<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="780" height="470" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/3214-netflix-estimates-100-million-households-are-sharing-passwords-and-suggests-a-global-crackdown-is-coming-780x470-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416587" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/3214-netflix-estimates-100-million-households-are-sharing-passwords-and-suggests-a-global-crackdown-is-coming-780x470-1.jpg 780w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/3214-netflix-estimates-100-million-households-are-sharing-passwords-and-suggests-a-global-crackdown-is-coming-780x470-1-300x181.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/3214-netflix-estimates-100-million-households-are-sharing-passwords-and-suggests-a-global-crackdown-is-coming-780x470-1-149x90.jpg 149w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/3214-netflix-estimates-100-million-households-are-sharing-passwords-and-suggests-a-global-crackdown-is-coming-780x470-1-768x463.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption>Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, attends a press conference in Mexico City, Mexico. Hector Vivas | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Today could be a dark day for your ex-boyfriend’s brother.



Netflix, the world’s largest streaming video company, warned a global crackdown on password sharing is coming. It seems like a serious warning this time, and it could mean an end to the rampant practice of borrowing a family member’s or friend’s — or loose acquaintance’s — login information.



Netflix said it estimates more than 30 million U.S. and Canadian households are using a shared password to access its content. The company said more than 100 million additional households were likely using a shared password worldwide.



In its quarterly shareholder letter, Netflix acknowledged it has purposefully allowed generous out-of-home password sharing because it helped get users hooked on the service. But with competition from Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, NBCUniversal, Apple TV+ and other streamers eating into its growth, Netflix said it wants the millions of households sharing passwords to start paying.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/google-to-set-up-first-africa-product-development-centre-in-nairobi/">Google to set up first Africa product development centre in Nairobi</a></h3>



“Our relatively high household penetration — when including the large number of households sharing accounts — combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds,” Netflix said in its letter. “Account sharing as a percentage of our paying membership hasn’t changed much over the years, but, coupled with the first factor, means it’s harder to grow membership in many markets — an issue that was obscured by our COVID growth.”



Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 paid subscribers in the first quarter ended March 31 — the first time in more than 10 years Netflix has lost subscribers during a quarter. The company projected it will lose 2 million more subscribers in the second quarter.



The streaming platform currently has 222 million subscribers worldwide. It enjoyed booming growth during the pandemic, but that customer surge has subsided — and now turned negative — as Covid-19 quarantines have largely lifted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planning-the-crackdown"><a></a>Planning the crackdown</h2>



Netflix has lived with password sharing because the company was, in the words of co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings, “doing fine” without taking any strong actions.



“In terms of [password sharing], no plans on making any changes there,” Hastings said in 2016. “Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with, because there’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids &#8230;. so there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is.”



Netflix has built a consumer friendly brand over the years, and allowing password sharing has helped with that image.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/first-covid-now-floods-empty-south-africas-eastern-beach-resorts/">First COVID, now floods empty South Africa’s eastern beach resorts</a></h3>



“Sharing likely helped fuel our growth by getting more people using and enjoying Netflix,” the company said in its shareholder note. “And we’ve always tried to make sharing within a member’s household easy, with features like profiles and multiple streams.”



But times have changed. And when the growth stops, attitudes tend to change.



Earlier this year, Netflix began testing different ways to curb password sharing in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru. Executives said on the company’s earnings call Tuesday that it could expand the model it laid out in those countries, charging extra to accounts that share passwords out of home.



Netflix didn’t outline a concrete global strategy yet but suggested global changes could come as early as 2023.

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Netflix estimates 100 million households are sharing passwords and suggests a global crackdown is coming

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107047106-NYSE-Traders-Photo-Press-20220414-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416580" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107047106-NYSE-Traders-Photo-Press-20220414-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107047106-NYSE-Traders-Photo-Press-20220414-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107047106-NYSE-Traders-Photo-Press-20220414-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107047106-NYSE-Traders-Photo-Press-20220414-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107047106-NYSE-Traders-Photo-Press-20220414-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107047106-NYSE-Traders-Photo-Press-20220414-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



The International Monetary Fund has warned of more market sell-offs as central banks try to combat higher inflation and ease back on pandemic stimulus measures.



Market players had started the year on an optimistic footing, predicting some economic momentum on the back of an easing of Covid-19 restrictions, which would likely provide a boost to stocks. However, since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 that outlook has worsened — with further supply chain shocks and energy price rises.



“There is certainly a risk of further sell-offs,” Tobias Adrian, director for monetary and capital markets at the IMF, told CNBC Tuesday.



“The intended consequences of monetary tightening is to tighten financial conditions to slow down economic activity and I would not be surprised if we were to see a certain amount of readjustment of asset valuations going forward and that could be in equity markets as well as in corporate bond markets and sovereign markets,” he added.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-imf-cuts-global-growth-forecasts-on-russia-ukraine-war-says-risks-to-economy-have-risen-sharply">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/imf-cuts-global-growth-forecasts-on-russia-ukraine-war-says-risks-to-economy-have-risen-sharply/">IMF cuts global growth forecasts on Russia-Ukraine war, says risks to economy have risen sharply</a></h3>



The Fund’s warning comes at a time of high uncertainty for some of the key central banks.



The U.S. Federal Reserve expects to hike interest rates six more times in 2022, while the European Central Bank confirmed last week it is ending its asset purchase program in the third quarter.



However, this monetary tightening could be accelerated if inflation remains high, which could impact market moves. The euro zone, for instance, registered another record level in inflation numbers last month at 7.5% on an annual basis; and the U.S. reported its highest consumer price figures since 1981.



“The risk is rising that inflation expectations drift away from central bank inflation targets, prompting a more aggressive tightening response from policymakers,” the IMF said Tuesday at its latest World Economic Outlook report.



In its latest economic assessment, the IMF said high inflation will be around for longer than previously anticipated. It also estimated the inflation rate will reach 7.7% in the United States this year and 5.3% in the euro zone.

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IMF warns of further market sell-offs as central banks adjust policy

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GettyImages-1238893740-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416567" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GettyImages-1238893740-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GettyImages-1238893740-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GettyImages-1238893740-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GettyImages-1238893740-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GettyImages-1238893740-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GettyImages-1238893740-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Denmark&#8217;s Minister for Immigration and Integration Mattias Tesfaye speaks to the press ahead of the Extraordinary Meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Brussels on March 3, 2022. (Photo by François WALSCHAERTS / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS WALSCHAERTS/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



COPENHAGEN, April 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Denmark is in talks with Rwanda about&nbsp;setting up a&nbsp;new&nbsp;procedure for&nbsp;transferring asylum seekers to the east African nation, mirroring a similar move by Britain announced just last week.



Denmark, which has gained notoriety in the last decade for its increasingly harsh immigration policies, passed a law last year that allows refugees arriving on Danish soil to be moved to asylum centres in a partner country.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2NL0G9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



But the Nordic nation, which drew the anger of human rights advocates, the United Nations and the European Commission over the move, had yet to find a partner country at that time.



&#8220;Our dialogue with the Rwandan government includes a mechanism for the transfer of asylum seekers,&#8221; Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye said in an emailed statement to Reuters on Wednesday.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-imf-cuts-global-growth-forecasts-on-russia-ukraine-war-says-risks-to-economy-have-risen-sharply">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/imf-cuts-global-growth-forecasts-on-russia-ukraine-war-says-risks-to-economy-have-risen-sharply/">IMF cuts global growth forecasts on Russia-Ukraine war, says risks to economy have risen sharply</a></h3>



The deal would aim to &#8220;ensure a more dignified approach than the criminal network of human traffickers that characterises migration across the Mediterranean today,&#8221; he added.



Last week, Britain said it&nbsp;planned&nbsp;to relocate thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda,&nbsp;in a&nbsp;new deal aimed at&nbsp;smashing&nbsp;people-smuggling networks and stemming the flow of migrants.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2WC0AV&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Denmark has not yet struck a deal with Rwanda, the minister said, but immigration speakers in parliament had been summoned to a meeting on the matter on Thursday next week. The government needs parliamentary backing for a potential deal with Rwanda.



