Fidelity Bank Plc has disbursed over N34 billion direct credit to players in the rice value chain in the country. Bankroll
The MD/CEO of the bank, Mrs. Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said the move was in line with Fidelity’s business sustainability principle.
She also disclosed that the bank had directly financed the construction and installation of several integrated rice mills across different geo-political zones.
She further said the mills have combined rice milling capacity of more than 500,000 metric tons per annum.
“Through our interventions in the rice space, we have created positive impact in rural communities by way of farmer empowerment and employment generation. This is also in alignment with the business sustainability imperative of our banking business,” she said.
Recognising the importance of the last mile traders in the value chain, Onyeali-Ikpe said: “We have also provided low-cost funds to rice traders to purchase rice from indigenous rice millers for sale to the final consumers. This has helped in stabilizing the prices of locally produced rice.”
She further said the bank had modelled effective social and environmental sustainability frameworks into its agricultural business deal structuring workflow to address social and environmental sustainability requirements.
This, she added, followed the CBN’s sustainable banking principles and sector guideline, IFC performance standards and equator principles.
Recall that the bank recently part-financed the construction of a 400 metric tons per day mega rice mill in Kano state owned by the Gerawa Group of Companies.
Fidelity Bank’s activities have continued to receive recognition by operators, funding partners and all other actors in the agribusiness space.
At the bankers’ committee meeting of December 2019, for instance, Fidelity Bank was awarded 2nd position in Sustainable Agriculture Transaction of the year
