Author: Mustapha Juma

Nigeria has been struggling to sell its oil since the beginning of May. According to reports, the country’s planned crude loadings for May have not yet found buyers.

The reports indicate that Nigeria, which is West Africa’s biggest oil producer,  is due to export around 1.68 million barrels of crude a day in May, the largest rate in three months.

Rivalry

The recent rebound in U.S. crude production following freezing weather has meant a surge supplies of U.S. light crude, a key rival for Nigeria toward Europe.

This was revealed in a monthly report released on Wednesday by the International Energy Agency.

That’s compounding already-slow sales of Nigerian crude to Europe, where buying has been weaker for months as refineries ran at low processing rates amid the pandemic.

Also Read: Nigeria’s inflation rate drops

Although the global economy is on an upward slope overall, the effects of coronavirus continue to …

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has assured investors that the country’s fiscal policies will be more favourable, predictable and measurably tilted towards creating a harmonious business environment.

Buhari who spoke on Wednesday in Paris, France, urged investors to further explore vast opportunities of human and natural resources in Nigeria.

His call came as he held meetings with some of the biggest investment players, among them the Chairman/CEO of Total, Patrick Pouyanne, Executive Vice President, AirBus, Silvere Delaunay, Chairman of the Board of a software company, Daussault Systems, Florence Verzelen, Chairman/CEO of General Engineering and Marketing of Telecommunications Operator, Francois-Regis Teze and Chairman/CEO, Donaflex Automotive, Dr Donatus Nwokoye, in Paris.

Scaling up operating standards

While meeting with the delegation from Total, President Buhari said the outlook and potentials for growth in the country have remained steadily positive, affirming the government’s commitment to scale up operating standards and policies that encourage mutual benefits.…

Nigeria’s inflation rate has dropped. According to the consumer price index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday May 17, 2021, the inflation rate recorded a slight drop in the month ending April 2021, shedding 0.05 per cent to close at 18.12 per cent in the month under review.

In the preceding month of March, the country’s inflation was 18.7 per cent.

According to the NBS inflation report, the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation increased by 18.12 per cent (year-on-year) in April 2021.

“This is 0.05 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in March 2021 (18.17 per cent),” the bureau said.

The 0.05 per cent drop in April 2021 was the first time the country’s inflation rate would fall in about 20 months, as the last time it fell was in 2019 when the CPI shed 0.06 per cent, falling from 11.08 per …

Cocoa and Chocolate companies have been asked to pay more in premiums. The move which is being spearheaded by Ivory Coast and Ghana is aimed at supporting cocoa farmers’ wages.

The implementation of high premiums may however, take little longer bearing to the economic effects that have been brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Head of Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) Yves Kone acknowledged that the countries have limited leverage to force the hands of companies suffering from a fall in global demand due to the pandemic.

Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together produce about two-thirds of the world’s cocoa, introduced a $400 per tonne premium this season termed the living income differential (LID) to increase wages for farmers, many of whom live in poverty.

But Ivory Coast was forced to repeatedly slash a separate quality premium that exporters pay, known as the country differential, in response to …

The impact of Covid-19 on Africa as a continent has been underestimated, a new report has revealed.

According to a research that was conducted by the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC), burdens experienced by people in African Union Member States remain grave.

While carrying out the research, 81% of survey respondents reported challenges in accessing food, 77% reported experiencing income loss and 42% reported missing medical visits since the start of the pandemic.

The report calls for targeted public health measures for high-risk populations, increased surveillance in light of new variants, and scaled-up vaccine supply from the global community to control the pandemic in Africa.

While the fight against the new Covid-19 variants and the roll out of vaccines has remained low in Africa, Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has said that it will be crucial for African Union Member …

Just days after Somalia announced that her diplomatic relations with Kenya had resumed, the bad blood between the two neighbors seem not to be ending any time soon.

Somalia had restored diplomatic relations with Kenya on Thursday after five months following mediation by Qatar led by Emir Sheikh Tamim Al Thani.

Somalia’s Ministry of Information said they were resuming the relations “in keeping with the interests of good neighbourliness”.

Acknowledging the development, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs ministry said it looks forward to further normalisation of relations by the Somali authorities.

However, Kenya on Monday suspended flights from Somalia in the latest show that relations between the two sides have not thawed as announced.

A Notice to Airmen (Notam) on Monday indicated that flights departing for or arriving from Somalia will not be allowed for three months from May 11 to August 9 this year. Only humanitarian deliveries and medical evacuation flights …

Nigeria has made a move to stop the rejection of the country’s crops by other nations.

The move is being spearheaded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), government agencies and private firms.

The plan was announced in a statement that was issued at the end of a one day workshop.

that was organized by Harvest field industries Limited and IITA.

The workshop was aimed at sharing results of aflatoxin levels in maize sampled nationwide under the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme 2020 Wet Season Project.

The plan to stop the rejection of crops produced in Nigeria follows the adoption of appropriate technologies for the reduction of aflatoxin in crops, food, feeds and livestock which is expected to help achieve zero rejection of commodities exported from Nigeria.

Also Read: Investors to pump $8.4billion into Nigeria’s economy

The one-day workshop in Abuja …

The AGCO Agriculture Foundation (AAF) has announced another project partnership with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) aimed at addressing climate change and food insecurity in the Dadaab Refuge Complex.

In a press statement sent to newsrooms on Thursday, May 6, 2021,  the private foundation committed to ending hunger through sustainable agricultural development noted that this was a second phase of a USD $125,000 project partnership with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).

According to the foundation, the project began this month, with the goal of restoring degraded land, strengthening refugees’ food security and income levels, and increasing production of diverse, nutritious foods.

Dadaab Refugee Complex

The Dadaab Refugee Complex falls within the expansive arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) of Kenya, characterized by hot, dry weather and high rates of evapotranspiration interspersed with occasional flooding in poorly drained areas.

Climate change

Dramatic changes in weather patterns have caused prolonged drought …

Investors are set to pump a total of $8.41 billion into Nigeria’s economy.

According to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), more jobs will be created since the investors are targeting various sectors in the country.

NIPC Executive Secretary Yewande Sadiku who made the announcement during a media briefing in Abuja said  the country’s unemployment level is the second highest globally.

Sadiku noted that the $8.4billion is pledged for the first quarter of the year, while over 23.19 million Nigerians, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, were unemployed during the fourth quarter of 2020.

However, Sadiku said although investment announcements are not actually investment, it gives an aggregate of investors’ interest in Nigeria and also help to translate those announcements to actual investment.

According to her, the Commission has been honest on the gap between announcement and actual investment demonstrating potential.

“We have also said that a …

Dangote Cement Plc is set to raise its production capacity by more than a third.

This follows the surge in demand as Nigerian economy recovers.

According to Dangote Group’s Executive Director Edwin Devakumar, the largest cement producer will expand its capacity from about 50,000 tons in a day at the beginning of the year, to 70,000 tons in a day at the end of the year.

Speaking in a phone interview with Bloomberg, Devakumar noted that the company already begun the reactivation of idle capacity at its Gboko plant, in Benue State in the past seven months.

He further noted that this was due to a 40 per cent increase in demand in Nigeria.

Several African countries have been suffering from poor economy that was occasioned by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Just recently, the International Monetary Fund increased its projection for the Nigeria’s 2021 economic growth to 2.5% from …