The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) has facilitated over N70 billion in commercial financing for agribusinesses and the food economy as of the third quarter of 2025, marking its strongest annual performance since inception.
Established in 2013, the milestone represents nearly a quarter of NIRSAL’s cumulative N270 billion in financing to date and underscores the success of its revamped strategy under a new board and executive management.
The achievement comes at a critical time when bank lending to agriculture had declined steadily from 6.18 per cent of aggregate lending in 2022 to 4.82 per cent in 2024, while sectoral growth slowed from 2.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent within the same period.
By deploying its trademark value chain modelling, risk-sharing tools, and technical support for agribusinesses and financial institutions, NIRSAL has helped restore lender confidence and channel new credit into key value chains, including grains, cocoa, shea, and livestock.
According to the agency, the intervention has driven improvements in local production and boosted export competitiveness, with more than 32 per cent of the facilitated sum supporting value-added agricultural exports.
Consequently, agriculture’s share of bank lending has risen to 5.33 per cent as of May 2025.
Two newly licensed banks have also joined the sector through NIRSAL’s frameworks, further contributing to the ?70 billion facilitated so far this year.
‘?70 billion may appear modest compared to the size of Nigeria’s agricultural financing needs, but its significance is profound. It proves that agriculture can be commercially and sustainably financed,’ said NIRSAL’s Managing Director/CEO, Sa’ad Hamidu.
‘With the right blend of capital, technical support, and risk mitigation, the sector can become more productive, resilient, and globally competitive,’ he added.
Hamidu expressed confidence that NIRSAL would achieve its N150 billion facilitation target for 2025, noting that the peak agricultural lending season, when merchants seek credit for storage and agro-dealers stock up on inputs, was still ahead.
Beyond headline numbers, NIRSAL is reshaping the agricultural finance landscape through an integrated model that spans project identification, deal structuring, business advisory, and credit guarantees.
The approach supports agribusinesses from loan origination to disbursement, while helping previously unbankable enterprises access sustainable credit.
Several borrowers that started with NIRSAL’s guarantees have since transitioned into direct lending relationships with their banks, a development that underscores growing comfort among financiers with the agribusiness sector.
The ?70 billion facilitated this year is also a result of NIRSAL’s capacity-building initiatives.
The organisation has trained over 1,100 bank staff to deepen their understanding of agricultural financing within its risk-sharing framework, leading to more loan approvals.
Similarly, more than 450 value-chain actors have received specialised training in feedlot management, commodity exports, and climate finance-capacity-building efforts expected to translate into improved sector performance over time.
As part of its forward strategy, NIRSAL is developing the LandBank Portal, a digital ecosystem connecting agricultural stakeholders from research institutions to markets, to provide real-time data for investors, policymakers, and development partners.
The platform aims to enhance transparency, reduce risk, and identify emerging opportunities across the value chain.
NIRSAL is also expanding into climate finance, recently signing a memorandum of understanding with the Rural Electrification Agency to deploy off-grid power to processing clusters in rural areas.
According to the organisation, these initiatives will build resilience across agricultural value chains and support Nigeria’s ambition of achieving a $1 trillion economy.
Since its establishment, NIRSAL has remained committed to its core mandate of de-risking agricultural lending and proving that agribusiness can be both profitable and sustainable.
Its strong 2025 performance signals a new era of confidence for Nigeria’s farmers, financiers, and the broader economy.