Sustained liquidity drives bullish T-bills

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="582" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VPJKBC52CNKHLKKV5LUSAAB3HI-820x582.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422582" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VPJKBC52CNKHLKKV5LUSAAB3HI-820x582.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VPJKBC52CNKHLKKV5LUSAAB3HI-300x213.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VPJKBC52CNKHLKKV5LUSAAB3HI-127x90.jpg 127w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VPJKBC52CNKHLKKV5LUSAAB3HI-768x545.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VPJKBC52CNKHLKKV5LUSAAB3HI-1536x1090.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VPJKBC52CNKHLKKV5LUSAAB3HI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during her interview with Reuters in New Delhi, India, November 11, 2022. REUTERS/Altaf Hussain/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



DAKAR, Jan 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Russia&#8217;s war against Ukraine is hitting Africans particularly hard by exacerbating food insecurity and putting an unnecessary drag on the continent&#8217;s economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in Senegal&#8217;s capital Dakar on Friday.



Yellen said ending the war would be the best thing to help the global economy, but Treasury estimated that a Group of Seven-led price cap on Russian crude oil and refined products to limit Russia&#8217;s revenues could save the 17 largest net oil-importing African countries $6 billion annually.



Speaking at the start of a three-country visit to Africa, Yellen said some emerging market countries were saving even more by using the price cap to negotiate steeper discounts with Russia, and Treasury was encouraging others to follow suit.



G7 countries and Australia implemented&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N32U0AF&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the oil price cap</a>&nbsp;on Dec. 5, banning the use of Western-supplied maritime insurance, finance and other services for cargoes priced above $60 per barrel. A further cap on Russian refined petroleum products, such as diesel and fuel oil, is due to take effect on Feb. 5.



Yellen said the United States was working with African leaders to mitigate the damage caused by Russia&#8217;s &#8220;illegal and unprovoked war&#8221; in Ukraine, which along with COVID-19 had slowed growth and pushed millions of Africans into poverty and hunger.



Washington provided about $13 billion in emergency aid and food assistance last year, and was now setting up a U.S.-Africa strategic partnership to address the short-term food needs of more than 300 million Africans, Yellen said. It is also helping to build more resilient and sustainable systems for the future.



Yellen is the first of a number of top U.S. officials who plan to visit Africa this year, including President Joe Biden, as Washington seeks to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3440RZ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deepen ties</a>&nbsp;with the continent and provide a counterweight to China, whose collateralized loans have left many nations deeply in debt.



Speaking at a co-working space that helps women and young entrepreneurs, Yellen drew sharp contrasts with other countries&#8217; investment, emphasizing that U.S. investments in Africa were motivated by &#8220;our mutually beneficial, long-term partnership&#8221; with a goal of generating positive economic returns.



It is a message Yellen plans to hammer home throughout her visit, with further stops planned in Zambia and South Africa,&nbsp;contrasting the U.S. approach with that of China and other countries active on the continent.



She said Africans were demanding greater accountability and transparency from their governments, calling them a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth. U.S. engagement, she said, prioritized &#8220;adherence to high standards like transparency, good governance, accountability, and environmental sustainability.&#8221;



In certain cases, she said Washington could also condition investments on political reforms that would help mobilize private sector investments.



&#8220;While our approach may be exacting, we believe it delivers lasting results. Countries need to be wary of shiny deals that may be opaque and ultimately fail to actually benefit the people they were purportedly designed to help in the first place,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This can leave countries with a legacy of debt, diverted resources, and environmental destruction.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-enormous-potential">&#8216;ENORMOUS POTENTIAL&#8217;</h2>



Yellen,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2YT0JT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">long critical</a>&nbsp;of the pace of China&#8217;s efforts on debt treatments for Zambia and other countries, said it was important to provide &#8220;timely and comprehensive&#8221; solutions to allow African economies to continue to make important public investments.



&#8220;We believe that the international community, including China, needs to provide meaningful debt relief to help countries regain their footing,&#8221; she said.



Yellen met earlier with Senegal&#8217;s Minister of Economy, International Planning, and Cooperation Oulimata Sarr, who like Yellen is also the first woman to serve in her current role.



The U.S. Treasury secretary will meet later with Senegalese President Macky Sall and Finance Minister Mamadou Moustapha Bâ.



Yellen told business leaders from the American Chamber of Commerce that the overriding focus of her visit is &#8220;the enormous economic potential of the continent, thanks to its demographic trends and the impressive dynamism of its entrepreneurs.&#8221;



&#8220;The U.S. is committed to working with Africa to realize that promise, because we know that a stronger African economy is good for the world, and good for the United States,&#8221; she said.



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Toby Chopra)

FILE PHOTO: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in an interview with Reuters in New Delhi

Yellen says Russian oil price cap could save African countries $6 bln annually

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="485" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UCYGVOHD4JP7JPIOBH22IWOMJA.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422570" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UCYGVOHD4JP7JPIOBH22IWOMJA.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UCYGVOHD4JP7JPIOBH22IWOMJA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UCYGVOHD4JP7JPIOBH22IWOMJA-135x90.jpg 135w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, Ugandan minister of energy and mineral development speaks to Reuters at the Africa Oil Week 2022 conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre 2, Cape Town, South Africa, October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Shelley Christians/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



KAMPALA, Jan 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Uganda said on Friday it plans to announce a third oil licensing round in May&nbsp;in an effort to further develop a sector on track to produce its first oil in 2025.



Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu said in a statement detailing developments in the sector that the next licensing round would be announced at a regional petroleum conference due to take place in Uganda&#8217;s capital Kampala in May.



She did not say how many blocks would be put up for auction.



The East African country discovered commercial hydrocarbon deposits near its western border with Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006. Production is projected to begin in 2025.



Uganda is&nbsp;also&nbsp;developing a crude export pipeline and a domestic crude refinery that will help to commercialise the country&#8217;s oil resources.



