UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary Vessel Visits Nigeria

By: Michael Mike

RFA Lyme Bay, a United Kingdom Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessel, has arrived in Premiere Port (Apapa Quays) Lagos, Nigeria, as part of a Defence Engagement programme across West African partner nations.

The visit is part of the maritime co-operation agreed under the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership in February 2024.

A statement on Wednesday said whilst in Nigeria, Lyme Bay, will conduct a variety of Defence Engagement activities including ship tours and the hosting of national dignitaries. Operationally, the ship will facilitate maritime capability training utilising embarked UK Royal Marines boarding and search teams to conduct drills and interoperability training with their Nigeria Navy counterparts.

On completion of the visit, RFA Lyme Bay will participate in Exercise Grand African Nemo, a multinational maritime security exercise, involving Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian and Nigerian Naval forces off the coast of Nigeria.

Speaking on the Ship’s arrival, the UK Deputy Defence Adviser to Nigeria, Commander Jonathan Howe said: “The UK is committed to improving regional maritime security, as well as increasing Nigeria’s ability to constrain security threats ranging from piracy, violent extremist organisations. This deployment demonstrates our pledge to work with the Nigeria Government to tackle shared international security challenges and help improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.”

Lyme Bay’s Commanding Officer, Commander, Capt James Wingrove RFA, said: “It is a great privilege to bring RFA Lyme Bay alongside in Nigeria. The opportunity for my ships’ company and embarked forces to visit the region presents an exciting prospect whilst the ability to train alongside our Nigerian counterparts to hone skills, improve capability and demonstrate our interoperability is extremely valuable”.

UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary Vessel Visits Nigeria

UK-backed AFEX Celebrates 10 Years of Driving Agricultural Growth and Food Security Across Africa

By: Michael Mike

A leading commodities player in Africa, AFEX, with support from the UK Government, has significant achievements across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Côte d’Ivoire, as it commemorates its 10th year reshaping the agriculture value chain in Africa, contributing to building sustainable food systems and creating lasting impact for farmers, agribusinesses, and communities.

Through their operations providing capital and storage infrastructure to farmers, processors and other parts of the value chain, AFEX has remained steadfast in its mission to enhance food security, reduce post-harvest losses, and introduce liquidity into agricultural markets through efficient market structures.

Established in 2014 as the first private commodities exchange in Nigeria, AFEX has directly supported smallholder farmers by providing them with access to finance, high-value market opportunities, and crucial extension services. This has not only improved the livelihoods of these farmers but also enhanced their productivity and overall output. Within the same period, AFEX has also grown its presence across the continent, expanding from Nigeria into Kenya, Uganda, and Côte d’Ivoire, and establishing regional commodity markets that facilitate cross-border trade while strengthening food systems throughout these regions.

In Nigeria, AFEX has expanded its farmer network to over 500,000 and traded over 1 million metric tons of essential crops such as maize, rice, sorghum, and soybeans. This trading volume has made a significant contribution to improving food availability and stability in its operational areas. Furthermore, through its financing platform, AFEX has injected over $250 million into agricultural value chains, ensuring that farmers have access to the capital they need to scale their production.

Since expanding into Kenya and Uganda in 2021 and 2022, AFEX has been bullish in the pursuit of their strategic Pan-African expansion goal to penetrate 8 African countries in the next decade, promoting the efficient trade of commodities in Africa while supporting the AFCFTA’s objectives to boost regional trade integration on the continent. Today, its East African operations have impacted over 30,000 farmers through financing and storage services, traded over 12,000 metric tonne and traded about KSH1,600,000,000. In its newest market, Côte d’Ivoire, announced at the beginning of 2024, AFEX has onboarded over a thousand farmers, and disbursed maize inputs across 155 hectares, boosting productivity and food self-sufficiency.

Commenting on the anniversary, the UK’s Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Mr. Jonny Baxter, said: “The UK is proud to have provided early-stage funding to AFEX 10 years ago, and to see the company grow with such success, enhancing agricultural productivity and bolstering food security in Nigeria. The agricultural sector stands as a vital pillar to Nigeria’s economy, playing a significant role in job creation and investment potential. We look forward to continuing to support Nigeria’s agriculture sector and the opportunities this provides for its economic growth.”

Group CEO, AFEX, Ayodeji Balogun, reflected on the company’s 10-year journey, stating, “These past 10 years have been about creating innovative solutions for African agriculture and developing sustainable ecosystems that empower farmers. As we mark this milestone on World Food Day, we are reminded that our mission is more critical than ever. Our goal is to continue building the infrastructure and platforms that will secure Africa’s food future.”

