Tropical General Investments Group (TGI) has entered into a partnership arrangement with the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc through its company WACOT Rice Limited to open bank accounts for about 7,000 farmers operating in rural areas of Kebbi State.
The company said it was set to assist the farmers to be financially included and relevant in the evolving digital economy.
The TGI’s Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Sadiq Kassim, disclosed this during a panel discussion at the just concluded seminar on the digital economy with the theme: “Promoting a vibrant economy as a catalyst for economic growth in Nigeria,” organized by the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).
He said one of the critical philosophies of the TGI Group is to operate within communities as a partner for growth and development.
Responding to the theme of the seminar, he started by saying “When we start talking about digital this or digital that, I wonder what Abubakar Musa, a farmer in Argungu, Kebbi State, knows about digital.”
He described Musa as the typical farmer whose family business for generations is producing paddy which is purchased by companies such as WACOT Rice. The paddy from Musa is processed into rice by WACOT Rice, but “Musa doesn’t have a bank account because he doesn’t have a National Identity Number (NIN) and, therefore, he can’t get a Bank Verification Number (BVN). So, if the company wants to pay him for his paddy, it has to pay in cash, as the banks are also too far from him even if he had an account. There are thousands of Musa in these communities” he said.
