🔅 Tanzania at the Oscars
Vuta N'kuvute means "hard fight" in Swahili
Good morning,
The conflict in Ukraine has created a boom in the coal mining industry in Africa. Read on…
Markets Today*
📉 Nigerian Stock Exchange: 49,190.34 (-0.47%)
📉 Johannesburg Stock Exchange: 12,822.82 (-1.25%)
📈 Nairobi Securities Exchange: 134.96 (+0.16%)
📉 US S&P 500: 3,757.99 (-0.84%)
📈 Shanghai Composite: 3,114.13 (+0.17%)
Egypt announced that it would increase the transit fee for all vessels passing through the Suez Canal, affecting trade for many sub-Saharan African country. The rates were increased by 15% as a result of global inflation rates.
The Bank of England has raised interest rates to 2.25% and warned the UK may already be in a recession. The central bank had previously expected the economy to grow between July and September but it now believes it will shrink by 0.1%. It takes borrowing costs to their highest since 2008, when the global banking system faced collapse.
*Market data accurate as of 22:00 EAT the previous day.
Energy
Ukraine conflict creates boom in Africa’s coal mining sector
Africa's energy exports to Europe, which was traditionally reliant on Russia for thermal coal and natural gas supplies, have increased dramatically in recent months. Russia normally provides between 70% and 40% of the EU's natural gas.
The current energy gap has opened up an opportunity for African coal-producing countries. South Africa's coal exports increased 11-fold in the months following the conflict, and Botswana has forecasted continued growth in its coal market into next year.
Tanzania's coal exports are set to double this year to roughly 696,773 tonnes, with production increasing by 50%.
The increased demand for coal has doubled profit margins for African coal miners, as Europeans are willing to pay above the asking price of Asian buyers.
Many of these European countries have temporarily abandoned their ecological aims in favour of a previously frowned-upon energy source. In Europe, Germany is even delaying planned coal plant shutdowns in order to preserve electricity supply security.
Across the Continent
Other Headlines
🇺🇬 Uganda has reported seven Ebola cases, including one death this week. Seven other fatalities are being investigated as possible cases. Uganda last reported an Ebola Sudan strain outbreak in 2012. A second case of Ebola virus was identified in the neighboring eastern Congo city of Beni in August, however the variant detected in Uganda is less transmissible than Ebola Zaire. There is no Ebola vaccine available.
🇬🇳 The ruling junta in Guinea has criticized the current ECOWAS president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, for warning Guinea that it would face "severe penalties" if the junta, which took office by force in September 2021, continued to seek to stay in power for three years. Leaders of ECOWAS member states are due to meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with the situation in Guinea and the dispute between Mali and Ivory Coast at the top of their agenda.
🎬 A Tanzanian film has been nominated for an Academy Award. Vuta N'kuvute, which means "hard fight" in Swahili, has been nominated for "Best International Film" at the 95th Academy Awards. The film, which was released in Swahili and features a mostly African cast, depicts the story of a young Indian-Zanzibari woman whose relationship blooms on the back of a political revolution during the latter days of British colonial control.
Around the World
Russians flee after military call up
Russians are seeking to flee the country in order to avoid military service in the Ukraine conflict. Queues have formed at border crossings since President Vladimir Putin declared a partial military mobilization on Wednesday, which could result in the mobilization of 300,000 personnel.
On Thursday, Germany's interior minister said that Russians fleeing the draft would be welcomed in her country. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic, on the other hand, said they would not take in fleeing Russians.
During his nighttime address on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russians to oppose mobilization. Russian officials say that the call-up will be confined to those who have finished their military service and would not result in widespread conscription.
Proverb of the Day
"Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it."
- Akan Proverb.