🔅 More than 500,000 Somali children facing famine
US stocks are crashing.
Good morning.
US stocks were sent crashing by its latest inflation figures. Read on to see what that means for Africa’s currencies…
Markets Today
📉 Johannesburg Stock Exchange: 13,253.30 (-0.82%)
📈 Nigerian Stock Exchange: 49,627.72 (+0.06%)
📉 Nairobi Securities Exchange: 139.82 (-1.28%)
📉 S&P 500: 3,932.69 (-4.32%)
📉 Shanghai Composite: 3,237.54 (-0.80%)
Almost 4 million Zimbabweans will receive food help from the World Food Programme as the country's cost of living rises. Zimbabwe has struggled with hyperinflation and a collapsing currency over the past couple of decades. Recent deterioration has been worsened by poor agricultural harvests. Zimbabwe's inflation rate rose to 285% last month, up from 256.9% in July.
US stocks were sent into a tailspin as figures revealed inflation remained stubbornly high in August. The figures could lead to further tightening of the US dollar, and so harder times for Africa’s currencies…
Climate Change
$550 million to combat food hunger
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has donated $550 million to combat food hunger and climate change in Africa over the next five years. This investment will be used to strengthen seed systems, agricultural supply networks, and climate change mitigation.
The general objective is to minimize reliance on imported food, curb food price inflation, and provide farmers with the tools they need to address some of the more complicated challenges that well-funded farms can.
AGRA feels there is a need to fight farming challenges while also preparing farmers for natural catastrophes and climate change. According to their findings, despite having some of the world's most fertile land, Africa has the lowest agricultural production.
Across the Continent
Other Headlines
🇬🇲 The Gambia ordered importers and retailers to halt sales of all brands of paracetamol syrup on Tuesday as the government examines a possible link between the drug and the deaths of scores of young children. The youngsters experienced symptoms such as difficulty to pass urine, fever, and vomiting, which soon progressed to renal failure.
🇸🇴 More than 500,000 Somali children under the age of five are anticipated to face famine this year, a figure unprecedented in any country this century, according to the United Nations Children's Fund on Tuesday. The United Nations has warned that portions of Somalia may risk hunger in the coming months as the Horn of Africa area experiences its fifth failed rainy season in a row. The forecast is more dire than in 2011, when starvation killed almost a quarter-million Somalis, nearly half of them were children.
🗳️ Following a check of its voters' registry, Nigeria's electoral commission claims it has delisted over a million freshly registered voters. Those impacted enrolled between June of last year and January of this year in order to get permanent voter registration cards. This large invalidation is likely to frighten potential voters.
Around the World
Putin and Xi meet
China's leader Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin will discuss the war in Ukraine and other regional issues at a meeting later this week, the Kremlin says.
Mr. Putin will also meet with leaders from India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran. The countries will meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security organisation that was founded by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001. Iran is currently looking to join the group.
Members will discuss trade at the summit, with China being a major investor in the region through its Belt and Road projects. Beijing has long looked to open up new rail routes for its trade to Europe, while Central Asian countries are eager for more connections to China.
Mr. Xi's visit coincides with a new round of restrictions in China, where his zero-covid policy remains in effect. He has remained in China since then, leaving only briefly to visit Hong Kong in July of this year.
Following their February encounter, the two presidents released a joint statement declaring that their nations' relationship knew "no bounds." Days later, Russia invaded Ukraine, which China neither criticized nor supported. China is not a party to the UN sanctions imposed on Russia, and commerce between the two nations has increased.