Presidential fertiliser initiative saved Nigeria $350m – NSIA

THE Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) said it had saved over $350 million from the previous payments on subsidy and import substitution through the implementation of the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative.

NSIA disclosed this in a statement it issued  in Abuja.

According the statement, following notable successes and transformative impact of the initiative over the past four years, Presidency approved its restructuring, starting in the 2021 cycle with various modifications. “The blending plants are expected to provide bank guarantees to cover requisitioned raw materials demand that are appropriated for their respective production volumes.

As part of the new structure and in line with the Presidential directive, the Federal Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning and the Central Bank of Nigeria are expected to engage commercial banks to facilitate lines of concessionary credits to blending plants for the purchase of raw materials,” the statement reads in part.

Under the modifications, NSIA has been transitioned to an upstream player, thereby limiting its involvement to importation, storage and the wholesale of raw materials to blenders, according to the statement.

This, NSIA said, will allow its subsidiary, NAIC-NPK Limited, to spun off to Ministry of Finance Incorporated.

The statement also said that under the new arrangement, blenders would no longer be paid blending fees by NAIC-NPK as they would recover their costs directly from selling fertiliser to the market, so it would balance the incentives of the business and ensure blenders build the right capacity to actively participate in the local supply sub-sector.