Rwanda is now home to two refineries of gold and tin, both of which have the capacity to process large amounts of minerals from within the country and the region.
The refineries are Aldango...
Read more: https://www.commodity-port.com/rwanda-inside-rwandas-new-investments-in-minerals/

Rocket Hits ExxonMobil Headquarters in Iran

A rocket has just landed on the residential and operations headquarters of several US oil giants including ExxonMobil Corporation in Iraq.
The attack is coming a few days after several attacks were carried on US interests in Iraq...
continue reading:
https://www.commodity-port.com/rocket-hits-exxonmobil-headquarters-in-iran/

Much of the continent’s food perishes before it gets to market because its farmers are starved of knowledge and of resources.

In the village of Kura, in Kano State, Nigeria, where he grew up, with his grandfather, he lost half of his tomatoes after each harvest....read more on https://www.commodity-port.com/africa-can-feed-the-world-if-we-follow-the-trends-to-improve-it/

ACET and ICT Authority of Kenya hold workshop on right-skilling Africa for Industry 4.0

https://www.commodity-port.com/acet-and-ict-authority-of-kenya-hold-workshop-on-right-skilling-africa-for-industry-4-0/

Cocoa industry stakeholders accept price dictated by Ghana, Ivory Coast

https://www.commodity-port.com/cocoa-industry-stakeholders-accept-price-dictated-by-ghana-ivory-coast/

The nation’s crude oil reserves dropped by 481 million barrels to 36.972 billion barrels in 2018, according to a new report by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

OPEC, in its 2019 Annual Statistical Bulletin, said Nigeria’s crude oil reserves stood at 37.453 billion barrels in 2017 and 2016; 37.062 billion barrels in 2015 and 37.448 billion barrels in 2014. According to the report, the number of active oil rigs in the country rose to 32 last year from 13 in 2017 and nine in 2016.

Following the steep fall in global oil prices in 2014, the nation’s rig count dropped from...read more
https://www.commodity-port.com/nigerias-crude-oil-reserves-fall-to-36-97-billion-barrels/

African Development Bank showcases impact of Korean drone technology on agricultural productivity

Read more on: https://www.commodity-port.com/african-development-bank-showcases-impact-of-korean-drone-technology-on-agricultural-productivity/

Africa’s female agripreneurs to propel next wave of growth, prosperity: experts

https://www.commodity-port.com/africas-female-agripreneurs-to-propel-next-wave-of-growth-prosperity-experts/

AEC to Host Roadshow for Equatorial Guinea Oil & Gas and Mining Licensing Rounds in China

https://www.commodity-port.com/aec-to-host-roadshow-for-equatorial-guinea-oil-gas-and-mining-licensing-rounds-in-china/

‘Not a good year for SA’s agricultural machinery market’

https://www.commodity-port.com/not-a-good-year-for-sas-agricultural-machinery-ma

Engie signs MoU in Djibouti for 30 MW solar plant

https://www.commodity-port.com/engie-signs-mou-in-djibouti-for-30-mw-solar-plant/

Helios Investment Plans $1.25 Billion Pan-Africa Fund

https://www.commodity-port.com/helios-investment-plans-1-25-billion-pan-africa-fund/

Engie signs MoU in Djibouti for 30 MW solar plant

https://www.commodity-port.com/engie-signs-mou-in-djibouti-for-30-mw-solar-plant/

West African farm 'bootcamp' gets green entrepreneurs into shape

Read more: https://www.commodity-port.com/west-african-farm-bootcamp-gets-green-entrepreneurs-into-shape/

U.S. stockpiles of Venezuelan cocoa swelled in May to levels not seen in at least five years, a Reuters analysis showed, as exporters in the crisis-hit country hit by U.S. sanctions scramble to raise cash however they can.

Venezuela is in the midst of a yea...

Continue reading: https://www.commodity-port.com/venezuelan-cocoa-piles-up-in-new-york-as-exporters-scramble-for-cash/

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has praised the Federal Government for the proposed livestock plan, saying that it would boost business and go a long way in ending herders/farmers clashes. Chairman of the Association, Lagos state chapter, Otunba Femi Oke, conveyed this information to AgroNigeria in a phone-in interview. Oke said that the present administration has shown that it is a listening government and that the proposed plan is a proof of that.

