AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Ghana adds value to yams, cassava with launch of US$1.65m processing factory

Sep 13, 2021Sep 13, 2021 Editor

GHANA – The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has commissioned CH Global Limited, a cassava and yam processing factory operating under the government’s 1-District-1-Factory initiative, located in Krachi East District of Oti Region. Construction of the facility which began in 2019, received financial support from Ghana EXIM Bank to the tune of GH¢10 million (US$1.65m). According to reports by The Presidency of Ghana, the facility will process yam into frozen chips and yam balls, under the brand name CH Foods. The first phase of the…

Ugandan agro-processor Pura Organics receives US$2.5m investment from Pearl Capital Partners

Aug 10, 2021Aug 10, 2021 Editor

UGANDA – Pura Organic Agro Tech Ltd, an agro-processing company focused on the cassava value chain in Uganda, has clinched a US$2.5 million straight equity and patient debt investment from Yield Fund, managed by Pearl Capital Partners. The investment will enable Pura acquire and install a vertically integrated cassava processing plant that is envisaged to produce an assorted line of three products comprising of: High-Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF), Tapioca starch, and Sago (an edible starch delicacy that is made from cassava). Pura which was incorporated in 2011, is seeking to…

Flour Mills of Nigeria expands investment in Nigeria’s sugar industry as Shell Nigeria ventures into cassava processing

May 31, 2021May 31, 2021 Editor

NIGERIA – Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), has announced the acquisition of 20,450 hectares of land in Nasarawa State, to boost the backward integration strategy (BIP) of the National Sugar Master Plan, as leading energy company, Shell Nigeria, inaugurates a multi-billion-naira cassava processing facility in Rivers State. The move by the integrated food business and agro-allied company, FMN, is part of its commitment to the overall growth strategy of the sugar industry in the country. This follows the company’s recent acquisition of an additional 5,200 hectares of land in…

Premier Plantations in Nigeria ventures into the lucrative agriculture sector of Ekiti State

Feb 20, 2021Feb 20, 2021 Editor

NIGERIA – Premier Plantations Limited, a subsidiary of Nosak Group, a Nigerian industrial conglomerate is seeking to invest in the country’s new investment hub, Ekiti State. With the recent clamour and drive to make agriculture the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, Premier Plantations majoring on the cultivation of cassava and other feedstocks, is planning to establish a 6,000ha cassava plantation at the Southwest region of Nigeria. The crust of the plantation is the cultivation of cassava, and the conversion of the same into ethanol. The denatured ethanol derived is expected…

EU injects US$5.9m in Kenya’s cassava value chain, launches US$1.1m agribusiness challenge in Zambia

Sep 24, 2020Sep 24, 2020 Editor

KENYA – The European Union (EU) through Self Help Africa, an International NGO implementing rural development, sustainable food and livelihoods security is planning to undertake a Ksh. 650 million (US$5.9m) cassava value chain project in Kenya. The programme to be undertaken in a period of 3 years will be rolled out in Busia County and later to be extended to reach other 4,000 small scale farmers in Kisumu, Homabay Migori, Kilifi, and Siaya. The investment is aimed to improve the competitiveness of cassava production in the country, targeting farm mechanization…

Bill & Melinda Gates foundation funds International Institute of Tropical Agriculture US$14.3m for cassava project

Jul 10, 2020Jul 10, 2020 Editor

AFRICA – The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and its partners working towards building a sustainable cassava seed system in Africa, have received US$14.3 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to kick-start the second phase of Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS-II) in both Nigeria and Tanzania. The 5-year project will be led by IITA, working in partnership with Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), IITA GoSeed, Umudike Seed, Sahel…

Central Bank of Nigeria funds production of nine agricultural commodities with US$1.1bn

Jun 19, 2020Jun 19, 2020 Editor

NIGERIA – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has targeted to fund the value chains of nine agricultural commodities in the 2020 wet planting season to the tune of N432bn (US$1.1bn) to prevent the country from sliding into a recession, as is currently being experienced in some major economies of the world. The commodities to be funded include rice, cotton, oil palm, tomato, cassava, poultry, fish, maize, cocoa and livestock/diary. The funding would be sent through designated participating banks, targeting over 1.1 million farmers, cultivating over one million hectares of…

Kenya set to have a new genetically modified cassava variety subject to safety review

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020 Editor

KENYA – The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), has applied to the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) for environmental release (open field cultivation) and placing on the market of genetically modified (GM) cassava said to be resistant to cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). KARLO is the state corporate body that establishes suitable legal and institutional framework for coordination of agricultural research in Kenya. NBA, the state corporation that exercises general supervision and control over the transfer, handling and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), together with relevant regulatory agencies…

Musika patners with Kemiko to boost Zambia’s cassava processing sector

Mar 25, 2020Mar 25, 2020 Editor

ZAMBIA – Musika, a non-profit company with focus on stimulating private investment in the Zambian agricultural sector has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kemiko ltd, a SME that operates a starch and cassava flour processing plant. The aim of the MoU is to boost Kemiko’s processing capacity and provide a secure and ready market to about 1,000 smallholder cassava growers in Northern and Luapula province. Kemiko has anticipated to buy over 360 tonnes of cassava from the farmers with buying exercise scheduled to commence by end of May 2020.…

African Development Bank lends Congo US$80.75m to set up agricultural value chains

Nov 25, 2019Nov 25, 2019 Clement M.

CONGO – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank have approved a loan of US$80.75 million for the Republic of Congo to set up agricultural value chains for the benefit of more than 350,000 people. The Integrated Agricultural Value Chain Development Project in Congo (PROVIDAC), which will be implemented for six years, must cover the corridors of the major marketing centers of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire as well as the production basins in the Plateaux departments; Pool, Bouenza, Cuvette and Niari. Ali Eyeghe, head of the Agriculture, Human…