The Central Bank of Nigeria has revealed that it disbursed a total of N3 billion to 7,057 beneficiaries under the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund Initiative. The recipient comprised of 4,411 individuals and 2,646 SMEs.
This fact was revealed by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, during the recently concluded Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meeting held on 26th and 27th of July, 2021.
Recall that the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Executive Council established the NYIF on 15th of October 2020, and approved a joint implementation of the initiative in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. In addition, the Federal Government disclosed that the grants will be disbursed through the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Microfinance Bank (NMFB).
As of June this Year, the NYIF disclosed that it had disbursed a total of about N1.63 billion to 5,200 Nigerian Youth. According to the data made available then, of the total eligible applications of 6,054, only 5,200 were honoured, while 854 applications were approved but yet to receive their funding during the period under review. 721 applications were concerned invalid or unqualified.
On the other hand, the CBN in its recent report also revealed that 356 beneficiaries across movie production, software development, movie distribution, fashion, etc., received a total of N3.22 billion under the Creative Industry Financing Initiative.
READ: Detailed List of CBN Loans and Fund Interventions For SME Businesses and Agriculture
Other disbursements captured by the CBN in the recent report are;
- A total of 251 projects, of which 87 were into light manufacturing, 40 in agro-based industry, 32 in services and 11 in mining, received a total of N923.41 billion, as part of the N1trillion Real Sector Facility.
- 41 billion was disbursed to 103 health care projects, of which, 26 are pharmaceuticals and 77 are in the hospital services. Similarly, the sum of N232.54 million was disbursed to 5 beneficiaries under the CBN Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention (Grant) Scheme (HSRDIS) for the development of testing kits and devices for Covid-19 and Lassa Fever.
- 04 billion was disbursed to 17 Meter Asset Providers, and 9 DisCos, for the procurement and installation of 657,562 electricity meters. Additionally, the CBN released N120.29 billion to 11 DisCos, as part of the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility – 2 (NEMSF-2), in a bid to provide liquidity support and stimulate critical infrastructure investment needed to improve service delivery and collection efficiency.
- The apex Bank also granted N756.51 billion to 3,734,938 small holder farmers cultivating 4.6 million hectares of land, of which N120.24 billion was extended for the 2021 Wet Season to 627,051 farmers for 847,484 hectares of land, under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).
- The sum of N121.57 billion was disbursed to 32,617 beneficiaries, under the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS),
- Lastly, 17 billion was released to 679,422 beneficiaries, comprising 572,189 households and 107,233 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), under the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF).