Read more: https://www.commodity-port.com/afan-commends-federal-government-on-livestock-plan/

Lack of collaboration limiting scope of indigenous oil, gas companies

https://www.commodity-port.com/lack-of-collaboration-limiting-scope-of-indigenous-oil-gas-companies/

African Development Bank provides €100 Million partial guarantee for commercial agriculture in Africa

https://www.commodity-port.com/african-development-bank-provides-e100-million-partial-guarantee-for-commercial-agriculture-in-africa/

Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc’s Operations Director, Mr. Effiong Okon, has stated that Africa is the destination for gas development and investment.
He gave this insight in his keynote address at the Africa E & P Summit held in London recently.

The Africa E&P Summit is a landmark event on Africa, which brings together key players and senior executives in the oil sector and governments involved in the African oil and gas business.

His address titled, “Oil and Gas Rising in Africa”, provided an overview of the oil and gas landscape in Africa, stressing that there have been abundant discoveries of oil and gas reserves, which have over the years, attracted key international oil companies to the continent.

He stated: “Alongside these majors is the rising of the independents who have also come into existence and have continued to grow in leaps and bounds,” he explained, adding that: “The appetite for African oil and gas is still growing and continues to present significant investment opportunities. Investors are attracted to the many recent and ongoing license bid rounds in the continent.

“Most of the oil majors and the independent’s companies have continued to flourish with some exporting not just oil but also gas out of the continent. Most companies had to strategize portfolio balancing after the recent downturn in oil prices. Assets have been changing hands between the oil majors and the Independents.”

Some challenges, according to the Seplat director, still exist despite the significant discoveries and impressive production of oil and gas across the continent, which has a good balance of oil and gas.

He said Africa has a good balance of oil and gas but still faces the challenge of importing the refined products with the lack of sufficient refining capacity.

Source: Vanguard

Kenya requested the World Bank for a $750 million loan to fund affordable housing, agriculture and other development projects amid concerns the East African nation is taking on too much debt.
The lender meets Tuesday to consider Kenya's request for the loan, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The person asked not to be identified because the matter is still private.
It's the first proposed so-called Development Policy Financing to support Kenya's reform program to "further enhance economic growth and make it more inclusive," the lender said on its website.
Some of the funding is for two of the state's so-called Big Four priorities - affordable housing and farmer incomes and food security - while the rest will "create fiscal space to allow the government to invest in key development programs; and crowd in private investment and leverage digitization to support the government's inclusive-growth agenda," the World Bank said...

Read more: https://www.commodity-port.com/kenya-seeks-750m-loan-for-affordable-homes-and-agriculture-agriculture/

New Emir of Gaya in Kano State, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulkadir has urged youths in the state to participate in farming and be less dependent on wages and salaries.
The royal father made this charge during a visit by members of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and the National Association of Kano State Students (NAKSS) to his palace.
In his words, “Youths wouldn’t be wandering around after they have graduated from school if farming has been embraced as a profession”
Emir Abdulkadir added that the youths will benefit from agriculture if they adopted it as a profession, thereby making them independent and contribute to enhancing the economy of the state and the country as a whole.
“North is well known with farming, therefore there is the need we revive the sector through embracing farming by the youths,” the Emir noted.


Source: AgroNigeria

Zimbabwe is to start paying compensation this year to thousands of white farmers who lost land under former president Robert Mugabe’s land reform nearly two decades ago, the government said, as it seeks to bring closure to a highly divisive issue.

Two decades ago Mugabe’s government carried out at times violent evictions of 4,500 white farmers and redistributed the land to around 300,000 black families, arguing it was redressing imbalances from the colonial era.
But land reform still divides public opinion as opponents see it as a partisan process that left the country struggling to feed itself.

“The registration process and list of farmers should be completed by the end of April 2019, after which the interim advance payments will be paid directly to former farm owners,” Zimbabwe’s ministries of finance and agriculture said in a joint statement on Monday.

They said the process to identify and register farmers for compensation was being undertaken the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) and a committee representing the farmers.

Read more https://www.commodity-port.com/zimbabwe-to-start-paying-white-farmers-compensation-after-april/

The stock market generally has a long history of producing profits for investors, but not everyone ends up a winner. Short term trading in the Nigerian stock market is what most people are advised to go for. You can make quick money from speculation quicker than you can ever imagine. It is possible to get some stock unit, let’s say for N200,000 and quickly make gain by selling it within the next few weeks or months.

