Afreximbank, BOA Launch $1bn Fund to Boost Nigerian Smallholder Farmers
Story, written by Okafor Joseph September 10,2025
The agreement was signed during the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 in Algiers, Algeria, by BOA’s Managing Director, Ayo Sotinrin, and Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Kanayo Awani.
According to a statement by BOA, the facility will create a National Smallholder Farmers’ Fund, aimed at tackling the persistent credit gaps that limit productivity across Nigeria’s agriculture sector, where smallholders make up about 95% of the value chain.
The fund will provide affordable financing for seeds, fertilisers, agrochemicals, and mechanisation services, while also backing investments in storage, logistics, and structured market linkages to cut post-harvest losses and boost exports.
Sotinrin described the pact as a “bold step toward food security and economic growth”, noting that it aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places agriculture at the centre of Nigeria’s recovery strategy.
Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah, under whose leadership the deal was endorsed, has consistently championed resource mobilisation to strengthen Africa’s agricultural value chains and expand intra-African trade.
