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African countries scramble to the Eurobond market
At a time of depleting external reserves and falling oil prices, Nigeria is approaching the international capital markets to raise $3.3billion. The Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, mentioned that the borrowed funds will be partly used for funding the 2020 budget. It will be interesting to see investor reaction to the Federal Government’s attempt to raise money for general borrowing and not for project specific financing.
But Nigeria is not alone in the debt raising scramble amongst African countries. Ghana recently recorded a successful Eurobond sale ($3billion) which was five times oversubscribed. This is in spite of the closeness to the country’s next election in December, 2020. The success is evidence of investor confidence in its reform policies and business friendly environment.
Other African countries including Gabon and Benin Republic are also in the fray for debt raising at the Eurobond market.
African Union (AU) Summit- Summit over, Policies Constant
The 33rd AU summit ended on Monday, February 10, 2020 with all African leaders in attendance. The summit was themed “Silencing the Guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development”. At the summit, the performance of the continent in achieving the sustainable development goals and Agenda 2063 was encouraged. However, leaders were urged to do more, with special focus on peace and security. AU is also emphasizing the need for the continent to have a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.
Rwanda to achieve 100% electrification in 2024 – Rwanda’s audacious economy
Rwanda with an economic growth rate of 11.9% scored another major economic victory with the sale of 49% of the equity of its flag carrier Rwandair to Qatar airways. In addition, it announced its determination to achieve its objective of 100% electrification by 2024. The country hopes to accomplish this goal by a combination of renewable and thermal energy sources. Currently, Rwanda generates 216 MW of power for a population of about 12.3mn as against approximately 4,000 MW produced in Nigeria for a population of about 200million. Rwanda’s electricity per capita is 0.018 KW. If this succeeds, it is definitely a model many other African countries should emulate.
This edition of the Afriscope is coming at a time of serious geopolitical, multilateral trade, debt and economic policy reforms across the continent. It goes further to confirm the notion that you may not like Africa but you definitely cannot ignore her.
It promises to be a great read!
