Economy
WASIL, BIF Partner to Boost Production of Grains
By Dipo Olowookere
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the West African Soy Industries Limited (WASIL), a member of WACOT/TGI Group, and Business Innovation Facility (BIF).
The deal is aimed to improve the productivity of Maize and Soy farmers in a replicable manner in Nigeria.
With the signing of the MOU, BIF will provide WASIL with technical assistance in realizing its objectives.
Identified areas of collaboration include data capturing and building data base of farmers and cooperatives in Maize & Soy.
While WASIL/WACOT is expected to provide its current database of existing cooperatives which had been formed earlier, BIF will support the Group in designing a pre-assessment survey form to assess the farmers’ socio –economic conditions, determine the sample size and assist with getting the same administered on ground.
BIF will also provide the required Information Technology (IT) support and database software and trained field staff to conduct registration of 15,000 new farmers while also conducting farm mapping and re-validation of database of farmers collected by WASIL staff and provide continuous supportive supervision.
It will also support the process of farmer training needs assessment on field, review and fine-tuning of Yield Enhancement Technique training resources and other training and development tools.
Support the production of promotional materials required for provision of Field Extension Services to the member farmers and the dissemination crop calendar related Information to farmer members on a regular basis (through ICT if possible).
BIF will also support in the establishment of Demo Plots to transfer Best Practices to member Farmers and the execution of Farmer Field Days (at least 2 field days) during the Growing Season for the member farmers
General Manager in charge of Corporate Affairs at TGI Group, Mr Sadiq Kassim, stated that, “WASIL is currently working with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the Food Security Programme of the Federal Government to improve the productivity of maize and soy farmers in a replicable manner.
“The company has commenced the setting up of a large oil milling facility in Nigeria which will provide off-take of Soybeans from out-grower farmers while its affiliate company, CHI Farms will procure maize for its feed milling activities from the out-grower farmers as well.”
“The WASIL is targeting to reach 14,000 farmers in Katsina and 1,000 farmers in Kaduna State in both maize and soy value chains making a total of 15,000 farmers during the current cropping calendar,” Mr Kassim added.
Also speaking on the agreement, Managing Director of WACOT Limited, Mr Ujwalkanta Senapati, disclosed that WASIL and BIF, through the collaboration, will create new farmers’ associations and cooperatives alongside expansion of existing cooperatives.
It will also facilitate the involvement and support of relevant public agencies and state governments in formation and registration of cooperatives and Self Help Groups.
The MoU will further ensure inclusion of registered farmers into the National Farmers Database and also conduct a joint exercise to mobilize and strengthen farmer cooperatives in areas such as conflict resolution, group functioning, record keeping, etc.
Continuing, Mr Senapati further disclosed that the agreement includes training and capacity building for maize and soy farmers. In this area, WASIL will assistant BIF in setting up a project office in Funtua, Katsina State, while BIF will provide Soy and maize crops’ experts as resource persons to develop manuals and training resources for the farmers.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to green territory on Friday, closing higher by 0.10 per cent after investor sentiment turned bullish.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive yesterday after the bourse ended with 29 appreciating equities and 21 depreciating equities.
Linkage Assurance gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.43, Livestock Feeds appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N8.41, Mutual Benefits jumped by 9.84 per cent to 67 Kobo, UBA soared by 5.75 per cent to N36.80, and Oando grew by 5.59 per cent to N51.00.
Conversely, Red Star Express lost 9.91 per cent to finish at N4.82, Learn Africa depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N3.02, FTN Cocoa declined by 9.43 per cent to N4.80, Coronation Insurance slumped by 9.39 per cent to N2.22, and Ikeja Hotel slipped by 9.35 per cent to N9.70.
Customs Street grew yesterday as a result of buying interest in banking equities, which dominated the activity chart, according to data from the bourse.
Fidelity Bank transacted 62.3 million shares for N1.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 38.3 million equities worth N843.7 million, Tantalizers sold 32.0 million stocks valued at N99.2 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 31.4 million shares worth N38.4 million, and Zenith Bank traded 22.7 million equities valued at N1.1 billion.
At the close of trades, a total of 397.2 million stocks worth N14.2 billion exchanged hands in 10,099 deals compared with the 310.5 million stocks valued at N6.3 billion traded in 10,182 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 0.82 per cent, and the growth in the trading volume and value by 27.92 per cent and 125.40 per cent, respectively.
The industrial goods and commodity sectors remained unchanged during the session, the insurance and consumer goods indices tumbled by 0.49 per cent and 0.02 per cent apiece, while the energy and banking counters went up by 0.50 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.
The bargain-hunting activities of the market participants lifted the All-Share Index (ASI) on Friday by 104.19 points to 104,962.96 points from 104,858.77 points and the market capitalisation increased by N66 billion to N65.820 trillion from N65.754 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading session this week at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a negative note with a 0.44 per cent decline on Friday, March 21.
The market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange went down by N8.67 billion to N1.939 trillion from N1.948 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) ended the session at 3,358.61 points after dropping 15.01 points from the preceding day’s 3,373.62 points.
Trading data showed an increase of 50.7 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 304,188 units from the 201,873 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions surged by 1,214.8 per cent to N10.2 million from N776,509.51, and the number of deals rose by 88.2 per cent to 32 deals from 17 deals.
Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.84 to trade at N37.17 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N39.01 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by N1.01 to sell at N22.84 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N213.85 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc declined by 2 Kobo to close the day at N19.50 per share versus the previous session’s N19.52 per share.
At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 69.9 million units valued at N23.7 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units sold for N88.9 million.
Similarly, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 13.2 million units valued at N511.8 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.6 million units sold for N360.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, March 21 by N2.72 or 0.18 per cent to settle at N1,537.05/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,534.33/1$.
In the same official FX market, the exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira and the Pound Sterling and the Euro remained unchanged at N1,972.89/£1 and N1,657.81/€1, respectively.
At the parallel market segment, the local currency tumbled against the Dollar during the trading session by N5 to trade at N1,590/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,585/$1.
The pressure on the market continued as the Dollar strengthened in the international market, making currencies like the Naira weaker.
The continuous downward trend of the Naira has raised concerns about the effectiveness of recent injections into the market even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) channeled more than $55 million into the banks during the week.
In the cryptocurrency market, most tokens as prices inversed with the wider financial markets, which are down on tariff worries and decreased corporate earnings.
On the regulatory front, the US government is moving towards a market structure bill that has been touted as historic.
Solana (SOL) appreciated by 1.2 per cent to sell at $129.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.9 per cent to $0.1692, Ethereum (ETH) went up by 0.9 per cent to $1,988.34, and Ripple (XRP) added 0.8 per cent to close at $2.40.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $84,293.76, Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.4 per cent to $631.94, and Cardano jumped by 0.3 per cent to end at $0.7134.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.8 per cent to $91.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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