Category: Business

The production of eggs in Seychelles has been steadily increasing during the last 10 years but there are special conditions during the period of March to May, highly marked in April, that heavily affect egg production, especially this year.

An agricultural officer in Seychelles, Jose Raul de Oca Brito, told SNA that there are many factors interacting together and leading to these results.

“The increasing demand for the product is the main reason; this is directly associated with the fact that egg production has not to compete with any importation.”

He explained that “this has motivated more farmers to venture into the business while others have increased the production capacity. We ended 2022 with 37 registered egg producers and the commercial laying hens population is estimated as 184,763 birds in April with a daily average production of 2.4 million eggs.”

Brito said that the second element which is considered paramount is that during the last years, new commercial laying hens have been introduced in the country, by importation, with a much better potential for production and performing very well under Seychelles conditions.

Although the importation of highly commercial laying hens has guaranteed a stable egg production in the country, it comes paired with some constraints, among them being the transportation challenge.

“A good poultry herd position is only achieved when replacements are evenly distributed throughout the year, and this is not happening. This said we agreed that a distortion on the replacement cycle affects production and then price,” said Brito.

On the shortage of eggs on the market, he said that this happens during the period March to May and is related to the weather condition.

“April is a very tranquil month as the winds drop and during the afternoon temperatures get very hot, reaching an average high of 31-32 degrees. This limits feed intake in chickens in a way for them to balance body temperature; leading by default to a drop in production. This causes production to drop 10-15 percent in farms with standard management for open house systems.”

Consequently, farmers will always give priority to clients under contract like hotels, and companies like the Indian Ocean Tuna where demand is very high.

This can result in an increase in the price of eggs on the local market as has been the case for the past few weeks from SCR2.50 ($0.19) per egg to around SCR4.00 ($0.30) at the shopping outlets.

“When there is a drop in production, the local market (retailers) is more demanding and the price is increased. The price for eggs is not in relation to the cost of production since the subsidy scheme in place guarantees a very good profit margin for egg producers,” Brito told SNA.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

The National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) and oil operators have outlined a plan to reduce unplanned shutdowns, with the aim to mitigate oil output decline, the ANPG CEO Paulino Jerónimo has said.

The ANPG CEO said the reduction of unplanned shutdowns will be done on a preventive improvement basis.

The plan will focus on the production of additional resources in mature fields, Jeronimo said during an interview to Angola Public Television (TPA).

In this case, he added, agreements have been signed between 2019 and 2020 with oil companies for the development of fields.

“This will allow for stability in production,” Jeronimo said, stressing that production today is not far from stabilization compared to 2021, 2022 and with what is expected in 2023, which leads to a certain balance.

Jerónimo said that the decline in Angola’s crude oil production has been relatively soft from 2008 to date, recording around 1.1 million barrels per day.

The official pointed to the non-permanent launch of tenders for new blocks as the cause of the decline.

In 20 years, or from 1999 to 2019, four tenders were held, with the fourth being held by ANPG in 2019.

“This means that there has been a big timespan with the holding of these bids,” Jeronimo said.

As an example, he said that the ANPG has existed for four years and is currently holding its fourth bidding, reiterating that these bids should be permanent so that in case of success, there can be production and reserves be discovered and replaced.

Another problem that Paulino Jerónimo believes has to be solved is the issue of the marginal fields that had been discovered over the last 20 to 30 years, but are economically unviable in light of the existing contracts.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Thousands of direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created around Kribi in the South region, as mining company SINOSTEEL, gears towards the start of a 25-year project.

The acting Minister of Mines, Industries, and Technological Development, Prof. Calistus Gentry Fuh, paid a working visit to the project site situated between Campo, Lokoundje, and Kribi, where he revealed how the activities will unfold.

“There will be an open pit mine, there will be the installation of the enrichment plant that will treat the iron ore, and then the infrastructure and road that will carry the iron ore to the seaport,” the Minister said.

He urged local authorities to sensitize the population to collaborate with the government, for the realization of the project.

He said they had deliberations regarding a number of social issues, including “the compensation for those who had landed property which is covered by the project”.

For the 25 years that the project is expected to run, over 600 million tons of iron ore will be exploited with an investment estimated at more than 258 billion FCFA. The project will effectively kick off in December 2023.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Fans of Blu Nations singer, Tzy Panchak, are split over his new song ‘Self-made’. These criticisms come as a result of the featuring of a masquerade being kissed by a girl whom they said was poorly dressed.

The song also features artists like Vivid, Cleo Grea, J Kree, Vancy and Phido has been in the spotlight also given that the masquerade is seen in the video clip of the song displaying a bottle of alcoholic wine.

According to some fans, it is taboo and disrespectful to the African tradition and culture of the people of the North West Region in particular.

