NIRSAL RELEASES FURTHER FUNDS TO FARMERS THIS WEEK, RESTATES COMMITMENT TO TIMELY DISBURSEMENT OF LOANS TO FARMERS’ ACCOUNTS
The Central Bank of Nigeria through the NIRSAL window of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme is creating over 250,000 direct jobs for farmers and up to 1.25m indirect jobs.
This development was recently revealed by NIRSAL in a statement while providing clarification to media enquiries regarding alleged delays in the disbursement of loans to some applicants.
It stressed that NIRSAL is committed to disbursement of farmers’ funds approved by the CBN within 5days of receipt of loan term sheets from the CBN. It also assured that, as always, farmers under the NIRSAL PFI window of the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Program, who comply with the conditions precedent to drawdown can have access to their credited accounts after meeting such conditions. This is in line with NIRSAL’s policy stance to always expedite the funds access process of all applicants who have met conditions precedent to draw down.
NIRSAL observes the highest ethical and professional standards and restated that all funds from the CBN are disbursed directly into farmers’ accounts and farmers can access such funds once drawdown conditions have been met.
Furthermore, the corporation stated that as a registered PFI for the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, NIRSAL takes its responsibility to ensure timely disbursement to farmers very seriously, as this helps to ensure timely repayment of loans which is also a critical component of its mandate.
As an Agricultural Finance risk management organization, NIRSAL emphasized that mindful of the various risks associated with yield and repayment capacity of the farmers, it launched the Area Yield Index Insurance – an insurance product tailor-made for farmers and established the Project Monitoring and Remediation Offices (PMROs) nationwide to work closely with farmers throughout the farming cycle to ensure success of its projects, as well as protecting the interest of all verified and bonafide farmers. These additional services are provided to farmers at NIRSAL’s own cost.
It added that no off-taker will be allowed to hold farmers to ransom as existing clauses of signed tripartite agreements with various off-takers will ensure that farmers will get value for their produce in addition to sanctions for non-performance by off-takers.
NIRSAL as a CBN-owned company assures Nigerian farmers of timely and adequate support in order to meet the stated objectives of the Federal Government’s CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
For further enquiries please contact
Anne IHUGBA
Head, Corporate Communications
07052605699
