Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele has said Edo State is capable of generating over 200,000 jobs and millions of dollars in foreign exchange if they focus on the cultivation and processing of palm oil.
He shared this at the first convocation lecture of Edo State University, Iyamho, Auchi, on Friday.
In his lecture entitled “The Role of Monetary Policy towards Economic Growth in Nigeria”, Godwin disclosed that agriculture was a decent way to grow the economy.
He added that during the peak of the oil crisis, Nigeria made about $23 billion from exports of crude oil in 2017 as against Indonesia which earned about $22 billion from palm oil export within the same period.
His words, “I am indeed delighted that following our intervention with palm oil producers, over the next few years, annual production of the product in Edo alone will be in the realm of 350,000 metric tons,”
“We intend to leverage on unconventional monetary policy tools to improve local production of these commodities, as growth in Nigeria’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors is critical in our efforts to create a diversified wealth base for the country.
“It will also help to insulate our economy from volatility associated with changes in crude oil price.”
Do you agree with him?
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