“It is a disgrace and traditionally it’s not right. For a masquerade to even drink water and talkless of alcohol, is something else. A masquerade kissing or being kissed by a lady half naked, that’s totally bad and not portraying perhaps what he meant” Fur Gilfort, expressed frustration in a comment.

“If that’s something from Nso then it is not the Nso I am from. A masquerade is something sacred, it is something ladies are not even allowed to come close to talk less of kissing, it’s a taboo, an abomination. If she does that and stays alive then it’s a miracle” Another fan, Mbiydzenyuy Unique, added.

Going by CY Mukolah, Tzy Panchak has through his new song shown total disrespect, “it’s quite a good song but a wrong video direction not just the acts of displaying the almighty “Kama Kam” in an afro song video if it’s cultural music, maybe but this is wrong. In which African country do you see people kissing their masquerades, who does that? It’s totally wrong, let’s learn to respect our culture” he noted.

“This is not funny at all, we all are Africans and as true Africans especially from Cameroon, Northwest Region for that matter we know how these things work, Women don’t even go closer to such not to talk hugging and kissing who does that ?” He continued.

On the other hand, some other fans see nothing wrong with the song and are attributing the criticisms to envy and jealousy.

“You all should leave Tzy Pancack alone, all the juju that drink and get drunk on daily bases, is he the one that gives them these drinks? The guy is a big boy and nothing will bring him down. Those talking rubbish are not real fans and followers but just noise makers” a fan said.

Recently, US rapper Rick Ross on his Instagram live session promised a collaboration with Tzy Pancack and has put in $10,000 for the ‘Self-made’ challenge.

CNA reached out to the Blu Nations management on this issue, they said “We have decided as a team not to say or make any formal or informal statement pertaining to the issue at hand. Thanks in anticipation for your comprehension”.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

One of Seychelles’ telecommunication companies, Intelvision, landed the third submarine cable system in the country on Thursday, a venture that will allow the company to provide its clients with more competitive internet prices.

Collaborating with Vodafone in landing the 2Africa cable system, Intelvision is the first privately owned telecommunication company to venture into the installation and operation of its own submarine cable system.

After the landing of the cable at around 9.15 am on Thursday, the interim chief executive of Intelvision, Reza Jaro, said that this initiative represents a major milestone in the company’s efforts to provide world-class connectivity solutions to customers in Seychelles.

“With this new cable, we will be able to set our price bar. Currently, we have to buy from the current sea submarine cable, and as such we cannot control the price. We believe that landing our own cable can revolutionise the way the internet is being used in the country today,” said Jaro.

He outlined that the company understands that there is a great demand for the internet in the country today. Once work is completed, the cable is expected to go live in September this year, by which the company will reveal its new packages.

The principal secretary at the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT), Benjamin Choppy, said that “this is a project which I am confident will bring significant benefits to Intelvision, the local ICT sector, and to Seychelles’ economy.

“This submarine cable branch will connect Seychelles to a much larger network The 2Africa cable system’, which when completed, will be one of the largest submarine cable networks in the world,” said Choppy.

It was on May 14, 2020, that China Mobile International, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), MTN Global Connect, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC partnered to build 2Africa, a 45,000km long subsea cable that will serve Africa.

The system will interconnect Europe, Asia, and Africa with a design capacity of 180 Tbps. With over 600Gbps of international bandwidth available on this new cable system, Intelvision will offer a step-up with respect to connectivity speeds for households and business customers. The cable will also increase the speeds and capacity of Intelvision’s existing fibre optic system.

Intelvision invested around $32 million to make the project a reality. 2Africa is the 3rd subsea cable system to land in Seychelles. The second cable landed in Seychelles in March 2022 and became operational late last year.

Intelvision is owned by Seychellois businessman Mukesh Valabjhi, who is currently facing charges before the Supreme Court of Seychelles for official corruption, theft and money laundering amounting to approximately $100 million between 1993 and 2012, as well as a separate case of possession of firearms.

The corruption and financial crimes trial will start on May 11.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

At least three national citizens aged between 45 and 55 years old, who were involved in scams, while pretending to be employees of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), were arrested Tuesday, the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) in north-east Malanje province has said.

According to Augusto Barros André, Head of the SIC Press Office in Malanje, the individuals were extorting 30 000 kwanzas per person, with false promises of aiding them join the Angolan Armed Forces.

The SIC officer explained that a shotgun and badges of the Angolan Armed Forces were seized from the perpetrators during the arrest.

The chief of the Criminal Investigation Service informed of the arrest of a 45-year-old Angolan citizen accused of drug trafficking (marihuana), in the commune of Quizenga, municipality of Cacuso.

Augusto André explained that the detention was the result of a micro-operation carried out by the SIC at the road checkpoint in that locality, where the 45-year old man was caught in possession of 100 kgs drugs in a bag of cassava that he was carrying in a vehicle.

According to the spokesman, the accused said that the drugs had been acquired in the municipality of Cunda-dia-base and to be sold in Luanda province.

Source: Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)