The coronavirus pandemic could cost Africa up to US$4.8 billion in lost agricultural exports and affect the livelihoods of 10 million farmers, if McKinsey & Co. Forecasts are anything to go by. The continent’s annual agricultural exports are worth between $35 billion and $40 billion. The losses are likely to be felt in fruit, vegetables and nuts from countries such as South Africa, cocoa and chocolate, coffee and flower exports.
The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) is seeking local soyoil and sunflower oil in a tender for arrival August 10-30. The consignment is at least 3,000 tonnes of soyoil and 2,000 tonnes of sunflower oil. The deadline for offers is June 21. This follows the cancellation of the international purchase tender for vegetable oils due to higher than expected prices.
European Union (EU) farm exports to the GCC grew by 25% in Q1 2020 thanks to COVID-19, which has forced a reappraisal of the health and safety of the entire food system. The growth is attributed to the good coordination between the respective EU and GCC authorities as well as the EU’s ability to respond with a resilient supply chain.
Pan-African private equity firm, Development Partners International (DPI) has invested US$56m into Société Industrielle des Conserves Alimentaires (SICAM), a leading agri-business and tomato processor in Tunisia, aimed to reinforce its market leadership and help drive its international expansion strategy. It is the second investment through its third fund, Africa Development Partners III (ADP III).
National Accelerated Irrigation Development Program (NADIP) gets US $48m for purposes of reviving the irrigation in Zimbabwe. Upon completion of the rehabilitation exercise, irrigation services will be restored on a combined 1,350ha across Masvingo. The largest chunk of funding will go towards the construction of the canal to augment water supplies in the dam.
East Africa Fruits, a Tanzanian firm addressing food distribution challenges by improving efficiencies in the farm-to-market sector, has raised US$2.05m in Series A equity funding round. The company supports smallholder farmers on crop planning in alignment with marketplaces, upgrading farm-side infrastructure and transitioning to sustainable practices.
The Ministry of Agriculture on Saturday sent back a 400-tonne shipment of lemons from Dubai being brought into the Kingdom through the Omari border crossing. Regarding the shipment, questions had been raised about the possible "tampering of the certificate of origin", which resulted in it being withdrawn from the markets.
Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has begun the disbursement of funds to players in the poultry value chain in the country under its Poultry Value Chain Financing Program (PVCFP). The company released the first tranche of the facility; amounting to more than GH¢23 million to six companies in the poultry value chain. ADB committed a GH¢500-million package to support the local poultry industry to increase production in a bid to reduce the country's import of poultry.
H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, ADAFSA, has issued eight new regulations targeting organising the practices of farms and food facilities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. These regulations come to ensure optimal use of natural resources, achieving sustainability of the agricultural and food sectors and increase the local production.
Pearl Capital Partners, which manages the Yield Uganda Investment Fund, has made a seventh investment of UGX 4.6bn (ca. US$ 1.2m) in NASECO. NASECO, which has had operations for over 20 years, produces, processes and distributes certified seeds in Uganda and is growing exports across the regional EAC. The Yield Uganda Investment Fund is a Euros 20m Agri-social impact investment Fund financed by the European Union (EU).
When dealing with the COVID-19 crisis many people struggle to find the best sources of information. As a contribution to the business community, Infomineo has put together a repository of the best sources of information which we will keep updating during the COVID-19 crisis.
Understand the impact of the crisis on the Italian economy through epidemiological Info, impact on expected GDP Growth, HC system capacity, main macro Indicators, and more …
Research is ongoing a major transformation. Infomineo defined, together with industry experts, the best practices in research and conducted a survey to measure how the industry is doing.
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, Value added business research, Casablanca - Barcelona - Cairo -, Dubai, UAE