{
  "id": 19226682,
  "title": "NADF, Sahel Capital Eye Lower Lending Rates for Agribusiness SMEs",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/nadf-sahel-capital-eye-lower-lending-rates-for-agribusiness-smes-19226682",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-09T18:20:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/11/09/nadf-sahel-capital-eye-lower-lending-rates-for-agribusiness-smes-2/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) and Sahel Capital Fund Manager Limited have joined forces to tackle high borrowing costs for agribusinesses in Nigeria. The partnership, outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aims to provide smaller and medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural sector with more affordable credit, enabling them to expand, invest in productive assets, and ultimately generate sustainable returns. Currently, agribusinesses struggle with interest rates ranging from 24 to 27 percent, hindering their growth and productivity. The NADF Executive Secretary, Muhammed Ibrahim, highlighted that the initiative will blend public-sector financing with private capital expertise, creating a financing structure that can attract additional investors and expand the capital pool available to agribusinesses. Sahel Capital's Managing Partner, Mezuo Nwuneli, explained that the collaboration would lower the blended cost of capital for SMEs by combining NADF funding with private capital managed by the investment firm. The partnership remains at an exploratory stage, with both institutions assessing the feasibility of blended financing arrangements, including risk-sharing, concessional financing, and technical assistance.",
  "summary": "*Partnership seeks to blend public, private capital to unlock affordable credit for agricultural businesses James Emejo in Abuja The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has moved to address the high",
  "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."
}