A U.S. firm, Albertine Graben Energy Consortium Partners (AGEC), is planning to build and operate a $4.5 billion, 60,000 barrel-per-day refinery to produce a range of refined products and liquefied petroleum gas for the regional market.



It will also build&nbsp;a 213-kilometre (130-mile) refined products pipeline from the oilfields to storage facilities near Kampala.



Ssentamu&nbsp;said a final investment decision on the refinery was expected this year.



She added&nbsp;the pipeline and refinery would be developed&nbsp;concurrently&nbsp;and &#8220;when both projects are operational, the refinery will have the first call on crude oil&#8221;.



All of Uganda&#8217;s existing oilfields are jointly owned by France&#8217;s TotalEnergies&nbsp;TTEF.PA, China&#8217;s CNOOC&nbsp;0883.HK&nbsp;and the state-run Uganda National Oil Company.



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; editing by Jason Neely)

Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, Ugandan minister of energy and mineral development at the Africa Oil Week in Cape Town

Uganda to announce oil blocks licensing round in May

Rwanda sees increased investment in hotels

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419915" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The World Bank Group headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its world growth forecast by the most since the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, and projected even faster inflation, after Russia invaded Ukraine and China renewed virus lockdowns. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Jan 19 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zambia needs &#8220;desperate debt relief&#8221; and agreements under a Group of 20 restructuring vehicle are proving difficult, the World Bank&#8217;s managing director of operations said on Thursday.



&#8220;In the last two years, we have seen the limitations of the common framework,&#8221; Axel van Trotsenburg told a panel at the World Economic Forum&#8217;s annual meeting in Davos, moderated by Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni.



Zambia has become a test case for the G20-led &#8220;Common Framework&#8221; restructuring vehicle launched during COVID-19 to streamline debt restructuring efforts as poorer countries buckle under the fallout from the pandemic hit. It aims to include non-Paris club members, such as China, in debt relief talks.



Non-Paris Club creditors &#8220;are now playing a very significant role and that is, I think the challenge, to bring these creditors into this process of dialogue and it is not only China, India as important creditors, (but also) Saudi Arabia and some of the Arab states,&#8221; van Trotsenburg said.



&#8220;Right now we have negotiations where there is not an established debt sustainability framework. What you see in the discussions is that different creditors are challenging all the underlying assumptions,&#8221; van Trotsenburg added, without specifying which creditors he was referring to.



&#8220;Take the Zambia case, but this will come up in Sri Lanka &#8211; we need to have a serious discussion on lending into arrears by financial institutions,&#8221; he added.



Speaking at the same panel, Jose Antonio Ocampo, Colombia&#8217;s finance minister, said there was a lack of institutional arrangements to manage debt issues.



&#8220;The lack of institutions for debt renegotiations is a major institutional problem in the world economy,&#8221; he said.



Ocampo also said that it would make &#8220;major sense&#8221; to enhance debt-for-climate swaps.



Debt-for-nature swaps usually replace expensive bonds or loans with cheaper financing for developing countries, often with the help of a credit guarantee from a multilateral development bank.



But Kenneth Rogoff, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist who teaches at Harvard University, challenged this idea.



Rogoff said that in such swaps, the debt still remained and investors that do not swap their debt still get paid by the sovereign governments.



For daily Davos updates in your inbox sign up for the Reuters Daily Briefing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.



(Reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario and Yoruk Bahceli, writing by Yoruk Bahceli; editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)

IMF And World Bank Headquarters During Virtual Spring Meetings

Davos 2023: World Bank: Zambia needs ‘desperate’ debt relief under challenging Common Framework

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/download-23.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412705" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/download-23.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/download-23-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/download-23-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/download-23-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Nigerian naira banknotes are seen in this picture illustration, September 10, 2018. Picture taken September 10, 2018. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/Illustration/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Oct 11 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria&#8217;s central bank needs to review its foreign exchange management strategy and ensure that the naira&#8217;s valuation reflects market reality, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Monday.



Nigeria has several exchange rates operating in parallel, a system put in place during a 2016 oil price crash because the government was seeking to avoid a large official devaluation of the naira as a matter of national pride.



Osinbajo urged the central bank to rethink its demand management policy, which it has used to restrict imports in an attempt to manage pressure on the currency.



&#8220;I think we need to move our rates to be as reflective of the market as possible. This&#8230; is the only way to improve supply (of dollars),&#8221; the vice president said.



He was speaking at a mid-term retreat of government ministers chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-why-nigeria-s-central-bank-won-t-ease-its-grip-on-the-naira">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/explainer-why-nigerias-central-bank-wont-ease-its-grip-on-the-naira/">Why Nigeria’s central bank won’t ease its grip on the naira</a></h3>



Osinbajo said the naira had since June been trading at 411 to the U.S. dollar on the official market, supported by the central bank, and at 565 naira on the black market, where it trades more freely.



&#8220;We can&#8217;t get new dollars into the system, where the exchange rate is artificially low,&#8221; he added.



A central bank official last month said the bank was worried about boosting dollar supply on the currency market and not valuation of the naira, adding that the level of the currency was expected to adjust based on demand. He said market failures had made the bank adopt a managed float regime.



Nigeria has been battling dollar shortages resulting from low prices for oil, its main export, and disruptions linked to COVID-19. The central bank has devalued the currency three times since March last year, but the naira has continued to weaken.



The local currency has hit new lows on the black market since the central bank in July banned dollar sales to bureau de change operators in a string of curbs on the currency market. 



(Reporting by Felix Onuah Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Catherine Evans and Alistair Bell)

download (23)

Nigeria’s vice president urges central bank to review FX management strategy

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="548" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3KSUKJM7KVIBHMITAZL2TYGYTE-820x548.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412700" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3KSUKJM7KVIBHMITAZL2TYGYTE-820x548.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3KSUKJM7KVIBHMITAZL2TYGYTE-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3KSUKJM7KVIBHMITAZL2TYGYTE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3KSUKJM7KVIBHMITAZL2TYGYTE-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3KSUKJM7KVIBHMITAZL2TYGYTE.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks as she joins students holding a Fridays for Future climate strike while environment ministers meet ahead of Glasgow&#8217;s COP26 meeting, in Milan, Italy, October 1, 2021.</figcaption></figure>



GENEVA, Oct 11 (Reuters) &#8211; A U.N. panel said on Monday it could not immediately rule on a complaint by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg and others that state inaction on climate change violates children&#8217;s rights, adding they should have sought redress in national courts first.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un-complaint-idUSKBN1W82AS">The complaint was filed with the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2019</a> and the 18-member panel has been conducting hearings and deliberating since.



