The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee said they have set aside N200 billion as part of measures to address challenges confronting export of agricultural produce in the country.
Speaking with a crop of financial journalists over the weekend in Lagos, the banks said they had come up with an immediate, medium to long term plan to address the issues. The funds, according to the banks, will be in a single digit with ten-year period.
The products that will be targeted, according to the committee, include oil palm, cocoa, cashew nut, sesame seed, among others. The committee said it expected the export of these products, which are in abundance across the country, to boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
Just as the committee disclosed its plan to pay further attention to the creative industry, it said it would be a single-digit facility with ten years tenure, pointing out that the collateral would be flexible, based on value chains.
According to them, emphasis will be on practitioners that are in the business full time, adding that the areas are movie, music, fashion and information technology. The Committee said it had, after a lot of research, identified the creative and IT sector as a critical sector to support social and inclusive growth in Nigeria, saying it had basically found out that the sector would generate a significant amount of employment, given how Nigerians involved in the creative sector had done well in music and others.
On the general economy, the Director, Banking Supervision Department, CBN, Mr. Ahmed Abdullahi, said there was confidence in the system, as lending had increased in the banking sector. According to him, between January and March, 2019, foreign direct investment that came into the country was $6 billion.
Chief executives of banks present at the media briefing were Kennedy Uzoka, managing director of United Bank for Africa plc; Herbert Wigwe, managing director, Access Bank plc; Segun Agbaje, managing director of Guaranty Trust Bank plc; Patrick Akinwuntan, managing director of Ecobank Nigeria, among
others.
