AFRACA, NIRSAL Lead Push for Smarter Agricultural Finance

The AFRACA Masterclass on climate resilience and artificial intelligence has brought financial professionals from across Africa together in Lagos to strengthen agricultural finance.

The week-long programme, which began on August 19, features participants from Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and other African countries. Four central banks are represented, alongside commercial banks, insurers, development finance institutions and microfinance banks.

AFRACA Secretary-General Ngo Bakang Anny Caroll welcomed the return of the organisation’s capacity-building programme to Nigeria for the first time since 2017. She highlighted the growing pressure that climate change is placing on food systems and called on financial institutions to help build sustainable agricultural capacity.

NIRSAL Plc Executive Director, Operations, Ewaen Imohe, represented Managing Director Sa’ad Hamidu. Hamidu said the agricultural finance challenge is closely linked to how financial institutions understand and manage risk.

“At NIRSAL, we have always maintained that agriculture, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, is not underfinanced because opportunities do not exist, but because the risks have not been sufficiently understood, measured, appropriately priced, and managed,” Hamidu said.

He disclosed that NIRSAL approved Credit Risk Guarantees exceeding N100 billion in 2025 and had already surpassed that figure in 2026. The guarantees support farmers, processors, aggregators, exporters and other businesses.

More than 50 per cent of NIRSAL-guaranteed loans in the first half of 2026 came from non-interest financial institutions.

The agricultural finance masterclass also explores climate-risk assessment, green projects and specialised climate funding, while its AI sessions examine how technology can improve risk assessment, transaction analysis and lending decisions.

Can AI and climate-focused finance significantly expand agricultural funding across Africa?