The 15 activists, aged between eight and 17 at the time, had argued that France, Turkey, Brazil, Germany and Argentina had known about the risk of climate change for decades but failed to curb their carbon emissions.



The case is one of a growing number of climate litigation cases that invokes human rights and is seen as setting an important precedent.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-why-renewable-energy-is-essential-for-food-systems-transformation-in-africa"> Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/why-renewable-energy-is-essential-for-food-systems-transformation-in-africa/">Why renewable energy is essential for food systems transformation in Africa</a></h3>



The committee, made up of 18 independent human rights experts, concluded that a &#8220;sufficient causal link&#8221; had been established between the significant harm allegedly suffered by the children and the acts or omissions of the five states.



However, it accepted the arguments of the five countries that the children should have tried to bring cases to their national courts first.



&#8220;You were successful on some aspects but not on others,&#8221; the committee told the youth activists in a letter, in which it saluted their &#8220;courage and determination&#8221;.



&#8220;We hope that you will be empowered by the positive aspects of this decision, and that you will continue to act in your own countries and regions and internationally to fight for justice on climate change,&#8221; it said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/madagascar-prays-for-rain-as-u-n-warns-of-climate-change-famine/">Madagascar prays for rain as U.N. warns of ‘climate change famine’</a></h3>



One important detail of the ruling was that the committee found that it can deal with cases even if the harmful effects of one country&#8217;s emissions are felt by children in another country.



The activists come from 12 countries: Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Palau, Marshall Islands, Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, Tunisia and the United States.



The committee monitors the adherence of state parties to a 1989 convention which declared the unassailable civil, economic, political and cultural rights of children. The convention has 196 state parties.



A smaller number of countries, 48, have agreed to a protocol allowing children to seek redress under the convention and these include the five countries that are respondents in the case. 



(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Nick Macfie)

3KSUKJM7KVIBHMITAZL2TYGYTE

U.N. panel says it can’t rule on climate case brought by Greta Thunberg

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="360" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/istockphoto-1250489640-640x640-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400524" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/istockphoto-1250489640-640x640-1.jpg 640w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/istockphoto-1250489640-640x640-1-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption>World Bank on glass building. Mirrored sky and city modern facade. Global capital, business, finance, economy, banking and money concept seamless and loopable 3D rendering animation.</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) &#8211; The debt burden of the world&#8217;s low-income countries rose 12% to a record $860 billion in 2020 as countries responded to the COVID-19 crisis with massive fiscal, monetary, and financial stimulus packages, the World Bank said in a report released Monday.



World Bank President David Malpass said the report showed a dramatic increase in the debt vulnerabilities facing low- and middle-income countries and called for urgent steps to help countries reach more sustainable debt levels.



&#8220;We need a comprehensive approach to the debt problem, including debt reduction, swifter restructuring and improved transparency,&#8221; Malpass said in a statement accompanying the new International Debt Statistics 2022 report.



&#8220;Sustainable debt levels are vital for economic recovery and poverty reduction,&#8221; he said.



The report said the external debt stocks of low- and middle-income countries combined rose 5.3% in 2020 to $8.7 trillion, affecting countries in all regions.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-state-creditors-imf-say-chad-should-seek-similar-terms-from-private-lenders">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/state-creditors-imf-say-chad-should-seek-similar-terms-from-private-lenders/">State creditors, IMF say Chad should seek similar terms from private lenders</a></h3>



It said the rise in external debt outpaced gross national income (GNI) and export growth, with the external debt-to-GNI ratio, excluding China, rising five percentage points to 42% in 2020, while their debt-to-export ratio surged to 154% in 2020 from 126% in 2019.



Malpass said debt restructuring efforts were urgently needed given the expiration at the end of this year of the Group of 20 major economies&#8217; Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which has offered temporary deferral of debt payments.



The G20 and Paris Club of official creditors launched a Common Framework for Debt Treatments last year to restructure unsustainable debt situations and protracted financing gaps in DSSI-eligible countries, but only three countries &#8211; Ethiopia, Chad and Zambia &#8211; have applied thus far.



The report showed that net inflows from multilateral creditors to low- and middle-income countries rose to $117 billion in 2020, the highest level in a decade.



Net lending to low-income countries rose 25% to $71 billion, also the highest level in a decade, with the IMF and other multilateral creditors providing $42 billion and bilateral creditors $10 billion, it said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/zambia-imf-make-progress-towards-bail-out-loan-programme/">Zambia, IMF make progress towards bail-out loan programme</a></h3>



Carmen Reinhart, the World Bank&#8217;s chief economist, said the challenges facing highly indebted countries could get worse as interest rates rose.



&#8220;Policymakers need to prepare for the possibility of debt distress when financial market conditions turn less benign, particularly in emerging market and developing economies,&#8221; she said.



The World Bank said it expanded the 2022 report to boost transparency about global debt levels by providing more detailed and disaggregated data on external debt.



The data now include a breakdown of a borrowing country’s external debt stock to show the amount owed to each official and private creditor, the currency composition of this debt, and the terms on which loans were extended.



For DSSI-eligible countries the data also show the debt service deferred in 2020 by each bilateral creditor and the projected month-by-month debt-service payments owed to them through 2021. 



