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Dear visitor and international investor,
We
warmly welcome you, if this is
your first visit to Africabiz
Online - The ultimate newsletter
on trading and investing in 49
sub-Saharan African countries.
If you are a regular and faithful
reader, welcome back.
If you are a regular and faithful reader, welcome back.
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FOREIGN
EXCHANGE INCOME GENERATING OPPORTUNITY
The
Featured Article linked to this delivery, written by
Ian Mvula, CEO of
Online
Forex Trading, deals with the Introduction To
The Basics Of Currency Trading.
Currencies are commodities, which as any other good
obey to the rules of Supply and Demand. In other words
currencies can be bought and sold in accordance with
Demand and Bid. The depreciation of a currency may trigger
the demand for that currency on the financial market.
It costs less for an investor to acquire a certain amount
of said depreciated currency with a most stronger one.
Supply and and Demand are triggered by rate's fluctuation
between the several currencies of the leading economies
of the world. (United States Of America, Euroland,The
British Pound, The Japanese Yen, The Swiss Franc; to
name the most important)
Currency Trading is also known as the Foreign Exchange
market - FOREX.
Forex is not a "market" in the traditional sense. There
is no centralized location for trading as there is in
Futures or Stocks. Forex bourse is located in the
cyberspace.
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FOREX
IS A HUGE MONEY MARKET
The Forex market is huge. Daily market turnover has
skyrocketed from approximately 5 billion US$ in late
1970's to a staggering 1.5 trillion US dollars today.
Before the present "Investing's Democracy Era"
established by the Internet, ten years ago or a century
ago according to digital dating period Forex was the
kingdom of banks, financial institutions, and big oils
with deep pockets. Small investors were simply barred
from the playing field.
Presently Forex is the most opened and exciting market,
which is controlled by so many participants - Central
banks, private banks, international corporations, money
managers and speculators - that no one player, governments
included, can directly control the direction of the
market.
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A
GATEWAY TO SUSTAINED WEALTH FOR THE SMART SURFER
Nowadays, thanks to the revolution introduced by the
Internet, anyone connected to the World Wild Web can
also play on the Forex market Just for a small input.
Ian Mvula Featured Article
introduces you to the Basics Of Internet Currency
Day Trading. He guides you and leads you safely into
the arcane of Forex. If you follow up and stick to the
rules, you can avoid the pitfalls of overbidding.
Sure, Currency Trading is not for the faint heart! You
have to be ready for some adrenaline shock-off from
time to time. The reward, however is worth it. You just
need to learn how to play it safe.
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SOME
LEADS FOR THE SMART INVESTOR
In line with Ian Mvula's article, FREEBIE OF THE
MONTH' section
featured MEDVED' S QuoteTraker. The must have
for anyone who wants to have the best available tool
for Futures and Stocks trading. Medved's QuoteTraker
is simply the best. A good companion to Microsoft's
MoneyCentral's
web-based investing tool.
To learn more on the fantastic revolution introduced
by the Internet, which makes it easy for the individual
investor to enter the fray of Future, Stocks and Currency
trading you may read Charles B. Carlson's book
titled: "THE INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR REVOLUTION"
- MacGraw Hill. Click
here to get it.
If you are interested to trading in African countries'
Stocks click
here.
Contributor's
Guidelines is here
to review. Your contribution on "How African countries
/ entrepreneurs could bridge the developing gap"
is welcome.
Many
thanks for dropping by and see you here on July 15,
2002.
Dr.
B.M. Quenum
Editor
of AFRICABIZ
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Several business opportunities with high profit making
potential which are economic
catalysts and components to the Strategy for African Countries - here
available - have been introduced to you. They are listed
in following table.
