By Jennifer Y Omiloli
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has discharged N35.9 billion for 166 projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele uncovered this at a gathering with vice chancellors of University-based Poultry Revival Program in Abuja yesterday.
Emefiele, who talked through the CBN Deputy Governor on Economic Policy, Okwu Nnanna, said the summit bank’s mediations, for example, the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and the Real Sector Support Facility had tended to the issue confronted.
He said N507 million was additionally discharged to 433 farmers and another N238 million to 112 projects under Agri-Business Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme.
Emefiele said apart from these mediations, CBN had as of late financed the pioneer egg-powder production company in the nation with N2 billion under the Differentiated Cash Reserve Requirement-Real Sector Support Facility (DCRR-RSSF) window.
Speaking on the poultry revival programme, he said: “We have asked for information on the capacity of institutions and companies’ poultry pens, hatcheries, feed mills, size of crop farm and number of tractors for grains production.
“Others are commercially viable and bankable business plan; including processing facility as well as any other information that would enrich your participation in the programme.
“We rely on the University based poultry production model because you have the existing Infrastructure, experience and human assets to enable production at reduced cost and in a competitive manner.
“Let me emphasise that we have structured this programme to ensure that they can be accessed by those who need them the most and are ready to operate their facilities in a commercially viable manner.
“This programme is directly in conformity with our resolve to diversify the economy, be catalyst for job creation and inclusive economic growth. While these are our ultimate goals, our main intermediate objective is to ensure that poultry production is increased as well as end the smuggling of poultry products into the country.
“The CBN would be committing considerable human, material, and financial resources to monitoring both the disbursement and utilisation of these funds in a robust and verifiable manner.
“Participating institutions will be required to submit periodic returns on disbursements as well as an analysis of the impacts of the Fund they received” he said.
Emefiele said that CBN would likewise embrace customary on and off-site checks to learn veracity of the reports received hence charged the foundations, to help the bank in accomplishing these objectives by guaranteeing that these assets were conveyed in an effective and productive way.
