₦airaland Forum

The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, says Nigerian lawyers should get more involved and active in the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas industry. Wabote said this at a panel session during the 58th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja.

Speaking on the topic, “Managing transition and transformation of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry”, Wabote stated that lawyers have a big role to play and that includes getting more involved in the development of the laws and regulations of the land and keeping the emerging legal regime simple for easy implementation and compliance.

To read more…[url].https://www.commodity-port.com/index.php?page=article&&view=213[/url]

For more than 50 years, IITA has been breeding improved crops for Africa, from drought-tolerant maize to vitamin-A enriched cassava. These crop improvements have an estimated market value of US $17 billion going back into the African economy.
Publicly funded agricultural research centres, referred to as the CGIAR System, have a long history of improving crops and animals around the world to enhance nutrition and livelihoods and create more sustainable food systems. But as we look to the future, we know that we must cultivate more than these commodities if we are to achieve our mission. We must also cultivate people – especially the 1.2 billion young men and women in developing countries.
In fact, around 90 per cent of the world’s young people today live in countries like these, mostly in rural areas where meaningful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities are limited.
Yet often, rural young people are poorly understood in research compared to more ‘visible’ groups such as urban youth. Their levels of unemployment remain startlingly high and are driving the rise in urbanisation, migration and political insecurity. But it does not need to be this way. Rural jobs, both on-farm and off-farm,
Read more...https://www.commodity-port.com/blog/index.php/2018/09/25/african-agricultures-future-lies-in-cultivating-youth-not-only-crops/

The oil market is “tightening up,” but the Trump administration could still spoil oil prices if its aggressive trade war against China drags down economic growth.
The trade war could hit the oil and gas markets in several ways. First, the back-and-forth escalation of tariffs could drag down economic growth. The first round of tariffs, which hit $50 billion in Chinese goods, targeted a relatively narrow set of products. But the latest $200 billion in tariffs will raise the cost for a wide array of consumer goods in the U.S., which could slow the economy. Specific industries that are affected by the tariffs will see more concentrated damage.
Second, oil and gas are likely to be specifically affected by the trade war, which wasn’t the case in the previous rounds of tariffs. China announced $60 billion in retaliatory measures on Tuesday, which included a 10 percent tariff on imported LNG from the United States.
The problem with the trade fight is that once the tariffs are in place, there is pressure on both sides not to back down. That doesn’t bode well to a swift resolution of this conflict.
Over the longer-term, the tariff upends the economics of building new LNG export terminals in the United States. China has emerged as the main driver of LNG demand growth, and any new export terminal located anywhere around the world likely has China at the center of its calculations.
For now, China has declined to put tariffs on U.S. crude oil. In fact, China has stepped up purchases of oil from the United States over the past two years. However, Beijing could be reserving that option for the next round of escalation, such as in retaliation for the potential $267 billion in further tariffs that Trump has threatened.
Read more..https://www.commodity-port.com/blog/index.php/2018/09/19/the-biggest-risk-in-todays-oil-markets

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday said a new and unpopular tax on petroleum products was necessary, but that he wanted to cut it to 8 percent from 16 percent.
The government had faced a fuel dealers’ strike, anger among commuters and a lawsuit after transport and fuel prices jumped when the 16 percent value-added tax on all petroleum products entered into force on Sept. 1.
Kenyatta rejected on Thursday a parliamentary finance bill that sought to postpone the tax altogether. Parliament will reconvene next week to examine Kenyatta’s new proposal.
The implementation of the new value-added tax on fuel is a key to government plans to shrink its fiscal deficit while funding essential programmes, Kenyatta said.
“Further delay in the implementation of the tax would compromise our ability to deliver basic services to Kenyans, and to maintain the trajectory of our development,” he said, while adding that he wanted to lower the rate because of the tax’s impact on the cost of living.
To read more....https://www.commodity-port.com/index.php?page=article&&view=199

PROMOTION of Tanzania's investment and trade opportunities at the ongoing China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) 2018, here, have started yielding positive results with some Chinese investors expressing interest in processing cassava starch.

The good news comes amid the 1 billion US dollars (about 1.22trl/-) agreement between the governments of Tanzania and China in commercialisation of the tubers, which are on high demand in Asian countries, particularly China.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Tanzania Promotion Conference and Business Matching yesterday, the Managing Director of Fosham Guangji Trade Company Limited, Mr Qiu Ruming, told the 'Daily News' in an interview that his company is interested in setting up the processing facility in Tanzania.
"There is a very huge demand for cassava in China. I will travel to Tanzania in November, this year, to explore the possibility of establishing a processing facility there," Mr Ruming explained during the interview at the Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre (NICEC).
The Chinese investor is currently operating four cassava processing factories in neighbouring Vietnam, but he is now eyeing to expand wings to Tanzania, To read more.....https://www.commodity-port.com/index.php?page=article&&view=198

when you trade, you buy and sell stocks, commodities or currencies within the same trading day. This means that when you're day trading, you're attempting to make profit by leveraging large amounts of capital. This way, you have the ability to maximize and take advantage of small price movements.
However, because you're using leverage, day trading can be dangerous, so you need a number of day trading tips to help. The best day trading tip is to use thorough and well thought out day trading strategies.
Day trading strategies can help you navigate your way through the trading markets, allowing you to come up with a plan for when you face certain trading scenarios.
What is a Day Trading Strategy?
A day trading strategy outlines a specification for your trades, including rules for trade entries and exits.
If you properly research your day trading strategy, then it can provide you with a mathematical explanation for the specified rules, which will provide you with an indication about whether your potential trade has the ability to be profitable. 
To read more click……https://www.commodity-port.com/blog/index.php/2018/09/14/day-trading-strategies/

