VenturesNow

Congo to grant Rwanda 12,000 hectares of exploitable land after new agric field concession

Published

2 years ago

April 13, 2022

In a move that is hoped to end the land dispute between the Republic of Congo and Rwanda and ultimately strengthen bilateral relations, the two East African countries have signed two memorandums of understanding and a concession agreement over agricultural fields.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is currently on a 3-day work visit to the Brazaville where he signed a series of MoUs which included the agricultural field concession.

According to the new agreement, although the duration of the concession has not been specified, Congo will reportedly grant Rwanda 12,000 hectares of exploitable land in at least three Departments in the south of the country.

With that move, land dispute between the East African neighbours might be reaching a lasting end as the two countries have enjoyed a smooth relationship lately as seen in their cooperation and aspirations in trade, security, partnership, and Covid-19 vaccination goals.

Rwanda and Congo enjoy cordial bilateral relations. The growth of bilateral ties as evidenced by the 2021 agreements to remove double taxation and visa requirements to ease trade between both countries. They also signed agreements regarding military, education, and land management at the time.

VenturesNow

Nigeria’s inflation hits 28-year high of 33.20%

Published

20 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The recent gains of Nigeria’s Naira as the best-performing currency worldwide in the last month have had little or no impact on the consumer price index in the West African country as its inflation rate reached a 28-year high of 33.20%.

According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s inflation has continued its 15-month-a-row surge driven by soaring food and energy costs despite the central bank’s rate hikes aimed at halting its ascent.

This was 10.37% more than the 21.9% inflation rate seen in March 2023. Year-over-year, rural inflation was 31.45% in March 2024. Rural inflation fell from 2.9% in February 2024 to 2.87 % in March 2024, which was a 0.20 percentage point drop from February 2024.

It went up by 5.71% points from March 2023 to March 2024, when it was 19.79%. The average rural inflation rate for the twelve months finishing in March 2024 was 25.50%.

Food prices went up by 40.1% a year in March 2024, which was 15.56 percentage points more than the rate of 24.45% a year earlier. The statistics office said food and non-alcoholic beverages were the biggest contributors to the pickup in inflation. Food inflation rose to 40.01% year-on-year, from 37.92% a month earlier.

Since President Bola Tinubu ended an expensive gasoline subsidy and devalued the naira twice in his first year in office, price pressures have grown. To get the economy off of subsidies that have hurt the government’s finances, the government recently raised energy rates for people who use the most electricity.

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Diesel gulping over 80% of Nigerian manufacturers’ profit, association claims

Published

1 day ago

April 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following recent energy failure which has seen Nigeria suffer its worst blackout in decades, manufacturers in the country have lamented the high cost of diesel which is largely used as an alternate energy source for operations.

The Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, while addressing newsmen on Sunday on the
the plight of manufacturers against the backdrop of rising prices of their products stressed that automotive gas oil (AGO) gulped over 80℅ of manufacturers’ profit.

Ajayi-Kadir stated: “We have at different fora informed government and relevant agencies of what to do to bring down these inimical worsening high operating costs in the country. Nigerians should not blame local manufacturers for increasing the cost of goods, because they are being confronted with debilitating conditions.

“Do you know that diesel is taking 80 per cent profit of surviving manufacturing firms in Nigeria currently at the rate of about N1,700?

“Which manufacturer can cope with that astronomical price for energy to produce and you won’t expect him to increase his products in the country?

“Also, look at the new Customs exchange rate, new interest rate, scarcity of foreign exchange (FX), NAFDAC ban and others. How do you want to cope in production and make a profit?”

Although there was relief two weeks ago as privately run Dangote Refinery began diesel production which crashed the price of diesel by 29.4% production cost however remain daunting for manufacturers.