Browsing: India

• Ramadan fasting increases economic activities around the world.
• The travel sector, especially airlines registers higher revenues during pilgrimage after Ramadan fasting.
• Zanzibar has announced tax breaks for consumables during Ramadan fasting.

Every year, from the beginning of Ramadan fasting, Muslim faithful increase spending, travel more and invest significantly to celebrate the Eid vacation.

“As people’s mobility increases, the transport sector’s business also experiences a surge…as people spend the overall economy is stimulated,” explains Abdul Rashid an economist in Tanzania.

The economics of a country change during Ramadan and the months leading to and immediately after the Holy Month. This multiplier effect is felt throughout the world as the Islamic communities prepare, fast and observe the Holy Month.

Take Tanzania for example, the East African country is over 40 per cent Muslim, Ramadan fasting causes increased economic activities ranging from import and export of food, increased spending and pilgrimage related spending.…

• Tanzania and India have agreed to trade in local currencies weaning off the use of the US dollar.
• There are advantages of using local currencies in trade versus the traditional dollar.
• Tanzania and India have also agreed on military, maritime, and space technology cooperation.

India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary Dammu Ravi has met with Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan with reports emerging that the two leaders have among other things, agreed to trade in Rupees, the sub continent’s local currency.

The decision implies that the two countries, with long-running business ties, will effectively wean off using the king dollar as their ‘gold standard’, instead embracing the Indian Rupee as their common currency in exchange for value.

“When international transactions are denominated in local currencies, countries can avoid currency fluctuations and the associated risks. This stability helps to mitigate exchange rate volatility, reducing uncertainty and facilitating more accurate planning …

• Since ascending to office in September 2022, President Ruto has remained relentless in his bid to boost Kenya’s agricultural productivity.
• Agriculture remains the bedrock of the country’s development and the key to creating equitable and sustainable growth for its citizens.
• President Ruto has focused on implementing policies and programs to enhance productivity, improve farmers’ incomes, and ensure food security.

Agriculture as a bedrock of Kenya’s economic prosperity

Kenya has made impressive economic strides in innovation and entrepreneurship, private sector enterprise, infrastructure, and human skills development. However, agriculture remains the bedrock of the country’s development and the key to creating equitable and sustainable growth for its citizens. The importance of agriculture has been highlighted in Kenya’s Vision 2030

Moreover, research has demonstrated that agriculture remains a major driver of economic prosperity for most African countries. In addition to driving economic growth, agriculture creates jobs for most rural communities and is essential …

• Heads of State from China, Brazil, and India, except Russia will attend the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg South Africa, starting August 22.
• President Vladimir Putin will participate in the summit virtually but will be represented in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
• The bloc is also expected to discuss how to boost local currency fundraising and lending within the New Development Bank.

The five nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are now a band of economies showcasing their ambition to maximize their emerging economies potential, across geopolitics axis. In one day time, heads of state from China, Brazil, and India, (except Russia) will attend the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg South Africa from August 22-24.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to discuss a number of items as …

• In 2021, 76 percent of adults had an account at a bank or regulated institution
• Financing will enable African nations to expand portfolio of digital financial solutions and initiatives
• The facility will be housed and managed by the African Development Bank,

India will contribute $2 million to the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), in an effort to break the barrier to growth and spur uptake of digital financial solutions.

The facility will be housed and managed by the African Development Bank. It will mainly focus on accelerating financial inclusion in Africa, India said.

India is recognised globally for the success of its digital public payments system. The country’s collaboration with ADFI enables the facility to learn from best practices and help scale up initiative. The program aims to meet the needs of financially excluded and underserved people in Africa.

Africa yet to fully benefit from inclusion

Despite the growing …

The BRICS countries bear a profound responsibility amid a shifting global economic axis. They have the extraordinary chance to reshape the world order, bestowing more significant equity and amplified voice upon the realms of the Global South.

A defining moment in the global economic axis awaits as the BRICS Summit 2023 gathers in South Africa. It signals the member countries to seize this opportunity to shape an unprecedented global economic governance system, an inclusive, all-encompassing, and efficient system.…

• Tanzanite is so rare that it is only found in one place in the entire world, Tanzania and hence its name, tanzanite
• For years, Tanzania has complained bitterly over how India has been benefitting from the sale of tanzanite, a rare gem
• The mineral’s value chain extends far beyond its borders across the seas in India’s city of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan state.

After decades of smuggling allegations, conspiracies of misappropriation and outright accusations of value theft, Tanzania and India have finally come to common ground on mineral research.

For a long time, Tanzania has lamented how India has been benefitting from the sale of tanzanite, a rare gem. In fact, tanzanite is so rare that it is only found in one place in the entire world, Tanzania and hence its name, tanzanite.

However, Tanzania has, for years now, been exporting raw tanzanite while other countries such as neighbouring …

The global financial landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent times. Remarkably, the issue of the de-dollarization of international trade is slowly but steadily gathering momentum. A rising trend toward de-dollarization is challenging the longstanding supremacy of the United States in the international financial system. As the dominant global reserve currency, the US dollar remains pivotal in international trade, investment, and financial transactions.…

• The prospect of establishing a common currency will be a top agenda at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa later this year.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is working towards trading in their own national currencies.
• Roughly 40 percent of international trade transactions in goods are invoiced in dollars

The prospect of establishing a common currency will be a top agenda at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa later this year.

Should the common currency be formed, it will be based on a basket of the currencies of the BRICS countries; the Chinese RMB Yuan, the Russian Ruble, the Indian Rupee, the Brazilian Real, and the South African Rand.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has on several occasions announced plans by the BRICS countries to unify their currencies and untangle themselves from dollar dependency.

At a media conference during his Africa tour at the start of …

China presently has the largest sum of foreign exchange reserves in the world. When its over US$ 3 trillion in reserves is added to the reserves of the other BRICS member states the questions as to why they cannot issue their own currency start to grow louder.

Talks of a common currency fizzled out as more pressing national and international matters eclipsed the idea. This year 2022 has seen renewed calls for a common reserve currency emerge once again. This time Russia is leading the call for the creation of a reserve currency that will be an alternative to the United States dollar as a mechanism for the settlement of international transactions.

Russia’s motive for making such a call is obvious, the country has been at war with Ukraine since February 2022. This aggression against Ukraine has earned Russia some of the most stringent economic sanctions in history. What has …