Anglophone West Africa

Nigeria

• The House of Representatives passed, for second reading, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria Act 2015 (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to empower the quality assurance body to certify petroleum products imported into the country. Notably, this comes about ten months after the importation of adulterated PMS into Nigeria, which caused a disruption in the supply chain of the product in the country.
• According to oil marketers, the queues for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, may continue in many states despite the 17 kobo slash in the ex-depot price of the commodity.
• For context, NNPC had reduced its ex-depot price of petrol from N148.17/litre to N148/litre, with a promise that independent marketers, who control about 85.0% of the filling stations in Nigeria, would start getting the product at this new rate.
• The Federal Government is set to complete the concession of the $1.3bn Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant by Mar-2023. It will commence operations by the second quarter of the same year.
• A report distributed at the 2022 Retreat for the Development Finance Department revealed that the CBN disbursed a total of N9.7tn through its intervention program, with the manufacturing, energy and agriculture sectors receiving 32.6%, 23.1% and 22.8% of the disbursed funds, respectively.
• The regional VP for Africa and the Middle East of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Kamil Alawadhi, revealed that the airlines would pay an extra $222.0bn for fuel this year as the average price of jet fuel rose to $138.8/bbl.
• Data from the World Bank International Debt Report revealed that Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) declined from $6.0bn in 2010 to $2.4bn in 2021. Capital inflows remain suppressed thus far in 2022. We await the release of the Q3-2022 Capital Importation report by the NBS. The World Bank also projected that debt servicing would gulp 123.4% of FG’s revenue in 2023.

Ghana

• The IMF and the Ghanaian government have reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies and reforms to be supported by a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3.0bn.
• The Ghanaian Statistical Service revealed that consumer prices rose by 50.3% y/y and 8.6% m/m in Nov-2022 from a 40.4% y/y and 2.7% m/m increase in Oct-2022.
• Fitch Ratings has downgraded Ghana's Long-Term Local-Currency (LTLC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'C' from 'CC'. In addition, the issue ratings on local-currency bonds issued domestically have also been downgraded to 'C' from 'CC'. However, Fitch has affirmed Ghana's Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at 'CC.'
• The Director of the Forestry Commission Training Center, Mr Andrew Okrah, revealed that Ghana had received $486.2mn as the first payment from carbon sales.
• Mr Irchad Razaaly, the European Union Ambassador to Ghana, stated that the European Union-funded Investment Promotion and Business Linkages Project under the Ghana Employment and Social Protection (GESP) programme has ended after four years of implementation.
• The Agribusiness and Financial Services Team Leader for Ghana Market Systems and Resilience Activity (MSR), Mr Raymond Denteh, revealed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided a grant of $35.9mn to strengthen agric market systems in Ghana. 

Francophone West Africa

Ivory Coast

• Tullow Oil signed a production sharing contract for offshore exploration license CI-803 in Ivory Coast. In addition, Tullow will operate the license with 90.0% equity; PetroCi holds the remaining 10.0%.
• According to a regulatory filing from Mota-Engil, a Portuguese building company, its subsidiary in Africa signed a contract in the Ivory Coast with Endeavour Mining Plc worth about $600.0mn
• Furthermore, Mota-Engil agrees to provide services that include mine development, pit de-watering, free digging, drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling ore and waste.
• Ivory Coast is returning to the regional bond market, seeking to raise 3.1tn CFA francs ($5.0bn) to finance government operations in 2023 as higher yields continue to deter it from international bond markets. 
• According to Finance Minister Adama Coulibaly, The West African nation is targeting interest rates of no more than 5.5%. This debt is part of mobilising the budget of 11.6tn CFA francs for the next year, 2023.
• According to Fitch Ratings, the external debt service burden due among Sub-Sahara African countries rated by them, excluding South Africa, Zambia, and Ghana, will rise by 4.2% from $21.4bn this year to $22.3bn in 2023.

Senegal

• According to the National Agency of Statistics and Demography, Senegal's consumer prices rose 14.1% y/y in Nov-2022 versus 13.0% in Oct-2022.

East Africa

Kenya

• Kenya’s credit rating was downgraded to B from B+ by Fitch Ratings. This is as the country faces large debt obligations, including a $2.0bn Eurobond maturing in Jun-2024, which Fitch believes will add pressure on its foreign reserves.   
• Globeleq Generation Ltd. and a consortium of lenders including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Finnfund and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank have agreed on debt funding to develop a 35.0MW geothermal power plant in Kenya. The $108.0mn project will commence in Q1-2023 and will begin feeding the grid in 2025.

Rwanda

• According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, Rwanda’s urban CPI rose 21.7% y/y in Nov-2022 compared to 20.1% in Oct-2022.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $319.0mn for Rwanda from its Resilience and Sustainability Facility under a new financing agreement aimed at supporting Rwanda’s agenda to build resilience to climate change and help to catalyze further financing.

