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As part of measures to sustain ongoing diversification into agriculture, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to fund the rice milling plant for the 2000-hectare Coscharis Farm located at Anaku, in Anambra State.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who made the remarks during the tour of the rice farm, also commended firms he described as being in the business of machines, spare parts, and car importation for decades for embracing Agriculture.
The CBN Governor said: “We started this with him, about two years ago when we granted him a N2 billion Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS). With his own resources, he added to it and that is why he is where he is today.
“We have naira, and we would lend to people so that we can grow our food and feed our people. Forecast has it that by 2050, Nigeria would have the third largest population in the world. So, we need to begin to prepare for that day. Nobody is going to prepare for us and we must be able to feed our people,” the governor said.
He reiterated that there is no foreign exchange to import food, especially when we can produce those items in the country.
Dr. Cosmas Maduka, however, urged government to urgently respond to entrepreneurial challenges, adding that the farm will provide full time employment for about 3000 people, as well as drive ancillary industrial growth in the state when all the phases of the investment are complete.
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