(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard;Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

BELGIUM-EU-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT

Denmark in talks with Rwanda on transfer of asylum-seekers

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BE2FA7DW6VJP3AYQ5S5CUCMQO4-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-414305" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BE2FA7DW6VJP3AYQ5S5CUCMQO4-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BE2FA7DW6VJP3AYQ5S5CUCMQO4-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BE2FA7DW6VJP3AYQ5S5CUCMQO4-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BE2FA7DW6VJP3AYQ5S5CUCMQO4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BE2FA7DW6VJP3AYQ5S5CUCMQO4.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its global growth projections for 2022 and 2023, saying the economic hit from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/19/russia-ukraine-live-updates.html">Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine</a>&nbsp;will “propagate far and wide.”



The Washington-based institution is now projecting a 3.6% GDP rate for the global economy this year and for 2023. This represents a 0.8 and 0.2 percentage point drop, respectively, from its forecasts published in January.



“Global economic prospects have been severely set back, largely because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, economic counsellor at the IMF, said in a blog post Tuesday, marking the release of the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook report.



Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 with officials like NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg noting that Moscow is hoping to gain control of the whole of its neighbor.



“The effects of the war will propagate far and wide, adding to price pressures and exacerbating significant policy challenges,” Gourinchas said in his blogpost.



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/18/world-bank-slashes-global-growth-forecast-to-3point2percent-from-4point1percent-citing-ukraine-war-.html">World Bank also cut its global growth expectations</a>&nbsp;on Monday, now estimating a growth rate for 2022 of 3.2%, down from 4.1%.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ukraine-to-contract-35"><a></a>Ukraine to contract 35%</h2>



The United States, Canada, the U.K. and the European Union have imposed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/05/european-union-could-ban-russian-coal-imports-sources-say.html">several rounds of sanctions targeting Russian banks, oligarchs and energy</a>.



The IMF said these penalties will have “a severe impact on the Russian economy,” which estimated that the country’s GDP will fall by 8.5% this year, and by 2.3% in 2023.



However, the fund has forecast an even bleaker assessment for the Ukrainian economy.



“For 2022, the Ukrainian economy is expected to contract by 35%,” the IMF said in its latest economic assessment, while adding that more precise analysis on the economic hit was “impossible to obtain.”



“Even if the war were to end soon, the loss of life, destruction of physical capital, and flight of citizens will severely impede economic activity for many years to come,” the organization said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Inflation concerns</h2>



More broadly, Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine has intensified supply shocks to the global economy, while also bringing about new challenges.



“Russia is a major supplier of oil, gas, and metals, and, together with Ukraine, of wheat and corn. Reduced supplies of these commodities have driven their prices up sharply,” the fund said Tuesday.



This is expected to hurt lower-income households globally and lead to higher inflation for longer than previously anticipated. The IMF estimates the inflation rate will reach 7.7% in the United States this year and 5.3% in the euro zone.



“The risk is rising that inflation expectations drift away from central bank inflation targets, prompting a more aggressive tightening response from policymakers,” the fund said.



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/federal-reserve/">U.S. Federal Reserve</a>&nbsp;expects to hike interest rates six more times in 2022, while the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/european-central-bank/">European Central Bank</a>&nbsp;confirmed last week it is ending its asset purchase program in the third quarter.



However, this monetary tightening could be accelerated if inflation remains high.



The latest IMF economic outlook also points to concerns about the 5 million Ukrainian refugees who have sought support in neighboring countries, such as Poland, Romania and Moldova, and the ensuing economic pressures for these nations from supporting them.

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IMF cuts global growth forecasts on Russia-Ukraine war, says risks to economy have risen sharply

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="517" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-820x517.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-416545" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-820x517.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-300x189.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-143x90.jpeg 143w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-768x484.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-1536x969.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund &#8211; World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. Johannes Christo | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON &#8212; The World Bank lowered its annual global growth forecast for 2022 on Monday by nearly a full percentage point, down from 4.1% to 3.2%, citing the impact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having on the world economy.



World Bank President David Malpass told reporters on a conference call that the largest single factor in the reduced growth forecast was a projected economic contraction of 4.1% across Europe and Central Asia, according to Reuters.



Other factors behind the slowdown in growth from January’s forecast include higher food and fuel costs being borne by consumers in developed economies across the world, said Malpass.



These are partly the result of Western sanctions on Russian energy, which have driven up the price of oil and gas worldwide. Supply disruptions to Ukrainian agricultural exports are also cited as contributing factors to pushing prices higher.



Russia has blockaded Ukraine’s major Black Sea ports, making it extremely dangerous for shipping vessels carrying grain and other products to travel the key maritime pathway connecting Ukraine to the rest of the world.



The World Bank is “preparing for a continued crisis response, given the multiple crises,” Malpass told reporters. “Over the next few weeks, I expect to discuss with our board, a new 15-month crisis response envelope of around $170 billion to cover April 2022 through June 2023.”



This Ukraine crisis financing package is even larger than the one the World Bank organized for Covid-19 relief, which topped out at $160 billion.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-imf-chief-says-fed-rate-hike-could-throw-cold-water-on-global-recovery">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/imf-chief-says-fed-rate-hike-could-throw-cold-water-on-global-recovery/">IMF chief says Fed rate hike could ‘throw cold water’ on global recovery</a></h3>



Still, the damage that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused to the global economy pales in comparison to the catastrophic effect it has had on the economy of Ukraine, and to a lesser extent that of Russia.



Earlier this month, the World Bank projected that Ukraine’s annual GDP would fall by 45.1%, an astonishing figure for a country of more than 40 million people.



Before the war, analysts had predicted that Ukraine’s GDP would rise sharply in the coming years.



Russia’s economy is also taking a major hit, largely due to the impact of NATO- and Western-backed sanctions and trade embargoes.



In early April, the World Bank predicted that Moscow’s GDP would fall 11.2% this year as a result of the sanctions.



Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday insisted that Western powers had failed in what he called their “blitz” campaign of economic warfare against Russia.



After falling sharply in the first weeks of the war, the Russian ruble has recovered much of its value. But economists says this recovery is an illusion created by strict internal currency controls imposed by the Kremlin, which have falsely inflated the value of the ruble inside Russia.

106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report

World Bank slashes global growth forecast to 3.2% from 4.1%, citing Ukraine war

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P64ABSGIEBNHJMWOUR3LEQZUCU-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416491" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P64ABSGIEBNHJMWOUR3LEQZUCU-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P64ABSGIEBNHJMWOUR3LEQZUCU-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P64ABSGIEBNHJMWOUR3LEQZUCU-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P64ABSGIEBNHJMWOUR3LEQZUCU-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P64ABSGIEBNHJMWOUR3LEQZUCU-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P64ABSGIEBNHJMWOUR3LEQZUCU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes questions in Parliament, in London, Britain June 23, 2021. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



DUNGENESS, England, April 14 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Britain could send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda to be resettled under a new partnership, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday as he outlined measures designed to tackle the problem of cross-Channel migration.



&#8220;We must ensure that the only route to asylum in the UK is a safe and legal one,&#8221; Johnson said in a speech on Thursday in Kent, southeast England, where thousands of migrants in small&nbsp;boats landed on Channel beaches last year.



&#8220;Those who try to jump the queue or abuse our systems will find no automatic path to set them up in our country, but rather be swiftly and humanely removed to a safe third country or their country of origin,&#8221; the Conservative prime minister said.



Anyone who had arrived in Britain illegally since Jan. 1 could now be relocated to Rwanda, in central Africa, which would disrupt the business model of people-smuggling gangs, he said.



&#8220;The deal we have done is unmapped and Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead,&#8221; he said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-uk-s-boris-johnson-in-leadership-crisis-accused-of-lying-about-industrial-scale-partying-during-covid-lockdowns">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/uks-boris-johnson-in-leadership-crisis-accused-of-lying-about-industrial-scale-partying-during-covid-lockdowns/">UK’s Boris Johnson in leadership crisis, accused of lying about ‘industrial scale partying’ during Covid lockdowns</a></h3>



The plan drew swift and strong criticism from opposition parties, with interior minister Priti Patel&#8217;s Labour party counterpart, Yvette Cooper, saying it was &#8220;extortionate as well as unworkable and unethical&#8221;.



Johnson said he knew the plan would be criticised and would face legal challenges, but he promised to do whatever it took to deliver it.



The government said Britain would contribute an initial 120 million pounds ($157.55 million) to the partnership.



