The Federal Government has concluded plans to provide N2 billion Agricultural and Infrastructure Support Fund for investors in the sugar industry.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, disclosed this during the Quarterly Meeting with the Directors General and Chief Executive Officers of agencies and parastatals under the ministry in Abuja, on Thursday.
Aganga noted that the intervention fund, which will be disbursed at a single digit interest rate, would serve as cheap and affordable capital for investors who are investing in the Backward Integration Programme of the Federal Government in the sugar sector.
He said, “The National Sugar Development Council, a parastatal under my ministry, is providing N1billion from the Sugar Levy while the Bank of Agriculture will provide a matching fund of additional N1 billion as Intervention Fund to assist investors and farmers who are investing in the sugar-cane to sugar programme, which is an integral part of the Backward Integration Programme in the sugar sector.
The fund, which will be disbursed at a single digit interest rate, is part of our on-going efforts towards providing an enabling environment for Nigerians to take advantage of the Federal Government’s sector specific policies that are aimed at industrializing our country and create jobs for our people.”
The minister added that the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan, which provides the road map for 100 per cent local production of sugar, has within one year of its implementation, raised the country’s profile by attracting about $3 billion pipeline investments into the sector .
We have done the due diligence for three new sites for sugar plantations and within the next three months, we shall be commissioning a bio-factory in Zaria and another one in University of Illorin. The idea is that about one million good quality seedlings will come out from these factories”, Aganga said
Giving an overview of the activities and performance the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Aganga said that it had exceeded its expectations in terms of formulation and implementation of policies that have impacted positively on the country’s economy.
He said, “We have developed and begun the implementation of the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan which was launched by our President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The president has also inaugurated the Presidential Advisory Council on NIRP and they have been meeting to address all the bottlenecks that limit the productivity and competitiveness of our industrial sector. Their recommendations will soon be submitted to the president for necessary action.
We are also delighted that UNIDO has chosen Nigeria as one of the pilot countries that it will support and work with due to our Industrial Revolution Plan which we have put in place. In the automotive sector, we have made significant progress as the new auto policy has helped in revitalizing some hitherto moribund auto assembly plants. Apart from new and existing investors who have begun the assembly of cars in the country .Similarly, more global Original Equipment Manufacturers have committed to coming to establish new auto assembly plants in the country as a result of the new policy.”
He added, “In addition to these, we have recorded significant success in the area of improving the value chain in the automotive sector. In other sectors, we have five new policies in the pipeline and these are aimed at revitalizing and revolutionizing some key industrial sectors in order to drive job creation, wealth generation and economic transformation of our country.”
Speaking during the meeting, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, National Sugar Development Council, Dr. Lateef Busari, said the N2 billion fund would enable farmers and investors in the sugarcane to sugar programme access cheap funds to expand their operations.
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