<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="480" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3GWHJ24G6BNGHDPVWY36IOPFFQ.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-596532" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3GWHJ24G6BNGHDPVWY36IOPFFQ.jpg 720w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3GWHJ24G6BNGHDPVWY36IOPFFQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3GWHJ24G6BNGHDPVWY36IOPFFQ-135x90.jpg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South Africa&#8217;s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana speaks during his 2023 budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa, February 22, 2023. REUTERS/Shelley Christians/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, March 12 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s National Treasury on Wednesday proposed a smaller hike in value-added tax in a revised budget aimed at ending deadlock within the coalition government, but it was not clear if it would get the support in parliament to pass.



Last month, the Treasury had proposed a 2-percentage-point hike in VAT in its initial budget, but the African National Congress&#8217; biggest coalition partner refused to back the move, forcing the budget to be postponed.



On Wednesday, the Treasury instead proposed raising VAT by 0.5 percentage points from its current level of 15% on May 1, followed by another 0.5-percentage-point increase in 2026.



Minutes before Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana took the podium in parliament, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party in government, said his party was still opposed.



&#8220;The DA will not support the budget in its current form,&#8221; said John Steenhuisen on X.



The budget has been the biggest test so far of South Africa&#8217;s fractious coalition government, formed last year after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.



The ANC needs at least one other big party behind it to pass the budget, and parties outside of the coalition, such as the Economic Freedom Fighters, are also opposed to raising taxes.



The ANC and the DA are ideologically opposed on many issues but have managed to govern together so far with occasional disputes that have not derailed the coalition.



SPENDING PRESSURES



The Treasury said the government faced &#8220;new and persistent&#8221; spending pressures that required additional funding, and the tax increase would fund health, education and rail projects.



&#8220;This decision was not taken lightly. We thoroughly examined alternatives to raising the VAT,&#8221; Godongwana said, adding a tax hike was the best way to avoid further spending cuts.



Tax measures proposed in the latest budget would generate an additional 28 billion rand ($1.53 billion) of revenue in the fiscal year that starts on April 1 2025, Godongwana said, less than the 58 billion the Treasury had initially hoped to raise.



Additional funds would be drawn from contingency reserves, revised budget documents showed.



The budget deficit is now seen at 5.0% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2025/26 fiscal year and debt is expected to peak at 76.2% of GDP in 2025/26.



Consumer inflation is expected to rise due to the VAT hike, the budget showed.



($1 = 18.3462 rand)



(Roelf reported from Cape Town and Gumbi and Anders from Pretoria; Additional reporting by Nqobile Dludla and Sfundo Parakozov in Pretoria; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Alexander Winning, Alexandra Hudson)

3GWHJ24G6BNGHDPVWY36IOPFFQ

South Africa proposes smaller VAT hike in revised budget, disagreements remain

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="544" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/images-1-820x544.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-596528" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/images-1-820x544.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/images-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/images-1-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/images-1-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/images-1-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/images-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Meta logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



PRETORIA, March 12 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s government has proposed to remove the luxury excise duty on smartphones worth below 2,500 rand ($136.37) from April 1 to support digital adoption for low-income households, the National Treasury said on Wednesday.



Currently, so called ad valorem excise duties on smartphones are charged at a rate of 9%.



&#8220;Government proposes that as of 1 April 2025 this duty rate be applied only to smartphones with a price paid greater than 2,500 rand at the time of export to South Africa,&#8221; treasury said in its budget statement.



This proposal will &#8220;enhance smartphone affordability at the lower end of the price spectrum and support efforts to promote digital inclusion for low-income households,&#8221; it added.



The move comes as South Africa plans a total shutdown of 2G and 3G networks by December 31, 2027 to free up radio waves for faster 4G LTE and 5G networks.



Critics of the plan had argued that phasing 2G and 3G networks risked exacerbating the digital divide as many low-income consumers, particularly those in remote areas, may not afford newer smartphones designed for faster networks.



Communications Minister Solly Malatsi told Reuters last year that the ad valorem excise duties contribute to the high cost of smart devices and that he was in talks with treasury to cut these.



($1 = 18.3330 rand)



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo)

FILE PHOTO: llustration shows Meta logo

South Africa to remove luxury duty on lower value smartphones

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-596469" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Steel coils are pictured in the yards of the steelmaker Ternium plant. Daniel Becerril | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



The European Union has reacted swiftly to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that came into effect Wednesday, retaliating with their own punitive counter-measures that it said were needed to protect consumers and businesses.



The White House confirmed the duties — which will affect Canada, Australia, the EU and others — late Tuesday, but said that Trump no longer planned to raise tariffs on the metals from Canada to 50%.



The EU responded swiftly, saying it would impose counter-tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28.33 billion) worth of U.S. goods starting in April.



European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday told reporters that the EU “must act to protect businesses and consumers.”



