CBN non-interest COVID-19 programmes step towards inclusive growth – Sultan
Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar
President-General Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar has described the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) COVID -19 non-interest intervention programme as a bold step towards engendering inclusive growth.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released the guidelines for the non-interest version of all its intervention programmes.
The initiative covers the Anchor Borrowers Programme, Agri-Business, Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), Creative Industry Financing Initiative, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund, Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) and Credit Support for the Healthcare Sector.
The Sultan in a statement by the NSCIA Deputy Secretary-General, Prof. Salisu Shehu noted that “for decades, Nigerian Muslims have been grossly marginalised in the country’s financial sector and other growth, triggering financial interventions of the CBN due largely to the interest element that is usually involved in the schemes.
He added: “In the absence of non-interest finance, the result has been a high rate of financial exclusion among Muslims, as high as over 60% in some Muslim majority communities. This leads to worsening incidence of abject poverty.”
Continuing, the statement said, ” the implication is that without non-interest alternatives, the CBN can hardly attain its goal of 80% financial inclusion earlier targeted for 2020, nor can any meaningful poverty alleviation and economic empowerment programme be actualized in the foreseeable future.”
