Connect with us

VenturesNow

Kenya climbs to 4th position in global flower exports, earns over $800 in 2017

Published

on

Red Lands Roses in Kenya produces some of the boldest shades of roses, from a glossy red to a bright yellow and even a vivid pink. Every single bundle of flowers is carefully prepared for export to several countries, with China being one of their biggest markets.

This flower farm is just one of many in Kenya, which is the fourth largest exporter of cut flowers in the world. In fact, Kenya’s floriculture industry earned more than $800 million in 2017.

“On a daily basis we export 36,000 tons from this country,” said Clement Tulezi, the CEO of Kenya Flower Council. “So we are moving into a place where we want to market ourselves better, we want to brand ourselves better as a country, and also brand the Kenyan flower.”

And now, Kenya’s fragrant beauties are finding their way to farther shores.

“We are doing Beijing, we are doing Shanghai, and we are doing Guangzhou,” said Irene Nkatha, the sales manager of Red Lands Roses. “We started with one shipment per week, now we are doing two to three shipments per week. The distance is short. It’s only one day to go to Guangzhou, it’s only two days to go to Beijing.”

Read also: In spite of depression woes, S’Africa’s banking system gets stable outlook

One of the main companies Red Lands Roses exports to is Jiuye Supply Chain in Guangzhou.

“We chose to introduce flowers from Kenya to China because of the vast number of varieties they grow, including some that you can’t find in other regions,” said Qi Bo, the director of Jiuye Supply Chain’s flower department.

The length of Kenya’s flower vase life is also an attractive quality for many.

“When you export like a stem today, it will take 14 days to 21 days in vase,” Nkatha said.

Qi Bo said there is a 25 percent yearly increase in demand for flowers from Kenya in China, and the company expects to double its imports to five million in 2018.

“In 2017, we imported 2.5 million flowers from Kenya,” he added. “Kenya has advanced breeding and planting skills as well as the cool-chain storage and transport technologies, which China is lacking.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

VenturesNow

Nigeria: Marketers predict further price cut as another refinery begins operations

Published

on

Oil marketers and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority expect refined petroleum product prices to reduce as another public refinery in Warri begins operations.

The marketers made the prediction when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited launched the 125,000-barrel-per-day Delta State WRPC. NNPCL also wants to export locally refined goods for foreign cash. Last month, the 60,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery in Rivers State began operations.

During an inspection tour of the facility on Monday, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, explained that the inspection aimed to show Nigerians the level of work completed so far.

During a tour with NMDPRA CEO Farouk Ahmed and NNPC Board Chairman Pius Akinyelure, Kyari said that while facility repairs were not yet 100% complete, refining operations had begun and would produce straight-run kerosene, diesel and naphtha.

In a statement commemorating the milestone, President Bola Tinubu stated the plant is functioning at 60% or 75,000 barrels per day.

Kyari said, “We are taking you through our plant. This plant is running. Although it is not 100 per cent complete, we are still in the process. Many people think these things are not real. They think real things are not possible in this country. We want you to see that this is real.”

Since some of these goods would be shipped to foreign markets, he said, the reopening of the Warri refinery will help the country become a net exporter of petroleum products.

“Secondly, this plant had three stages; we have started plant one, which we call Area One. It can produce AGO (diesel), kerosene, naphtha, and a blend of crude oil. These are high-grade quality products required in the country, and we may need to export them. So this will give us cash, this company will make money and the promise of Mr President that this country must be a net exporter of petroleum products is already happening. Some of these products will go into the international market.

“Most importantly, I must put on record that Mr President believes that we can get this to work and get them to start and gave us the charge that we must start all three refineries. It’s already happening; we have started the 60,000 barrels per day refinery, and Area One of the Warri refinery is already working. Other plants that would produce PMS are being streamed and they would also come alive.

Mustapha Zarma, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria’s National Operations Controller, stated that the rivalry in the downstream oil industry will become more fierce.

There will undoubtedly be a further decrease in pricing if the plant begins producing goods in bulk, he stated. This is because the market will ultimately be influenced by market forces and there will be fierce rivalry.

Until recently, none of Nigeria’s publicly owned refineries has worked to capacity for years, despite several investments to revive them. The failure of the government to revive them contributed to the high level of national anticipation surrounding the Dangote refinery whose operations appear to have revolutionalised the industry.

The refinery will concentrate on manufacturing and storing essential goods, such as heavy and light naphtha, automotive petrol oil and straight-run kerosene.

The country’s first fully owned refinery, the WRPC, was put into service in 1978 and is situated in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. It was first built to process 100,000 barrels of crude oil a day, but in 1987 it was updated to process 125,000 barrels.

Continue Reading

VenturesNow

Kenya: Consumer inflation rises to 3.0% from 2.8%

Published

on

Kenya’s statistics agency said on Tuesday that Kenya’s consumer price inflation increased slightly to 3.0% year-over-year in December from 2.8% the previous month.

According to a release from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, monthly inflation was 0.6%, down from 0.3% in November. Kenya aims to have a medium-term inflation rate of 2.5% to 7.5%.

With inflation under control, Kenya’s central bank said there was an opportunity for looser policy to assist economic development, lowering its benchmark lending rate by a larger-than-expected 75 basis points to 11.25% on December 5.

 

Kenya’s GDP expanded by 5.2% in 2023, up from 4.8% in 2022, thanks to a recovery in agriculture and a modest increase in services. Household consumption accounted for 70% of the growth on the demand side, while services and agriculture accounted for 69% and 23% of the growth, respectively, on the supply side.

Continue Reading

EDITOR’S PICK

Metro3 weeks ago

Zambia’s finance expert, Maimbo poised to replace Nigeria’s Adeshina as AfDB president as he launches bid

Zambia’s Development Finance Expert, Dr. Samuel Maimbo, has launched an audacious bid to replace Nigerian economist, Akinwumi Adesina, as President...

VenturesNow2 months ago

Nigeria: Marketers predict further price cut as another refinery begins operations

Oil marketers and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority expect refined petroleum product prices to reduce as another...

VenturesNow2 months ago

Kenya: Consumer inflation rises to 3.0% from 2.8%

Kenya’s statistics agency said on Tuesday that Kenya’s consumer price inflation increased slightly to 3.0% year-over-year in December from 2.8%...

VenturesNow2 months ago

South Africa’s Transnet’s half-year deficit hits $117m

Transnet, a state-owned logistics company in South Africa, announced on Tuesday that it had lost 2.2 billion rand ($117.48 million)...

Musings From Abroad2 months ago

Nigeria, China extend $2bn currency swap deal

A 15 billion yuan ($2 billion) currency-swap arrangement between China and Nigeria has been extended to boost investment and commerce...

VenturesNow2 months ago

Egypt’s central bank maintains overnight rates

As anticipated, Egypt’s central bank has maintained its overnight interest rates, stating that although inflation was predicted to drop significantly...

VenturesNow2 months ago

Illicit flows cost Nigeria, others $1.6bn daily— AfDB

According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), illicit money flows and profit shifting by multinational corporations doing business in Africa...

Metro2 months ago

‘Don’t start what you can’t finish’, ex-Nigerian official replies President Tchiani

Former Nigerian Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has told President Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger Republic to refrain from making infantile and...

Tech2 months ago

Again, Starlink raises prices of its services in Nigeria

Elon Musk’s satellite internet service provider, Starlink, has again jacked up the prices of its services in Nigeria after an...

Sports2 months ago

Former President of Moroccan club Raja sentenced to 3 years in prison

The former President of Moroccan top club, Raja Casablanca, Mohamed Aouzal, has been sentenced to three and a half years...

Trending