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 Otu unveils N30bn commercial agric development fund

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Calabar, Dec. 24, 2023: The Cross River Government on Saturday announced plans to unveil a N30 billion commercial agric development fund that would enable farmers to have access to loan as part of efforts to ensure food sufficiency and boost agriculture in the state.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development, Mr Johnson Ebokpo, and his counterpart of the Information, Mr Erasmus Ekpang, jointly announced in Calabar.

Ebokpo said the fund which would be provided and guaranteed by the state government, would be warehoused by a consortium of banks.

He said the fund was meant to move farmers from subsistence farming to commercial farming and at the same time boost agricultural value chain in the state.

Ebokpo said that the project would focus on boosting maize, cassava, aquaculture and rice farming and also to ensure all- year-round farming in the state.

He said the reason for the government intervention was to address the difficulty encountered by farmers in accessing loan facilities.

“We have for instance flour mills in Calabar which had to rely on maize supply of about N60 billion annually from Kano, Kaduna and other states from the North.

“Cross River has about 1.8 million hectares of arable land suitable for all sorts of agricultural purposes but does not have the fund to cultivate much maize to feed the flour mill here.

“What the government of Prnce Bassey Otu is trying to do is to commit this fund with the consortium of banks where farmers can have access to it for six years.

“Principally, the fund is coming from the state government but the banks and international development partners can bridge the gap when they see the commitment of the government,” he said.

Similarly, the information commissioner said that the state would soon launch the Code River State -Wide Irrigation Infrastructure Development Project (SWIID).

Ekpang said that the aim was to promote all-year-round agricultural production and also to attract investments in the cassava sub sector.

To actualise this, he said that the state had developed a Cassava Value Chain Development Policy framework to public private partnerships.

“The governor had embarked on an aggressive drive to reduce fiscal wastage and subsidise productivity in a manner that would foster long-term prosperity.

“The government had made tremendous roads into the agricultural sector. This administration had commenced soil survey and fertility mapping of Cross River State.

” The government has also embarked on aggresive elevation of the state oil palm production status with the development of 3.5 million oil palm seedling nurseries in 13 designated locations across the state,” he said.

The commissioner also said the administration had equally commenced the Home Stead Farming Project to mitigate food insecurity and resultant high cost.

UK

British investment fund puts $26m in African warehouses

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British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development fund, has committed Ksh3.99 billion ($26.5 million) to African warehouses in three countries including Kenya to support smallholder farmers in storing grains and combat food insecurity.

The funds will be disbursed to Afex, Africa’s commodities platform, which operates more than 200 warehouses in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda and serves more than 450,000 farmers. It did not say whether investment is in the form of debt or equity.

The funds will be used to construct 20 modern warehouses in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, scale warehouse technology and advanced software to capture post-harvest pricing.

“This investment from BII is a landmark moment in our mission to revolutionise agriculture and elevate food security across Africa… directing fresh capital towards the development of technologically advanced warehouses and critical facilities, we are significantly enhancing market access and income potential for smallholder farmers,” said Ayodeji Balogun, Afex chief executive.

“The World Bank estimates that Africa’s food import bill has reached $30 billion in recent decades… This is why we need to back technology-driven companies like Afex because they help reduce that import cost by supporting smallholder farmers to increase local food production, while also boosting their incomes,” said Mr Nick O’Donohoe, BII’s chief executive officer.

Afex was licensed as a warehouse receipt operator in Kenya by the Warehouse Receipt System Council earlier this year.

Small-scale farmers face many challenges including poor sales from crop harvests, difficult financial outlook due to macroeconomic uncertainty, limited market access and proper storage for produce.

Poor crop harvests hurt farmers’ incomes as prices Read more

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The EastAfrican

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FG approves Infrastructure Support Fund for states

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Abuja, July 21, 2023: President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF) for states as part of measures to cushion the effects of the petrol subsidy removal on the Nigerians.

A statement by Mr Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties,  Communications and Strategy, said the approval was disclosed at the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee on Thursday in Abuja.

He said  that the new Fund would enable states to intervene and invest in the critical areas of transportation, including farm to market road improvements; agriculture, encompassing livestock and ranching solutions.

Others areas are health, with a focus on basic healthcare; education, especially basic education; power and water resources, that will improve economic competitiveness, create jobs and deliver economic prosperity for Nigerians.

Alake also said that the committee also resolved to save a portion of the monthly distributable proceeds to minimise the impact of the increased revenues-occasioned by the subsidy removal and exchange rate unification-on money supply, as well as inflation and the exchange rate.

