LAGOS — The Federal Government is seeking a financing model that could provide livestock businesses with single digit loans and repayment periods of at least 10 years as part of efforts to modernise Nigeria’s livestock industry.
Minister of Livestock Development Idi Muktar Maiha disclosed the initiative during an inspection of the ABIS Ultra Modern Livestock Processing Factory in Lekki.
Maiha said the ministry would engage the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria to develop more suitable financing arrangements.
He argued that existing commercial lending conditions made major livestock investments difficult.
According to him, investors cannot reasonably establish modern abattoirs, ranches and feedlots while borrowing at rates between 16 and 25 per cent and facing repayment periods of only three or four years.
The minister said pension capital should also be considered as a potential source of long term funding.
During the visit, Maiha inspected a facility capable of processing about 250 cattle daily.
He said modern livestock processing should maximise every part of the animal, including hides, horns, blood and other byproducts that can become raw materials for additional industries.
The government wants certified processing facilities replicated across Nigeria.
ABIS Group Chairman Emmanuel Usman Nelson said affordable financing, better roads and improved access to land would help accelerate the industry’s transformation.
He also called for a transition towards modern livestock management practices.
For Nigeria, where clashes associated with open grazing have created economic and security concerns, modernising the livestock industry could carry implications far beyond meat production alone.
