Lender Ecobank Nigeria wants farmers to view agriculture as a business and borrow money to the tune of $310 million by 2014, according to a report in VenturesAfrica.

The bank had introduced “concessionary interest rates” for agricultural financing, according to Abel Ajala, head of Ecobank agriculture and exports. The report did not say what those rates are.

Stakeholders are ready to partner with farmers in the development of local food production, employment and wealth creation for the benefit of Nigeria and the entire African continent, the report said.

Agriculture accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product of most African countries, the bank said in the report.

EcoBank Transnational Inc. does business in 34 African countries.