The Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the power, manufacturing, and aviation sectors has risen to N5.6 trillion in three years, CBN data reveal.
The soft loans were advanced amid the continued and varied challenges facing key sectors of the economy.
The apex bank loans to the three sectors were obtained from the CBN results and accounts between 2020 and 2022.
The reports that showed credit concentration in the various sectors of the economy indicated that the power, aviation, and manufacturing sectors recorded an aggregate of N5.6 trillion 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 with a single-digit interest rate and a long repayment tenor.
The breakdown revealed that CBN’s receivables and other assets in the power and aviation sectors of Nigeria stood at N50.6 billion in 2022, a decline of 96.4 percent from N1.39 trillion in 2021.
Also, in the power and aviation sectors, it reported N935 billion in 2020.
In the manufacturing sector, it reported N1.23 trillion in 2022, an increase of 33.46 percent from N919.03 trillion in 2021. In addition, its concentration in the manufacturing sector was N1.07 trillion in 2020.
From the 2022 results and accounts, the apex bank revealed that its total receivables and others stood at N47.39 trillion, down from N43.18 trillion 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, but 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.”
