Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania top trade complaints at WTO
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Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania top trade complaints at WTO

ByBrian Kithinji

(This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Monday, May 31st 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Fywfw2gGqK3VK72Zu3Jof?si=cF9tgqY0Q5Kh_6964ZoIGA&nd=1) Welcome to The Weekly Beat by Mansa with your hosts, Arnold Segawa, Maggie Mutesi, and Dumi Jere. Giving you all the info on Africa’s big finance and economic stories, The…

Battling political instability, Uganda agrees deal with IMF to receive $1 billion bailout
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Battling political instability, Uganda agrees deal with IMF to receive $1 billion bailout

ByBrian Kithinji

Uganda will receive a $1 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund as the East African country grapples with economic difficulties due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and political instability that has rocked the country since last year. The loan provided to Uganda comes just four days after the Washington-based lender agreed to provide $1.5…

How Mozambique’s history of violence is dashing hopes of economic progress
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How Mozambique’s history of violence is dashing hopes of economic progress

ByBrian Kithinji

There is no saying that is so common in the minds of Mozambique citizens above the age of 40 than, “Here we go again.” Ever since the Southern African country gained sovereignty from Portugal in 1975 following a bloody grueling war of independence, it has been plagued by successive armed insurgencies that have killed and…

Another win for President Nguesso ensures Congo’s economic crisis will prolong
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Another win for President Nguesso ensures Congo’s economic crisis will prolong

ByBrian Kithinji

At 77, Congo’s President Sassou Nguesso is four times older than the average Congolese, whose median age is 19, according to UN figures. He’s been in office for more than 36 years, and on Tuesday, he was announced the winner of an electoral poll that international observers, religious leaders and the opposition unanimously agreed was…

Why Equatorial Guinea’s bail-out plan with IMF crashed
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Why Equatorial Guinea’s bail-out plan with IMF crashed

ByBrian Kithinji

Despite being promised an IMF bailout over a year ago, Equatorial Guinea is still waiting for the funds it hoped would revive its struggling economy. Africa’s only Spanish speaking country has been hit by a slump in oil prices since 2014 that further escalated when the pandemic began last year. The economy has shrank in…

Magufuli’s economic policies lifted Tanzania despite COVID-19 criticism
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Magufuli’s economic policies lifted Tanzania despite COVID-19 criticism

ByBrian Kithinji

In 2017, one president shocked the world when he issued an order banning all public servants in his country from traveling abroad. But that head of state was not from Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Korea or any developed nation where prudent utilization of public funds and accountability reigns supreme. He was from Tanzania. And…

1.5 million COVID-19 infections and a worst economic recession in 70 years, how can South Africa recover?
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1.5 million COVID-19 infections and a worst economic recession in 70 years, how can South Africa recover?

ByBrian Kithinji

Last week, Statistics South Africa (SSA) gave out a breath of fresh air by announcing that the economy sprang back in the fourth quarter of 2020 driven by expansion in manufacturing, construction and trade. But that announcement did not end there. It was a precursor to the statement that the economy recorded its biggest annual…

Accused of “COVID denials” Tanzania recorded fastest economic growth in Africa in 2020
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Accused of “COVID denials” Tanzania recorded fastest economic growth in Africa in 2020

ByBrian Kithinji

As economies across the continent slipped into recession in 2020, Tanzania reaped from its policy of not imposing COVID-19 related restrictions and nationwide curfews, recording the fastest economic growth in Africa. According to the World Bank, Tanzania’s economy grew by 2% in 2020 and Mara Warwick, World Bank country director for Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and…

Without government intervention, Ghana’s energy debt will hit $12.5 billion by 2023
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Without government intervention, Ghana’s energy debt will hit $12.5 billion by 2023

ByBrian Kithinji

Ghana is facing a potential economic crisis fueled by mounting energy sector debt that could rise by 400% to $12.5 billion by 2023 should the government not undertake concrete steps to rein it. Government nominee for Minister of Energy Matthew Opoku Prempeh while addressing lawmakers during a cabinet vetting session on February 12, attributed the…

Rich in oil, rich with poor people. The story of Gabon’s oil wealth and plunder
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Rich in oil, rich with poor people. The story of Gabon’s oil wealth and plunder

ByBrian Kithinji

Selisu Mborantsuo locks his room and goes off to work. Since the start of the pandemic, he, like many others across the globe, have not had a normal life. His main hassle of selling ground nuts in bars and entertainment joints has stuttered and with it, the livelihoods of his four children. Lemina narrates how…

Ethiopia’s PM Abiy won the war in Tigray. Now the economy is bleeding.
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Ethiopia’s PM Abiy won the war in Tigray. Now the economy is bleeding.