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Diane Craft)

istockphoto-1250489640-640×640

Poor countries’ debt rose 12% to record $860 bln in 2020- World Bank

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-497673894-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412689" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-497673894-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-497673894-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-497673894-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-497673894-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-497673894-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-497673894-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>People gather around an MTN outlet in Kisoro district, about 480 km west of the capital Kampala, on November 18, 2015. MTN Uganda has appealed a court award of Shs 2.3 billion (around 662,000 dollars or 620,700 euro) to electronic money provider EzeeMoney for sabotaging its business. AFP PHOTO / ISAAC KASAMANI (Photo credit should read ISAAC KASAMANI/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



KAMPALA, Oct 11 (Reuters) &#8211; MTN Uganda said on Monday it had set the price of its initial public offering for the sale of a 20% stake at 200 Ugandan shillings ($0.0558) per share, as the East African nation&#8217;s biggest telecoms operator launched the country&#8217;s biggest IPO.



&#8220;The MTN IPO is officially open,&#8221; MTN Uganda Chief Executive Wim Vanhelleputte told a news conference in Kampala, saying the IPO would close on Nov. 22. Shares start trading on Dec. 6.



MTN Uganda is offering 4.5 billion shares, Vanhelleputte said, after the unit of South Africa&#8217;s MTN Group secured regulatory approval last week.



This would value the stake at 895.56 billion shillings ($250 million) and MTN Uganda at $1.25 billion, the company said.



Anne Juuko, chief executive of Stanbic Bank Uganda, which owns the sponsoring brokerage SBG Securities Uganda Ltd, said Ugandans would have first priority, followed by investors in East Africa and then investors from outside the region.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-mtn-picks-partners-to-expand-mobile-openran-network-in-africa">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/mtn-picks-partners-to-expand-mobile-openran-network-in-africa-2/">MTN picks partners to expand mobile OpenRAN network in Africa</a></h3>



The telecoms firm, which has 15 million subscribers, also offers mobile money financial services, which Vanhelleputte said was the firm&#8217;s biggest growth area as more people sought cashless transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.



The company&#8217;s main rival is a unit of India&#8217;s Bharti Airtel . It could build more subscribers after a smaller rival, Africell, said it was quitting the market.



MTN Uganda, which started operations in 1998, secured a 12-year renewal of its licence in June 2020 after paying $100 million and on condition it listed at least 20% of its shares on the local market, which now has 17 stocks.



MTN Uganda reported revenues in 2020 of 1.9 trillion Uganda shillings, up 9.3% from the previous year, and a pre-tax profit of 460.3 billion Ugandan shillings last year, up 21.3%.



&#8220;MTN Uganda will target in the medium term a dividend pay-out ratio of at least 60% of annual profits after tax,&#8221; the company said in its prospectus.



MTN Uganda said it would announce the allocation result on Dec. 3.



($1 = 3,585.0000 Ugandan shillings) 



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by George Obulutsa and Edmund Blair)

UGANDA-TELECOMMUNICATION-FINE-BUSINESS

MTN Uganda announces share price for biggest Ugandan IPO

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="508" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TSNCC4ZZ7NLT3NNX7CAHGREFXI-820x508.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412676" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TSNCC4ZZ7NLT3NNX7CAHGREFXI-820x508.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TSNCC4ZZ7NLT3NNX7CAHGREFXI-300x186.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TSNCC4ZZ7NLT3NNX7CAHGREFXI-145x90.jpg 145w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TSNCC4ZZ7NLT3NNX7CAHGREFXI-768x476.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TSNCC4ZZ7NLT3NNX7CAHGREFXI.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Malagasy children eat a meal at the Avotse feeding program that benefits malnourished children with hot meals in Maropia Nord village in the region of Anosy, southern Madagascar September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Joel Kouam</figcaption></figure>



AMBOASARY SUD, Madagascar, Oct 11 (Reuters) &#8211; Some days, all Tsimamorekm Aly eats is sugary water. He&#8217;s happy if there&#8217;s a handful of rice. But with six young kids and a wife to support, he often goes without.



This is the fourth year that drought has devastated Aly&#8217;s home in southern Madagascar. Now more than one million people, or two out of five residents, of his Grand Sud region require emergency food aid in what the United Nations is calling a &#8220;climate change famine.&#8221;



&#8220;In previous years there was rain, a lot of rain. I grew sweet potatoes and I had a lot of money&#8230; I even got married because I was rich,&#8221; said Aly, 44.



&#8220;Things have changed,&#8221; he said, standing on an expanse of ochre dirt where the only green to be seen is tall, spiky cacti.



Climate change is battering the Indian Ocean island and several U.N. agencies have warned in the past few months of a &#8220;climate change famine&#8221; here.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-kenyan-insurer-pula-offers-lifeline-to-african-farmers-hit-by-climate-change">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/kenyan-insurer-pula-offers-lifeline-to-african-farmers-hit-by-climate-change-2/">Kenyan insurer Pula offers lifeline to African farmers hit by climate change</a></h3>



&#8220;The situation in the south of the country is really worrying,&#8221; said Alice Rahmoun, a spokeswoman with the United Nations&#8217; World Food Programme in Madagascar. &#8220;I visited several districts&#8230; and heard from families how the changing climate has driven them to hunger.&#8221;



Rainfall patterns in Madagascar are growing more erratic – they&#8217;ve been below average for nearly six years, said researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara.



&#8220;In some villages, the last proper rain was three years ago, in others, eight years ago or even 10 years ago,&#8221; said Rahmoun. &#8220;Fields are bare, seeds do not sprout and there is no food.&#8221;



Temperatures in southern Africa are rising at double the global rate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says. Cyclones, already more frequent in Madagascar than any other African country, are likely getting stronger as the earth warms, the U.S. government says.



Conflict has been a central cause of famine and hunger in countries such as Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, when fighting stopped people moving to find food. But Madagascar is at peace.



&#8220;Climate change strongly impacts and strongly accentuates the famine in Madagascar,&#8221; President Andry Rajoelina said while visiting the worst-affected areas earlier this month. &#8220;Madagascar is a victim of climate change.&#8221;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/insight-south-african-farmers-dream-of-drought-cover-on-climate-front-line/">South African farmers dream of drought cover on climate front line</a></h3>



The country produces less than 0.01% of global carbon dioxide emissions, the World Carbon Project says.