When trading commodities we calculate their price moves in a measurement called ticks. A tick is therefore the smallest possible price change for any commodity-based instrument and the size of a tick will be unique to each instrument in question.

For example, if an ounce of gold is trading at $1,700.00 and moves to $1,700.01, we say the market moved one tick. If a barrel of crude oil is trading at $90.05 and moves to $90.06, again we say it moved one tick. Therefore for these markets a one tick movement simply refers to a one cent movement in price.

However, other instruments do not move in 1c movements. For example, soft commodities such as wheat, corn and soybeans all move in 25c increments. So let’s say wheat moved from $690.50 per (100) bushel to $690.75 we say it has moved 1 tick.
Read more...https://www.commodity-port.com/blog/index.php/2018/09/10/how-to-calculate-price-moves-when-trading-commodities/

On September 7, The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), based in Ibadan, Nigeria, became the first institution to receive the distinguished Africa Food Prize at the 2018 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) held in Kigali, Rwanda.

The independent Africa Food Prize Committee, chaired by former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, selected IITA for its deep commitment over many decades to producing a steady stream of innovations that have boosted the nutrition and incomes of millions of people across Africa. In recent years, that work also has included a critical focus on connecting crop science to creating employment for Africa’s youth and ensuring African farmers can adapt to the stresses of climate change and the growing threat for an array of crop pests and plant diseases.

“IITA stood out to us for its steadfast and inspiring commitment to a research agenda that aligns with both our African traditions as well as the evolving needs of African farmers and consumers for the latest advances food production. From the cassava we’re still eating today, to the valuable and nutritious soybeans we now grow in our fields, to maize varieties that can withstand drought and deadly toxins—our diets and our agriculture businesses would be much poorer today without IITA’s leadership, and its willingness to forge powerful bonds with African farmers and African communities.” President Obasanjo said. read more...[url]https://www.commodity-port.com/index.php?page=article&&view=188
[/url]

"Cocoa yields are declining across Ghana, the world’s second-biggest producer after neighboring Ivory Coast, where about 800,000 family farmers supply cocoa beans to chocolate companies such as Hershey’s and Nestle, according to the government".

NYAME NNAE, Ghana (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Since Emmanuel Agyekum took over a decade ago as chief of Nyame Nnae, a poor cocoa farming village in western Ghana, people’s incomes have fallen and his worries have increased.

The cocoa trees planted behind wood-plank houses are getting old, and produce only a fraction of what they used to.

Last year, money ran out between harvest seasons and people struggled to buy food.

“The cocoa trees are dying and it is a worry to us all,” said Agyekum, sitting in a plastic chair in a dirt yard.
Cocoa yields are declining across Ghana, the world’s second-biggest producer after neighboring Ivory Coast, where about 800,000 family farmers supply cocoa beans to chocolate companies such as Hershey’s and Nestle, according to the government.
To see more...https://www.commodity-port.com/index.php?page=article&&view=185

South Africa: Sugar Tariffs to Provide Relief Against the Surge of Imports

The Chief Director for agro-processing at the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Ms Ncumisa Mcata-Mhlauli says the recently endorsed International Trade and Administration Commission (ITAC) recommendation by Minister Rob Davies to adjust the sugar and increase import duty of US$680/ton will provide the immediate relief required by the industry and protection against the surge of imports. Mcata-Mhlauli together with ITAC representatives were briefing the portfolio committee on Trade and Industry on the sugar industry tariffs in Parliament.

According to Mcata-Mhlauli, tariffs forms part of a set of measures considered by government in collaboration with industry in order to improve the sustainability of the industry and future prospects. She said holistic solutions are required to improve the sustainability of the sugar industry overall.To read more.....https://www.commodity-port.com/index.php?page=article&&view=183

ABIDJAN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A new wave of small cocoa pods is growing on trees in top producer Ivory Coast ahead of the October-to-March main crop harvest despite below average rainfall last week, farmers said on Monday.

Older pods are already ripening, the farmers added. They said the crop would be abundant until December and they expect to begin harvesting in around two weeks' time.
In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said the young pods had sufficient moisture to develop.
Provided there is good rainfall between now and late October "we will have many pods at least until the end of this year," said Gerard Dallo, who farms near Soubre. read full article.. [url]https://www.commodity-port.com/index.php?page=article&&view=177 [/url]