Nirsal Aids N70bn agribusiness financing and Food Security In Nigeria

The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) has announced a major rebound in its operations, successfully facilitating over ₦70 billion in commercial agribusiness financing and food security in Nigeria as of the third quarter of 2025. This marks the institution’s most productive year since its establishment in 2013, contributing nearly a quarter of its cumulative ₦270 billion facilitated to date. The achievement highlights the effectiveness of NIRSAL’s renewed strategic direction under its reconstituted Board and Executive Management.

Restoring Confidence in Agricultural Lending

This turnaround comes at a crucial time for Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which had seen a consistent drop in bank lending—from 6.18% of total lending in 2022 to 4.82% in 2024—and slower sectoral growth, falling from 2.5% to 1.7% during the same period. Leveraging its value chain modelling tools, technical support systems, and risk-sharing frameworks, NIRSAL has successfully rekindled lender confidence. These interventions have directed fresh capital into critical agricultural value chains such as grains, cocoa, shea, and livestock.

Impact on Production and Export

The institution’s interventions have led to notable improvements in local production across key commodities and a more favorable trade balance in agriculture. Approximately 32% of the facilitated funds have directly supported value-added commodity exports. Furthermore, agriculture’s share of bank lending has climbed to 5.33% as of May 2025, reflecting renewed interest from financial institutions. Two new banks have also joined the agricultural finance space this year, adopting NIRSAL’s frameworks and contributing to the ₦70 billion milestone.

Leadership Perspective

According to NIRSAL’s Managing Director/CEO, Sa’ad Hamidu, “₦70 billion might seem small compared to Nigeria’s total agricultural financing needs, but its impact is profound. It demonstrates that agriculture can attract sustainable and commercially viable financing. With the right mix of capital, technical expertise, and risk management, the sector can become more productive, resilient, and globally competitive.”

Hamidu further expressed confidence in achieving NIRSAL’s ₦150 billion target for 2025, noting, “We are yet to reach the peak of the harvest season when merchants, processors, and input dealers typically seek financing. These upcoming opportunities give us strong confidence in surpassing our target.”

A Comprehensive Approach to Agricultural Lending

Beyond financing figures, NIRSAL continues to transform the agricultural lending ecosystem through an integrated model that covers prospect identification, deal structuring, advisory services, and credit guarantees. This end-to-end support ensures that agribusinesses receive guidance from loan origination through disbursement.

By offering customized advisory services and mitigating lending risks, NIRSAL enables businesses once considered unbankable to gain access to sustainable credit. The institution’s model has also nurtured a growing pipeline of emerging agribusinesses, while helping established firms expand. Many past beneficiaries have since transitioned to routine lending relationships with their banks, reflecting growing confidence in the agricultural finance space.

Building Institutional Capacity

The ₦70 billion facilitated in 2025 is also a result of NIRSAL’s commitment to capacity building. More than 1,100 bank personnel have been trained on agricultural lending within NIRSAL’s risk-sharing framework, improving loan approvals across the sector. Additionally, about 450 value chain participants have received training on feedlot management, commodity export, and climate finance—initiatives expected to yield measurable impacts as skills and sectoral confidence continue to strengthen.

Advancing Digital Integration with the LandBank Portal

Looking ahead, NIRSAL is developing the NIRSAL LandBank Portal, a digital platform designed to connect agricultural stakeholders—from research institutions and input suppliers to processors and markets. This data-driven ecosystem will generate valuable insights for investors, policymakers, and development partners, enabling informed decision-making, project development, and risk reduction.

The LandBank platform is also envisioned as a catalyst for mobilizing climate finance. In line with this, NIRSAL recently entered a collaboration with the Rural Electrification Agency to expand off-grid power supply to rural production and processing hubs—an initiative expected to strengthen agricultural value chains and contribute to Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a $1 trillion economy.

A New Era for Agricultural Finance

Since inception, NIRSAL has remained steadfast in its mission to de-risk agricultural lending and make agribusiness a viable, bankable sector. Its 2025 performance marks not only a strong recovery but also a renewed wave of confidence among farmers, financiers, and stakeholders—signaling a promising new chapter for Nigeria’s agricultural economy.