Monday, December 8

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Currency depreciation in Africa

According to SWIFT, African regions with strong integration saw increased use of local currencies and decreased use of hard currencies such as the US dollar. For instance, the use of the West African franc by the eight countries in the West African Economic and Monetary Union has overtaken the South African rand and the British West African pound.

This implies that boosting the use of regional currencies will shield the African trade market from adverse global conditions associated with the performance of US dollars. However, further regional coordination remains necessary to build a continental payment system that encourages the use of local correspondent banks and local currencies. These moves can help in managing currency depreciation to boost African trade finance. 

Floods in Tanzania HoustonChronicles

African cities are prone to flood damage, which can be widespread leaving hundreds homeless, communities and economic systems destabilized and infrastructures costing millions to build, destroyed. 

All these issues factor in an uncomfortable reality that African communities cannot afford. According to a 2018 publication by The Conversation, floods cost Tanzania up to $2 billion annually, while tracing back to 2012, Nigeria—Africa’s top economy suffered its largest floods in the century which wiped out assets worth nearly $10 billion.