BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele says Nigeria has no business spending over 500 million US dollars annually to import palm oil.
He expressed sadness that the country is still importing the produce despite sufficient arable land to farm and produce palm oil in both the South-South and South-East regions.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on the Palm Oil Value Chain in Abuja, Emefiele noted that Nigeria was not only the world’s leading producer of palm oil, but also the largest exporter of palm oil in the late 50s and 60s.
The CBN Governor, who said the figure then accounted for close to 40 per cent of the global market share, regretted that Malaysia and Indonesia, after getting their seeds and learning how to cultivate oil palm from Nigeria, have moved on to become top producers of palm oil with Nigeria currently trailing at a distant fifth place.
According to him, the conversation around oil palm production has become imperative given that it now forms part of the country’s “overall strategy to reduce our reliance on crude oil imports, diversify the productive base of our economy, create jobs and conserve our foreign exchange.”
Mr Emefiele said despite having oil palm in the FOREX ban list, official figures indicate that “Nigeria still expends close to 500 million dollars on oil palm importation annually and we are determined to change this narrative.”
Noting that palm oil importation had declined by about 40 per cent from about 506,000 Metric Tonnes (MTs) in 2014 to 302,000 MTs in 2017, Mr Emefiele said; “We intend to support improved production of palm oil to meet not only the domestic needs of the market, but to also increase our exports in order to improve our forex earnings.”
He explained that robust engagements with all the State governors in South-South and South-East, has seen them agreeing to provide at least 100,000 hectares each for large scale oil palm farming across the two zones.
The apex bank boss said commitment by State governments would propel Nigeria to reach self-sufficiency in palm oil production between 2022 and 2024, adding that this would ultimately put the country in a position to surpass Thailand and Columbia in becoming the world’s third largest producer in a couple of years.
Emefiele stated that the apex bank would work on encouraging viable off taker agreements between farmers and large-scale palm producing companies, adding that; “Loans will be granted through our Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP) and Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) programmes at no more than nine (9) per cent per annum to identified core borrowers.”
He said as part of the ABP and CACS, “the CBN will work with large corporate stakeholders and small holder farmers to ensure availability of quality seeds for this year’s planting season.”
Mr Emefiele, who maintained that FOREX ban on textiles and other ready-made clothing importation was good for the nation’s economy, said; “We will also ensure the availability of agro-chemicals in order to enable improved cultivation of palm oil.
The CBN Governor also hinted of future polices overtures to handle challenges in sectors like cocoa, beef/cattle ranching, dairy, fish and cassava.
He said the plan is to ensure every region of the country feels the positive impact of CBN’s intervention in the nation’s agricultural sector that would hopefully conserve foreign exchange as well as create jobs on a mass scale across the country.
In his remarks, Governor of Edo, Mr Godwin Obaseki, said the state was currently cultivating about 70,000 hectares of land of oil palm.
He also spoke on the need to revive the moribund Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), in Benin to improve investment in research and production of quality oil palm seeds.
“We should understand that for meaningful investment to come into the oil palm industry, we have to think of other incentives to encourage manufacturers to turn oil palm to other things.
“What I mean is that palm oil can be used to manufacture margarine, soaps, toothpaste and other things.
“We must also think about how to create incentives for those who are currently in the business to explore all the uses of palm oil to create job opportunities for our people,” he said.
Also speaking at the forum, Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel, said small holder farmers need education on the use of improved seedlings as a way enhancing oil palm output in the country.
At the meeting were the Governors of Akwa Ibom, Edo and Abia as well as managers of Dangote Farms; Flour Mills; United Food Industries; and Dufil Frima Foods Plc. – With additional NAN reports
