Anchor Borrowers’ Programme: CBN & RIFAN to commence loan recovery scheme

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated that it has launched a loan recovery scheme under the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. The scheme would be in partnership with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) beginning in Gombe state.

This was disclosed on Saturday by Mr Abdullahi Baba-Isa, Head, CBN’s Development and Finance Office in Gombe, adding that the FG’s intervention in rice farming was yielding positive results.

He added that the CBN’s schemes also helped with the crash of the price of rice and created jobs as well as boosted Nigeria’s local capacity to meet demand.

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What the CBN said

Baba-Isa revealed that the CBN aims to maximize Nigeria’s potential in rice production as a measure toward conserving external reserves and discouraging importation.

“The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme has made a lot of positive impact on our economy, output and even the national food security system has improved,” he said.

He also appealed to farmers to continue to pay their loans, so as to encourage the government to accommodate more farmers in the programme in 2022.

Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, RIFAN President said that CBN’s intervention was creating wealth for smallholder farmers in the state and the country, citing that many farmers would no longer need loans as they would have been empowered beyond “borrowing.”

RIFAN also urged its members to speedily repay their loans, adding that efforts had already been concluded ahead of the commencement of the dry season farming in the state.

CBN also added that under its Unity Bank/RIFAN Partnership, almost 30,000 bags of paddy rice were recovered during the launch, adding that with the intervention in 2021, 14,000 rice farmers were supported for the dry season phase and 28,000, for the wet season farming.

What you should know

Nairametrics reported in September that President Muhammadu Buhari stated that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme established by the Central Bank of Nigeria had made more than N300 billion available to over 3.1 million smallholder farmers.

The President listed recipients as farmers of 21 different commodities including rice, wheat, maize, cotton, cassava, poultry, soybeans, groundnut and fish, cultivating over 3.8 million hectares of farmland.