The Bank of Agriculture (BOA), represented by its
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ayo Sotinrin, has signed a landmark deal with African
Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), represented by the Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade
and Export Development, Mrs. Kanayo Awani. The agreement was finalised during the recently
concluded and highly successful Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 in Algiers, Algeria.
Under the agreement, BOA and Afreximbank will work together to mobilise up to US$1 billion for direct
financial support for smallholder farmers and the entire agricultural value chain, from primary production
to market, in Nigeria.
The partnership follows the approval granted by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR,
for the establishment of a National Food Security Fund, which will be a revolving matching fund in
partnership with State Governments, called “The National Smallholder Farmers Fund”, and designed
to close the systemic financial gap faced by Nigeria’s smallholder farmers by providing access to
affordable credit for critical inputs, mechanisation, and structured market linkages.
By equipping farmers with access to capital and mechanisation equipment, the fund will enable
increased productivity, value addition through processing, and stronger integration into national and
continental markets. The importance of the partnership cannot be overstated. Nigeria’s smallholder
farmers are responsible for over 90% of the nation’s agricultural output, yet struggle with inadequate
access to finance, poor adoption of improved technologies and fragmented market access.