Kenya protesters teargassed during bread tax protest
Kenya’s government has scrapped some proposed taxes in this year’s controversial finance bill, including a 16% levy on bread, after a public outcry.
The announcement by MPs came as police fired tear gas and used water cannon to try to disperse angry protesters in the capital, Nairobi.
Dozens of people have been arrested, and lawyers earlier joined chanting crowds at the city’s main police station to demand that detainees be freed.
Since coming to office in 2022, President William Ruto has introduced several new and unpopular taxes with the aim of eliminating the country’s national debt of nearly $80bn (£63bn).
But critics of the latest proposals fear they will stifle economic growth and lead to job losses.
Some of the protesters marching through the capital called on the president to resign, shouting, “Ruto must go! Ruto must go!”
The U-turn over the new finance bill was announced by Kuria Kimani, chairman of the parliamentary finance committee, at a press briefing attended by President Ruto as well as other lawmakers in the ruling coalition.
His finance team has been collecting public views on the bill and he said the decision to drop some of the proposals had been made to protect Kenyans from the increasing cost of living.
Other proposed taxes that have been axed include ones on cooking oil, mobile money services and on motor vehicles, which critics said would have also hit the insurance industry.
Mr Kimani also announced a reversal on a proposed eco tax that targeted products seen as having a negative impact on the environment, such as packaging, plastics and tyres.
It had faced a backlash with many arguing it would raise the cost of key goods such as nappies, sanitary towels, computers and mobile phones.
The levy would now only apply to imported goods, Mr Kimani said.
Mr Ruto did not speak or react during the briefing – but the move, which has been seen as succumbing to public pressure, will be a blow to his government.
He recently urged Kenyans to accept more taxation, arguing that they were in fact undertaxed, but he acknowledged it would be difficult.
Over the last two years, taxes on salaries, fuel and on gross sales have been hiked.
A housing levy of 1.5% of a worker’s monthly pay, which goes towards the construction of affordable houses, has also been introduced.
A new higher health insurance levy is also due to come into effect soon.
Lawmakers are due to discuss the finance bill on Wednesday, which is why protests are being staged in the capital.
Police have arrested several people accused of organising the demonstrations.
Rights groups have condemned the police’s response.
“I am very angry and I’m fighting for my future,” one protester, named Wangari, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.
“I am still a young adult and I want to build myself up in this country. And with such taxes, with such exploitation, I don’t see how we can build a life.”
AFP
Dozens of protesters were arrested and bundled into police vans
AFP
Tear gas was fired on the streets of central Nairobi
Many indigenous companies and International Oil Companies, IOCs, have indicated interest in bidding for the 12 onshore and seven deep offshore blocks put forward for sale by the Federal Government.
Vanguard gathered yesterday that the companies have been reviewing the requirements, including technical competence and financial capacity, required by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, to qualify for the bid.
Members of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, PETAN, an association of Nigerian Indigenous Technical Oilfield Service Companies in the upstream and downstream sectors have put forward their interest, according to the chairman of the group, Engr. Wole Ogunsanya.
“We are trying to study the available fields to determine if they are viable in scale for our members,” Ogunsanya said yesterday. The 12 Petroleum Prospecting Leases, PPLs include 300, 301, 3008, 3009, 2000, 2001, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271 and Petroleum Mining Lease, PML 51, while the Deep Offshore Blocks, PPLs are 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306.
Top company officials, who pleaded anonymity because they were not granted permission to speak, said in different conversations with Vanguard that they have started working with their local and international consultants toward bidding for the oil blocks.
They pleaded that their company’s names should not be made public to avoid jeopardising their chances in the bid.
The CEO of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, who confirmed the interest of potential bidders to Vanguard yesterday, said the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference, OTC 2024 has presented a great opportunity to also woo investors for the oil blocks.
He said: “Our mission at the OTC is to leverage one of the largest oil and gas events globally to showcase the huge hydrocarbon potentials and investment opportunities in Nigeria and in a similar manner, canvass the participation of financially and technically capable players in the deep offshore to participate at the Nigerian 2024 licensing round for overwhelming success of the important exercise.
