Commodities

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FG to increase cocoa production to 500,000 tonnes by 2025

Abuja, July 16, 2024 – The Federal Government plans to increase cocoa production to 500,000 metric tonnes by 2025  This to improve cocoa production from the 340,000 metric tonnes achieved in 2022.  Nura Rimi, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investments, disclosed this at the Pre-National Trade Dialogue Series Meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.  The theme of the meeting was “The State of Nigeria’s Global Trade Ecosystem: Bridging the Gaps for a Renewed Programme”. Rimi, who was represented by Kaura Irmiya, the Ministry’s Director of …

Oil prices hold ground amid political uncertainty in US, Mideast

 Singapore, July 15, 2024 – Oil held its ground on Monday, with political uncertainty in the U.S. and the Middle East supporting prices, offsetting downward pressure from a stronger dollar and weak demand in top importer China. Brent crude futures slid 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $84.90 a barrel by 0640 GMT after settling down 37 cents on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude stood at $82.15 a barrel, down 6 cents, or 0.1%. The dollar, which firmed after a failed assassination bid on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, weighed …

LG Autonomy: Makinde advises states to be more productive

Ibadan, July 12, 2024 -Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has called on states to focus more on productive activities that can boost internally generated revenues. Makinde, made the call while reacting to the Supreme Court judgment that granted financial autonomy to local governments. The governor, while receiving the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Dr Chris Iziguzo, in his office at the secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, said the Supreme Court judgment has nothing to do with Oyo State. “Because since I came in, we have conducted local …

Post-COVID, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals

Johannesburg, May 29, 2024 – China’s flagship economic cooperation program is bouncing back after a lull during the global pandemic, with Africa a primary focus, according to a Reuters analysis of lending, investment and trade data. Chinese leaders have been citing the billions of dollars committed to new construction projects and record two-way trade as evidence of their commitment to assist with the continent’s modernisation and foster “win-win” cooperation. But the data reveals a more complex relationship, one that is still largely extractive and has so far failed to live …

FG revokes 2,531 mining licences

Abuja, May 25, 2024 – The federal government has revoked 2,531 mining licences in the last one year due to non-payment of dues and inactivity. Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals, disclosed this on Thursday at Ministerial Sectoral Updates on the achievements of President Bola Tinubu during his first year in office. He said the ministry had introduced many reforms which had improved service delivery, investor confidence and revenue generation. Alake said the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) had been repositioned with the introduction of eMC+ software for mineral tittle …

FG, states to establish joint committee on solid minerals

Abuja, May 17, 2024 – The Federal Government and states have agreed to establish a joint committee to reposition and maximise the potential of the solid minerals sector. The decision was reached at a meeting between the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development. Segun Tomori, the Media Aide to the Minister, said that the meeting, chaired by Kwara Governor AbdulRasak Abdulrahman, signified a pivotal moment in the application of cooperative federalism principles to mining sector concerns. At the meeting, which had 32 of the 36 …

Biden expects China to retaliate to new tariffs

 Washington D.C, May 15, 2024 – China appears to still be weighing how it will respond to sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports, but Joe Biden told Yahoo Finance that a retaliation is likely coming. “I don’t think it’ll lead to any international conflict or anything like that, but I think they’ll probably try to figure out how they can raise tariffs, maybe on products that are unrelated,” Bident said in an exclusive Yahoo Finance interview. The president said he expected the coming trade conflict to be manageable, telling Yahoo Finance …

FG to make solid minerals mainstay of Nigeria’s economy – Alake

Abuja, May 14, 2024 – Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, says the federal government has resolved to make solid minerals the mainstay of the nation’s economy in view of the dwindling fortunes of crude oil globally.   Alake said this on Tuesday while launching the Nigerian Minerals Resource Decision Support System (NMRDSS) to provide technological communication and accessibility in the mining sector. The minister said the main objective of the administration was to significantly increase the contribution of the solid mineral sector to the nations’ Gross Domestic …

Alake urges Australians to consider Nigeria as investment destination

Abuja, April 25, 2024 – Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has advised Australian investors to consider Nigeria as their investment destination. He said Nigeria was becoming a mining investment destination of choice in view of incentives and policies designed to promote ease of doing business in the sector. Segun Tomori, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, said Alake made the call in his address at a Nigeria-Autralia Investment Roundtable. Alake urged the investors to consider Nigeria highly as their investment destination, especially with the commitment of …

Ivory Coast to increase cocoa price by 50%

Abidjan, April 1, 2024 – Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara will increase the official cocoa farmgate price to 1,500 CFA francs ($2.47) per kg from Tuesday from the current 1,000 CFA, sources at five different export companies said. The sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said they were citing a decision at a government meeting on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Ouattara had validated a proposal for a price of between 1,100 and 1,200 CFA francs per kg before reversing his decision and asking that …