• Across the East Africa region, Rwanda posted the strongest performance.
• Uganda’s economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2022 compared to a 6.7 percent uptick in 2021.
• Tanzania’s real GDP expanded by 4.5 percent in 2022 compared to 4.9 percent growth in 2021.

Kenya’s economy recorded a slower growth of 4.8 percent last year as agriculture slumped due to severe drought. In 2021, Kenya posted 7.6 percent growth as the country emerged from Covid-19 induced economic fallout.

Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show that East Africa’s economic powerhouse growth outpaced its neighbours. Kenya saw its nominal GDP increase to $98.24 billion, from $87.98 billion in 2021, retaining its pole position over East African peers.

Uganda’s economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2022 compared to a 6.7 percent growth in 2021. The marginal drop was partly on account of recovery in hospitality and other service sectors as schools …

• Uganda signed a deal with China under which the China National Nuclear Corporation(CNNC) would assist its endeavours to tap into one of the few Nuclear energy sources in Africa.
• The first nuclear project, Buyende Nuclear Power Plant, will be located in Buyende, approximately 150 km(93 miles) north of Kampala.
• Uganda has an estimated 52000 square kilometres of uranium deposits around Buganda, Toro, Ankle and Bunyoro.

Africa takes the next step in its evolution as Uganda announced its plans to generate at least 1000 MegaWatts(MW) from its nuclear power plant by 2031. This lines up with its efforts to identify alternative energy solutions that guarantee faster and more efficient electricity production. Uganda will become one of the few countries to produce nuclear energy in Africa, further boosting its economic growth exponentially.

Uganda first discovered its uranium deposits in 2004, and since then, nuclear power became a valid option for the country. …

• Insurance industry paid claims worth $400Mn in three months from October 2022 to December 2022 representing a 3percent increase compared to the third Quarter of 2022 that paid claims worth $391Mn. 
• Latest statistics from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) indicate that the number of claims reported to the insurers were 2,040,600, a 12.6 percent increase compared to 1,811,141 claims reported in Q3,2022. 
• General liability claims paid went up by 16.8 percent to 14,085 claims worth $42Mn from 12,055 claims paid worth $40Mn billion in the previous quarter. Non – Liability claims paid hit 1,714,723 claims worth $170Mn  representing a  1.8 percent from 1,684,698 claims worth $160.31Mn reported in Q3 2022. 

Insurance industry paid claims worth $400Mn in three months from October 2022 to December 2022 representing a 3 percent increase compared to the third Quarter of 2022 that paid claims worth $391Mn. 

According to the Quarter 4 of 2022 claims …

• At the beginning of February, Nigerians started complaining that commercial banks could not supply individuals with Nigeria’s physical fiat currency.
• The currency situation in Nigeria escalated to an all out crisis this week when an impending deadline for the ban of the use of old notes.
• The Supreme Court on Wednesday, suspended the deadline to ease the tension that has been building up exacerbated by heated campaigns and a looming fuel crisis. 

In the middle of intense campaigns that will see three main presidential candidates battle it out in Nigeria’s 2023 election, the country is experiencing a shortage of the new Naira notes that threatens to take centre-stage before the West African nation goes to the polls from 25 February.

All Progress Party (APC) candidate Bola Tinibu, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and outsider Peter Obi of Labour Party are considered the front runners to take over from outgoing …

The world has in recent months witnessed a dramatic turnabout on the future of nuclear energy, mainly in the developed countries.

This is on the back of the Russia-Ukraine war which has seen post-pandemic energy shortages turn into a full-blown energy crisis.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), nuclear power plants slated for closure across Europe have been given “an 11th hour reprieve.

Japan has announced, after a decade of paralysis, that it plans to restart many of its reactors, which have sat idle since the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi.

France, which had launched plans to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy during President Macron’s first term, reversed course and now, plans to build at least six new reactors and a dozen smaller modular reactors.

The UK on the other hand recently launched an ambitious plan to build eight new reactors and16 small modular reactors.

Even anti-nuclear Germany …

Albeit landlocked, Rwanda’s economy has been growing exponentially but was impeded in 2020, by the Covid-19 pandemic and further exacerbated by the Russian-Ukraine war, which has been ongoing since February 2022.

Currently, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is at 74.8 per cent.

Rwanda is among the countries in the Great Lakes region of East–Central Africa, sandwiched between Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Tanzania. The rate of economic progress registered hitherto, has led the international community to call Rwanda an ‘emerging Asian tiger.’

This economic rehabilitation and prosperity, has been especially spearheaded by the country’s long-standing president Paul Kagame, who in 2018 was named ‘African of the Year’ by Forbes Magazine. He has on several occasions since his ascension to power in 2000, expressed his desire to transform Rwanda into the ‘Singapore of Africa,’ a stable gateway of trade for the entire continent.…