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a-
SHEA BUTTER (Issues 5,
6,
7,
11,
12,
13)
b- BLUE GOLD (Issues 14,
15,
16,
17,
18,
19)
c- FREEZE-DRIED PAPAIN (Issues 20,
21,
22
and here)
d- KENAF (Issues 23,
24)
e- VEGETABLE OIL (Issues 25,
26,
27
and 28)
f- CEREALS (Issues 30,
31,
32,
33)
g- FRUITS (34,
35,
36,
37)
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TROPICAL FRUITS INDUSTRY AS INCOME
BUILDING POWER FOR AN AFRICAN COMMUNITY /
PART V : INTRODUCTION TO TOMATO AGRIBUSINESS
Tomato,
the popular red / greenish fruit is one of the most
cultivated vegetable on the earth. The pillar of kitchen
garden's beds of the backyard gardener, that always
is the companion of salads, various foodstuff compositions
and sauces may find soon another usage as treatment
against cancer. (Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A
and C and are a major source of lycopene, a compound
that researchers think may help the body combat cancer.)
More than 40 million metric tons of the fruit are grown
worldwide each year by small gardeners. Big agribusiness
concerns around the world produce year in year out around
27 to 30 million metric tons. California alone standing
for one third of world production. See table N°
1 below for statistics.
There are more than 4,000 varieties of the tomato, ranging
from the small, marble-size cherry tomato to the giant
Ponderosa that can weigh more than 1.5 kg
TABLE
N° 1
WORLDWIDE PRODUCTION OF FRESH TOMATO
x1,000 metric tons |
| Years |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
|
Mediterranean Basin |
| Spain |
1.504 |
1.318 |
1.463 |
| France |
371 |
299 |
298 |
| Greece |
1.245 |
1.063 |
939 |
| Italy |
5.014 |
4.875 |
4.800 |
| Portugal |
996 |
855 |
917 |
| Algeria |
400 |
300 |
270 |
| Israel |
306 |
222 |
144 |
| Jordan |
47 |
71 |
50 |
| Morocco |
125 |
100 |
150 |
| Tunisia |
730 |
732 |
430 |
| Turkey |
1.750 |
1.300 |
950 |
| Total
Mediterranean Basin |
12.488 |
11.135 |
10.411 |
| North
America / Central America |
| California |
11.101 |
9.239 |
7.827 |
| Other
US States |
541 |
518 |
499 |
| Canada |
488 |
413 |
482 |
| Mexico |
370 |
216 |
136 |
| Total
North & Central America |
12.500 |
10.476 |
8.944 |
| Other
Northern Hemisphere Countries |
| Hungary |
97 |
128 |
100 |
| Bulgaria |
110 |
90 |
30 |
| Japan
|
58 |
65 |
60 |
| China |
800 |
1.800 |
1.000 |
| Total
other Northern Hemisphere Countries |
1.065 |
2.083 |
1.190 |
| Southern
Hemisphere |
| Brazil |
1.290 |
1.200 |
1.000 |
| Chile |
935 |
925 |
725 |
| Argentina |
330 |
260 |
255 |
| Venezuela |
45 |
38 |
7 |
| Peru |
60 |
70 |
45 |
| Australia |
309 |
367 |
380 |
| New
Zealand |
51 |
53 |
53 |
| South
Africa |
203 |
180 |
204 |
| Senegal |
- |
- |
47 |
| India |
125 |
140 |
204 |
| Taiwan |
13 |
37 |
14 |
| Thailand |
188 |
124 |
140 |
| Total
Southern Hemisphere |
3.549 |
3.394 |
2.990 |
| General
Total |
29.602 |
27.088 |
23.535 |
| Source:
adapted from www.tomatoland.com |
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SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IS NON EXISTENT AS PRODUCER
Tomato is a very popular staple and foodstuff in Africa.
However, as one can see reviewing figures listed
in Table N° 1 sub-Saharan Africa - except South
Africa - is non existent as producer. In the contrary
it imports large quantities of tomato paste as shown
on Table N° 2.
TABLE
N° 2
EXPORTS TO AFRICA AND MIDDLE-EAST / Metric tons
|
|
1999 / 2000
|
2000 / 2001
|
|
Africa
|
M/East
|
Africa
|
M/East
|
| France |
3,300
|
-
|
3,450
|
-
|
| Italy |
75,000
|
105,832
|
70,000
|
122,880
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| Greece |
51,128
|
23,000
|
37,100
|
31,500
|
| Spain |
6,450
|
1,700
|
4,200
|
1,200
|
| Portugal |
1,650
|
800
|
1,500
|
1,100
|
| Turkey |
3,100
|
62,500
|
7,700
|
55,000
|
| TOTAL |
140,628
|
193,865
|
123,950
|
210,680
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TOMATO'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR
GRAB!
