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Ghana’s cocoa regulator Cocobod to spend $200 million W’Bank loan on disease-hit farms

Published

9 months ago

February 16, 2024

The deputy CEO in charge of operations for Ghana’s Cocobod has revealed that the regulator will use a portion of a $200 million World Bank loan to restore plantations that have been devastated by the cocoa swollen shoot virus, which lowers yields and kills plants.

The bug has destroyed over 500,000 hectares of farmlands and decreased the country’s production of cocoa.

After reaching a peak of 1.048 million tonnes in the 2020–21 season, Ghana’s output fell to 600,000 metric tonnes last year as a result of the cocoa-swollen shoot virus, ageing plantations, illicit mining, and smuggling.

According to a project information sheet, a total of $132.8 million of the loan that the government secured last year and the counterpart money would support Cocobod’s efforts to restore crops and advance our understanding of viral strains.

“The rehabilitation will take a minimum of five years to start getting economic production,” Cocobod’s Emmanuel Opoku told Reuters, adding that efforts had been hampered by the country’s economic crisis and the board’s limited funds.

According to Opoku, the program—which was initially intended to span 156,000 hectares of plantations—was engulfed in Ghana’s worst economic crisis in a generation, which resulted in skyrocketing inflation and a significant depreciation of the cedi.

More than 88,000 hectares of farmlands benefited from the AfDB facility, he claimed, with 40,000 hectares prepared for return to farmers in “the coming days.”

After its neighbour, Ivory Coast, Ghana is the second-largest producer of cocoa worldwide. Two-thirds of the world’s cocoa crop is produced in West Africa, with an extra 1.55 million metric tonnes produced annually by neighbouring nations including Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Togo. However, severe droughts, floods, and unpredictable weather have all had an impact on productivity.

Some analysts contend that in order to optimise the market for finished goods, the continent needs to get involved in the processing of raw materials like cocoa. If not, industrialised countries with factories manufacturing chocolate would continue to take advantage of the space, exploiting local producers of raw materials.

Related Topics:Cocoa Featured Ghana West Africa

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VenturesNow

Food prices drive second straight monthly hike in Nigeria’s inflation

Published

2 days ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to official statistics released on Friday, Nigeria’s inflation rate increased for the second consecutive month in October, rising to 33.88% in annual terms from 32.70% in September, mostly as a result of increasing food costs.

In an attempt to boost economic development and strengthen public finances, President Bola Tinubu devalued the naira and reduced subsidies, which caused inflation to spike in the second half of last year.

As the effects of the naira devaluation started to lessen in July of this year, a slew of hikes in the price of petroleum and devastating floods that destroyed crops once again exacerbated pricing pressures, making the greatest cost-of-living crisis in decades worse in Africa’s most populous country.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, price increases for basics such as rice, maize, bread, potatoes, and cooking oil prompted food inflation to surge from 37.77% in October to 39.16% year over year.

This year, more than 1.5 million hectares of agriculture have been damaged by torrential rain and floods in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states, leaving millions hungry and displacing large numbers of people.

In an effort to curb inflation, the central bank has raised interest rates five times this year. On November 26, it is expected to make its final rate decision of the year.

VenturesNow

MTN financial report reveals drop in group service revenue

Published

2 days ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Due to operational difficulties in Sudan and the depreciation of the Nigerian naira, MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom provider, announced on Thursday an 18.5% decline in service revenue for the third quarter that concluded on September 30.

With 288 million users in 17 African regions, MTN said that its group service revenue dropped from 156.3 billion rand ($6.99 billion) in the same quarter of the previous year to 127.4 billion rand.

Despite stating that “the naira was less volatile on a sequential basis in Q3 than in preceding quarters,” the business reported a 48.7% decline in MTN Nigeria’s income due to the currency’s depreciation.

Due to a stronger Ugandan shilling than the previous year, Uganda’s largest contributor, MTN South Africa (MTN SA), expanded by a meagre 3.3%.

Due to “subscriber registration regulations in Nigeria and a decline in users in Sudan, where the conflict has displaced millions of people,” the business reported that its subscriber base increased by 1.6% to 288 million.

Given the higher demand in Nigeria despite the legal obstacles, MTN plans to increase its capital expenditures, which it expects would total between 28 and 33 billion rand for the entire year.