The Nigerian government is pushing ahead with a sizeable development scheme to advance various agricultural value chains. During December, the government announced a mega project that seeks to develop agro-industrial zones across the country, affecting the full agricultural value chain, from coca and cassava to rice and livestock. The project will cost more than US$210 million, which will be financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Africa Growing Together Fund – over US$530 million will come from other partners such as the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Local authorities have additionally taken steps to mitigate against accusations of regional and ethnic favouritism by ensuring a diversified geographical spread across the country’s main regions. Envisaged as a means to economically revitalise rural areas and peri urban spaces, the mega project will also try to ensure that marginalised rural women benefit through a gender action plan with its own dedicated US$2 million budget.
Africa’s Top 10 Stories | January 2022
Nigeria to develop new agricultural development zones through AfDB investment
Sources: African Development Bank, International Trade Administration, Food Business Africa; 2021-2022
Vaccine mandates considered in South Africa as High Court deliberates
In parallel to more advanced economies, South Africa is edging closer to a possible vaccine mandate. Though no legally binding policy has been enforced, some major corporations operating in the country have already taken the steps of imposing their own mandates on employees, including MTN, Old Mutual and Standard Bank. The move could help accelerate local vaccine uptake rates which have thus far proven low in comparison to developed markets. Representatives of the local beverage sector have also placed pressure on the government to provide clarity on such a mandate, noting that the economy could not afford any additional lockdown restrictions. Government has signalled that it is broadly in favour of such proposals but has faced strong pushback from advocacy groups such as AfriForum who argue against the constitutionality of any such mandates.
Chad to construct first solar power plant
The Sahelian state of Chad reached a milestone during December with the inauguration of its first small grid solar independent power producer (IPP). The Djermaya solar project follows up on commitments by the government made at COP26 in Glasgow and is the product of a collaboration between InfraCo Africa, the Emerging Africa Fund and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The two-phase project, situated 30km north of N’Djamena, the country’s capital, will eventually produce an excess of 60MW and achieve a number of “firsts” for Chad, including the first local solar photovoltaic plant and the first project with its own off-grid storage infrastructure. Chad’s geographical location in the Sahara/Sahel region makes it an ideal candidate for mini-grid solar systems with proponents hoping that this project will lay the foundation for many more of its kind. The initiative is also part of the AfDB’s “Deserts to Power” initiative aimed at better utilising the continent’s deserts for energy production.
South Africa makes progress on Sugar Master Plan to address rising competition and shrinking revenues
Sugarcane fields in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. A combination of bad policymaking, civil unrest and taxation has left the industry in dire straits, but updates to legislation will pave the way for an industry turnaround. Image courtesy: iStock
The southern African economic powerhouse has joined Nigeria and a growing list of African states in giving serious thought to revitalising local sugar industries. The South African sugar industry has experienced a marked decline in recent years due to increasing competition, a challenging macroeconomic environment and stringent policies. Since the 2000s, the country’s overall sugar production has declined by 25% with the past year a particularly low ebb due to the economic impact of Covid-19 and civil unrest in the country’s coastal KwaZulu-Natal province. Aiming to reverse this trend, the government has announced the Sugarcane Value Chain Master Plan 2030, which provides a deepened localisation focus that will seek to enhance job retention, assist up-and-coming small scale farmers and facilitate product diversification. The impetus on revitalising the sugar sector is high in Nigeria as well, with BUA Group receiving US$200 million in financing from the African Finance Corporation during December for an integrated sugar project.
Tanzania stresses drive to become key logistics hub, signs US$1.9 billion railway construction deal with Turkey
During Independence Day celebrations in early December, Tanzanian president Samia Hassan noted the significant infrastructure achievements over the past 60 years and pointed towards logistics as a key area in moving Tanzania to middle-income status. The move is not new but is being fast-tracked by Hassan, who has gone on an aggressive investment drive since replacing the late John Magufuli in March 2021, securing close to US$3 billion during this period. In late December, the government also signed a deal worth almost US$2 billion with Turkish construction firm Yapi Merkezi to expand the country’s existing railway network by 368km in facilitating increased cross-border trade in the East Africa region. This portion of the line is part of a broader project that will see the port of Dar es Salaam connect to the port of Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria, and open up additional trade routes with Kenya and Uganda.
