20th August, 2014
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it had disbursed N237 billion to 313 projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).
CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, made this known at the 8th Micro, Small and Medium Finance Conference and Award, in Abuja on Tuesday.
Emefiele said that the loans were given to farmers from inception of CACS in 2010 to July, 2014.
He said that the credit facilities had significantly improved the comparative advantage of Nigeria’s domestic agriculture and positioned Nigerian farmers to tap into the foreign market.
He announced that the scheme which was scheduled to end in 2016 had been extended to 2025 by the Board of Directors of CBN to enable the bank to fund more projects in the scheme.
He said that the scheme, along with Agricultural Credit Support Scheme created in 2006, had boosted financing of agro-allied programmes, especially large-scaleones, in the country.
Emefiele also said that under the Nigeria Incentive Based Risked Sharing System for Agricultural lending (NIRSAL) established in 2011, 158 projects valued at about N29.1 billion were guaranteed for Ministry of Agriculture.
This, he said, was for the Federal Government’s Growth Enhancement Scheme, adding that 46 credit risk guarantee cover valued at N16.3 billion had also been issued.
Under the Power and Airline Intervention Fund established in 2010, he said that as at May, 2012, commercial banks in Nigeria had financed over 50 projects to the tune of about N233 billion.
“Going forward, the CBN’s focus will remain on sectors that can create jobs on a mass scale.