He said that out of the June distributable revenue of N1.9 trillion only N907 billion would be shared among the three tiers of government, while N790 billion would be saved, and the rest to be used for statutory deductions.

He explained that these savings would complement the efforts of the ISF and other existing and planned fiscal measures aimed at ensuring a tangible improvement in the lives of Nigerians.

Alake said the committee commended Tinubu for the bold decision to remove the petrol subsidy, and for providing supports to the states to cushion the effects of the removal.

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NCDMB, BoI partner on oil, gas park fund scheme

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The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has brokered a partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI) for industrial parks fund to encourage in-country manufacturing across the oil and gas value chain.

Mr Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary, NCDMB, during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in Lagos, said the two parks were located at Bayelsa and Cross River states.

Wobote said the BoI would bring to bear its developmental stride and as provide counterpart funding in support of indigenous manufacturing companies.

He lauded the BoI for the successful disbursement of the $300 million Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) to over 60 eligible beneficiaries to solve funding issues in the oil and gas sector.

He, however, noted that the park scheme partnership was different as applicants needed not to be contributors to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).

Wabote said the fund would support businesses that want to establish themselves within the industrial parks built by the NCDMB as long as they were domiciled and manufactured within the parks.

He added that some of the benefits of the parks included incentivised loan scheme and accommodation, training facilities and adequate security infrastructure.

Others, he said, were free rent until the businesses started manufacturing and making money, a one-year moratorium and a five-year pack-back period for potential occupants of the park.

“We have two of those parks that are ready to be inaugurated before the end of the year and we are in the process of getting tenants into those parks to manufacture oil and gas equipment in the country.

“It is highly incentivised to encourage manufacturers to establish themselves at the parks.

“Today, we pride ourselves that about 98 per cent of contracts in the oil and gas sector are given to Nigerians.

“However, when you look really deep into the components and equipment used, you realise that the manufacturing capabilities of the country have been limited and so we want to up the game in manufacturing with this initiative.

“The park is all-inclusive in terms of 24-hour security, services and power which is one of the greatest challenges for manufacturers,” he said.

Also, Mr Olukayode Pitan, Managing Director, BoI, revealed that the $300 million NCIF to 62 indigenous businesses recorded close to 100 percent repayment.

Pitan encouraged manufacturers particularly players in the oil and gas sector to take advantage of the spaces available at the parks and count on BoI to provide the necessary facilities to aid manufacturing.

“With the success of the NCIF, we have decided to extend the products and I tell you that the interest rates are very good; less than 10 per cent.

“The fund would ensure that Nigerian companies are supported, the factories are working and the local content in oil and gas sector becomes shored up,” he said.

NNPC to unveil largest gas facility

Nigeria inaugurates gas infrastructure fund council

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The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated the Governing Council of the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF).

Mr Timipre Sylva, Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, on Tuesday inaugurated the nine-member council, in Abuja, to fix the critical missing link in government’s effort to develop the gas sector

He charged members to work seriously to mobilise funds for the provision of critical infrastructure for the gas industry.

Sylva, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Horatious Egua, said the inauguration showed President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to reposition the energy sector.

“It will drive economic development and prosperity for our people, our nation and value to our partners, in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA),” he added.

In March 2021, President Buhari declared Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2030 as “The Decade of Gas Development for Nigeria”, primarily to set the road map towards a gas-powered economy by 2030.

Sylva said that the Federal Government had put in place several programmes towards achieving the decade of gas initiatives and developing huge gas potentials of Nigeria

He, however, said that the missing link was the absence of the basic gas infrastructure to help realise the objectives.

The minister said a key cause of poor gas production, gas flaring and low domestic gas utilisation was the gas infrastructure deficit in the country.

“It is estimated that more than 20 billion dollars yearly will be required over the next ten years to bridge these gaps,” he said.

According to him, the fund, established under Section 52 of the PIA, resides as a Directorate in the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

As a Directorate within the Authority, the minister said the fund would be expected to benefit from its internal reporting, operational and organisational processes.

He added that in accordance with the PIA, 2021, the council would supervise and make investment decisions for the fund.

Section 52 (3) of the PIA provides for the Governing Council to supervise and make investment decisions for the Fund.

Sylva urged the members of the Council to take urgent steps to bring gas infrastructure closer to the people to enable them benefit from government policy in this regard.

“There is an urgent need to focus on the major strategic plans and key initiatives to enable government set a clear trajectory to achieving the noble objectives of establishing the fund,” he said.

