Union Bank, WACOT rice kick off financial Inclusion drive for smallholder farmers in Kebbi

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Photo 1: L-R Mrs. Khadijat Iliyasu, Area Business Executive, Kebbi/Sokoto/Zamfara Union Bank; Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Governor of Kebbi State; Mr. Farouk Gumel, Board Chair, Union Bank and Chairman WACOT Rice Limited and Mr. Francis Anaemene, Regional Business Executive, North West/East Union Bank during a recent visit to WACOT Rice Mill factory in Birnin Kebbi.

As part of Union Bank’s commitment to driving financial inclusion in Nigeria, the Bank has partnered with WACOT Rice Limited - a rice processing company, to financially include 6,000 local farmers including youth and women 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 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 the farmers 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 ground with digital banking solutions to enable seamless transacting and account management.

Photo 2: From L-R Mr. Farouk Gumel, Board Chair, Union Bank and Chairman WACOT Rice Limited; Alhaji Samaila Muhammed Mera, Emir of Argungu and Mr. Francis Anaemene, Regional Business Executive, North West/East Union Bank during a recent visit to WACOT Rice Mill factory in Birnin Kebbi.

Farouk Gumel, Chairman WACOT and Board Chair, Union Bank was on 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 recent keynote address at the recently concluded and  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.”

WACOT Rice is a subsidiary of TGI Group. TGI Group, through another of its subsidiary Titan Trust Bank, recently acquired Union Bank in a landmark transaction which was announced in 2021. 

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