CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has charged the newly inaugurated Board of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) to ensure that lack of collateral or remote location no longer prevents Nigerian farmers from accessing credit. The Governor of the CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, gave the charge in Abuja during the inauguration ceremony, describing the Scheme as a critical institution that must evolve to meet the financing needs of modern agriculture. The 48 years old ACGSF is one of Nigeria’s foremost and longest-standing development finance programmes, with a rich history in our socio-economic journey. It is not the CBN going back to interventions in some sectors but a continuation of the apex bank’s statutory mandate which recognises ACGSF. Cardoso said the core objective going forward is to make agricultural credit more accessible and inclusive. According to him, “our goal should be that a lack of collateral or remote location is no longer an insurmountable barrier to financing.” He described agriculture as central to Nigeria’s economic structure, pointing out that despite its contribution to national output and employment, credit to the sector remains very low.

Nation