***Pledges Ethical Roadmap for Africa’s Food Future
The Alternative Bank has thrown down a bold challenge to Africa’s financial sector — to stop exploiting farmers and start empowering them. At the Agriculture Summit Africa 2025 in Abuja, the Bank unveiled an ethical agri-finance framework designed to rewrite how food production is funded across the continent.
Speaking on the theme “Survival of the Greenest: Reclaiming Africa’s Food Destiny,” the Bank’s Executive Director (North), Garba Mohammed, said Africa’s future prosperity depends not only on how food is grown but on how it is financed. He was represented by his Chief of Staff, Azeez Badru.
“Africa’s food destiny will not be reclaimed by technology alone,” Mohammed declared. “It will be reclaimed by the courage to finance differently — to make money serve humanity rather than the other way around.”
Against the backdrop of Nigeria’s deepening food insecurity, The Alternative Bank is positioning itself as a force for fairness — financing productivity instead of speculation. Mohammed described agriculture as “a sacred trust” and said the Bank’s mission is to support systems that feed families, preserve the land, and build community resilience.
“We’re financing purpose, not just profit,” he said. “Every naira must serve a higher goal — feeding people, not exploiting them.”
The Bank’s new framework is anchored on time-tested non-interest finance models such as Mudarabah (profit-and-loss sharing), Musharakah (equity partnership), Ijara (lease-to-own), and Murabaha (cost-plus trade finance). These instruments, Mohammed explained, are designed to share risk and reward fairly among farmers, processors, and distributors — keeping financing grounded in justice, transparency, and sustainability.
For decades, he noted, those who feed Africa have been the poorest players in the food chain while financiers walked away with the highest returns. “That imbalance must end,” he insisted, “and The Alternative Bank is determined to lead the shift.”
Beyond capital, the Bank’s support stretches into renewable energy for irrigation, solar-powered cold storage, and waste-to-value innovations — solutions that help farmers cut losses, raise yields, and protect the environment.
“The survival of the greenest is about financing what’s good for people and the planet,” Mohammed said. “It’s time to reward stewardship over speculation.”
Commending the organisers of Agriculture Summit Africa 2025, The Alternative Bank reaffirmed its commitment to reshaping the continent’s food systems through finance that uplifts rather than exploits. The Bank urged investors, innovators, and policymakers to join its mission to place farmers at the centre of Africa’s agricultural transformation.
“We are leading this charge,” Mohammed concluded. “Our goal is a food system built on dignity, equity, and sustainability — where finance becomes a tool for justice, not oppression.”