FCTA disburses N500m agric loan to farmers

 The FCTA has also entered into a public private partnership agreement with an Israeli Firm, SEC Equipment, to build an Agriculture Services and Training Centre in Abuja. Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, made this disclosure at the weekend during a courtesy visit by the management of the Bank of Agriculture led by the […]

 The FCTA has also entered into a public private partnership agreement with an Israeli Firm, SEC Equipment, to build an Agriculture Services and Training Centre in Abuja.
 Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, made this disclosure at the weekend during a courtesy visit by the management of the Bank of Agriculture led by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Mohammed Kudu Santuraki.
 The minister stated that the FCT Administration had keyed into President Goodluck Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda aimed at revamping the agriculture business and ensuring food security in the country.
 “Agriculture is one of the cornerstones of the President’s Transformation Agenda. The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) is one of the key initiatives under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) aimed at diversifying the economy and enhancing foreign exchange earnings.
 “The ultimate goal is to ensure that agriculture is practiced as lucrative commercial enterprise that is not only sustainable but also attractive to our youths and women. The FCTA is committed to the development of viable agricultural entrepreneurship through provision of free technical expertise and farm subsidies,” she explained.
 Akinjide, who noted that the FCTA would partner with the Bank of Agriculture to grow the agriculture sector in the FCT, said the Agriculture Services and Training Centre, when completed and operational, would become a one-stop agriculture centre in Nigeria.
 “The centre will be a dedicated facility to support farmers and will consist of training centre, extension service, irrigation and laboratory for soil test, among other agriculture and allied facilities,” she noted.
 She added that the administration had registered 170,000 farming families in the FCT.
 Earlier, the BOA Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Mohammed Santuraki, explained that the visit by the management team was aimed at strengthening collaboration between the bank and the FCT Administration.
 “The visit has become necessary at this time to strengthen the ongoing collaboration between the Bank of Agriculture and the FCT Administration in the areas of agricultural financing for the benefit of farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs in the FCT.
 “We have noted the giant strides that the administration is taking to build a virile economy in the FCT using agriculture as the foundation. Your effort is most appropriate at this time in the history of Nigeria when agriculture is occupying an important place in the federal government’s Transformation Agenda,” the bank chief stated.
 He confirmed that the BOA had granted agriculture loans of over N50 billion to support agribusiness in the last 10 years.
 He also disclosed that the bank had created 6,000 enterprises and six million direct and indirect jobs during the period.
 “In the last couple of years, we have repositioned the bank to make it even more impactful and financially sustainable. As part of our reform agenda, we have chosen to create alliances with state governments and other domain stakeholders.
 “The BOA is in a better position to manage funds earmarked by FCT Administration for agricultural development and poverty alleviation in the FCT,” Santuraki stated.