Category: INTERNATIONAL
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Soaring food, energy prices push 15m Africans into poverty
Some 15 million people in Africa were pushed into poverty in 2022 due to high food and energy prices, the African Development Bank (AfBD) has reported. However, the Bank indicated that the poverty effect of energy price increases was higher than food prices. This was because the energy impact was fully passed through household income,…
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UK announces partnerships with Africa and Caribbean to help manage debt and deal with climate crises
The UK has today June 22, 2023 announced new partnerships with developing countries to support their economic resilience in the wake of climate crises. The UK’s export credit agency UK Export Finance (UKEF) will work with twelve partner countries in Africa and the Caribbean to allow them to defer debt repayments if they are hit…
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World growth holding up, but interest rates to peak higher – Fitch
Global growth is showing near-term resilience but with core inflation remaining stubbornly high, central banks will have to continue tightening policy in the coming months, says Fitch Ratings in its June Global Economic Outlook (GEO), released today. With monetary policy adjustments and their impact on the economy proving more protracted, the global growth outlook for…
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Ken Ofori – Atta encourages African leaders to share in vision of Afreximbank
Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta has charged African leaders to share in the vision of the Pan- African bank to give deepened credence to the bank. He indicated that there is the need for Afreximbank to strategically position its self to meet the dynamic needs of the continent. According to him, although the bank…
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Afreximbank to establish African Quality Assurance Centres across Africa
As part of moves to strengthen intra African trade and ensure that goods and services exchanged on the continent meet global standards, the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with key stakeholders is rolling out African Quality Assurance Centres. The centres when fully activated will not only boost trade within the African Continent…
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Citi Business Festival: 10 tips to building resilient SMEs
How can the ordinary Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating in Ghana possess the ability to withstand the shocks in the business climate? That was the focus of the second forum of the 2023 edition of the Citi Business Festival organised by Citi TV/Citi FM. It was on the topic “Building Resilient SMEs”. Four renowned…
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WTO Chief urges African governments to increase trade, agric investment
The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called on African countries to create trading opportunities and increase investment in agriculture to address food security in Africa. In a speech read on her behalf at the 8th Africa Agribusiness and Science Week (AASW8) in Durban, Dr Okonjo-Iweala noted that one-fifth of…
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Mining propels Ghana to beat growth estimates in fourth quarter
Ghana’s economy grew more than forecast in the last quarter of 2022, even as the nation dealt with inflation well above 40%, a debt-payment moratorium and rising interest rates. Gross domestic product expanded 3.7% from a year earlier in the three months through December, compared with upwardly revised growth of 3.1% in the previous quarter,…
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BoG pushes for improvement in IMF’s lending framework to boost continent’s access to resources
The Bank of Ghana is advocating an upgrade in the lending framework of the International Monetary Fund. This, according to the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, will go a long way to help boost African countries’ access to the Fund’s resources. Addressing the 2023 Africa Consultative Group meeting in Washington DC, Governor…
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Foreign exchange: Several African countries have a shortage of US dollars – why this happens and how to fix it
A number of African countries, including Kenya, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana and Zambia, are currently experiencing shortages of US dollars. The dollar is the dominant currency in international transactions. These countries rely on the US currency to pay for foreign debts, essential goods and industrial inputs. Development economist Christopher Adam explains to The Conversation Africa’s…