The Bankers’ Committee has drawn up a 2015 Action Plan as part of its strategies for financing real sector growth.

A communiqué of the the 6^th annual Bankers Committee Retreat held in Calabar over the weekend (December 12-14) made available to News Express showed that the committee would be focusing on three sectors which it considers to be absolutely vital to the Nigerian economy. The sectors are Agriculture, Power and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

“We would like to emphasise our commitment to providing finance for these sectors with a view to promoting economic development,” the committee said in the communiqué signed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

Emefiele, who is Chairman of the Bankers’ Committee, said that in order to address the challenges identified by the committee during deliberations, it was resolved as follows:

Agriculture: We are committed to expanding bank lending in agribusiness sectors that have natural competitive advantages versus imports e.g. wheat, rice, aquaculture, etc. We will explore large corporates as anchors to lend to participants across the value chain to improve the capacity of Nigeria’s agribusiness to create sustainable jobs and inclusive growth.

Power: The Bankers’ Committee will continue to collaborate to provide the necessary finance for transformation of the Power sector value chain across generation, distribution, and transmission sub-sectors. We will explore opportunities for renewable energy and encourage sustainability, efficiency, and operations in line with global best practices in the development of the power sector. We will also maintain our support for funding gas to power projects across the country.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises: We will increase aggregate bank lending to MSMEs and expand the number of micro, small and medium enterprises that have access to bank credit. We will improve the rigour in credit analysis and encourage discipline in borrowing culture to achieve a reduction in credit defaults in the sector. In order to harness the entrepreneurial skills in our youths and young graduates, the CBN shall, through its Anchor-Lending Programme, provide grants and SME loans to NYSC graduates who develop interest in Agribusiness.

MONITORING FRAMEWORK

We have determined the results and outcomes we expect to achieve, set expectations and assigned responsibilities for implementation. The Bankers’ Committee will, on an ongoing basis, through its Technical Retreats, monitor the progress of implementation and as well as the impact of our actions on Nigeria’s economic development goals and objectives.

The Sub-committee on Economic Development and Sustainability will co-ordinate execution of the programme and provide feedback to the Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank Chief Executives.

The retreat, which was chaired by Emefiele, was attended by Deputy Governors of CBN together with Chief Executive Officers of deposit money banks, discount houses and development finance institutions. Other participants included the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akin Adesina; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo; as well as financial industry experts from within and outside Nigeria.

•Photo shows Bankers Committee Chairman, Godwin Emefiele.

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