Yemisi Izuora
Ecobank Nigeria has assured farmers who are beneficiaries of the Anchor Borrowers programmes for the 2020 wet season and members of the Maize Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN), that it will accelerate account opening and loan processing.
According to the bank, farmers need not panic as it is committed and will make sure all beneficiaries get the loans.
In a statement the bank said farmers accounts have been opened across the 36 states based on CBN prequalification for account opening for farmers. KYC regularization can be done simply visiting a nearby Ecobank branch or input collection centre with 2 passport photograph to execute the account opening documents .
In an earlier statement Ecobank had stated that over 70,000 farmers are earmarked to benefit from the loan scheme which is done in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Ecobank’s Head, Agribusiness, Mojisola Oguntoyinbo, the initiative spreads across the 36 states and is one of the several concerted efforts on the part of the bank to support the government to create an ecosystem that gives small holder farmers access to funding and the required support to increase food production in the country. According to her the scheme is designed to connect small holder farmers with processors and off- takers within the agriculture value chain.
She reiterated that Ecobank is actively leveraging entrepreneurship as a strategy to tackle poverty and growing unemployment, through the creation of relevant platforms, which includes the Xpress Point, which is the bank’s agency banking proposition that enables agents carry out financial transactions on behalf of Ecobank and earn commission on transactions processed.