Economy
Anchor Borrowers : Unity Bank Extends Funding to 120,000 Maize Farmers
Unity Bank Plc will provide additional funding to 120,000 smallholder maize farmers in the 2021 wet season farming under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).
The bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Tomi Somefun, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
Somefun made the pledge while delivering a goodwill message at the unveiling of the first National Maize Pyramids and kick-off of wet season farming programmes held recently in Katsina.
Unity Bank was invited to participate in the events marking the unveiling of the season by the Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN), as a major stakeholder in the apex bank ABP.
Somefun, was represented by the bank’s Head, Agribusiness, Mrs Patricia Ahunanya.
She said the additional funding for the 2021 wet season farming was in furtherance to the bank’s commitment toward supporting maize farmers in the country.
Somefun said the strategic partnership with the association commenced in 2019 with the financing of about 37,182 smallholder farmers.
She noted that the bank increased its financing tally to 70,604 smallholder farmers in 2020.
“The maize pyramids will go down in history as the first maize pyramid in Nigeria which demonstrates not only the resilience of our farmers but also the commendable vision of the Federal Government of Nigeria through the implementing partners.
“This should be replicated in all states with a focus on the crops that have comparative advantage.
“With agriculture contributing over 26 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP and employing about 50 per cent of Nigeria’s working population in the rural areas, the bank will continue to make strategic investments into the sector.
“Investments in line with the Federal Government’s quest to attain food sufficiency, diversify the economy away from oil, create jobs for the youth and reduce poverty.
“Unity Bank is fully committed to its partnership with MAAN and this commitment will ensure the attainment of FGN/CBN target to meeting self-sufficiency in maize production through the association,” she said.
The National President of MAAN, Dr Abubakar Bello, commended the bank for its continued support of the farmers through its strategic role in providing the necessary financing to the maize farmers.
Abubakar said: “We cannot appreciate enough our financing partners, especially Unity Bank. Today we have over 50,000 bags of maize in this pyramid, which will contribute significantly to Nigeria’s strategic grain reserves.
“This could not have been possible without the financing made possible by these partners. We commend them for this role and remain grateful,” he said.
Abubakar restated the commitment of the association to continue to meet the financing obligations and sustain the drive for increased maize output in the 2021 wet season farming. (NAN)
The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) continued its bullish trend on Wednesday, gaining N183 billion.
Accordingly, the market capitalisation, which opened at N59.532 trillion, gained N184 billion or 0.31 per cent to close at N59.715 trillion.
The All-Share Index also added 0.31 per cent or 303 points, to settle at 98,509.
68, against 98,206. 97 recorded on Tuesday.Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased to 31.
74 per cent.Gains in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, United Bank For Africa(UBA), Oando Plc, Nigerian Breweries among other advanced equities drove the market performance up.
Market breadth closed positive with 34 gainers and 17 losers.
On the gainers’ chart, Africa Prudential, Conoil and RT Briscoe led by 10 per cent each to close at N14.30, N352 and N2.42 per share, respectively.
Golden Guinea Breweries followed by 9.95 per cent to close at N7.18, while NEM Insurance rose by 9.74 per cent to close at N10.70 per share.
On the other hand, Julius Berger led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N155.25, Secure Electronic Technology Plc trailed by 9.52 per cent to close at 57k per share.
Multiverse lost 7.63 per cent to close at N5.45, Haldane McCall dropped 6.07 per cent to close at N4.95 and Honeywell Flour shed 5.62 per cent to close at N4.70 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 49.44 per cent.
A total of 320.10 million shares valued at N6.48 billion were exchanged in 7,943 deals, compared with 939.41 million shares valued at N12.81billion traded in 9,098 deals posted in the previous session.
Meanwhile, ETranzact led the activity chart in volume with 70.27 million shares, while Aradel led in value of deals worth N1.22 billion.(NAN)
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the Yuan, weakened 22 pips to 7.1870 against the dollar on Monday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreign exchange market, the Yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the Yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)
Arewa Youths Initiative for Energy Reforms (AYIFER), has urged Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to do everything possible to bring Kaduna Refinery back into operation.
National Coordinator of the group, Mr Bashir Al’Amin, stated this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.
Al’Amin specifically called on the Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari, to do all within his powers to rejuvenate the refinery and bring it up to global standard.
He said that having delivered the Port Harcourt refinery, coupled with the establishment of Dangote Refinery in Lagos, attention should be shifted to Kaduna refinery for easy spread of petroleum products.
“We are calling on Malam Mele Kyari to expedite action on Kaduna refinery so we can be at par with other regions in the country.
“We equally beg the NNPCL to do professional work in rehabilitating the old refinery and deliver a standard and functional petrochemical refinery and not a blending plant.
“Kyari should resist any temptation that could make him do something that can jeopardise his good image,” he said.
Al’Amin said that since the extinction of groundnut pyramid and textiles in Kano State as well as PAN in Kaduna State and with the Kaduna refinery getting moribund, a lot of youths had lost their jobs.
According to him, all their hopes in the north are tied to the legacy refinery, expressing the hope that God would use Kyari to deliver it well and on time.
He said that the group was solidly behind NNPCL in prayer and would be ready to celebrate the company if its expectations were met. (NAN)
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