A United Nations body said on Friday, the three million African farmers who supply most of the world’s cashew nuts aren’t cashing in on the booming demand due to a lack of processing facilities.

World production and trade in raw cashew nuts have more than doubled since 2000 with African producers, led by Ivory Coast, accounting for almost two-thirds of the growth.

But the continent’s farmers and exporters get only a fraction of the final retail price, according to a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

“Countries that grow cashews but don’t process them at a significant scale retain only a small share of the value created as the nut travels from the farm to store,” said Miho Shirotori, who leads UNCTAD’s work on trade negotiations and commercial diplomacy.

“African farmers, exporters and workers are missing out on a wealth of opportunities,” she added.

Cashews thrive in the tropical climates of 20 western and eastern African nations, where about 90 percent of the raw cashew nuts traded in the global market are grown. Behind Ivory Coast the main producers are Tanzania, Nigeria, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Ghana, according to UNCTAD.

But less than 15 percent of the continent’s cashew nuts are even de-shelled on African soil.

The rest is exported mainly to Asia, where more value is added. India and Vietnam accounted for about 98 percent of the world’s raw cashew imports between 2014 and 2018, according to the report.

More than 60 percent of the traded kernels are then roasted, salted, packaged and consumed as a snack or an ingredient in other products, in Europe and North America.

While admitting to difficulties in calculating just how much the Africans are losing, the report estimated that by the time cashews are processed in the EU their price is about 8.5 times higher than when they left the farm in Ivory Coast.

“This shows the potential for value creation in African cashew-growing countries, 14 of which are classified as ‘least developed’,” Shirotori said.

“And value creation can lead to better wages for workers and more money for the local economy.”

Between 2000 and 2018, world trade in raw cashew nuts more than doubled to 2.1 billion kilogrammes, according to UNCTAD.

Efforts at stabilising crude oil price may suffer setbacks as the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies struggle to manage market volatility following fresh worries over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although over one billion jabs have been administered globally, failing vaccines and rising cases of the virus, especially in India now cast doubts on the international oil market as OPEC, yesterday, deferred its meeting, through which it would have decided price direction.

The development, which showed that the organisation still had confidence in current plans to ease production cuts by May. despite the pandemic  in India, a major oil importer, pushed oil price to above $66 per barrel

Nigeria’s economy had faced serious challenges given the impact of pandemic, which worsened economic indexes, including widening the exchange rate between the naira and other major currencies, while the government resorted to borrowing to finance the $35b 2021 budget.

Secretary-General of OPEC, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, had alluded to the challenges at the 51st Meeting of the Joint Technical Committee, which held yesterday but expressed hope that the challenges would jolt the market.

With oil prices falling to below $1, OPEC and its allies had deployed measures, which drastically reduced output of crude oil in the market.

Libya’s state oil firm said Monday it was reopening a key export terminal, a week after suspending operations over the central bank’s “refusal” to release funds for the vital sector.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) “announces the immediate lifting of the state of force majeure at the Hariga terminal and will instruct operators to restart production and exports”, it said in a statement.

The NOC said last Monday it had suspended operations at Hariga over “the Central Bank of Libya’s refusal to liquidate the oil sector budget” for several months.

Throughout Libya’s decade of conflict, the NOC has repeatedly declared force majeure at its export terminals, absolving itself from responsibility for any failure to comply with delivery commitments.

Usually these declarations have been linked to attacks by armed groups vying for control of Africa’s largest proven crude reserves, which form the backbone of Libya’s economy.

But the NOC said last week that the lack of state financing had driven companies in the sector further into debt, leaving them unable to meet financial and technical commitments.

Libya’s oil sector and revenues from exports have been a key focus of conflict since the country slid into chaos following the 2011 toppling and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

NOC chief Mustafa Sanalla has frequently clashed with central bank governor Al-Siddik al-Kabir, accusing him of playing politics with the oil sector and of “illegally controlling state funds”.

On Monday, Sanalla praised “the rapid response” of Libya’s new unity government, which “allocated a billion dinars (around $200 million) as part of the NOC’s budget”.

The NOC had warned that funds previously received represented “less than two percent” of what was needed by the company and its subsidiaries for this year.

Libya has seen a period of relative calm since October, when main rival forces from the east and west signed a truce agreement.

A unity government installed last month has been charged with preparing the country for December elections.

Oil production has also rebounded, reaching 1.2 million barrels per day in December — 10 times average output in the previous quarter.

Production has stabilised but output still remains below the Kadhafi-era level of 1.6 million barrels per day.

Saudi Arabia is in talks to sell one percent of oil giant Aramco to a foreign energy firm, the kingdom’s crown prince said in a television interview broadcast Tuesday.

“There is a discussion on the acquisition of one percent (of Aramco) by one of the world’s leading energy companies, and this will be a very important deal to boost Aramco’s sales in that country,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

The prince did not name the company, but said it was based in a very large country.

Aramco previously sold a sliver of its shares on the Saudi bourse in December 2019, generating $29.4 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering.

The energy giant could announce another offering of shares to international investors within the next year or two, the prince said.

The announcements underscore how Saudi Arabia is seeking to monetise its energy assets to generate revenue for an ambitious effort to diversify the oil-reliant economy.

Earlier this month, Aramco said it had struck a $12.4-billion deal to sell a minority stake in a newly formed oil pipeline business to a consortium led by US-based EIG Global Energy Partners.

Aramco is exploring new revenue streams as it faces pressure to maintain hefty dividend payments to the Saudi government, its biggest shareholder, despite posting consecutive falls in profits since it began disclosing earnings in 2019.

Last month, Aramco posted a 44.4 percent slump in 2020 net profit, piling pressure on government finances as Riyadh pursues its multi-billion dollar projects to diversify the economy.

The company’s debt has climbed as Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, was hammered last year by the double whammy of low prices and sharp cuts in production triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Long seen as the kingdom’s “crown jewel”, Aramco and its assets were once tightly under government control and considered off-limits to outside investment.

But with the rise of de facto ruler Prince Mohammed, who is pushing to implement his ambitious “Vision 2030” reform programme, the kingdom has shown readiness to cede some control. This month, the kingdom marks five years since Vision 2030 was unveiled by the prince.