Nigeria

Nigeria to improve wheat production with locally modified seeds

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Nigeria, Africa’s largest buyer of wheat, is partnering with food company Olam International Ltd. to develop seed varieties of the grain that are suitable for its climate, which will boost local output and cut dependence on imports.

Olam unit Crown Flour Mill Ltd., has produced so-called nucleus seeds suitable for the West African nation’s topography and climate, Ashish Pande, the country head for Olam Agri Nigeria, said at a virtual media briefing on Friday.

Africa’s most populous country placed restrictions on wheat imports before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted supply. But it harvested less than 1% of the 4.7 million tons of the grain it consumed in 2021, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The surge in the price of the cereal crop helped fuel the inflation rate for food, which rose to 22% in July from a year earlier.

Domestic wheat production has been hampered by lack of appropriate seed varieties that can be grown in local whether conditions, high fertilizer costs and the lack of irrigation facilities.

The new seeds “gives some assurance that the investment of Olam will accelerate production” in Nigeria across the wheat-farming belt, Kachalla Mala, the principal research officer at Lake Chad Research Institute, said at the briefing.

Source: furtherafrica.com/

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General

The historical pallet bottleneck reaches everyday life

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Almost nothing works in business without Euro pallets. But they have become scarce and expensive. The lumber needed to produce the carriers remains in short supply. An end to the emergency is not in sight – on the contrary.

Peter Peschmann is sounding the alarm: “The logistics processes are out of step,” says the technical director of the Veltins brewery. The brewery is still able to deliver its beer to retailers and restaurants. But this has its price, because the pallets required for this are scarce and expensive.

Peschmann estimates that Veltins alone will incur additional costs of around 1.5 million euros for the supply of pallets in the current year, and that this will also be reflected in the price of beer. Before the pandemic, the price for the EPAL europallet format was still a good seven euros; at present, more than double that is due.

Source: welt.de

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South Africa

E-motorcycle manufacturer declares war on poachers

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Poachers in South Africa are making life difficult for the rangers there, depriving them of elephants, rhinos and other wild animals. To make it easier for the animal protectors to take on the criminals, they are to be equipped with electric motorcycles.

The Swedish company Cake, a manufacturer of electric motorcycles, has teamed up with the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC) to combat illegal poaching. In the future, rangers hunting illegal poachers in South Africa will use electric motorcycles specially developed by Cake to move through the bush. In contrast to the currently used motorcycles with combustion engines, these are more environmentally friendly and – most importantly – noiseless. It is the noise of conventional motorcycles that often warns poachers well in advance that rangers are on their way.

Source: chip.de

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General

Submarine cable encloses Africa in 2024

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Sea cable from Facebook and Vodafone reaches almost the circumference of the earth. 2Africa is supposed to run once around the African continent. Orange and China Mobile are also involved.

Facebook is working with telecommunications operators to build a 37,000 kilometre submarine cable to serve 16 countries in Africa. The company made the announcement in its blog. The length of the submarine cable 2Africa will almost reach the earth’s circumference of about 40,000 kilometres. The submarine cable will be built around the entire African continent and, when completed in 2024, is expected to deliver three times the capacity of all current submarine cables in Africa. In addition to Facebook, the South African MTN GlobalConnect, Telecom Egypt for Africa, Orange and Vodafone as European representatives and China Mobile International are also participating. Another partner is the wholesaler West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC).

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Investments in Africa