As part of the effort to stimulate the economy and boost investment towards agriculture and agribusiness in Ogun state, Governor Dapo Abiodun has gone to the State House of Assembly to seek the Assembly’s approval to draw a concessionary loan of N1.5 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
BusinessDay reports that the single-digit concessionary loan of N1.5 billion is being sought for by the Ogun state government from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of Anchor Borrowers’ Programme meant to attract more investments and People’s commitments towards agriculture and agribusiness within the state.
Speaking on the proposed N1.5 billion concessionary loan to finance agriculture and agribusiness in the state, Olakunle Oluomo, Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly said on the floor of the House on Monday that the House received a piece of correspondence, seeking Assembly’s approval for the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ loan.
Oluomo acknowledged the governor’s correspondence dated 6th of September, 2019 stating that the State Government indicated interest to participate in the CBN program to access the fund provided for land clearing and other logistics requirement and support, having identified alongside with CBN, produce off-takers (the Anchors) so the agropreneurs could fairly predict selling process even before harvest.
The governor’s correspondence reads, “This will greatly enhance the wealth creation and employment generation efforts for our teeming youth, building capacity, reduce crimes and generally improve the living conditions of the participants.
“The Funds that will be accessed under the scheme will be utilized by farmers, organized into clusters across the state with particular focus on cassava, rice and maize production. Consequently, I write to seek the concurrence of the House in support of our request to participate in the programme.”
According to the governor’s correspondence, the pursuit of the administration is aimed at ensuring sustainable economic development of the state and individual prosperity, working towards boosting agriculture and food security with an emphasis on production and optimization of the value chain.
Consequently, the Speaker directed the Director-General of the Debt Management Office; Chief Economic Adviser to the Governor; Permanent Secretary and Directors in the State Ministry of Agriculture to appear before the House for further briefing on the basis of the proposed credit facility on Tuesday (today) at the Assembly’s Conference Room by 12 noon.
The Speaker also acknowledged the governor’s letter proposing a bill for a law to provide for the Establishment of the Ogun State Sports Trust Fund and other connected purposes, and another seeking to provide for the Establishment of the Ogun State Sports Commission and connected purposes”.
