CBN explains why Gombe ranked high in Ease of doing business
Chima Azubuike, Gombe
The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) on Monday, validated the Ease of Doing Business awarded to Gombe state Governor Muhammadu Yahaya by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja, saying that it was based current indices.
The award was presented to Governor Yahaya by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, during the 4th MSME awards and Dinner held at the Banquet Hall of the presidential Villa in Abuja.
In his welcome address delivered at the “CBN Fair” held in Gombe, CBN Branch Controller, Shehu Alh. Goringo said the level of participation of the people of Gombe State in the CBN initiatives is highly commendable especially in agricultural value chain.
The CBN Fair is a harmonized sensitization on all CBN initiatives which includes Real Sector Financing and Intervention, Payment System Initiatives, Consumer Protection Clean Naira Note Policy, Financial Inclusion, Consumer Rights etc.
“it is imperative to point out that since the inception of the Anchor Borrowers Program in 2015, CBN invested substantially in the state to boost the production of crops such as Rice, Cotton, Soya Beans, Sorghum, Maize Seeds etc,” he said.
According to him, the choice of Gombe as co-host of the CBN Fair with Bauchi will further deepen the financial inclusion strategy, encourage participation as well as create awareness of the CBN initiatives in Real Sector Financing and other interventions in the North East, particularly Gombe.
He said the state Governor, Yahaya has continued to support the CBN initiatives of deepening financial inclusion drives to provide easy access to finance.
Goringo added, “The efforts of the state government in creating enabling business environment in the state yielded positive result and the state was adjudged as the best in Ease of Doing business by the Presidential Enabling Ease of Doing Business Council (PEBEC).
“Gombe state was selected as the host of this great even in the year 2019, it was successfully conducted and the turn out was impressive and unprecedented, beyond the expectations of the organisers.
“This however signifies how the CBN initiatives and interventions impacts positively in the economic wellbeing of Nigerians, the people of the North East and particularly the ‘Gombawas’ know for their resilience and determination to excel in areas of commerce and agriculture as well as other lucrative business ventures.”