The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund and Union Bank of Nigeria have announced that the bank has obtained a $25 million funding line from AATIF to increase the scope of its agricultural operations.
Union Bank said it anchored its food and agri-finance strategy around the promotion of local food processing in a bid to support Nigeria’s government in reducing food imports and ultimately create a sustainable market for local farmers to sell their farm produce.
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.
