Browsing: Sub-Saharan Africa

That year, in 2015, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania settled for a three-year plan to phase out the importation of used clothes, a major exporter been the United States. To realise the intended ban, taxes were increased on second-hand clothes were increased effectively deterring their importation. The plan was to completely ban the import of second-hand clothes as of 2019.

This ambitious vision was never realized as the Trump administration issued an ultimatum for EAC to rescind the ban on second-hand clothes by 23 February 2018 or, as the DW writer Isaac Mugabi puts it ‘face the consequences.’…

The Sub-Saharan Africa economic growth is forecast to resume to 2.8 percent in 2021 and further rise to 3.3 percent in 2022 according to World Bank.

The growth is due to higher commodity prices, containment of the pandemic, and stronger external demand mostly from the United States and China.

According to the recently updated report from World Bank, despite the provision of vaccines by COVAX, procurements, and logistics challenges are expected to continue to affect the rollout of the vaccination. In the Central African Republic, Kenya, Niger, and Equatorial Guinea delays in major investments in extractives and infrastructure due to policy uncertainty and the existing effects of the pandemic will affect the recovery of the economies.

“Per capita income levels in 2022 are expected to be 4% lower on average than in 2019. Conditions in the region’s fragile and conflict-affected countries are expected to be particularly challenging; their average output …

Remittance flows to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region increased by 2.3 per cent to record about $5.6 billion in 2020 according to a report by World Bank.

The press release from World Bank noted that strong remittance flows to Morocco and Egypt strongly contributed to the growth.

In 2020, flows to Morocco rose to 6.5 per cent while flows to Egypt rose by 11 percent to record a high of nearly $20 billion. Tunisia also recorded an increase of 2.5 per cent.

According to the statement, other economies in the region experienced losses in the same period such as Iraq, Lebanon, Djibouti and Jordan which led to a double-digit decline.

With weak outflows from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and moderate growth in the Euro area, remittances are likely to grow in 2021 by 2.6 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2020 the cost of sending …

Tanzania has earned a record $3 billion from gold sales as price for the precious metal soars in the world market.

Publicized by the Bank of Tanzania, the value of gold exports clocked $3.025 billion in the year ending March 31, 2021, a considerable jump from $2.324 billion that was earned last year.

In fact, gold is doing so well that it has become the country’s top foreign exchange earner, and even overtaken tourism.

Gold prices have been edging up since the corona outbreak last year owing to jittery investors fearing a collapse of other currencies (including the dollar) and opting to store their value in gold.

“As financial markets were hit by the pandemic, investors rushed for gold which they consider as one of the safe haven assets,” report local media.

Consider this, gold represented more than half (55.9 percent) of the value brought home from sell of …

In Sub Saharan Africa, growth is expected to rebound by 2.3 per cent in 2021 and 3.1 percent in 2022 from a 2.0 percent contraction in 2020 according to a report by World Bank.

The report is dubbed “Covid-19 and the future of work in Africa: Emerging trends in digital technology adoption” by the World Bank.

Rebound in private consumption, industry and services will be supported by continued growth in the agriculture sector, rise in commodity prices due to rising demand for commodities.

This recovery may however be affected by delayed access to covid-19 vaccines and the resurgence of the pandemic.

Private consumption and business investment spending are likely to be affected by restrictions in case of a second wave before vaccines become widely available.

In 2022, growth is expected to rise to 4.1 percent as vaccines rollouts increases across the region, therefore, providing a stronger boost to consumer and …

As the World shakes off the effects of Covid-19, the global energy sector has a long way to go to recover, but the baby steps have begun.

In his remarks at the 20^th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), mid last month, the OPEC Secretary General, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, underscored the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and what he described as ‘…its complete disruption of daily life.’

 “These monthly meetings of both the JTC and the JMMC send a reassuring message that we are ready, willing and able to address shifting market conditions”, he said during the video conference.

The SG maintained that ‘…the historic actions taken by OPEC and its partners in the DoC have contributed to an improved balance in the oil market compared to the situation in April, however, the JTC and JMMC must remain vigilant in monitoring market conditions.”

While the global …

Across the continent to West Africa where we find one of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria. Here we find another railway deal gone bad, the $500 million Lagos – Ibadan railway.

In a similar manner to Kenya’s SGR debacle with China, which resulted in Kenya sinking heavily into debt that it simply cannot afford to pay and restructure, Nigeria is now finding a similar fate.

According to the country’s Director General for Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) Patience Oniha, when making a deal with China, ‘…the Chinese determine the cost of projects, give us loans tied to the projects and the projects must be executed by Chinese firms alone.’

It is alleged that not only does China force importation of even the smallest of laborers but also all the equipment and guess where they are imported from? Yes, China.

It is further argued that by so doing, China is using these …

Even as share values for US futures on crude oil prices hit rock bottom, spotting a worrisome negative figure (-4.0 USD) there are still several functions that claim the crush of oil prices in the US and around the World will have no effect on stock shares in Tanzania, the numbers are giving a different story. Lets start with the optimistic side.

As US futures for oil price continue to free fall some are of the view that it will have no effect on Tanzania’s sole bourse, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). Why? Well, simple, most African countries, Tanzania included, are oil importers so, the fall of oil prices will mean positive balance of payments.

In turn, favourable balance of payment means good exchange rates of the shilling for the dollar, again another plus for the shilling. Good exchange rates translates to higher value of the shilling and …

Members of Parliament in Tanzania are urging the government to consider giving tax breaks to businesses in a bid to help them stay afloat.

Alternatively, the government is encouraged, through the Central Bank, to scrap interest on loans so that borrowers do not fall into default.

At the moment, despite the global slowdown, businesses are still operational but they are operating way below their year revenue projections. Already, at the start of the second quarter, the country is facing potentially huge loan defaults by both large corporations as well as small and medium sized companies.

Big businesses are now turning to the government to intervene. While the Central Bank, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has already issued a stimulus package for commercial banks, the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) is working on an arrangement to save large borrowers from mega defaults that would in effect ripple throughout the economy.

Commercial …