Half a million children are expected to be acutely malnourished in southern Madagascar, 110,000 severely so, the U.N. Children&#8217;s Fund says, causing developmental delays, disease and death.



Nutriset, a French company that produces emergency food Plumpy&#8217;Nut, opened a plant in southern Madagascar last week. It aims to annually produce 600 tonnes of therapeutic fortified food made of peanuts, sugar and milk for malnourished children.



The Malagasy government is also giving parcels of land to some families fleeing the worst-hit areas. Two hundred families received land with chickens and goats, which are more drought-resilient than cows. They were also encouraged to plant cassava, which is more drought-resilient than maize.



&#8220;It&#8217;s a natural disaster,&#8221; said Aly. &#8220;May God help us.&#8221; 



(Additional reporting and writing by Ayenat Mersie; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Susan Fenton)

TSNCC4ZZ7NLT3NNX7CAHGREFXI

Madagascar prays for rain as U.N. warns of ‘climate change famine’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106881485-16207651482021-05-06t180801z_207210362_rc2ian9odblc_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-latam-usa.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-412672" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106881485-16207651482021-05-06t180801z_207210362_rc2ian9odblc_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-latam-usa.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106881485-16207651482021-05-06t180801z_207210362_rc2ian9odblc_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-latam-usa-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106881485-16207651482021-05-06t180801z_207210362_rc2ian9odblc_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-latam-usa-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A healthcare worker holds syringes with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination centre, in El Paso, Texas, May 6, 2021. Jose Luis Gonzalez | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



Finland, Denmark and Sweden are limiting the use of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine in young people over concerns around rare cardiovascular side effects.



Finland’s national health authority, THL, announced Thursday that it would pause the use of Moderna’s Covid vaccine in young men. All males aged 30 or younger would be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine instead, THL said.



The decision by THL followed announcements from its Swedish and Danish counterparts on Wednesday that both would be restricting the use of the Moderna vaccine in similar demographics.



In Sweden, the use of the vaccine will be stopped in people born in 1991 or later, while Denmark is pausing the Moderna shot in everyone under the age of 18.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-issue"><a></a>What’s the issue?</h2>



The decision the three countries have made to limit the use of the Moderna vaccine centers around concerns it could be linked to cases of myocarditis, a condition where the heart muscle becomes inflamed. All three health authorities cited an unpublished Nordic study which had been sent to the European Medicines Agency for assessment, according to Reuters.



In most cases, people with myocarditis recover without any complications, but in some rare and more severe cases, there can be damage to the heart.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/moderna-plans-african-mrna-vaccine-factory-as-pressure-grows/">Moderna plans African mRNA vaccine factory as pressure grows</a></h3>



Myocarditis was most likely to develop in younger men and boys after receiving their second dose of the Moderna vaccine, according to Finland’s THL.



Speaking at a coronavirus news briefing Thursday, Mika Salminen, director of health security at THL, said the possible risks posed by the Moderna vaccine seemed to be higher for younger male individuals.



“THL’s instructions are that the Moderna vaccine should not be given to men and boys under the age of 30 for the time being, but that the Pfizer vaccine should be used instead,” he said, according to local media reports.



Finland offers Covid-19 vaccinations to everyone over the age of 12. Of the population eligible for vaccination in Finland, 84% have received their first dose and 72% have received two doses.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Sweden’s health body, meanwhile, said data suggested that instances of myocarditis and pericarditis — an inflammation of the outer lining of the heart — were higher among young people who had been immunized, Reuters reported Wednesday.



A spokesperson for Moderna was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. The company told Reuters that these are “typically mild cases and individuals tend to recover within a short time following standard treatment and rest.”



“The risk of myocarditis is substantially increased for those who contract COVID-19, and vaccination is the best way to protect against this,” the spokesperson added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Benefits vs. risks</h2>



Despite the risks associated with the immunization for young men, THL’s Salminen said Thursday that it was still important for everyone who was eligible to receive two doses of a vaccine.



According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the known risks of Covid-19 and its potentially severe complications far outweigh the possibility of having a rare adverse reaction to a vaccination. That includes the potential risk of developing myocarditis.



In August, a U.S. study found that males between the ages of 12 and 17 — the demographic most likely to develop myocarditis — were six times more likely to suffer heart inflammation from being infected with Covid-19 than from being vaccinated against the virus.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/who-backed-vaccine-hub-for-africa-to-copy-moderna-covid-19-shot/">WHO-backed vaccine hub for Africa to copy Moderna COVID-19 shot</a></h3>



After a second dose of a vaccine, there were 67 cases of myocarditis per million males in that age group. After contracting the coronavirus, the rate of myocarditis in that age group shot up to 450 cases per million, the study found.



Meanwhile, research from Imperial College London in March found that half of patients hospitalized with severe cases of Covid were left with damage to their hearts.



According to the U.S. CDC, most cases of post-vaccination myocarditis occur after a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine in male adolescents and young adults. Symptoms — which include pain or tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and heart palpitations&nbsp;— usually occur within days of vaccination.

106881485-16207651482021-05-06t180801z_207210362_rc2ian9odblc_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-latam-usa

Nordic countries are restricting the use of Moderna’s Covid vaccine. Here’s why

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="566" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/X53QBCLACBKQRIOWLFSQ3OBBKQ-820x566.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412666" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/X53QBCLACBKQRIOWLFSQ3OBBKQ-820x566.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/X53QBCLACBKQRIOWLFSQ3OBBKQ-300x207.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/X53QBCLACBKQRIOWLFSQ3OBBKQ-130x90.jpg 130w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/X53QBCLACBKQRIOWLFSQ3OBBKQ-768x530.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/X53QBCLACBKQRIOWLFSQ3OBBKQ-1536x1060.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/X53QBCLACBKQRIOWLFSQ3OBBKQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga speaks to a business conference in Budapest, Hungary, March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



PARIS, Oct 8 (Reuters) &#8211; A global deal to ensure big companies pay a minimum tax rate of at least 15% and make it harder for them to avoid taxation is set to be finalised on Friday after Ireland, Estonia and Hungary agreed to sign up, leaving a few holdouts isolated.