A government minister said the plan was focused on single young men. &#8220;This is about male economic migrants in the main,&#8221; Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart told Sky News. &#8220;There is a different set of issues with women and children.&#8221;



Patel was in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday to sign the partnership agreement and presented it at a joint press conference with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta.



&#8220;When we were discussing this partnership, we assessed our capacity to receive migrants and we know that we have the capacity in a place to receive migrants but we are also investing in infrastructure going forward,&#8221; Biruta said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DISTRACTION</h2>



Opposition lawmakers said Johnson was trying to distract from the renewed calls on him to resign after being fined by police on Tuesday for attending a gathering for his birthday in June 2020 when social mixing was all but banned under COVID-19 rules his government had introduced.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2WA2LC&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Last year, more than 28,000 migrants and refugees made the crossing from mainland Europe to Britain. The arrival of migrants on rickety boats has been a source of tension between France and Britain, especially after 27 migrants drowned when their dinghy deflated in November.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2SF51X&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;Before Christmas, 27 people drowned, and in the weeks ahead there may be many more losing their lives at sea, and whose bodies may never be recovered,&#8221; Johnson said.



&#8220;Around 600 came across the Channel yesterday. In just a few weeks this could again reach a thousand a day.&#8221;



In criticising the plan, the Labour party&#8217;s Cooper cited the cost of Australia&#8217;s policy of holding asylum-seekers in offshore camps, saying Australia Refugee Council figures showed it had cost the equivalent of 1.7 million pounds per person.



The head of a refugee advocacy group said the plan flew in the face of the principle of granting asylum seekers a fair hearing on British soil.



&#8220;I think it&#8217;s rather extraordinary that the government is obsessing with control instead of focusing on competence and compassion,&#8221; Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, told BBC radio.



($1 = 0.7617 pounds)



(Reporting by Michael Holden, Paul Sandle and Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Catherine Evans and Tomasz Janowski)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes questions in Parliament, in London

Britain reaches deal to resettle asylum seekers in Rwanda

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="555" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1194859854-820x555.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413198" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1194859854-820x555.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1194859854-300x203.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1194859854-133x90.jpg 133w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1194859854-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1194859854-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GettyImages-1194859854-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>PARIS, FRANCE &#8211; DECEMBER 19: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva is welcomed by General secretary of the presidency Alexis Kohler as she arrives at the Elysee Presidential Palace prior to a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on December 19, 2019 in Paris, France. Kristalina Georgieva is the new Managing Director of the IMF, she took office on October 1, 2019. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Washington, DC:&nbsp;The Heads of the World Bank Group&nbsp;(WBG),&nbsp;International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations World Food Program (WFP), and World Trade Organization (WTO) today called for urgent action on food security. World Bank Group President David Malpass, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, WFP Executive Director David Beasley and WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala issued the following joint statement ahead of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group next week:



“The world is shaken by compounding crises. The fallout of the war in Ukraine is adding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that now enters its third year, while climate change and increased fragility and conflict pose persistent harm to people around the globe. Sharply higher prices for staples and supply shortages are increasing pressure on households worldwide and pushing millions more into poverty. The threat is highest for the poorest countries with a large share of consumption from food imports, but vulnerability is increasing rapidly in middle-income countries, which host the majority of the world’s poor. World Bank estimates warn that for each one percentage point increase in food prices, 10 million people are thrown into extreme poverty worldwide.”



“The rise in food prices is exacerbated by a dramatic increase in the cost of natural gas, a key ingredient of nitrogenous fertilizer. Surging fertilizer prices along with significant cuts in global supplies have important implications for food production in most countries, including major producers and exporters, who rely heavily on fertilizer imports. The increase in food prices and supply shocks can fuel social tensions in many of the affected countries, especially those that are already fragile or affected by conflict.”



“We call on the international community to urgently support vulnerable countries through coordinated actions ranging from provision of emergency food supplies, financial support, increased agricultural production, and open trade. We are committed to combining our expertise and financing to quickly step up our policy and financial support to help vulnerable countries and households as well as to increase domestic agricultural production in, and supply to, impacted countries. We can mitigate balance of payments pressures and work with all countries to keep trade flows open. In addition, we will further reinforce our monitoring of food vulnerabilities and are quickly expanding our multi-faceted policy advice to affected countries guided by the comparative advantages of our respective institutions.”



“We also urge the international community to help support urgent financing needs, including through grants. This should include financing of immediate food supplies, safety nets to address the needs of the poor, and for small farmers facing higher input prices. We also urge all countries to keep trade open and avoid restrictive measures such as export bans on food or fertilizer that further exacerbate the suffering of the most vulnerable people. It is especially important not to impose export restrictions on humanitarian food purchases by the UN’s World Food Program.”



“It is critical to quickly provide support for food insecure countries in a coordinated manner. We stand ready to work together with our multilateral and bilateral partners to help countries address this urgent crisis.”

French President Emmanuel Macron receives Kristalina Georgieva, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director

Joint Statement: The Heads of the World Bank Group, IMF, WFP and WTO Call for Urgent Coordinated Action on Food Security

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="563" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Z63TKZLGTFLOXPFQ45DXM3R5TE-820x563.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416462" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Z63TKZLGTFLOXPFQ45DXM3R5TE-820x563.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Z63TKZLGTFLOXPFQ45DXM3R5TE-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Z63TKZLGTFLOXPFQ45DXM3R5TE-131x90.jpg 131w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Z63TKZLGTFLOXPFQ45DXM3R5TE-768x527.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Z63TKZLGTFLOXPFQ45DXM3R5TE.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Service members of pro-Russian troops ride an armoured vehicle during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict near a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works company in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 12, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko</figcaption></figure>



LVIV, Ukraine, April 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time that Moscow&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine amounts to genocide, as President Vladimir Putin said Russia would &#8220;rhythmically and calmly&#8221; continue its operation and achieve its goals.



&#8220;Yes, I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting,&#8221; Biden told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One on Tuesday.



Biden has repeatedly called Putin a war criminal, but delivering a speech at an ethanol plant in Iowa earlier on Tuesday the U.S. president escalated his rhetoric to accuse Russia of genocide.



&#8220;We&#8217;ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.&#8221;



Russia has denied targeting civilians and has said Ukrainian and Western allegations of war crimes are fabricated.



Many towns Russia has retreated from in northern Ukraine were littered with the bodies of civilians killed in what Kyiv says was a campaign of murder, torture and rape.



Interfax Ukraine news agency on Wednesday quoted the Kyiv district police chief saying 720 bodies have been found in the region around the capital, with more than 200 people missing.



The General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Wednesday briefing that Russian forces were maintaining rocket and bomb attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Kharkiv region in the northeast and the Zaporizhzhia region in central Ukraine. Reuters could not verify the reports.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/afreximbank-sets-up-4-bln-trade-fund-to-cushion-against-ukraine-related-shocks/">Afreximbank sets up $4 bln trade fund to cushion against Ukraine-related shocks</a></h3>



Moscow&#8217;s nearly seven-week long incursion, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, has seen more than 4.6 million people flee abroad, killed or injured thousands and left Russia increasingly isolated on the world stage.



The Kremlin says it launched a &#8220;special military operation&#8221; on Feb. 24 to demilitarise and &#8220;denazify&#8221; Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject that as a false pretext for the invasion.



Putin on Tuesday used his first public comments on the conflict in more than a week to say Russia would &#8220;rhythmically and calmly&#8221; continue its operation, and expressed confidence his goals, including on security, would be achieved.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mocked Putin in an early morning address on Wednesday: &#8220;How could a plan that provides for the death of tens of thousands of their own soldiers in a little more than a month of war come about?&#8221;



Putin said that on-off peace negotiations &#8220;have again returned to a dead-end situation for us.&#8221;



The Russian leader frequently seemed to ramble or stammer. Only occasionally did he adopt the icy, confident demeanour that has been his trademark fopr 22 years in power.



Putin, who had been ubiquitous on Russian television in the early days of the war, had largely retreated from public view since Russia&#8217;s withdrawal from northern Ukraine two weeks ago.



Russian forces have failed to capture one major city and have suffered heavy losses since launching an invasion in late February.



