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Publish Date : 30-Sep-2014

Bank of Industry (BOI) disclosed that it is working with the Ministry of Agriculture on a N13 billion Rice Intervention Fund for the establishment of 10 rice mills and 6 cassava mills across the country. The Bank explained that the objective of the Federal Government's Agricultural Transformation Agenda is not to increase crop production, but to create value-added food processing industries as a means of reducing food imports. The Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Rasheed Olaoluwa, spoke about the launch of a N5 billion's Cottage Agro Processing Fund and added that the bank is working with the Ministry of Agriculture in value addition.

BOI had successfully implemented a N3.4 billion Cassava Bread Fund designed by the Ministry of Agriculture to finance the establishment of 41 processing plants for High Quality Cassava Flour. Agro processing is 1 of the 4 key sectors that have been identified as strategic under the Nigeria's Industrial Revolution.
Agro-processing multiplier effects in job creation, reduction of post-harvest losses and generating better rural incomes, for example, a High Quality Cassava Flour processing Plant uses cassava as raw materials and supplies its products to Flour milling plants.

The N5 billion's Cottage Agro Processing Fund being launched by the bank will provide loans to beneficiaries to establish small scale plants or mini mills to process Nigeria's agricultural products such as cassava, oil palm, paddy rice, groundnut, yam, maize, sorgum, cocoa and plantain among others. He added that shea nut, cashew, hides and skin as well as chicken, meat and fish will be funded through the Cottage Agro Processing Fund. The Bank of Industry plans to finance 1,000 projects under the fund as they have identified the priority products for the state and assembled a number of partners for the effective operation of the fund.

The projects will be located close to the source of the agricultural products to be processed. The business plan must address primary and secondary sources of energy to power the plant. The equipment supplier will be accredited by the bank and will be made to provide a performance bond as well as enter into a maintenance agreement. Explaining that the fund size of N5b is a starting point, which will be granted at a single digit interest rate of 9% per annum and a total management fees of 1%.

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