Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it has significantly improved the nation’s food security through its agricultural sector-focused Anchor Borrowers’ Programme under the development finance mandate of the bank. The CBN had disbursed a total of N9.714 trillion to finance its intervention programme in the various sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The bank said it was able to do that by developing an advanced system for linking farmers to input suppliers and providing access to market for farm products. “The entire agricultural value chain has seen a transformation not witnessed before,” said CBN director in charge of development finance, Philip Yila Yusuf, adding that “Nigeria is on the path of sustainability and food security.”
He made the remarks at a retreat that was organised by the development finance department tagged: Financing for Sustainable Development in Nigeria. The retreat was to introspect on the journey so far with a focus on what needs to be done to improve the development finance initiatives of the bank.
CBN’s deputy governor, financial systems stability directorate, Aisha Ahmad said like other central banks, the CBN is looking beyond its core mandate and looking into agriculture and other sectors through the deployment of unorthodox means to combat food insecurity by growing agriculture.
Mrs Ahmad who said the bank has done a lot in real sector growth, added that the success of the development finance programmes of the bank call for more focus.
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