CBN appoints new executives for agric financing arm NIRSAL

24 Dec 2015
Chibuike Oguh

Summary

Emefiele appointed Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed as NIRSAL’s substantive Managing Director and Babajide Arowosafe as Executive Director (Technical).

Godwin Emefiele, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has approved the appointment of new executives for the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), which disburses low-cost financing to Nigerian agribusinesses.

Emefiele appointed Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed as NIRSAL’s substantive Managing Director and Babajide Arowosafe as Executive Director (Technical), according to a statement signed by Ibrahim Mu’azu, CBN’s spokesman.

Until his appointment, Abdulhameed was an Executive Team Member and also the Acting Managing Director of NIRSAL. He has over 22 years experience in Corporate Agribusiness and in the field of Agricultural Finance and Risk management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a master’s degree in Public Administration with specialization in Public Policy.

Arowosafe was recently the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Ekiti State. He has wide-ranging experience in agriculture and micro-enterprises having worked in these fields at both the World Bank and the United Nations. He has a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and a master’s degree in Agricultural Policy and Administration.

Founded in 2011 by the CBN with a capital base of N75 billion, NIRSAL provides support to Nigeria’s agribusiness market, which accounts for 42 percent of GDP.

According to the statement, NIRSAL has guaranteed 454 projects valued N61.161 billion since its inception. Furthermore, NIRSAL paid out N753.36 million as interest rebates to borrowers who repaid promptly to encourage good repayment behavior, thereby minimizing default. In 2014, NIRSAL trained 27,142 farmers across the country.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria’s Frontier Markets Analyst


Other Photos/Videos

Advertisement