CBN: N503bn Repaid Under Anchor Borrower Programme,  N119bn Not Due

James Emejo in Abuja

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monday disclosed that total repayments under the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) stood at N503 billion,  representing 52.39 per cent of total exposure.

Addressing journalists in Abuja,  the central bank acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Dr. AbdulMumin Isa, added that the balance of N 119 billion was not due for repayment. 

He said the CBN remained committed to its developmental mandate of stimulating access to finance for the real sector.

Providing further update on the ABP,  Isa said the bank had released the sum of N1.08 trillion, as of February 28, 2023, of which N960 billion was due for repayment.

According to him, the CBN ABP had supported about 4.57 million smallholder farmers who cultivated over 6.02 million hectares of 21 commodities across the country as of February 2023.

He listed the commodities to include rice, wheat, cowpea, millet, maize, cotton, fish, soya bean, poultry, and cassava.

Others are groundnut, ginger, sorghum, oil palm, cocoa, sesame, tomato, castor seed, yellow pepper, onions, and cattle/dairy. 

Further citing data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA), the CBN acting director  noted that the ABP had contributed significantly to increased national output of focal commodities, with maize and rice peaking at 12.2 million metric tonnes and 9.0 million metric tonnes in 2021 and 2022, respectively. 

He said the programme had also helped to improve the national average yield per hectare of these commodities, with productivity per hectare almost doubling within the eight years of the Programme’s implementation.

Isa further noted that repayments under the ABP are made through cash or produce by the beneficiaries, adding that the outstanding due balance on loans was still under moratorium due to the COVID-19 forbearance granted to beneficiaries through the apex bank ‘s interventions in March 2020 and extended to February 28, 2022. 

Isa said, “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.

“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 that the central bank’s core objective of catalysing the productive base of the economy had continued to support investments in capital assets in sectors with high-growth and employment-elastic potential through its various interventions.