[Nigeria] Proparco provides $25 million to Access Bank to support agri- food sector

Access Bank, a major player in the Nigerian banking sector, has been awarded a syndicated loan of $ 100 million by FMO, the Dutch development bank. Proparco is contributing 25 million dollars. This line of credit will enable Access Bank to finance agricultural enterprises and thereby stimulate a sector vital to Nigeria's economic and social development.
Agriculture remains the main source of income for most Nigerians and employs more than 50% of the country's working population. However, lack of access to credit hampers investment. Proparco's financing will enable Access Bank to offer agricultural businesses a long-term credit offer that is not easily accessible in the Nigerian market. The objective is to finance all the actors of the chain: from the plantations to the first transformations.
By encouraging the financing of agro-food companies, this operation will support the modernization of the sector and create direct jobs (Access Bank currently employs nearly 3,000 people, 44% of whom are women), and indirect, through the support of companies providing local jobs.
With a network of over 300 branches in Nigeria and 7 overseas subsidiaries, Access Bank is the 4 th bank in the country and one of the top 20 banks in Africa. In the agri-food sector, it works with SMEs, cooperatives and large companies, targeting plantations and primary processing industries.
This is the second Proparco transaction in favor of Access Bank. In 2012, Proparco granted a first $ 15 million credit line dedicated to financing SMEs in the countries where Access Bank Plc operates.
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