The Director, Development and Finance Department, CBN, Mr
Yusuf Yila, gave the commitment during the inauguration of the first
cassava-based Sorbitol factory in Africa, Psaltry International Company Ltd,
located at Ado-Awaye in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State.
Yila who was represented by the Deputy Director in the
department, Mr. Edwin Nzelu, said the initiative introduced in 2019, is aimed
at conserving foreign exchange through import reduction, boosting local
production, thereby closing the exiting supply gap of commodities with
comparative advantage, as well as job and wealth creation, stating that it has
enabled the bank to intervene across the value chain of several commodities
from production to processing.
According to him, Psaltry was one of the beneficiaries of
CBN's CDI, noting that local production of cassava-based Sorbitol would help to
strengthen the naira, reduce unemployment and over reliance on importation of
the product which is a natural sweetener extracted from glucose that drives
agricultural revolution.
He said, "Psaltry International Company Limited is a
beneficary of the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), one of the CBN's
interventions aimed at fast tracking development of the agricultural sector of
the economy by providing credit facilities to commercial agricultural
enterprises at a single digit interest rate."
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Psaltry, Mrs. Oluyemisi
Iranloye, said the company would create job for 10,000 youths in the community,
adding that it would also indirectly impact on 100,000 people within 200 km
radius to the factory covering more than 50 communities.
She added that the company would create pathway for aspiring
entrepreneurs, aid financial institution on how they can play important roles
in agricultural revolution and how the nation can reduce its dependent on other
countries for survival.
She said, "The factory has capacity to produced 25 tons
of sorbitol per day. CBN funded our first starch factory, which started
production on January 26, 2012, and finished in 2013.
Part of the funds was used to finance the community
projects. From the funds, we invested immensely into enhancing the quality of
the farmers' agricultural produce. Quality is a key ingredient in the success
of our company."
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