Business and economy

Sterling Bank Promotes Renewable Energy-Powered Agriculture With Fresh AATIF Fund

Sterling Bank is set to promote renewable energy-powered agriculture with fresh AATIF fund.

Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Sterling Bank, in conjunction with the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), is set to promote environment-friendly agriculture businesses by lending the sum of $15 million to sustainable and renewable energypowered Agric enterprises.

Advertisement

The $15 million medium-term facility from the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund extends our partnership with Sterling Bank, which started in 2019 with an initial vision to support the growth of the bank’s agricultural activities. Since then, Sterling Bank and AATIF have worked together on numerous projects, with the bank making commendable contributions to the Nigerian agricultural sector. The extension of this partnership marks a new chapter in this fruitful relationship.

In a statement issued by the lender, Group Head for Agriculture and Solid Minerals Finance, Dr Olushola Obikanye, said the funding will further deepen Sterling’s agricultural investments in the agribusiness industry, promote sustainable practices, and encourage farmers to explore environment-friendly systems.

Advertisement

Also speaking on the funding, Sterling Bank’s Group Head for Energy, Dele Faseemo, said the fund will seek to increase Sterling’s funding for renewable energy installations in the agricultural sector and will positively impact lending in the sector as well as the Nigerian economy.

Advertisement

Ms Doris Koehn, chair of the AATIF Board of Directors, said of the deal, “When we first invested in Sterling Bank, we were keen to help actualize its impressive ambitions in growing its agricultural portfolio in Nigeria. Four and a half years later, we are proud to renew our partnership with the Bank and are focused on further enabling its efforts towards serving local smallholder farmers.”

The Bank has become renowned as one of the key partners and lenders to the agricultural sector, with over N100 billion, or approximately 13 percent of its lending portfolio, currently financing agricultural businesses across Nigeria.

Advertisement

This, amongst other initiatives such as the Agriculture Summit Africa; the continent’s largest private sector-driven conference on the industry, and the Nigerian Farmers’ Radio; an educative radio programme promoting good agricultural practices aired in all geo-political zones of Nigeria, has endeared the bank to primary producers, aggregators, commodity processors, and exporters.

These initiatives recently saw Sterling awarded the best-participating bank by the Agric Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund.

Sterling has also innovated in the renewable energy space with the launch of Imperium, its solution to power homes and businesses, and is currently in the final stages of deploying Nigeria’s largest solar-powered solution for commercial property with the ongoing transformation of its Lagos Marina headquarters.

Advertisement

The 18-storey building has been fitted with over 3,000 photovoltaic panels and will generate power from renewable sources
Agriculture and Renewable Energy form two of the five core pillars of Sterling’s now-famous HEART strategy. With the remaining sectors being Health, Education and Transportation

About Sterling Bank Plc.
Sterling Bank Plc “Your one-customer bank” is a full-service national commercial bank in
Nigeria. At Sterling Bank, our customers are our number one priority, and we value their feedback and ideas.

Advertisement

In over 60 years of operations, Sterling Bank (formerly NAL Bank) has evolved from the
nation’s pre-eminent investment banking institution to a fully-fledged commercial bank; and completed a merger with 4 other banks – Indo-Nigeria Merchant Bank, Magnum Trust Bank, NBM Bank and Trust Bank of Africa – as part of the 2006 consolidation of the Nigerian banking industry.

About The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF)
The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund is a public-private partnership dedicated to promoting the food / agri sector across Africa by providing patient capital and technical assistance. The fund provides debt financing to small, medium, and large-scale agribusinesses along the entire agriculture value chain, as well as financial institutions active in the sector. DWS is acting as an investment advisor to AATIF.

Advertisement

For more information, visit www.aatif.lu.

 

Advertisement
citynews

Recent Posts

Tinubu promotes Acting Chief of Army Staff, Oluyede to Lt Gen

President Bola Tinubu has promoted the acting Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oluyede to the…

36 mins ago

Digital Transformation: Maida, Kekere-Ekun Speak At NCC’s Annual Workshop for Judges in Lagos

Welcome Address Delivered at the 2024 Edition of the Judges Workshop at Sheraton Hotel Ikeja,…

6 hours ago

Breaking: House Of Reps Finance Committee Visits FIRS

The House of Representatives Finance Committee has paid a working visit to the headquarters of…

8 hours ago

BREAKING: Tinubu govt drops treason charges against EndBadGovernance protesters

  The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the treason charges brought against the…

12 hours ago

#USRoadToWhiteHouse2024: Trump-Harris polls remain tied in battleground states…

What to know about the end of the #USElection2024 campaign The most recent polling analysis…

12 hours ago

#USElection2024 Live Updates: Trump Vs Harris…Latest Results…Latest Polls

#US election 2024 Live Updates:  What you need to know about USelection2024 latest polls •…

12 hours ago