CBN to bear 50% credit risk of agric loans under new programme

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will bear 50 percent of the credit risk of loans granted under the Private Sector-led Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (P-AADS) in the event that the participant defaults.

In a circular published on Tuesday, the apex bank said the programme will complement the Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS) that was earlier introduced to engage 370,000 youth in agriculture.

The circular was signed by Yusuf Yila, director of the CBN development finance department.

“The collateral to be pledged by participants under the Scheme shall be the title of the cleared land and other acceptable collateral prescribed under the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP),” the guidelines read.

The CBN said the maximum loan that can be accessed under the programme is N2 billion.

The maximum tenor for annual crops is put at six years with a six months’ moratorium while perennial crops have a maximum tenor of 10 years with a one-year moratorium.

The interest rate will be five percent up to February 28, 2021, and from March 2021 will become nine percent.

Repayment will be on an “installment basis through the participating banks and spread over the Economics of Production (EoP) of the cultivated commodities”.

Participating banks are to remit repayments received to the CBN on a quarterly or annual basis depending on the commodity financed.

The agricultural commodities eligible for consideration under the scheme are rice, maize, cassava, cotton, wheat, tomato, poultry, fish, sorghum, oil palm, cocoa, livestock/dairy, and any other commodities as may be listed by the CBN from time to time.

The apex bank said prospective P-AADS participants must be existing or new firms engaged in agricultural production with proven capacity and bankable proposal; possess the acceptable title for contiguous lands of not less than 20 hectares; have good credit record and be able to provide collateral for participation.