Anchor Borrowers’ Loan Repayment Stands at 52.39%, CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that total repayments as of the end of February 2023 under its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) now stands at N0.503 trillion, representing 52.39 per cent, adding that the balance of N0.119 trillion was not due for repayment.

The apex bank declared that it remained devoted to its developmental mandate of promoting the real sector’s access to financing.

Dr. AbdulMumin Isa, the acting director of the corporate communications department, made this disclosure in Abuja. He said that as of February 28, 2023, the bank had released N1.079 trillion, of which N0.960 trillion was subject to return.

He claimed that at the end of February 2023, the CBN ABP had assisted nearly 4.57 million smallholder farmers who had grown more than 6.02 million hectares of 21 different commodities. Rice, wheat, cowpea, millet, maize, cotton, fish, soya, chicken, cassava, groundnut, ginger, sorghum, oil palm, cocoa, sesame, tomato, castor seed, yellow pepper, onions, and cattle/dairy were among the commodities he named.

Dr. Isa observed that the ABP has greatly increased the national output of focus commodities, with maize and rice reaching peaks of 12.2 and 9.0 million metric tonnes in 2021 and 2022, respectively, using data from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FOA). He claimed that within the first eight years of the program’s execution, productivity per hectare had nearly doubled, contributing to an improvement in the national average yield of these commodities per hectare.

“It is pertinent to note that the tenor of loans under the ABP is based on the commodity gestation period. For instance, loans granted to farmers cultivating some perennial crops could have up to seven-year tenor,” he explained.

Dr. Isa emphasised that the Bank’s interventions, with the core objective of catalysing the economy’s productive base, have continued to support investments in capital assets in sectors with high-growth and employment-elastic potential.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria remains committed to its developmental mandate of stimulating access to finance for the real sector, particularly agriculture, as it continues to support the Federal Government’s drive for food security and economic growth.

“Accordingly, the Central Bank of Nigeria continues to welcome applications from eligible Nigerian farmers and firms under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme,” he added.