Festus Akanbi
Nigerian banks are steadily redirecting credit towards agriculture and other emerging areas of the economy, with lending to the agricultural sector rising to N3.86 trillion in March 2026.
Conversely, exposure to the traditionally dominant oil and gas industry declined by about N335 billion in the first three months of the year.
The changing pattern of bank lending, contained in the latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), offers a striking picture of how lenders are recalibrating their portfolios amid elevated interest rates, inflationary pressures and persistent exchange-rate volatility.
According to the CBN data, credit to agriculture rose from N3.71 trillion in January to N3.81 trillion in February, before climbing further to N3.86 trillion in March. This represented an increase of about N150 billion, or four per cent, within the first quarter.
The movement was in sharp contrast to developments in the oil and gas sector, where bank credit declined consistently during the period.
Lending to the sector fell from N10.91 trillion in January to N10.71 trillion in February and N10.58 trillion in March, translating to a contraction of approximately N335 billion.
The figures suggest that although oil and gas remain one of the largest recipients of bank credit, lenders are gradually increasing their exposure to other productive sectors, particularly agriculture, power and real estate.
The shift is significant for agriculture, a sector whose enormous potential has long been constrained by inadequate financing, high production costs, insecurity, poor infrastructure and limited mechanisation.
Greater access to bank credit could provide badly needed financing for farmers, processors and other operators across the agricultural value chain at a time when the country is grappling with high food prices.
However, the first-quarter figures also exposed sharp differences in credit flows across the economy.
Manufacturing, another critical productive sector, suffered a steep decline in lending, with credit falling from N6.57 trillion in January to N5.77 trillion in March. The contraction underscores the financing pressures confronting manufacturers amid high borrowing costs and elevated operating expenses.
Power and energy, by contrast, recorded stronger credit flows. Lending to the sector increased from N1.30 trillion in January to N1.61 trillion in March, while real estate emerged as another major beneficiary, with credit surging from N4.67 trillion to N6.29 trillion over the same period.
Overall sectoral private-sector credit increased from N57.41 trillion in January to N59.74 trillion in March, indicating that the expansion in bank lending was accompanied by a substantial reshuffling of credit among different sectors.
Separate CBN monetary statistics also showed continued expansion in domestic credit.
Private-sector credit under the broader measure edged up from N75.24 trillion in January to N75.62 trillion in February, while net domestic credit increased from N109.43 trillion to N111.40 trillion.
Government borrowing also rose markedly, with credit to the government climbing from N34.19 trillion in January to N35.77 trillion in February. The broader monetary credit series is, however, different from the sectoral private-sector lending figures and cannot be directly combined with them.
The changing lending landscape is unfolding against a difficult monetary environment. In September 2025, the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee reduced the benchmark Monetary Policy Rate by 50 basis points to 27 per cent, before retaining it at that level in November.