CBN recovers N1bn agric loans in Cross River

 

The sum of N1.065 billion Central Bank of Nigeria guaranteed agric loans have been recovered from Cross River State farmers who benefited from Agricultural Credit Guaranteed Scheme Fund.

Chairman of ACGSF board, Stephen Okon, disclosed this Thursday in Calabar during the board’s meeting and awards to the best farmers of the year 2021 in Cross River.

He said, “In terms of loan recovery, 10,635 loans valued N1.065b were repaid under the scheme in Cross River State from the inception of the scheme.

“These records speak volumes of the level of commitment of the officers in the state as well as the determination of the farmers to utilize the opportunities offered by the scheme to empower themselves and improve their lot. We do hope that before long, farmers in your state will enjoy the benefits of the new Amended Act.”

According to him, the “Scheme has proved relatively successful in de-risking the agricultural sector in Nigeria as evidenced in the number of loans guaranteed from inception to date. A total of 1,224,795 loans valued at N129.084 billion were guaranteed from inception to February 2022.

“It is worthy to note that Cross River State from January to February 2022 has guaranteed a total of 73 loan beneficiaries under the scheme, valued at N24.300 million. This brought the total guaranteed loans in Cross River State from the inception of the scheme in 1978 to February 2022 to 18,406, valued at N2.305 billion.”

A female poultry farmer, Henrietta Godfrey, emerged as the Cross River State Best Farmer for 2021, while the first runner-up is Kufre Udoh Augustine, also a poultry and fish farmer, and Glory Eking, a poultry farmer, second runner up.

In her remarks, the Branch Controller of the Central Bank in Calabar, Glory Iniuanam, said “The awardees are being encouraged and every other person who is a farmer in Cross River State seeing this will want to pay back when given a loan.

“Central Bank and the Federal Government are the initiators of the scheme. We guarantee the loans. In case of any default, the Central Bank pays 75% so that they (banks) could be encouraged to give out the loan. I want to encourage everybody to take the loan.

“If you are doing business take the loan. Every farmer should be able to take it as long as you are able to pay it back. People are making a profit. Anybody can make a profit if you are sincere.”