“We deeply regret this measure [by the U.S.]. Tariffs are taxes, they are bad for business and worse for consumers, they are disrupting supply chains, they bring uncertainty for the economy, jobs are at stake, prices are up and nobody needs that, neither side needs that,” she said during a press conference.



Trade ties between the U.S. and EU “are the biggest in the world,” Von der Leyen said, and the relationship had brought “prosperity and security to millions of people” as well as job creation on both sides of the Atlantic, she noted.



The EU’s two-pronged approach will see previously suspended tariffs re-imposed on 8 billion euros of U.S. exports, and a slew of new countermeasures on 18 billion euros of goods in a move Von der Leyen had earlier described as “strong but proportionate.”



“We will always remain open to negotiation,” she added in a statement.



The EU said the tariffs will affect up to 26 billion euros (28.3 billion) worth of EU exports to the U.S. They&nbsp; apply to industrial-grade steel and aluminum, other steel and aluminum semi-finished and finished products, and also their derivative commercial products, such as machinery parts and knitting needles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rising-tensions"><a></a>Rising tensions</h2>



The tit for tat action marks the latest development in a simmering trade war that has been marked by bold promises of tariffs — and subsequent reversals and delays — by Trump.



The trade tensions have hit markets in recent days amid growing concerns that the duties could push the world’s biggest economy toward a recession.



Unlike Mexico, Canada and China, EU-origin products had not been hit by Trump’s tariffs until the steel and aluminum duties came into effect Wednesday.



Tensions between Washington and Brussels have been simmering since Trump’s inauguration in January, when the White House leader immediately signaled his intention to impose tariffs on the bloc.



“They’ve really taken advantage of us,” Trump said in a Cabinet meeting on Feb.26, adding: “They don’t accept our cars, they don’t accept, essentially, our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not. And we accept everything of them.”



One of Trump’s biggest bugbears is the U.S.′ trade deficits with a number of key trading partners, including Canada and the EU.



European Commission data show that the EU had a trade surplus of 155.8 billion euros ($159.6 billion) with the U.S. for goods in 2023, but ran a 104-billion-euros deficit on services. Overall, EU-U.S. trade in goods and services in 2023 was worth 1.6 trillion euros ($1.68 trillion), according the to EU.



Machinery and vehicles make up the largest chunk of EU exports to the U.S. by product group, followed by chemicals, other manufactured goods and medicinal and pharmaceutical products.&nbsp;



— CNBC’s Katrina Bishop and Amala Balakrishner contributed reporting to this story.

108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico

We ‘must act’: Europe retaliates against Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3335" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/MFT5KPTY55OPPPKFL2CKGKSG2E.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-596444"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">African heads of state and delegates attend the opening of the 38th Ordinary Session of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the African Union Commission (AUC) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 15, 2025. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



In 1989, John Conyers—the longest-serving African-American member of Congress in history—first introduced the “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for the African-Americans Act,” or United States House Resolution 40 (H.R. 40), referring to the unmet promise of granting “40 acres and a mule” to freed slaves. H.R. 40 has been reintroduced in each session of the US Congress since then, but has not been enacted into law.



Its passage into law is unlikely to happen under the current 119th Republican-controlled Congress and administration, which has made dismantling diversity, equity &amp; inclusion (DEI) one of the cornerstones of its domestic agenda. According to the Pew Research Center, only 8% of Republicans and GOP leaners support reparations, compared to 48% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Yet reparatory justice is essential to addressing the US’s long and continuing history of racial inequality, and supporting the American ideal of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all people irrespective of race.



The consequences of the transatlantic slave trade have, of course, extended far beyond the US, affecting Africa and its diaspora all around the world. The historical injustice that started on the continent of Africa in the 15th century has invariably affected all people of African descent worldwide, with the cultural holocaust, loss of identity, and legacy of discrimination and unequal access to opportunities born out of it continuing to stifle their growth and personal development centuries later.



With this in mind, reparatory justice was the overarching theme of the 38th African Union summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last month. The summit, involving heads of state and government from throughout the region, aimed to bring together Africa and its diaspora and to galvanize the international community to confront the historical injustice and long-term effects of slavery. To further sustain that momentum the African Union has made “Building a united front to advance the cause of justice and payment of reparations to Africans” the theme of the year for 2025.



Millions of young Africans forcibly transported across the Atlantic Ocean died during the infamous Middle Passage. Those who survived the journey were subjected to atrocious, dehumanizing treatment and exploited. In his 1805 illustrated publication “Injured Humanity”, Samuel Wood provided a vivid representation of what the children of Africa endured as slaves in America, how enslaved people were flogged and branded with a ‘red-hot iron’, how families were ‘violently separated; probably never to see each other more.’



