🔅 Kenya's fuel prices soar.
Covid is still a threat.
Good morning.
Apparently, TotalEnergies’ gas fields could generate $450m a year in South Africa…
Markets Today
📉 Johannesburg Stock Exchange: 13,261.77 (-0.35%)
📉 Nigerian Stock Exchange: 49,540.48 (-0.07%)
📉 Nairobi Securities Exchange: 138.23 (-1.14%)
📉 S&P 500: 3,937.61 (-0.21%)
📉 Shanghai Composite: 3,937.61 (-0.21%)
🇳🇬 Markets are down across the board, and Nigerian inflation hit a 17-year high to 23% in August on the back of higher cost of essentials, including cereals and meat.
Oil
Kenya’s fuel prices surge after president’s directive
Kenya eliminated a petrol subsidy a day after incoming President William Ruto declared subsidies were unsustainable, potentially adding to inflationary pressures.
Some of the primary difficulties facing the next president include lowering the high cost of petrol and food in East Africa's largest economy, as well as dealing with subsidy measures that policymakers say might empty the country's coffers. In June, Kenya's finance ministry warned that if fuel prices continued to rise, the country's public debt would reach unsustainable levels.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority established new, higher fuel prices for gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, which is extensively used for cooking in many families, late on Wednesday. The increases are anticipated to drive inflation even higher. Fuel pump prices increased by about $1.50 by the end of the day.
Kenyan inflation has escalated, as it has in other regions of the world, owing mostly to the spillover effects of a rise in crude oil prices.
Across the Continent
Other Headlines
🦠 COVID still a threat: Due to poor vaccination rates, the COVID-19 pandemic remains a concern on the African continent, according to the interim director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday. Only 22% of the continent's population has been vaccinated.
🛢️ TotalEnergies gas fields could generate $450 a year in South Africa: TotalEnergies' offshore gas field may provide a direct yearly contribution to South African government finances of at least 8 billion rand ($457 million). The development of the field will be a significant step in South Africa's reduction of reliance on imported oil and refined petroleum products, however new gas and oil projects are being contested in court due to environmental concerns. South Africa's offshore gas possibilities are projected to be worth 60 trillion cubic feet (TCF). The first phase of TotalEnergies' deep-water project might cost up to 45 billion rand to build, with first gas expected in 2027.
📖 Zimbabwe arrests students protesting high fees: Amnesty International has urged Zimbabwean authorities to drop charges against university students protesting a high increase in tuition costs. On Monday, fourteen students were detained and charged with disorderly behaviour. On Wednesday, five more people were detained. Students at the University of Zimbabwe face fee increases of up to tenfold.
Around the World
Putin reveals Xi’s concerns over Ukraine
In his first face-to-face meeting with President Xi Jinping since the Russian invasion, Vladimir Putin recognized China's "concern" over Ukraine. Mr Putin, speaking in Uzbekistan, hailed China for its "balanced approach" and predicted that the US's "attempts to establish a unipolar world" would fail.
China has not approved Russia's incursion, but it has increased trade and other relations with Moscow since it began. The meeting between the two presidents on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in Samarkand comes at a critical juncture in the Ukraine war, as Russian soldiers lose territory in sections of the nation.
The invasion has thrown Moscow into its greatest diplomatic crisis since the Cold War, sending global food and oil prices skyrocketing. Their increasing alliance represents a significant shift in the world order. Putin stands to gain more from the meeting than Xi, as Russia becomes increasingly isolated globally.