Presidency Lists Agriculture Projects to Benefit from $4bn Loan
The Presidency has listed some agricultural projects in the country that will be financed with the proposed $4 billion loan upon approval.
The loan, according to the Presidency, will be sourced from multilateral institutions, under the 2018-2021 medium-term (rolling) external borrowing plan, it added
Presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari had requested the Senate to approve the sovereign loans of $4.054 billion and €710 million as well as to grant components of $125million for some proposed projects in the country.
The letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan revealed that the sovereign loans will be sourced from the World Bank, French Development Agency (AFD), China-Exim Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Credit Suisse Group and Standard Chartered/China Export and Credit (SINOSURE).
Under the external borrowing plan, the World Bank is expected to finance the Agro-Processing, Productivity, Enhancement, and Livelihood Improvement Support Project.
The states to benefit from the project include Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Cross River, Enugu, and Lagos under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) as the implementing ministry.
The major objective of the agro-processing project, the Presidency noted, was to enhance the agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers and to improve value addition along priority value chains in the participating states.
Accordingly, the statement revealed that no fewer than 29 states will also benefit from the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Arid Zone Landscape project.
The Agro-Climatic Resilience Project is expected to reduce natural resource management conflicts in dry and semi-arid ecosystems in Nigeria.
To be co-financed by the World Bank and European Investment Bank (EIB), the states to benefit have been listed as Akwa Ibom, Borno, Oyo, Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Edo, Plateau, Abia, Nasarawa, Delta, Niger, Gombe, Imo, Enugu, Kogi, Anambra, Niger, Ebonyi, Cross River, Ondo, Kaduna, Kebbi, Jigawa, Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe and Kwara.
“The World Bank is also funding the Livestock Productivity and Resilience project in no fewer than 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” the statement read in part.
On its part, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will finance the Value Chain Development Programme to be implemented in Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Niger, Ogun, Taraba, Nasarawa, Enugu, and Kogi states.
The Value Chain Development Programme is projected to empower 100,000 farmers, including over 6,000 and 3,000 processors and traders, respectively.
President Buhari, therefore, sought the consideration and approval of the Senate to fund these projects captured under the 2018-2021 borrowing plan.