The agreement aims to end a four-decade-long &#8220;race to the bottom&#8221; by governments that have sought to attract investment and jobs by taxing multinational companies only lightly and allowing them to shop around for low tax rates.



Negotiations have been going on for four years, moving online during the pandemic, with support for a deal from U.S. President Joe Biden and the costs of COVID-19 giving additional impetus in recent months. Some 140 countries are now involved.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-these-charts-show-the-highest-and-lowest-corporate-tax-rates-around-the-world">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/these-charts-show-the-highest-and-lowest-corporate-tax-rates-around-the-world/">These charts show the highest and lowest corporate tax rates around the world</a></h3>



The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which has been leading the talks, is due to announce the outcome of Friday&#8217;s discussions around 1600 GMT.



The agreement will set a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% and let governments tax a greater share of foreign multinationals&#8217; profits.



It aims to prevent big groups from booking profits in low-tax countries like Ireland regardless of where their clients are, an issue that has become ever more pressing with the rise of tech giants that easily do business across borders.



Ireland and Estonia dropped their objections earlier on Thursday while Hungary said on Friday that it would sign up.



Finance Minister Mihaly Varga told reporters Hungary&#8217;s demand for a 10-year transition period had been met &#8220;so Hungary could join the deal with a good heart&#8221;.



&#8220;This is a difficult and complex decision but I believe it is the right one,&#8221; Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said after Ireland agreed to give up its prized 12.5% tax rate for large multinationals.



Announcing Tallinn&#8217;s support, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the minimum tax would change nothing for most Estonian entrepreneurs.



But some developing countries seeking a higher minimum tax rate say their interests have been sidelined to accommodate the interests of richer countries like Ireland, which had refused to sign a deal with a minimum tax rate higher than 15%.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/nigerian-tribunal-orders-multichoice-to-pay-50-of-disputed-4-4-bln-tax-bill/">Nigerian tribunal orders Multichoice to pay 50% of disputed $4.4 bln tax bill</a></h3>



Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman said on Thursday that proposals on the table forced developing countries to chose between &#8220;something bad and something worse&#8221;.



Holdouts cannot block the deal from going ahead, but they do risk not reaping benefits from it, meagre though they may be.



While Argentina reluctantly signed up to a previous version of the deal, Kenya and Nigeria have both held out while India, which had also backed the previous version, has since flagged concerns.



Once a deal emerges on Friday, it will then go to finance ministers from the Group of 20 economic powers to formally endorse at a meeting in Washington next week.



However, there remains some question about the U.S. position which depends in part on tough domestic tax reform negotiations going on in Congress.



Countries that back the deal are supposed to bring it onto their law books next year so that it can take effect from 2023, which many officials close to the talks describe as extremely tight.



(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Catherine Evans)

FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga speaks during a business conference in Budapest

Global corporate tax deal nears as holdouts drop objections

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/J55GWMDKU5P57NGOGOCAFPQ7HA-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412658" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/J55GWMDKU5P57NGOGOCAFPQ7HA-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/J55GWMDKU5P57NGOGOCAFPQ7HA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/J55GWMDKU5P57NGOGOCAFPQ7HA-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/J55GWMDKU5P57NGOGOCAFPQ7HA-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/J55GWMDKU5P57NGOGOCAFPQ7HA.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>People fetch water outside a copper and cobalt mine run by Sicomines in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 30, 2015. REUTERS/Aaron Ross/File Photo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



DAKAR, Oct 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Democratic Republic of Congo should renegotiate its $6 billion infrastructure-for-minerals deal with Chinese investors, according to the draft of a report commissioned by a global anti-corruption body of governments, companies and activists.



The draft, seen by Reuters, describes the deal that was first signed in 2008 as &#8220;unconscionable&#8221; and urges Congo&#8217;s government to cancel an amendment signed secretly in 2017 that sped up payments to Chinese mining investors and slowed reimbursements of investment in infrastructure.



The final report is expected to be released this month by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which tracks revenue flows in the oil and mining sectors and counts more than 50 countries, including Congo, as members.



The report has no legal force but, if the draft&#8217;s main conclusions remain, it could bolster Congo&#8217;s push to secure more favourable terms from mining contracts with Chinese investors.



President Felix Tshisekedi&#8217;s government is reviewing the 2008 contract and the reserve levels at China Molybdenum&#8217;s Tenke Fungurume mine after saying Congo was not getting a fair deal.



Prime Minister Sama Lukonde Kyenge told a mining conference on Thursday: &#8220;There has to be some adjustment.&#8221;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/imf-agrees-three-year-1-5-billion-extended-credit-facility-with-democratic-republic-of-congo/">IMF agrees three-year $1.5 billion extended credit facility with Democratic Republic of Congo</a></h3>



The moves represent rare pushback by Congo, the world&#8217;s leading producer of the battery metal cobalt and Africa&#8217;s top copper miner, against the Chinese investors who control most of its mining industry.



Under the 2008 deal struck with the government of former President Joseph Kabila, Chinese state-owned firms Sinohydro Corp and China Railway Group Limited agreed to build roads and hospitals financed by profits from Congo&#8217;s Sicomines cobalt and copper joint venture.



Critics say few of those projects have been realised.



Congo&#8217;s government spokesman said he had not read the draft and could not comment. EITI&#8217;s office in Congo referred Reuters to the terms of reference of the mission and declined to comment further. A Sicomines representative did not respond to requests for comment.



China Railway had no immediate comment. Sinohydro did not respond to a request for comment.



