NO fewer than 28 local firms have received a loan to the tune of N23.2 billion under the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP) scheme, an intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) designed to stimulate investments in Nigeria’s priority sectors.
The amount Naija Times gather was pooled by seven commercial banks, which seek to ultimately address the nation’s unemployment alarming rate by providing diverse jobs and boosting exports in agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, extractive industries, logistics services, trade-related infrastructure, and renewable energy.
Explaining the rationale behind the initiative, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said under the new intervention, manufacturers in critical sectors that seek to engage in greenfield projects or in expanding their existing facilities will have access to cheaper forms of credit at single-digit rates, as well as foreign exchange to procure plants and machinery every 100 days.
His words: “Specifically, for this first cycle of the initiative, 243 applications valued at N321.06 billion, spread over key sectors such as agriculture, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and services sectors were submitted on the portal. After much engagement, 79 applications were received from banks, valued at N121.87 billion, for projects in six sectors, namely agriculture, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, and services sectors. The requests were carefully screened and scrutinised against set-out selection criteria, which is categorised into production efficiency and scalability; local content capacity; job creation and human capital development; operating sector relevance; and potential contribution to economic growth.
“For those seeking to invest in new greenfield or existing brownfield projects, the Bank will continue to provide all the needed support, both in Naira and dollars specifically for the importation of plants and equipment to actualise these investments. It is pertinent to point out that the foreign exchange support will be solely for the importation of spares, plants and equipment needed to increase the production capacities of these companies.
“Let me emphasize that our mission through this initiative is to ensure that priority is accorded to companies who display verifiable progress in our imports substitution and job creation drive. Consequently, we would soon unveil a new FX bidding regime that is market-driven and supports companies that accord utmost priority for our local production and job creation drive.”
Emefiele who spoke at the formal launch of the scheme in Abuja, stated that primary objective of the apex bank introducing the initiative was to ensure that priority was accorded to companies that displayed verifiable progress in the bank’s import substitution and job creation drive.
He listed other intervention programmes of CBN to include: N1trillion Real Sector Facility (RSF), Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF), Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF), and Textile Sector Intervention Facility (TSIF).
“Under the N1trillion Real Sector Facility, the Bank has released a total of N1.40 trillion to 331 real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and services sectors. Under its Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF), the CBN has disbursed N166.21 billion to 25 projects. In the agricultural sector, the Bank’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) has disbursed N927.94 billion to over 4.5 million smallholder farmers for the cultivation of 21 commodities across the country.
“Also, the Bank has financed 666 large-scale agricultural projects with the potential of creating an estimated 70,070 direct and indirect jobs under its Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS),” the CBN Governor stated.
He appealed to all prospective investors to take advantage of the huge opportunities provided for investment in the real sector under the PPP and approach their banks to submit their applications for participation under the initiative.
