🔅 Africa has the highest suicide rates
WHO says Africa has the highest rate of suicide deaths in the world
Good morning ☕
In today’s issue, the WHO says Africa has the highest rate of suicide deaths in the world, Lesotho’s opposition celebrates early, and DRC is on the grey list…
Markets — Year to Date
📈 Nigerian SE: 47,351.43 (+10.85%)
📉 Johannesburg SE: 65,675.50 -10.90%
📉 Ghana SE: 2,461.53 (-11.75%)
📉 Nairobi SE: 123.63 (-25.73%%)
📉 US S&P 500: 3,639.66 (-24.12%)
📉 Shanghai Composite: 3,024.39 (-16.74%)
*Data accurate as of close of markets across the continent
Burundi: Burundi's central bank announced on Friday that it had lifted a ban on foreign exchange bureaus that was imposed in February 2020. The ban was implemented to weed out companies that violated official exchange rates. Following a 2015 political crisis that caused donors to withhold funding, the Central African country faced a scarcity of foreign exchange. But this year, the European Union and the United States have pledged to renew financial support. Foreign exchange agents continued to buy and sell foreign currency on the black market throughout the two-year ban, and the Burundian franc traded at a sharp discount to the official rate.
Global Markets: The United States is taking legal steps to prohibit US companies from selling specific chips used in supercomputing and artificial intelligence to Chinese corporations. The United States is competing with China for control of the semiconductor supply. The regulations come as the United States invests billions of dollars in its local chip industry to strengthen US competitiveness.
POLITICS
Lesotho's Opposition Celebrates Early
Lesotho's Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party leader Sam Matekane joined supporters in Maseru on Sunday to celebrate an early lead in the parliamentary polls.
The country's Independent Electoral Commission started releasing preliminary results, and the 64-year-old opposition leader, considered the wealthiest person in the country, is ahead in the count.
Mr Matekane was considered a dark horse in this election, while the All Basotho Convention party and the Democratic Congress party were the leading contenders.
About 1.5 million registered voters cast ballots on Friday. Turnout is expected to have been higher this year compared to the 2017 elections, where it was at a lowly 47 per cent.
The final results will be released this week.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
Other Headlines
🤕 According to the World Health Organization, Africa has the highest rate of suicide deaths in the world. It is home to six of the world's top ten countries on the list. The continent is estimated to have one psychiatrist for every 500,000 people (most of whom are based in cities), which is 100 times lower than the WHO recommended. According to the WHO, approximately 11 per 100,000 people commit suicide in Africa each year, higher than the global average of nine per 100,000 people.
🇨🇩 The Financial Action Task Force will add the Democratic Republic of the Congo to its list of countries under enhanced scrutiny. Congo, a key cobalt and copper producer, will be added to the global financial crime watchdog's "grey list" for failings to combat financial wrongdoing, including money laundering and terrorism funding. Experts warn that, in addition to increased task force monitoring, countries on the grey list risk a harmed brand, ratings revisions, difficulty accessing global finance, and greater transaction costs. Mali, Uganda, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Morocco are among the twenty-three countries on the list.
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe's president has announced that global miners will start paying some of their royalties in refined metal rather than cash. Zimbabwe has rich mineral deposits, but power supply issues, a lack of ancillary businesses to support mining, and currency fluctuations have hindered the country from benefitting from the resource boom. Mnangagwa stated that the goal was to create a national stockpile of precious metals and essential resources for the sake of present and future generations.
AROUND THE WORLD
US Jobs Growth Slows
Jobs growth in the United States has slowed for the second month in a row, indicating that the world's largest economy's labour market may be cooling.
Employers in the United States added 263,000 new jobs in September, the fewest since April 2021. Despite the lower figure, analysts believe the US Federal Reserve will need to do more to slow the economy if it is to keep fast-growing prices in check.
The dollar rose on the results, as investors expect interest rates to climb further. Officials expect higher borrowing rates will lead to a decrease in demand for big-ticket things like homes and cars, and relieve the pressures that are driving up prices at the quickest pace since the 1980s.
Consumer spending, the primary engine of the US economy, has remained stable in recent months, despite rising prices diminishing purchasing power.
However, anecdotal reports of job losses are increasing as companies announce employment cuts or hiring freezes, particularly in the housing and technology sectors. Many retailers have reduced their recruiting ambitions as well. Walmart, for example, has announced that it will hire 40,000 workers for the holiday season, up from 150,000 last year.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“A chattering bird builds no nest.”
— Cameroonian Proverb.