🔅 South Africa: Chris Hani's assassin released
Today’s Issue: IMF bails out Malawi and South Sudan, anti-French sentiment is at an all-time-high in West Africa, and King Charles hosts Ramaphosa... ☕
Markets
🔺 Nigerian SE: 44,929.33 (+0.60%)
🔻 Johannesburg SE: 72,284.30 (+0.48%)
🔻 Ghana SE: 2,461.12 (-0.11%)
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🔻 US S&P 500: 3,979.79 (+0.76%)
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*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Malawi: The IMF said its executive board on Monday approved an $88.3 million disbursement to Malawi under the new "food shock window" emergency lending facility launched in response to food price spikes and shortages caused by Russia's war in Ukraine. The IMF said the food shock loan, part of the IMF's Rapid Credit Facility, would help the east African country address urgent balance-of-payments needs brought on by rising food import and fertiliser costs and a falling currency.
Global Markets: The U.K. economy is set to take a bigger hit from the global energy crisis than any other major economy, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD's latest report predicts that the U.K. will contract by more than any other nation in the G7 group next year, with growth in the U.S. and the eurozone expected to be weak. The organisation forecasts a "significant growth slowdown" globally in 2023, with the war in Ukraine affecting economies unevenly and European countries bearing the brunt of the impact on business, trade and the spike in energy prices. The G7 includes the U.S., UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
APARTHEID
South Africa: Chris Hani's killer released
What happened?
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ordered the release of Janusz Walus, the man jailed for killing anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani in 1993.
Walus, now a 69-year-old Polish citizen, was sentenced to life in prison and his applications to be released on parole have been rejected by several justice ministers.
He was convicted alongside Clive Derby-Lewis, who handed Walus the gun and who was released on medical parole in 2015. He died in 2016.
So why was Walus released?
The Constitutional Court delivered a unanimous judgment in favour of Walus after reviewing Justice Minister Ronald Lamola’s 2020 decision to reject his application to be released on parole.
The court said he had met the threshold to be released on parole and described the minister’s decision to reject his application as irrational.
According to the judgment, Walus should be on parole in the next ten days.
Who was Chris Hani and what did his assassination mean to South Africa?
Chris Hani was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician. He was the leader of the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC) and was the general secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP). He was a close friend and confidant of Nelson Mandela.
He was assassinated in April 1993, just months before the first democratic elections in South Africa. His assassination threatened to plunge South Africa into political violence ahead of its transition to democracy.
What has been said?
The South African Communist Party on Sunday rejected the court’s decision, saying it was an attack on Hani’s family and the organisation that he led before his death. General secretary Solly Mapaila told reporters outside the court that the ruling was an injustice to the people of South Africa, who had lost their loved ones during apartheid.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
Other Headlines
🇧🇫 The French embassy in Burkina Faso has asked the West African state for more protection after violent protests targeted the property last week, a letter to the government and a diplomatic source said. In a letter to Burkina Faso's foreign ministry seen by Reuters, the French embassy said Burkina Faso's military police did nothing on Nov. 18 as hundreds of protesters violently attacked the embassy, throwing stones and other projectiles at its walls. The letter said that some of the officers charged with protecting the embassy were captured on video playing cards as the protest unfolded. Anti-French sentiment and protests have surged this year in Burkina Faso, a former French colony. Fed up with a worsening Islamist insurgency and what is perceived as neo-colonial influence from Paris, some Burkinabe have followed the lead of neighbouring Mali in calling for a stronger partnership with Russia and for France to leave.
🇸🇸 The IMF has agreed to release $112.7 million in emergency financing to South Sudan to help the country address food insecurity, support social spending, and boost international reserves. The move comes as the U.N. warns that up to 7.8 million people in South Sudan, two-thirds of the population, may face severe food shortages during next year's April-to-July lean season due to floods, drought and conflict. The IMF's executive board will approve the financing in the coming weeks. South Sudan erupted into civil war shortly after its independence from Sudan in 2011. While a peace agreement signed four years ago is essentially holding, the transitional government has been slow to unify various military factions.
🇿🇦 The King of England is welcoming South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on a two-day state visit, the first such visit in three years. It comes as South Africa struggles with power blackouts and high unemployment, amongst other issues. The King will host a banquet at Buckingham Palace for Mr Ramaphosa, where both men will give speeches. Ramaphosa hopes to use the state visit to drum up support for U.K. investment in South Africa to bolster the country's economic development and industries.
🇲🇱 The Malian junta has announced a ban on all activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) financed or supported by France, including those working in the humanitarian field. This decision will likely affect many NGOs that France has supported despite the sudden deterioration in relations between the two countries for more than a year. The interim Prime Minister, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, justified the decision after France announced that it had suspended its official development assistance to Mali. The French Foreign Ministry cited Malian authorities' use of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner as the reason.
IN TECH
Modus’ $75m AI and Blockchain fund for Africa
Venture platform Modus has announced the launch of Modus Africa, a venture capital fund for A.I. and blockchain startups across sub-Saharan Africa. The move continues Modus’s expansion into new markets, which has seen the company add branches in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, and Riyadh over the past 18 months. The new fund is expected to reach its first close in the first quarter of next year. The venture platform runs three business units: the Venture Builder, which works with idea and early-stage MVP stage companies; Corporate Innovation, a service platform that leverages the firm’s internal know-how to support corporations and government entities; and its Venture Capital arm, which provides investment to early and midstage-sized startups.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“A doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his own house from destruction.”
— Nigerian Proverb.