“This is in furtherance of our dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration that Nigeria is ready for business with a practical demonstration of that through the recent executive orders on various fiscal and policy incentives to enhance business in the oil and gas sector.
“NUPRC, as the implementing arm of government and the executive is committed to the implementation of the goals and focus of Mr. President in the sector as demonstrated and in line with the intent of the PIA. We have announced locally, now that we are going offshore to launch the bid in the roadshow.
“However, feedback has been positive on potential investors’ enthusiasm. Don’t forget that for the first time in history, President Tinubu, as a petroleum minister, has vacated front entry barriers to investment in oil blocks awards in all terrains.
“The focus of the bid will be on technical and financial capacity to proceed to the field on work programmes after awards, while hitherto signature bonus has been dropped to a token and replaced with Production Bonus.
“The reform in the licensing rounds process is to refocus the energy of investors on hydrocarbon carbon resources development and optimization.
“The hitherto huge amounts tied down as front entry Signature Bonus constituting barrier is now drastically minimized and expected to be channelled by awardees as part of capital expenditures, CapEx, for field development.”
Similarly, the Chairman, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, PETAN, an association of Nigerian indigenous technical oilfield service companies in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry, Mr. Wole Ogunsanya, said: “We are trying to study the available fields to determine if viable in scale for our members.”
Already, in its report obtained by Vanguard, NUPRC, stated: “To date, the assets have achieved a cumulative production of 5.35 billion barrels of crude oil, 165. 57 million barrels of condensate, 9.51 trillion cubic feet of associated gas and 3.75 trillion cubic feet of non-associated gas, contributing immensely to the achievement of Nigeria’s crude and condensate output.
“The assets being considered have an estimated total reserves of 4.96 billion barrels of oil, 1.77 billion barrels of condensate, 28.16 trillion cubic feet of associated gas and 28.11 trillion cubic feet of non-associated gas.
“This makes a significant contribution to the nation’s hydrocarbon resources. Additionally, these assets hold P3 reserves estimated at 2.85 billion barrels of oil, 850.85 million barrels of condensate, 11.3 trillion cubic feet of associated gas and 12.26 trillion cubic feet of non-associated gas.”
According to the programme, the official opening of the Nigerian pavilion, dedicated to the marketing of Nigeria’s potential to foreign investors today will be attended by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekerikpe Ekpo; Chief Executive, NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe; Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari; Chairman of PETAN, Engr. Wole Ogunsanya, and Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Felix Ogbe.
The OTC 2024 has 31,000 energy professionals attending, 45 technical sessions, 450 presentations and 1,300 exhibitors drawn from different countries, including Nigeria.
The Market Traders Association of Nigeria (MATAN) has started training of workers for the implementation of the Value Added Tax Direct Initiative (VDI). MATAN hopes that the VDI when implemented will pool revenue at the region of N7.7 trillion annually to the coffers of the Federal Government. This is possible because MATAN projects its membership strength to be about 160 million traders.
Training of workers started recently in Akwa Ibom State when hundreds of workers were trained on the job skills which includes how to register members and integrate their data on the VDI digital platform. This is MATAN has also intensified sensitisation and collaboration with stakeholders such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Hunters Association known as Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service to ensure market security.
Three Months ago, MATAN commenced campaigns to capture and enumerate its members nationwide. The exercise is aimed at sensitizing market traders on the benefits of being MATAN members and the need of paying their taxes such as the Value Added Tax (VAT), according to a statement by the National Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)/MATAN VDI Project Steering Committee, Ambassador Olakunle Johnson.
Ambassador Johnson said the VDI which is being developed by MATAN, the FIRS, Joint Tax Board (JTB) and other stakeholders will trigger massive development in Nigeria as the country will make more revenues from taxes.
The FIRS according to the statement clarified that the VDI is not meant to add more tax burden on the taxpayers, rather, it is a system being developed to eliminate multiple taxation, provide insurance for MATAN members. FIRS Deputy Director, Value Added Tax (VAT), Mr. Adebayo Adefeegbe at a recent event in Abuja emphasized that the initiative will not tax traders whose annual turnover is below Twenty Five Million Naira. He asked traders to join MATAN and support the VDI
“When this initiative is implemented, MATAN and all taxpayers in the informal sector will start paying one single tax once they are registered. That is what we are talking about. That is why the Joint Tax Board is involved because the Board is majorly about individual taxpayers”, he said.