Russia&#8217;s appointment of Army General Alexander Dvornikov as commander of the Ukraine war shows how Ukrainian resistance and Russia&#8217;s ineffective pre-war planning is forcing it to reassess its operations, British military intelligence said on Wednesday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-battle-for-donbas-critical">BATTLE FOR DONBAS CRITICAL</h2>



Russia says it now aims to capture more territory on behalf of separatists in two eastern provinces, known as the Donbas, which includes the besieged port of Mariupol.



The assault on the industrial heartland of Donbas sets the stage for a protracted battle that is certain to inflict heavy losses on both sides and will ultimately define the course of the war, analysts said.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2WA4VA&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped inside Mariupol with no way to bring in food or water, and accuses Russia of blocking aid convoys.



As Russia redoubles efforts in the east, Luhansk regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai urged residents to evacuate.



&#8220;It&#8217;s far more scary to remain and burn in your sleep from a Russian shell,&#8221; he wrote on social media.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/ukraine-war-unleashes-battle-for-global-south-hearts-and-minds/">Ukraine war unleashes battle for Global South hearts and minds</a></h3>



Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, said he had seen incident reports on possible chemical weapons use in Mariupol but could not confirm them.



The United States and Britain have said they were trying to verify the reports. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it was closely monitoring the situation.



Chemical weapons production, use and stockpiling is banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.



Russia&#8217;s defence ministry has not responded to a Reuters request for comment. Russian-backed separatist forces in the east denied using chemical weapons in Mariupol, the Interfax news agency reported.



The United States is expected to announce $750 million more in military assistance, two officials told Reuters, likely including heavy ground artillery systems to Ukraine, including howitzers, in a sign the war is expected to drag on.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2WA2AH&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Steve Holland, DES MOINES, Iowa, Jeff Mason, WASHINGTON and Reuters bureaus; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by Stephen Coates &amp; Simon Cameron-Moore)

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Biden says Russia committing genocide in Ukraine

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="780" height="511" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/download-36.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415843" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/download-36.jpg 780w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/download-36-300x197.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/download-36-137x90.jpg 137w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/download-36-768x503.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: A serviceman of pro-Russian militia walks nest to a military convoy of armed forces of the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People&#8217;s Republic (LNR) on a road in the Luhansk region, Ukraine February 27, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, April 11 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;As Russian troops fought in Ukraine last month and the West sought global support for sanctions against the Kremlin, South African left-wing firebrand Julius Malema told a crowd he and his supporters would never turn on Russia after its support in the fight against apartheid.



Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has intensified a global battle for influence that may prove as important as the fighting. It is a confrontation that has seen the Kremlin look to exploit historic relations with emerging states, while the United States and its allies have sometimes struggled to win over the Global South.



The Kremlin has long worked to cement relations with fellow emerging economies of Brazil, India and China, dubbed the BRICs in 2001 by Goldman Sachs. South Africa was formally invited to join that group in 2010, with current president Cyril Ramaphosa echoing recent Russian talking points in blaming the Ukraine war in part on NATO’s eastward growth.



On March 30, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russia’s RT television the BRICS would &#8220;be at the centre of a new world order&#8221; after the war was over. Russian media say U.S. attempts to persuade developing nations to join sanctions against Moscow will backfire.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/russias-isolation-intensifies-as-ukraine-fighting-rages/">Russia’s isolation intensifies as Ukraine fighting rages</a></h3>



The reality is more complex – particularly amid growing evidence of casualties in Ukraine and targeting of civilian areas. Balanced against that, however, are years of long-running resentment against Western nations, from the invasion of Iraq to support for repressive regimes and trade policies seen as fuelling hardships.



It is a trend that extends beyond the BRICS across the developing world, with widespread scepticism of the West long a part of China’s game plan as it grows its economic and political power there. Russia is looking to exploit that further.



The realities of the Ukraine war, however, are also having an effect. On Thursday, the UN General Assembly voted to evict Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, a significant victory for Ukraine, the United States and European allies. Brazil, India and South Africa were among those nations to abstain despite Russian pressure for a “no” vote, while China voted against.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DIVIDED SOCIAL MEDIA</h2>



According to Mahmoud Pargoo, research fellow at the Alfred Deacon Institute in Melbourne, nearly 12 percent of Arabic language Twitter posts discussing Russia and Ukraine between Feb. 22 and March 15 also mentioned Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan or the Palestinian conflict, often alleging some form of Western double standards.



A March poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research found 43 percent of Palestinians blamed Russia for the war with Ukraine, compared with 40 percent who blamed Ukraine. However, 57 percent said they believed Western states applied different standards to judge a conflict in Europe compared to that between Israel and the Palestinians.



In Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the food and fuel price spike caused by disruptions to grain and energy supplies is already yielding an economic and political crisis. With both countries increasingly aligned to China, that has produced criticism of the West – but also allegations that recent problems are down to Russia’s military actions and mounting debts to Beijing.



Increasingly blocked from Western internet and TV audiences since the invasion, Russian outlets have been keen to access and fuel these conversations, particularly building on an already strong reach in the Americas. RT en Español has 3.5 million followers on Twitter and 18 million on Facebook, more than their English language RT equivalents.



According to the Atlantic Council think tank&#8217;s Digital Forensics Research Lab, RT en Español and the also Russian state-owned Spanish-language Sputnik Mundo were among the 15 most-shared domains for Spanish posts about the invasion on Twitter, often amplifying Russian conspiracy theories such as that recent massacres were faked by Ukraine.



Analysis by British think tank Demos suggests Russia may have deliberately attempted to influence social media conversations in multiple languages across the developing world, tracking hundreds of Twitter accounts whose activity intensified on either Feb. 24 – invasion day – or March 3, with a crucial UN vote. Most delivered a mixture of retweeted anti-Western and anti-colonialist content with pro-Russia and pro-invasion material.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-targeting-nationalist-leaders">TARGETING NATIONALIST LEADERS</h2>



Identified feeds were in multiple languages including Urdu, Sindhi and Farsi. Others were embedded in networks supportive of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu Nationalist&nbsp;Bharatiya Janata Party&nbsp;and those of former South African President Jacob Zuma, who like his protégé Malema has been an outspoken supporter of Putin throughout the war.



In India, the war has exposed divisions between older and more right-wing Hindu nationalist demographics more likely to have sympathies with Moscow – in part because of its Cold War support for New Delhi – while younger elements are more likely to back Ukraine.



Diplomatic attention on New Delhi has also been intense. Last week, U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics Daleep Singh became the latest senior official to visit India, following in the footsteps of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.



Normally a major buyer of Russian arms but not crude oil, India has made it clear it wishes to continue trading with Moscow despite Western sanctions, reportedly buying up oil cargoes at a major discount. But it has not been immune to sanctions – Air India last week announced it was stopping flying to Moscow because it could no longer get insurance.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/ukraine-ready-to-discuss-adopting-neutral-status-in-russia-peace-deal-zelenskiy/">Ukraine ready to discuss adopting neutral status in Russia peace deal – Zelenskiy</a></h3>



Brazil’s government has also been under pressure, including from within its political establishment. A week before the invasion, President Jair Bolsonaro visited Putin in Moscow, saying that the two nations stood in “solidarity” and praising the Russian leader.



Days later, Vice President Hamilton Mourao denied Brazil could remain “neutral” and that it would support Ukraine’s sovereignty, angering the president. On April 6, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said the nations stood “in solidarity” with civilians killed in Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv, although it stopped short of blaming Russia.



On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden made his latest call to South Africa’s Ramaphosa, again pressuring him to join a united front on Ukraine. On Sunday, Ramaphosa told a political rally the tone of the call was “warm” – but there was no shift in policy. The battle for international influence is very far from over, and Washington can ill afford to overplay its hand.



*** Peter Apps is a writer on international affairs, globalisation, conflict and other issues. He is the founder and executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century; PS21, a non-national, non-partisan, non-ideological think tank. Paralysed by a war-zone car crash in 2006, he also blogs about his disability and other topics. He was previously a reporter for Reuters and continues to be paid by Thomson Reuters. Since 2016, he has been a member of the British Army Reserve and the UK Labour Party.



(Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Ukraine war unleashes battle for Global South hearts and minds

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen cautioned Wednesday that Russia’s attack on Ukraine could cause a major hit to the global economy.



