Sterling Bank Backs Agriculture Summit Africa ASA 2026

In Short

Sterling Bank is convening Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) for its ninth edition on September 15 and 16, 2026, in Abuja. The event targets investment and policy action for Africa’s food systems.

What Happened

Sterling Bank unveiled plans for ASA 2026 at a press conference in Lagos. The theme is “Building the Next Superpower: Africa’s Food Power Play.”

The bank said it is bringing together investors, policymakers, development partners, and agribusiness leaders. The goal is to align funding and partnerships across the agricultural value chain, meaning everyone involved from farming to processing, storage, logistics, and retail.

The summit is positioned against a recurring problem in African agriculture. The continent has arable land, labour, and demand, but still imports large volumes of food. Sterling Bank pointed to pressure from population growth and climate change, plus gaps in capital, infrastructure, technology, and market access.

Those gaps often show up as post-harvest losses, meaning food that is wasted after it is harvested because of weak storage, processing, and transport. Farmers can also be forced to sell produce below fair value because they cannot wait for better prices or reach bigger markets.

Sterling Bank is also leaning on its recent sector focus. In 2025, the bank’s financing across five strategic sectors rose 39% to ₦331.7 billion, with agriculture among the strongest-growing areas.

Why It Matters

ASA 2026 is another sign that Nigerian banks want a bigger role in food security financing, not only traditional lending. If the summit results in clearer risk sharing, blended finance (mixing private and development funding), and better infrastructure deals, it could unlock more bankable agribusiness projects.

For African startups in agri supply chains, storage, and farm services, more coordinated capital can translate into larger pilots and faster commercial rollouts. For policymakers, the event is a chance to address bottlenecks like logistics, warehousing, and market access, which limit how much local production can replace imports.

For more on the bank, see Sterling Bank.