THE Federal Executive
Council (FEC) has approved N3.38 billion Africa Development Bank (ADB) loan for
cultivation of potatoes in Plateau State.
Minister of Finance
Kemi Adeosun said this to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC
meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.
According to her, the
state government will also contribute N595 million counterpart funding.
Stressing that about
60,000 jobs will be created from the potatoes value chain, she said 17 local
governments in the state will benefit from the project. A strong monitoring
team, she said, will be in place to ensure the loan is judiciously used.
She said the loan has
five years moratorium and 25 years repayment period.
She said: “My approval
was on behalf of Plateau State to support the potato value chain. There is a
loan that we had previously cancelled from ADB. So, it is not a new loan. We
cancelled it and redirected the money to request on behalf of Plateau State
Government to support the potato value chain.
“The rationale is that
Plateau actually accounts for 95 per cent of Nigeria’s potato production and
from Plateau, potatoes are actually exported to Ghana, Niger, Chad and other
countries and despite that, there are huge profit losses because there is no
enough storage and there is so much more we can do with Plateau’s potatoes.
“So, ADB has come up
with a comprehensive programme that will affect over 100,000 families. It is
expected to create 60,000 jobs in a potato value chain, from processing,
storage, replacement of current inputs and indeed, export.”
Minister of Power,
Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola said FEC approved N1.58 billion for
Abuja-Kaduna highway repairs to support the closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport Abuja.
He said N4.1 billion
was approved for Apapa-Wharf road.
Fashola said: “The two
memos were ratification of road works that had to be done under emergency
circumstances. The first was the Abuja- Kaduna highway. Recall we had to
immediately do palliative works to support the closure of the Abuja airport
runway, which necessitated diversion of traffic to Kaduna.”
“At that time, we
didn’t have FEC’s approval. We only had anticipatory Presidential approval as
prescribed under the law for emergencies works.
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