🔅 Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa Slowing Down
Plus: 🇿🇦 South Africa is King of the Phone Screens, 🇰🇪 Kenya's Cost of Living Crisis Protests Resume, 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso: 33 Soldiers Killed in Attack, ☕ And much more...
Photo of the day: Banjul, The Gambia
Markets:
🔻 Nigerian SE: 52,296.48 (-0.20%)
🔻 Johannesburg SE: 77,532.90 (-0.88%)
🔻 Ghana SE: 2,730.02 (-0.43%)
🔻 Nairobi SE: 106.52 (-1.03%)
🔻 US S&P 500: 4,116.62 (-1.23%)
🔺 Shanghai Composite: 3,323.27 (+1.14%)
Global Markets: The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling by 1 June, we could run out of cash. No joke. And if it does happen, it's gonna be a rough ride: experts say a default could send the US into a recession and, of course, raise unemployment. It would also mean the US couldn't pay its employees or its bills. It's not gonna be easy to sort this one out: Democrats don't want to cut spending, and Republicans don't want to raise taxes.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
ECONOMY
Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa Slowing Down
Sub-Saharan Africa’s two biggest economies, Nigeria and South Africa, are struggling.
How bad is it?
It’s bad.
Between South Africa and Nigeria, they make up more than half of the continent’s gross domestic product, so their economic prospects have a huge impact on the wider region.
Growth is expected to slow in Nigeria and South Africa to 2.7% and 0.4% this year from 3.1% and 2.0%, respectively.
And then there's Ghana, which is in the worst shape it’s been in for a generation. Growth will slow further to 2.1% this year from 3.1% last year.
Kenya's fiscal sustainability has also been called into question, but it will still grow 5.0% this year from 5.6% last year.
What’s causing the slowdown?
It’s a combination of things. Inflation is extremely sticky across the continent. For example, Ghana’s inflation rate is at around 45%.
In Nigeria and South Africa, inflation numbers were higher in March than February, and there's pressure on policymakers in both countries to raise interest rates further to protect the economy.
Currency depreciation and growing debt are also big problems in Kenya.
And although other countries in East and West Africa won't do as badly, the takeaway is that the US dollar's strength and critical shortages across the continent have made economic activity cumbersome, and added tricky inflation dynamics in key countries across the continent.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇿🇦 South Africa: King of the Screens | A recent study showed that South Africans spend the most time in front of a screen out of any nation in the world. That's 58.2% of the day—or roughly 9 hours and 38 minutes. Most of that screen time is dedicated to scrolling social media—nearly 23% of it, in fact. So, what does that mean for South African young professionals? Well, it might be time to think about curbing your screen time. While moderate internet usage isn't necessarily harmful, some experts suggest that two hours or less per day is the way to go. Otherwise, it could have an impact on your physical and mental health in the long run. To read more about the study, follow this link.
🇰🇪 Kenya's Cost of Living Crisis: Protests Resume | Looks like things are heating back up in Kenya. Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for protests to resume to tackle the rising cost of living in the country and demand reforms to the electoral commission. Police in the capital city of Nairobi clashed with protesters yesterday, with protesters throwing stones and police responding with tear gas. Businesses in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu County were also paralyzed by the protests. President William Ruto urged Odinga to reconsider returning to the discussion table after a breakdown in talks, but Odinga affirmed he would continue with the protests and rejected the government’s position that the Tuesday protests are illegal.
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso: 33 Soldiers Killed in Attack | 33 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in an attack on a military detachment in the East Region of the country last week. But the troops weren’t going down without a fight—they reportedly killed 40 “terrorists” before reinforcements arrived. The latest bout of violence is just one of many, as Burkina Faso has been locked in a struggle against a jihadist insurgency for years. The violence has been escalating recently, and unfortunately, the army has also been accused of “indiscriminately killing civilians” during anti-insurgency missions. Last week, men dressed in army uniforms killed at least 150 people in a village in the north of the country. The military government has condemned the attack and said it would investigate. Frustrations over the authorities’ inability to protect civilians have led to two coups in the past year.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“Knowledge without wisdom is just like water in the sand.”
— Guinea Proverb.