Snapshot on the African Economy as @ 310323

Anglophone West Africa

Nigeria

On Tuesday, 28 March 2023, the House of Representatives accepted the Federal Government's proposal to borrow $973,474,971.38 from the China Development Bank. This came after the China-Exim Bank denied Nigeria's request for a loan of $22,798,446,773 that had previously been approved by the National Assembly.
The Central Bank of Nigeria stated that, total bank credit to the government increased from N24.7trn at the end of December 2022 to N28.4trn at the end of February 2023.
In its new draft guidelines, the Central Bank of Nigeria prohibits banks and other financial organizations applying for conversion licenses from increasing or decreasing their current banking network.
Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) set out to increase their cash withdrawal limits from the existing N20,000–N50,000 range to around N80,000–N100,000. This action was motivated by efforts to reduce the extended wait times at ATMs and banking halls.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that the average fare paid by air passengers in air travel for specified routes single journey decreased by 0.2% m/m, from N74,702.70 in January 2023 to N74,571.62 in February 2023. It, however, rose by 66.4% y/y, from N44,825.04 in February 2022.
The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) stated that the latest findings by the association indicated that farmers lost about N30bn due to the naira crisis, adding that all arms of the agricultural sector were hit by the "painful CBN policy." The association also highlighted that Many farmers, particularly those in remote villages, switched to trade by barter to feed during the period.

Ghana

In an effort to ensure that inflation decelerates more quickly, Ghana's central bank increased its benchmark interest rate by more than anticipated. The MPC increased the important benchmark rate by 150bps to 29.5%, prolonging its steepest phase of monetary policy tightening.
The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) on domestic currency deposits for banks was also changed by the committee, going from 12.0% to 14.0% with effect from 13-Apr-2023. In order to alleviate the market's excess liquidity, the Bank will also scale up its liquidity management efforts.
The committee reaffirmed its commitment to keeping an eye on changes in the banking industry and using other macroprudential measures to promote financial stability.

Francophone West Africa

Benin

Benin Republic’s long-term foreign currency debt rating was affirmed by Fitch at B+. Her long-term issuer default rating was affirmed by Fitch at B+. Her long-term local currency issuer default rating was affirmed at B+. Outlook remains stable.

Chad

According to a loading program seen by Bloomberg, Chad plans to load 153.0kbpd of Doba crude in May-23 (vs 158.0kbpd in April). It will be its highest production level since Apr-22

Mali

The IMF projects Mali’s economic growth to accelerate from 3.7% in 2022 to 5.0% in 2023 and 2024 thanks to strong agricultural and gold output. The outlook is based on elections taking place in 2024, leading to a resumption of external support for budget and foreign investment.

East Africa

Kenya

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) raised its benchmark interest rate by 75bps to 9.50% from 8.75% at its March 2023 meeting, surpassing the market’s expectation of a smaller 25bps increase. This brings borrowing costs to the highest since mid-2018.
The policymakers noted that the sustained inflationary pressures, elevated global risks, and potential impact on the domestic economy were factors considered for a further hike in its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).
Kenya's trade surplus with Africa has risen to the fastest in six years, boosting the government's renewed push to integrate trading blocs on the continent. The country’s trade surplus climbed to Sh88.3bn in 2022 compared to the Sh80.5bn increase in the prior year, marking the highest value since 2016.

Tanzania

Tanzania's national debt increased by 10.5% y/y to TSh71.3tn at the end of 30-Jun-2022 from TSh64.5tn a year earlier. Notably, internal debt rose by 26.8% y/y to TSh24.0tn (vs TSh18.9tn), while external debt climbed marginally by 3.2% y/y to TSh47.3tn (vs TSh45.8tn) for the 2021/2022 fiscal year.
According to the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), freight handled grew above its pre-pandemic levels to 35,130.8 tonnes in 2022, representing a 32.0% y/y increase from 26,614.3 tonnes in 2021.
Tanzania and Kenya are working on a train link to reduce logistics and trade tariffs between the nations. The decision was taken to promote trade between the two countries and boost the amount of locally produced commodities exchanged.

Southern Africa

Angola

The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, informed the public about the integrated project of five railway stations to link the city centre to the New International Airport of Luanda.
The railway connection stations are estimated to cost $255.0mn, while the railway branch line is budgeted at $162.0mn, including the communications and signaling project.

Botswana

President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced Botswana would acquire a 24.0% stake in Belgian gem trader HB Antwerp in a deal that could challenge the southern African nation’s 50-year partnership with De Beers as part of the agreement.

South Africa

South African public servants are likely to accept the government’s latest wage offer, according to an initial estimate of a ballot of labour union members. Employee groups representing about 1.3 million government workers are seeking a mandate from their members to accept a 7.5% increase in their pay in the fiscal year beginning on 01-Apr-2023.
The state-owned ports and rail company Transnet SOC Ltd announced that South African Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan would travel to China in Apr-20223 to discuss an impasse that’s blocked the delivery of locomotives and spare parts. Gordhan will meet his Chinese counterpart to discuss the failure of a unit of state-owned CRRC Corp. to meet requirements set by South Africa’s central bank and tax authority.
South Africa’s government is taking legal advice on handling an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he attends a BRICS summit in Aug-2023.
Bloomberg reports showed the South Africa breakeven inflation rate for the 10-year CPI-linked bonds fell two basis points to 6.23% on Thursday, 30-Mar-2023, from the previous business day. The measure is headed for the second daily fall. Breakevens fell 25bps YTD and fell 2bps this month.

Zambia

The Zambian Statistics Agency revealed that Zambia's trade surplus narrowed to ZMW2.8bn in Feb-2023 from ZMW6.1bn in Jan-2023.
The body also revealed that Zambian inflation quickened to a three-month high in March as a slide in the currency, primarily driven by the country’s stalled debt restructuring talks, pushed up the price of imports such as gasoline and cereals. Annual consumer-price growth accelerated in Feb-2022 to 9.9%, from 9.6% in Jan-2022. Consumers’ prices rose 1.0m/m in Feb-2023 from 1.9% m/m the month prior.
In addition, Zambia's GDP rose 5.6% y/y in Q4-2022 versus revised +6.0% y/y in Q3-2022.

Zimbabwe

Chief Executive Officer of Premier African Minerals Ltd, George Roach, said in a statement that the recently constructed pilot lithium processing plant (50,000 tons of spodumene concentrates per annum) would start operations soon.
According to Bloomberg reports, Zimbabwe owes creditors more than $13.0bn as of Oct-2022. The southern African nation has been locked out of international capital markets since defaulting on payments to the World Bank and other multilateral lenders more than two decades ago.
In addition, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube revealed that Zimbabwe had raised a $193.3 million loan from South Africa’s Standard Bank Ltd., its Zimbabwean unit and Absa Group Ltd. to finance public hospitals and clinics.
Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc Issued escrow shares regarding acquiring the Bilboes gold project in Zimbabwe.
The government of Zimbabwe donated 300 metric tonnes of maize to Malawi following the devastating effects of Cyclone Freddy that hit some parts of the country.

Central Africa

Cameroon

The Bank of Central African States raised its benchmark interest rate from 4.5% to 5.0%. This follows the revision of its forecast for year-end inflation from 4.8% to 6.4%. The sub-region’s 202 economic growth estimate was revised lower from 3.0% to 2.7%.

Democratic Republic of Congo