🔅 Samuel Eto'o Kicks Back
He has responded against a report that claims Cameroon plans to hire black magicians
Good morning ☕
In today’s issue, Chad swears in its president, 76 die in a Nigeria boat capsize, and the former US Federal Reserve chief wins the Nobel Prize…
Markets — Year to Date
— Nigerian SE: No Data
📉 Johannesburg SE: 64,769.20 (-1.38%)
📈 Ghana SE: 2,461.71 (+0.38%)
— Nairobi SE: No Data
📉 US S&P 500: 3,625.45 (-0.39%)
📉 Shanghai Composite: 2,974.15 (-1.66%%)
*Data accurate as of close of markets across the continent
South Africa: De Beers has named Al Cook its next CEO, succeeding Bruce Cleaver, who stands down after eight years at the helm of the world's biggest diamond producer. Cook will join from Equinor, Norway's largest gas supplier, at the beginning of 2023. Cook takes up the post at a critical juncture in the luxury industry, as inflation and growing living costs have reduced consumers' discretionary spending in large economies such as the United States and China. Nonetheless, De Beers reported a profit of close to $1 billion in the first half of the year, up 55% from the same period last year, thanks partly to Western sanctions restricting access to Russia's state-owned global producer Alrosa. De Beers has developed a blockchain network to record and trace raw diamonds every time they change hands, from when they are sold to intermediaries to the retail stage, as clients want reassurance that their purchases do not come from Russia.
POLITICS
Chad’s Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno sworn in as president
General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno was sworn in as president of a two-year transitional period ahead of democratic elections on Monday.
He promised to promptly appoint a national unity administration.
The army had already proclaimed the 38-year-old general as President of the Republic on April 20 2021, at the head of a Transitional Military Council (TMC) of 15 generals. During the inauguration ceremony on Monday in N'Djamena's Palais du 15-Janvier, the president wore a traditional white Chadian boubou instead of his customary general's uniform.
The opening was attended by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, many ministers from West and Central Africa (Niger, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and diplomats from France and the European Union, but no representatives from the African Union (AU).
The AU asked on September 19 that the junta not extend the 18-month transition period and reaffirm its position that no member of the Transitional Military Council could become a candidate in the elections at the end of the transition.
Chad has been plagued by offensives from various rebel groups for decades, and remains a vital partner of the West in the fight against jihadism.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
Other Headlines
🇨🇲 Cameroon's Football Federation, directed by Samuel Eto'o, has responded to Radio France International's report that the African country plans to hire black magicians to increase the lions' fortunes in the 2018 World Cup in Qatar. Eto'o has dismissed the story and asked France's national network to give proof of their claim. In a report published on October 6, RFI accused the Cameroonian FA of collaborating with black magicians known as 'juju' men to assist them in performing in Qatar. The Indomitable Lions have been drawn in World Cup Group G alongside Brazil, Switzerland, and Serbia.
🇳🇬 Nigeria's president announced on Sunday that the death toll from a boat tragedy in the southeastern state of Anambra had increased to 76. According to officials, the ferry capsized on Friday amid heavy floods in the town of Ogbaru, killing at least ten persons and leaving 60 missing. Anambra is one of 29 Nigerian states that have experienced severe flooding this year. The floodwaters have wiped away homes, crops, and roadways, affecting at least 500,000 people.
🇰🇪 Kenya's president, William Ruto, has said that the country aims to pursue the building of a gas pipeline connecting Tanzania's biggest city, Dar es Salaam, to the coastal town of Mombasa and then to the capital Nairobi in order to lower energy costs. According to local sources, the 600-kilometre pipeline will cost around $1.1 billion (£990 million).
AROUND THE WORLD
Ben Bernanke, former US Federal Reserve chief, wins Nobel Prize
Ben Bernanke, who oversaw the US Federal Reserve throughout the 2008 financial crisis, is one of three economics Nobel laureates this year.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the trio's research had transformed our knowledge of financial crises. Mr Bernanke's studies demonstrated how bank runs in the 1930s prolonged the Great Depression.
When the 2008 financial crisis came, he encouraged the Federal Reserve to react quickly, cutting interest rates and assisting in the organization of bailouts of some of America's largest banks – a move that was seen as contentious at the time. The tools he utilized were also used by the Fed and other central banks to stabilize the economy during the covid-19 pandemic.
Before Mr Bernanke released his study in 1983, bank failures were considered a result of economic crisis rather than a cause of them. His work turned conventional wisdom on its head.
The research demonstrated the importance of banks in the economy and how regulation, such as deposit insurance, might actually make them less vulnerable to failure.
The prize money for the award is 10 million Swedish crowns ($885,000), divided three ways. Previous recipients include Paul Krugman and Milton Friedman, both of whom are from the United States. It is unusual for the award to be presented to a notable policymaker.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“Those who end up accomplishing great things pay attention to little ones.”
— Mali Proverb.