Nigeria’s yearly importation of cassava by-products has been revealed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be worth over $580 million.
This, according to the apex bank, has led to the nation’s dependence on the imports.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made this disclosure through the Bank’s Twitter handle, on Thursday, while commissioning Rivers Cassava Processing Company.
Emefiele said the facility will help the nation reduce her reliance on imports of cassava by-products.
The tweet read: “The facility will help in reducing our reliance on imports of cassava by-products, which serves as a key input in the production of food items in several factories. Nigeria imports over $580 million worth of cassava by-products annually.
“The cassava processing facility helps to support the CBN’s mandate of promoting economic growth for Nigeria while also provide farmers with a verifiable platform to access finance from the Central Bank of Nigeria and other financial institutions through our Anchor Borrowers Program.”
Note that the facility built by the Rivers State Government has the capacity to process over 45,000 tons of cassava.
The facility will provide high-quality cassava flour for households, industries and bakeries.