Terms of reference for the Council include identifying critical and relevant stakeholders that can increase domestic utilisation of natural gas, LPG and Auto gas.

They also include developing a roadmap for transforming gas to a value addition product in Nigeria.

The Council has the Minister of State Petroleum Resources as Chairman and the Executive Director MDGIF as chief executive officer.

Other members of the Council include Dr Scholastica Nnaji representing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Mr Victor Omata representing Federal Ministry of Finance; and Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive, NMDPRA.

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Buhari okays establishment of Diaspora Investment Trust Fund

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President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed the establishment of the Nigerian Diaspora Investment Trust Fund (NDITF), a private sector investment window with Nigerians in the Diaspora to support direct investments in the country.

The president gave the approval at the presentation of a compendium entitled +600 Diaspora Icons @ 60, published by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

According to him, Nigeria is open to welcoming the Diaspora Direct Investment by compatriots abroad.

He also pledged support for the establishment of the Diaspora Intervention Fund to support the Commission to fulfil its mandate.

President Buhari noted that the foreign exchange remittances by Nigerians in the Diaspora had not only helped families but enhanced the development index of Nigeria.

He described the 327-page compendium as “a historical record of the worth of our compatriots globally’’.

According to the president, the distinguished list in the publication is a reminder of what Nigerians are capable of doing to the delight of the global community.

‘‘Irrespective of the few bad eggs among us, and every nation has such bad eggs, Nigeria remains a great country, populated by great people, living at home or abroad, making us proud.

‘‘This compendium attests to that fact and the names of people and the fields they have excelled speak about their resilience and how exceptional Nigerians, both at home and abroad, have become,’’ he added.

The president reminded Nigerians that it is their duty to extol and celebrate compatriots that excel in their chosen careers and professions.

‘‘No one else will do so for us. Rather, other people will tend to capitalise on the few bad eggs and characterise us in their own narratives, narratives that seek to characterise us in bad light.

“We must not allow that to happen.

‘‘As we launch the compendium of excellent Nigerians today, we are also celebrating some of our best, nationally and globally.

‘‘I call on every Nigerian, irrespective of where they may be, to continue to be of exemplary behaviour and with determination to offer quality services that contribute to the progress of humanity,’’ he said.

He congratulated those whose names made it to this first edition, and encouraged others to work more conscientiously to make the list in the subsequent editions.

While recounting his engagements with Nigerians in the Diaspora during his official travels abroad, the president said his Diaspora threefold agenda remains unchanged.

He said: ‘‘Nigerians in the Diaspora are our Ambassadors-at-large by    their character, comportment and daily actions.

‘‘They should be the best and excel in all their endeavours and they should ‘give back’ by contributing to the development of   Nigeria.’’

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53 firms access Nigeria’s content development fund

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The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says 53 Nigerian companies have so far accessed loans under its Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF) scheme.

Mr Obinna Ofili, General Manager, Nigerian Content Development Fund and Treasury Management, NCDMB, disclosed this at the 2021 Capacity Building Workshop for Media Stakeholders on Thursday in Abuja.

The fund, which is being disbursed by NCDMB in  partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI) aims at increasing the capacities and capabilities of Nigerian companies in the oil and gas industry and also to grow Nigerian content in the industry.

Ofili, in a presentation noted that NCDMB was desirous of making a difference and deployed the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF)  in line with the mandate of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD Act) 2010.

He stated that the Managed Fund scheme was introduced in 2017 with initial funding of $200 million but commenced fully in 2018.

He said the Fund size later increased to $300 million in 2020 (which translates to N123 billion at N410/$1).

He said the fund was being disbursed based on five Product Offerings, with each product having distinct features and single obligor limit.

He listed the products as Manufacturing Financing (maximum of $10 million);  Asset Acquisition Financing (maximum of $10 million); Contract Financing (maximum of $5 million); Community Contractor Finance (maximum of N20 million) and Refinancing (maximum of $10 million).

According to him,  applicable collateral for the loan comprised Bank Guarantee from an acceptable commercial bank to cover the loan amount.

He also added that the collateral might include a combination acceptable to BOI of legal mortgage covering twice the value of the loan and in an acceptable location, Treasury Bills, Federal Government bonds, tripartite domiciliation of Contract proceeds.

He added All Assets Debenture and stocks and shares of blue-chip companies.

Speaking on requirements, he said the company must operate in the upstream and midstream sector of oil and gas industry and must have a clear history and evidence of remittance of one per cent contract as stipulated in both NOGICD Act and the NCDF framework.

