Stock exchanges provide a platform. A platform that Chris Sturgess, assistant general manager of the Agricultural Products Division of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, says helps with price discovery and price risk management. He says Africa needs such platforms. At the same time though, he stresses that stock exchanges do not set prices. Chris presented at the opening session of the …
West African Exchange Highlights Needs for a Developing Ag Industry
Mbaye Diop Sarr represents the West African business sector as the general administrator for the West Africa Commodity Exchange. For Mbaye, direct market access for producers is critical for the development of African agribusiness. He says Africa needs to drive competitiveness to fulfill industrial needs. He adds that Africa needs to embrace commercial partnerships among the various countries within the …
Facing Africa’s Problems in order to Develop Agribusiness Success
There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed in African agribusiness and Ian Goggin, CEO of the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa, wasn’t afraid to highlight each and every one. Among the negatives in the African agribusiness sector Ian identified during the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum: Very little reliable data on trade flows Lack of competition …
Chicago Exchange Weighs In on U.S. and African Agribusiness
The CME Group claims to have ideas that change the world. And, that’s precisely what CME Group Vice Chairman Terrence Duffy says the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum is helping to facilitate: ideas that are changing the world. The CME Group is a combined exchange entity formed from the 1997 merger of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago …
Corporate Council on Africa Calls for American Investment and Exchange
Agriculture is an industry in Africa that’s poised to flourish… if the U.S. would simply get involved. That’s what the Corporate Council on Africa believes and that’s why it’s hosting the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum in partnership with the World Trade Center Illinois. CCA President and CEO Stephen Hayes says his organization has been the voice for the vision …
Courting Commerce between Africa and the U.S.
People from all walks of life, as World Trade Center Illinois Agribusiness Director Chuck Hartke puts it, are gathering in a first-of-its-kind forum in Chicago this week in an effort to grow agricultural exchange and commerce between the U.S. and Africa. Chuck says the 300 participants of the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum have come together to explore how America …
From African Farm to American Fork
The Corporate Council on Africa wants U.S. investors to realize their potential in African agribusiness opportunities. That’s why the CCA is showcasing the African food value-chain at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. The CCA wants public and private sectors alike to cross borders and bring “farm to fork.” I’ll be covering the forum here at the Hyatt Regency in …
Help Flooded Farmers in the Midwest
Willie Nelson is sending out pleas for help. He’s calling for donations to help family farmers that are being devastated by severe weather and flooding in the Midwest. Severe weather in nine Midwestern states is devastating family farmers. Disastrous floods in Iowa and Wisconsin have hit farmers especially hard–more than 30 counties in Iowa alone have already been declared federal …
Take a Seat at Farm Technology Days
Wisconsin’s largest outdoor farm show now has ample seating for attendees. As part of a lesson in mass production, Wrightstown High School Tech produced 50 park benches in one day. The benches will be used at the 2008 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days held July 15-17, 2008, at Country Aire Farms. “These benches were hand made out of treated lumber – …
Corn Field Driftwood
This is not something you want to see in your corn field. River driftwood. Actually that’s not the only thing wrong with this picture near Eddyville, IA. The water in the background is supposed to be the rest of the field, not the Des Moines River. It was an eye opener of a drive up to Newton, IA today. The …