Economy

Nigerian Firm Tops Seeds Index Ranking

Published

6 years ago

18/04/2019

A company based in Nigeria known as Value Seeds Limited has topped the rankings in new research on seed companies operating in Western and Central Africa.

However, the overall picture is one of international and African seed companies falling short in delivering quality seed and new varieties to smallholder farmers.

This limits the potential to address food security, nutrition and climate resilience, according to a new study by the Amsterdam-based Access to Seeds Foundation.

While there is a growing number of seed companies active in the region, both home grown and international, less than half of the 23 companies researched conduct plant breeding in Western and Central Africa. This limits the release of new varieties adapted to the region, and explains the high number of varieties that are older than five years offered in company portfolios.

The Access to Seeds Index 2019 – Western and Central Africa ranks Value Seeds number one. Like most of the other companies from the region, it operates exclusively in its home country of Nigeria. It stands out for its maize and rice ‘value kits’, all-in-one input packages tailored for smallholders.

Also, it provides capacity building activities that specifically target women and next-generation farmers. Other Nigerian companies also dominate the top half, such as Maslaha Seeds, Premier Seed, and Da-Allgreen Seeds, showing the relative strength of the seed industry from Nigeria.

Ranked second is Technisem from France, which has the widest presence in the region, covering 17 countries and offering training in 13 of them. The company sets an example by establishing Novalliance, which taps into local potential of homegrown African seed companies. Among the top-ten index companies that belong to this group are Tropicasem from Senegal, Semagri from Cameroon, and Nankosem from Burkina Faso. Their combined breeding efforts result in the most up-to-date portfolio in the region, with a high number of newly released varieties.

“What both Value Seeds and Technisem represent is the importance of partnerships to improve access to seeds in the region,” said Ido Verhagen, Executive Director at Access to Seeds Index. “In the case of Value Seeds, its partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) paid off, as its grant-based support enabled the company to improve its products and intensify its outreach to smallholder famers.”

For the most part, open-pollinated varieties still dominate across the region, in contrast with Eastern Africa and South Asia. The exception is maize, for which hybrid varieties are more commonly available. In addition, research shows that for almost half (48%) of the crops, the most recent variety is older than five years, with only a fifth (21%) having a variety less than three years. The lack of newly developed varieties seriously impacts the resilience to a changing climate and emerging disease and pests, which reduces yields.

Compared to a dozen of companies active in Nigeria and Senegal, only one company is active in each of Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

“Our study shows the potential of homegrown seed companies. However, most operate only in their home markets, which causes geographic imbalances in seed sector development,” said Mr Verhagen.

“This also means that capacity building activities offered by companies only reach farmers in a handful of countries. This limits the adoption of new technologies by farmers in overlooked countries”, he added.

“The relevance of access to seeds and plant breeding should not be underestimated,” said Verhagen. “The number of undernourished people in the world reached an estimated 821 million in 2017 – it’s rising. Climate change and weather extremes have been identified as a major reason for the increase. The seed industry has a vital role to play in helping farmers to adapt to climatic challenges while simultaneously raising production levels.”

According to the FAO, the number of undernourished people has been on the rise in Western Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole in recent years. Western Africa has seen undernourishment rise to 15.1% of the population in 2017 from 10.4% in 2010.

The Access to Seeds Index 2019 is one of the first Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) benchmarks published by the World Benchmarking Alliance.

The alliance was launched in September 2018 during the UN General Assembly in New York. The Access to Seeds Index was established with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Government of the Netherlands.

The Access to Seeds Index for Western and Central Africa focuses on 23 leading seed companies in this region. This was preceded by rankings of the industry in both Eastern and Southern Africa and South and Southeast Asia, along with a ranking of Global Seed Companies.

Economy

Naira Value Strengthens at Official, Parallel Markets

Published

2 hours ago

23/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Naira recorded improvements in the official and black markets on Wednesday as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced its intention to launch an FX code designed to boost the integrity of the market.

The apex bank explained the code will serve as a guideline for the ethical conduct of FX dealers in the Nigerian forex landscape.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the release of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Code as a guideline to the banking industry to promote the ethical conduct of Authorised Dealers in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

“The bank will formally launch the code at the CBN Head Office Auditorium, Abuja, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025,” a statement from the regulator read.

At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment of the forex market window, the local currency gained 0..01 per cent or 20 Kobo against the US Dollar to close at N1,552.58/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,552.78/$1.

However, the domestic currency depreciated against the British Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N8.55 to wrap the session at N1,915.53/£1 compared with Tuesday’s N1,906.98/£1 and against the Euro, the Naira lost N4.24 to sell for N1,617.72/€1 versus N1,613.48/€1.

At the parallel market, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the greenback yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,660/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,670/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish after it was clarified that an earlier leak on the website of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), showing regulated XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) futures could start trading on February 10 pending regulatory approval, was an error.

