The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, disclosed that Nigeria imported cassava end products worth $580 million annually.
He said this at the launch of Rivers Cassava Processing Company in Rivers State to aid the production and processing of the root vegetable into flour.
The production facility was established by the collaborative efforts of the Rivers State Government, Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, the Dutch Embassy Investment Nigeria Limited.
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Emefiele noted that the facility was in line with the goal of the CBN to improve Nigeria’s economic growth.
He added that the facility would serve as an avenue for farmers to get access to finance from the Central Bank and other financial bodies through the apex bank’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
The production company will process more than 45,000 tonnes of cassava and “high-quality cassava flour for households, industries, and bakeries,” Emefiele said.
He added that the company would also cut down Nigeria’s dependence on the importation of cassava by-products “which serves as a key input in the production of food items in several factories,” the CBN governor said.
“Nigeria imports over $580 million worth of cassava by-products annually,” he added.
Emefiele stated that CBN’s funding initiatives aimed at creating an enabling environment would drive the interests of public and private sectors in “the real sector, with strategic deliverables around price stability, job creation, financial inclusion, import-substitution, and accretion to foreign reserves.”
On the funding received by Rivers State from CBN”s intervention programmes, Emefiele said that the state had accessed over N13 billion and that the state’s loan status “remains in good standing”.
He assured of the apex bank’s dedication to collaborative work with state governments to support smallholder farmers and processors across the gamut of agricultural products.
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