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Category: AFRICAN & MIDDLE EAST NEWS

Advans Côte d’Ivoire partners AFD in US$245,000 deal to finance maize producers’ access to inputs

CÔTE D’IVOIRE – Advans Côte d’Ivoire (Advans-CI), a microfinance institution and member of the Advans group, has signed a financing agreement of 150 million CFA francs (US$245,000) to implement a pilot program intended to finance cooperatives of maize producers. According to Ecofin Agency, Advans has partnered with Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD) dedicated to financing the…

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Kenyan MPs want US$29M more for Fertilizer Subsidy Program in the upcoming financial year

KENYA – The Kenyan parliament has proposed an additional Sh4 billion (US$29M) for Fertilizer Subsidy Program in the upcoming financial year, raising the total allocation to Sh8.5 billion as part of the Kenya Kwanza administration’s efforts to lower the high cost of living. According to Business Daily, the proposal comes amid an uproar from the citizens challenging the Finance Bill…

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Nigeria’s palm oil imports from Malaysia surges 353% in 4months as demand rises

Nigeria – Nigeria’s palm oil import from Malaysia increased to 92,961 metric tons (MT) between January-April 2023 from 20,513 MT, a 353 percent jump despite increasing government intervention to ramp up production. Nigeria is the world’s 5th largest producer of palm oil, behind Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Colombia. In 2022, the country imported 227,035 MT of palm oil from Malaysia. According to…

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Ghana Commodity Exchange plans to start trading cashew nuts in the quest to bolster the industry

GHANA – Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) is considering the listing of raw cashew nuts on its trading platform to facilitate the development of the cashew value chain in the country. As part of this ambition, the exchange organized an assembly jointly with the World Food Program (WFP) on May 30 in Accra that brought together the main players in the…

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Zimbabwe embarks on a mission to enter export market after achieving wheat self-sufficiency

ZIMBABWE – The government of Zimbabwe targets to put 90 000ha under wheat in a bid to surpass last year’s yield of 375 000 tonnes following various interventions implemented by the Government and the private sector to bolster production. The country’s optimism follows the recent milestone in achieving wheat self-sufficiency and hence the country now targets the export market for…

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S.African food producer Premier Group posts nearly 40% jump in annual profit, revenue hits US$928M

SOUTH AFRICA – South African food producer Premier Group has posted a near 40% jump in annual profit despite increasing commodity prices and rising inflation According to the company, the headline earnings reported on June 6 correspond to earnings per share of 634 cents for the year ended 31 March, up from 453 cents a year earlier. In addition, the company…

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Ghana’s cowpea production reached a historic level in 2022-USDA

GHANA –Ghana’s cowpea production in 2022 stood at 367,787 tonnes, the highest volume ever recorded according to the official data relayed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Ecofin Agency, citing the USDA data, reports that this record level crowns a decade of development of this crop which has seen the harvest increase by 5% on average per year between…

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ZMX’s Warehouse Receipt System gets a nod on Liquid Asset Status

ZIMBABWE – The Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX), a commodity marketplace, has announced that its Warehouse Receipt System has been conferred with Liquid Asset Status by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). According to ZMX, a liquid asset is an asset that can be easily converted into cash in a short amount of time. Liquid assets include things like cash, money…

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Mühlenchemie expands African capabilities with Stern Ingredients South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA- MC (Mühlenchemie) is expanding its presence in Africa, opening its third African location, Stern Ingredients South Africa, with labs and a technology center.  The other two existing locations include one in Lagos and one in Nairobi, and this new addition means that MC can perform the entire value-addition chain in flour improvement and fortification on-site, from sourcing, rheology,…

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BRICS foreign ministers call for full implementation of Black Sea Grain Initiative 

SOUTH AFRICA- The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) foreign ministers concluded their meeting at Cape Town in South Africa, calling for full and effective implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.  These leaders strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations whenever, wherever, and by whomsoever committed.  The foreign minister recognized the threat emanating from terrorism…

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