Delta House of Assembly approves N1.5bn agric loan for youths

AS part of its resolve to engage unemployed youths in agricultural activities, the Delta State House of Assembly has approved the sum of N1.5 billion loan for the Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The loan was approved during a plenary session in the state capital, Asaba, after a unanimous decision was reached sequel to a letter sent by the governor of the state, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, urging the representatives to acknowledge his request.

According to the letter read by the Speaker of the House, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, Okowa, was quoted as saying: “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its bid to fast-track the diversification of the economic base of the nation, introduced the Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme, AADS.

“The scheme which is designed to engage unemployed youths in agricultural activities and help maintain food stability will see the CBN partnering with State Governments by providing a loan facility to be accessed by participating State Governments to support the infrastructure base of the scheme.

“The credit facility would be accessed by States through their Deposit Money Bank (DMBS) and Zenith Bank Plc. has offered the State N1.5 billion for the AADS facility at under-pricing and tenor terms indicated by the CBN.

“It is planned that the loan would be deployed and utilized to support interaction, development, transformation and sustainability of the entire aquaculture value chain, with the bulk of the squad funds devoted to developing key post-harvest infrastructure involving processing, preservation, packaging and market facilities.

“The purpose of the letter is to request the Honourable House to, by way of resolution, approve the acceptance of Zenith Bank Plc’s offer of credit in the sum of N1.5 billion only, on the terms by the CBN to enable the state access the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS),” the letter read.