“Russia’s actions, including the atrocities committed against innocent Ukrainians in Bucha, are reprehensible, represent an unacceptable affront to the rules-based global order, and will have enormous economic repercussions for the world,” Yellen told a House of Representatives panel in a hearing on the world’s financial system.



Along with that dour outlook, Yellen said global organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are working together to provide aid to Ukraine and sanction Russia.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-416332" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on “the State of the International Financial System,” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2022. Tom Brenner | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



She added the White House believes Russia should be cut off from the global financial system in retribution for its “brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”



“It cannot be business as usual for Russia in any of the financial institutions,” Yellen said.



However, she noted that European nations are still reliant on natural gas from Russia, necessitating the need for licensing of Russia-based companies.



Earlier in the morning, the administration outlined a fresh round of sanctions against Russia, including penalties against President Vladimir Putin’s children and prohibitions on new investment in Russia.



Along with the comments on the war, Yellen reiterated the White House’s commitment to the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, stressing vaccine availability and readiness to address outbreaks.

107042716-16492564222022-04-06t144513z_365174978_rc2qht9pqzx5_rtrmadp_0_usa-treasury-house

Yellen warns that war in Ukraine will have ‘enormous’ global economic impact

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="452" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P7D3GU2BGZNHDCNT6DEA6AP3D4-820x452.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416317" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P7D3GU2BGZNHDCNT6DEA6AP3D4-820x452.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P7D3GU2BGZNHDCNT6DEA6AP3D4-300x165.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P7D3GU2BGZNHDCNT6DEA6AP3D4-160x88.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P7D3GU2BGZNHDCNT6DEA6AP3D4-768x423.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/P7D3GU2BGZNHDCNT6DEA6AP3D4.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A security guard walks past a montage of old U.S. dollar bills outside a currency exchange in Kenya&#8217;s capital Nairobi July 23, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, April 6 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Afreximbank said on Wednesday it had set up a $4 billion trade finance programme to cushion economies and businesses on the continent against shocks arising from the war in Ukraine, that demand for financing already exceeds the amount.



Cairo-headquartered Afreximbank said its Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa was approved by its board at the end of March.



It said the fund would extend to areas such as oil and metals buy-back financing, commodity export revenue stabilisation and tourism revenue deficit financing.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-new-african-payments-system-for-cross-border-deals-negotiating-with-more-banks">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/new-african-payments-system-for-cross-border-deals-negotiating-with-more-banks/">New African payments system for cross-border deals negotiating with more banks</a></h3>



&#8220;Given the importance of both Russia and Ukraine as sources of crude oil and gas, raw materials and grains, the outbreak of the conflict has wider repercussions on a global scale, including adversely affecting African economies, especially those that rely heavily on grain, fertiliser and fuel imports,&#8221; it said in a statement.



The two countries account for around 29% of global wheat exports, 19% of world corn supplies and 80% of world sunflower oil exports.



The bank said it had already received financing requests exceeding $15 billion.



&#8220;There is some urgency to meet these requests to avoid catastrophic social conditions across Africa and reduce the risk of their morphing into political challenges,&#8221; it said.



(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Hereward Holland and David Evans)



<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?categories=BUS_SPO_NEWS&amp;id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2022%3Anewsml_L5N2W42VD%3A941238763&amp;languages=ENG&amp;media-types=T&amp;regions=AFR&amp;sources=RTRS#"></a>

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Afreximbank sets up $4 bln trade fund to cushion against Ukraine-related shocks

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107009208-16436733072022-01-31t234829z_1095580679_rc2jas9nycao_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-416306" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107009208-16436733072022-01-31t234829z_1095580679_rc2jas9nycao_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107009208-16436733072022-01-31t234829z_1095580679_rc2jas9nycao_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107009208-16436733072022-01-31t234829z_1095580679_rc2jas9nycao_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107009208-16436733072022-01-31t234829z_1095580679_rc2jas9nycao_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107009208-16436733072022-01-31t234829z_1095580679_rc2jas9nycao_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107009208-16436733072022-01-31t234829z_1095580679_rc2jas9nycao_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>People wearing protective face masks wait at a bus stop with a display of the current national debt amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Washington, January 31, 2022. Sarah Silbiger | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — Global sovereign debt is expected to climb by 9.5% to a record $71.6 trillion in 2022, according to a new report,&nbsp;while fresh borrowing is also broadly set to remain elevated.



In its second annual Sovereign Debt Index, published Wednesday, British asset manager Janus Henderson projected a 9.5% rise in global government debt, driven primarily by the U.S., Japan and China but with the vast majority of countries expected to increase borrowing.



Global government debt jumped 7.8% in 2021 to $65.4 trillion as every country assessed saw borrowing increase, while debt servicing costs dropped to a record low of $1.01 trillion, an effective interest rate of just 1.6%, the report said.



However, debt servicing costs are set to rise significantly in 2022, climbing around 14.5% on a constant-currency basis to $1.16 trillion.



The U.K. will feel the sharpest effect on the back of rising interest rates and the impact of surging inflation on the substantial quantities of U.K. index-linked debt, along with the costs associated with unwinding the Bank of England’s quantitative easing program.



“The pandemic has had a huge impact on government borrowing – and the after-effects are set to continue for some time yet. The tragedy unfolding in Ukraine is also likely to pressure Western governments to borrow more to fund increased defense spending,” said Bethany Payne, portfolio manager for global bonds at Janus Henderson.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/imf-chief-says-fed-rate-hike-could-throw-cold-water-on-global-recovery/">IMF chief says Fed rate hike could ‘throw cold water’ on global recovery</a></h3>



Germany has already vowed to ramp up its defense spending to more than 2% of GDP in a sharp policy shift since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with committing 100 billion euros ($110 billion) to a fund for its armed services.



New sovereign borrowing is expected to reach $10.4 trillion in 2022, almost a third above the average prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest global borrowing report from S&amp;P Global Ratings published on Tuesday.



“We expect borrowing to stay elevated, owing to high debt-rollover needs, as well as fiscal policy normalization challenges posed by the pandemic, high inflation, and polarized social and political landscapes,” said S&amp;P Global Ratings credit analyst Karen Vartapetov.



The ongoing conflict’s global macroeconomic repercussions are expected to exert further upward pressure on government funding needs, while tighter monetary conditions will increase government funding costs, the report highlighted.



This poses a further headache for sovereigns that have thus far struggled to reignite growth and cut reliance on foreign currency financing, and whose interest bills are already substantial.



In advanced economies, borrowing costs are expected to rise but likely remain at a level that will allow governments time for budget consolidation, S&amp;P said, offering governments time for budget consolidation and focus on growth stimulating reforms.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-opportunities-for-investors">Opportunities for investors</h3>



Convergence of monetary policy emerged as a theme during the first couple of years of the pandemic, as central banks cut interest rates to historic lows to help support ailing economies.



However, Janus Henderson noted that divergence is now emerging as a key theme, as central banks in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Canada and Australia look to tighten the policy strings to contain inflation, while China continues to try to stimulate the economy with a more accommodative policy stance.



This divergence offers opportunities for investors in short-dated bonds that are less susceptible to market conditions, Payne suggested, highlighting two locations in particular.



“One is China, which is actively engaging in loosening monetary policy, and Switzerland, which has more protection from inflationary pressure as energy takes up a much smaller percentage of its inflationary basket and their policy is tied, but lagging, to the ECB,” she said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/key-people-from-the-fed-just-spooked-the-markets-heres-what-they-said/">Key people from the Fed just spooked the markets — here’s what they said</a></h3>



Janus Henderson also believes shorter-dated bonds look attractive at present relative to riskier long-term ones.



“When inflation and interest rates are rising, it is easy to dismiss fixed income as an asset class, particularly since bond valuations are relatively high by historical standards,” Payne said.



“But the valuation of many other asset classes is even higher and investor weightings to government bonds are relatively low, so there is a benefit in diversifying.”



What’s more, she argued, the markets have mostly priced in higher inflation expectations, so bonds bought today benefit from higher yields than they would have a few months ago.



Correction: The headline on this story has been updated with the correct figure for global government debt.

