Business
Disasters cost global agriculture $3.26 trillion over three decades – FAO
FAO discloses this in its new report released in November 2025, tagged ,’ The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security 2025.’
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says that disasters have inflicted an estimated $3.26 trillion in agricultural losses worldwide over the past 33 years – an average of $99 billion annually, roughly 4 percent of global agricultural GDP.
FAO discloses this in its new report released in November 2025, tagged ,’ The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security 2025.’
The report highlights how digital technologies are transforming how farmers, governments and communities can monitor risks, anticipate impacts, and protect livelihoods.
The report provides the most comprehensive global assessment to date of how disasters – from droughts and floods to pests and marine heatwaves – are disrupting food production, livelihoods and nutrition.
It also demonstrates how digital innovations are shifting agrifood systems from reactive crisis management to proactive data-driven resilience-building.
“Digital technologies are already revolutionizing how we monitor risks, deliver early warnings and support farmers’ decision-making.
From the 9.1 million farmers now accessing parametric insurance through digital platforms to the communities using our early warning systems to evacuate 90 percent of at-risk populations before disasters strike, we are witnessing a fundamental shift from reactive response to proactive risk reduction.” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu in the foreword to the report.
Heavy toll on global food security
Between 1991 and 2023, disasters wiped out 4.6 billion tonnes of cereals, 2.8 billion tonnes of fruits and vegetables, and 900 million tonnes of meat and dairy.
These losses translate to a daily per capita reduction of 320 kilocalories – 13–16 percent of average energy needs.
Asia accounts for the largest share of global losses of 47 percent, totaling $1.53 trillion, reflecting both the scale of agricultural production and the region’s high exposure to floods, storms and droughts.
The Americas represent 22 percent of global losses or $713 billion, driven by recurrent droughts, hurricanes, and extreme temperature events that heavily impact large commodity crop systems.
Africa, while recording lower absolute losses of $611 billion, suffers the highest proportional impacts, losing 7.4 percent of agricultural GDP to disasters – the largest relative burden of any region.
In economies where agriculture accounts for a significant share of employment and income, these losses have had severe consequences for food security and rural stability.Small Island Developing States (SIDS) remain among the world’s most vulnerable to disasters such as cyclones, floods, and sea-level rise.
Despite relatively small agricultural output, disaster-related losses represent a disproportionately high share of agricultural GDP.
The report also finds that marine heatwaves caused $6.6 billion in losses between 1985 and 2022, affecting 15 percent of global fisheries. Yet, losses in fisheries and aquaculture remain largely invisible in disaster assessments, despite supporting the livelihoods of 500 million people.
Business
Flutterwave buys Mono for $40 million
Under the deal, Mono will continue to operate as an independent product, with no changes to its leadership or operations.
• Flutterwave Nigeria HQ, Lagos
Flutterwave, Africa’s largest fintech company, has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-stock transaction valued between $25 million and $40 million.
The acquisition brings together two major fintech infrastructure players as Flutterwave looks to strengthen its payments stack with open banking, data, and identity capabilities.
Under the deal, Mono will continue to operate as an independent product, with no changes to its leadership or operations.
The transaction allows Mono’s investors to at least recoup their capital, with some early backers reportedly recording returns of up to 20x.
(Nairametrics)
Business
Venezuela: Crude prices edge lower following Maduro’s overthrow
CNBC reports that U.S. crude oil fell 31 cents, or 0.54%, to $57.01 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent fell 22 cents, or 0.36%, to $60.53 per barrel.
• An oil-themed mural in Caracas, Venezuela
Crude oil prices edged lower Sunday, as the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro by the Trump administration has cast deep uncertainty over oil-rich Venezuela.
Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC, sits on the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world at 303 billion barrels or about 17% of the global total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
CNBC reports that U.S. crude oil fell 31 cents, or 0.54%, to $57.01 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent fell 22 cents, or 0.36%, to $60.53 per barrel.
President Donald Trump made it clear Saturday that U.S. investment in Venezuela’s oil sector is a key objective of the regime change operation that ousted Maduro.
“We’re going to have our huge United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure,” Trump said in a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The president said Saturday that the U.S. embargo of Venezuelan oil remains in place.
Business
MAN woos CBN, MOF for manufacturing refinancing facility
The Director -General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call for the facility in a report on the manufacturing outlook for 2026.
Cover image: MAN
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on the monetary authorities ( CBN and MOF) to introduce a Manufacturing Refinancing and Rediscounting Facility (MRRF) believing that it can reinvigorate the manufacturing sector in 2026.
The Director -General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call for the facility in a report on the manufacturing outlook for 2026.
He said that the MRRF is to enable banks to refinance approved manufacturing loans at single-digit rates for up to seven years.
He emphasised that to ensure a more robust manufacturing sector in 2026 , there was need for:
- 1. Launch a Manufacturing Refinancing and Rediscounting Facility (MRRF) that allows banks to refinance approved manufacturing loans at single-digit rates for up to 7 years.
- 2. Create a publicly accessible dashboard tracking lending flows, interest rate spreads, loan approvals and sectoral disbursement patterns in real time.
3. Further reduce the benchmark interest rate by at least 200–300 basis points over the next two quarters to make credit affordable for manufacturers.
4. Craft and ensure the effective execution of the implementation strategy for the recently approved Nigeria Industrial Policy.
5. Categorize manufacturers as strategic users of gas to remove the gap between what manufacturers and electricity generation companies pay per cubic foot of gas.
6. Introduce a stable, transparent gas pricing framework for manufacturers and prioritize local gas supply before exports.
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