{"id":16127,"date":"2026-06-20T12:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/sterling-bank-explores-partnership-with-iita-on-agribusiness-financing\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:59:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:59:27","slug":"sterling-bank-explores-partnership-with-iita-on-agribusiness-financing","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/sterling-bank-explores-partnership-with-iita-on-agribusiness-financing\/","title":{"rendered":"Sterling Bank explores partnership with IITA on agribusiness financing"},"content":{"rendered":"A commercial bank in Nigeria,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sterlingbankng.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sterling Bank Plc<\/a>\u00a0is exploring areas of partnership with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IITA<\/a>\u00a0on an agribusiness financing loan scheme for \u201cagripreneurs\u201d who have been trained and mentored by the Institute.\n\nThe agribusiness financing scheme known as the Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) is a voluntary initiative of the Bankers\u2019 Committee to support the Federal Government of Nigeria\u2019s efforts and policy measures for the promotion of agricultural businesses and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as vehicles for sustainable economic development and employment generation.\n<div id=\"attachment_3888\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 879px\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Team-Lead-from-Sterling-Bank-Mrs-Bukola-Awosanya-addressing-the-participants-at-the-workshop.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3888\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Team-Lead-from-Sterling-Bank-Mrs-Bukola-Awosanya-addressing-the-participants-at-the-workshop.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of Team Lead from Sterling Bank; Mrs Bukola Awosanya addressing the participants at the workshop\" width=\"879\" height=\"515\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3888\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3888\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Team Lead from Sterling Bank; Mrs Bukola Awosanya addressing the participants at the workshop.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nIn view of this, a six-person team from Sterling Bank visited IITA\u2019s headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria on 16 August to conduct a sensitization workshop for the Institute and the IITA Youth Agripreneurs on the loan scheme.\n\nThe loan scheme, with a 5% interest rate, has the capacity to provide up to 10 million naira (about $27,777) to a potential beneficiary with a loan tenure of seven years and moratorium of up to 18 months for the principal and 6 months for interest.\n\nEnlightening the participants, the team lead from the bank, Bukola Awosanya who is also the Group Head, Agriculture and Export Finance, said that the scheme is targeted towards improving access to affordable and sustainable finance by agribusinesses and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), creating employment opportunities in Nigeria, and boosting the managerial capacity of agribusinesses and MSMEs to grow into large corporate organizations in line with the Federal Government\u2019s agenda to develop the real sector and promote inclusive growth.\n\nShe added that business owners across the agricultural value chain covering production, input supply, storage, processing, logistics, and marketing, MSMEs in manufacturing, mining, and petrochemicals and in the service sector such as information and communication technology (ICT) and the creative industry are eligible for the loan.\n\nThey are, however, expected to go through business development training from the Central Bank of Nigeria\u2019s recognized Enterprise Development Centres (EDC and Enterprise Development Institutes (EDI).\n\nRecognizing the role that IITA has played over time in promoting agriculture across the African continent and grooming young entrepreneurs in agribusiness, Sterling Bank has identified the Institute as a potential EDI, that is required to send a list of trained and profiled beneficiaries to CBN for review.\n\nThe workshop was attended by some IITA management staff, IYA Agripreneurs and trainees, and representatives from EKIMIKS Ltd and the Hello Tractor project.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A commercial bank in Nigeria, Sterling Bank Plc is exploring areas of partnership with IITA on an agribusiness financing loan scheme for \u201cagripreneurs\u201d who have been trained and mentored by the 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