Windhoek
Agribank plans to improve product and service delivery to its clients, in particular
small-scale farmers and agro-business entrepreneurs. The bank continues
to value the opportunity that currently exists in communal farming in the rural areas, where the majority of farmers live, says Leonard Iipumbu, the chief executive officer of Agribank.
He says the bank started to implement a new product called Emerging Retail Farmers Product (ERFP) that is aimed at giving credit to farmers with minimal collateral. The pilot phase of the product was launched and, if deemed successful, the full product will be introduced in 2016.
In addition, the bank also launched the drought relief scheme with a facility of N$45 million, aimed at assisting farmers to navigate through the drought period.
The bank’s moderate performance this year was mainly owed to the drought that is creating uncertainty in terms of loan demand by clients. Agribank remains committed to assist farmers during this drought period, thus we encourage farmers to visit our branches for assistance.
The bank calls upon all clients whose loans were approved to come and take up
their loans within 6 months after approval. Failure to do so will result in the loans being cancelled.