Overview
Nigeria is one of Africa's largest producers of rice grains but also the continent's largest importer of milled rice. The current production of rice in Nigeria stands at 7.0 million metric tonnes with a consumption demand of 10.5 million metric tonnes which creates a deficit gap of 2.5 million metric tonnes. The launch of the Anchor Borrowers' Programme (ABP), birthed the rice revolution. As a precursor to the revolution, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 23, 2015, issued a policy circular excluding 41 items (later 43), including rice, from being procured with foreign exchange from the official foreign exchange markets.
This policy has now been reversed