Lagos: Speakers at the Africa Inclusive Climate Finance Conference in Lagos on Thursday identified climate adaptation financing, inclusive banking, and risk-sharing as critical to protecting Africa’s farmers and businesses. The conference was organized by LAPO Microfinance Bank (LAPO MfB) in partnership with the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI).
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the conference, themed ‘Connecting Finance, Opportunity and Impact: Advancing the Future of Inclusive Banking in Africa,’ brought together leaders from the banking and financial sectors to discuss financial inclusion, climate resilience, gender-smart finance, and MSME development. Kola Masha, Managing Director of Babban Gona, highlighted the climate-adaptation financing opportunity for financial institutions across Africa, estimating it at 200 billion dollars.
Masha urged African financial institutions to move beyond perceived risks in agricultural lending and support practical measures to help farmers adapt to c
limate change. He pointed out that Africa irrigated only about six percent of its farmland, compared to approximately 37 percent in Asia, and emphasized that adaptation financing could significantly reduce climate-related agricultural losses.
According to him, simple interventions such as using appropriate seeds, planting at the right time, irrigation, and improving soil quality can substantially mitigate the impact of climate shocks on farmers. Masha noted that Babban Gona had served over 500,000 smallholder farmers, deployed more than 250 million dollars in financing, and achieved a 99 percent repayment rate. He explained that farmers receiving financing for climate adaptation could remain productive and profitable enough to repay their loans.
Peter Simon, Chief Executive Officer of WSBI, noted that more than 80 percent of Nigerian farmers were smallholders, responsible for about 90 percent of the country’s food production. He stated that four out of five smallholder farmers were financially vulnerable to
climate change consequences, making access to finance crucial for adopting climate-smart practices.
Simon shared that WSBI and LAPO’s climate-adaptation credit pilot, supported by development partners, had reached around 20,000 smallholder farmers and 5,000 MSMEs, combining finance with capacity building, climate-risk assessment tools, and lending approaches tailored to women smallholder farmers. He called for more mobilization of domestic capital, blended finance, and responsible digital technology to ensure climate finance reached households, farmers, and small businesses.
Ali-Amine Nejjar, WSBI Vice President and Africa Regional President, also stressed the connection between climate resilience, MSME financing, and inclusive growth. As Chairman of the Management Board of Al Barid Bank, Morocco, Nejjar advocated for financial institutions to develop solutions tailored to Africa’s realities rather than replicating models from elsewhere.
Weselina Angelow, Director of Programmes at WSBI, emphasized that cli
mate adaptation should be viewed as a financing challenge requiring practical investments before climate shocks like droughts and floods occur. She suggested that financial institutions could train staff as climate-smart lending officers to identify customers’ climate risks and finance affordable adaptation measures.
Angela Omeiza, ESG Board Chairperson at LAPO MfB, remarked that inclusive finance must protect the assets and livelihoods built by people receiving financing. She highlighted the importance of insurance, risk-sharing, and other protective mechanisms in financial inclusion, noting that climate shocks could destroy crops, livestock, and other assets acquired with borrowed funds.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the conference concluded with a call for financial institutions, governments, regulators, development partners, and the private sector to collaborate in scaling climate finance and strengthening resilience for African households, farmers, and businesses.