Tanzania

• According to the National Bureau of Statistics Tanzania, consumer prices rose 4.9% y/y in Nov-2022, equivalent to the 4.9% y/y increase in Oct-2022.
• According to the Director of Economic Statistics at the National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania has recorded a 64.0% increase in the number of foreign tourists that have visited the country between Jan and Oct-2022 from the same period in 2021. He stated that 1.2mn foreign tourists have visited the country in the period.

Uganda

• According to a report by Uganda’s Coffee Development Authority, the country’s coffee exports declined 6.0% y/y to 457,244 bags in Oct-22.  However, the value of the bean exports rose 10.0% y/y to $67.1mn.
• The Ugandan Revenue Authority has issued a guide on the taxation of the petroleum sector for 2022-23. Topics covered include the regulatory framework, the tax incentives for contractors, and tax administration measures to facilitate businesses.
• In a letter addressed to potential bilateral investors, the Finance Minister disclosed that the country is seeking to structure medium to long-term financing of EUR500.0mn ($7.6mn) to finance its 2022/23 budget.

Southern Africa

South Africa

• According to Statistics South Africa, headline inflation eased to 7.4% y/y in Nov-2022 from 7.6% in the prior month, below market expectations of 7.5%. This is the lowest reading since Jun-2022, mainly due to a slowdown in transportation prices. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were up by 0.3%, following a 0.4% rise in the prior month.
• The deceleration in general price movement bolsters the case for a less aggressive interest rate hike early next year. The South Africa Reserve Bank had earlier raised its benchmark interest rate by 75bps for the third straight meeting in Nov-2022.
• In addition, South Africa’s retail sales declined by 0.6% y/y in Oct-2022, following a downwardly revised 0.4% y/ decrease in the previous month. It was the second consecutive month of contraction in retail activity and at the quickest pace since Jun-2022. However, the positive news is the sustained m/m improvement as retail trade rose by 0.4% m/m in Oct-2022, from a 0.2% m/m increase in Sep-2022.
• South Africa’s statistics agency is considering including self-generated power in its monthly electricity generation data as more households and businesses reduce their reliance on state-owned utility Eskom Holdings.

Angola

• According to the Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Angola’s annual inflation eased for the tenth consecutive month to 15.2% y/y in Nov-2022 from 16.7% in Oct-2022. This was the lowest reading since Jan-2016, on the back of a stable supply of essential goods. On a m/m basis, consumer prices increased by 0.8% in Nov-2022.
• According to the Angolan Tax Authority (ATA), the country collected Kwz10.3tn (€19.0bn) in tax revenue in 9M-2022, of which 70.0% of the total is related to tax revenues from the oil sector. This signals improvement in tax collection, up 5.1% y/y from the total Kwz9.8bn (€18.0bn) tax revenue generated in 9M-2021.
• ABD Angola and US company Acrow Bridge have announced a $371.0mn commitment to develop, finance, and build 186 steel bridges across Angola starting in 2023.

Zambia

• British International Investment has provided a $50.0mn loan to the Zambian government to boost climate financing and entrepreneurship in the country. The fund is directed to provide finance for small and medium-sized enterprises aimed at building climate and gender investment capacity within the Zambia state.
• The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has made a net collection of K82.9bn between Jan-Nov 2022, up 6.3% y/y compared to the K78.0bn collected in the same period in 2021. Notably, the authority disbursed K15.1bn in Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds to businesses as of Nov-2022.
• Egypt and Zambia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides to enhance cooperation in communications and information technology. The agreement also includes strengthening cooperation in building human capacities, artificial intelligence, e-learning, digital inclusion and infrastructure.

Zimbabwe

• The President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has announced that the country is now food secure and will not import food until next year. It was noted that 544,000MT of food, comprising 467,000MT of maize and 77,000MT of traditional grains, had been delivered by farmers to the country’s Grain Marketing Board (GMB), which should cover 11 months of consumption. This comes as a strong contrast to the claims of food insecurity by aid organisations.

Central Africa

Cameroon

• The National Hydrocarbons Corp. Cameroon disclosed that the country’s Natural gas production in the first 10 months of 2022 climbed 8.1% to 2.0bn cubic feet. Furthermore, Oil and gas revenue paid into state coffers rose 91.0% to 614.3bn CFA francs, driven by higher oil prices. Notably, Petroleum revenue is projected to contribute about 807.0bn CFA francs or 12.7% to Cameroon’s 2023 budget.

Democratic Republic of Congo

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a memorandum of understanding with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to explore ways to support their plan to develop an electric-vehicle value chain together.
• Furthermore, the two Central African countries are major producers of copper and cobalt, key metals in electric vehicles and batteries. Earlier this year they created an electric-vehicle battery council to explore the production of batteries in the region.
• KCB Group Plc, the second-biggest bank by assets in Kenya, acquired a controlling stake in Trust Merchant Bank SA in the Democratic Republic of Congo after securing regulatory approval for the transaction.