The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on January 31, 2022, announced an N23.20 billion award to 28 companies under its 100 for 100 policy. The 28 companies are the first set of beneficiaries as the policy kicks off.
Recall on the 25th of October, 2021, the CBN announced during the eNaira lunch it will introduce a 100 for 100 – Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP), under which eligible companies in priority sectors will be screened and 100 companies will be selected to receive funding from the CBN every 100 days, beginning from 1st November 2021.
Thus, at the official launch of the 100 for 100 Policy in Abuja, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele said under this initiative, every hundred days, manufacturers in critical sectors that seek to engage in greenfield projects or in expanding their existing facilities will have access to cheaper forms of credit at single-digit rates, as well as foreign exchange to procure plants and machinery.
He said the programme has the potential to significantly accelerate manufacturing output, promote further diversification of our economy and enable faster growth of our non-oil exports.
The CBN governor said “for this first cycle of the initiative ending today, 243 applications valued at N321.06 billion, spread over key sectors such as agriculture, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and services sectors were submitted on the portal. After much engagement, 79 applications were received from banks, valued at N121.87 billion, for projects in six sectors, namely agriculture, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, and services sectors.”
He said: “The requests were carefully screened and scrutinized against a set-out selection criteria, which is categorised into: production efficiency and scalability; local content capacity; job creation and human capital development; operating sector relevance; and potential contribution to economic growth.”
Thus, he said following due screening of the applications received, out of which, some “28 companies with projects that have clearly articulated proposals were selected for funding.”
“These projects, valued at N23.20 billion, comprise 14 in the manufacturing sector, 12 in the agricultural sector, and 2 in the healthcare sector” he revealed.
According to him, “when fully operational, these projects are expected to create over 20,000 direct and indirect jobs across multiple sectors of the economy, as well as generate close to US$125.80 million in foreign exchange earnings.”
He said “it is important to note that five of the selected projects are greenfield projects seeking to exploit the huge opportunities in key sectors of our economy.”
Mr. Emefiele promised that “for those seeking to invest in new greenfield or existing brownfield projects, the Bank will continue to provide all the needed support, both in Naira and dollars specifically for the importation of plants and equipment to actualize these investments. It is pertinent to point out that the foreign exchange support will be solely for the importation of spares, plants and equipment needed to increase production capacities of these companies.”
