In three years, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased its involvement in the industrial, aviation, and power sectors to N5.6 trillion. The soft loans were issued notwithstanding the ongoing and various difficulties that the major economic sectors continue to face. The CBN result and accounts between 2020 and 2022 were used to fund the three sectors’ apex bank loans.
According to data on credit concentration in the economy’s main sectors, loans from the central bank totaled N5.6 trillion for the industrial, aviation, and power industries combined.
Under its suspended governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the CBN engaged in aggressive lending competition with commercial banks to various economic sectors. However, the loans from the top banks had extensive payback terms and single-digit interest rates.
The breakdown revealed that CBN’s receivables and other assets in the power and aviation sector of Nigeria stood at N50.6bn in 2022, a decline of 96.4 per cent from N1.39tn in 2021.
Additionally, it reported N935 billion in the electricity and aviation sectors in 2020. Manufacturing revenue was N1.23 trillion in 2022, up 33.46 percent from N919.03 billion in 2021. Additionally, in 2020, N1.07 trillion was concentrated in the industrial sector.
The national bank disclosed that its total receivables and other assets amounted at N47.39 trillion as of 2022, up from N43.18 trillion recorded in 2021. A sizeable chunk came from federal government receivables.
Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the director-general of the Manufacturers group of Nigeria, said that despite repeated attempts to get credit facilities from the top bank, the group had never received a response.
He said, “We have 2,500 manufacturers. We have asked the CBN which manufacturers they are supporting, so we can collaborate with them, they have not obliged us. We are a coordinated group. We work together. So, to lump us together with other sectors that have non-performing loans, I don’t understand what they are talking about.”
