Recently the Central Bank of Nigeria came up with the N50 billion, TCF, as a package to assist micro, small and medium enterprises,( MSMEs), as the novel COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economy adversely.
Truly, not less than 3,256 individuals and small businesses have benefited from the Targeted Credit Facility to avert the effects of the COVID-19.
Abubakar Kure, Managing Director of Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL, revealed that at the disbursement of the first phase of the facility in Abuja, the first batch of beneficiaries had received the facility and subsequent disbursements would be done weekly.
This Idea was to provide cash flow and help keep the economy from falling.
Kure urged businesses and individual beneficiaries to make sure they repay so that others could benefit. One of the business activities for selection for the CBN’s N50 billion TCF is agricultural value chain activities
At the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a significant increase in demand as food demand is generally expanding and there is a possibility of a decline in protein consumption.
The decline in protein consumption is a result of fears that animals might be hosts of the virus, this includes higher-valued products like fish, fruits, and vegetables Which might result in price slump.
These fears are particularly true for raw fish farm products supplied to small and medium enterprises, restaurants and hotels
Food demand in Nigeria is linked to income, and loss of income-earning opportunities (Lockdown) could impact on consumption. This fear has been confirmed as there are reduced visits to food markets, restaurant traffic, and increased e-commerce deliveries.
Measures adopted to curtail the spread of the coronavirus affect agricultural production and trade.
This is the more reason why the CBN’s intervention in agriculture has been of great help in the food and nutrition security of the country.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, allegedly reported that the only staple food that has seen rising prices is rice, which is a result of the inability of the country to import food at this point in time.
The CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme has been reported by various farmers’ groups and associations as well as agro-economic professionals to have saved the country from the rising price of rice and other food crops in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Therefore the Central Bank of Nigeria is investing funds into, crop production and fisheries, aquaculture sectors and livestock and through the facility, availability of food, employment creation along the value chain, stimulate demand, and open up ways to achieve economic recovery from COVID-19.
Leave a Reply