Financial Inclusion: Union Bank, WACOT Rice Partner To Support Smallholder Farmers In Kebbi

As part of efforts in driving financial inclusion in Nigeria, Union Bank Plc, has partnered with WACOT Rice Limited, a rice processing company, to financially include 6,000 local farmers’ in Kebbi State.

The Kebbi Financial Inclusion Drive (KFID) which will cover four Local Government Areas – Argungu, Augie, Suru, and Dandi – is a critical part of WACOT’s Argungu Outgrower Expansion Project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) West Africa Trade Hub. This program is set to resolve the overwhelming financial inclusion deficit within rural communities in Kebbi.

The financial inclusion initiative is being implemented with technical support from National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), to help farmers including, youth and women acquire the relevant documentation and identification required to open bank accounts.

Union Bank will facilitate account opening and expand its agency banking network to cover the areas while supporting its agents on the ground with digital banking solutions to enable seamless transacting and account management.

Farouk Gumel, Chairman of WACOT and Board Chair, Union Bank was on the ground in Kebbi State to kick off the drive and paid a visit to the Kebbi state Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu to discuss expanding the programme state-wide.

In his keynote address at the recently concluded Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Conference, Mr Gumel said: “As we work towards achieving financial inclusion to reach the unbanked, we must commit the same resources and investments to rural-local customers as we have done to urban-global clients to help create the growth that will lift us all to collective prosperity.”