No fewer than 20,000 members of the Agricultural Produce Sellers Association of Nigeria (APSAN ) across Nigeria have benefited from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan intervention scheme in the agricultural sector.
APSAN is part of the 503.3 billion naira loan already disbursed to farmers by NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank.
The loan scheme, which cut across the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), Non-Interest Target Credit Facility and Nigeria Youth Investment Found (NYIF), was designed by the federal government in collaboration with NIRSAL to drive the diversification policy and mitigate the impact of covid-19 on the agric sector.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja yesterday, APSAN national president, Comrade Aloys Akortsaha, tasked the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the fund to address their financial challenges.
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He said, “This is the first time a programme s impacting positively on the lives of ordinary Nigerians, especially the grassroots, without any interference from the powers that be, it is worthy of commendation and recommendation, and i want to use this opportunity and call on other agricultural related MDAs particularly the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development to adopt the NIRSAL MFB methodology in reaching out to farmers directly without passing through states and local governments.”
“Given the above, therefore, APSAN at this moment supports the programmes and will continue to encourage businesses and households to make use of the opportunity to better their lives and enhance their businesses”, he added.