The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has inaugurated a new Board for the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), with Governor Olayemi Cardoso outlining a broad agenda to modernise agricultural finance, expand credit access and strengthen oversight across Nigeria’s food systems.
Mr Cardoso said the inauguration, which took place on Tuesday in Abuja, marked a turning point for one of the country’s oldest development finance programmes.
He described the occasion as “a defining moment, a bold statement of intent that signals a new dawn for agricultural financing in Nigeria.”
He noted that agriculture remained central to the economy, contributing more than one-fifth of GDP and employing nearly two-thirds of the labour force, yet received less than five per cent of bank lending.
He said this financing gap had held back millions of farmers and insisted the country could no longer accept “business-as-usual” in agricultural lending. Mr Cardoso stressed that the ACGSF, created in 1977 to de-risk bank lending, must evolve to meet today’s realities, from complex value chains and climate risks to the rise of agritech and modern production systems.
The CBN governor highlighted the scheme’s expanded capacity following the 2019 amendment, which increased its share capital from N3 billion to N50 billion and widened its operational scope.
He added that the new seven-member board, now including a representative of Nigerian farmers, was designed to ensure the fund reflects the voices of those it serves and supports stronger collaboration between policymakers, lenders and rural producers.
Mr Cardoso called for deeper financial inclusion, particularly for women and young farmers who face chronic barriers to credit, technology and formal finance.
Citing research showing that nearly 60 per cent of rural women do not use mobile internet, he urged the board to work with microfinance institutions, cooperatives and fintechs to design products and channels that reach underserved communities.
He said the CBN expected the new board to deploy better oversight and monitoring tools, including data platforms, digital dashboards and satellite imagery, to track loan use, crop performance and repayment trends in real time.
Such systems, he said, would improve transparency, expose bottlenecks early and ensure guaranteed loans deliver measurable value.
The governor emphasised that modern agriculture required steady investment in seeds, irrigation, mechanisation, storage, processing and other value-adding activities.
He said a stronger ACGSF would help farmers raise productivity, cut post-harvest losses and expand incomes, outcomes aligned with national goals on food security and economic diversification.
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Mr Cardoso noted that the reconstitution of the Board closed a leadership gap, adding that “institutions must not be left without leadership and direction.” He pledged full CBN support to the Board as it works to drive agricultural transformation.
He urged members to embed accountability, innovation and learning into the scheme’s operations, arguing that its performance would be critical to ensuring affordable food, supporting rural livelihoods and strengthening Nigeria’s broader economic development agenda.