MATAN also announced that national roll-out of the VDI (Haulage and Trade) and Integrated Market Revenue Management System (IMRMS) will go live on January 15, 2024 across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Speaking directly to market traders, Adefeegba added: “The banks are going to support you while MATAN will give you the protection you need. There is going to be insurance cover for all registered members to ensure that your goods are protected while you are on transit. If there is a fire incident that affected your business, once you are registered with MATAN, you can go to sleep because insurance covers you. So, please don’t be afraid of the word VAT. It is for life to get batter for all of us. You must be running a business that has a turn-over of over N25 million before you are asked to pay. This is the keyword there. We thank God for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He has said that he wants to eliminate all manner of duplication and multiplication of taxes with the VDI. It is in this same spirit that the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, embraced the VDI”, he assured.
Similarly, in a statement issued on recently by the Chairman of the FIRS/MATAN VDI National Project Steering Committee, MATAN clarified that the VDI is prepared to stamp out multiple taxation. He said: “As an association MATAN is buoyed by the need to stamp out multiple taxation and extortion that is endemic in our space over the years. Therefore, in 2021, MATAN launched its Integrated Market Revenue Management System (IMRMS) designed essentially to harmonise members’ revenue-to-government remittance system such as the Personal Income Tax (PIT), VAT, and harness all inherent opportunities of the market place. Our IMRMS is bolstered by the embedded welfare-oriented incentives such as free health insurance to be offered by the NHIA and its accredited HMOs, micro pension scheme to be provided under the guidance of PENCOM and the PFAs, general insurance cover to be provided under the dictates of NAICOM and its accredited insurance companies, low interest and non-collaterised MSMEs and Nano-Business loans/grants by specialised agencies and commercial banks.
“We are pleased to announce that, with the IMRMS, MATAN members nationwide enjoy varieties of embedded incentives and with the VDI, MATAN members become aware of their role as VAT collection and remittance agent of government by making sure that VAT payment is included in all their daily transactions and is being remitted accordingly to FIRS. The VDI is phased into two parts. It covers trade and economic services and also extends to haulage and logistic services. Having secured the approval of our principal and the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Zacch Adedeji and the JTB, and with the concurrence of our partners, we announce that the rollout commencement of the implementation of the IMRMS and VDI in the following scheduled manner: joint national steering committee press briefing on December 21, 2023, informal sector national stakeholders engagement summit on January 10, 11 and 12, 2024; national rollout of the VDI (haulage and trade) and IMRMS on January 15, 2024 across the country. Others who spoke in support of the VDI at the event, according to the statement are the JTB, Burke Fraiser Consulting Firm Limited, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Cyber One, Senator Alphonsus Ubanese, Dr. Felix Johnson Osakwe among others.
A back-up generator was used to power parliament’s main chamber until electricity was restored later in the day
The state-run Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on Thursday cut power supplies to the parliament over a debt of 23m Ghanaian cedi ($1.8m; £1.4m).
The outage interrupted a debate on the president’s State of the Nation speech.
A video shared by local media showed MPs in the dimly lit chamber chanting: “Dumsor, dumsor”, which means power outage in the local Akan language.
Local media reported that a back-up power generator restored power to the chamber a few minutes later.
But other parts of the parliament building remained without power for most of the day before supplies were restored.
MPs and parliamentary staff who were using the elevator when the abrupt blackout hit were stuck, Ghana’s TV3 channel reported.
The power company’s communications director William Boateng told Reuters news agency it had resorted to disconnecting power because of parliament’s refusal to “honour demand notices to pay up”.
Electricity was restored later in the day after parliament paid 13m cedi and made a pledge to settle the remaining debt within a week, Mr Boateng added.
Parliamentary finance official Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror denied that parliament owed the amount quoted by the power company.
He said that the company’s system failed to record recent payments made by parliament and insisted that the outstanding power bill was about $950,000.
