Economy
New Investments Will Give Africa Lead in Agri Development
At a time when the rest of the world is re-thinking its approach to commercial agriculture, Africa has a clear opportunity to refresh its approach to the sector and become an emerging force.
Big shifts are already happening in food production, land and water use, and the integration of agri-tech and product tracing.
If African firms take an early lead during this transition, they will be well placed to compete globally by building enduring assets and commercial advantages beyond primary production.
The financing of new investments in agriculture has always relied on a healthy financial eco-system: active banks, sound insurers and lively futures markets.
The next set of gains will come from new platforms that allow small and large firms to connect to each other and to their shared stakeholders. The reciprocal exchange of market data will make smaller, efficient players more visible to large buyers.
“Without continued advances in agricultural productivity, the whole project of African advancement is at risk,” according to Linda Manda, Sector Head Agribusiness, Corporate and Investment Banking at Standard Bank. “The stakes are high for all of us”, says Ms Manda, “because communities in Africa rely on the agriculture industry for much more than food: employment, investment and infrastructure development are all part of the deal.” Over half (52%) of all people in Sub-Saharan Africa are employed in agriculture (2019).
Three recent developments: Higher value incentives
Three recent development milestones suggest that African firms are ready to move beyond low-margin primary production while remaining active in agriculture.
According to Sola David-Borha, Chief Executive of Africa regions at Standard Bank, “‘higher-value economic activity is even more likely if finance, technology and trade move deeper into African agriculture. Larger and more open markets, strong supplier networks and technology investments will drive Africa’s growth.”
Trade data, and Standard Bank’s own long experience of trade finance, shows that Africa has been a net importer of food for almost two decades although the trade deficit has narrowed recently.
Despite the impressive export growth of certain key products, other food imports continue to rise. The COVID-induced disruption to imports is a reminder that regional resilience in the food supply is a practical imperative, not an intangible aspiration.
A larger, more open, internal market in SSA
First, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should create a much larger internal market that gives producers access to a larger and more open market. Local production can better compete with the current import-and-distribute model. Large-scale production will arise when the returns are not stifled by trade friction. As an African bank, Standard Bank’s role is to put our strong balance sheet to work, lending to the new crop of agri-entrepreneurs.
Multinationals are already active cross-border distributors, but we expect new African producers to be attracted to the intra-African produce-to-trade and value addition opportunity. Africa also needs to be ready for the next disruption in trade. Some global imports will always be required but it would be wise to ensure that key inputs can also be sourced regionally.
Fading distinctions between suppliers
Second, the contrived distinction between the produce of small-holder farmers and very large commercial producers is beginning to fade. The new financial platforms being offered by Standard Bank will confirm the extent which large and small farming operations can complement one another.
Out-grower programmes offered by large global firms allow smallholders to establish themselves as suppliers to the biggest and most profitable value chains.
Tobacco, sugar and sorghum are all good case studies. Our banking platform is a place where buyers can meet producers, surrounded by market data on inputs, crop prices, volumes, regulations, trade advice and currency movements.
From the top of a tall grain silo, the neat polygons of mono-crop plantations appear to be the only advanced outposts of progress. By contrast, small-holder farmland can seem rough and rudimentary remnants of a pre-industrial age. Our own experience is quite different.
Smallholder farmers that have access to the right platforms and better yields are also able to compete on quality and cost. Local knowledge of weather, grains, indigenous varieties, insects, and soil has accumulated over many years in Africa and is becoming a treasure of indigenous competence and resourcefulness. The huge expansion of biological patents attests to the large commercial value of small, local insights.
Adoption of technology and optimisation logistics
The third recent milestone is the broad acceptance across Africa that advances in technology are not peripheral to growth. Grudging acceptance has given way to enthusiastic adoption.
Healthy livestock, fertile plantations, productive greenhouses and efficient cold chains all require technology partnerships to keep them productive and profitable.
Two decades of smartphone penetration in rural communities has probably eased the transition from guesswork and speculation to data-driven decisions and GPS mapping.
To make the most of this milestone, every hectare of land, every seedling and every bag of fertiliser must be used optimally. On-farm losses and unreliable methods are simply unaffordable during health pandemics and economic recessions.
Private investment in telecoms, machinery and pipelines will eventually work alongside publicly funded infrastructure: roads, rail and bulk water supplies.
Policy reforms need to support more public-private partnerships that have shown they can build and maintain high-quality infrastructure assets.
Consumer demand for less waste and more conservation will support investments in new systems that supply micro-nutrients to digitally-mapped crops and livestock. Food-insecure communities in Africa can cheer this development as much as time-starved households in wealthy countries: a regular surplus of well-priced food is the best guarantee of the social stability in which economic growth can best be cultivated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, increased by 55.4 per cent on a month-on-month basis to 71.5 million litres per day in November 2025 from 46 million litres per day in October.
This was contained in the November 2025 fact sheet of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Monday.
The data showed that the nation’s consumption also increased by 44.5 per cent or 37.4 million litres to 52.1 million litres per day in November 2025, against 28.9 million litres in October.
The significant increase in petrol supply last month was on account of the imports by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited into the Nigerian market from both the domestic and the international market.
