By Dipo Olowookere
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Monday, February 17, 2020, led a team of the bank and three other organisations to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Mr Muhammad Musa Bello.
A statement issued by the apex bank yesterday explained that the visit was to apprise the Minister with some key initiatives of the bank that will help boost job creation as well as fast-track the processes leading to the allocation of land to the three companies that had requested for land to establish dairy processing plants in the FCT.
These three firms at the meeting were FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and L& Z.
Business Post reports that last week, the central bank announced that two of the three firms above; Friesland and Nestle Nigeria, would be given access to foreign exchange (forex) to import milk into the country because they have keyed into bank’s backward integration programme.
Yesterday, the apex bank took the three companies to the Minister, emphasising the need for states in the country and the FCT to be self-sustaining and economically viable, promising that the bank will support projects and programmes that will help them realise this desire.
Mr Emefiele expressed confidence that the establishment of the companies in the FCT would drive industrialisation, stimulate local production of milk and the development of the local dairy sector.
He explained that the move would also boost employment generation, facilitate linkages along the dairy sector in Nigeria and conserve huge foreign exchange for the country.
In his remarks, the Minister pledged to facilitate the provision of land to the companies to enable them to establish their processing factories within a short period of time, even as he disclosed that the FCT masterplan envisaged four grazing reserves in Bwari, Karshi, Gwagwalada and Rubochi.