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Global government debt set to soar to record $71 trillion this year, new research says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/KLKFIIU4R5L7BLIL3XRC7LP2MM-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416302" width="820" height="429" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/KLKFIIU4R5L7BLIL3XRC7LP2MM-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/KLKFIIU4R5L7BLIL3XRC7LP2MM-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/KLKFIIU4R5L7BLIL3XRC7LP2MM-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/KLKFIIU4R5L7BLIL3XRC7LP2MM-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/KLKFIIU4R5L7BLIL3XRC7LP2MM.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Equinor&#8217;s Johan Sverdrup oilfield platforms and accommodation jack-up rig Haven are pictured in the North Sea, Norway December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins</figcaption></figure>



April 6 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Cash prices for key crude oil grades produced in the Middle East, Europe and the United States have slumped in recent weeks from record premiums to futures benchmarks, as refiners balk at higher operating costs and major economies get set to release a flood of oil from strategic reserves.



Crude benchmarks traded in spot markets around the world are often predictive of the direction of global futures prices. Right now, declining premiums for grades from the Middle East, the North Sea and west Texas all suggest that the decision from big consumers to release crude reserves is having a dampening effect on prices, offsetting some of the anticipated loss of Russian exports.



In recent days, the premiums for Middle East benchmarks Dubai, Oman and Murban crude have fallen to a third of their early March peak. North Sea&#8217;s Brent and Forties are down 80% to 100% from when the United States banned Russian oil imports after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. U.S. grades like Mars sour are weakening as the U.S. reserve releases more medium heavy sour crude into the market.&nbsp;CRU/MCRU/EBFO-BRT,&nbsp;BFO-FOT



The International Energy Agency has warned that the world may lose 3 million barrels per day of Russian crude and oil products starting in April. Russia exports between 4 and 5 million bpd, making it the second-largest crude exporter behind Saudi Arabia.&nbsp;IEA/M



To cover that loss, the United States announced its largest-ever release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at 1 million bpd for six months from May, or about 180 million barrels, the third such release in six months. Other IEA members agreed on Friday to release oil following a March 1 release.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2VY1RT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2VZ01A&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WEAK DEMAND FOR NORTH SEA, AFRICAN OIL</h2>



Since Russia&#8217;s invasion, which it terms a &#8220;special operation&#8221;, world futures markets became increasingly backwardated &#8211; where current prices trade at much higher levels than later-dated futures contracts, a sign of tight near-term supply.



But of late, buyers have balked at paying those record prices, instead drawing down inventories. That has led to an overhang in the West African oil markets, traders said.



&#8220;Refineries are cautious and shopping around to the last minute; SPR certainly makes the market a bit less strained over the next six months and, of course, there are worries of demand destruction,&#8221; a senior European trader said.



West African crude offers slipped again on Tuesday as Asian buyers had largely filled their requirements for the trading cycle and European buyers held off as supply overhangs lingered, traders said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/oil-markets-hit-multiple-milestones-after-russia-sanctions/">Oil markets hit multiple milestones after Russia sanctions</a></h3>



Supplies from top exporter Nigeria were piling up, with an overhang of April and May-loading crude reaching at least 40 cargoes, they said.



Oil for April loading from Africa’s No. 2 oil exporter Angola has yet to sell out along with at least 10 cargoes for May, the slowest sales in years, due to poor demand from top buyer China, traders said. China recently extended a lockdown in Shanghai due to coronavirus infections.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL3N2VV2DB&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2W3044&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



India has turned to cheap Russian Urals crude, reducing its demand for supplies from the Middle East and Africa, they said.



&#8220;It&#8217;s unclear if we are really facing tight supplies because Russian barrels are still flowing,&#8221; a Singapore-based trader said, adding that the United States may export more oil to Asia and Europe after the SPR release.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-medium-sour-pickle">THE MEDIUM SOUR PICKLE</h2>



The U.S. SPR release is expected to pump more medium sour crude into the market, weighing on spot Mars crude, traders said. Mars Sour&nbsp;WTC-MRS&nbsp;is trading at a $3.05-per-barrel discount to U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures&nbsp;CLc1, from a $1.25-per-barrel premium hit in late February.



Rising freight costs, however, are making U.S. exports less attractive, traders said.



Easing crude prices could encourage refiners to increase output to meet peak summer demand at a time when global diesel inventories are at their lowest levels in more than a decade.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2VR1VF&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Shadia Nasralla, Alex Lawler, Julia Payne and Noah Browning in London, Stephanie Kelly in New York; Editing by David Gaffen, David Gregorio and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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Global cash crude prices tumble from record premiums versus futures

If there was any question about where the Federal Reserve stands on the key issue of the day — inflation — two important officials brought even more clarity on Tuesday.



Fed Governor Lael Brainard and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly both issued comments that showed they both envision higher rates and, in the former’s case, an aggressive drawdown of the assets the central bank is holding on its balance sheet.



Investors didn’t particularly like what they heard, sending major averages considerably lower on the day and the 10-year Treasury yield to a new 2022 high.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107000703-1642089190411-gettyimages-1237699477-SENATE_BRAINARD_THOMPSON-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-416294" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107000703-1642089190411-gettyimages-1237699477-SENATE_BRAINARD_THOMPSON-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107000703-1642089190411-gettyimages-1237699477-SENATE_BRAINARD_THOMPSON-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107000703-1642089190411-gettyimages-1237699477-SENATE_BRAINARD_THOMPSON-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107000703-1642089190411-gettyimages-1237699477-SENATE_BRAINARD_THOMPSON-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107000703-1642089190411-gettyimages-1237699477-SENATE_BRAINARD_THOMPSON-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107000703-1642089190411-gettyimages-1237699477-SENATE_BRAINARD_THOMPSON.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Lael Brainard, governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



“It is of paramount importance to get inflation down,” Brainard said during a Minneapolis Fed webinar. The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, “will continue tightening monetary policy methodically through a series of interest rate increases and by starting to reduce the balance sheet at a rapid pace as soon as our May meeting.”



The comments helped knock down a positive opening on Wall Street that ultimately turned into a nearly 1% loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The more aggressive Fed chatter also comes as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate topped 5%, a key threshold which could slow the housing market.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-we-re-not-going-to-let-this-go-forever"><a></a>‘We’re not going to let this go forever’</h2>



Later in the day, Daly said inflation running at a 40-year high “is as harmful as not having a job.” Speaking to the the Native American Finance Officers Association, she assured the group that the Fed is on the case.



“Most Americans, most people, most businesses, hopefully people in tribal nations, you all have confidence that we’re not going to let this go forever,” Daly said. “But if you don’t have that confidence, let me give it to you.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/markets-will-be-looking-for-clues-from-the-fed-ahead-as-historically-strong-month-gets-underway/">Markets will be looking for clues from the Fed ahead, as historically strong month gets underway</a></h3>



She assured those in attendance several times that interest rates are heading higher, though she added that she doesn’t think it will cause a recession.



Raising rates “is what is necessary to ensure that again, [you] go to bed at night, you’re not worrying about whether prices will be higher, considerably higher tomorrow,” Daly added.



The Fed already has enacted its first rate hike of the year, a 0.25 percentage point move in March. Markets expect increases at each of the six remaining meetings this year, possibly totaling 2.5 percentage points.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-policy-doves"><a></a>Two policy ‘doves’</h2>



What made the two officials’ comments more striking is that they are considered to be in the camp of Fed “doves” — meaning that they usually favor low rates and less restrictive policies. That they both see a rather urgent need to tighten underscores how seriously the Fed is taking the threat.



Brainard’s voice carries a little extra heft in that she has been nominated to be vice chair of the FOMC, a position that makes her the top lieutenant for Chairman Jerome Powell.



Brainard said she expects the Fed’s $9 trillion balance sheet to “shrink considerably more rapidly” than was the case during the last rundown in 2017-19. In that episode, the Fed allowed $50 billion a month in proceeds from maturing bonds to roll off while reinvesting the rest. Her comments opened the door to what many economists expect to be a monthly roll-off around $80 billion to $100 billion.



Reducing the balance sheet “will contribute to monetary policy tightening over and above the expected increases in the policy rate,” Brainard added.



“Currently, inflation is much too high and is subject to upside risks. The Committee is prepared to take stronger action if indicators of inflation and inflation expectations indicate that such action is warranted,” she added.



Daly echoed the idea that the balance sheet reduction could start in May, adding that the Fed’s commitment to fighting inflation “will mean interest rates go up.”