“Applicable interest rate is 8 per cent all-in per annum for all products except Community Contractors, which is pegged at 5 per cent all-in per annum.

“However, NCDMB slashed the rate to 6 per cent per annum as palliative to loan beneficiaries to overcome the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and attendant economic melt-down.

“Maximum tenor of each facility is 5 years, with moratorium period of 12 months. However, NCDMB granted palliative tenor and moratorium extension of two years from April 2020 to March 2022.

“Credit risk is borne 100 per cent by BOI to ensure both prudent loan management and return of the lent funds, so that other qualifying stakeholders can benefit from financing their businesses under the Scheme.

“Loan is restricted to qualifying Oil & Gas activities while both NCDMB and BOI officials conduct routing monitoring of projects and activities financed with the loan finance.

“There is also regular annual external audit of the Fund.

“There is no bad loan under the scheme presently as all the loans are performing and meeting their obligation. Three companies have so far fully liquidated their loans,” he added.

He recalled that the success of the NCI Fund had birthed the Working Capital and Capacity Building Fund and the Women in Oil and Gas Fund.

He said both were domiciled with and managed by NEXIM Bank and having seed capital of $50 million and counterpart funding of additional $50 million in Naira.

The workshop has its theme as “Sustaining Nigerian Content amidst Shifting Energy Landscape: The Role of the Media”.

Naira-The-Trent

6,054 youths so far benefited from investment fund – Minister

The Minister of Youth and Sport Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has said that 6,054 Youths have so far benefited from the Nigerian Youths Investment Fund, receiving between N250,000 to N3 million each.

The minister said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Youth Development on Monday, in Abuja, to defend his ministry’s 2022 budget proposal.

He stated that the Federal Government was in a hurry to get support for Nigerian youths, “and as we speak today, 6,054 have benefited from the Nigerian youths investment fund.”

Dare said that the ministry had gone ahead to make sure that it released the names of the beneficiaries on its website, including the amount they received and the sector in which their SMEs operated.

“Our goal is to ensure that we increase the number of beneficiaries, which is why we have developed, as a ministry, our own loan management system.

“The loan management system will give us 100 percent control, it will also open the door for us to access the N25 billion directly from the finance ministry.

“The initial amount that we wanted from the Central Bank of Nigeria was N12.5 billion, out of that amounts only N3 billion has been made available, which was disbursed using the CBN’s financial framework”, he said.

Dare noted that there are no countries that had been able to fight youth unemployment without a deliberate policy on investing in the lives of the youths.

He said that the nation had a massive youth’s population, and most of them are waiting for opportunities for digital skills to upscale themselves and make themselves entrepreneurs.

The minister stated that the youth were also waiting for opportunities in the areas of education, technical and otherwise, stressing that they are also looking for opportunities that would make them included in government.

These had been the focus of the ministry’s budget year in, year out and 2022 would not be different, he added.

Rep. Yemi Adaramodu, the Chairman of the Committee, expressed concern over the ever increasing number of unemployed youth in the country, while urging the minister to ensure that something urgent was done to curtail the level of unemployment among the youth.

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Nigeria mulls expansion of N200m small scale miners’ fund

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Considering the success of the N200 million fund disbursed to artisanal miners, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development may expand the programme to benefit more small scale miners.
Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development said that the over N3.2 billion mining intervention fund which was domiciled with the Bank of Industry (BOI) was an intervention by the Federal Government to boost mining activities in Nigeria.
He said that the initial fund was N2.5 billion but it had accrued interest in the bank and N200 million out of the interest was disbursed as loan to small scale and artisanal miners.
“When it was set up, it was that from a minimum of N10 million to N100 million maximum people can access at five per cent interest rates, and we have had some success story.
“What we now realised was that there were a lot of small others, artisanal miners, small scale miners, who do not even need up to N10 million, which was the minimum.
“So, they were excluded because you say minimum N10 million, maximum N100 million and you know the way banking is, if you want to take N10 million from a bank, the collateral is times two minimum.
“But there are some artisanal miners there that all they want to enhance their activity is to buy a water pump, so that they have water to wash their oars, so they can bring out what they need a bump of N500,000, that is all they need someone to buy for them.
“We excluded them by saying that the minimum you can borrow is N10 million, so we set up another scheme, under that.”
According to him, some miners could not access the fund because of the stringent conditions that the bank put in, but with the N200 million sub-fund, it could give a maximum of two million Naira to individuals and minimum of N200,000.
He, however, said that the only condition attached was to get a guarantor on Grade Level 14 in the Federal Civil Service or its equivalent in the services.
“This is to allow all those lower end people to benefit from this new scheme that I designed when I realised what was going on and it is catching on.
“A lot of these lower people who need small money are already approaching the bank for that.
“There was a programme in the past that was not very successful, so that is why this time around we gave the money to the bank.
“It is not your share of the national cake, it is something to help you, it is the cheapest fund in Nigeria today at five per cent.
“So, if it works out, yes we can expand that and maybe make more money available up to half a billion, but we need to be careful.
“The average Nigerian thinks that this is my share of the national cake, so when they go to borrow such funds they do not want to pay back.”