However, it is possible to buy some unit for N200,000 and watch your money deplete into half within the next few weeks. So, this is a win or lose approach; but if you are well informed about the ins and outs of investing in the stock market and the Nigerian stock exchange, it is possible to avoid the risks and make quick cash.

Here are 3 things you need to know:
https://www.commodity-port.com/3-vital-things-to-know-before-you-invest/

In Zimbabwe, the high cost of bread is forcing citizens to look for alternatives to this basic commodity as food shortages and soaring prices continue to worsen.

https://www.commodity-port.com/bread-in-zimbabwe-now-almost-a-luxury-for-the-rich/

Esoko an agricultural profiling system has revealed that food prices will go down in the month of March.
In a report, Esoko stated that the reduction is because farmers want to sell their old stock as this is to help them raise enough money for the new season.

Most commodities made gains in the month of February. However, the majority of the gains made were less than 5 percent. Groundnut made gains of 4.09 percent to close at GHC479.10 per bag.

Pona (which is a type of yam) also increased by 2.52 percent to close at GHC596.82 with Maize gaining 2.49 percent to close GHc 146.26 per bag. Millet gained 1.31 percent to close at GHc 232.29 per bag with local rice also gaining 1.24 percent to close at GHc 326.71.

Soya gained 1.14 percent to close at GHc 240 per bag. The price of Gari gained 14.40 percent to close at GHS 183.04 with Wheat also gaining 14.38 percent to close at GHS 288.80 per bag. Fresh cassava gained 6.72 percent to close at GHS 66.34 per bag.

However, the net effects of the close of February commodity trading, with price picking up, the early part of March should be expected to see this effect remaining.

In a statement, FEPSAN President, Mr. Thomas Etuh, said the move would stop the importation of poor quality NPK fertilizer blends into the country.

Etuh said that the ban would boost local capacity and protect the soil from toxic fertilizers imported into the country by unscrupulous businessmen.

He said the government had done the right thing because no economy that desired to grow would encourage the importation of what it could produce and at affordable prices.

“The only way the Federal Government can demonstrate its commitment to improve agricultural production and boost local capacity is by taking such strong purposive steps.

“The ban will position the entire agricultural value chain and allied industries to support the Nigerian economy while widening the already open opportunities for foreign exchange earnings.”

Etuh said the ban would save the country about 500 million dollars annually and create more jobs for Nigerians in the agro-allied sector.

He stressed that NPK fertilizer blended in the country were produced with specific soil composition in mind, which was not the case with most imported products which destroyed the soil and stunted the growth of crops.

“Fertiliser blending plants in Nigeria are growing and have demonstrated capacity to produce exactly what Nigerian farmers need to enrich Nigerian soil for improved food production.

Read more at... https://www.commodity-port.com/epsan-applauds-fg-for-banning-npk-fertilizer-importation/

Coffee farmers are not as happy as other players along the value chain because they are getting a modest share of revenues, experts in the industry have agreed.

This, they say, only spells negative consequences to the sector, if it remains unchecked.

“As we are here, traders, roasters and exporters, we have smiles on our faces. I would love to see similar smiles on the faces of the farmers. And that can only happen if the farmer gets the right price for his or her coffee,” said Ishak Lukenge, Chairman of Board at African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA).

Lukenge – who has experience in coffee farming, roasting and exporting – together with other experts, were speaking during the just-concluded African Fine Coffee Conference & Exhibition held in Kigali last week.

Considered Africa’s largest coffee trade platform, the event attracted about 1,500 participants from 32 countries, including coffee producers, exporters, roasters, policymakers, and buyers from around Africa, the Americas, Europe, among other parts of the world.

https://www.commodity-port.com/coffee-industry-grapples-with-low-farm-incomes/

Resources and investments associated with these operations, if done too early, could go down the drain, and this could discourage resource-poor farmers from making another attempt, especially if farms operation costs are not insured.

An agricultural consultant, David Ayodele, who operates a fleet of tractors in the North Central zone, advised farmers, while speaking with The Guardian, that farmland preparations depend on the rainfall patterns, the crop of interest and the zone of operations.

