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By Faheem Lawal
The African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), in partnership with NIRSAL Plc and other stakeholders, has launched a week-long masterclass in Lagos to equip financial-sector professionals with skills to finance climate-resilient agriculture and use artificial intelligence to improve agricultural lending.
The programme, which opened on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, attracted participants from Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and other African countries.
Four central banks are represented at the training, alongside commercial banks, insurance companies, development finance institutions and microfinance banks.
The masterclass focuses on inclusive finance for climate resilience and the application of artificial intelligence in financial services and agricultural finance.
Opening the programme, AFRACA Secretary-General, Ms. Ngo Bakang Anny Caroll, expressed delight that the organisation’s capacity-building programme had returned to Nigeria for the first time since 2017.
She said the training was timely as climate change continues to disrupt agricultural production and put pressure on food systems across Africa.
Caroll said financial institutions had a major role to play because of their position as providers and allocators of capital, adding that better financing would help Africa strengthen food production and improve its competitiveness globally.
Representing NIRSAL, its Executive Director, Operations, Mr. Ewaen Imohe, delivered a welcome address on behalf of the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sa’ad Hamidu.
Hamidu said one of the biggest challenges facing agricultural finance in Africa was the failure to properly understand, measure and manage risks in the sector.
“At NIRSAL, we have always maintained that agriculture, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, is not underfinanced because opportunities do not exist, but because the risks have not been sufficiently understood, measured, appropriately priced, and managed,” he said.
He said NIRSAL had been developing financing systems and risk-sharing frameworks designed to make agricultural lending more attractive to financial institutions.
According to him, the approach is already encouraging greater private-sector participation in agriculture.
Hamidu disclosed that NIRSAL approved Credit Risk Guarantees for loans worth more than N100 billion in 2025 and had surpassed that figure in 2026 so far.
The guaranteed loans are supporting farmers, processors, aggregators, exporters and other businesses across various agricultural value chains.
He also noted the increasing participation of non-interest financial institutions, which accounted for more than 50 per cent of loans guaranteed by NIRSAL in the first half of 2026.
Hamidu said the development showed that appropriate risk-sharing mechanisms could encourage different sources of capital to support agriculture.
He described the climate-resilience component of the masterclass as particularly important, saying climate change had become a practical challenge for farmers, agribusinesses and their financiers.
Participants are being exposed to tools for assessing climate risks, developing adaptation and mitigation projects, structuring green investments and accessing specialised climate-finance facilities.
Dr. Chris Myungu of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT under CGIAR introduced participants to the Africa Adaptation Atlas and CGIAR climate-rationale outputs, showing how climate data and research can help identify and design climate-resilient agricultural investments.
The programme also examines how artificial intelligence can improve risk assessment, transaction analysis and financial decision-making in agriculture.
Hamidu urged participants to move beyond the excitement around AI and focus on practical ways the technology can help financial institutions better understand agricultural risks and make sound lending decisions.
He also highlighted the potential for AI to complement climate finance, blended finance, grants and other funding mechanisms aimed at expanding resources available to African agriculture.
Hamidu described the programme as another demonstration of the growing partnership between AFRACA and NIRSAL.
“AFRACA, for us, is a platform for knowledge, continental exchange, and global insight. On our part, we remain a results-driven source of practical experience for AFRACA member countries,” he said.
He said AFRACA’s continental network and knowledge-sharing platform, combined with NIRSAL’s experience in agricultural risk-sharing and value-chain development, could help strengthen agricultural financing across Africa.
The masterclass will continue with technical sessions and practical engagements focused on artificial intelligence for financial services and agricultural finance.
The organisers said the programme is expected to help financial institutions develop better tools for managing agricultural risks, expand access to finance and support a more resilient and productive African agricultural sector.
