Market News

Dar es Salaam — Rising demand for meat, compounded by low cattle supplies, has pushed meat prices up in Dar es Salaam, with analysts projecting that a kilogramme of beef will cross the Sh10,000-mark during the festive season.
Basically, the commercial city has two types of meat retailers. There are those traders who buy live cattle; slaughter them and retail the same in their butcheries.
Shops operated by these traders are retailing a kilogram of beef at Sh6,500. The other category comprises of a majority of butchery operators in the commercial city dealing mainly with those who buy slaughtered meat at wholesale prices at the Vingunguti Abattoir.
With wholesale prices rising by an average of 21 per cent during the past one month, retailers in the second category have also pushed theirs (retail prices) up.
"Currently, a kilogram of beef at the Vingunguti Abattoir fetches between Sh6,300 and Sh6,500 as wholesale price. Two months ago, the same fetched between Sh5,000 and Sh5,500. What you see in retail outlets is a reflection of what is happening here," the chairman for a co-operative union for traders in livestock and livestock products at Vingunguti, Mr Joel Meshaki, told The Citizen in an interview.
In a number of retail outlets, a kilogram of beef currently fetches between Sh7,500 and Sh8,500.
According to Mr Meshaki, the rise is largely due to a slowdown in cattle supply at the market. Currently, an average of 400 and 450 cattle are slaughtered at Vingunguti per day, a drop from an average of 500 and 650 during times of normal supply.
The market master at the Pugu Livestock Market, Mr Kerambo Samwel told The Citizen that the rise has been associated with a drop in cattle supply at the market from source regions of Geita, Mwanza, Rukwa, Morogoro, Mara, Arusha, Simiyu and Tabora. Cattle supplies started to dwindle in September and October, but it they slowly but began to rise towards the end of November.
"In September, we received 33, 390 cattle here at Pugu Market. We sold 32 804 of them. In October, the number dropped to 28, 961. We filled the gap for demand by selling the 586 cattle that were brought here in September and those that had been kept here for some time. That way, we were able to sell 30,738 cattle in October," he said.

In November, a total of 29, 353 cattle were supplied to Pugu Market while the total number of cattle sold stood at 33,190.
A decrease in supply, said Mr Samwel, was largely due to availability of pasture as rains started falling in some source regions. Some livestock keepers were also hoarding their livestock in anticipation that they will get better prices during the festive season.
A cattle trader at Pugu Market Mr Mengi Nollo said most of the livestock from Mwanza region are currently sold in Kenya through Sirari boarder.
"There is a huge livestock market at Sirari. We currently receive cattle from Shinyanga, Simiyu and Tabora," he said.
According to Mr Meshaki some cattle from upcountry regions ends up in Dodoma where meat demand has increased since the government relocated its operations from Dar es Salaam to the capital city.
Mr Maelo Machage, a cattle trader at Pugu Market said he used to pay Sh500,000 for a 120-kilogram cow but the same now costs him Sh800,000.
A cow weighing 260 kilograms currently fetches up to Sh1.6 million from Sh1.2 million a few months ago.

