Kalu Aja Profile picture
Oct 11, 2021 16 tweets 7 min read Read on X
1. An Apple orchard in a small town

Lots of Apples.
2. Lots of Apples.....so many that it falls to the ground and wastes

Excess supply in THIS town
3. Supply is so much you are allowed to pick Apples for free..and take home.

In this particular orchard, the exchange rate or trade deficit is immaterial.

You can't sell an apple, it's excess supply.
4. However drive a few miles to the nearest town and Apples are being sold.
The price of Apples here are based on supply from orchards.

More supply, price falls
Less supply, price rises

The trade deficit or $ to ¥ or National debt is immaterial. All that matters is supply
5. Same for these tomatoes

They are everywhere.

If dollar $1 is N1 it does not change the price per basket of tomatoes..IN THIS FIELD
6. Yet a 40kg basket of tomatoes sells for about N31k online. Why?

There is no value chain investment

1. No post harvest processing
2. No storage
3. Poor logistics

That N30k is the opportunity cost of having poor local infrastructure, not the cost of the basket.
One thing you notice is the infrastructure around farms in the abroad, how the produce is aggregated,STORED and processed.

This ensures there are inputs for processing post harvest

In effect, supply after the unnaturally high supply during harvest.
The FGN has about 33 Silos of about 33,000 to 100,000 tonnes. So let's assume 3.3m total capacity, or even 5m

Nigeria is the largest producer of maize in Africa about 10m tonnes a year.

You can see the excess harvest if not consumed or processed, is likely to waste.
You see corn during corn season in 🇳🇬 and prices fall.

After harvest, prices go right back up, not because exchange rate changed or inflation but demand stayed constant while supply fell.

To beat food inflation, you artificially "extend" harvest by processing & storage
In essence, you take tomatoes from this field, store, process, brand, market and distribute.

Thus tomato "harvest" prices stay longer than just harvests periods.
This is what Dangote and others are seeking to accomplish with Dangote Processing Plants.

But infrastructure is so weak that Dangote Tomato struggles to get raw tomatoes, according to Bloomberg.
What Nigeria needs is smaller processing plants in clusters of harvest, maybe in LGAs that are predominately rural.

The US value chain has been processed as key. Processing and Storing
Take cassava.

Go from small scale manual processing to medium scale processing.

These containers process cassava from tuber to flour or paste.

Remember, the goal is to extend the harvest prices and keep supply up.
Think of this.

Nigeria is the worlds largest producer of cassava, yet gari is expensive

Thailand produces less cassava than Nigeria but gets 80% value-added trade-in products.
In summary, move up the value chain.

Prioritise, Storage and processing.

Then harvest prices stay longer.

Even if they are imported, it's a one time CAPEX, but it's payback is lower food inflation.
Dangote tomato link

tomatonews.com/en/nigeria-dan…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Kalu Aja

Kalu Aja Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @FinPlanKaluAja1

Feb 5
On Domm Accounts, Please Cease and Desist

In May 1998, The Government of Pakistan froze all foreign currency accounts (FCA) estimated to hold $7.56b in an emergency action declared to protect the economy.
The Government of Pakistan instructed banks to pay Pakistanis receiving $ salaries from offshore companies in local currency at inter-bank rates. All dollar assets were converted to the local currency.

The effect of these actions was devastating to the economy of Pakistan.
The primary impact was a loss of confidence in Pakistan's Government, which was evident in many ways, including private sector remittances stopping completely, with Pakistan losing $2.5b in remittances projected inflow for that year.
Read 16 tweets
Feb 1
NNPC Ltd Project Gazelle Funding Limited Explainer

1. Nigeria needs forex to settle her FX obligations including an outstanding obligation of over $7b; thus, the NNPC arranged a $3.3b emergency loan from AFRIEXIMBANK (AFEX) on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
2. The loan structure involves the NNPC Limited receiving cash today via an SPV called Project Gazelle Funding Limited, sponsored by the NNPC Limited. The NNPC promises to repay AFEX with crude oil, equivalent to the principal borrowed plus an interest element of 11.85% APY.
3. The NNPC Limited borrowing is backed by its future sales of crude oil.
Read 13 tweets
Jan 2
Let us talk about inflation and my small town in a Local Government Area called Ohafia in Abia State.

My Town In Ohafia
In my town, there is one big shop. It's got everything: groceries and also a fridge. In the evenings, locals gather for a cold beer in front of the shop.
It's the "mall", the centre of entertainment.

In regular times, prices in that shop reflect prices in Nigeria with a bit of margin for the cost of transportation. My town is an agrarian community with little disposable income.
The shop owner knows that prices cannot be sky-high because the residents can't afford to spend large sums on imported luxuries. The shop sells local palm wine and Nigerian beer, no foreign brands; why?
Read 31 tweets
Jun 21, 2023
Urban Myths

1. Local refining will reduce the cost of local PMS. FALSE. PMS pricing is based primarily on the cost of crude priced in $, not the cost of refining

2. Currency float will make $ flow in. FALSE. A float is a necessary but not sufficient measure to attract $ inflow
3. A strong currency translates to a strong economy. FALSE. A Strong currency means exports from that county are not competitive. Exports boost GDP and a weak currency makes exports competitive.

South Korea and Japan have weak currencies
4. Imports are bad. FALSE.

The largest importer on earth is China, largest exporter on earth is China. What boosts GDP is net exports. Nations can import goods they have no comparative advantage in and export goods they have a comparative advantage in, just export more
Read 4 tweets
Jun 19, 2023
What most have missed is the peg, they see only the devaluation

Peg removal means the Naira can go to $1:1000 or $1:300

It's now based on Supply of $.

If remittance people vex and send $25b in August alone then $1: becomes N300

If it devalues, it means it can appreciate.
The difference is in the past CBN tried to make it appreciate by restricting demand, thus your naira card stopped working

Now the strategy is to focus on Supply (SS) by incentivizing holders of $ to inflow to Nigerian banks at the market rate

It won't happen in 1 month
Your naira card can only work when the banks are able to recreate a forward pricing mechanism to bid for Forward $ sales

That's what will attract Foreign Portfolio Investors to inflow. It's that inflow that makes your naira card work abroad

So step by step
Read 5 tweets
Jun 16, 2023
1. CBN removes peg, so CBN rate is market driven

2. CBN is not the "market" , FMDQ/banks/BDC are the market, the determine prices via demand and supply

3. You want $, you go to your bank, you bank gives you bid and offer based on their $ supply, that's the bank rate.
4. Your bank card will work IF your bank has sufficient credit to fund your card. Its no longer CBN funding, it's banks/BDC buying and selling

5. CBN is publishing the "average" of what the banks and BDCs sell. It won't reflect equally immediately, supply is lagging
6. A float can mean a devaluation (down) or an appreciation (up)

It's supply that determines.

If FPI investors see that Nigerian eurobonds are discounted, they may inflow $ and Naira appreciates

7. The issue is not peg or float but supply
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(