Survey of African execs shows growing importance of Nigeria for future prospects

A new survey of 206 African business executives shows that the revenue and profit contribution from the continent is expected to rise materially in the coming five years, while Nigeria’s importance as a primary market is likely to increase and South Africa’s decrease over the period.

Titled ‘Africa is the horizon: the 2015 African Business Outlook Survey’, the report has been compiled by The Economist Corporate Network, the business advisory service of The Economist Group, which canvassed executives based primarily in the four biggest sub-Saharan economies – Nigeria, South Africa, Angola and Kenya.

It indicates that ongoing economic growth is providing the underlying rationale for business optimism, with the Economist expecting sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 4.5% in 2015, making it the world’s fastest growing economic zone, ahead of Asia’s regional average of 4.3%.

The group’s global expectation is for growth of 3.6%, supported by a recovery in the US and continued, albeit more moderate, economic expansion in key developing countries such as China and India.

The survey estimates that, over the coming five years, sub-Saharan Africa’s share of global GDP will more than double, from 1.4% to 4% by 2020. More

Source: www.engineeringnews.co.za

NEPAD launches Agribusiness Programme

A Youth Employment and Women in Agribusiness Programme has been launched by the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD).

The new programme aims to support economic growth and the empowerment of women in Africa.

Women and youth have been reported as being responsible for 80% of food production in the agriculture industry on the continent.

Estherine Fotabong, NEPAD’s Programme Implementation and Coordination Director, said: “The programme seeks to empower the youth to be able to develop their necessary skills and get in the agribusiness skills and we it will also link youth to the private sector and create opportunities for the to be part of development programmes.

“Youth can go to the universities but they won’t have enough experience to secure jobs.

“We have long term programmers for women and youth until 2063 but we are not sure who will walk the talk we are doing, therefore women and youth capacity is key to guarantee continuity of all this, we also want to support these women and youth so that they can become vibrant driver of the continent’s economy.”

Source: www.africanbusinessnetwork.co.za

Africa’s future billionaires will be farmers, says Nigerian minister

Africa’s future billionaires and millionaires will make their money from agriculture, says Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.  Adesina was named Forbes African of the Year in December 2013 for his reforms to Nigeria’s farming sector, according to a BBC report.

In his acceptance speech, Adesina said at the time he wanted to help people become rich through farming.

“My goal is to make as many millionaires, maybe even billionaires, from agriculture as possible,” he said, according to BBC.

African Development Bank is financing $170 million for a Nigerian project that aims to transform agriculture. The project aims to create agricultural entrepreneurs and producers by providing about 120,000 jobs along the value chain of priority commodities.  An additional 20 million tons of key food crops including cassava, rice, and sorghum will be added to the domestic food supply each year, if all goes according to plan.

A significant part of the project is developing outreach models in agriculture with young entrepreneurs, aka youth agripreneurs. The plan is for agripreneurs to promote agriculture among other youth in their regions through peer education, training and demonstration of agricultural best practices, and business skills in value-chain development.  More» 

Source: www.afkinsider,com

Western Cape fruit and wine exports blossoming

Western Cape fruit and wine exports are on the rise, with the provincial government pushing for increased market access for the region’s high-quality produce.

The agri-processing sector is a key focus area for the provincial government for the next three to five years. And a key part of the Western Cape sector’s plans for growth is the promotion its brand as high-quality.

According to figures released by the provincial government on Thursday, the value of wine exports increased 78% between 2009 and last year.

In the past five years, domestic sales for natural wine reached 1.9-billion litres. According to wine producers’ body VinPro, at the end of 2014, the volume of local wine sales was at the highest level in 20 years. The 353-million litres of natural wine sales represented a 7.3% increase from 2013. More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Grain farmers want land plan cap scrapped

THE proposal to cap the amount of land deeds an individual might hold would affect food production and the government should consider alternative ways to remedy racial inequality in ownership, the biggest grains lobby said.