Ghana’s electricity company, which is facing crippling financial difficulties, frequently disconnects power from indebted clients.
“Disconnections are for everybody; anyone who doesn’t pay and fails to make arrangements, the team will disconnect,” Mr Boateng told Reuters.
In recent years, power shortages have worsened as the country grapples with its worst economic crisis in a decade, and these have become even more frequent in the past few months.
Private electricity suppliers are owed $1.6bn by the state power company, according to Elikplim Kwabla Apetogbor, the head of the organisation representing them.
Last July, they threatened to shut down operations over the arrears.
Opposition MPs have urged the government to invest in the power sector to prevent it from collapsing. They have attributed the current challenges to a lack of funds to purchase fuel for the country’s thermal generation plants.
MTN Nigeria say the problem was from their fibre optic cable
Nigeria’s biggest telecom services provider MTN suffered a major service outage on Wednesday which still persists in some parts of the country.
In a statement, the telecom operator attributed the network challenges to a multiple fibre cuts adding that its engineers are working hard to resolve the problem.
Millions of Nigerians rely on the South African company’s connections to carry out day to day business and personal activities.
Disgruntled customer Wada Ibrahim told the BBC he hasn’t been able to make calls or reach out to loved since early Wednesday.
The company say services are being restored in some places.
The executives were in Nigeria to discuss the suspension of the trading platform
Two senior executives from the global cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance have been in Nigeria over allegations of “fixing the country’s exchange rate”.
The executives arrived in Nigeria to discuss the suspension of the trading platform with Nigerian authorities. The pair were detained on Wednesday.
Bayo Onanuga, the presidential spokesman, accused the Binance of fixing the country’s exchange rates and assuming the role of the central bank, in an interview with local media on Wednesday.
“If we don’t clamp down on Binance, [it] will destroy the economy of this country. They just fix the rate,” he added.
The country’s Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said that about $26bn (£20bn) had passed through Binance Nigeria in cryptocurrency trades through “sources and users who we cannot adequately identify” on Tuesday.
Binance officials are yet to respond to the claims.
Last December, Nigerian authorities lifted a two-year ban imposed on cryptocurrency transactions over what they described as money laundering and terrorism financing risks posed by cryptocurrency in the country.
This government’s clampdown on Binance is among the measures it believes would save the local naira currency, which has depreciated by almost 70% in the last eight months.
Michael Ilesanmi (L) is married to Angela Deem (R)
A popular Nigerian cast member of the US reality dating TV show 90 Day Fiancé has been missing in the US since last Friday, his wife says.
Michael Ilesanmi’s whereabouts remain unknown after he left the house he shared with his wife without his belongings, his wife, Angela Deem, said in a livestream on TikTok. She says the police have been alerted.
The couple met on Facebook and got married in 2020, but Mr Ilesanmi’s US visa applications were initially unsuccessful.
He finally obtained a visa and joined Ms Deem in the US state of Georgia last December.
Fans of 90 Day Fiancé are speculating on the circumstances of the disappearance, as the couple’s relationship was often portrayed as physically and verbally abusive on the show and its spin-offs.
The show airs on the TLC cable channel, and follows US couples in relationships with foreigners.
They usually have 90 days to get married from the time they obtain an American K-1 fiancé visa.
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (wearing a cap) and President of AfDB, Akinwunmi Adesina
The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) and the Lake Chad Basin Commission have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to rehabilitate and restore the Lake Chad Basin.
The agreement, signed on the sidelines of the 37th African Union Summit held in Ethiopia, will mobilise financial and technical resources to improve the development and management of water resources, support livelihoods and restore peace in the region.
Lake Chad, once considered the sixth-largest inland water body on earth for livelihood, has shrunk in area by some 92% in recent decades. The larger Chad Basin contributes to food security for about 50 million people.
“The population living in this ecosystem are facing major socio-economic challenges – add to that the insecurity situation due to terrorist groups which brings loss of livelihood, destruction of households, forced internal displacements and beyond our national frontiers,” said Republic of Chad Minister of Water, Passalet Kanade Marssela.
