🔅 Namibia's billions of barrels of oil
Drilling work will begin in 2023.
Good morning ☕
In today’s issue, Lesotho’s new president trims his cabinet, the IMF is working on Zambia and Chad’s bailout, and Namibia might have found billions of barrels of oil reserves…
Markets
🔺 Nigerian SE: 47,565.92 (+0.45%)
🔻 Johannesburg SE: 64,588.09 (-0.28%)
🔺 Ghana SE: 2,461.71 (+0.00%)
🔺 Nairobi SE: 129.13 (+2.22%)
🔺 US S&P 500: 3,631.49 (+0.53%)
🔺 Shanghai Composite: 2,979.79 (+0.19%)
*Data accurate as of close of markets across the continent
Ghana: The Ghana finance ministry and the Bank of Ghana have formed a five-member committee to lead discussions about an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. Following the country's request for assistance, an IMF team visited the country last week to discuss a potential debt-restructuring programme. It said that the discussions were constructive but that more work on debt sustainability was required.
Global Markets: Shares in major Asian computer chipmakers have plummeted after the United States announced harsh new restrictions on technology sales to China. The new rules, announced on Friday, also target non-US companies that use American equipment. According to Washington, the rules are intended to limit Chinese military and technological advances.
POLITICS
IMF to complete Zambia, Chad debt restructuring by year-end
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said on Monday that she hoped debt restructuring efforts for Zambia and Chad would be completed by the end of the year, paving the way for more countries to seek assistance.
Georgieva expressed optimism about Chad and Zambia, which, along with Ethiopia, were the first of twenty nations to request assistance. She said that the IMF was pushing for greater predictability and the timely resolution of requests from countries in need of assistance. She also noted that broadening the framework to include middle-income countries was critical.
She added that the IMF was working to include action clauses in debt contracts that would allow for the immediate suspension of debt service payments if a country experienced an economic shock.
Officials from the IMF and World Bank have repeatedly singled out China, the largest creditor to many African countries, and private sector creditors for being slow to reduce debt burdens.
On Friday, the Zambian government told investors that it hoped to reach debt relief terms with official creditors by the end of the year or early in 2023. Zambia was the first African country to default during the COVID-19 era, with debt reaching 133% of GDP at the end of 2021. According to the IMF, the government requires $8.4 billion and has already approved a $1.3 billion three-year loan to Zambia in late August.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
Other Headlines
🇱🇸 Lesotho's newly formed party, Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), which won the most seats but fell short of a majority in last week's election, has created a coalition government with two other opposition parties. At a press conference, RFP founder Sam Matekane announced an alliance with the Alliance of Democrats (AD) and the Movement for Economic Change (MEC). The RFP, which was formed in March this year, promised to eliminate rampant corruption and focus on economic growth. "One thing is certain: we will downsize the cabinet, and all our members, including myself, will declare our assets," Matekane, the wealthy businessman who founded the party, told reporters.
🇳🇦 QatarEnergy's CEO, who is also Qatar's energy minister, said on Monday that the company wants to accelerate the development of two oil wells. Saad al-Kaabi said that drilling work will begin in 2023 to understand the wells' capacities better, but he did not specify when they will be brought into production. The discoveries could turn Namibia, a southern neighbour to OPEC-member Angola, into another oil producer along Africa's Atlantic coast. Discoveries are likely to be in the billions of barrels.
🇬🇳 The Guinean court that is trying Moussa Dadis Camara and a dozen other co-accused for the 2009 massacre decided Monday to keep him in jail for the duration of his trial and to deny his request for house arrest. Captain Camara and a dozen former military and government officials have been charged with a slew of killings, rapes, torture, and looting committed during the crackdown on an opposition demonstration on September 28, 2009, and the days that followed. According to a UN report, at least 156 people were killed, hundreds were injured, and at least 109 women were raped.
AROUND THE WORLD
Russia accused of war crimes as it hits Ukraine infrastructure
On Tuesday, Russia continued to attack key infrastructure in Ukraine with missile strikes, despite UN and Nato warnings that Moscow may be committing a war crime with its ongoing attacks on civilian targets.
The most recent air raids occurred as Moscow dangled the prospect of bilateral diplomatic talks with US Vice President Joe Biden. On Tuesday, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said that Moscow is open to discussions with the West but has yet to receive a serious proposal to negotiate.
Putin will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, telling reporters that the two leaders will "possibly" discuss a trade deal.
Russian ships and strategic bombers flying over the Caspian Sea and elsewhere continued to launch cruise missiles on Ukrainian cities, in addition to drone and rocket strikes. The UN was especially concerned about damage to power plants and transmission lines ahead of the upcoming winter:
"We must emphasize that deliberately directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects—that is, objects that are not military objectives—constitutes a war crime."
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“There is no elephant that complains about the weight of its trunk. No elephant is burdened by the weight of its tusks.”
— Kenyan Proverb.