President Jacob Zuma in February introduced the Regulation of Land Holdings Bill as a way to redress economic disparities between whites and blacks that were created under apartheid rule. It proposes to limit the area of land anyone can hold to 12 000 hectares, or two title deeds. Excess land will be bought and redistributed and the limit will be applied retrospectively.

Farmers in South Africa, the continent’s biggest maize producer, were concerned about the proposed backward-looking limit on title deeds, because some create their areas under cultivation by collating as many as 10 smaller deeds, Grain SA chief executive Jannie de Villiers said last week. More

Lower quality wheat will boost production

SA’s wheat industry wants grading and planting rules for the cereal relaxed to help increase yields and revive production after farmers sowed the smallest area since 1931 this season.

Possible changes to grading terms and to a voluntary agreement that stipulates which wheat varieties producers will plant, known as release criteria, were among proposals the industry was considering, Grain SA CEO Jannie de Villiers said last week.

"The quality requirements of the milling and baking industries are too stringent," he said. Allowing farmers to plant cultivars that focused on higher yields would help their profitability, "and then hopefully they’ll start planting again. Hopefully we can produce more than half of what we need at the moment," he said. More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Shifting quicksands of land drama

By now it must be obvious to even the most casual of observers of SA’s land drama that every effort at reforming land ownership has failed, the degree to which is matched only by the level of dismay expressed across the nation’s classes and races. Specifically, it has failed to reform and redress land ownership and it has failed to establish an agrarian economy.

It may be that, among the African National Congress (ANC) government’s many failures, the party’s undoing will stem from its continued failure to make good on its promises of equality in land rights.

When you consider that the denial of equality of land ownership to most South Africans is being continued as a matter of policy by the party, which continues to pronounce, as the Freedom Charter reads, that "the land shall be shared among those who work it", a nationwide land grab seems either inevitable or desirable.  More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Why is SA unable to unlock potential maize production capacity of Eastern Cape?

BY WANDILE SIHLOBO
AT THIS time of the year many agricultural industry representatives travel across the country, doing farm visits and conducting regional meetings. About two weeks ago, I visited the small town of Matatiele, in the Eastern Cape, where I was to engage with emerging grain producers.

As I drove past the outskirts of Mthatha, I could not help but notice the fertile, green maize fields across the former Transkei. More so, I could see the joy in some farmers’ eyes when I highlighted the possible maize price outlook. It is clear that many of them are going to have fairly good yields this year, in contrast to those in the central and western parts of SA, which are experiencing severe droughts.

It is evident that the Eastern Cape experienced better climatic conditions this season than many areas in the traditional central and western maize belt of the country. Yet, this will not result in meaningful gains for national food security. The Eastern Cape, compared to other maize-producing provinces, produces a small quantity of commercial maize. In 2014, its total commercial maize contribution was a mere 0.78%, which is 111,000 tons out of 14.3-million tons produced that year, according to the National Crop Estimate (NCE) figures.

Nonetheless, many studies such as that of Benedict Mandlenkosi Gilimani, a former agricultural economics graduate researcher at Stellenbosch University, show that maize contributed significantly to household food security in the Eastern Cape. More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Land redistribution ‘needs new laws’

Durban - The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is conducting public hearings on land restitution to establish better ways of fast-tracking the process, which the government has admitted is expensive and difficult to handle.

During a round table discussion held at the party’s provincial office in Durban on Tuesday, provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Cyril Xaba said R7 billion had been invested in the process of land restitution in the province, which had settled only 14 000ha.

He told representatives from land rights organisations, traditional leaders and academics the government was disappointed that nationally it had managed to settle only 8% of claims by the end of its deadline last year, instead of its 30% target. More

Source: www.iol.co.za

DTI strengthens trade with Russia

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is leading a delegation of 25 South African businesspeople to participate in the sixth Investment and Trade Initiative (ITI) to Moscow and Novosibirsk, Russia, from March 23 to 27.

The initiative would comprise investment seminars, business-to-business meetings and site visits to expose the delegation to “the way the Russians do business”.

