Bank lending to agriculture grows despite recent slowdown
Credit to Nigeria’s agriculture sector has continued to rise, reflecting ongoing support from deposit money banks. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria shows a notable increase in agricultural lending over the past year. Olayemi Cardoso, the CBN Governor, has acknowledged the sector’s challenges and pledged renewed efforts to boost credit. The sector remains vital to the economy but still receives a small share of total bank loans.
What we know
- Deposit money banks’ credit to agriculture reached N3.24tn in April 2025, eased to N3.23tn in May, and declined to N3.19tn in June.
- In the same period of 2024, agricultural credit was N2.58tn in April, N2.59tn in May, and N2.44tn in June.
- This represents a year-on-year growth of roughly 25–30 per cent, with an increase of about N650bn to N750bn across the quarter.
- Olayemi Cardoso described the sector’s limited access to credit as a structural imbalance and pledged to prioritise agricultural lending.
- He made these remarks at the inauguration of the reconstituted Board of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund, calling it a “new dawn” for agricultural financing.
