In the first two months of 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed N12.65 billion to the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), its flagship agriculture intervention scheme.
Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja when he read the communique issued at the end of the 290th meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The total disbursement under the ABP since its inception by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015, according to Mr. Emefiele, is N1.09 trillion.
Between January and February 2023, the bank disbursed N12.65 billion to three agricultural projects under the ABP, he said.
It brings the cumulative disbursement under the programme to N1.09 trillion to more than 4.6 million smallholder farmers cultivating or rearing 21 agricultural commodities on an approved 6.02 million hectares of farmland, Mr Emefiele added.
According to Mr. Emefiele, the economy’s improved performance has been largely driven by sustained growth in the services and agricultural sectors.
He also attributed the growth to a rebound in economic activity associated with economic recovery and the CBN’s continued intervention in growth-enhancing sectors.
He also stated that the CBN had made large sums available for intervention in various other sectors of the economy.
The CBN also released the sum of N23.70 billion under the N1.0 trillion Real Sector Facility to eight new real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, and services.
Cumulative disbursements under the Real Sector Facility currently stands at N2.43 trillion disbursed to 462 projects across the country, comprising 257 manufacturing, 95 agriculture, 97 services, and 13 mining sector projects, he said.
He also stated that the apex bank released N3.01 billion through the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF-2) for capital and operational expenditures of electricity distribution companies (Discos).
He stated that the facility was designed to improve Discos’ liquidity status, thereby assisting in the recovery of legacy debt.
“This brings the cumulative disbursement under the facility to N254.39 billion,” he said.