Fred Zhang, a senior Sicomines official, defended the deal in comments to Reuters last week, saying it had driven development for Congo&#8217;s people and Sicomines would disburse more funds as production rose.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-denunciation">&#8216;DENUNCIATION&#8217;</h2>



The draft, written by two Congolese consultants, recommends &#8220;the denunciation by the Congolese state of the unconscionable character of the joint-venture convention of April 22, 2008 and the return to the negotiations table by Sicomines shareholders&#8221;.



It says the Chinese companies&#8217; 68% stake in Sicomines is too high since the Congolese contributed all the mining assets and 32% of the initial capital.



It condemns the previously undisclosed 2017 amendment.



Under the 2008 contract, all of Sicomines&#8217; profits would initially go to reimbursing investments in Congo&#8217;s most urgent infrastructure projects. It was on that basis that parliament agreed to exempt Sicomines from all taxes, the draft says.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/copper-boosted-by-planned-labour-strikes-at-chile-mines/">Copper boosted by planned labour strikes at Chile mines</a></h3>



Under the 2017 amendment, seen by Reuters, only 65% of Sicomines&#8217; profits must initially go toward reimbursing the investments while 35% goes to shareholders.



The change could further slow the pace of the infrastructure projects, the draft says. To date, less than $1 billion of the expected $3 billion has been invested, about $1 billion less than projected at this stage, it says.



&#8220;This amendment constitutes a violation of the security of the interests of the Republic,&#8221; the draft says.



The draft report calls for re-evaluating Sicomines&#8217; reserves, saying a 2010 feasibility study 2010 was flawed, and cancelling another contract with the same Chinese investors to build a hydroelectric dam.



(Reporting by Aaron Ross in Dakar and Helen Reid in Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Sophie Yu in Beijing; Editing by Edmund Blair)

J55GWMDKU5P57NGOGOCAFPQ7HA

Congo’s $6 bln China mining deal ‘unconscionable’, says draft report

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411398" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Zambian presidential candidate for the opposition party United Party for National Development (UPND) Hakainde Hichilema gives a press conference at his residence, in Lusaka on August 11, 2021. &#8211; The UPND, the main rival to the ruling Patriotic Front (PF), is eager to tap into mounting disillusionment in the city&#8217;s poorest neighbourhoods, where dissent has grown since the last 2016 poll. (Photo by Patrick Meinhardt / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK MEINHARDT/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



LUSAKA, Oct 7 (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia&#8217;s government and state-owned companies owed more than $6 billion to Chinese creditors at the end of June, new debt figures published by the government on Thursday showed.



The copper-rich southern African country has been under pressure to publish updated debt numbers since a study released last month by the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI) said Zambia&#8217;s debt to Chinese lenders was $6.6 billion, around double the amount disclosed by the previous administration.



At the time of the CARI report the new government elected in August responded by saying its debt numbers were &#8220;broadly consistent&#8221; with the research group&#8217;s estimate.



In November last year Zambia became the first country on the African continent to default on its sovereign debt during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is in talks with the International Monetary Fund to try to secure a lending programme as a precursor to a debt restructuring.



According to a breakdown by the finance ministry on Thursday, Zambia&#8217;s central government owed $4.47 billion to Chinese creditors at the end of June, state companies owed $1.34 billion via facilities guaranteed by the government and state power utility Zesco owed a further $0.14 billion not guaranteed by the government.



An additional $225.5 million of interest arrears means total public sector exposure to Chinese creditors was $6.18 billion at the end of the second quarter, the ministry said in a statement.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-zambia-imf-make-progress-towards-bail-out-loan-programme">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/zambia-imf-make-progress-towards-bail-out-loan-programme/">Zambia, IMF make progress towards bail-out loan programme</a></h3>



Earlier on Thursday, Vice President Mutale Nalumango said in parliament that Zambia owed Chinese creditors $5.75 billion, but the finance ministry statement made clear that figure was only debt arranged by Chinese institutions.



Some Chinese entities had participated in facilities arranged by other creditors, the ministry clarified.



The $6.18 billion total exposure to Chinese creditors represents more than 40% of Zambia&#8217;s total publicly guaranteed and non-guaranteed external debt, which the government put at $14.67 billion at the end of June.



Nalumango said Zambia would restructure its debt in a transparent fashion, without favouritism. As well as Chinese entities, Zambia&#8217;s external creditors include Eurobond holders, who are owed $3 billion, as well as multilateral lending agencies and foreign governments.



The vice president said the debt stock would be periodically audited and that one such audit was under way.



Asked whether the previous government had understated the debt, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said loans amounting to $4.4 billion had been signed but not yet disbursed.



He said President Hakainde Hichilema&#8217;s administration was in discussions to try to cancel some of the undisbursed loans, without specifying with whom they were contracted. 



(Additional reporting and writing by Alexander Winning in Johannesburg; Editing by Alex Richardson, Steve Orlofsky and David Gregorio)

ZAMBIA-POLITICS-ELECTIONS-UPND

Zambia says it owed more than $6 bln to Chinese creditors in June

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106942568-16317460192021-09-15t222539z_1195629770_rc2kqp9cilc3_rtrmadp_0_un-guterres.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-412638" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106942568-16317460192021-09-15t222539z_1195629770_rc2kqp9cilc3_rtrmadp_0_un-guterres.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106942568-16317460192021-09-15t222539z_1195629770_rc2kqp9cilc3_rtrmadp_0_un-guterres-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106942568-16317460192021-09-15t222539z_1195629770_rc2kqp9cilc3_rtrmadp_0_un-guterres-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gestures during an interview with Reuters at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York, September 15, 2021. Andrew Kelly | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the inequitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines across the globe Friday, saying it was immoral and stupid.



Guterres spoke during a press briefing hosted by the World Health Organization where officials reiterated their goal of vaccinating 40% of every country’s population by the end of the year and 70% by the middle of 2022.



Vaccination rates have lagged behind the organization’s targets in much of the developing world: &nbsp;WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that less than 5% of Africa’s population has been fully vaccinated, while high- and upper-middle-income countries have used 75% of the shots produced so far.



