The Ebonyi State commissioner for agriculture and natural resources, Emmanuel Echiegu, has urged donor agencies to focus attention on programmes that directly address the needs of farmers. Mr. Echiegu made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abakaliki on Wednesday. “Most of the funds approved by these agencies for agricultural endeavours are channeled into administration,…
More cocoa beans are being smuggled from Ivory Coast to Ghana, farmers told Reuters on Thursday, as exporters halt shipments from the world’s top grower and global prices hit a one-year high. Top exporters are complying with presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara’s call for a ban on exports, in a bid to starve incumbent Laurent Gbagbo of revenues. Mr. Gbagbo has…
Cameroon awarded a diamond mining licence to South Korea’s CK Mining, requiring the company to begin development of its Mobilong concession within a year, according to state television on Thursday. The Mobilong concession has probable reserves of 736 million carats of gem quality and industrial diamonds that could make the Central African state a leading world diamond exporter, according to…
East Africa-focused exploration firm, Centric Energy, said it had completed an agreement to farm out to Tullow Oil Plc a 50 per cent interest in Centric’s Block 10BA in north-western Kenya. The deal brings to four the number of farm-in agreements that London-listed Tullow has closed this week after acquiring 50 per cent states in another two Kenyan blocks and…
Cocoa hit a one-year high on Monday after Ivory Coast’s presidential claimant, Alassane Ouattara, locked in a standoff against incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, urged a month-long ban on exports from the world’s top producer. Dealers said prices were rising as the international market was thrown into turmoil on uncertainty over what Ouattara’s call meant, given that Gbagbo controls the supply pipeline…
New vehicle imports into Nigeria declined 18 percent in 2010, reflecting weak credit growth in sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy in the wake of a $4 billion bank bailout the previous year. Vehicle sales in Africa’s most-populous nation are a proxy measure for private purchasing power, a leading economic indicator which is not formally available in Nigeria. Port figures showed new…
Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee raised its benchmark interest rate to 6.5 percent on Tuesday as it seeks to get inflation in sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy down to single digits. The MPC maintained a corridor of plus/minus 200 basis points around the benchmark rate for its lending and deposit rates respectively but increased the cash reserve requirement ratio to 2 percent…
The Public Complaints Commission in Anambra received 388 complaints from persons in private and public organisations on acts of injustice against them in 2010. The Director of the Commission, Emeka Onuzulike, gave the figure in Awka on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.Mr Onuzulike said that 206 of the cases have been resolved, while the other…
Mozambique’s Ports Development Company (MPDC) said on Tuesday it would increase the handling capacity of its Maputo port to 12 million tonnes this year from the 8.7 million of 2010 to take more coal from South Africa. “We will use Maputo port as a gateway to the most important world markets,” MPDC chief executive Dave Rennie told a news conference…
The Budget Office of the Federation has stressed the need for Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to continue ongoing projects rather than initiate new ones at the expense of the former. Bright Okogu, the Director-General of the Budget Office, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday that the principle formed the thrust…
The Bank of Uganda said on Monday it was intervening in the foreign exchange market by selling hard currency, helping to push the shilling up to levels last seen nearly three weeks ago. The Ugandan shilling slid to 2,327/,331 per dollar on Monday before the central bank stopped selling an unspecified amount of hard currency. The rate reversed and the…
Guinea plans to boost its stake in mining projects to at least a third, its newly elected president said, a move that could rattle some of the world’s biggest mining companies. Rio Tinto and RUSAL have multi-billion dollar bauxite operations in the West African state, while Vale, Chinalco and others have planned major investments in iron ore. “There will be…
The Kenyan shilling rose slightly against a broadly weaker dollar on Monday, with traders forecasting that the local currency will come under pressure due to end-month corporate demand for dollars. At 08:11 GMT, leading commercial banks quoted the shilling at 80.90/81/10 compared with Friday’s close of 81.00/10. Traders said they expect particularly strong demand for dollars from the energy sector.…
Nigeria’s export earnings is expected to maintain strong growth in 2011 as a result of an increase in the oil price, higher oil export volumes and the general recovery of the oil and gas sector. Experts reveal that the recovery of the sector which accounts for about 20 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product GDP, has in turn, boosted…
Andreas Seiter, a Senior Health Specialist with the World Bank, Washington, on Friday pledged the bank’s support for the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Mr Seiter made the pledge during a courtesy visit on the management of NAFDAC in Lagos, saying the bank is ready to assist the agency to clean up the country’s drug…