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1m Nigerians benefit from Survival Fund

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More than one million Nigerians have so far benefitted from the Survival Fund scheme on the platform of Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).

Out of the number, 500,000 Nigerians beneficiaries from the MSMEs Payroll support track, 44,500 beneficiaries under the one-off General MSME Grant, and another 265,425 under the artisan support track.

Besides, there are also 202, 494 Nigerians who have registered their business names for free.

It would be recalled that payment to new beneficiaries of the Payroll Support track and the one-time General MSME Grant had commenced at the end of April.

So far, under the ESP there are now over one million beneficiaries nationwide from the various schemes.

For the Payroll Support track, there are so far 459,307 successful beneficiaries. Under the scheme, beneficiaries receive payment of the N30,000 or N50,000 grant per month for a period of three months.

Similarly, for the General MSME Grants, about 44,500 successful beneficiaries have received payment for the one-off grant of N50,000 each.

The total number of beneficiaries of the General MSME Grant will increase in the coming weeks as the Steering Committee has approved payment to an additional 40,114 successful new beneficiaries.

In the same vein, 202,494 businesses have so far benefitted under the under the ESP Survival Fund formalization support track, which is aimed at registering 250,000 new businesses for free with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The formalization support scheme had commenced on the 26th of October, 2020, with the registration by aggregators – CAC registration agents – across the 36 states and the FCT.

The MSME Survival Fund, a component under the ESP is designed to support vulnerable Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in meeting their payroll obligations and safeguard jobs in the MSMEs sector. The scheme is estimated to save not less than 1.3 million jobs across the country and specifically impact over 35,000 individuals per state.

In the same vein, the National Social Housing Programme (NSHP) under the ESP has received further boost.

Following the finalization of the agreement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on the N200 billion facility, the drawdown, with a guarantee from the Ministry of Finance is now commencing to fund the housing project.

The fund, which would be released in tranches, is expected to cover the NSHP project execution cost of the houses that would be constructed under the social housing project.

Under the Social Housing Programme, the Federal Government plans to support 1.5 million Nigerians to acquire low-cost houses through mortgage options and also Rent to Own option.

The scheme is expected to also generate 1.8 million jobs and deliver houses to about 1.5 million Nigerian families.

Also, the ESP Solar Naija programme, which is designed to provide electricity access to 5 million households, serving about 25 million Nigerians in rural areas and under-served urban communities nationwide, has recorded some progress.

One of the local solar power companies implementing aspects of the ESP Solar Power Naija scheme, A-SOLAR, which will deliver 100,000 units across the country in the first phase of the project, received some boost, with the completion of the disbursement of funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The A-SOLAR transaction, which involves a guaranty from Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), has been completed.

The disbursement from Sterling Bank to A-SOLAR is expected to be in tranches. The first tranche has been disbursed and the Letter of Credit for the importation of the first set of 30,000 systems is being finalized.

Upon completion, about 30,000 solar systems is expected to be deployed to Kano, Edo, Delta, Kwara, Katsina and Cross River states, as part of the 100,000 units under the A-SOLAR arrangement.

In the same vein, The Development Finance department of the CBN is finalising the Approval of N20B to finance the downstream component of the programme to fund mini-grid and solar home system companies. Once the approval comes through, three companies will get direct disbursement from the CBN to commence their deployment.

It would be recalled that the Vice President flagged off the Solar Power Naija programme in Jangefe Community in Roni Local Government Area (Kazaure Emirate) of Jigawa State in April, with the launch of 1,000 Solar Home Systems connections for the community’s about 5,000 population.

The commencement of the installation in Jigawa is part of a 100,000 scheme with A-SOLAR.

The ESP was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 24, 2020, as a N2.3 trillion stimulus plan to tackle the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerians. 

The Plan was developed by the Economic Sustainability Committee chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, who the President also asked to lead its implementation.

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