The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disbursed N9.714 trillion in financial interventions to different sectors of the economy in the last three years.
Director, Development Finance Department (DFD) of the CBN, Mr. Yusuf Yila who made the disclosure, said the largest chunk of the disbursement, totalling N3.166 trillion or 32.6 per cent, went to manufacturing and industries.
Other disbursements made from the N9.714 trillion are: N2.243 trillion or 23.1 per cent to energy and infrastructure: N2.214 or 22.8 per cent to agriculture; N1.010 trillion or 10.4 per cent to services; N689.694 billion or 7.1 per cent to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); N233.136 billion or 2.4 per cent to export and N135.996 billion or 1.4 per cent to health.
Yila, who spoke in December at the Department’s 2022 retreat in Abuja with the theme, ‘Financing for sustainable development in Nigeria,’ assured that the “Development Finance Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria is committed to the goal of sustainable economic growth.”
He further stated that the “DFD has been at the frontbench of food security for Nigeria in recent years through a plethora of programmes and initiatives.
According to data compiled from official statements contained in the monetary policy communique of the apex bank, the CBN disbursed a cumulative total of N4.81 trillion in intervention funds to the private sector of the Nigerian economy as of November 2022, a 6.9 per cent increase from N4.5 trillion two months earlier.
According to the update the CBN provided in the MPC communiqué, between September and October 2022, under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), the Bank disbursed N41.02 billion to several agricultural projects.
The cumulative disbursement under the Programme amounted to N1.07 trillion to over 4.6 million smallholder farmers cultivating 21 commodities across the country.
The Bank also disbursed N300 billion to finance large-scale agricultural projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), bringing the cumulative disbursement to N745.31 billion.
The CBN released the sum of N48.30 billion under the N1 trillion Real Sector Facility to seven new real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Cumulative disbursement under this Facility stood at N2.15 trillion to 437 projects across the country as at November 2022.
The breakdown of the disbursement in the Real Sector Facility includes projects in manufacturing (240), agriculture (91), services (93) and mining sector (13).
Under the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP), the Bank disbursed the sum of N20.78 billion to nine (9) projects in healthcare, manufacturing, and services, amounting to a cumulative disbursement of N114.17 billion across 71 projects.
A sum of N4 billion was disbursed under the Intervention Facility for the National Gas Expansion Programme (IFNGEP) to promote the adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking.
Under the healthcare sector, the Bank disbursed N5.02 billion to four (4) healthcare projects under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF), bringing the cumulative disbursement to N135.56 billion for 135 projects in pharmaceuticals (33), hospitals (60) and other services (42).
The CBN disbursed N1.33 billion under the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AgSMEIS). With this, cumulative disbursement rose to N150.22 billion.
Under the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF), the apex bank disbursed N10 billion between September and October 2022, bringing the cumulative disbursement to N96.08 billion.
Under Export Facilitation Initiative (EFI), the Bank provided support for export-oriented projects to the tune of N5.34 billion, pushing the cumulative disbursement under this intervention to N44.58 billion within the period under review.
Yila said the department has “developed an advanced system for linking farmers to input suppliers and providing access to markets for farm products.”
He noted that, “The entire agricultural value chain has seen a transformation not witnessed before and we are certain the global headwinds, which has distorted outcomes for most economies across the world, will abate.”
He insisted that “Nigeria is on the path of sustainability and food security.”
Also speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability of the CBN, Mrs. Aisha Ahmad noted that “the loans which have been disbursed by the CBN through the Development Finance Department has impacted greatly on the sustainability of Nigeria’s agriculture value chain.”
This, she said, resulted “in the third quarter 2922 GDP report released by the NBS which shows a growth of 29.9 per cent from 21 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2021.”
She appealed to beneficiaries of CBN interventions “to pay up the loans so that other people can also benefit.”
In his goodwill message, Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar said the “different interventions by the CBN have impacted tremendously in states especially Jigawa state.”