Unity Bank currently 4th largest provider of single-interest loans
Banking giant, Unity Bank Plc., has been revealed as the fourth largest provider of single-digit interest loans (nine per cent maximum) to agribusiness under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS). The bank’s CACS loan portfolio now has surpassed N24bn mark.
The CACS is a sub–component of the Federal Government’s Commercial Agriculture Development Programme and it is aimed at promoting commercial agricultural enterprises in Nigeria.
The scheme targets the promotion/production of cash crops, food crops, poultry, livestock, aquaculture, processing, storage, farm in-put supplies and marketing for agricultural commercial enterprises with asset base of N50m to N100m.
The bank in a statement said “The commitment of the bank towards participating in the on-lending schemes is borne out of Unity Bank’s belief in pursuing benefits of greater financial inclusion and reaching out to greater number of farmers all around Nigeria initially excluded with financial services, all of which is made possible by the bank’s deep knowledge of rural economy.”
The Head, Agribusiness, Unity Bank, Mr. Olugbenga Adelana, was quoted to have said, “it is understandable why the Unity Bank is making inroads and being reckoned with when it comes to disbursing the intervention funds.
“The key beneficiaries which the intervention programmes are designed for ply their agribusiness mostly in the rural areas and this is a space that Unity Bank has not shied away from”.
He added, “Unity Bank is therefore unleashing the strength of its business model and placing its structures at the disposal of the intervention schemes in its bid to support government’s key initiatives to drive the growth and transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural economy.”
To show that it has been consistent in its support to farmers, in June, 2017, Unity Bank executed a channel partnership agreement with Nigerian Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending to provide a platform for disbursement of loans to farmers; targeting over 9,000 farmers for rice, maize and wheat across seven states.
Besides, it has been active in the CBN’s Anchor Borrower Scheme, (ABS), having disbursed over N1.6bn to 11,000 wheat farmers in Jigawa and Sokoto states.
