the government under the visionary leadership of president muhammadu buhari has made significant efforts at reducing our economy's over - reliance on imports for food and industrial raw materials, towards one that is self - sufficient and self - reliant, with strong commitment towards ensuring that nigerians produce what they eat and eat what they produce. in line with the administration's policy focus to stimulate domestic production and productivity, the central bank of nigeria ( cbn ) has continued to 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches introduce various policy measures, in the form of interventions, to stimulate low - cost and sustainable financing to priority sectors and segments of the economy. the 100 for 100 policy for production and productivity ( ppp ) is one of such interventions designed to fast track productive activities in priority sectors. under this programme, eligible applicants will be required to submit their applications to their banks, after which, a notification is submitted on a dedicated portal – https : / / 100for100ppp. ng, which has been created to ensure transparency and allow applicants track the status of their applications. specifically, for this first cycle of the initiative ending today, 243 applications valued at n321. 06 billion, spread over key sectors such as agriculture, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and services sectors were submitted on the portal. after much engagement, 79 applications were received from banks, valued at n121. 87 billion, for projects in six ( 6 ) sectors, namely agriculture, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, and services sectors. the requests were carefully screened and scrutinized against a set - out selection criteria, which is categorised into : production efficiency and scalability ; local content capacity ; job creation and human capital development ; operating sector relevance ; and potential contribution to economic growth. your excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, following due screening of the applications received, i am pleased to inform you that 28 companies with projects that have clearly articulated proposals were selected for funding. these projects, valued at n23. 20 billion, comprise 14 in the manufacturing sector, 12 in the agricultural sector, and 2 in the healthcare sector. when fully operational, these projects are expected to create over 20, 000 direct and indirect jobs across multiple sectors of the economy, as well as generate close to us $ 125. 80 million in foreign exchange earnings. it is important to note that five ( 5 ) of the selected projects are greenfield projects seeking to exploit the huge opportunities in key sectors of our

the " brown revolution " last year as our mantra for the transformation of the wheat value chain in nigeria. wheat is the 3rd mostly consumed grain in nigeria after maize and rice. it is estimated that we only produce about 1 per cent ( 63, 000 mt ) of the 5 - 6 million mt of wheat consumed annually in nigeria. this enormous demand - supply gap is bridged with over $ 2 billion annual importation of wheat. as a result, wheat accounts for the second highest food import bill in nigeria, thereby putting pressure on the nation's foreign exchange reserves. we have concluded the 1st major wet season wheat farming in plateau state and planted over 100, 000 hectares of wheat across 15 states in the 2021 dry season. this strategic intervention will herald progressive reduction in our wheat import bills over the coming years. 9. we also established a strategic maize reserve with the stock of maize submitted as loan repayment by our farmers. this will provide a buffer for price modulation for the poultry and feed mills nationwide. a total of 241, 656. 76 mt was aggregated in the 2020 wet and dry seasons, out of which 217, 218. 53 mt has been disposed to 18 millers and poultry farmers through the poultry association of nigeria. the program was able to stabilize the poultry and livestock sectors during the pandemic and saved the industry and consumers over n10 billion in raw material costs. 10. our experience over the years has been transformed to operational efficiency of the programme. we have added several layers of controls to improve on transparency and accountability among all stakeholders and what you are witnessing today is a demonstration of our growth and a strong indication of the enormous potential in the country's agricultural space. it is important to note that this is still a far cry from the 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches desired goal. however, the growth processes reaffirm our belief in the potential inherent in our agricultural space and we can hopefully harness them to lead the diversification agenda of the economy. 11. the mega pyramids being launched today represents aggregated paddy rice submitted as repayment of loans by rifan farmers under the 2020 dry season and 2021 wet seasons. beyond the event, it also symbolizes the efforts made by our farmers to commit to loan repayment through produce submission and ultimately ensure the sustainability of the programme. to further create value and transfer these gains along the value chain, we have mapped millers to off - take these paddies and we will track the release of their outputs