Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigeria’s foremost Development finance institution, and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) have sealed a strategic partnership agreement to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural value chain and boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value.

The agreement was formalised over the weekend with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both organisations.

The agreement was the culmination of extensive engagements between key stakeholders of both institutions and seeks to enhance the value addition of key agricultural commodities and raw materials, addressing challenges in critical areas such as value chain development, harvesting, post-harvest losses, seedlings, cultivation, storage, processing, packaging, logistics, and marketing.

The initiative aligns with BOI’s mission to boost the Nigerian economy, entrench national goals of reducing post-harvest losses, promote import substitution, improve the nation’s GDP, enhance wealth sustainability through job creation, and foster entrepreneurship and industrial capacity in the country.

To ensure the sustainability of the MoU, BOI has established a Joint Steering Committee to oversee the implementation of the objectives, which include the development of a comprehensive strategy for minerals value chain, agricultural value-chain development, covering seed development, cultivation, post-harvest management, processing, packaging, and market access, and facilitate the adoption and scaling of RMRDC’s locally developed machinery for raw materials value chain development.

To address post-harvest losses, the agreement establishes a framework to improve storage, processing, and logistics, and undertakes joint feasibility studies and pilot projects for key commodities such as onions, cassava, kenaf, leather, kaolin, and other industrial raw materials.

Speaking at the signing of the MoU, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bank of Industry, Dr Olasupo Olusi, said: “This partnership brings together two institutions with complementary strengths: RMRDC’s deep expertise in raw materials research and development, and BOI’s capacity to translate viable projects into financed, executable industrial investments. Together, we can do what each institution cannot do as effectively on its own. We can convert research into bankable projects that add value, create jobs, and retain wealth within our economy.

“In practical terms, this means identifying and developing raw material-based opportunities across agro-processing, solid minerals, and industrial inputs, and channelling BOI financing to the entrepreneurs and enterprises ready to process local resources into finished and semi-finished goods. Nigeria’s raw materials should not be leaving our shores as commodities. They should be leaving as products.

“At BOI, we are ready to co-identify opportunities, structure financing, and support the enterprises that will turn this framework into concrete industrial outcomes. Let this be the beginning of a collaboration that Nigerians will feel, in the factories that open, the jobs that are created, and the value that stays here at home.”