{
  "id": 17155976,
  "title": "FCMB, Mastercard Launch Digital Platform to Expand Financing for Farmers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/fcmb-mastercard-launch-digital-platform-to-expand-financing-for",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-30T01:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/10/30/fcmb-mastercard-launch-digital-platform-to-expand-financing-for-farmers/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Mastercard have jointly unveiled AgroPass, an innovative digital platform aimed at widening access to finance, markets, and agricultural services for smallholder farmers in Nigeria. The platform, spearheaded by Mastercard, establishes connections between farmers and various stakeholders within the agricultural value chain, including input suppliers, buyers, lenders, agribusinesses, and other key participants. This initiative is set to bolster financial inclusion and enhance productivity within Nigeria's vital agricultural sector.\n\nAt the launch event in Lagos, Yemisi Edun, Managing Director of FCMB, highlighted that supporting farmers goes beyond providing credit. It involves creating connections to finance, markets, technology, knowledge, and opportunities. AgroPass is described as a tool empowering farmers to become more productive, resilient, and commercially successful. By addressing critical gaps across the value chain, the platform is poised to contribute to a more sustainable future for agriculture in Nigeria.\n\nFCMB's support to the agricultural sector amounted to over 364.6 billion naira ($236 million) last year, benefiting more than 196,000 smallholder farmers across the nation. Notably, nearly half of these beneficiaries were women and young individuals. On the other hand, Tara Nathan, Executive Vice President of Mastercard's Growth Segments, emphasized that smallholder farmers are integral to food systems, rural livelihoods, and economic growth across Africa. However, many of them remain disconnected from essential services and opportunities. AgroPass is envisioned to mitigate this gap by linking farmers with financial services, suppliers, buyers, and digital tools that foster productivity and resilience. The collaboration between FCMB and Mastercard aims to construct a more interconnected agricultural ecosystem, enabling farmers to establish robust businesses, participate more actively in the economy, and seize new avenues for growth.",
  "summary": "First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Mastercard have launched AgroPass, a digital platform designed to expand access to finance, markets and agricultural services for smallholder farmers across Nigeria. The platform,",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}