African Development Bank Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Marie–Laure Akin-Olugbade, told dignitaries and sector leaders in water and agriculture at the signing ceremony that the agreement provides a framework for projects and programs to improve the quality of life for millions of Africans.
“This Memorandum of Understanding involves transforming living conditions in the hydrographic basin of the six member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, namely Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, the Central African Republic and Libya. As the main financial partner of the Commission for several years, we will consolidate the gains made, through a new integrated regional programme that accelerates sustainable solutions to the challenges of Lake Chad and further improves the living conditions of the basin’s population,” she said.
The Lake Chad Basin Commission named the African Development Bank the “Champion Lead Partner for resource mobilization for the revival of the Lake Chad.”
Ambassador Mamman Nuhu, Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission said:
“Our shared goal is to ensure the sustainability of the Lake Chad Basin, especially the Lake, which has dramatically shrunk due to climate change and increased human demands. This…is a manifestation of our commitment to ensuring water security, economic prosperity, and stability in the region. It is an integral part of our shared goal to build climate resilience and sustainable growth.”
The African Development Bank has a track record of impactful support for the Lake Chad Basin Commission and its goals. Since 2005, the Bank has financed $241.3 million for several multinational projects in the water, transport, environment, and social sectors.
Recently, the Bank approved $17.8 million for a United Nations Development Progamme initiative, “Rompre le cycle de fragilité à travers la stabilization au lac Tchad” (“Breaking the cycle of fragility through stabilization in Lake Chad”). This initiative is expected to raise up to $21.5 million in additional financing from partner organizations.
The Bank is also developing a multi-year institutional capacity building program to strengthen the Lake Chad Basin Commission to carry out in-depth environmental, technical and economic studies that will inform solutions, decision-making, and financing requirements for Basin restoration. In addition, the Bank’s African Water Facility is financing the development of the second, five-year investment plan to build a pipeline of projects for the sustainable and beneficial use of water resources in the basin, as well as prepare the groundwork for further investments.
Report forecasts stronger growth for Africa in 2024, outpacing projected global average; Continent is second-fastest-growing region after Asia.
Africa will account for eleven of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies in 2024, the African Development Bank Group said in its latest Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (MEO) of the continent released on Friday.
Overall, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the continent is expected to average 3.8% and 4.2% in 2024 and 2025, respectively. This is higher than projected global averages of 2.9% and 3.2%, the report said.
The continent is set to remain the second-fastest-growing region after Asia.
The top 11 African countries projected to experience strong economic performance forecast are Niger (11.2%), Senegal (8.2%), Libya (7.9%), Rwanda (7.2%), Cote d’Ivoire (6.8%), Ethiopia (6.7%), Benin (6.4%), Djibouti (6.2%), Tanzania (6.1%), Togo (6%), and Uganda at 6%.
“Despite the challenging global and regional economic environment, 15 African countries have posted output expansions of more than 5%,” Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi Adesina said, calling for larger pools of financing and several policy interventions to further boost Africa’s growth.
Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook, a biannual publication released in the first and third quarters of each year, complements the existing African Economic Outlook (AEO), which focuses on key emerging policy issues relevant to the continent’s development.
The MEO report provides an up-to-date evidence-based assessment of the continent’s recent macroeconomic performance and short-to-medium-term outlook amid dynamic global economic developments.
The latest report is calling for cautious optimism given the challenges posed by global and regional risks. These risks include rising geopolitical tensions, increased regional conflicts, and political instability—all of which could disrupt trade and investment flows, and perpetuate inflationary pressures.
President Adesina emphasised that fiscal deficits have improved, as faster-than-expected recovery from the pandemic helped shore up revenue.
He explained further: “This has led to a stabilisation of the average fiscal deficit at 4.9% in 2023, like 2022, but significantly less than the 6.9% average fiscal deficit of 2020. The stabilisation is also due to the fiscal consolidation measures, especially in countries with elevated risks of debt distress.”
He cautioned that with the global economy mired in uncertainty, the fiscal positions of the African continent will continue to be vulnerable to global shocks.
The report shows that the medium-term growth outlook for the continent’s five regions is slowly improving, a pointer to the continued resilience of Africa’s economies.
