Nigeria had saved N288 billion ($800 million) in Rice Export
Contrary to the Bank of Agriculture (BOA)’s claim that Nigeria had saved N288 billion ($800 million) from rice imports, there are indications that the country has spent N828 billion ($2.3 billion) importing the grain between 2017 and August, 2018, New Telegraph has learnt. The bank had earlier stated that the Federal Government had succeeded in encouraging local production through its assistance to farmers. According to the bank’s Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Niyi Akenzua, BoA had disbursed N150 billion to assist farmers between 2017 and 2018. He noted in Lagos that farmers received N100 billion last year, while a total of N50 billion had been disbursed this year out of the N250 billion earmarked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s intervention scheme. However, import data from a global trade portal, Index Mundi, revealed that the country had imported some 5.6 million tons so far, between 2017 and 2018 at a global price of $410 per ton despite the ban imposed on