Francis Ogwo
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed its plans for an interest free intervention especially for the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) and the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) to support households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was made public by the Bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor and Yila Yusuf, the Director, Development Finance Department, while representing the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at a stakeholder meeting on Thursday, June 18, 2020, which was held to review the achievements of the ABP programs and strategies for the 2020 agricultural wet season.
According to the apex bank, it plans to fund the value chains of nine commodities to the tune of N432 billion in the 2020 wet season.
Okorafor, in his remarks said the creation of a non-interest window was prompted by requests by individuals for farmers to be included in the zero interest window.
He added that plans have been tidied up on the funding document and that modalities for application by farmers will be made public through a policy.
Speaking further, Okorafor said the Bank plans to extensively fund the 2020 agricultural programs in the wet season and inspire farmers to farm widely along select crop value chains towards guaranteeing food security especially at this period of economic downturn induced by COVID-19.
He added that the objective of the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) of the Bank was to ease the effect of the coronavirus on individuals and small businesses while adding that the Governor, Mr. Emefiele, had ordered the Development Finance Department of the Bank and the NIRSAL Micro-Finance Bank (NMFB) to speed up the approval process with a view to aiding the survival of small businesses.
The Director, Development Finance Department of CBN, Yila Yusuf, in his remarks, said the 2020 agricultural wet plans to pump in about N432 billion, through the participating banks, targetting the value chains of nine commodities.
Yusuf also disclosed that the loan will reach out to over 1.1 million farmers, cultivating over one million hectares of farmland with about 8.3 million metric tons output expected.
In their separate remarks the Presidents of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Alhaji Aminu Goronyo; National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) Anibe Achimugu; Maize Association of Nigeria (MAN); Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) Alhaji Bello Abubakar; and the Maize Growers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria (MAGPMAN) Edwin Uche, said the ABP program had benefited the agricultural sector especially the value chains.
It would be recalled that the agricultural sector had also suffered from the pandemic as many farmers stayed away from their farms, thereby reducing the quantity of food in supply.
