Economy
FG Tasks Farmers On Periodic Check On Agric Products
By Dipo Olowookere
Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, has appealed to farmers and food handlers in the country to always carry out periodic examination of their products, to avoid fungal contamination, in order to protect public health, and secure good market for Nigeria’s agro-commodities.
Mr Lokpobiri made this call on Thursday at a one-day stakeholders’ sensitization workshop on the effects of mycotoxins on agricultural commodities, health and trade.
The Minister said, “It is imperative for both farmers and governmental agencies to adapt a better method to prevent fungal contamination of agricultural commodities during growing period, storage, handling, processing and transportation.”
He noted that over the years, Nigeria’s agricultural products have been exposed to pesticide residues and mycotoxins producing fungal, resulting in several rejections of some Nigeria’s agricultural produce by some trading partners, particularly the European Union (EU).
He noted that the risk of mycotoxins may affect growth performance and could be hazardous to consumers by reducing the quality of products and its market value, thereby resulting in commodity rejection in the international market.
Mr Lokpobiri added that, “These poisonous toxins produced by certain species of fungi, have profound adverse effects on the health of animals and humans, as they consume food from crops, poultry products, meat and fish infected by mycotoxins and have resulted in the cause of human and animal illnesses and deaths.”
The Minister called on farmers and other stakeholders along the food value chains to note that Nigeria has a tropical climate with an all year round high temperature and relative high humidity, and that this peculiarity provides good conditions for the growth of toxigenic molds. “The only way out from the adverse effects of these climatic factors on agricultural produce is to apply best agricultural practices at all material times”, the Minister stated.
Mr Lokpobiri therefore charged participants at the workshop to convey and spread the information on the negative and detrimental effects of consuming moldy products to the grassroots, adding that “In this regard, the knowledge you will acquire at this workshop would be of immense benefit not only to you, but the society at large.”
The Minister assured the workshop that his Ministry would continue to assist farmers and other stakeholders in improving the storage and handling of grains, nuts and other commodities in order to minimize the growth of molds to reduce the risk of contamination.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Shehu Ahmed, represented by the Coordinating Director, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service in the Ministry, Dr Vincent Isegbe said that the workshop was organized to educate farmers, food handlers and all other relevant stakeholders in the agricultural sector on the harmful effects of mycotoxin contaminants to agricultural commodities and its consequential effects on animal and human health.
According to him, the workshop was also to mainstream information to all producers and consumers on its adverse effects on agricultural commodity trade.
He assured the participants that the Ministry was doing its best within its limited resources to assist farmers in many ways, especially when it affects crops during storage. He added that the Ministry was also partnering with relevant stakeholders in food production, processing, storage and handling along the food value chains to ensure that only safe food gets to the consumers’ table, as well as boost trade and quality of Nigeria’s agricultural produce.
In his goodwill message, Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Mr Abdullahi Adamu said his committee would continue to support the growth of Nigeria’s agricultural sector, and assured that the Nigeria Agriculture Quarantine bill would be passed by the National Assembly soon.
The Chairman, who was represented by a member of the committee, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege promised that the Senate Committee on Agriculture would work with the communiqué that would be presented to them at the end of the workshop.
Also, representative of UNIDO at the workshop, Prof Abimbola Uzomah said the unusual high level of mycotoxin is the cause of rejection of Nigeria’s agricultural products by the European Union (EU) and other countries.
She informed that UNIDO was flagging off a National Quality Infrastructure which requires the support of Nigeria for its success. She called for a policy in Nigeria to eliminate the menace, and disclosed that UNIDO was available to support, facilitate, train and teach stakeholders to enable the world do business with Nigeria.
Representative of the European Union, Ms Fatima Abdullahi Habib was hopeful that the workshop would have a positive impact in the control of mycotoxin in Nigeria.
In his contribution, representative of the National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr Daniel Okafor stressed the need for proper processing and packaging of Nigeria’s agricultural products for export.
He called for the replication of the sensitization workshop across the nation and the need to develop a common message in local languages for dissemination throughout the country.
Highlight of the event was the launching of a book on information in pictures on moldiness in agricultural commodities along food value chains for stakeholders and moisture meters for determination of moisture levels of grains by the Minister.
The Minister later donated an appreciable number of the book and moisture meters to farmers present at the workshop.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.
The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.
During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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