Fish Farmers have blamed their inability to access the Anchor Borrowers Fund, ABF, on the uncooperative attitude of commercial banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN.

The CBN however refuted the claim saying that some of the fish farmers benefited from the ABP but refused to pay back. 

Speaking exclusively to Vanguard on the sidelines of the Norwegian Seafood Seminar in Lagos, the fish farmers said that despite meeting the requirement to access the fund, the banks have refused to meet their financial needs.

Managing Director, Frijay Consult, a Lagos based fish farming company, Mrs. Jerry Uwheraka, said those three years after her company perfected all the required documentation, she is yet to have her loan application approved.

Uwheraka alleged that banks and CBN are working in connivance against fish farmers by not approving applications submitted by farmers’ groups, accusing them of not being ready to implement the policy.

According to her, “The banks cannot even tell us the reason our loan applications are not approved, we just keep going back and forth, just for them to approve the applications. We have been waiting for some time and we have spent money to build farms. Most times the commercial banks will say they are waiting for approval from the Head office.

“We have even gone further to source for markets for farmed fish and up till this moment, the banks have refused to approve our applications.

“Even CBN has a portal through which they can actually approve applications but in that portal, you will discover that there is still an obstacle. We have challenged them to try a few of us and follow through to see how far we can go.”

Similarly, Mr. Efe Oghenemaro, Executive Vice Chairman, Indigo Farms, an integrated agricultural farm based in Abuja, said that the banks have remained obstacles between the farmers and the scheme.

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Source: Vanguard Newspaper 

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/04/fish-farmers-cbn-differ-on-access-to-anchor-borrowers-fund/