Coronavirus

COVID-19: Over 5,000 tonnes of cocoa beans are stuck in Nigeria

The cocoa mid-crop output is expected to be weak as measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus hindered farmers and exporters, creating a backlog of unshipped beans.

Published

2 months ago

May 17, 2020

Abiola Odutola

Nigeria’s cocoa exports to fall by $100m as prices rise in futures market.

The Cocoa Association of Nigeria has said that between 5,000 and 6,000 tonnes of cocoa beans are stuck at the Lagos port and warehouses across the country, as the lockdown has disrupted transport and port activities.

President of the group, Mufutau Abolarinwa, told Reuters that some of April’s orders were still being exported after the lockdowns disrupted transport and port activities.

“Around 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes of beans were stuck at Lagos port and warehouses in the country. The cocoa mid-crop output is expected to be weak as measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus hindered farmers and exporters, creating a backlog of unshipped beans,” he said.

This confirmed a Nairametrics’ report published last month, which stated that Nigeria would lose over $100 million from Cocoa exports due to falling demand in Europe, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report, the demand for Nigerian cocoa is at risk of recording a further decline. Europe is the largest market for the country’s cocoa exports. For instance, over 81% of Nigerian cocoa was exported to Europe in 2018, with 65% going to the Netherlands and Germany alone.

This was disclosed by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council in its annual report titled, “Impact assessment of and Policy Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic on Agricultural Exports: Early evidence from Nigeria.”

It stated, “Over the last decade, cocoa has been the top-performing non-oil export product in Nigeria. Commodity markets have taken a major hit, and this does not apply solely to crude oil.

“The price of Nigerian cocoa beans stood at $2880.63/tonne on 03 February 2020 (source: ITC market price information). It has now fallen to $2440.94/tonne as of 30 March 2020 (source: ITC market price information). This is a fall of $439.69 per tonne.”

According to Abolarinwa, though the government has eased month-long lockdowns in commercial hub Lagos state, neighbouring cocoa producing state Ogun, and the capital Abuja, interstate movement has been banned, creating a headache for cocoa delivery.

“Ships are being quarantined at the port, creating extra storage costs. Trading houses are anxious to receive their shipments and delays could affect demand for further beans from farmers, especially as the mid-crop harvest is about to start. We are hoping for an improvement,” Abolarinwa told Reuters.

Also, he explained that the nation’s mid-crop – harvested between May and September – comes in at between 50,000 and 60,000 tonnes when weather conditions are good and chemicals readily available to spray diseased trees.

Farmers expect the late rains to affect bean weight for the mid-crop, which could be around 270-280 grammes, compared with an average weight of around 300 grammes.

“We are supposed to be spraying now to avoid black pod disease once the rains start. But because of coronavirus, labour is scarce, and we don’t know whether we would get chemicals or not,” a cocoa farmer, Oko Aja, who owns a 42-hectare cocoa farm in Nigeria’s second-biggest producing region of Cross Rivers state said.

Abiola Odutola

Abiola has spent about 14 years in journalism. His career has covered some top local print media like TELL Magazine, Broad Street Journal, The Point Newspaper. The Bloomberg MEI alumni has interviewed some of the most influential figures of the IMF, G-20 Summit, Pre-G20 Central Bank Governors and Finance Ministers, Critical Communication World Conference. The multiple award winner is variously trained in business and markets journalism at Lagos Business School, and Pan-Atlantic University. You may contact him via email - [email protected]

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Coronavirus

COVID-19 Update in Nigeria

On the 12th of July 2020, 571 new confirmed cases and 16 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.

Published

11 hours ago

July 13, 2020

Research Team

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increase as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 32,558 confirmed cases.

On the 12th of July 2020, 571 new confirmed cases and 16 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 2,973 samples across the country.

To date, 32,558 cases have been confirmed, 13,447 cases have been discharged and 740 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 181,248 tests have been carried out as of July 12th, 2020 compared to 178,265 tests a day earlier.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 12th July 2020,

Total Number of Cases – 32,558
Total Number Discharged – 13,447
Total Deaths – 740
Total Tests Carried out – 1781,248

According to the NCDC, the 571 new cases were reported from 20 states- Lagos (152), Ebonyi (108), Edo (53), Ondo (46), FCT (38), Oyo (20), Kwara (19), Plateau (17), Osun (14), Bayelsa (14), Ekiti (14), Katsina (14), Akwa Ibom (11), Kaduna (11), Rivers (11), Niger (10), Ogun (7), Kano (6), Cross River (4), Bauchi (2).

Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 12,427, followed by Abuja (2,576), Edo (1,731). Oyo (1,726), RIvers (1,368), Delta (1,359), Kano (1,309), Ogun (1,087), Kaduna (989), Ondo (716), Katsina (669), Ebonyi (616), Borno (586), Plateau (533), Gombe (530), Bauchi (521), Enugu (476), Abia (405), Imo (386), Kwara (330).

Jigawa state has recorded 321 cases, Bayelsa (313), Osun (245), Nasarawa (244), Sokoto (153), Akwa Ibom and Niger (135), Benue (121), Adamawa (110), Anambra (93), Kebbi (86), Zamfara (76), Ekiti (63), Yobe (62), Taraba (27), Cross River (9) while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.

Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020.

Date	Confirmed case	New cases	Total deaths	New deaths	Total recovery	Active cases	Critical cases
July 12, 2020	32558	571	740	16	13447	18371	7
July 11, 2020	31987	664	724	15	13103	18160	7
July 10, 2020	31323	575	709	20	12795	17819	7
July 9, 2020	30748	499	689	5	12546	17513	7
July 8, 2020	30249	460	684	15	12373	17192	7
July 7, 2020	29789	503	669	15	12108	17012	7
July 6, 2020	29286	575	654	9	11828	16804	7
July 5, 2020	28711	544	645	11	11665	16401	7
July 4, 2020	28167	603	634	6	11462	16071	7
July 3, 2020	27564	454	628	12	11069	15867	7
July 2, 2020	27110	626	616	13	10801	15693	7
July 1, 2020	26484	790	603	13	10152	15729	7
June 30, 2020	25694	561	590	17	9746	15358	7
June 29, 2020	25133	566	573	8	9402	15158	7
June 28, 2020	24867	490	565	7	9007	14995	7
June 27, 2020	24077	779	558	4	8625	14894	7
June 26, 2020	23298	684	554	5	8253	14491	7
June 25, 2020	22614	594	549	7	7822	14243	7
June 24, 2020	22020	649	542	9	7613	13865	7
June 23, 2020	21371	452	533	8	7338	13500	7
June 22, 2020	20919	675	525	7	7109	13285	7
June 21, 2020	20242	436	518	12	6879	12847	7
June 20, 2020	19808	661	506	19	6718	12584	7
June 19, 2020	19147	667	487	12	6581	12079	7
June 18, 2020	18480	745	475	6	6307	11698	7
June 17, 2020	17735	587	469	14	5967	11299	7
June 16, 2020	17148	490	455	31	5623	11070	7
June 15, 2020	16658	573	424	4	5349	10885	7
June 14, 2020	16085	403	420	13	5220	10445	7
June 13, 2020	15682	501	407	8	5101	10174	7
June 12, 2020	15181	627	399	12	4891	9891	7
June 11, 2020	14554	681	387	5	4494	9673	7
June 10, 2020	13873	409	382	17	4351	9140	7
June 9, 2020	13464	663	365	4	4206	8893	7
June 8, 2020	12801	315	361	7	4040	8400	7
June 7, 2020	12486	260	354	12	3959	8173	7
June 6, 2020	12233	389	342	9	3826	8065	7
June 5, 2020	11844	328	333	10	3696	7815	7
June 4, 2020	11516	350	323	8	3535	7646	7
June 3, 2020	11166	348	315	1	3329	7522	7
June 2, 2020	10819	241	314	15	3239	7266	7
June 1, 2020	10578	416	299	12	3122	7157	9
May 31, 2020	10162	307	287	14	3007	6868	7
May 30, 2020	9855	553	273	12	2856	6726	7
May 29, 2020	9302	387	261	2	2697	6344	7
May 28, 2020	8915	182	259	5	2592	6064	7
May 27, 2020	8733	389	254	5	2501	5978	7
May 26, 2020	8344	276	249	16	2385	5710	7
May 25, 2020	8068	229	233	7	2311	5524	7
May 24, 2020	7839	313	226	5	2263	5360	7
May 23, 2020	7526	265	221	0	2174	5131	7
May 22, 2020	7261	245	221	10	2007	5033	7
May 21, 2020	7016	339	211	11	1907	4898	7
May 20, 2020	6677	284	200	8	1840	4637	7
May 19, 2020	6401	226	192	1	1734	4475	7
May 18, 2020	6175	216	191	9	1644	4340	7
May 17, 2020	5959	388	182	6	1594	4183	7
May 16, 2020	5621	176	176	5	1472	3973	7
May 15, 2020	5445	288	171	3	1320	3954	4
