VenturesNow

Morocco gets $194 million loan from AfDB to boost cereal output

Published

2 years ago

September 30, 2022

In a move that is hoped to boost its cereals production and reduce imports, the African Development Bank has approved a 199 million-euro ($194 million) loan to Morocco.

The AFDB in a statement on Friday said it approved the loan, which is part of the bank’s programme to help boost food security, nutrition, and resilient farming across Africa.

As of the 2019/2020 crop year, the total production of cereals in Morocco amounted to over 32 million quintals. With around 18 million quintals, soft wheat accounted for the largest cereal production in the country that year. Durum wheat and barley followed.

According to foreign exchange data, Morocco’s soft wheat import bill doubled to $1.6 billion compared to the same period last year.

A recent incidence of drought has slashed Morocco’s cereals output by 67% to 3.4 million tonnes this year.

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

Published

22 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.