First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has unveiled plans to increase its support for agribusiness and its value chain for the overall good of the economy, as it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI).
The pact outlines a framework to deepen agency banking, financial inclusion and propagate savings culture in the informal and agribusiness sectors, with WSBI providing the technical oversight on a regular basis to ensure the achievement of mutually agreed goals.By the pact, FCMB will be rolling out an integrated savings account tagged: "Kampe Account", to offer financial services under phase one of the plan to 150,000 unbanked and under-banked farmers across five states through agricultural agents operating under its agency banking proposition.
The first set of states to benefit in the first phase are Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Ogun and Oyo. The plan is to reach two million farmers across the entire nation by year 2023.To strengthen the support, FCMB plans to deploy its state-of-the art technology and mobile banking solutions to drive the project mainly in the rural and sub-urban farm settlements, where most farmers are based.
It will also organise capacity-building programmes for farmers, aimed at facilitating their understanding of the sector and promote innovative ideas that would make the sector attractive, ultimately facilitating job creation and impact on productivity and income.
The bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive, Adam Nuru, noted the development will revolutionise agribusiness – one of the various empowerment strategies adopted by the bank and appreciated by stakeholders within and outside Nigeria."Partnering WSBI and harnessing the business model we have developed to drive it, under our Kampe Account, is built on a sustainable approach, which ensures that farmers can gain better access to finance and other resources needed to help them build successful businesses," he said.
WSBI Managing Director, Chris De Noose, added: "The Kampe Savings Project is yet another example of the innovative ways rural communities can flourish through mobile savings and beyond."Expanding banking access and agricultural services through the provision of mobile services to the farming community, which increasingly includes more women, can help knock out any doubt about the payoff that farming can bring.”
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