“Not to have equitable distribution of vaccines is not only a question of being immoral, it is also a question of being stupid,” Guterres said.



Just 37% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, almost half the rate of Canada as emerging economies struggle to access the life-saving shots, Pan American Health Organization Director&nbsp;Dr. Carissa Etienne said at a separate briefing&nbsp;Wednesday.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-u-n-chief-takes-on-ethiopia-over-expelled-staff-show-me-proof">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/u-n-chief-takes-on-ethiopia-over-expelled-staff-show-me-proof/">U.N. chief takes on Ethiopia over expelled staff: show me proof</a></h3>



At least 10 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean reported vaccination rates of less than 25% as of Wednesday, and under 10% of people in Jamaica, Nicaragua and Haiti have received a full series of Covid doses.



“If we leave it going on and we allow for the virus to go on spreading like wildfire in the global south, there is a risk that one day, and that day can be very soon, there will be&#8230; another variant that will be able to resist vaccines,” Guterres said. “And all the vaccination effort made in developed countries to vaccinate the whole of their population one, two, or three times, all that effort will fall apart, and these people will not be protected.”



WHO officials said Tuesday that 56 countries missed the organization’s goal of immunizing 10% of their populations against Covid by the end of September. With the world approaching 5 million total Covid deaths, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for Covid, said that a lack of global vaccine access has resulted in people “dying unnecessarily.”



U.S. health officials have said that unvaccinated people represent nearly all of the country’s Covid deaths. Unvaccinated individuals are 11 times likelier to die from Covid and ten times more likely to develop symptoms that require hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



The unvaccinated are about 4.5 times likelier to contract the virus, the CDC added.

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Stupid and Immoral: UN Secretary General Condemns unequal distribution of Covid Vaccines

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="562" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/472OTSDNRBJA5GOZDMFVS2NF4Q-820x562.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-409687" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/472OTSDNRBJA5GOZDMFVS2NF4Q-820x562.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/472OTSDNRBJA5GOZDMFVS2NF4Q-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/472OTSDNRBJA5GOZDMFVS2NF4Q-117x80.jpg 117w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/472OTSDNRBJA5GOZDMFVS2NF4Q-768x526.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/472OTSDNRBJA5GOZDMFVS2NF4Q.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>
Funeral workers wearing personal protective equipment carry a casket during the burial of a COVID-19 victim, amid a nationwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown, at the Olifantsvlei cemetery, south-west of Joburg, South Africa January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



Oct 1 (Reuters) &#8211; Worldwide deaths related to COVID-19 surpassed 5 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, with unvaccinated people particularly exposed to the virulent Delta strain.



The variant has exposed the wide disparities in vaccination rates between rich and poor nations, and the upshot of vaccine hesitancy in some western nations.



More than half of all global deaths reported on a seven-day average were in the United States, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and India.



While it took just over a year for the COVID-19 <a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi">death toll to hit 2.5 million</a>, the next 2.5 million deaths were recorded in just under eight months, according to a Reuters analysis.



An average of 8,000 deaths were reported daily across the world over the last week, or around five deaths every minute. However, the global death rate has been slowing in recent weeks.



There has been increasing focus in recent days on getting vaccines to poorer nations, where many people are yet to receive a first dose, even as their richer counterparts have begun giving booster shots.



More than half of the world has yet to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">according to Our World in Data.</a>



The World Health Organization this week said its COVAX distribution programme would, for the first time, distribute shots only to countries with the lowest levels of coverage.



Co-led by the WHO, COVAX has since January largely allocated doses proportionally among its 140-plus beneficiary states according to population size.



&#8220;For the October supply we designed a different methodology, only covering participants with low sources of supply,&#8221; Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Vaccines, said in a recording of a conference presentation last week posted on the WHO&#8217;s website.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-pfizer-says-its-covid-vaccine-is-safe-and-generates-robust-immune-response-in-kids-ages-5-to-11">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/pfizer-says-its-covid-vaccine-is-safe-and-generates-robust-immune-response-in-kids-ages-5-to-11/">Pfizer says its Covid vaccine is safe and generates robust immune response in kids ages 5 to 11</a></h3>



The United States, which has been battling vaccine misinformation that has caused about one-third of the population to avoid inoculations, surpassed 700,000 deaths on Friday, the highest toll of any country.



U.S. cases and hospitalizations have been trending lower, but health officials are bracing for a possible resurgence as cooler weather forces more activities indoors.



Russia reported 887 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, the largest single-day death toll it has recorded since the pandemic began and the fourth day in a row it has set that record. Only 33% of Russia&#8217;s eligible population has received a first vaccine dose.



As a region, South America has the highest death toll in the world accounting for 21% of all reported deaths, followed by North America and Eastern Europe contributing more than 14% of all fatalities each, according to Reuters analysis.



However, India, one of the first countries ravaged by the Delta variant, has gone from an average of 4,000 deaths a day to less than 300 as its vaccination campaign is rolled out.



About 47% of India&#8217;s eligible population has received a first shot, with officials administering around 7,896,950 doses per day over the past week, a Reuters analysis of Our World in Data showed.



The Delta variant is now the dominant strain around the globe and has been reported in 187 out of 194 World Health Organization member countries.



(Reporting by Kavya B and Roshan Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jane Wardell)

472OTSDNRBJA5GOZDMFVS2NF4Q

Global COVID-19 deaths hit 5 million as Delta variant sweeps the world

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Sustained liquidity drives bullish T-bills

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Davos 2023: World Bank: Zambia needs ‘desperate’ debt relief under challenging Common Framework

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Madagascar prays for rain as U.N. warns of ‘climate change famine’

Nordic countries are restricting the use of Moderna’s Covid vaccine. Here’s why

Global corporate tax deal nears as holdouts drop objections

Congo’s $6 bln China mining deal ‘unconscionable’, says draft report

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Stupid and Immoral: UN Secretary General Condemns unequal distribution of Covid Vaccines

Global COVID-19 deaths hit 5 million as Delta variant sweeps the world

Will Women Return To The Workforce?

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