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Tanzania launches fertiliser subsidy programme amid surging prices
AFRICA
TANZANIAN President Samia Suluhu Hassa launched a subsidy programme for fertilisers to farmers in a move that aimed to boost the agri- culturalsectorandcushionagainstskyrocketing prices.
Global food, fuel, and fertiliser prices have risen rapidly in recent months, driven in large part by the fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia.
President Hassan launched the subsidy agenda in April as the country continued to experience rise in fertilisers prices that she blamed on the Ukraine war with Russia which are the biggest exporters.
According to the Agriculture minister Hus- sein Bashe who was present at the launch, a bag of DAP that was sold for TSh131,675 ($57) will now go for TSh70,000 ($30) and urea’s price will fall from TSh124,714 ($54) to TSh70,000 ($30) only.
A bag of CAN that used to cost TSh108,156 ($46) will now sell at TSh60,000 ($26) while that
of NPKs, which cost TSh122,695 ($52) will now cost TSh70,000 ($30), he added. “Under the sub- sidy arrangement, the government will pay for a TSh2,000[$0.86]subsidies,”hewasquoted.
Tanzanian farmers are expected to benefit from the subsidies over fertilisers during the 2022/23 financial year as the government aims to attain 10% annual growth rate for the agricul- tural sector by 2030 which employs 65% of the country’s population.
“The ministries of Agriculture as well as Finance and Planning should ensure subsidy funds are released on time ahead of farming sea- sons,” the President directed.
“As it was in the agricultural sector, the live- stock sector was also given share from the Covid- 19 relief funds that were expected to be used for preparing livestock farms in the country’s ranches and employ the youth,” she added.
The current growth rate is about 2% but under the government’s five-year development plan, the growth is expected at 5.7% by 2025.™
McDermott, KBR sign ammonia licensing deal
GLOBAL
ENERGY services specialist McDermott Inter- national announced the signing of a deal this week that will see it provide “integrated solu- tions” for fellow services firm KBR’s proprietary ammonia technologies.
The two US companies will target the grow- ing ammonia market by combining KBR’s tech- nology with McDermott’s “global execution capabilities and fabrication and modularisation expertise.”
In a statement accompanying the announce- ment, Tareq Kawash, McDermott’s senior vice president for onshore, said: “This agreement ena- bles us to offer customers an integrated approach for low-carbon ammonia projects by combining KBR’s best-in-class ammonia technology with our global project delivery know-how, low-car- bon execution approach and leadership in ammonia storage solutions.”
He added: “This technology partnership is an important addition to our growing energy transition portfolio and strengthens our con- cept-to-completion capabilities.”
Meanwhile, KBR’s senior vice president for global sales, Aman Ahmad, said: “This agree- ment will enable KBR and McDermott to
leverage each other’s strengths to deliver excep- tional value to our clients as they scale and accel- eratetheirenergytransitioninitiatives.”Thetwo companies will work together to evaluate oppor- tunities to deliver modular “execution concepts” for green and blue ammonia projects.
Significant investments are being made in ammonia projects around the world as pro- ducers and developers covet its properties as a hydrogen carrier for transportation.
Given the nascent nature of the sector, other options are also being considered, with, for exam- ple, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) signing up to a joint study with Japan’s Mitsui and its biggest refiner ENEOS for the development of a 200,000 tonne per year (tpy) blue hydrogen supply chain connecting the two countries, lev- eraging methylcyclohexane (MCH) as a carrier.
Meanwhile, in March last year, a deal was agreed that would see South Korea’s Hyundai Oilbank import LPG from Saudi Aramco, which would be converted to hydrogen for use in des- ulphurisation facilities and for fuelling vehicles.
The Korean company will capture the emitted CO2 and re-export it back to Aramco for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR).™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 32 11•August•2022