Sources: World Bank, Construction Review Online, Intergovernmental Committee, The East African, Trade.gov; 2019-2022
Uganda forges closer ties with the DRC
The East African nation has continued to strengthen ties with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the course of December, launching expansion initiatives to regional infrastructure and dealing with regional security concerns. Among the developments is a 213km road project that will see a number of Congolese cities, including Beni, Butembo and Goma, connect to Uganda to facilitate cross-border trade and act as a vital export corridor for minerals and other key natural resources. Decades-long insecurity in the region has made efficient, legally compliant cross-border trade difficult, but closer cooperation between the Congolese and Ugandan militaries has led to a turnaround in recent months. Uganda has also noted that it plans on keeping its troops committed as long as necessary to ensure the cessation of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a local terrorist group responsible for attacks on both sides of the border including the most recent bombing in Beni.
Nigeria’s 54Gene sets out to revolutionise African healthcare through launch of a local diagnostics centre
54Gene, a Nigeria-based health start-up supported by non-profit organisations such as the Gates Foundation, aims to address the backlog of locally relevant genomic data essential for creating effective healthcare treatments for African patients. Founded in 2019, the company has recently taken the next step in addressing the continent’s healthcare asymmetries through the launch of a new diagnostics arm, 7River Labs. Named in reference to Africa’s seven major river networks, the subsidiary is made up of a series of diagnostics hubs capable of performing some 300 different molecular diagnostics tests across a broad spectrum of categories, including oncology, infectious diseases, genetic testing and sequencing, anatomic pathology, clinical chemistry, microbiology, haematology as well as communicable and non-communicable diseases. With the majority of such tests still performed outside the continent 54Gene, is well-positioned to capitalise on an untapped market estimated to be worth US$10 billion.
Mauritania’s green hydrogen plan one step closer to fruition
A hydrogen powered bus in the UK. With limited capacity for renewables expansion within EU territory, European countries will begin to increasingly look to outsource their production to Africa where enormous green energy potential, particularly of solar, remains untapped. Image courtesy: WikiCommons
Mauritania has moved closer to implementing its green hydrogen plan that it announced in September 2021. Chariot, an upstream-to-green energy company, has raised US$9.5 million for a pilot study to determine the overall feasibility of green hydrogen in the country. According to a Memorandum of Understanding reached between Chariot and the Mauritanian government, the company will eventually oversee the construction of the 10GW Noor green hydrogen plant at an estimated cost of US$3.5 billion. The build commencement of Project Noor is expected to start immediately through pre-feasibility and feasibility studies on necessary solar and wind power capacities. Chariot CEO Adonis Pouroulis noted that at completion the project would be able to supply 600 000 tons of hydrogen annually. With local oil and gas developments driving improvements to regional logistics and port infrastructure, the Noor project could stand in good stead to export hydrogen to international markets.
BUA continues development of Nigerian food sector through specialised new division
In mid-December, BUA Group, a leading manufacturing company in Nigeria, started to restructure its agro-processing assets, consolidating all of its food-related operations under a new specialised entity known as BUA Foods. The company has numerous developments under way in this space, including a new 2400-ton capacity flour mill currently under construction thanks to a recent contract between BUA and Turkish construction and installer company Milleral, which can raise milling capacity to 4 000 tons per annum. A vertically integrated sugar processing facility is another of BUA’s recent large-scale endeavours, which has been made possible through a US$200 million loan from the African Finance Corporation. The moves form a key part of the country’s national Backward Integration Programme, which seeks to expand local sugar capacity to reach 1.7 million tons. The company is currently also in the process of listing on the Nigeria Stock Exchange.
South African cannabis firm to list on Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Sources: Business Tech, Bloomberg, Business Insider, The Africa Report, Mondaq; 2018-2022
Other notable stories
Agbora launches the first social media platform specifically catered for Africans
Dubbed “Africa’s social media app”, Agbora has announced the launch of a new social network of the same name through the Apple iStore. The platform, aimed for Africa citizens and the greater diaspora, is conceptualised as fulfilling both a social networking function and targeting business professionals and other commercially focused networks.
Eskom splits off transmission division
In meeting a tight end-December deadline, South Africa’s embattled state utility announced the completion of the unbundling of its transmission division. The move is part of a broader restructuring plan negotiated with creditors, which will also see production and distribution spun off into their own separate entities by the end of 2022.
Gambia re-elects Adama Barrow
The west African state of Gambia returned to the national polls in early December and re-elected Adama Barrow for a second term through 53% of the vote. The results have been hailed as a victory for the country’s democratic transition after the ousting of former dictator Yahya Jammeh in 2017, who had ruled since 1994.