“But inflation, what people are paying day in and day out is on the minds of everyone, they go to bed at night thinking about it wake up in the morning thinking about rent, transportation, gas prices, food prices, so we as a Federal Reserve are on a path to raise the interest rates,” she said.

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Key people from the Fed just spooked the markets — here’s what they said

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107032202-2022-03-17T164942Z_1471390645_RC2D4T99QL6E_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416257" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107032202-2022-03-17T164942Z_1471390645_RC2D4T99QL6E_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107032202-2022-03-17T164942Z_1471390645_RC2D4T99QL6E_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107032202-2022-03-17T164942Z_1471390645_RC2D4T99QL6E_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107032202-2022-03-17T164942Z_1471390645_RC2D4T99QL6E_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107032202-2022-03-17T164942Z_1471390645_RC2D4T99QL6E_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/107032202-2022-03-17T164942Z_1471390645_RC2D4T99QL6E_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



The stock market is heading into what promises to be a volatile second quarter, but April is traditionally the best month of the year for stocks.



The major indices were higher in March, but they turned in a weak performance for the first quarter, the worst since the pandemic. Investors have been worried about rising interest rates, the war in Ukraine and inflation, which was made even worse by disruptions in commodities exports from both Russia and Ukraine.



Stocks are typically higher in April, and it is historically the best month of the year for the S&amp;P 500. The S&amp;P has been higher 70% of the time and has gained an average 1.7% in all Aprils since World War II, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. For all months, the S&amp;P averaged a gain of 0.7%.



The S&amp;P 500 was up 3.6% in March, and Stovall said the rally could continue. “I think we get back to breakeven, but then I wouldn’t be surprised if we go through another pullback or correction before we have an end of year rally,” he said.



Market focus in the week ahead will remain squarely on developments around the Ukraine war and on the Federal Reserve. The Fed on Wednesday is scheduled to release minutes from its March meeting, where it raised interest rates for the first time since 2018.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/european-markets-fall-as-investors-react-to-fed-decision-stoxx-600-down-1/">European markets fall as investors react to Fed decision; Stoxx 600 down 1%</a></h3>



There are also a handful of Fed speakers, including Fed Governor Lael Brainard, who speaks Tuesday.



Greg Faranello, AmeriVet Securities head of U.S. rates, said the Fed minutes could be the highlight of the week since the central bank is likely to provide more detail on its plans to shrink its balance sheet. The Fed has nearly $9 trillion in securities on its balance sheet, and a reduction of those holdings would be another step to tighten policy.



“The market is curious. They’re going to be looking for some clues in terms of how quickly, how big, what the caps look like,” said Faranello.



The economic data calendar is light, with factory orders Monday, international trade and ISM services Tuesday and wholesale trade Friday.



Traders will also be watching for any comments from companies ahead of the first-quarter earnings reporting season, which starts in mid-April.



“The first-quarter earnings have actually been improving in the last month, so that’s encouraging,” said Stovall.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farewell-to-first-quarter">Farewell to first quarter</h3>



The Dow was off 4.6% for the first quarter, while the S&amp;P 500 was down 5%. The worst performer by far was the Nasdaq, down 9.1%. In the past week, stocks were barely changed. The Dow was down 0.1%, while the S&amp;P was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq was up 0.7%.



Interest rates also moved dramatically during the quarter, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield temporarily touching a high of 2.55% in the past week, after starting the quarter at 1.51%.



On Friday, the 10-year was yielding 2.37%, while the two-year yield, which most reflects Fed policy, was at 2.45%. The two-year was yielding 0.73% at the beginning of the year.



Faranello said bond yields can keep going higher on inflation concerns, but they could consolidate before another big move.



“I think the market is looking for a new catalyst here,” he said. “I just think the first quarter has been about repricing the market, and we’ve done that&#8230;The Fed came out very hawkish. We made made a dramatic repricing. Now, we need to see more data to see how this is going to evolve in the second quarter.”



Stovall said the S&amp;P 500′s first-quarter performance is one of the 15 worst first quarters, going back to 1945. After those weak quarters, down 3.8% or more, the second quarter was better on average. This year’s first-quarter decline was tied with 1994, which had the 12th&nbsp;worst first quarter.



After those 15 weak first quarters, “we actually climbed 4.8% in the second quarter and rose in price two out of every three times,” he said. But for the full year, the S&amp;P 500 gained just 40% of the time, and was down an average 2% in those years.



But this year is a midterm election year, and in those years the second and third quarters are typically the weakest. “Of those 15 worst quarters, five of them were midterm election years, and of those five, the second quarter was up an average 1%, and it rose in price only 40% of the time,” Stovall said.



Stovall said the market could be higher in the second quarter, but it will face headwinds. “Oil prices are likely to remain up. Interest rates are certainly not coming down,” he said, adding geopolitical pressures are likely to remain. “I see the possibility of a 1% gain. We could probably eke out something good.”



Stocks were held hostage by rising and volatile oil prices in the first quarter, as the world scrambled to make up for Russia’s export barrels. Many customers refused to buy Russian oil for fear of running afoul of financial sanctions on Russia’s financial system.



After wild swings both higher and lower, West Texas Intermediate oil futures gained 39% in the first quarter, the eighth positive quarter in a row and its best first quarter since 1999. WTI was just under $100 per barrel Friday afternoon.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Choppy, volatile market</h3>



Joe Quinlan, head of CIO Market Strategy for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, said he is constructive on the market heading into the second quarter, but he sees some rough spots ahead.



“We’ve got to work through the inflation problem, and the Fed catching up to the expectations of the market,” Quinlan said. “We’ve got to re-anchor inflation. It’s going to be a choppy, volatile year. We’re tilting more toward hard assets, whether it’s commodities, energy and natural gas.”



Quinlan said he leans towards equities over fixed income, which has also been unusually volatile. “We’re using equities as a hedge against inflation,” he said. “Within that framework is more hard assets, fuels, agriculture complex in general and metals and minerals.”



In the second quarter, the stock market will continue to adjust to an aggressive Federal Reserve against the backdrop of what should have been a solid economy. With 431,000 payrolls added in March, jobs data continues to be strong, but there is a fear the Fed will raise interest rates too quickly, derailing the economy and spinning it into recession.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/imf-chief-says-fed-rate-hike-could-throw-cold-water-on-global-recovery/">IMF chief says Fed rate hike could ‘throw cold water’ on global recovery</a></h3>



Traders in the futures market expect the Fed will increase its fire power at its next meeting in early May, hiking interest rates by 50 basis points, or a half-percent. The Fed’s first rate increase was a quarter-point at its March meeting.



The market is pricing in the equivalent of eight quarter-point hikes, and Treasury yields have moved higher with stunning speed as market expectations for interest rates shifted. The two-year Treasury yield rose above the 10-year yield, or inverted this past week, for the first time since 2019. That is viewed by the market as a warning sign for a recession.



Fed officials have signaled they want to move to trim the balance sheet soon. Kansas City Fed President Esther George this past week said the Fed’s balance sheet will need to decline significantly. She said the Fed’s holdings of Treasurys may have depressed the 10-year yield, causing the yield curve to invert.



Faranello said interest rates could still head higher on inflation worries, but rates could consolidate after their recent run higher. The yield curve could also remain inverted.



“We can stay like this for a year-and-a-half. Everyone’s screaming a recession is coming&#8230;I don’t think the yield curve is telling us a recession is just about to happen,” Faranello said.

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Markets will be looking for clues from the Fed ahead, as historically strong month gets underway

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416185" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>BONNY ISLAND, NIGER DELTA, Nigeria: A ship loads liquefied natural gas from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas plant October 12, 2004 on Bonny Island, Nigeria. Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



With the U.S., EU and U.K. looking to phase out Russian gas imports, Western leaders could look to liquified natural gas projects in sub-Saharan Africa to soften the landing.



Russia and the West remain at odds over payment for natural gas exports, on which Europe, in particular, is heavily dependent, with Moscow insisting “unfriendly” countries pay for gas deliveries in Russian rubles, a demand G-7 nations have rebuffed.



The divergence comes in the wake of an unprecedented and coordinated barrage of international sanctions leveled against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.



