CBN loan to manufacturers, power firms rise to N5.6tn

The Central Bank of Nigeria intervention in the power, manufacturing and aviation sectors have risen to N5.6tn in three years.

The soft loans were advanced amid the continued and varied challenges facing the key sectors of the economy.

The apex bank loans to the three sectors were obtained from the CBN result and accounts between 2020 and 2022.

The reports which showed credit concentration in the various sectors of the economy indicated that power, aviation and manufacturing sectors recorded an aggregate ofN5.6tn in loans from the central bank.

The CBN under its suspended governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, competed with commercial banks in aggressive lending to some sectors of the economy. The apex bank loans however came in single-digit interest rate and long repayment tenor.

The breakdown revealed that CBN’s receivables and other assets in the power and aviation sector of Nigeria stood at N50.6bn in 2022, a decline of 96.4 per cent from N1.39tn in 2021.

Also, in the power and aviation sector, it reported N935bn in 2020.

In the manufacturing sector, it reported N1.23tn in 2022, an increase of 33.46 per cent from N919.03bn in 2021. In addition, its concentration in the manufacturing sector was at N1.07tn in 2020.

From the 2022 result and accounts, the apex bank revealed that its total receivables and others stood at N47.39tn from N43.18tn reported in 2021. Receivables from the Federal Government contributed a significant portion.

The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the association had made several attempts to secure credit facilities from the apex bank, but did not receive any feedback on any of the occasions it wrote to the CBN.

He said, “We have 2,500 manufacturers. We have asked the CBN which manufacturers they are supporting, so we can collaborate with them, they have not obliged us. We are a coordinated group. We work together. So, to lump us together with other sectors that have non-performing loans, I don’t understand what they are talking about.”