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Investment
IMF OKs Big Increase in Funds to Alleviate Pandemic Impact By MARTIN CRUTSINGER THE GOVERNING BODY of the International Monetary Fund has approved a $650 billion expansion in the agency’s resources to support economically vulnerable countries battling the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn it has caused. The 190-nation lending institution said Monday that its board of governors approved the expansion of its reserves known as Special Drawing Rights (SDR), the largest increase in the institution’s history. “This is a historic decision ... and a shot in the arm for the global economy at a time of unprecedented crisis,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. “It will particularly help our most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.” its factory in Uyo, a town in southern Nigeria. Nzewi says the factory, which uses proprietary nut de-shelling technology whose patent is pending, cost $150,000 to set up and processes 500 tons of palm nuts per month. The money Releaf has just raised partly went into building and deploying the facility. We’re working with the world’s most efficient crop at producing vegetable oil in a market that is starving for vegetable oil. It’s a domestic market for the taking. The big picture is to put a factory closer to smallholder farmers who produce 80% of Nigeria’s oil palm. Most production happens in the Niger Delta (42%), southwest (27%), and southeast (25%) regions, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). “We believe the firm’s thesis on decentralizing food processing would have a strong match with Africa’s economic development landscape for the next few decades,” says Rena Yoneyama, managing partner at Samurai Incubate Africa. 77
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The general allocation of SDRs will become effective on Aug. 23. The IMF said that the new reserves will be credited to IMF member countries in proportion to their existing quotas with the agency. About $275 billion of the new allocation will go to the world’s poorer countries. The agency is also looking into ways richer countries could voluntarily channel SDRs to poorer countries, the agency said. The big boost in IMF resources had been rejected by the Trump administration. But after President Joe Biden took office in January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen threw her support behind the proposal. Many Republican members of Congress objected to the SDR increase, saying that the expanded IMF resources would benefit U.S. adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran. However, the increase in resources was strongly supported by international relief agencies. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-businesshealth-coronavirus-pandemic-7d5ca23b17bde063 a4d599b44f686e77
Releaf co-founders Uzoma Ayogu (CTO), and Ikenna Nzewi (CEO) Releaf is targeting a gap in supply A major motivation for Releaf is that Nigeria barely produces enough oil palm to meet local demand. Current USDA data show Nigeria produces 1.4 million metric tons, but at least 1.34 million of that is consumed within the country. Refined vegetable see page 78 DAWN
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