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Market Mondays
Year-to-Date Performance:
🟢 Johannesburg SE: 79,922.67 (+3.94%)
🟢 Nigerian SE: 100,539.40 (+34.46%)
🟢 Nairobi SE: 108.61 (+17.91%)
🟢 Ghana SE: 4,320.07 (+38.01%)
🟢 US S&P 500: 5,505.00 (+16.07%)
🟢 Shanghai Composite: 2,982.31 (+0.68%)
Uganda is planning to buy gold to build its reserves, becoming the latest African nation to use precious metals to bolster its currency. The central bank will purchase bullion directly from artisanal miners to reduce raw gold imports, echoing a similar proposal in Nigeria. Despite having gold refineries, Uganda currently lacks significant mining operations. Additionally, the finance ministry has reduced its economic growth forecast for the 2024-2025 financial year to between 6% and 6.5%, down from the previous projection of 6.4% to 7%.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has requested approval for an additional $4 billion in spending to address shortfalls in this year's national budget, while also proposing a one-off windfall tax on banks' foreign exchange gains to fund infrastructure development, education, healthcare, and welfare initiatives. In a separate development, Nigeria's competition watchdog fined Meta Platforms $220 million for violations of local consumer, data protection, and privacy laws related to data-sharing on social platforms. Furthermore, TotalEnergies has sold its minority share in a major Nigerian onshore oil joint venture to Chappal Energies for $860 million, following a trend of major oil companies divesting from Nigerian assets.
Zimbabwe: The state-owned Kuvimba Mining House has entered into a $310 million deal with a consortium of British and Chinese investors to construct a lithium concentrator, signaling the country's push into the growing lithium market. Concurrently, the new central bank head, John Mushayavanhu, is actively building up the nation's gold reserves to support the recently introduced ZiG currency, which has so far helped to curb currency volatility and inflation.
Angola: The central bank has maintained its main interest rate at 19.5%, citing a potential slowdown in inflation and an anticipated improvement in the supply of essential goods in the near term.
The central banks of Ethiopia and United Arab Emirates have signed a bilateral currency swap agreement valued at up to $816.79 million. They have also established preliminary agreements to create a framework for using local currencies in settling cross-border transactions and for linking their payment and messaging systems, potentially facilitating easier trade and financial interactions between the two nations.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Spotlight Stories
Kenyan Runners' New Pit Stop: A Shoe Store That's More Than a Sole Provider
On a red-clay road in Iten, Kenya - the "Home of Champions" - sits a humble corrugated-metal hut with a mission bigger than its modest appearance. This isn't your average running store; it's a community lifeline disguised as a shoe shop.
Welcome to the "Running Store & Coffee" shop, where second-hand sneakers from top brands like On and Asics are priced at a jaw-dropping €2-€10. It's like a thrift store for track stars, but with more sweat and fewer hipsters.
This brainchild of Guillaume Pontier, co-founder of Distance Athletics, isn't about profit margins - it's about giving back to the running community that has produced world-class athletes like Eliud Kipchoge. Pontier, inspired by his trips to Iten with his marathon-coach father, saw elite athletes running barefoot because they couldn't afford shoes. Talk about running on empty!
The store's shelves are stocked with donated wares from the Parisian Distance community and contributions from brands like On. It's a global effort to support local talent, proving that sometimes, it takes a village to raise a runner.
But this isn't just about shoes. Come summer, the store will transform into an Olympics screening space, complete with barbecues and a projector screen. It's where dreams of gold medals will be nurtured over seasoned chicken.
In a world where the running apparel industry is worth $41 billion, this little hut in Iten might just be the starting block for future champions.
Zambia's Corruption Busters Busted for Corruption
Zambia's President Hakinde Hichilema has fired the entire board of the country's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) after they were accused of – you guessed it – corruption.
The ACC, whose job is to root out corruption, seems to have gotten a bit too cozy with the very politicians they were supposed to be investigating. Allegedly, they were taking kickbacks in exchange for amnesty.
The whistleblower, former ACC board member O'Brien Kaaba, spilled the tea on these "immunity deals," claiming they're being used to shield corrupt individuals from justice.
President Hichilema dissolved the board to "renew the Anti-Corruption Commission's sacred mandate." Meanwhile, the head of the ACC, Thom Shamakamba, has "resigned" – though some speculate he might have been shown the door.
Royal Visa Drama: Namibia Says "Time's Up" to Ugandan King
Namibia has decided to play hardball with Ugandan royalty. King Mutebi II of Buganda, who's been in Namibia since April for some hush-hush medical treatment, just got served a diplomatic rejection when he asked to extend his stay.
This royal snub comes hot on the heels of some seriously awkward diplomatic moments. Ugandan activists have been throwing impromptu protests at Namibian embassies, demanding to know about their king and if they had been kidnapped.
And just when you thought it couldn't get more dramatic, enter the Buganda traditional chiefs. These gentlemen decided to play detective and flew to Namibia to investigate, only to get a stern "tsk-tsk" from Uganda's President Museveni. His message? "Stop embarrassing Uganda, folks.”
Food for Thought
“When you show the moon to a child, it sees only your finger."
— Zambian Proverb