Domestic refineries supplied in the period stood at 17.1 million litres per day, while the average daily consumption of PMS for the month was 52.9 million litres per day.
The NMDPRA noted that no production activities were recorded in all the state-owned refineries, which included Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, in the period, as the refineries remained shut down.
According to the report, the imports were aimed at building inventory and further guaranteeing supply during the peak demand period.
Other reasons for the increase, according to the NMDPRA, were due to “low supply recorded in September and October 2025, below the national demand threshold; the need for boosting national stock level to meet the peak demand period of end of year festivities, and twelve vessels programmed to discharge into October, which spilled into November.”
On gas, the average daily gas supply climbed to 4.684 billion standard cubic feet per day in November 2025, from the 3.94 bscf/d average processing level recorded in October.
The Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 also maintained a stable processing output of 3.5 bscf/d in November 2025, but utilisation improved slightly to 73.7 per cent compared with 71.68 per cent in October.
The increase, according to the report, was driven by higher plant utilisation across processing hubs and steady export volumes from the Nigeria LNG plant in Bonny.
“As of November 2025, Nigeria’s major gas processing facilities recorded improved output and utilisation levels, with the Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 processing 3.50 billion standard cubic feet per day at a utilisation rate of 73.70 per cent.
“Gbaran Ubie Gas Plant processed 1.250 bscf per day, operating at 71.21 per cent utilisation, while the MPNU Bonny River Terminal recorded a throughput of 0.690 bscf per day during the period. Processing activities at the Escravos Gas Plant stood at 0.680 bscf per day, representing a 62 per cent utilisation rate, whereas the Soku Gas Plant emerged as the top performer, processing 0.600 bscf per day at 96.84 per cent utilisation,” it stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The proposed share reconstruction of a local gaming firm, Secure Electronic Technology (SET), has been suspended.
The Lagos-based company decided to shelve the exercise after negotiations with potential investors crumbled like a house of cards.
Secure Electronic Technology was earlier in talks with some foreign investors interested in the organisation.
Plans were underway to restructure the shares of the company, which are listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
However, things did not go as planned as the potential investors pulled out, leaving the board to consider others ways to move the firm forward.
Confirming this development, the company secretary, Ms Irene Attoe, in a statement, said the board would explore other means to keep the company running to deliver value to shareholders.
“This is to notify the NGX and the investing public that a meeting of the board of SET held on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, as scheduled, to consider the status of the proposed share reconstruction and recapitalisation as approved by the members at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on April 16, 2025.
“After due deliberations, the board wishes to announce that the proposed share reconstruction will not take place as anticipated due to the inability of the parties to reach a convergence on the best and mutually viable terms.
“Thus, following an impasse in the negotiations, and the investors’ withdrawal from the transaction, the board has, in the interest of all members, decided to accept these outcomes and move ahead in the overall interest of the business.
“The board is committed to driving the strategic objectives of SEC and to seeking viable opportunities for sustainable growth of the company,” the disclosure stated.
Business Post reports that the share price of SET crashed by 3.85 per cent on Tuesday on Customs Street on Tuesday to 75 Kobo. Its 52-week high remains N1.33 and its one-year low is 45 Kobo. Today, investors transacted 39,331,958 units.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Clea, a blockchain-powered platform that allows African importers to pay international suppliers in USD while settling locally, has officially launched.
During its pilot phase, Clea processed more than $4 million in cross-border transactions, demonstrating strong early demand from businesses navigating the complexities of global trade.
Clea addresses persistent challenges that African importers have long struggled with, including limited FX access, unpredictable exchange rates, high bank charges, fraudulent intermediaries, and payment delays that slow or halt shipments. The continent also faces a trade-finance gap estimated at over $120 billion annually, limiting importers’ ability to access the FX and financial infrastructure needed for timely international payments by offering fast, transparent, and direct USD settlements, completed without intermediaries or banking bottlenecks.
Founded by Mr Sheriff Adedokun, Mr Iyiola Osuagwu, and Mr Sidney Egwuatu, Clea was created from the team’s own experiences dealing with unreliable international payments. The platform currently serves Nigerian importers trading with suppliers in the United States, China, and the UAE, with plans to expand into additional trade corridors.
The platform will allow local payments in Naira with instant access to Dollars as well as instant, same-day, or next-day settlement options and transparent, traceable transactions that reduce fraud risk.
Speaking on the launch, Mr Adedokun said, “Importers face unnecessary stress when payments are delayed or rejected. Clea eliminates that uncertainty by offering reliable, secure, and traceable payments completed in the importer’s own name, strengthening supplier confidence from day one.”
Mr Osuagwu, co-founder & CTO, added, “Our goal is to make global trade feel as seamless as a local transfer. By connecting local currencies to global transactions through blockchain technology, we are removing long-standing barriers that have limited African importers for years.”
According to a statement shared with Business Post, Clea is already working with shipping operators who refer merchants to the platform and is also engaging trade associations and logistics networks in key import hubs. The company remains fully bootstrapped but is open to strategic investors aligned with its mission to build a trusted global payment network for African businesses.
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