Inaugurated BoA Board Tasked to Rebuild Institution for Food Security 

News Brief:

—Nigeria has inaugurated a new Board of Directors for the Bank of Agriculture, tasking it with transforming the institution into Nigeria’s leading agricultural development finance bank.

—The board will oversee the digital transformation and alignment with key government agricultural programmes to expand financing and support for farmers.

The Federal Government has inaugurated a new Board of Directors for the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), charging its members to reposition the institution as Nigeria's leading agricultural development finance bank and a key driver of food security, job creation and rural economic development.

The inauguration, led by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, marks a new chapter for the Bank as it strengthens its leadership and governance to expand access to agricultural finance, accelerate digital transformation and improve support for farmers and agribusinesses across the country.

Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, Kyari told the board that its responsibility extends beyond routine oversight to rebuilding the institution into a stronger development finance bank capable of supporting the Federal Government's agricultural transformation agenda.

"You are not being invited to preside over an institution. You are being charged to rebuild one. The work of renewal has already begun; your task is to give it scale and permanence. From today, there is no old guard and no new arrivals: one Board, one management, one institution, one mandate," the minister said.

Recapitalisation to Drive Agricultural Transformation

Kyari described the Bank of Agriculture as Nigeria's foremost agricultural development finance institution, established to provide financing for farmers, cooperatives, processors and agribusinesses. He recalled President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the recapitalisation as the boldest commitment to agricultural finance in the country's history.

The minister also urged the board to build on reforms already initiated under the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin, particularly the Bank's ongoing digital transformation covering loan appraisal, disbursement and recovery.

According to Kyari, the Bank is also leading the implementation of the Renewed Hope National Agricultural Mechanisation Programme, which is expected to serve more than one million farmers annually. He called on the board to align the institution's financing activities with major government programmes, including the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), the IFAD-supported Value Chain Development Programme and the World Bank-financed AGROW initiative.

The newly inaugurated board is chaired by Muhammad Babangida and includes Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Fatima Garba as Executive Director, Corporate Services, Hakeem Oluwatosin Salami as Executive Director, Operations and Information Technology, Ka'amuna Ibrahim Khadi as Executive Director, Risk Management, alongside Rabiu Idris Funtua, Kpochi Donald Iorgyer, Aminu Malami Mohammed, Oladejo Odunuga and Charles Amuchienwa as Non-Executive Directors.