By Rebecca Bamidele
President Muhammadu Buhari has done amazingly more than other administrations in the country’s history has done in the past seven years to drive the capacity of the private sector across segments of the economy.
Making this declaration in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said the amount disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through 37 interventions is a big testament to what the administration has been doing to make the economy more resilient.
According to the group, “if there is any doubt about what the CBN in the Buhari years has done to develop private sector capacity, then the recent revelation by the apex bank that it has lent N9.3 trillion to businesses should be enough to clear such doubts.
“While the amount represents loans handed out through the various interventions, it should be noted that beneficiaries are from fields ranging from manufacturing, which has the biggest chunk of 31%; to agriculture, healthcare and exports.
“What we find interesting is that the cumulative disbursements under what is known as Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) currently stands at ₦2.10 trillion disbursed to 426 projects across the country, according to CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.
“This is unprecedented in the country’s political history and we dare say that no government has done close to this to boost the capacity of private sector players across the key sectors”, the statement added.
It noted that in specific terms, the manufacturing and agriculture sectors attracted the most beneficiaries.
“One of the signature initiatives of the Buhari administration is clearly the Anchor Borrowers Programme which as of today has disbursed N1 trillion out of which, CBN says N400 billion has been paid back while many others are not due yet.
“More importantly, the programme has made it easier for the government to have an actionable database of 4.8 million farmers across Nigeria that are involved in the 28 agricultural commodities financed by the initiative.
“We want to also re-echo Emefiele’s revelation that ₦4 billion was recently disbursed to two healthcare projects under the healthcare sector intervention facility (HSIF), bringing the cumulative disbursement to ₦130.5 billion to 131 projects, comprising 32 pharmaceuticals, 60 hospitals and 39 other services.
“And there is the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP), through which the CBN, on Buhari’s watch, has disbursed ₦20.1 billion to 14 projects in healthcare, manufacturing, and services, bringing the cumulative disbursement under the facility to ₦93.39 billion to 62 projects.
“All these are verifiable with actual beneficiaries who have been speaking out, and these include the hospital where Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had a recent surgery”.
BMO added that the initiatives were part of efforts put in place by the Buhari administration to boost the non-oil sector and make the economy more resilient in the face of global economic headwinds.