May 14, 2020	5162	193	168	3	1180	3815	4
May 13, 2020	4971	184	164	6	1070	3737	4
May 12, 2020	4787	146	158	6	959	3670	4
May 11, 2020	4641	242	152	10	902	3589	4
May 10, 2020	4399	248	142	17	778	3479	4
May 9, 2020	4151	239	127	11	745	3278	4
May 8, 2020	3912	386	118	10	679	3115	4
May 7, 2020	3526	381	108	4	601	2818	4
May 6, 2020	3145	195	104	5	534	2507	1
May 5, 2020	2950	148	99	5	481	2370	4
May 4, 2020	2802	245	94	6	417	2291	2
May 3, 2020	2558	170	88	2	400	2070	2
May 2, 2020	2388	220	86	17	351	1952	2
May 1, 2020	2170	238	69	10	351	1751	2
April 30, 2020	1932	204	59	7	317	1556	2
April 29, 2020	1728	196	52	7	307	1369	2
April 28, 2020	1532	195	45	4	255	1232	2
April 27, 2020	1337	64	41	0	255	994	2
April 26, 2020	1273	91	41	5	239	994	2
April 25, 2020	1182	87	36	3	222	925	2
April 24, 2020	1095	114	33	1	208	855	2
April 23, 2020	981	108	32	3	197	753	2
April 22, 2020	873	91	29	3	197	648	2
April 21, 2020	782	117	26	3	197	560	2
April 20, 2020	665	38	23	1	188	466	2
April 19, 2020	627	86	22	2	170	436	2
April 18, 2020	541	48	20	2	166	356	2
April 17, 2020	493	51	18	4	159	317	2
April 16, 2020	442	35	13	1	152	277	2
April 15, 2020	407	34	12	1	128	267	2
April 14, 2020	373	30	11	1	99	263	2
April 13, 2020	343	20	10	0	91	242	2
April 12, 2020	323	5	10	0	85	228	2
April 11, 2020	318	13	10	3	70	238	2
April 10, 2020	305	17	7	0	58	240	2
April 9, 2020	288	14	7	1	51	230	2
April 8, 2020	274	22	6	0	44	226	2
April 7, 2020	254	16	6	1	44	204	2
April 6, 2020	238	6	5	0	35	198	2
April 5, 2020	232	18	5	1	33	194	2
April 4, 2020	214	5	4	0	25	185	0
April 3, 2020	209	25	4	2	25	180	0
April 2, 2020	184	10	2	0	20	162	0
April 1, 2020	174	35	2	0	9	163	0
March 31, 2020	139	8	2	0	9	128	0
March 30, 2020	131	20	2	1	8	121	0
March 29, 2020	111	22	1	0	3	107	0
March 28, 2020	89	19	1	0	3	85	0
March 27, 2020	70	5	1	0	3	66	0
March 26, 2020	65	14	1	0	2	62	0
March 25, 2020	51	7	1	0	2	48	0
March 24, 2020	44	4	1	0	2	41	0
March 23, 2020	40	10	1	1	2	37	0
March 22, 2020	30	8	0	0	2	28	0
March 21, 2020	22	10	0	0	1	21	0
March 20, 2020	12	4	0	0	1	11	0
March 19, 2020	8	0	0	0	1	7	0
March 18, 2020	8	5	0	0	1	7	0
March 17, 2020	3	1	0	0	0	3	0
March 16, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 15, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 14, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 13, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 12, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 11, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 10, 2020	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
March 9, 2020	2	1	0	0	0	2	0
March 8, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 7, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 6, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 5, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 4, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 3, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 2, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
March 1, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
February 29, 2020	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
February 28, 2020	1	1	0	0	0	1	0

Coronavirus

Evacuation: 247 Nigerians arrive home from Malaysia, Thailand

The returnees were evacuated with a chartered Air Peace flight APK-7813.

