TheCable

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it disbursed N12.65 billion to farmers under its anchor borrowers’ programme (ABP) in the first two months of 2023.

Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, made this known on Tuesday in Abuja while reading the communiqué issued at the end of the 290th meeting of the apex bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC).

Emefiele said that a total of N1.09 trillion had been disbursed through the ABP since its inception in 2015.

He said 4.6 million smallholder farmers cultivating or rearing 21 agricultural commodities have benefitted from the programme so far.

The ABP was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, to create a linkage between anchor companies involved in the processing and small holder farmers (SHFs) of the required key agricultural commodities.

It was designed to provide farm inputs (in kind and cash) to SHFs to boost production of the key commodities, stabilise input supply to agro-processors and address Nigeria’s negative balance of payments on food.

“Between January and February 2023, the bank disbursed N12.65 billion to three agricultural projects under the ABP,” Emefiele 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.”

Emefiele said the CBN also released the sum of N23.70 billion under the N1 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.

Emefiele said that the apex bank also released N3.01 billion under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF-2) for capital and operational expenditure of electricity distribution companies (DisCos).

He said the facility was aimed at improving liquidity status of the DisCos and aiding their recovery of legacy debt.

“This brings the cumulative disbursement under the facility to N254.39 billion,” he added.