By Paul Effiong, ABUJA Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has lamented that the country still expends close to $500 million on oil palm importation annually, assuring “we are determined to change this narrative.”
He gave the assurance on Monday, while speaking at a stakeholders meeting on the oil palm value change in Abuja. The meeting was attended by the Governors of Abia, Akwa Ibom and Edo states.
Emefiele, said the renewed focus by the CBN to support improved growth in the Agriculture and Manufacturing Sectors in Nigeria, was clearly in line with the Federal Government’s determination to diversify the base of Nigeria’s economy away from a reliance on crude oil, so as to insulate our economy from the vagaries and shocks associated with volatility in crude oil prices.
According to him, the CBN would support improved production of palm oil to meet not only the domestic needs of the market, but to also increase our exports in order to improve our forex earnings.
While noting that the economy has recorded some investments in the oil palm value chain over the last three years, the CBN Governor however, decried that the” investments fall short of our expectations, and our expected target of self-sufficiency in oil palm production is far from being achieved.”
With regards to improving access to finance for small holder farmers focused on cultivation of palm oil, Emefiele said the Bankers’ Committee had established a special sub-committee to make recommendations on sustainable financing models for oil palm and four other critical agricultural commodities that include cocoa, sesame seed, shea-butter, animal husbandry and cashew.
He spoke further, “As part of our Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP) and our Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), the CBN will work with large corporate stakeholders and small holder farmers to ensure availability of quality seeds for this year’s planting season and agro-chemicals in order to enable improved cultivation of palm oil.
“This meeting is indeed an important one as it brings together key players across the palm oil value chain, state governments, banks, and officials of the CBN, in order to examine the challenges faced by palm oil operators.
“Let me stress that we are not unmindful that our current focus to make life difficult for smugglers of the products being targeted under our intervention will be resisted by unpatriotic and recalcitrant beneficiaries of the status quo. We will not be deterred by their criticisms but will appeal to Nigerians to support these initiatives.
“We also hope to identify promising approaches that will help in revitalizing this key sector and also enable Nigeria to regain its position as one of the leading global producers of palm oil.
“Indeed with an estimated 3 million hectares of land under cultivation, abundance of suitable arable land, we need the cooperation of our state Governments in the oil palm producing zone to make land available to investors with proven financial and technical capabilities, who will be able to support developments of large scale palm oil plantations in the country.
“I am happy to announce that all the states in the South-South and South- East regions have agreed to provide at least 100,000 hectares for the initiative. This program is also expected to accommodate the small holder farmers.”
