Union Bank of Nigeria and the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund have announced that the bank has secured a $25m funding line from AATIF to expand its agricultural business footprint.
In support of Nigeria’s government’s effort to reduce food imports and ultimately create a sustainable market for local farmers to sell their farm produce, Union Bank said it anchored its food and agri-finance strategy around the promotion of local food processing.
A statement said Union Bank boasts of a long-standing track record in the agricultural sector and had since risen to become one of the top five agricultural financiers in Nigeria, highlighting the sector’s great potential for future expansion and innovation.
The bank targets key value chains in rice, poultry, dairy, cassava, maize, and soybean, among others, and aims to provide tailor-made funding and technical support to the different actors along each of the selected value chains.
The statement said the funding from AATIF would support Union Bank’s expansion and outreach to Nigerian agri-businesses. The expected impact was linked to the development, and deployment of innovative agri-product offerings and an increase in funding directed to agricultural businesses.
