Economy
Olam’s Rice Smallholder Initiatives Gulp N22bn
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A leading agribusiness conglomerate, Olam Nigeria, has reaffirmed its support for the backward integration programmes (BIP) of the federal government, which are aimed to revitalize the local agric value chain.
In a report released recently, it was indicated that the firm has consistently scaled its investment in various out-grower programmes, research partnerships, seed trials, and the integration of smallholder farmers into various empowerment initiatives across different levels.
Olam has footprints across the wheat milling, rice production, dairy, tomato, poultry and animal feed segments, among others.
The company said it strongly has confidence in the government’s BIP, noting that in order to boost the supply of rice, it collaborated with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the FG in the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), a backward integration framework which trains smallholder rice farmers, supplies input to the farmers and provides guaranteed buyback.
Since 2014, when IFAD and VCDP rolled out the rice value chain development project, about N22 billion has been injected into the rice smallholder initiatives of Olam in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
Data by IFAD showed that a larger number of the smallholder rice farmers who were engaged by Olam and its partners recorded a 79 per cent jump in their incomes.
To mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 supply chain shocks in 2020 on the supply of rice to Nigerians and the incomes of farmers, Olam presented an estimated N110 million grants to select farmers in Benue State.
To date, the agribusiness out-grower programme has engaged over 35,000 smallholder rice farmers and is still onboarding new farmers to accelerate the supply of rice.
Similarly, in the wheat value chain, the collaborative efforts between Olam, FMAN and FMARD are yielding appreciable results.
Currently, the scaled investment in seed trial and research, distribution of farming inputs to local wheat farmers and the adoption of mechanized farming techniques have spurred increased harvest yield.
This year so far, an estimated 847 tonnes of wheat have been collected for off-take by members of the milling association.
In addition to this, Olam, through Caraway Africa Nigeria, its subsidiary company, signed an MoU with the World Vegetable Centre, a renowned research institute and prominent seed producer and developer, in 2019, for the supply of 18 varieties of seeds for local farmers engaged by Caraway Africa Nigeria.
Over 1,000 tomato farmers are participating in its out-grower programme while tomato harvest yields per hectare in Kano and Jigawa States have risen from 7.5 metric tons to over 30 metric tons of tomato per hectare.
Other intervention programmes embarked upon by Olam include a $150 million investment in the Animal/ Aquafeed, hatchery and poultry segments in 2017; a partnership between Outspan Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of the agribusiness giant, and the over 70,000-membered Kano Dairy Union, to modernize milk collection processes in Nigeria.
These backward integration projects are currently impacting the livelihoods of poultry farmers in Kaduna, Kwara states and suburbs and in Kano, over 12,000 dairy farmers, for the first time, have access to a modern milk collection facility.
Commenting on the impact of Olam agricultural intervention programmes, Mr Reji George, Vice President of Farming Initiatives at Olam Nigeria, said, “Our robust backward integration programmes underscore the confidence we have in Nigeria’s pursuit of food sufficiency.
“We are committed to supporting the Federal Government’s Agriculture Promotion Policy and development efforts by consistently scaling our research and seed trial efforts along the value chain.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.
However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.
The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 15.6 million units worth N598.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.30 per cent fall was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as a result of profit-taking in the industrial goods sector.
This was mainly caused by sell-offs in Dangote Cement Plc, which released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 yesterday.
The cement maker lost 10.00 per cent during the session to trade at N432.00, Regency Alliance lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57 Kobo, VFD Group depreciated by 7.57 per cent to N17.10, Chams declined by 7.27 per cent to N2.04, and Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.12 per cent to 92 Kobo.
Conversely, International Breweries, Legend Internet, and Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N7.70, N6.82, and N12.10 apiece, Vitafoam Nigeria surged by 9.93 per cent to N44.85, and Eterna rose by 9.92 per cent to N39.90.
The industrial goods index was down by 4.73 per cent on Friday, as the others finished in green territory.
The consumer goods space rose by 2.21 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.55 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.50 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.07 per cent, and the commodity industry went up by 0.04 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 321.21 points to 105,753.05 points from 106,074.26 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N202 billion to N66.465 trillion from N66.667 trillion.
The level of activity increased yesterday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals grew by 30.40 per cent, 94.23 per cent, and 17.64 per cent, respectively.
This was because investors transacted 428.1 million shares worth N20.2 billion in 14,284 deals compared with the 328.3 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in traded in 12,142 deals a day earlier.
GTCO led the activity chart with 60.7 million equities sold for N3.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 41.4 million stocks worth N829.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 40.6 million shares valued at N968.3 million, MTN Nigeria sold 33.0 million equities for N8.2 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million stocks worth N1.1 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its gains against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 25 by 0.22 per cent or N3.59 to sell for N1,599.42/$1 compared with the N1,603.01/$1 it was traded in the previous session.
The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market by N1.36 to close at N1,818.53/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,819.89/€1.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N1.90 to wrap the session at N2,130.44/£1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N2,128.50/£1.
At the black market segment, the Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N2 to quote at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,607/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, a possible regulatory progress about digital assets in the US spurred buying interest among investors during the trading session.
The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Paul Atkins, was at a crypto roundtable on Friday and he devoted his inaugural speech to assuring the industry that he will continue to remake securities policy to favor digital assets innovation.
Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.0 per cent to $87.24, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.7 per cent to $0.1862, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.3 per cent to $94,687.84, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $1,797.51, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.7235, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.6 per cent to close at $2.20.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $151.64, and Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.8 per cent to sell for $602.89, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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