“[This initiative aims] to strengthen trade relations between South Africa and that country, especially since the two countries are members of Brics [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.]

Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Mzwandile Masina said, “This trade mission is an opportunity to advance South Africa’s export and investment agenda in the sectors of agriculture and agroprocessing, [as well as] food-related products.”

He further noted that the trade mission would provide a platform to promote South African products to potential new customers, while obtaining new business and penetrating new markets.

South Africa’s participation would also have a positive impact in terms of increasing export sales to and joint ventures with Russia.

“The purpose of the ITI is to advance South Africa’s export and investment agenda in Russia and to strengthen commercial and economic relations between the two countries,” Masina stated.

He explained that the immediate opportunities for South African suppliers to Russia would increasing the export of fresh produce, adding that, with an already established export base of over $250m a year for fresh fruits, especially citrus, South Africa could easily expand to fresh vegetables through the existing export networks.

Source: Cape Business News

Rwanda's economy grows in 2014 as agriculture expands

Rwanda's economy grew by 7 per cent in 2014 from 4.6 per cent in the previous year, thanks to robust expansion in farming, services and industrial sectors, Finance Minister Claver Gatete said on Tuesday.

The east African nation's 2013 growth suffered from cuts in budgetary support by donors, after United Nations monitors accused it of backing rebels in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. More

Source: CNBC Africa

Analysis: Land politicised, land divided

Speaking to traditional leaders last week, President Jacob Zuma went off script. His comments were charismatic, even encouraging, but ultimately show how the issue of land is detached from meaningful reform, meaning one of the country's most important issues will continue to be exploited for political gain. By GREG NICOLSON.

“In fact it is beyond comprehension how a land as majestically stirring, as abundantly endowed with human and natural resources, as fertile in producing both food and feelings of intense joy and longing, can create nothing more than this shabby and repetitious growling of constitutional misreading, statistical embellishment, land-grabbing hysteria and food security myths, mostly led by intimidating, small-eyed, thick-necked, greedy men,” writes Antjie Krog in a new collection of essays, Land Divided, Land Restored.

Issues of land remain some of the most emotive in local discourse, chained to personal identity, livelihood, oppression, and violence. Yet the complex history and post-1994 systems of governance and redress are most often reduced to slogans, used and abused by coffee-shop-revolutionaries and campaigning politicians. Since the Economic Freedom Fighters emerged, voicing anger over land dispossession and the failure of transformation policies, efforts to lead the conversation have detached “land” from land, while actual work on the issue founders.

Responding to the rhetoric, and coinciding with the centenary of the 1913 Land Act, President Zuma and the ANC have introduced a raft of legislation aimed at giving the party the lead on the issue, which will change little. Last week Zuma, continuing the disconnected dialogue, suggested more troubled times ahead.

Compiling available statistics, Land Divided, Land Restored says by 2013 only 3.37 percent of land had been redistributed through land reform initiatives and 2.46 percent claimed through restitution, with around 20,000 restitution claims not finalised after being lodged in 1998.

“In 20 years land reform has only marginally altered the agrarian structure of South Africa, and has made relatively minor positive impacts on those to whom land has been transferred,” writes University of Western Cape academic Ben Cousins. Around eight percent of farmland has been transferred. Many urban, as well as rural, claims have resulted in cash compensation. Projects to build viable agriculture businesses from restitution claims have struggled and tenure on farms and in communal areas remains largely unreformed.

The failures stem from poor policies and implementation as meaningful land reform is sacrificed to politics. Addressing the National House of Traditional Leaders last week, Zuma highlighted two of these problems. More

Source: Dailymaverick.co.za

Poultry offer fails to feather US farmers’ nests

AN IMPROVED offer by the local poultry industry to allow more US chicken imports into SA failed to win the approval of US poultry producers at a meeting in Washington on Friday.

SA’s delegation raised by 50% the annual tonnage of allowable imported US chicken it would accept free of antidumping duties but the US industry rejected this as insufficient. A US official who attended last week’s meeting confirmed on Tuesday the industry associations from the two countries had failed to reach agreement and were "far apart".

