VenturesNow

Nigeria: Lagos begins ‘trader money’ palliative scheme for SMEs

Published

4 months ago

December 18, 2023

Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial capital, will commence a N50,000 palliative scheme to support 15,000 traders across the 57 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, disclosed this on Sunday during the launch of the new Food Agro Hub in Mushin, stating that the move was to cushion the effect of economic challenges, as well as empower small businesses in the state.

Many small businesses that rely on cheap petrol for business operations have been badly affected since the removal of the gasoline subsidy in May.

“Today, I launched a fresh palliative scheme in Lagos to support low-income traders. The Lagos Market Trader Money, in its first phase, will provide N50,000 in business grants to 15,000 traders across our 57 local councils. This initiative aims to cushion the impact of economic challenges and empower small businesses.

“I made this announcement at the commissioning of the middle-level Fresh Food Agro Hub in Mushin, expanding our food supply chain. This milestone facility signifies a turning point in Lagos’ food distribution system, paving the way for improved logistics and modernization of our markets,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Sanwo-Olu stated that merchants were essential to the state’s economic growth and that his administration placed a high premium on their well-being.

According to a World Food Programme report, unless appropriate action is immediately taken, the number of women, men, and children affected by a food and nutrition crisis in West and Central Africa is expected to reach a new record high in June 2022 – quadrupling in just three years from 10.7 million in 2019 to 41 million in 2022.

Multilateral body, the World Bank, recently warned that the recent coup d’état in the Niger Republic may complicate issues around Nigeria and other West African nations’ food markets, noting that “the coup d’état in Niger might put additional pressure on West African food markets.” Given its border city status and its population, Lagos State is strategic to food supply in Nigeria and the West Africa sub-region.

Nigeria is currently experiencing a worsening cost-of-living crisis, with the surge in food prices and November inflation hitting 28.20% for the eleventh consecutive month, the highest level in eighteen years.

VenturesNow

World Bank grants Malawi $57.6 million for food crisis

Published

14 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As a response to its food crisis, the World Bank said on Friday that it would give Malawi $57.6 million in “quick release” grants.

“This support comes in the context of the severe food crisis the country is suffering due to El Niño conditions in the wider southern Africa region,” the World Bank said in a statement.

“A series of intense disaster events over the last few years has left almost no time for the country to recover and has resulted in a severe erosion of food security at the national level.”

Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. It is ranked 170 out of 187 countries in the 2010 Human Development Index. Almost 16 million people live there, and 90% of them make less than $2 a day. That’s 53% of the total population.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that 46,000 children in Malawi are seriously malnourished. In 2023, UNICEF said that more than 500,000 Malawian children were at risk of not getting enough food.

Now, Malawi has a lot of programs in place to deal with things like poverty, and climate change, and to make the business and agriculture more diverse.

VenturesNow

Nigerian oil regulator implements regional fuel standards

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s oil authority has clarified that the recent changes to diesel fuel sulphur content standards are part of a regional effort to make things more uniform and are not meant to loosen rules for local refineries.

A report from S&P Global last week said that the West African fuel market had changed a lot after Nigeria raised the maximum diesel sulphur content from 200 parts per million (ppm) to around 650 ppm. This caused worries that the country might be lowering its standards to allow diesel made in Nigeria that is higher than the 200 ppm limit.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), on the other hand, said it was only following a 2020 decision by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that all of the regions had to slowly switch to better fuels.

Fuels that have a lot of sulfur can hurt engines and make the air dirty. As of right now, the ECOWAS rule lets locally-made fuel have more sulfur until January 2025. After that, a standard of less than 5 parts per million will be used for all oil, whether it is refined in West Africa or brought in from another country.

Farouk Ahmed, the head of the NMDPRA, told Reuters that the new limits are in line with ECOWAS’s choice to require stricter fuel specifications. The new rules will go into effect in January 2021 for non-ECOWAS imports and January 2025 for ECOWAS refineries.

“We are merely implementing the ECOWAS decision adopted in 2020,” Ahmed said.

“So a local refinery with a 650 ppm sulphur in its product is permissible and safe under the ECOWAS rule until January next year where a uniform standard would apply to both the locally refined and imported products outside West Africa”, Ahmed said.

Ahmed said that importers were told that the amount of sulphur allowed was going down, from 300 parts per million in February to 200 parts per million this month. This was done long before the huge Dangote refinery started providing diesel.

Diesel with a sulphur level of between 1,500 ppm and 3,000 ppm could be brought in by importers before.

The switch to cleaner fuels is in line with efforts to protect the environment around the world and makes sure that all area refiners have the same chances.

Nigeria recently had its worst blackout in decades because of a problem with its energy supply. The high cost of alternative energy sources has been a huge problem for both businesses and individuals, with the price of diesel being the most affordable choice for businesses.