COVID-19: CBN ready to fund research for vaccine -Emefiele says

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has disclosed that it will fund the research for COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

This was made known by the Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele at the unveiling of the THISDAY Dome testing, tracing, and treatment centre on Tuesday in Abuja.

Emefiele said, “Needless to state that if we are to wait for foreign countries to develop their own vaccines, we will be the last in the queue to receive curative remedies for our teeming population.”

According to Emefiele, the framework will involve grants and long term facilities that will be provided to “researchers, science institutions and biotechnology firms to develop the Nigerian Vaccine.”

Emefiele further disclosed that the apex bank recently launched an N100bn healthcare intervention fund.

“Practitioners in the Pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors will be able to access finance at a single-digit rate through this fund,” he explained.

He said that in a bid to cushion the effects of Coronavirus on the country’s economy, the apex bank has implemented several initiatives such as the provision of one trillion naira facility for firms operating in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

“We are also working with financial institutions to enable the continuous flow of credit to viable businesses while putting in place provisions such as moratoriums and restructuring of existing loans under CBN intervention funds that have been provided to businesses,” he added