CBN APPOINTS FIRST BANK AND UBA TO ADMINISTER N200 BILLION AGRIC FUND

The Apex bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian government has a lot of funds meant to help people start or expand an already existing business. The unfortunate thing is information about such funds is not adequately made known to Nigerians who are supposed to be the beneficiaries. On this blog, we will keep informed of every funding opportunity we know about and or will come across because information is power.
 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has appointed two banks – First Bank of Nigeria Plc and United Bank for Africa – to administer the first phase of the special N200 billion fund set by it and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources to promote commercial farming in Nigeria. The two banks are to administer the fund under the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS) and loans granted under the scheme shall have a maximum tenor of seven (7) years. The apex bank in its guidelines for disbursement of the funds specifically noted that interest on the loans shall not exceed 9%, inclusive of all charges, and that rescheduling of repayment shall be approved only by the Project Management Committee. FirstBank has maintained a history of strong commitment to the agricultural sector. From the early days of currency distribution in support of produce trade between West Africa and Europe to its present status as a financial supermarket, FirstBank has continued to play an exemplary role in the development of the nation's agricultural and allied sectors. According to the guidelines on the administration of the fund, the minimum asset base for eligible agricultural enterprises has been fixed at between N200million and N350 million depending on whether applicant is focused on a single enterprise or is integrating various enterprises. There is also no minimum borrowing limit. Borrowers under the Scheme are Corporate and Large Scale Commercial Farm/Agro Enterprises and state governments. Corporate and large scale commercial farms could either be Integrated Large Scale Farm or Agro-based Enterprises with assets, excluding land, not less than N350million with prospects of growing the assets to N500 million within the next three years, or non-integrated Commercial Farms /Agro-enterprises with assets (excluding land) not less than N200 million with prospects of growing the assets to N350million within the next three years. All State Governments/FCT can access up to twenty percent (20%) of the N200billion (i.e. N40billion) through specialized agencies or secretariat established for the purpose of on-lending such funds to Co-operative Unions, Co-operative Societies, Self-Help Groups and Agricultural Commodities Associations in their respective states. FirstBank's agricultural financing operations under the umbrella of FarmersFirst cover a wide array of agricultural activities ranging from production to processing and marketing. The Bank’s services are designed to suit the entire range of micro, small, medium and large agricultural businesses, including Guaranteed Fund Credit (GFC), Cooperatives/Linkage Banking Scheme, FirstBank Agricultural Credit to Schools (FACTS), Industrial End-user's Outgrower Scheme, Multi-Channels Agricultural Finance Scheme (Multi-CAFS), Agricultural Produce Finance, amongst others.