Post by Trade Coach on Mar 6, 2021 13:02:26 GMT 1
CBN’s N50bn Injection In Commodity Exchange, Mop-up of Produce: Stakeholders Speak out
We reported earlier to our members in this forum about the intention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to inject about N50bn into the Commodity Exchange. It is now clear that what the CBN actually wants to do with the fund which approval had already been given by the Federal Government of Nigeria is to mop up produce from farmers and aggregators in order to sell through an application like the normal Stock Exchange.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, complained that despite all the successes achieved by the apex bank that there still remains some naughty problems it needed to solve within the Nigerian agricultural value chain.
He stated that the country needs to fix the problem in order to accelerate investment and productivity.
These challenges include, poor infrastructure and logistics that impede the movement of farm produce to the market and various processing centers, this has resulted in heavy losses on farmers. Limited and poor storage facilities with inadequate liquidity are also bottlenecks that the CBN Boss stated as issues to be tackled.
The CBN governor re-emphasized the important and critical role that an efficient and properly run Commodities Exchange can play in any economy.
It will provide farmers an organized platform to trade their products in a transparent and efficient market.
But the CBN boss lamented that the Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX) which is the Federal Government’s Premier Commodities Exchange has failed to make all these opportunities materialize.
The Nigeria Commodity Exchange was established in 2001 to give farmers and other players in the agricultural industry an efficient and regulated platform to run their business, but unfortunately the reverse is the case.
He also explained that the President also approved the formation of a steering committee chaired by the CBN Governor; the committee also includes representatives from NSA and AFC, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Industry Trade and Investment as well as Agriculture and Rural Development to manage the implementation of this noble strategic plan.
Many stakeholders in Agric/Agribusiness expressed their views on the N50bn from the CBN to bring to fruition its objectives in achieving self-sufficiency in food production and marketing for the farmers.
One of the stakeholders at the briefing, Chief Patrick Eholor, the Chairman of Izevbuwa Farm Limited said that the intervention from the Federal Government through the CBN will greatly aid food production in the country for stability in the agribusiness sector.
He however asked that caution be taken as this is not the first time the government has been introducing such programmes in the country without any tangible results. The country has had such laudable programmes in the past, but massive corruption on the part of government officials killed all of them.
Things can only work if the Federal Government of Nigeria through the CBN can make sure that the process of giving out the funds is transparent, let it go to genuine farmers only through proper verifiable means.
The fund should be accessible to genuine farmers in every geo-political zone in the country to be strictly invested in agricultural businesses alone.
He also advised the CBN not to allow politicians and religious leaders to handle any part of the programme. A reputable financial institution should be responsible for the management and disbursement of the funds.
The National President of Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria (FACAN) said that the initiative will go a long way to eliminating post-harvest losses and also boost agricultural production in the country.
The president of Cocoa Farmers of Nigeria (CFAN), Adeola Adegoke commended the CBN governor for the noble move as this will ensure that Nigeria has a functional Commodities Exchange as they have in other African Countries like Kenya.
Mr. Adegoke also reminded the people that commodity exchanges have not lived up to expectations in the country.
The National President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Arc Kabir Ibrahim, boldly said that “This is neither good economics nor sustainable agribusiness. It is not going to work at this time.”
The President of the Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria, AOPN, Dr. Obiora Madu, said that the CBN’s N50bn should be for creating a solid commodity ecosystem. Commodity exchanges neither buy commodities nor deal on physical commodities.
We reported earlier to our members in this forum about the intention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to inject about N50bn into the Commodity Exchange. It is now clear that what the CBN actually wants to do with the fund which approval had already been given by the Federal Government of Nigeria is to mop up produce from farmers and aggregators in order to sell through an application like the normal Stock Exchange.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, complained that despite all the successes achieved by the apex bank that there still remains some naughty problems it needed to solve within the Nigerian agricultural value chain.
He stated that the country needs to fix the problem in order to accelerate investment and productivity.
These challenges include, poor infrastructure and logistics that impede the movement of farm produce to the market and various processing centers, this has resulted in heavy losses on farmers. Limited and poor storage facilities with inadequate liquidity are also bottlenecks that the CBN Boss stated as issues to be tackled.
The CBN governor re-emphasized the important and critical role that an efficient and properly run Commodities Exchange can play in any economy.
It will provide farmers an organized platform to trade their products in a transparent and efficient market.
But the CBN boss lamented that the Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX) which is the Federal Government’s Premier Commodities Exchange has failed to make all these opportunities materialize.
The Nigeria Commodity Exchange was established in 2001 to give farmers and other players in the agricultural industry an efficient and regulated platform to run their business, but unfortunately the reverse is the case.
He also explained that the President also approved the formation of a steering committee chaired by the CBN Governor; the committee also includes representatives from NSA and AFC, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Industry Trade and Investment as well as Agriculture and Rural Development to manage the implementation of this noble strategic plan.
Many stakeholders in Agric/Agribusiness expressed their views on the N50bn from the CBN to bring to fruition its objectives in achieving self-sufficiency in food production and marketing for the farmers.
One of the stakeholders at the briefing, Chief Patrick Eholor, the Chairman of Izevbuwa Farm Limited said that the intervention from the Federal Government through the CBN will greatly aid food production in the country for stability in the agribusiness sector.
He however asked that caution be taken as this is not the first time the government has been introducing such programmes in the country without any tangible results. The country has had such laudable programmes in the past, but massive corruption on the part of government officials killed all of them.
Things can only work if the Federal Government of Nigeria through the CBN can make sure that the process of giving out the funds is transparent, let it go to genuine farmers only through proper verifiable means.
The fund should be accessible to genuine farmers in every geo-political zone in the country to be strictly invested in agricultural businesses alone.
He also advised the CBN not to allow politicians and religious leaders to handle any part of the programme. A reputable financial institution should be responsible for the management and disbursement of the funds.
The National President of Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria (FACAN) said that the initiative will go a long way to eliminating post-harvest losses and also boost agricultural production in the country.
The president of Cocoa Farmers of Nigeria (CFAN), Adeola Adegoke commended the CBN governor for the noble move as this will ensure that Nigeria has a functional Commodities Exchange as they have in other African Countries like Kenya.
Mr. Adegoke also reminded the people that commodity exchanges have not lived up to expectations in the country.
The National President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Arc Kabir Ibrahim, boldly said that “This is neither good economics nor sustainable agribusiness. It is not going to work at this time.”
The President of the Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria, AOPN, Dr. Obiora Madu, said that the CBN’s N50bn should be for creating a solid commodity ecosystem. Commodity exchanges neither buy commodities nor deal on physical commodities.