Published

22 hours ago

July 12, 2020

Ruth Okwumbu

Evacuation: 247 Nigerians arrive home from Malaysia, Thailand

The Federal Government of Nigeria has safely evacuated and returned home, two hundred and forty-seven Nigerians who were stranded in Malaysia and Thailand.

The returnees were evacuated with a chartered Air Peace flight APK-7813 which arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at about 11p.m. on Saturday.

EVACUATION UPDATE.

Chartered @airpeace flight APK-7813 conveying 247 stranded Nigerians from Malaysia and Thailand arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at exactly 2300HRS, 11th of July 2020.

Some passengers disembarked in Abuja..
1/2 pic.twitter.com/rAWrIBa69N

— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) July 12, 2020

According to Mr Gabriel Odu, the Head of Media and Public Relations Unit of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) who spoke to NAN, some of the returnees disembarked in Abuja, while the others proceeded to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

In line with the protocols announced by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, all of the returnees presented a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding the evacuation flight, and upon arriving Nigeria, are expected to proceed on a 14-day self-isolation.

Since four weeks ago, from the federal government, through the ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the resumption of evacuation flights, hundreds of stranded Nigerians have been returned home to their families from different countries including the United States of America, United Kingdom, Egypt, Malaysia and Thailand.

The returnees bear the cost of their flight tickets and are expected to self-isolate for four weeks, upon their return to Nigeria. Returnees who receive a clean bill of health after the isolation, are given their passports and allowed to go home.

Coronavirus

Port-Harcourt International airport resumes flight operations

The first flight to Port Harcourt was conducted by Air Peace 5N EUV from Lagos.

Published

2 days ago

July 11, 2020

Chike Olisah

FAAN reacts to release of guideline for resumption of flight operations post covid-19, FAAN releases new guidelines for post covid-19 flight operations

The Port Harcourt International Airport formally resumed flight operations on Saturday, July 11, with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), restating its commitment towards a zero coronavirus transmission.

This was disclosed by the Regional Manager South-South and South-East of FAAN, Abayomi Akinbinu, on Saturday, July 11, during the arrival of the first flight after 3 months of shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The first flight, which was conducted by Air Peace 5N EUV from Lagos, arrived Port-Harcourt International Airport terminal at 7.50 am.

He said the Port-Harcourt airport management was ready to ensure zero chances of the coronavirus transmission with the management giving no room for default of the COVID-19 safety guidelines by regulatory authorities as flight operations resume at the airport.

Explore Research Data From Nairametrics on Nairalytics

He frowned at the non-adherence to physical distancing rule, while also commending safety compliance level by service providers and passengers at the airport.

According to Abayomi, “Our markings of 1.5 metres apart are visibly on the floor, but maybe because of excitement it’s not being properly followed; so we need to make quick enforcement in that regard.”

He said although there was low turnout of passengers, he expected a gradual increase in the coming days.

He said, “On the departure section, we are gradually getting more passengers and I believe that going forward passengers’ turnout is going to increase. My message to prospective passengers is that the Port Harcourt International Airport terminal is safe.”

On his own part, the Head of Aviation Medical Clinic of the airport, Dr Nuhu Mwabi, said that the Port Health is seriously conducting mandatory temperature checks on both service providers and passengers before allowing them into the airport terminal building.

Nuhu said, “This is because we want to fish out persons with a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius and above, so that we can isolate such individual. Our cardinal objective is to ensure that we contain the spread of COVID-19 as well as other communicable diseases within the airport.”

He added that the World Health Organization and the various medical teams were ready to professionally handle any suspected case, should the need arise.

It can be recalled that the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had last week announced the resumption schedule for flight operations for the various airports across the country. The Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport resumed flight operations on July 8.