Ghana, the world’s no. 2 cocoa grower, is headed for its biggest harvest in at least a decade after good weather and government interventions helped boost its output, according to a Bloomberg report citing two people familiar with the matter.

Favorable conditions, improved farmer prices and better farming practices, such as hand pollination and pruning, raised production to 965,493 tons by June 3, when the main-crop harvest ended, said the people who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public

That’s already the highest in five years, before accounting for some main-crop deliveries still underway and a 12-week mid-crop season that ends in September. Earlier projections estimated that the smaller harvest would produce 50,000 tons of cocoa.

The Ghana Cocoa Board now expects the annual output to exceed the 1 million-mark for the first time since 2010-2011, the people said. A spokesman for the regulator did not immediately comment when reached by phone.

Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast, which produce almost 70% of the world’s cocoa, expanded output just as the pandemic locked down cities around the world, hurting demand. The two countries secured a pay raise for cocoa farmers by charging companies from Hershey Co. to Nestle SA a premium of $400 per ton from Oct. 1. But a drop in consumption has left growers unable to sell their crop.

Italy orders inquiry into Eni-Shell Nigeria corruption prosecutors
Italy’s justice ministry ordered an inquiry on Tuesday into the conduct of two prosecutors in a corruption case involving energy groups Eni and Shell in Nigeria.

According to Reuters, Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro were placed under official investigation by magistrates earlier this month for allegedly not filing documents that would have supported Eni’s position.

De Pasquale and Spadaro declined to comment on the latest development. Milan’s top prosecutor said last week that he backed the two men, after a trial lasting more than three years.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement it had decided to move in the wake of the judicial investigation and following criticism of the pair by the trial judges.

Nigeria’s surging inflation rate has pushed 7 million Nigerians into poverty, the World Bank said in its latest Nigeria Development Update report.

According to the report, before inflation started rising steadily, there were 82.9 million poor Nigerians but the number has risen to 90.1 million as a result of the price shock.

Nigeria’s inflation jumped to 18.1 percent in April 2021 from 12.3 percent recorded in the same last year.

Food cost has also hit a record high of 22.7 percent in April 2021 compared to 15 percent in April 2020. This signals a reduction in purchasing power and rising poverty levels.

The pandemic has also exacerbated the food crisis in the country.

The Bank estimated that about 18 percent of adults did not eat for an entire day compared to 6 percent recorded before Covid.

From the report, 11 million more Nigerians are expected to fall into poverty between 2020 and 2022 due to Covid-19.

The Bank has projected economic growth of 1.8 percent this year compared to a previous estimate of 1.2 percent if it deepens reforms.

Nigeria’s inflation rate slowed for the second successive month in May, marking the first time in two years that the rate has slowed for two straight months.

Headline inflation decelerated to 17.93% in May 2021 from 18.12% recorded in April 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.

The trend comes as a surprise to analysts who were predicting a spike in the rate.

Food inflation, a closely watched index also dropped from 22.78% recorded in April 2021 to 22.28% in May 2021, indicating the second consecutive decline in the food index.

The ‘All items less farm produce’ or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce stood at 13.15% in May 2021, up by 0.41% when compared with 12.74% recorded in April 2021.

The highest increases were recorded in prices of Pharmaceutical products, Garments, Shoes and other footwear, Hairdressing salons and personal grooming establishments, Furniture and furnishing, Carpet and other floor covering.

With some 6.3 percent Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) sitting in the balance sheets of Nigerian banks, the system is already showing signs of stress, the World Bank warned on Tuesday as it raised doubts on the country’s 1.8 percent economic growth projection for 2021.

According to the World Bank, Nigeria’s financial system has escaped a credit crunch, but must continue to deal with the impacts of COVID-19 crisis, rising inflation, collapse of crude oil prices seen since the first half of 2020, a surge in unemployment, and a protracted disruption in the supply of foreign exchange.

Nigeria’s banking system is still well-capitalized, with a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 15.2 percent in February 2021, up about 30 basis points (bps) from a year earlier.

Despite abrupt dollar funding tightening in 2020, the system’s overall liquidity position appears comfortable; in February the 40.5 percent liquidity ratio was well above the prudential minimum.

Access to international capital market has equally opened up alternative funding for Nigerian banks, with two of them placing 5-year Eurobonds raising US$650 million in recent months which would help ease FX liquidity strains and extend funding maturities.

Expectations are also rife that more financial intermediaries in Nigeria will tap international markets to issue foreign currency denominated securities or syndicated foreign currency denominated financing in order to partially meet the growing foreign currency needs as well as upcoming foreign currency denominated maturities.

The World Bank is of the opinion that, the CBN’s policy initiatives and development-finance interventions so far have helped prevent a severe credit crunch in the private sector.