Basically, he added, if the farmland to be used is yet to be deforested, the land clearing can begin in March. After the land clearing, land preparation can begin in the forested zones.

“If you are planting cassava, for example, you can do first plowing and harrowing, depending on the terrain. If you are planting with a cassava planter, you can leave it at that level. But if you are planting manually, you might need ridging. That means you plow, harrow and ridge the farmland. You may avoid harrowing if you want,” he said.

Mr. Biodun Olugbemi of the Association of Equipment Hiring Operators said land clearing should be done in the forested areas a month before land preparation.

In the South of the country, clearing of the forest should begin in March, while in the North; it could begin in April or may depending on the area.

Corroborating Ayodele, he said land preparation, which includes making beds and ridges, should begin when the rainfalls are stable, about a month or less to the planting dates.

Read more at... https://www.commodity-port.com/entrepreneurs-association-caution-farmers-against-early-land-preparation-planting/

Eleven members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 10 other nations are collectively trying to remove about 1.2 million barrels of daily production to stabilize the oil market. OPEC compliance was 86 percent last month, while non-OPEC was just 25 percent, in most cases. The countries are using October 2018 as the starting point for their curbs. Despite exceeding the output in January, there are concerns that the inability of the cartel to hold the price high and steady will have implications for Nigeria’s 2019 projections.

More than any other country, Nigeria needs the oil price to rise and in the worst case, remain steady at any price above the $60 benchmark of the 2019 budget. To achieve this, the country needs to avoid disruptions in crude production and also hope that the alliance under OPEC achieves its objective, even though many are yet to comply with the output cut, including Nigeria.

Contrary to a production benchmark of 2.3 million barrels per day (mbpd) used for the 2019 budget estimates by the Federal Government, Nigeria needs to cut production down by 53,000 barrels to arrive at a new quota of 1.685 million bpd down from the reference production figure of 1.797m bpd recorded in January.

Read more at... https://www.commodity-port.com/can-opec-hold-its-ranks-implications-for-nigeria/

Following the release of our report on Nigeria’s oil palm sector where we opined that the industry is keenly positioned to soar further over the coming years (as investments in burgeoning milling and refining capacity by listed sector players will crystallize in expanded revenues and profitability),

we are pleased to pitch the investment opportunity in OKOMUOIL and PRESCO to you. In the report, we suggested that the sector has ridden on positive government support since 2015 as oil palm import restrictions enhanced the premium pricing opportunity for players, while the sector also enjoys the favorable posture of the federal government towards providing low-cost capital financing for the agricultural sector compared with other sectors in Nigeria.

komu Oil Palm Plc… We Recommend “BUY”

For Okomu Oil Palm Plc, we expect oil palm and rubber trees on about 8,809 hectares and 1,989 hectares to mature within our forecast period. The company’s management revealed plans of expanding its milling capacity to 75.0 FFB MT/hour in FY:2019 and then reach 150.0 FFB MT/hour by FY:2022. This indicates an opportunity for growth in company revenues and overall profitability, as we expect the company’s cost containment strategy to continually deliver a slow pace of expansion in costs.

Read more at... https://www.commodity-port.com/nigerias-oil-palm-sector-an-investment-case-for-okomuoil-and-presco/

In a statement released by the regional bank, Dr. Adesina said Africa’s partnership with other development allies such as Korea, should be more structured, adding that the continent should connect financial instruments and technologies in order to fully realize her potential.

“Africa’s partnership with Korea should be more concrete and more structured. We should connect financial instruments and technologies from Korea with the numerous initiatives on the continent,” he said.

Dr. Adesina said two initiatives by the regional bank, the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and the Staple Crop Processing Zones (SCPZ), were potential joint venture opportunities for Korean agricultural investment in Africa.

“Through these initiatives, the bank and its partners seek to add value to every single thing that is produced, so we can have massive agro-industrialization and value-addition. We must transform our rural areas from zones of economic misery to zones of economic prosperity. And the way to do that is to turn agriculture into a big business that works for the poor,” he said.

Dr. Adesina observed that Korea and Africa, for instance, have a strong partnership through the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) with joint initiatives in agriculture, technology, and other important economic sectors.

Read more at... https://www.commodity-port.com/call-for-increased-economic-momentum-in-africa/