Anglophone West Africa
Nigeria
- The Nigerian President is expected to sign the 2022 Appropriation Bill into law on Friday. This would ensure maintenance of the January – December budget cycle. The budgeted expenditure is expected to print at N17.1tn after adjustments made by the National assembly.
- As disclosed by the Financial Market Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria in its half-year activity report for 2021, total amount of money raised by the Federal Government via bond issuances and allotment rose by N2.0tn in the first six months in 2021, to N13.7tn, from the N11.7tn recorded in the corresponding period 2020.
- According to data pooled from the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc portal, Nigerians have maintained an interest in Point-of-Sale transactions, instead of cheque transactions as POS transactions rise to N13.7tn in three years. Cheque transactions closed at N10.7tn within the same period.
- In the mining sector, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Uche Ogar, disclosed on Wednesday that Nigeria had lost $5.0bn to gold smuggling activities in six years, amid careful counteractive strategies to address the issue.
Ghana
- In Covid-Related matters, the President of Ghana reiterated his commitment towards the 20 million Ghanaians vaccination project, stretching the timeline to the end of Q1-2022.
- Furthermore, the Ghana Ministry of Health declared a ‘No Vaccination, No Entry’ policy in its recent memorandum titled: “COVID-19 infection prevention at the Ministry of Health”, which would require individuals to show valid vaccination cards before entry permission into the Ministry of Health will be granted.
Francophone West Africa
Senegal
- According to media reports, the flourishing automobiles market in Senegal is largely on the back of import activity with North America, Canada, and the United States specifically. According to Senegalese customs, an estimated 248,308 cars were imported from Canada and the US between 2018 and 2020.
Ivory Coast
- Dockers in Ivory Coast’s two main ports of Abidjan and San Pedro have suspended the week-long strike as negotiations remain ongoing with Government.
- Earlier, the Dockers strike that came on the back of workers’ demand for better working conditions and wages, restricted access to ports thereby threatening to curb cocoa bean exports in Ivory Coast.
East Africa
Kenya
- Following a decline in fee and commission income due to transaction waivers, the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) announced plans by banks to lobby for the restoration of transaction charges between mobile and banking wallets.
- The Kenyan government has shelved plans to nationalise Kenya Airways (KQ) in favor of alternative measures to safeguard its financial interests in the flagship carrier, including a debt takeover and a cash injection.
- The government will take over Ksh93.5bn of KQ’s debt and inject Ksh53.4bn in the fiscal year ending June 2022 and the subsequent year, according to a Treasury letter to IMF.
- International Finance Corporation (IFC) has entered into a share purchase agreement with Britam Holding PLC to acquire a 4.2% equity stake held by Britam in Equity Holdings.
- Enda, a Kenyan running shoe startup, has raised $1.1m in a Series A fundraising round led by Talanton, a US impact investor, with participation from Kenyan angel investors. The financing will be used to grow the startup’s product ranges and distribution, with the goal of becoming a top high-performance shoe brand.
Tanzania
- According to Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Tanzania recorded a trade surplus of $484.5m with the EAC (East African Community) region, compared to a surplus of $343.8m in 2019.
- Tanzania’s exports in EAC mostly go to Kenya (28.4%). 76.4% of imports are from Kenya.
- According to BoT, Tanzania’s had a Tax-to-GDP ratio of 11.2% in 2020/2021, one of the lowest in Africa. The underperformance in tax collection is linked to decreased consumer demand and weaker manufacturing of some consumer goods due to disruption of supply chains caused by many governments’ lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Rwanda
- Rwanda received donations of 314,730 doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine from Germany via the COVAX facility.
- Rwanda has now vaccinated over c40.0% of its population against the coronavirus, achieving the World Health Organization’s 2021 target.
Southern Africa
South Africa
- According to the South Africa Revenue Service, SA trade surplus widened to R35.8bn in Nov-2021 from R27.7bn in the previous month, and well-above market expectations of R16.8bn. The surplus was driven by the 4.5% increase in exports (R162.8bn) boosted by sales of base metals, precious metals, and stones.
- The government-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) through its R1.5bn Post Unrest Business Recovery Fund (PUBRF), has successfully helped to restore more than 30,000 jobs that were lost to the riots and lootings in various parts of the country in Jul-2021.
- The US government reported that it would lift travel restrictions on Southern African countries (South Africa inclusive) on 31st Dec-2021 as concerns and threats concerning the Omicron variant of Covid-19 subside.
Zambia
- The National Assembly of Zambia has approved the K173.0bn 2022 national budget, which is 37.1% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Of the total budget, K100.7bn are to be generated from revenue and grants, while K72.3bn will be raised from external and domestic borrowing sources.
- The Ministry of Finance has disclosed the disbursement of K837.0m for social protection program, of which K255.0m is targeted at pensioners under the Public Service Pensions Fund and K50.0m for those under the Local Authorities Superannuation Fund (LASF).
Zimbabwe
- According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), headline inflation rate surged for the fourth consecutive month to print at 60.7% y/y in Dec-2021 compared to 58.4% y/y in Nov-2021. On a m/m basis, inflation rate remained unchanged from the previous month at 5.8%.
- The Central Bank of Zimbabwe announced the projection of an economic boom that will be driven by strong agricultural and mining performances in 2022. The increased activity is buoyed on the back of relaxation of Covid-19 induced lockdown and restrictions.
- According to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ), the total number of active mobile phone subscribers in Zimbabwe increased by 3.4% to 13.9m in Q3-2021.
Central Africa
DR Congo
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has started the vaccination of the targeted 2.0m persons in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against cholera.
- The Chief Executive Officer of the East African Business Council (EABC) has welcomed the move to admit DRC into the East African community body.
Source: proshareng.com