Source: Allafrica.com

Chiredzi — High input costs are threatening the viability of the 2020 sugarcane farming season.
Cane farmers say the prices of fertilizers and herbicides are now beyond their reach and this may affect sugarcane production.
Commercial Sugarcane Farmers Association of Zimbabwe Chairperson, Admore Hwarari said they were concerned about the rising cost of fertilizers and herbicides.
"As farmers we have not been spared by the current economic crisis particularly on the prices of our inputs; fertilizers, herbicides as well as spare parts," he said.
A Hippo valley sugarcane farmer, Muchineripi Mazhata added that inputs played a critical role in the seasonal cropping plans and any upward adjustment of prices had an effect of increasing production costs.
A survey by CAJ News Africa showed the price of fertilizers had increased by 60 percent.
Before the recent wave of price hikes, the average prize of a 50kg bag of Ammonium Nitrate was 320 Bond (Z$320) but it has shot up to 660 Bond (Z$660) at hardware shop, Farmware.
At Farm and City and Electro Sales in Chiredzi, the price of Ammonium Nitrate was on Monday pegged in Bond at 854 (Z$854) while compound D was prized at Z$665 with Compound C going for Z$800.
Sugarcane is a perennial crop grown in Lowveld's Mkwasine, Hippo valley and Triangle which typically takes 12 months to reach maturity.
It is also a luxuriant consumer of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium as well as various herbicides for high yields.
"Proper soils and nutrient management is key to achieving high yields from sugarcane farmers. Farmers must buy phosphorus which provides the sugarcane with energy it needs to grow both above and below ground," said Hwarari.
"An adequate supply of phosphorus at the beginning of the season helps crops to grow a large health root system which it uses to absorb water and nutrients while potassium provides the mechanism with which to move the sugar produced from the leaves to the internodes for storage," he said.
Source: Allafrica.com

Access to credit, which can be a true lifeline for micro, small, or medium sized businesses, remains one of the key challenges that individuals and small companies face in Malawi.
RBM Governor Dalitso Kabambe ICF's Madalo Minofu (2nd right) Kapito (2nd left) stressing a point during the panel discussion
This was said by World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation's Resident Representative for Malawi and Zambia, Madalo Minofu at the launch of the 2019 Credit Awareness Week graced by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, Dalitso Kabambe, who is also the Registrar of Financial Institutions.
With support from the World Bank, the initiative is to increase the general public and specific target groups' awareness and understanding of the merits of accessing and borrowing money from licensed or registered lending institutions including banks, microfinance institutions and savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) as opposed to borrowing from informal lending institutions.
Minofu said if a business can access credit, it can grow and create jobs, leading to a stronger, more productive economy and a better quality of life.
"As we are gathered here today to launch the credit awareness week in Malawi, I would like to re-iterate the World Bank Group's continued commitment to helping Malawi develop a strong and sustainable financial sector, including through credit infrastructure," Minofu said.
"Credit infrastructure is one of the building blocks that allows financial institutions and other lenders to grow their portfolios -- increasing access to credit and, at the same time, maintaining financial stability.
"It protects the interests of financial institutions and lenders, and it also protects the rights of borrowers."
She observed that over the past years, Malawi has made incredible strides in enhancing its credit infrastructure -- including through its well-functioning and modern collateral registry and improving its credit reporting system.
One of the partners to the awareness campaign are credit reference bureaus, that will be sharing with the public their importance in order to access credit facilities from financial service institutions.
Credit reference bureaus provide a potential loan borrower's credit history that is passed on to financial institutions for them to make informed decisions whether to award the loan or not.
This is one other system that clients can use their credit reputation as collateral apart from using moveable collateral.
Minofu said for credit to truly have a positive effect on the lives of Malawians, credit providers and consumers alike need to better understand their rights and obligations when it comes to lending and borrowing.
"For this reason, initiatives like this credit awareness week are critical; by spreading financial education and awareness to communities, workplaces, and places of worship, you are helping all Malawians take control of their financial future.
"Malawians should feel empowered to use their credit history as a tool to access credit with better terms and conditions; understand how credit works and borrow responsibly; and feel confident that their rights as consumers are also protected in the process.
"It is also our hope as International Finance Corporation that all Malawians -- whether a small business owner, an entrepreneur, a salaried employee, or even a student -- will become financially healthy and check their free credit report once a year."
She congratulated the Reserve Bank of Malawi for organizing the credit awareness week and for Kabambe's steadfast partnership with IFC and dedication to improving access to finance in Malawi.
One of IFC's financial partner, the Kingdom of Denmark, is supporting the credit infrastructure work in Malawi.
There was also a panel discussion at the launch that involved Kabambe himself, Consumer Association of Malawi executive director, John Kapito; Bankers Association of Malawi president, Kwanele Ngwenya (who is also chief executive officer for NBS Bank); Malawi Union of Savings & Credit Cooperatives (MUSCCO) CEO Fumbani Nyangulu and Rogers Lungu, representing credit reference bureaus.
They all touched on the importance of understating credit terms and conditions such interest rate, repayment period, short term or long term loan, consequences of default before signing a credit agreement between a lending institution and a borrower.
They also talked on consumer rights and obligations when accessing credit and the benefits of accessing and using credit history reports from credit reference bureaus for informed financial decision making.
Kapito asked the RBM Governor if the commercial banks and other lending institutions must always civic educate clients before they sign loan forms on some of the conditions that are always attached but presented in fine print, which are not always known by the client.
"Some people have fallen into credit traps because they did not know of some of the loan conditions which were written in fine print," Kapito said.
"After a client has been paying for a while, and thinking that they have completed the loan, they discover to their horror that what they have been repaying was the interest and that they need to start repaying the premium.
"The banks need to sensitise the clients on all conditions attached because in most cases people needing a loan are always desperate for the money and don't have the patience to go through the fine print," he said.
Kapito said the awareness campaign should also sensitize people that they should not borrow when there is a need only but when they identify an opportunity for that loan to make more money.
Kabambe, who said it is unfortunate that out of the Malawi's total population, only 3 percent are accessing credit facilities because of financial illiteracy, which the awareness campaign aims at addressing.
He said others opt to borrow from loan sharks (katapila), which does not protect the interest of the borrower and in most cases, they fall into credit traps that end into seeing their property confiscated.
Source: Allafrica.com

The implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will create opportunities for the BRICS investment partners to develop infrastructure on the continent, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.
South Africa, he says, sees an important role for the BRICS formation to contribute to these efforts.
The President made these remarks at a cocktail reception he hosted in honour of African Ambassadors accredited to Brazil. President Ramaphosa is in the South American country, where he is leading a South African delegation to the 11th BRICS Summit from 13 - 14 November 2019.
"We seek to build a more inclusive partnership between the leaders of BRICS countries and the elected leaders of African institutions. Apart from the BRICS Framework of Cooperation, BRICS countries have worked individually to promote cooperation and development with Africa," the President said.
President Ramaphosa said the partnership pursued through the BRICS-Africa outreach is rooted in a firm belief in the political, economic and social potential of the African continent.
"It speaks to the promotion of peace and security, advancing industrial capacity and economic integration, and champions a people-centred approach to sustainable development.
"As African nations, there has never been a better time to deepen our collaboration to ensure the African Continental Free Trade Area, our most ambitious collective venture yet, is a success."
This, he said, is an opportunity to grow the continent's economies and to use its considerable collective resources to uplift citizens and improve their conditions.
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"Together, we are working to grow the economies of African countries through innovation, infrastructure development and trade."
Speaking on the pending countdown to the launch of the AfCFTA, the President was confident the agreement would, in addition to its economic impact, have far-reaching political, social, physical and international effects.
"On the economic front, it will improve access to existing markets and lead to the creation of new ones. The free flow of goods and services will enable African businesses and entrepreneurs to expand their horizons and unleash the industrial capability of the continent.
"The removal of trade barriers will lower prices and benefit consumers. Business costs will be reduced and business efficiency will be raised," said President Ramaphosa.
On the political front, he said, the AfCFTA will help to consolidate the union among all African States and reduce the potential for conflict.
"From a social perspective, it is likely to result in a more cosmopolitan Africa as the greater movement of people and skills brings more people of diverse backgrounds and nationalities together," he said.
He said the AfCFTA will also have a broader international impact as Africa will be able to deal with other trade blocs from a position of greater strength, able to demonstrate economies of scale.
As the incoming chair of the African Union next year, South Africa will put great emphasis on giving effect to the agreement on the Continental Free Trade Area.
Source: Allafricanews.com