Speaking about British International Investment’s $26.5 million commitment to AFEX in 2023, Nigeria Coverage Director of the UK’s development finance institution (DFI), Mr. Benson Adenuga said: “We are delighted to partner with AFEX to provide the necessary support to scale into a pan-African champion, driving agribusiness and strengthening food systems in multiple countries across the continent. Our commitment will support AFEX to construct 20 warehouses in strategic locations in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, increasing storage capacity for up to 200,000 farmers and underlining our mandate to support ambitious businesses in Africa”.

A key element of AFEX’s impact lies in its investment in infrastructure. Over the past decade, the company has developed a robust network of more than 200 warehouses across Africa, providing secure storage for agricultural produce and reducing post-harvest losses by up to 30% in some regions. By reducing post-harvest losses and improving productivity, AFEX is playing a critical role in enhancing food security, addressing the challenges of climate change and promoting sustainable agricultural practices across Africa. This commitment mirrors the global call to action on World Food Day to ensure that food systems are inclusive, resilient, and capable of feeding future generations.

AFEX is a platform business that enables efficient trade for commodities in Africa. Solutions start at producer level, ensuring improvement in productivity and livelihoods while building up commodity volumes in the right quality and quantity for local and regional trade.

Operating through three business units, AFEX addresses the challenges faced by smallholder farmers, providing better access to inputs, credit facilities, micro-insurance, storage services, training, and markets. Partnership with different key players across the agricultural value chain – including processors, logistics service providers, financial institutions, and regulatory authorities – makes its goal of supporting Africa’s food security possible.

A range of clients and members also trade physical commodities and commodity contracts through AFEX’s technology platforms, as AFEX continuously bridges the gap between the capital market and the commodities market, thus unlocking finance for production, trade, processing and export of commodities.

Burundi Appeals for Investments from Nigerians

By: Michael Mike

The government of Burundi has appealed for investments from Nigerian investors, insisting that the Eastern African country has the environment to grow their wealth.

A delegation from the country who was in Abuja, Nigeria made mouth watering incentives to Nigerian investors who might be interested in investing in the country.

Special Envoy of the Burundi President, Ambassador Liberat Fumukeko, who led a delegation to Nigeria, urged captains of industries to catch on to the abundant opportunities in Burundi.

Fumukeko said that there are juicy incentives for Nigerian investors that decide to invest in his country.

He said: “We have come to Nigeria with the delegation from Burundi and we have come to invite people from the private sector in this country to come to Burundi and explore the investment opportunities because we feel like there’s something this country, (Nigeria) as an African power can do in terms of trade investment with other part of Africa.”

On the attractions on ground for investors, the envoy said: “Well, I mentioned that we have a legislation and an investment legislation and this one is very clear any investor coming into our country can repatriate there profit and their money provided that they comply with all the local policies, especially in the area of taxation. So they pay taxes like everyone else and they will have equal treatment and be able to repatriate their profit.”

On his visit to Nigeria, the envoy said: “We thought it would be proper to come down here and have a face to face interaction with the private sector of Nigeria so that we can understand exactly what they can do in this region.”

On his part, Engr Mustapha Bello, former Minister of commerce and industry who was part of the Nigeria business community that met with the visiting envoy, commended the Burundian government for the audacious move.

He said: “First I must commend the Ambassador. I think he has done extremely well. I can’t remember when last I’ve seen any head of embassy in Abuja inviting business community members to interact with them. I think he has done well, he has started well by bringing a high level delegation from the president of Burundi to Abuja to come and make a presentation to us.

So, I think what is left for us as Nigerians is to take advantage of the opportunity we’ve been exposed to and then to see how we can build the bridge and that bridge is exactly creating Nigeria- Burundi business council.

“Then the two sides will now continue interacting, organizing trade delegations, investment missions and the like.

“I think the most important thing is, we have the market, the capacity and the people who have the resources, this are the key things we require to be able to begin to engage with the country and I’m not sure within the continent if you begin to look at the statistics and the data that the number of rich people we have in Nigeria, I don’t think there’s any country that has half of that in the continent of Africa. I’m not sure, so for Burundi to expose its opportunities to Nigeria is to say the list that they have started whatsoever the embassy should be doing that the normal diplomatic work that ambassadors should do. I think very soon the Burundians will come to understand that the ambassador is doing something good for them as their representative in Nigeria.”

The former minister also explained his role in the meeting, which he said involved sharing information and inviting serious minded investors. He said: “My responsibility is to facilitate sharing the information and invite those who are serious business people and then take them over so that they can share their resources.

“We too, we are looking at the area of agriculture and doing the analysis of food sectors that will be good for us to put our own resources into, then when we meet again we will be able to tell you which sector we are in, that is key for us.”

Burundi Appeals for Investments from Nigerians