NIRSAL Facilitates ₦70b in Agribusiness Finance
…On Track for ₦150b Annual Target
By Patience Ikpeme
The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) has announced a significant achievement, reporting that it facilitated over ₦70 billion in commercial financing for agribusiness as of the third quarter of 2025.
In a statement released on Tuesday, NIRSAL described the figure as its strongest annual performance since its inception in 2013, representing nearly a quarter of the organisation’s cumulative ₦270 billion facilitated to date. The institution remains confident about hitting its ₦150 billion target for the whole of 2025.
The timing of this surge in financing is considered crucial, given the recent decline in financial sector support for agriculture. NIRSAL noted that bank lending to the sector had been in a steady downturn, falling from 6.18 per cent of aggregate lending in 2022 to 4.82 per cent in 2024. Sectoral growth also slowed from 2.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent during the same period.
The statement noted that by applying its “signature tools for value chain modelling to address identified issues, providing technical support to agribusinesses and financial institutions, all while deploying its risk-sharing frameworks, NIRSAL has restored lender confidence thus channelling fresh funds into key value chains, including grains, cocoa, shea, and livestock.”
This renewed interest from financiers is evident in the fact that agriculture’s share of bank lending has risen again to 5.33 per cent as of May 2025. Furthermore, two newly licensed banks have entered the sector, relying on NIRSAL’s frameworks to contribute to the ₦70 billion facilitated this year.
In terms of market impact, NIRSAL reports an improvement in local production across key commodities and a positive balance of trade for agriculture, with over 32 per cent of the facilitated sum directly supporting value-added commodity export.
Commenting on the milestone, NIRSAL’s Managing Director/CEO, Sa’ad Hamidu, called the achievement a profound step for the sector.
“₦70 billion may appear modest compared to the size of Nigeria’s agricultural financing needs, but the significance is profound. It proves that agriculture can be commercially and sustainably financed. With the right blend of capital, technical support, and risk mitigation, the sector can become more productive, resilient, and globally competitive,” Hamidu said.
The CEO expressed confidence in reaching the ₦150 billion target for 2025, noting that the peak season for credit-seeking activities is yet to come.
“This is not yet the peak of the harvest season when merchants typically seek credit for offtake and storage, and when super agro-dealers stock up on fertilisers and inputs ahead of the next planting cycle. Therefore, the opportunities still to come give us every reason for optimism,” he added.
NIRSAL’s strategy involves an integrated model that guides agribusinesses from loan origination to disbursement, helping businesses once considered unbankable to gain access to sustainable credit. This process is creating a pipeline of emerging agribusinesses while supporting established firms to scale.
The institution attributes the current success directly to its capacity-building efforts, which include targeted training sessions for over 1,100 bank staff to deepen their understanding of agricultural financing. Similar training for value chain actors, including 450 participants trained on feedlot management, commodity export, and climate finance, are also expected to yield future results.
Looking ahead, NIRSAL is developing a digital network called the NIRSAL LandBank portal, an ecosystem designed to provide data-driven insights for investors and policymakers to identify opportunities and reduce risk.
The institution is also increasing its focus on climate finance, having recently signed an understanding with the Rural Electrification Agency to provide off-grid power to production and processing clusters in rural locations, in a bid to aid Nigeria’s push toward a $1 trillion economy.