Africa's import figures listed in Table N° 2 are
clear evidence that there is an opportunity to establishing
tomato development as Income Building Power for an African
community. Tomato development complies with the concept
of economic catalyst as here
exposed.
Indeed, fresh tomato can undergo many sorts of transformation
to producing:
1-
Peeled canned tomato
2- Sun dried tomato
3- Tomato powder
4- Tomato paste
5- Tomato sauce
6- Ketchup
7- Tomato juice as beverage and so on. |
Let's consider few economic facts concerning some of
above listed tomato products:
1 - The international market
of tomato paste
a - Production
Two main regions dominate the production of tomato paste :
- The Mediterranean basin produces about 1.7 million
tons of tomato paste per year, from 10 millions tons
of fresh tomato.
- The state of California (USA) produces yearly around
500,000 tons of tomato paste. (However 7 to 10 million
tons of fresh tomato are industrially handled to produce
other kinds of tomato byproducts)
The production of the Mediterranean basin - dominated
by Italy, Greece and Turkey - is the only one which
provides for the international trade of tomato paste.
b - The cost of the raw material
The Mediterranean basin tomato paste's industry is a
subsidized one. The European Union ruling body : "The
Commission" had set up a subsidy scheme which helps
industrialists of the sector to purchase raw material
(fresh tomatoes) at a discount-price. That is the
reason why tomato paste produced by the Southern European
states are very competitive on foreign markets particularly
in Africa and the Middle-East.
c - International trade
The international trade of tomato paste is controlled
by the Mediterranean basin's producers and particularly
those of the European Union. California is quite nonexistent.
Africa
and Middle-East import small cans for final consumption.
America imports in bulk (barrels) for further reconditioning
or transformation to more elaborated tomato products.
Saudi Arabia market stands for 40 % of the Middle-East
market and is a very attractive one if prices are competitive.
2 - Peeled tomato market
The European Union is the first producer of peeled tomato.
Its production amounted to 1.8 million metric tons in
Year 2000 and exports to 869,491 tons. The producers
from other regions of the world are not big exporters,
except the United States of America which exports about
175,000 tons per year to Canada and South America. The
European Union (Italy, Spain, Greece, France) exportations
in Year 2000 (869,491 metric tons) were mainly intra-community
exchanges (two third) dominated by Italy up to 90 %
of the total. North America imports 170,000 tons of
the European Union exports. Middle-East imports 30,000
tons and Africa 4,500 tons. Italy offered prices on
Africa and Middle-East markets are very competitive.
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ESTIMATION OF THE POTENTIAL MARKET
EXISTING FOR FRESH TOMATO IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Industry statistics for well managed tomato plantations
established from high yield varieties of tomato seeds
(roma, san marino and so on), and optimal tomato pasta
processing conditions, reveal that the necessary
quantity of fresh tomato to producing 1 kg of double
concentrated tomato pasta at 28° I.R. is around
5,89 kg.
If plantations are not well managed (insufficient manure,
excessive sunshine, imperfect or non existent irrigation
and so on) and if processing conditions are not optimized,
the amount of fresh tomato needed to producing 1 kg
of double concentrated tomato pasta at 28° I.R.
could jump to 8- 9,2 kg
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If we consider operation under
best conditions for plantation management and pasta
processing, figures listed in Table
N°2 allow for the following rough estimation
of the quantities of fresh tomato that could be cultivated
in sub-Saharan Africa: 5,89 x 142,000 = 832,000
- 247,000 (production of South Africa + Senegal) (see
Table N°1)
= 585,000 metric tons.
Next Issue 39
(July 15- August 14, 2002) will deal with cost of production
of one metric ton of fresh tomato per hectare of plantation.
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