According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, imports from Africa into China of agricultural products, such as rubber, cotton and coffee from Africa into China doubled year-on-year in the first seven months of 2021 January and July 2021.
The Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) has purchased 382,000 tonnes of wheat in an international tender. The tender had closed on Friday with the agency seeking arrival in November from the European Union, Black Sea region, North America, South America and Australia.
A renewed ban on ergot fungus imposed by the quarantine authority caused major disruptions to Egypt’s wheat imports with state grain buyer GASC cancelling its tender after receiving just one offer. Ergot, a fungus that can lead to hallucinations in large quantities, is considered harmless at minor levels. The country’s renewed difficulty in purchasing wheat has led to stocks shortage that forced the minister of supply to resign.
Amman and Israel have signed an agreement to increase agricultural imports by 50,000 tonnes during the current year due to a religious obligation prohibiting the cultivation of land in Israel from September 2021 until the following September.
Denmark has provided Palestine with a US $72 million grant to support its efforts to reach independence. The funds will be spent on local government, agriculture, and in other fields. The office of Denmark's Representative to Palestine has been closely working with agriculture and local government on development projects to solve dependence on products coming from other countries.
Nigerian private equity firm Sahel Capital and German Bank KfW recently launched a US $24 million impact fund to invest in equity in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. SEFAA aims to bridge the financing gap for early-stage businesses and support smallholder production. The new vehicle will take tickets between US $300K and $2.4M.
Smallholder farmers and rural cooperatives across Zambia will benefit from a new EUR 30 million initiative aimed at improving access to long-term financing. The financing scheme will be managed by Zanaco and is backed by the European Union and European Investment Bank.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund approved a grant of US $ 10.7 million to São Tomé and Príncipe for the implementation of the first phase of the Zuntámon Initiative. The initiative prioritizes support to pandemic-affected businesses and recovery in key industries, including agriculture.
Development Partners International (DPI), one of the leading private equity firms serving Africa announced that its ADP III Fund closes its $ 900 million fundraising at above its goal of $ 800 million. DPI will invest in established and growing companies in key sectors in the region, including agri-business.
Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer, donated indigenous trees to various organizations. Beneficiaries included the West Coast region of the Women's Agricultural Society, Bonnies People Project, Seed2Harvest and Fairtrade Africa. In 2020, Western Cape Department of Agriculture Landcare Program rehabilitated 34,352 ha of agricultural land and created 1101 green jobs.
The University of Zimbabwe is set to partner with 20 African agricultural research bodies and CIRAD - the French agricultural research and cooperation organization and INRAE, a public research institute in a project that aims to promote agricultural research to boost food security on the continent.
Releaf, a Nigerian agritech startup secured US $4.2 million from seed funding and grants. Its technology focuses by increasing the availability and quality of raw materials for food factories up near smallholder farmers.
For the past few years, the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture in Dubai have been working to cultivate crops that leave a minimal carbon footprint using reject brine. In just six months, it was able to grow more than 12 tonnes of produce including Salicornia and quinoa.
Afreximbank, AFC along with 7 other development financial institutions join forces with AfDB to speed up agri-industrialization across Africa through agro-industrial processing zones initiative. The initiative intends to enable different stakeholders of the value chain from farmers to distributors will be able to collaborate in one location, cutting transaction costs and sharing business development services.
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