IDH and partners boost finance for Nigeria's cassava sector
Access to affordable finance remains one of the biggest challenges faced by young women, smallholder farmers, and agribusiness SMEs in Nigeria. Limited collateral, high interest rates, and the lack of tailored financial products often hinder their ability to scale or invest in productivity-enhancing solutions.
IDH, in partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to unlock access to affordable finance for youth, particularly young women, participating in the Women in Sourcing and Enterprise (WISE) Program in the cassava value chain in Nigeria. The MoU, signed during the WISE Program Kick-Off event in Lagos, represents a strategic step toward strengthening inclusive finance and sustainable agribusiness development within Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Through this collaboration, the three institutions will leverage their respective strengths to facilitate agricultural credit, co-develop a Seed Capital Facility, and establish mechanisms that enable agribusiness SMEs and smallholder farmers to access affordable and blended financing. These efforts align with Nigeria’s broader goal of transforming its food systems, enhancing productivity, and empowering youth and women to participate more equitably across the cassava sector.
As part of the partnership, IDH, BOA, and NADF will also collaborate under the Nigerian Food Systems Transformation Alliance, a joint platform for coordinating interventions that promote food security, strengthen local sourcing, and advance sustainable job creation through agribusiness.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Daan Wensing, CEO of IDH, highlighted the partnership as a critical step toward unlocking finance for inclusion and resilience in agriculture: “Access to finance remains one of the key barriers for young agripreneurs. With this collaboration, we are catalysing new opportunities that will enable them to participate meaningfully across the cassava value chain.”
Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin, Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, reaffirmed BOA’s commitment to supporting inclusive agricultural development: “At BOA, it is our duty to finance every farmer, leaving no one behind. This partnership goes beyond primary production; it is about financing the entire agricultural value chain, from the farm to the table.”
Abdullahi Imam, Head of Debt Investment at NADF, representing the Fund’s Executive Secretary, noted the alignment between the partners and the potential for broader impact: “With IDH and BOA, this agreement establishes a foundation for accessible funding for young women and youth in the cassava value chain. It is a model we hope to replicate across other crops such as maize, rice, and soybeans to continue transforming livelihoods.”
By combining IDH’s convening power, BOA’s co-financing and on-lending capacity, and NADF’s financing and liquidity support, the partnership seeks to close critical financing gaps, strengthen agricultural value chains, and accelerate inclusive growth. It also reinforces IDH’s global mission of catalyzing private sector solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) building resilient markets, better jobs, and sustainable livelihoods for youth and women across Nigeria’s agricultural economy.