The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) has disbursed N38.7 billion in the last nine years, the Managing Director, Alhaji Mohammed Santuraki, has disclosed in Kaduna.Receiving a supervision team of consultants and officials from the Federal Government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in his office, Santuraki said the loan was distributed through the bank’s 201 branches in the six geo-political zones.

Micro-finance institutions received N9.5 billion while the sector as a whole got 21.5 billion, he said, adding that N3.9 billion was disbursed for on-lending and N3.8 billion for special projects  out of the total sum.  Santuraki said that so far, the bank had recovered only N27.6 billion (interest included) while the balance of N17.3 billion was still outstanding.

“The six geo-political zones differ rather widely in their loan repayment performances. Some have recorded repayment rates of above 83.7 per cent, while some have recorded rates as low as 62 per cent,” he said.

The managing director further said that the loan facilities were disbursed across all strata of the agricultural production chain, ranging from food to tree crops, protein and value addition services such as processing.  The bank had funded the establishment of 24 projects within the period under review, he said.