ByBrian Kithinji

In November, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed – a Nobel Peace Prize winner – shocked the world when he ordered a military invasion in the country’s northern region of Tigray. Abiy justified the decision as “necessary to maintain the authority of the federal government” at a time when the country was plagued by ethnic violence…

Why even a $461.6 million government bailout cannot help struggling Air Namibia

Why even a $461.6 million government bailout cannot help struggling Air Namibia

ByEditorial

It’s crunch time for loss making Air Namibia with the government due to make a decision on the fate of the carrier in the coming days, following stunning revelations it cannot adequately fund its turnaround nor find any investors. Namibia’s Minister of Finance and Chairperson of the Cabinet Committee on Treasury, Ipumbu Shiimi, in a…

What’s next for Africa’s struggling aviation sector?
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What’s next for Africa’s struggling aviation sector?

ByBrian Kithinji

On March 5th, 2020 this writer took a flight from Nairobi to Cairo. As usual, the airport in Kenya’s capital, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, was busy and abuzz with activity; people from different nationalities all hassling to catch a flight to their various destinations. To have a seamless trip, I arrived at the airport three…

Why diamond-rich Botswana must diversify its economy
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Why diamond-rich Botswana must diversify its economy

ByBrian Kithinji

As a duck is to water, the word “diamond” is synonymous with this southern African nation. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Botswana’s diamonds have topped the world’s ornament market bringing huge revenues to the government and transforming the country into an upper middle income economy. But as with any reliance lies the risk…

Kenya’s manufacturing hub raised hope for the flailing SMEs sector. So why did it fail?
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Kenya’s manufacturing hub raised hope for the flailing SMEs sector. So why did it fail?

ByBrian Kithinji

When Joseph Gitile started his soap manufacturing business in 2017; he was exuberant and very optimistic that within a few months he would be Kenya’s next millionaire. In January, reality dawned, and he had to painfully shut down his business after accumulating millions of shillings, not in profits – but debts and unpaid bills. Joseph…

Sorry environmentalists, Angola’s appetite for more oil is irresistible
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Sorry environmentalists, Angola’s appetite for more oil is irresistible

ByBrian Kithinji

Africa’s second largest oil producer has a problem, and it’s one that is uncommon in a region beset with many challenges. Conflict, poverty, and recently the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic have straddled borders and impacted the lives of hundreds of millions of Africans. But in Angola another problem is as much troublesome — and…

Nigeria’s economy exits recession with 0.11% growth in fourth quarter
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Nigeria’s economy exits recession with 0.11% growth in fourth quarter

ByBrian Kithinji

Nigeria’s economy surprisingly came out of a recession in the fourth quarter, fuelled by growth in the agriculture and telecommunications industry that offset a sharp drop in oil production. Africa’s largest economy recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.11% in the three months through December from a year eariler, compared with a drop…

Makthar Diop becomes first African to head World Bank’s private sector arm
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Makthar Diop becomes first African to head World Bank’s private sector arm

ByBrian Kithinji

Makthar Diop, the World Bank’s vice president for infrastructure, has been appointed to head the International Finance Corporation (IFC), becoming the first African to lead the Washington based lender’s arm for the private sector. Diop will take over at the IFC at the beginning of March, World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement…

DR Congo’s economy grew 0.8% in 2020 propelled by strong mineral activity
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DR Congo’s economy grew 0.8% in 2020 propelled by strong mineral activity

ByBrian Kithinji

Democratic Republic of Congo’s economy thwarted a projected COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession in 2020 to grow 0.8% boosted by strong returns in the mining sector, a central bank official announced on Tuesday. The official, Plante Kibadhi, said in a tweet that economy is expected to grow by 3.2% this year. DR Congo has been spared the…

Zambia’s central bank raises benchmark rate as it scales back projects to ease debt relief talks
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Zambia’s central bank raises benchmark rate as it scales back projects to ease debt relief talks

ByBrian Kithinji

Zambia’s central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate to 8.5% from 8%, marking the first such raise since November 2019. In explaining the move, Governor Christopher Mvunga told reporters that the increase will bring down “spiraling” inflation that is at a five-year high and prop up the economy. It came after two days of…