| Tanko Mohammed The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed protocols to disburse a $14 million grant to the Government of South Sudan to boost agricultural markets in a project to be implemented by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Agricultural Markets, Value Addition and Trade Development (AMVAT) project aims to enhance agricultural productivity and boost the marketing and trade of agricultural products in South Sudan. The project will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in close liaison with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The five-year project will help increase the productivity and incomes of almost 20,000 farming families in Central and Eastern Equatoria and Jonglei states, most of whom are formerly internally displaced persons who have now returned to their homes. The project will create aggregation business opportunities for farmers and traders, including women and youth, and provide them with new skills and the agro-processing equipment they need to produce competitive products. Twenty aggregation business centers will serve as ‘one-stop shops’ where farmers can access extension services and connect to markets for their value-added products. Farmer groups joining the aggregation centers will have their products not only tested and quality certified, but also traded with the private sector on their behalf. “A diversified economy away from oil and long-term growth depends on promoting agribusiness development,” said Athian Ding Athian, South Sudan’s Minister of Finance and Planning at the signing ceremony, thanking the African Development Bank for its growing assistance. “With the support from our partners, we are building an improved marketing and trade environment for agribusinesses, increasing people’s incomes and creating new jobs, particularly for the youth.” South Sudan has considerable unrealized agricultural potential, but the effects of continued violence combined with unprecedented flooding have seriously damaged food production, resulting in a huge food import bill. “Thanks to this generous contribution from the African Development Bank, farmers will move faster from subsistence to commercial agriculture by having access to new technologies, markets and linkages with other services and actors,” said Meshack Malo, FAO Representative in South Sudan. 1,000 stakeholders attend Arab-Africa trade summit By Moses Uwagbale Over 1,000 Financial Stakeholders Participate in the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges Program Investment Pillar Webinar Aimed at Growing Regional Trade Investment and Technology Transfer Initiative showcased key investment, trade and insurance pillars designed to improve trade between Arab and African countries, targeted at key sectors including agro-food, health, and pharmaceuticals amongst others Under the umbrella of the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program, three IsDB Group Private Sector Entities hosted a webinar on key trade finance and investment components aimed at fostering regional trade. The entities included the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (www.ITFC-IDB.org), the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) in collaboration with IsDB Group Business Forum “THIQAH”. Over 1,000 development institutions, sovereign funds, banks, investment and private equity companies, and key government and corporate sector representatives were in attendance. The event focused on the investment, trade and insurance pillars of the AATB program and falso showcased potential business opportunities existing between the two regions particularly in key industries such as agro-food, health and pharmaceutical, building and construction materials and equipment. Other areas are machinery and electrical equipment as well as projects and activities involving the growth of trade related investment and knowledge and technology transfer between the Arab and African countries were explored with the aim of growing AATB member base. Unilever sets long-term sales targets as China, India rebound Reuters Unilever is targeting long-term sales growth of three per cent to five per cent. This is after a recovery in China and India helped the consumer goods group to gain momentum in the final three months of 2020. But the company’s emerging market performance in the fourth quarter missed some market expectations, hitting the group’s shares which lost around four per cent in early London trading. Setting out its longer-term targets under Chief Executive Alan Jope, Unilever said, on Thursday, it would aim for underlying sales growth ahead of its markets as well as profit growth ahead of sales growth. Chief Financial Officer, Graeme Pitkethly, said business in China had normalised in many categories, including in food service, while economic activity in India picked up particularly in the final quarter. Unilever’s sales in China and India both rose in the high-single-digit percentage range in the fourth quarter, the company’s strongest performing markets in the quarter. Overall for 2020, sales in emerging markets rose 1.2 per cent, hurt in part by strict lockdowns in the first half of the year and declines in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia in the fourth quarter. This level of sales growth disappointed analysts. “Slower EM’s (emerging markets) in Q4 is the root cause of the top-line miss to Jefferies estimates, playing out against a background of extended lockdown activity worldwide,’’ Jefferies analysts wrote in a note. The brokerage expected fourth-quarter underlying sales growth of 4.4 per cent. Developed market sales rose 2.9 per cent in the quarter, driven by strong demand for in-home foods, ice-cream and hygiene products in North America. In Europe, sales were driven by home care products. The coronavirus pandemic has boosted sales of packaged food companies like Unilever, Nestle and Kraft Heinz, though Unilever has been hit by sharp declines in foods served in public places such as on beaches and at restaurants. “In a volatile and unpredictable year, we have demonstrated Unilever’s resilience and agility through the COVID-19 pandemic,’’ CEO Jope said. It was a historic year for the company, which in November, ditched its Anglo-Dutch dual-headed structure in favour of a single corporate entity based in London. The company expects to save two billion euros per annum from cost savings programmes and maintain a net debt to underlying EBITDA target of around two times. Fourth-quarter underlying sales rose 3.5 per cent, for the Anglo-Dutch maker of Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Tresemme shampoo, in line with what analysts on average were expecting, based on a company-supplied consensus. Turnover for the quarter came in at 12.1 billion euros ($14.53 billion) versus analysts’ estimates of 12.16 billion euros. Full-year 2020 turnover came in at 50.7 billion euros, slightly lower than the 50.81 billion euros, analysts had expected. The adjusted earnings per share for the year was 2.48 euros, one cent lower than analysts’ estimates. |
AfDB pens protocol to disburse $14m grant to South Sudan
