Zimbabwe has taken steps towards ending its economic isolation in its first budget since the end of Robert Mugabe's 37-year authoritarian rule.
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced a package of measures aimed at wooing international investors, including new curbs on laws that require firms to be 51% locally owned.
Barclays Africa is to tap into the expertise of China Development Bank to fund development projects in Africa. The two banks have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to that effect. This will enable Barclays receive support from CDB to provide capital to SME’s and low income communities.
The two Banks will also explore reciprocal training and development opportunities for their respective investment teams. In this regard, Barclays Africa has already hosted more than 30 employees from the the China Development Bank. In 2016, China-Africa trade flow reached US$150-billion, making China, Africa’s largest trade partner for seven consecutive years.
South Sudan has removed fuel subsidies in a move many government officials attributed to scarcity of hard currencies, The Sudan Tribune reports. Media report suggest the move is a directive from the president's office.
Report also suggests civil servants have gone for close to a year now without being paid because there is actually no money in the treasury. The Deputy Finance minister Mou Ambrose Thiik told the Reuters news agency in September that ending the fuel subsidies would free up desperately needed cash.
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the first review of the arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Benin.
About 4,000 government employees in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state have been sacked, sparking outrage among trade unions. The state government said the workers, mainly in administrative posts, were unproductive, and were dismissed to reduce the "bloated bureaucracy" and the wage bill.
Tullow Oil plc has announced that it has completed the refinancing of US$2.5 billion of Reserves Based Lending (“RBL”) credit facilities.
The US$2.5 billion of credit facilities are split between a commercial bank facility of US$2.4 billion and an IFC facility of US$100 million. The fully committed facilities are revolving with a three-year grace period and final maturity of November 2024.
The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has launched the Presidential Youth Advisory Group (PYAG) to provide insights and innovative solutions for job creation for Africa’s youth, as outlined in the Bank’s Job's for Youth in Africa Strategy.
The Jobs for Youth in Africa initiative aims at creating 25 million jobs and impacting 50 million youth over the next ten years by equipping them with the right skills to get decent and meaningful jobs. It is currently the largest effort going on for youth employment in Africa today
The African Development Bank Group’s Board of Directors has approved a loan of €180 million to the Republic of Cameroon to finance the first phase of the government’s Competitiveness and Economic Growth Support Programme (PACCE).
PACCE is the first of a three-year programmatic general budget support operations to be implemented from 2017 to 2019 in order to shore up public finances in the wake of dwindling oil prices exasperated by security and related humanitarian challenges within the country and across the CEMAC region.
The IMF has warned that Zimbabwe's economic situation remains very difficult. The fund's mission chief for Zimbabwe Gene Leon told Reuters news agency that immediate action was crucial to reduce the deficit, accelerate structural reforms and re-engage with the international community.