The U.S. has declared a complete ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports, while the U.K. intends to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year and the EU aims to cut its reliance on Russian imports by two-thirds.



Russia accounts for around 40% of the EU’s natural gas exports, with Germany and Italy particularly exposed. Germany issued an “early warning” on Wednesday that natural gas rationing could be required if a full supply shortage ensues.



The EU has struck a deal with the U.S. for an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG, though former U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said Monday that this would not be enough to fill the Russian shortfall.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/ukraine-and-russia-what-you-need-to-know-right-now/">Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now</a></h3>



Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio told CNBC on Tuesday that over the past month, he had traveled to countries such as Mozambique, the Republic of Congo and Angola in a bid to forge new LNG supply partnerships.



“Energy security is fundamental for countries that are global manufacturing powers like Italy and many others, and we must be able to diversify our energy sourcing,” Di Maio said.



“We are diversifying away from our dependence on Russia to avoid any eventual threats from Russia on our gas supply and to continue our green transition with new and different energy sources.”



In a research note last week, Africa analysts at political risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft said that while the continent cannot fill the void left by Russian natural gas imports, it could help to shore up supply.



Oil majors BP, TotalEnergies and Eni have all established a presence on the African subcontinent from which to build, along with U.S. oil majors such as Exxon Mobil.



Verisk Maplecroft noted that BP is furthest along in efforts to bring online a major LNG project in sub-Saharan Africa and could double down on these, particularly at the Tortue gas fields straddling the border between Senegal and Mauritania.



Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi announced earlier this month the Italian giant is able to provide Europe with an additional 14 trillion cubic feet of gas between now and 2025 from assets situated around the world, including in Angola, Congo, Nigeria and Mozambique. Angola and Congo have already agreed to boost gas exports to Italy, with Eni serving as an intermediary.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-huge-potential-significant-obstacles">Huge potential, significant obstacles</h3>



Analysts Alexandre Raymakers, Maja Bovcon and Eric Humphery-Smith highlighted that Senegal, Mauritania, Nigeria and Angola are best placed to increase production, though the bulk of new supply will not arrive until the second half of the decade.



“The political and fiscal stability in Senegal and Mauritania mean that projects are well placed for LNG development, while the likely re-election of the MPLA in Angola in August 2022 will also enable an uptick in investment,” Verisk Maplecroft said.



Mozambique is also host to colossal natural gas reserves, with several European energy giants establishing facilities in the country, but it is beset by a violent Islamist insurgency that has forced shutdowns at some of these facilities in recent years.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="421" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3-820x421.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416186" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3-820x421.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3-300x154.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3-160x82.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3-768x395.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>People wait for friends and relatives as a ship carrying more than 1,000 people fleeing an attack claimed by Islamic State-linked insurgents on the town of Palma, docks in Pemba, Mozambique, April 1, 2021. REUTERS/Emidio Jozine NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES</figcaption></figure>



There is also room for expansion among other major LNG players in the Gulf of Guinea, Verisk Maplecroft suggested, such as Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.



“An improved gas price environment could swing the balance of profitability for a number of projects in Nigeria, allowing for additional supply for existing and planned LNG projects,” the report said.



“For instance, the Ukraine crisis will likely increase the attractiveness of the long-planned Nigeria LNG Train 7 that is expected to come online in 2026 and will require an additional 1,200mmcfd of gas supply from Nigerian gas projects.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/as-presidents-meet-ukraine-refugees-just-want-fighting-to-end/">As presidents meet, Ukraine refugees just want fighting to end</a></h3>



The analysts also noted the beginnings of a revival of interest in the dormant Fortuna FLNG project in Equatorial Guinea.



However, a rise in piracy in the region, including opportunistic attacks on LNG tankers in recent years, may prove a deterrent.



Ultimately, Verisk Maplecroft estimates that even if all known greenfield LNG projects in sub-Saharan Africa were active and operating at maximum capacity, they would still only account for approximately half of Russia’s gas supply to Europe.



“The improved gas demand and price environment means sub-Saharan Africa region can help fill some of the gap left by embargoed Russian gas supplies, but it can’t solve the problem alone,” the report concluded.

107038803-1648636321753-GettyImages-51887083

Putin’s isolation from Europe could usher in natural gas opportunities for Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="429" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VCWQ53OTVBLIZOSKZVIP25V7PM-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416112" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VCWQ53OTVBLIZOSKZVIP25V7PM-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VCWQ53OTVBLIZOSKZVIP25V7PM-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VCWQ53OTVBLIZOSKZVIP25V7PM-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VCWQ53OTVBLIZOSKZVIP25V7PM-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VCWQ53OTVBLIZOSKZVIP25V7PM-1536x804.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VCWQ53OTVBLIZOSKZVIP25V7PM.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kyiv, Ukraine February 14, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko</figcaption></figure>



LVIV, Ukraine, March 27 (Reuters) &#8211; Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but such a pact would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in remarks aired on Sunday.



Zelenskiy was speaking to Russian journalists in a 90 minute video call, an interview that Moscow authorities had pre-emptively warned Russian media to refrain from reporting. Zelenskiy spoke in Russian throughout, as he has done in previous speeches when targeting a Russian audience.



Zelenskiy said Russia&#8217;s invasion had caused the destruction of Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine, with damage worse than the Russian wars in Chechnya.



&#8220;Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,&#8221; Zelenskiy said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/top-russian-ukrainian-diplomats-meet-for-first-time-since-invasion/">Top Russian, Ukrainian diplomats meet for first time since invasion</a></h3>



Zelenskiy said Ukraine refused to discuss certain other Russian demands, such as the demilitarisation of the country.



Speaking more than a month after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Zelenskiy said no peace deal would be possible without a ceasefire and troop withdrawals.



He ruled out trying to recapture all Russian-held territory by force, saying it would lead to a third world war, and said he wanted to reach a &#8220;compromise&#8221; over the eastern Donbas region, held by Russian-backed forces since 2014.



Russia says it is conducting a &#8220;special military operation&#8221; in Ukraine with the aim of demilitarising its neighbour. Ukraine and its Western allies call this a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humanitarian-catastrophe">&#8216;HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE&#8217;</h2>



Zelenskiy focused on the fate of the eastern port city of Mariupol, under siege for weeks. Once a city of 400,000 people, it has undergone prolonged Russian bombardment.



&#8220;All entries and exits from the city of Mariupol are blocked,&#8221; Zelenskiy said. &#8220;The port is mined. A humanitarian catastrophe inside the city is unequivocal, because it is impossible to go there with food, medicine and water,&#8221; he said.



&#8220;I don&#8217;t even know who the Russian army has ever treated like this,&#8221; he said, adding that, compared to Russian wars in Chechnya, the volume of destruction &#8220;cannot be compared&#8221;.



Russia has denied targeting civilians in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for a failure to open humanitarian corridors.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/ramaphosa-says-south-africa-has-been-asked-to-mediate-russia-ukraine/">Ramaphosa says South Africa has been asked to mediate Russia-Ukraine</a></h3>



Zelenskiy pushed back against allegations from Moscow that Ukraine had curbed the rights of Russian speakers, saying it was Russia&#8217;s invasion that wiped Russian-speaking cities &#8220;off the face of the earth&#8221;.



He also dismissed as &#8220;a joke&#8221; allegations made by Russia that Ukraine had nuclear or chemical weapons.



Russian prosecutors said a legal opinion would be made on the statements made in the interview and on the legality of publishing the interview. [<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS8N2VD0DW&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>]



Commenting afterwards, Zelenskiy said Russia destroyed the freedom of speech in its own country.



&#8220;The Russian censorship agency came out with a threat,&#8221; Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. &#8220;It would be ridiculous if it weren&#8217;t so tragic.&#8221;



(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Oleksandr Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Writing by Matthias Williams and Lidia Kelly;Editing by Pravin Char and Stephen Coates)

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International

Netflix estimates 100 million households are sharing passwords and suggests a global crackdown is coming

IMF warns of further market sell-offs as central banks adjust policy

Denmark in talks with Rwanda on transfer of asylum-seekers

IMF cuts global growth forecasts on Russia-Ukraine war, says risks to economy have risen sharply

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Markets will be looking for clues from the Fed ahead, as historically strong month gets underway

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Ukraine ready to discuss adopting neutral status in Russia peace deal – Zelenskiy

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