Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Credit Agricole Du Maroc (CAM) to promote inclusive growth and sustainable development of the agriculture sectors of both countries.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NIRSAL Plc, Aliyu Abdulhameed, who signed on behalf of his agency stated that the agreement is instrumental to the facilitation of finance and investment, trade and support systems across agricultural value chains, with emphasis on smallholder farmers.

The partnership dates back to 2016 during the visit of the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI to Nigeria. The agriculture investment formed part of the 15 bilateral agreements signed by the King and President Muhammadu Buhari on behalf of their countries.

Abdulhameed was elated that six years later, both parties reconvened at the head office of CAM in Rabat to review activities under the agreement and rekindle the partnership.

The latest meeting also expanded the scope of their pact to include B2B relationships, capacity building, knowledge transfer, and digital agribusiness risk management solutions.

The statement signed yesterday by the Head, Corporate Communication, NIRSAL, Anne Ihugba, reads that the short and medium-term undertakings outlined by the MOU, include working towards presenting a common front to the managers of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund in a bid to attract global finance for sustainable agribusiness investments.

“CAM’s deep experience in developing solutions for the financial integration of smallholder farmers in Africa would also benefit NIRSAL Plc in opening up more pathways for critical finance to enter the agricultural primary production sub-sector in Nigeria,”NIRSAL stated.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Management Board of Credit Agricole Du Maroc (CAM), Tariq Sijilmassi, who signed the MOU, pledged commitment to the mutual prospect and implementation of agriculture-oriented projects that are beneficial to both organisations and their host countries.