The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday said that it has disbursed more than N473 billion under its commercial agricultural credit scheme.
It also noted that no fewer than 604 projects had benefitted from the Small Medium Enterprises refinancing Scheme, with the disbursement of over N382 billion.
Deputy governor of the apex bank, Alhaji Sulaiman Barau, who gave the hint at the inauguration of Sorghum Milling plant established by the Northern Nigeria Flour Mills in Kano said the bank will continue to support initiatives aimed at conserving foreign exchange reserve.
“The Commercial Agric Credit Scheme is an initiative of the bank and to date, 513 projects have benefitted from the scheme with the disbursement of over N473 billion”, he stated.
Barau explained that the establishment of the mill will be of strategic importance to grains belt in the region, even as it will be useful in the development of maize, Sorghum and millet value chain.
He added that the establishment of the sorghum mill will boost agricultural productivity, generate employment and Nigeria’s industrialisation technology transfer.
“It is expected that the high-quality Sorghum flour that will come out of this mill will impact on our exchange rate positively”, Barau said.
In her remarks, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, said the initiative is in line with federal government’s vision for Economic Recovery and Growth Plan as it is designed to promote sustained and inclusive growth.
“The overall vision of the plan is to significantly increase the manufacturing contribution to GDP in the next five years and unlock the bottlenecks militating against the growth and development of the industrial sector”, she noted.
Also speaking at the event, Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, urged other companies to borrow a leaf from the mill to enhance economic activities in the state.
