Private sector support against COVID-19 hits N29bn 

The total contribution by the private sector Coalition against COVID-19 (COCAVID) now stands at N29 billion, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.

Godwin Emefiele, the apex bank chief, made the disclosure on Sunday at the commissioning of Lagos State isolation centre in Yaba, saying the new facility would help build Nigeria’s health system capacity in curtailing the pandemic’s spread.

“I will like to commend the Nigerian private sector who have come together under the Coalition Against COVID-19 to support the government by providing donations which today stands at almost N29bn.

“These donations are being used to build well equipped centers cross the 36 states of the federation.

“So far, CACOVID has established 32 isolation centers across states in the country and by the end of july,39 isolation centers would have been established by CACOVID all over the country,” he said.

Read also: NIMASA alerts of 13 vessels entering Nigeria from COVID-19 endemic countries

Mr Emefiele further stated that steps taken to rein in the spread of the novel virus had had unprecedented consequences on the world’s economy as well as the Nigerian economy, further stating that “global growth is expected to contract by over 4.9 per cent in 2020 down from a positive growth of 2.9 per cent in 2019.”

The Nigerian economy, according to him, is exposed to the twin shocks of public health crisis and revenue slump triggered by a 55 per cent fall in oil prices between January and May.

“This un-parallel shock must require that all state governments along with the organised private sector to work together to address these challenges in order to preserve lives and restore economic activities in our country.

“We have implemented several initiatives to cushion the effects of the pandemic which include the N50 billion intervention facility for house-hold and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs that were adversely affected by the pandemic; N100 billion facility for the health and pharmaceutical sector and a N1 trillion facility for the agricultural and manufacturing firms of the economy.”

Emefiele observed that the CACOVID alliance had so far provided around 32 isolation centres across 32 states with the figure expected to reach 39 by the end of July.

Opinions