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Algeria announces ban on food export amidst potential global crisis

Published

1 year ago

March 14, 2022

Amidst the possibility of a food outbreak of a global food crisis in connection with the ongoing Ukraine/Russia war, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria on Sunday, signed off an order to ban exportation foods it imports, such as sugar, vegetable oil, pasta, semolina and wheat derivatives.

The announcement followed a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The presidential decision means that not only Algerian economic operators are not allowed to export food products made from imported raw materials, but also they risk legal action in case of infringement.

In addition, the Algerian President asked the government to “continue to completely ban the import of frozen meat and to encourage the consumption of locally produced meat”.

The new step by Algeria came as other countries have begun measures to safeguard their food reserves amid a rising food crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine last month, which has aggravated a global surge in prices of key commodities, including food and oil.

Bread and other wheat-based products are staples of the diet in North African countries, which have been hard hit by the fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine provide many countries with most of their wheat and vegetable oil supplies.

Slamreportafrica.com reported last week that Egypt’s Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, has announced that the country will diversify its sources of wheat to avoid relying on what he described as “specific sources” for this product.

Also last week, the richest man in Africa and chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, warned Nigerians to be prepared for an impending food crisis within the next two to three months.

Mr Dangote, then advised the government to immediately stop the ongoing export of maize abroad by some Nigerians, blaming the development on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

VenturesNow

Kenya: Parliament approves appointment of Kamau Thugge as central bank governor

Published

8 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Months after throwing open the position for the country’s top banker, Kenya’s parliament has approved the appointment of Kamau Thugge as the country’s central bank governor.

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the
appointment of economist and senior civil servant who was nominated by President William Ruto as the next apex bank chief.

Thugge, who served as principal secretary in the finance ministry until mid-2018, was nominated after serving as one of the president’s senior economic advisers since late last year.

He shook off competition from others shortlisted candidates like Adan Mohamed, who served in the cabinet from 2013-2022, with four others also interviewed for the role.

The new central bank governor will be faced with the immediate pressure of stabilizing the country’s monetary policy as the East African giant currently faces a shortage of funds amidst rising public debt.

Despite the odds, the World Bank in a report earlier today expects growth to edge up to 5.0% in 2023, underpinned by a recovery in agriculture.

VenturesNow

Ghana presents ‘working proposal’ for debt restructuring— IMF sources

Published

8 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has made a major move at resolving its debt crisis as the country has presented debt restructuring proposal to its creditors.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, a “working proposal” has been submitted to help the country escape its worst economic crisis in a generation.

One of the sources revealed that the proposal was a first attempt to engage the official creditor committee after its formation in May. It should be recalled that the Paris Club last month announced that official sector of creditors of Ghana had formed a committee co-chaired by China and France for debt restructuring talks.

The plan is to end restructuring of domestic debt before turning to negotiations with its official bilateral creditors and international bondholders, a government official said.

Ghana is one of several cash-strapped countries facing unprecedented delays in getting bailouts as China, its biggest bilateral creditor with about $1.7 billion of debt and Western economies disagree over how debt relief should be structured.

The first formal review of the programme will hold in the coming months as an IMF team will visit Ghana between 8th and 15th of June.