NIRSAL has facilitated N70bn in agribusiness financing, reversing a decline in sectoral lending and targeting N150bn by year-end.
The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has announced that it facilitated over N70bn in commercial financing for agribusiness as of the third quarter of 2025.
In a statement on Wednesday, NIRSAL described the milestone as its strongest annual performance since inception, reversing a steady decline in agricultural lending.
Bank lending to the sector had dropped from 6.18 per cent in 2022 to 4.82 per cent in 2024, but has now risen to 5.33 per cent as of May 2025.
NIRSAL Managing Director, Sa’ad Hamidu, said the achievement proved that agriculture can be sustainably financed. “N70bn 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,” he said.
Hamidu expressed optimism that the agency would meet its N150bn annual target, noting that demand typically rises during harvest and input cycles.
NIRSAL said the record performance was driven by a revamped strategy, value-chain modelling, technical support, and risk-sharing frameworks, with over 32 per cent of the financing directed at export commodities.