The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to implement its 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP) and has listed out selection criteria for participating private firms.
The apex bank in a framework released on Sunday stated that interested companies must commit to immediate contribution to economic growth, jobs creation, and social impact to qualify for the programme.
The regulator said productive activities to be considered for government support must be new projects that produce products for consumption and export.
The policy, which aims to empower 100 companies in 100 days, was first announced by the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, at the launch of the eNaira in Abuja.
Emefiele said the policy will boost local production and productivity in various sectors of the economy and reverse Nigeria’s overreliance on imports.
The framework stated, “This is the operational framework for a robust and transparent process for identifying and selecting high-impact companies and projects under the CBN’s 100 for 100 PPP.
“These are projects that must catalyse sustainable employment-led economic growth through increased domestic production and productivity in the near term.
“The projects for consideration shall be new projects in existing companies requiring new machinery and other support and must have the greatest potential to achieve significant scale in their in-country production and for domestic consumption and exports,” it added.
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The CBN said the initiative will start from today, November 1, 2021, and rollover every 100 days with a new set of 100 companies, whose names will be published in national dailies for Nigerians to verify and confirm.
The apex bank invited candidate companies with satisfactory performance to apply through their banks to the CBN Department of Development Finance, with complete documentation.
Other selection criteria, according to the CBN, production, efficiency and scalability; local content capacity; and human capital development.
CBN also said its intervention under the policy will provide funding for the Naira Intervention Funding under existing CBN Intervention Processes and the complete forex funding for new machinery.
Emphasizing that the initiative is for only new projects, the CBN said it will not cover any refinance of existing facilities and will be subject to an independent evaluation by international audit firms.
