CBN says N477bn disbursed to MSMEs across Nigeria in QE-style interventions

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disbursed N134.57 billion to 38,140 beneficiaries under the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), and N343.21 billion for the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), aimed at developing Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.

The apex bank made the disclosure in “COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 138 OF THE 281ST MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING” held on Thursday 16th, and Friday,17th September 2021.

The communiqué, which was centered on the manufacturing, agriculture, energy/infrastructure and MSMES sectors, reviewed CBN’s performance and  intervention schemes towards sustaining the recovery of output growth and addressing the downside risks to other external  and domestic shocks to the economy.

“To support MSMEs across the country, the bank disbursed N134.57 billion to 38,140 beneficiaries under the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), and for the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), the sum of N343.21 billion has been released to 726,198 beneficiaries, comprising 602,730 households and 123,468 Small and Medium Enterprises,” the statement read in part.

CBN further said it has cumulatively released the sum of N798.09 billion to 3.9 million smallholder farmers cultivating 4.9 million hectares of land across the country under the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). In addition, the bank said it released  N161.18 billion to 770,000 small-holder farmers cultivating seven commodities on 1.10 million hectares across the country, while also supporting 657 large-scale agricultural projects worth N708.39 billion under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).

The bank also noted that it supported the Real Sector Facility by disbursing N1 trillion to 269 real sector projects, of which 140 are in light manufacturing, 71 in agro-based industry, 47 in services and 11 in mining.

Under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF), the CBN said N103.02 billion has been disbursed for 110 healthcare projects, of which 27 are pharmaceutical, 77 hospitals and six other healthcare service projects.

The apex bank also disclosed expending N145.99 billion under the Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF),  noting that N41.06 billion has been disbursed to 10 DisCos, for the procurement and installation of 759,748 5 electricity meters under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP). The bank added that it released N145.66 billion to 11 DisCos as loans to provide liquidity support and stimulate critical infrastructure investment to improve service delivery and collection efficiency  under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility – 2 (NEMSF-2).

In furtherance of its intervention in the energy sector, the bank noted that N39.20 billion was disbursed to six beneficiaries to improve gas-based infrastructure to support the federal government’s auto-gas conversion programme.