CBN releases 50,000mt of maize to reduce price

By Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor)The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released 50,000 metric tonnes of Maize into the Nigerian market.This is CBNs February 2021 release of Maize in fulfilment of its pledge to reduce the price of the commodity executed under the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).The release of maize was made to major poultry feed producers and poultry producers in the country.A statement from the CBN on Wednesday said the apex bank has facilitated the release of the 50,000 metric tonnes of Maize in the second week of February.The released maize the bank said, has made an impact as the Maize Market has recorded a reduction in price from N200, 000.00 per metric tonnes to about N180, 000.00 per metric tonnes.It is still anticipated that the current price of maize will further reduce as maize floods the markets.Major beneficiaries of the February release include Premier Flour Mills, CrownOlam, Grand Cereals, Animal Care, Amobyn and Hybrid Feeds. Others include Zartech, Wacot, Sayeed Farms, Pandagri Novum and Premium Farms as well as the South West, South-South, North West and North Central chapters of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN).The benefiting companies represent the major players in the poultry value chain in the country.The release of the 50,000 metric tonnes of Maize will minimize the activities of intermediaries (middlemen) in the Nigerian Maize market.READ ALSO:CBN votes N50b for Commodity ExchangeThe Central Bank of Nigeria had in January this year, announced the release 300,000 metric tonnes of Maize into the Nigerian Maize Market.This was done to bridge the shortfall in production and augment local production of the commodity.According to the CBN press release, the current shortfall in the quantity of maize available in the market, that CBN is working on mitigating, is attributed to activities of banditry, drought in some parts of the country last year, activities of hoarders and middlemen as well as insecurity around the major maize producing belt of Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and part of Kano states.As part of the Banks financing framework, the CBN facilitates the funding of maize farmers and processors through the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) Commodity Association, Private/Prime Anchors, State Governments, Maize Aggregation Scheme (MAS), and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS).The Nation was told that before releasing the maize, the CBN has to take over the control of the silos where maize are stored.
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