…as #OgojaRice emerges star brand
By Ebriku John Friday
An agribusiness firm, Santuscom Agro – hub Investment Nigeria Limited, Monday, counseled the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to prevail on commercial banks to remove bottlenecks and make loan accessibility less difficult to farmers.
This was the submission of the Chief Executive Officer, Santuscom Agro-hub Investment Nigeria Ltd, Chief Paul Santus Ofana, at the just concluded CBN South-South Stakeholders Forum in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Ofana whose company’s brand, #OgojaRice emerged star product at the Summit called for inclusiveness and transparency on the part of commercial banks to enable stakeholders benefit from CBN’s intervention to boost agribusiness and productivity in the agricultural sector.
In his presentation at the Summit, he hailed CBN’s intervention in rice production, also called on the Apex bank to look into his concern over the tall conditions given to farmers to access loans, pointing out that portfolio and political farmers are the ones accessing the loans and today have nothing to show as products from their farms.
He also urged stakeholders to synergize and work closely to boost agribusiness activities towards increasing contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), of the economy and for profitability.
He however, decried arbitrary price increment on sale of rice, which a bag of the commodity is going for N30, 000, which he advised that producers should design a workable template with the CBN in order for all stakeholders to benefit.
He also presented some bags of well processed, stone-free and nutritious #OgojaRice produced by his company to CBN officials and other participants.
Meanwhile, the one-day Summit was part of the CBN’s Dry Season Farming Intervention Project for 2020/2021, and was chaired by the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele who was represented by the Director of Development Finance, Yusuf Philip Yila.
The CBN Dry Season Farming Intervention Programme is geared towards ensuring food security and food sufficiency in the country.
It was an interactive session with stakeholders and also to engage more on how agribusiness venture and organic food processing will be sustainable along the value chain.
The Summit also had Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABS) stakeholders meeting with Managing Directors of commercial banks, notable rice farmers across the South-South in attendance.