An agreement on poultry is vital to win the support of a body of US politicians for renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) which includes SA, in the US Congress. Agoa expires in September.

US senators John Isakson of Georgia and Chris Coons of Delaware have undertaken to ensure that SA is excluded unless US poultry is allowed into SA free of antidumping duties. Both governments have left it to their poultry industry associations to come up with a mutually acceptable agreement.

South African Poultry Association CEO Kevin Lovell said the talks had not succeeded as was hoped as no middle ground could be found with the US industry "which seems to be under the misapprehension that this is replacement for normal free-trade agreement negotiations". More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Stop sending mixed messages

IF AGRICULTURE Minister Senzeni Zokwana was contemplating a career as a negotiator, he had better think again.

It is Negotiation 101 that you do not reveal what it is you really need to achieve, as opposed to which demands are merely tactical. Mr Zokwana does not seem to get that: he told Reuters last week that the 12,000ha cap on land ownership that President Jacob Zuma announced in his state of the nation speech was just a "negotiating tactic".

That should stop anyone taking the government’s proposal seriously. Yet far from making things better, it is likely to make them worse, further eroding land reform efforts and SA’s beleaguered agricultural sector. The government has floated a variety of proposals aimed at transforming the sector, from a ban on ownership by foreigners, the 12,000ha ceiling, and a suggestion that farmers should transfer 50% of their farms to their workers. More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Zuma stance may harvest a food crisis

IN his state of the nation address, President Jacob Zuma said foreign land ownership was a threat to South Africa’s control of its own food security and therefore foreigners would not be allowed to own land. In addition, the government would cap all land ownership at 12 000ha, he said.

The only part of this that Omri van Zyl, the head of agribusiness at Deloitte, agrees with is that South Africa, as he spells out in a recent report, really is facing a looming food security crisis. But the only effect of Zuma’s comments, whether anything comes of them or not, will be to bring this crisis forward, he says.

Zuma’s remarks about foreign land ownership threatening our control over food security have no basis in fact and only add to, and illustrate, the policy uncertainty that bedevils the local agriculture sector and deters foreign investment. More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Cape aims for ‘at least 70% success’ in agricultural land-reform projects

THE Western Cape wants to ensure that at least 70% of all agricultural land-reform projects are successful over the next five years, finance MEC Ivan Meyer said on Thursday.
Delivering the Western Cape’s R52bn budget in the provincial legislature, Mr Meyer said that an amount of R2.4bn over the next three years would be made available to focus on the value chain of agricultural support and services for the sector with specific emphasis on transformation.
The issue of land reform has taken centre stage in recent times with the government under pressure to transform the agricultural sector and address the injustices of the past. In his state of the nation address in February, President Jacob Zuma said that land had become a critical factor in achieving redress for past wrongs.
Mr Meyer said in his budget speech that the agricultural sector in the Western Cape was an important contributor to the regional economy.
"The Western Cape is also South Africa’s key agricultural export region ... the province wants to ensure that at least 70% of all agricultural land-reform projects are successful over the next five years," Mr Meyer said.
Among other things, the province would support the farmers and industries to increase sustainable agricultural production by at least 10% over the next 10 years and boost agricultural and related economic opportunities in selected rural areas. More

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Electricity supply constraints weigh on confidence of S Africa’s CEOs

More than half CEOs surveyed as part of the latest Merchantec CEO Confidence Index, said load-shedding was negatively impacting businesses, as it lowered productivity and raised costs.

The index, released on Wednesday, showed that 76.2% of CEOs felt that load-shedding would have a greater impact on their business activities than the positive impact of the drop in the oil price.

Eighty-nine per cent of CEOs in the basic resources sector expected load-shedding to have a significant negative impact on their bottom lines. As a result, CEOs suggested that the provision of energy should be opened to the private sector and believed that this would provide job opportunities, competitive prices and sustainable energy provision in the medium to long term. More»

Source: Engineering News