President Muhammadu Buhari explains his decision in the following statement:
“The foreign reserve will be conserved and utilized strictly for diversification of the economy, and not for encouraging more dependence on foreign food import bills"
This move comes 1 week after Central Bank governor announced that the bank would ban access to foreign exchange for the importation of milk.
-Saudi Arabia hopes to relaunch its failing poultry industry by opening up new markets to be able to compete with cheap chicken imports from Brazil
The SA Poultry Association submitted an application to ITAC to increase the ad valorem tariff on bone-in and boneless frozen chicken portions to 82% from existing levels of 37% and 12% respectively.
Liberian President George Weah suspends tariffs on 40 agricultural products to boost the economy and support farmers.
The 40 products include live bovine animal breeding, all types of agriculture seeds of cereals including rice, animals or vegetable fertilizer, whether mixed together or chemically treated, fertilizer produced by mixed or chemical treatment, among others.
Saudi state grain buyer SAGO to lower quality specifications for wheat imports, making way for Black Sea wheat products to enter SA, mainly from Russia.
The association of German farm cooperatives, DRV is seeking alternative markets for its Wheat exports, especially Mexico, China and Indonesia.
The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, (NIRSAL) a subsidiary of the Central Bank partnered with Nasarawa government to facilitate agribusiness financing for farmers
NIRSAL is a $500 million project of the CBN with the mandate of de-risking agriculture and facilitating agribusiness in the country.
World Bank signed a XAF270 million grant agreement with Activa Assurance and AXA Cameroon to assist farmers in purchasing affordable insurance coverage.
This project comes to counter climate change effects and disasters that affect farmers.
Corteva to invest $10m in Israeli agro-tech unit LaVie Bio (held by Evogene) :
The company will hold a 30% stake of the unit while Evogene remains with a 70% stake
LaVie Bio develops bacterial compositions sprayed on seeds & plants to improve crops. Corteva will be able to market these products while LaVie Bio will be paid royalties.
Anheuser-Busch InBev collaborated with blockchain firm BanQu to assist African smallholder farmers along their supply chain with an economic identity technology solution:
-Farmers in the AB InBev value chain can track the sales of their crops
-Farmers receive payments via a mobile money solution
-1200 smallholder farmers signed up for the platform, it gives access to pricing, sales, payment and credit lines from banks.
Phase 1 of the aerial mapping projects using drones and AI for data analysis yielded the following information:
-895 out of the 5,637 farms are crop farms and 2,919 are animal farms. The crop farms comprise 35,535 fruit trees and 200,230 trees that serve as windbreakers
-The mapping covered the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, phase 2 will cover Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah
-Insights about agricultural regions and climatic conditions, key government development programs, investments in the agri-sector.
-Insights collected from primary search conducted with market players, institutions and industry experts helped triangulate the data between the various sources and probe the data collected via desk search...
Land reforms have been a thorny issue in Africa since the independence periods. Many countries, including South Africa and Nigeria, are still trying to navigate the complex matter of land rights, land reorganization, and the proper way to distribute agricultural land based on historic and socio-economic considerations.
INFOMINEO
Infomineo is a data and research service provider, that specializes in Africa and the Middle East, dedicated to supporting global companies in getting access to information that powers their investment decisions in the region. Through a direct presence in key markets such as the UAE, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco, Infomineo provides a quick access to market data on key questions such as: market and product prioritization, partner identification, commercial due diligence, route to market, supply chain mapping and competitive analysis among others. Along with conductingCustom Research for clients, Infomineo also delivers an Expert Network service and a Business Translation service.
INFOMINEO, Business Center - Dubai World Central, Dubai, PO Box 390667