Credit Agricole du Maroc (CAM) has renewed a cooperation agreement signed in 2016 with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to promote innovative agricultural financing solutions.
On Monday, May 23, Credit Agricole announced that it received a delegation from NIRSAL to renew their cooperation agreement and strengthen their collaboration with a new agreement.
Since the initial agreement was signed in 2016, Credit Agricole and NIRSAL have developed a roadmap for deploying their partnership along areas of mutual interest.
The new memorandum of understanding signed today consolidates the two partners’ achievements over the last six years, including investments to stimulate the development of a sustainable agriculture in Nigeria.
The new agreement also emphasizes encouraging agricultural financing innovation and promoting financial inclusion in the country.
According to Credit Agricole du Maroc, “the new aspects of the partnership between CAM and NIRSAL represent a firm commitment to its strategic role in financial inclusion for African agriculture.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria owns NIRSAL, which aims to “increase the flow of affordable finance and investments into the agricultural sector by de-risking the agriculture & agribusiness finance value chain.”
The institution also works to incentivize and institutionalize agricultural investments.
Morocco and Nigeria’s agricultural cooperation has improved in recent years.
Nigeria is a major market for Morocco’s OCP Group. In addition to being a major importer of fertilizers and other phosphate-derived products, the West African powerhouse is one of the countries where OCP Africa operates to finance and train farmers.
Nigeria recently sent 200 of its young farmers to Morocco and Israel for formal training, citing the North African country’s leadership in the field as one of the reasons for their selection.
