• BOA, others woo young agripreneurs to cassava value chain
Group Managing Director of Arzikin Noma, Michael Adeshola, has warned that food could become a weapon of control if African nations fail to take urgent action toward achieving food security and economic independence.
Adeshola gave the warning while speaking at the Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) 2025, co-sponsored by Arzikin Noma and Sterling Bank, where he stressed the critical role of technology in driving agricultural transformation across the continent.
Adeshola said technology had become a game-changer for agribusiness, particularly in enhancing access to finance, improving productivity, and strengthening farmers’ resilience. He explained how Arzikin Noma’s early adoption of digital tools helped the company and its network of smallholder farmers overcome challenges during Nigeria’s 2023 Naira redesign policy.
“For us, carrying cash into rural communities was risky and unsustainable. Before the redesign, we had already partnered with our Primary Financial Institution and MasterCard to issue over 1,000 ATM cards to our farmers. When the cash crisis hit, we were able to pay them seamlessly.”
MEANWHILE, the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IDH and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to unlock access to affordable finance for youths, particularly young women, participating in the Women in Sourcing and Enterprise (WISE) Programme in the cassava value chain.
The MoU, signed during the WISE Programme’s kick-off in Lagos, represents a strategic step toward strengthening inclusive finance and sustainable agribusiness development within Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
As part of the partnership, IDH, BOA and NADF would 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.
In a statement on the ceremony, the CEO of IDH, Daan Wensing, highlighted the partnership as a critical step toward unlocking finance for inclusion and resilience in agriculture, stating, “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.”
Managing Director of BOA, Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting inclusive agricultural development.