Presenting the key findings of the report, the African Development Bank’s Chief Economist and Vice President, Prof. Kevin Urama said: “Growth in Africa’s top-performing economies has benefitted from a range of factors, including declining commodity dependence through economic diversification, increasing strategic investment in key growth sectors, and rising both public and private consumption, as well as positive developments in key export markets.”
He added: “Africa’s economic growth is projected to regain moderate strength as long as the global economy remains resilient, disinflation continues, investment in infrastructure projects remains buoyant, and progress is sustained on debt restructuring and fiscal consolidation.”
“The future of Africa rests on economic integration. Our small economies are not competitive in the global market. A healthy internal African trade market can ensure value-added and intra-African production of manufactured goods,” said Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, African Union Commission, Ambassador Albert Muchanga.
He assured that the MEO forecast, and recommendations will be made available to African heads of state and that the report will be useful when the African Union makes its proposals to the G20- an informal gathering of many of the world’s largest economies to which the African Union was admitted last year.
The improved growth figure for 2024 reflects concerted efforts by the continent’s policymakers to drive economic diversification strategies focused on increased investment in key growth sectors, as well as the implementation of domestic policies aimed at consolidating fiscal positions and reversing the increase in the cost of living and boosting private consumption.
Speaking remotely, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Prof Mthuli Ncube described the report as being “on point” and consistent with the reality in his country, describing it as useful for economic planning across Africa. He urged the African Development Bank to continue its thought leadership to help policymakers continue to build resilience to withstand shocks and drive growth.
Ncube said: “Zimbabwe expects slower growth due to climate shocks in the region. Southern African countries depend on agriculture for economic growth, so climate-proofing agriculture is key. We are in talks with creditors to restructure its debt, which is slowing economic growth. Internally, the country will focus on economic and governance reforms and reforms around property rights to increase agricultural production.”
Up to 41 countries across the continent will in 2024, achieve an economic growth rate of 3.8%, and in 13 of them, growth will be more than 1 percentage point higher than in 2023.
Director of the Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University Prof Jeffrey Sachs noted that long-term affordable financing must be part of Africa’s strategy to achieve growth of 7% or more per year and warned that Africa is paying a very high-risk premium for debt financing. He called for this point to be made to the G20.
“Long-term development cannot be based on short-term loans. Loans to Africa should be at least 25 years or longer. Short-term borrowing is dangerous for long-term development. Africa must act as one, in scale,” he explained.
Sachs, who is also the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals also called for a much larger African Development Bank, better resourced to meet Africa’s financing needs.
Overview of economic outlook across regions
The confluence of shocks notwithstanding, the resilience of the continent’s economies remains strong, with positive growth projected for the continent’s five regions.
East Africa: East Africa will continue to lead Africa’s growth momentum, with growth projected to rise to 5.1% in 2024 and 5.7% in 2025, supported by strong strategic investments to improve internal connectivity and deepen intra-regional trade.
North Africa: Successive adverse weather conditions and macroeconomic challenges will hold the region’s growth steady at 3.9% in 2024 with a slight improvement to 4.1% in 2025.
Central Africa: Growth is forecast to moderate to 3.5% in 2024 but projected recovery in private consumption and increases in mining investment and exports could help push growth to 4.1% in 2025.
Southern Africa: Growth will remain sluggish at 2.2 and 2.6% in 2024 and 2025, respectively. This reflects continued economic weakness in South Africa, the region’s largest economy.
West Africa: Growth is projected to pick up to 4 and 4.4% in 2024 and 2025 respectively. Strong growth in most countries in the region is projected to offset slowdowns in Nigeria and Ghana. The announced withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) casts a shadow over the sustainability of gains amid growing uncertainty.
Driving faster and more sustainable economic growth
The 2024 MEO says in the short term, tackling persistent inflation will need a mix of restraining monetary policy coupled with fiscal consolidation and stable exchange rates.
The report identifies structural reforms and strategic industrial policies as key to accelerating economic diversification and strengthening the export sector.
It recommends that countries invest more in human capital and pursue a resource-based industrialisation and diversification strategy that allows the continent to exploit its comparative advantage and build resilience to shocks.
AFP
AFP
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