GOVERNOR of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has emphasised the need for more attention on implementing financing for agro-allied industries in Nigeria.
This, according to him, will enable the nation to achieve self-sufficiency in food production and a diversified economy,
Emefiele, who said government also needed to come up with deliberate policies to encourage non-government investors, insisted that investment in science, technology and innovation held the key to the economic progress and development of any nation.
The CBN Governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor in charge of Corporate Services, Suleiman Barau, spoke during a lecture entitled Financing Science, Technology and Innovation, STI, for the Development of Agro-Allied Industries in Nigeria, delivered to the participants of Senior Executive Course 39 at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru.
He maintained that development worldwide was largely driven by the ability to develop, distribute and exploit intelligence to achieve competitive edge, create wealth and improve the welfare of citizenry.
According to him, “the gaps identified by the Central Bank of Nigeria led to its playing a major role under its intervention schemes to provide funding at a single digit to agriculture and inclusive agro-industrial industries.”
He listed the intervention schemes to include the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NISRAL; the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme, ACGS; the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme, CACS; the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Refinancing and Restructuring Facility, SMERRF; the Anchor Borrower Programme, ABP, and Youth Entrepreneurship Deve-lopment Program, YEDP.”
