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By Matthew Eloyi
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has urged rice millers throughout the country to support the CBN’s backward integration activities aimed at saving foreign exchange reserves.
According to information received from the CBN website, Emefiele made the call on Tuesday at the inauguration of the Garewa Rice Mills in Kano.
Such actions, he claimed, will improve local production capacity and create jobs.
He emphasized the importance of rice mills in Nigeria becoming involved in paddy production in order to ensure a steady supply of rice paddy for their mills.
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He added that the apex bank’s engagement with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and prime anchors will augment supply from smallholder farmers.
He stated that the number of rice mills in Nigeria had increased from less than 10 in 2015 with a combined capacity of less than 350,000 metric tons to more than 68 in January with a combined capacity of more than three million metric tons.
He said that the Anchor Borrowers’ Program (ABP), which was introduced in 2015, had aided enormous growth in the sector, and that roughly 10 more mills would be opened this year.
In his words, “Food security remains a cardinal deliverable for every developing economy as it serves as the fulcrum of many other economic development indices.”
Emefiele promised rice millers that the CBN will work with them to improve the rice value chain in Nigeria.
The redesigned Nigeria Commodity Exchange, he added, would make grading, sorting, quality assurance, and storage infrastructure for important agricultural commodities easier.
