insert_link Africa Kenya could run out of money to repay massive debts: how to avoid this By Odongo Kodongo, University of the Witwatersrand Data from Kenya’s central bank show that public debt (total money owed) declined between December 2023 and June 2024. The drop in external debt – by 15.4 % – over this period does not mean that the country’s overall finances have improved. Rather, it is due to the gains in the value of the Kenyan shilling, thanks to pervasive state […] todaySeptember 17, 2024 14
insert_link Africa Rating agencies and Africa: the absence of people on the ground contributes to bias against the continent – analyst By Misheck Mutize, University of Cape Town Rating agency Fitch recently warned that the rapid spread of the mpox virus in sub-Saharan Africa could add to the fiscal pressures many countries in the region are already experiencing. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have declared the latest outbreak of mpox in Africa a health emergency. An epidemic in the Democratic […] todaySeptember 9, 2024 13
insert_link Africa Ghana’s economic crisis was caused by government borrowing – the central bank did the best it could: economist By Emmanuel Ameyaw, Tohoku University Ghana is going through its worst economic crisis in a generation. The past two years have seen record high inflation in the country. Ghana’s central bank (the Bank of Ghana) has been criticised in some quarters for its role in the country’s economic malaise, which has hit the profitability of Ghanaian banks. The Conversation Africa’s Godfred Akoto Boafo speaks to […] todayJune 17, 2024 13
insert_link Namibia IPPR investigates election year budgets in quarterly economic review The Quarterly Economic Review by the Institute for Public Policy Research has investigated whether the government has engaged in overspending related to elections since independence. The review examines budgets during election years, including the 2024/2025 budget, which was introduced ahead of the national elections on 27 November 2024. IPPR Executive Director, Graham Hopwood. The report also includes the usual quarter summary, news highlights, key economic variables, and data trends. https://ippr.org.na/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Namibia-QER-Q1-2024-1.pdf […] todayMay 14, 2024 26
insert_link Business / Economics Fitch Ratings Rates Namibia’s Development Bank as Outlook Stable Opinion Piece, By Josef Kefas Sheehama Fitch Ratings has affirmed DBN's Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at 'BB-' and it’s National Long-Term Rating at 'AA+. These credit ratings cover the widest range of credit risk factors and have no limitations. The Namibian Development Bank (DBN) is the country's flagship and largest policy bank, contributing to economic and social development. Its strategy is in line with national development […] todayMarch 26, 2024 22
insert_link Africa Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger hint at a new west African currency: what it’ll take for it to succeed By Thierno Thioune, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar On 11 February 2024, the head of Niger’s ruling military junta, General Abdourahmane Tiani, spoke of the possible creation of a common currency with Burkina Faso and Mali. “The currency is a first step toward breaking free from the legacy of colonisation,” he said on national TV, referring to the CFA franc inherited from French colonisation. Burkina Faso, […] todayMarch 15, 2024 14
insert_link Africa Inflation in Nigeria is still climbing while it has slowed globally: here’s why By Stephen Onyeiwu, Allegheny College Just as Nigerians were gradually digging out from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were hit by high inflation. The Nigerian economy contracted by 6.1% at the peak of COVID in the second quarter of 2020. Unemployment rate rose from 27% in the second quarter of 2020 to 33% in the fourth quarter of the same year. The World Bank estimated […] todayMarch 14, 2024 19
insert_link Business / Economics Economists break down revised tax reforms and national budget With Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Ipumbu Shiimi having announced in yesterday’s National budget that the government has revised tax reforms that will put N$646 million back in the pockets of taxpayers by exempting all individual taxpayers from paying tax on the first N$100,000 of their income, starting 1 March 2024, we asked Cirrus Capital Economist Robert McGregor for a breakdown of the numbers. Namibia's largest-ever annual budget on Wednesday […] todayFebruary 29, 2024 41
insert_link Business / Economics Civil Society weighs in on 2024/25 national budget anticipation Following a meeting last year between the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises Ipumbu Shiimi and Civil Society organisations about the 2024/25 Budget, we asked the Executive Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, Graham Hopwood about his expectations. todayFebruary 28, 2024 10
