Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading commercial bank, has said there are massive opportunities in the Nigerian agricultural sector for those who are prepared to work hard, with a clear vision and commitment.
Chairman of the board of directors of the bank, Asue Ighodalo disclosed this in his address of welcome at the opening of the 2022 Agriculture Summit Africa, ASA, hosted by the bank recently in Lagos themed Engineering A Trillion Dollar Agricultural Economy.
This year’s ASA is hosted by the bank in collaboration with her esteemed partners including, Leadway Assurance, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Thrive Agric, GIZ, Noor Takaful, Microsoft Nigeria, and Stears Data, among others.
Ighodalo remarked that the ASA remains a signpost of the bank’s commitment to the agricultural sector, one of the five sectors of specific focus in the bank’s HEART strategy. The other sectors are health, education, agriculture, renewable energy, and transportation.
According to him, “As a major financial institution and the leading institution in this sector, we are ready and prepared, and we have the financial expertise to partner strongly with such resourceful agripreneurs.”
He also noted in his speech that Nigeria remains “a net food importer“. He further remarked that” Today, we only export primary raw materials with minimal value added. Sadly, in four years, our food imports have increased fourfold causing massive pressures on our foreign reserves and thereby also exporting our jobs,” adding, “As a nation that seeks economic growth urgently and food security; we must reverse this trend, immediately.”
He said developed countries jumpstarted their development by building and growing the manufacturing industry through the process of adding value to their agricultural products. Adding that “it has also become a critical imperative that Nigeria increase the quality and yield of its production, achieve food security, capitalize on trade opportunities within the African region and thereby hasten its climb towards economic competitiveness and prosperity.”
