Browsing: Dangote fertilizer plant

The EU insists that it has not put sanctions on Russia's food and fertilizer export, yet the global supply of much-needed fertilizer is extremely short, is Russia hoarding fertilizer supplies? Photo/Siasat
  • EU insists it has not put sanctions on food and fertilizers from Russia
  • Malawi receives the first consignment of 20,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizers
  • The EU, UN might consider releasing more fertilizers and food embargoed at European ports to Africa

The EU insists that food and fertilizer are not part of the sanctions it has imposed on Russia due to the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, yet the global supply of much-needed fertilizer is in short supply which begs the question; is Russia hoarding fertiliser supplies?

While the EU says it is not to blame, Russia says it is the Western sanctions that are causing the decrease in fertilizer exports. It only makes sense that Russia would hold back fertilizers to increase its own domestic food production in the face of future uncertainties in the still very volatile situation.

The sanctions on other sectors of Russia’s economy are spiralling to the …

Africa continues to grapple with what has been described by the UN, as the ’perfect storm of horrors’, due to the plethora of troubles that has hit the continent. From the climate change crisis, drought and famine, conflict, Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. The war has especially wreaked havoc on the continent’s food security, due to disruptions in global supply chains pertinently in food, fuel and fertilizers. Food insecurity in the continent was already at an all-time high before the war, principally in the Horn of Africa due to the locust invasion which was climate-induced. The situation was worsened by the pandemic, but the war has caused a full-blown hunger crisis in many regions. Fertilizer shortages and their high prices thereof, continue to exacerbate the hunger quagmire.

According to the 2022 Global Report of Food Crises Mid-Year Update report, at least one in five Africans goes to bed hungry,…

Rising costs have remained a critical issue in the aftermath of the outbreak. Data from the World Bank/NBS Nigeria – COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey 2020 reveals that food prices rose rapidly following the pandemic. In March and April, basic food commodity prices increased by 17.2 per cent and 18.37 per cent, respectively. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the rise remains the highest in two years.

Recent findings based on comprehensive and long-term monthly food price data have revealed considerable price rises for all chosen food categories during the pandemic. Imported rice and wheat costs, for example, have climbed by 41% and 21%, respectively.

Wheat prices surged by 21% nationally, with considerable increases in price dispersion across markets when the epidemic began, and prices continue to grow.

Wheat is the main component of bread and other products such as noodles, pasta, semolina, and other Nigerian pantry staples. …

The global fertilizer market has been shaken, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said that the plant is timely and will help Nigeria solve a perennial fertilizer problem.

The new fertilizer plant will produce 3 million metric tonnes annually, with Buhari expecting a boom as fertilizer is now readily available in more significant quantities and better quality. The head of state encouraged Nigerians to take up agriculture as a business, saying that he expects the rise of a new breed of agropreneurs who will add value to farming and make the nation self-sufficient in food production.”

Dangote said that fertilizer from the plant would be exported to many countries, including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and India.…