This, coupled with profit-taking from the Mr Donald Trump rally, saw Dogecoin (DOGE) fall by 3.9 per cent to $0.3537, as Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 3.1 per cent to quote at $3,213.39, and Bitcoin (BTC) depleted by 3.0 per cent to trade at $102,654.79.

Further, Cardano slumped by 2.9 per cent to $0.9708, Litecoin (LTC) weakened by 2.7 per cent to $113.62, Solana (SOL) recorded a 2.5 per cent depreciation to sell at $249.58, Binance Coin (BNB) shed 1.9 per cent to close at $686.40, and Ripple (XRP) dropped 1.2 per cent to end at $3.14, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Oil Extends Loss as Market Weigh Wider Trump Sanctions

Published

3 hours ago

23/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil fell further on Wednesday as the market considers how the US President, Mr Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs could affect global economic growth and demand for energy.

Brent futures declined by 29 cents or 0.4 per cent during the session to settle at $79.00 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 39 cents or 0.5 per cent to trade at $75.44 per barrel.

Possible sanctions under the new Trump administration remain unclear, with possible tariffs related to Canada and Mexico now seemingly at the forefront of trader uncertainties.

The American president also vowed to hit the European Union with tariffs and said his administration was discussing a 10 per cent duty on Chinese imports because the narcotic fentanyl is being sent from China to the US via Mexico and Canada.

Mr Trump had previously threatened a 10 per cent duty on Chinese imports but realigned that with the February 1 deadline.

On its part, China said it was willing to maintain communication with the US and sought to promote stable and sustainable ties.

In Europe, French President, Mr Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor, Mr Olaf Scholz, insisted Europe was strong while expecting difficulties due to threats of tariffs from the US.

The US president also said his administration would “probably” stop buying oil from Venezuela, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) under US sanctions.

The US imported about 200,000 barrels per day of oil from Venezuela during the first 10 months of 2024, up from an average of 100,000 barrels per day in 2023, according to the latest data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in November jumped to their highest in eight months while Libya is planning to boost its crude refining capacity from the current 300,000 barrels per day to 400,000 barrels per day.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US increased by 1 million barrels for the week ending January 17. For the week prior, the API reported a draw of 2.6 million barrels in US crude oil inventories amid build season, while product inventories saw a hefty build for multiple weeks in a row.

In 2024, crude oil inventories dropped by more than 12 million barrels, according to the API’s inventory data, with the downward trend continuing beyond the new year.

Official data from the US EIA will be released later on Thursday with both weekly reports delayed by a day due to the US Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Monday.

Economy

Investors Lose N186bn as Bears Overrun Nigerian Exchange

Published

4 hours ago

23/01/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited came under selling pressure on Wednesday, resulting in a 0.29 per cent loss at the close of trading activities by 2:30 pm, when the closing gong was struck.

Data showed that investors booked profit on equities that have recorded a reasonable price appreciation in the past trading days.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 301.86 points to 102,836.13 points from the preceding day’s 103,137.99 points and the market capitalisation went down by N186 billion to settle at N63.147 trillion versus Tuesday’s value of N63.333 trillion.

Business Post reports that apart from the banking sector, which gained 0.61 per cent yesterday, every other space turned red.

The insurance counter declined by 0.91 per cent, the consumer goods index tumbled by 0.26 per cent, the industrial goods counter crashed by 0.18 per cent, and the energy industry shrank by 0.11 per cent.

Multiverse topped the losers’ chart during the session after it lost 9.87 per cent to close at N10.05, May and Baker slipped by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, Prestige Assurance retreated by 7.69 per cent to N1.32, Guinea Insurance crumbled by 7.45 per cent to 87 Kobo, and Red Star Express moderated by 4.75 per cent to N4.81.

On the flip side, SCOA Nigeria appreciated by 9.70 per cent to N3.28, Cadbury Nigeria jumped by 9.65 per cent to N25.00, Secure Electronic Technology gained 9.59 per cent to 80 Kobo, C&I Leasing expanded by 5.85 per cent to N4.34, and FTN Cocoa grew by 5.41 per cent to N1.95.

On top of the activity log was Access Holdings with a turnover of 92.0 million shares valued at N2.2 billion, UBA exchanged 27.0 million stocks worth N919.3 million, Sterling Holdings traded 23.0 million equities for N124.1 million, AIICO Insurance transacted 17.9 million stocks worth N31.7 million, and Zenith Bank sold 17.0 million equities for N802.2 million.

In all, the market participants bought and sold 394.8 million stocks worth N15.2 billion in 10,766 deals at midweek versus the 440.3 million stocks valued at N12.0 billion transacted in 13,087 deals a day earlier.

This showed that the value of transactions increased during the session by 26.67 per cent as the volume of transactions and the number of deals decreased by 10.33 per cent and 17.74 per cent, respectively.