, but do so on its terms, free from excessive dependency on imports.”
Kyari decried the rising rate of agro-imports, stressing the need for more financing of agro activities to boost local exports.
He described the lack of finance as another obstacle, urging both BoI and BoA to assist farmers by making single-digit interest loans available.
