Economy
Agriculture to Become $1tr Business in Africa by 2030—Expert
By Dipo Olowookere
Coordinator of Enable Youth Programme at the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr Edson Mpyisi, has revealed that agriculture on the African continent is expected to be a $1 trillion value business by the year 2030.
Mr Mpyisi made this disclosure while speaking at the Ministerial Dialogue of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The AfDB executive stated further that agribusiness could provide a remedy to the problem of youth employment in Africa.
It is estimated that out of 11 million young people entering the job market in Africa every year, only 3 million end up in formal jobs and all do not have quality jobs.
Today, about 420 million African young people are between 15-35 years of age.
“Agriculture on the continent is expected to be a USD 1 trillion value business by 2030. Whichever sector you are working in, whatever policies and strategies you have, you cannot leave the youth out of this,” Mr Mpyisi said at the event.
Creating decent jobs of many of youths who failed to get an employment several years after graduation is now a top priority of many governments in Africa.
Minister of Land Reform in Namibia, Mr Utoni Nujoma, while also speaking at the conference, stated that there is an urgent need to develop clear plans and strategies that promote the participation of young people as pivotal stakeholders, actors and partners in policy making processes and sustainable development of their countries.
“The agriculture sector offers more opportunities for youth,” he highlighted, adding that the government of Namibia recognizes agribusiness and land related activities as important to the youth.
Mr Nujoma said youth must be empowered through opportunities to engage in agribusiness enterprises, calling the private sector to enhance skills development, training and mentorship of youth on the continent.
Sharing the experience of Uganda, Mr Richard Oput of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development told the conference that the youth under 30 in Uganda constitutes 77 percent of the population and that 80% of the country’s land is in rural areas.
“It is therefore important our National Land policies address the issue of land governance so that the youth get gainful employment in agriculture sector and other related sectors,” he said.
Mr Ato Belete Tafere Desta, Head of the National Integrated Land Use Planning and Policy project, under the Prime Minister’s office of Ethiopia stated that over the last 3 decades, his government has put a lot of efforts to mobilize its people in a wide range of programmes and actions. “Incentive mechanisms were developed to accommodate the youth,” he said.
The ministerial dialogue session of the conference concurred that he African youth could change agriculture into agribusiness, a significant sector for Africa’s future employment creation.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited came under pressure on Friday, staggering by 0.21 per cent at the close of trading activities.
Investors embarked on profit-taking yesterday, particularly in the energy and industrial goods sectors, which closed lower by 0.43 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively.
The gains reported by the others could not extend the stay of Customs Street in the positive territory yesterday.
Data showed that the insurance counter closed higher by 2.07 per cent, and the banking space improved by 0.55 per cent, while the consumer goods and commodity indices closed flat.
When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 224.91 points to 104,563.34 points from 104,788.25 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N141 billion to N65.707 trillion from N65.848 trillion.
Deap Capital lost 9.71 per cent to trade at 93 Kobo, Royal Exchange crumbled by 9.09 per cent to 80 Kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 7.61 per cent to 85 Kobo, Guinea Insurance depreciated by 7.35 per cent to 63 Kobo, and Oando dwindled by 5.57 per cent to N39.00.
Conversely, Caverton jumped by 9.96 per cent to N2.54, VFD Group surged by 9.90 per cent to N87.70, Abbey Mortgage Bank gained 9.86 per cent to close at N6.13, FTN Cocoa advanced by 9.83 per cent to N1.90, and Regency Alliance rose by 9.43 per cent to 58 Kobo.
On Friday, investors traded 380.0 million equities worth N10.1 billion in 10,791 deals versus the 432.6 million equities valued at N9.7 billion transacted in 12,027 deals in the previous trading session, indicating an uptick in the value of transactions by 4.12 per cent and contractions in the volume of trades and the number of deals by 12.16 per cent and 10.28 per cent apiece.
Access Holdings retained its position as the most active equity with 73.2 million units sold for N1.5 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 33.4 million units worth N1.7 billion, Cutix transacted 29.7 million units valued at N63.0 million, GTCO traded 25.7 million units worth N1.7 billion, and Fidelity Bank transacted 19.7 million units valued at N374.2 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange went down by 0.31 per cent on Friday, April 10, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciating by 1038 points to 3,277.57 points from the previous session’s 3,287.85 points.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of the bourse depleted by N6.02 billion to close at N1.919 trillion from the N1.925 trillion it ended on Thursday.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gave away N2.95 to close at N35.55 per unit versus the previous day’s N38.50 per unit and Acorn Petroleum Plc lost 13 Kobo to end at N1.17 per share from the previous closing value of N1.30 per share.
During the session, there was a 750.8 per cent surge in the volume of securities transacted to 152.3 million units from the 18.1 million units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions grew by 2,268.9 per cent to N4.6 billion from N192.9 million, and the number of deals went down by 20 per cent to 16 deals from 20 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million.
However, Okitipupa Plc became the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 14.6 million units worth N562.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed the last trading session of the week in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on a positive note on Friday, April 11 with a gain of 1.2 per cent or N18.86 against the United States Dollar.
During the trading day, it was exchanged at the official forex market at N1,611.08/$1, in contrast to the N1,629.94/1 it was traded a day earlier.
The local currency strengthened yesterday at the currency market after the Dollar weakened in the international scene, making currencies like the Naira have a sigh of relief.
Also supporting this is efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to prop the market with the necessary liquidity.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the British Pound Sterling at the spot market during the session by N5.57 to settle at N2,090.58/£1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N2,085.01/£1 and lost N10.18 against the Euro to sell for N1,815.82/€1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,805.64/€1.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback on Friday, remaining unchanged at N1,620/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was bullish after the US Dollar fell to a 3-year low and Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation dropped sharply.
The drop in the greenback made it possible for investors and traders to buy more while the index came in at 2.7 per cent versus the anticipated 3.3 per cent while the core PPI print also surprised to the downside.
Solana (SOL) appreciated by 5.4 per cent to $123.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 4.3 per cent to $0.1638, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 3.2 per cent to $83,697.39, and (XRP) added 2.4 per cent to quote at $2.04, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $587.41.
In addition, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 1.2 per cent to $1,573.75, Cardano grew by 0.3 per cent to $0.6234, Litecoin (LTC) also went up by 0.3 per cent to $76.20, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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