Enslaved Africans and their descendants were given new names by their captors, names with no African root or meaning in their native languages. Superstrate European tongues dominated, contributing most of the vocabulary to the Creole languages that evolved in the ‘New World’, and the African languages became substrate. Today, in Africa itself, European languages also predominate, and African languages are at risk of extinction, reflecting the long-term impact of the colonial education system under which intergenerational transfer of knowledge is no longer carried out through endogenous vectors. The war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) provides a tragic case in point—though many millions of Congolese were killed under the bloody colonial rule of King Leopold II of Belgium, the DRC is the second-largest French-speaking country in the world after France, and its capital Kinshasa is today home to more French speakers than Paris.



Across Africa, the continent’s flourishing civilizations were systematically destroyed by slavery and the colonial regime, and ordered systems of governance were brought down. Precious symbols of cultural meanings and artefacts were either looted or destroyed, engendering a sense of cultural discontinuity that has fueled alienation and a loss of identity. The slave trade, which primarily targeted Africa’s young and most-able workforce, stunted economic growth and long-term development, setting the region down a lasting path of external dependency, which has become the root cause of aid dependency as well as intergenerational poverty and systemic inequality.



Several factors have contributed to the transatlantic slave trade’s legacy. First, when imperial powers did finally abolish slavery they did not go through a period of atonement or attempt to reverse the hierarchization of races, which fundamentally transformed the world. Second, those countries that benefitted from slavery were more concerned with preserving wealth accumulation and global economic dominance than with ensuring the emergence of equal-opportunity societies after abolition.



So lucrative was slavery to European imperial powers that they felt compelled to compensate slaveholders after its abolition, further widening wealth and income inequality between races within and between countries. For instance, the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, which abolished slavery in most British colonies, included a compensation package for enslavers worth £20 million (equivalent to more than £2 billion today), representing around 40% of the government’s total annual expenditure at the time. British taxpayers only finished repaying the money borrowed by the government to compensate enslavers in 2015.



Similarly, France granted reparations to enslavers and colonists to compensate for their lost revenues from slavery. The most emblematic case is Haiti, where France imposed a huge independence debt of 150 million Francs (representing 10 years of the Haitian government’s entire revenue) on former slaves. The payment ran for 122 years, from 1825 to 1947, and the money went to more than 7,900 former slave owners and their descendants in France. French economist Thomas Piketty estimates that France should repay at least US$28 billion to Haiti in restitution. Moreover, Napoleon reinstated slavery in 1802, positioning France as the only country in the world that has had to abolish slavery twice.



And because the abolition of slavery had no cost to France, it was reinstated and later abolished again, still at no cost to the state; because it had no cost to all European imperial powers, it was immediately followed by colonialism and apartheid to perpetuate the system of exploitation and domination which had led to stratified societies in which race and class intersect. People carry the memory of their past sufferings and are often defined by it. For people of African descent, digitalization has created an intercontinental collective imaginary of historical traumas associated with slavery, which is snowballing.



The enslavement of Africans is belatedly being recognized specifically as a crime against humanity. In 2001, France was the first country to declare that the transatlantic slave trade represented a crime against humanity, though President Emmanuel Macron ruled out reparations in 2017, calling instead for reconciliation. In 2020, the European Parliament recognized slavery as a crime against humanity. Last year, California joined a half-dozen US states to officially apologize for slavery, though the state legislature shied away from taking substantial actions relating to reparations. In a more encouraging move, in December 2022, the government of the Netherlands apologized for the country’s role in slavery and established a fund of €200 million (around $208 million) to raise awareness of the Netherlands’ history as a colonial power, as well as “fostering engagement” and “addressing the present-day effects of slavery”. 



International law recognizes that those who commit crimes against humanity must make reparations. Several countries have received compensation under this law, including the Republic of Korea, which suffered under the Japanese invasion, and Israel, which received compensation from Germany after World War II. Several communities have also received reparations for state crimes committed within national borders, including Japanese Americans after their internment and ill-treatment at the hands of US authorities and the Maoris of New Zealand, who received compensation for the seizure of their land by British colonizers in 1863.



In a departure from international norms, African slaves and states did not receive compensation. Instead, the abolition of slavery was associated with costs to slaves in a world where imperial nations had the memory of abolitionists and not of slaves. The restorative justice being championed by the African Union prioritizes repairing the damage suffered by the victims of slavery and their descendants rather than punishing the perpetrators. In addition to acting as insurance against the repetition of past and ongoing historical harms, this process is inherently collaborative, bringing together the descendants of enslaved people and slaveowners for a genuine dialogue to create a better world, going beyond monetary compensation. It also outstrips the piecemeal approach underpinning DEI programs, which often serve as ‘reparations-washing’—true justice demands systemic, structural changes to individual mindsets and corporate behaviors.



Despite the increasingly volatile political rhetoric, the long arc of the moral universe is bending toward justice, to paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr. Even in the US, the process of restorative justice is gaining momentum. The country’s experience after the Civil War can also inform current efforts in the quest for restorative justice at the global level. The original 40-acres-and-a-mule proposal, which was reversed by US President Andrew Johnson, resulted from a consultation between Union General William T. Sherman, African-American leaders, and Christian ministers. By endowing former slaves with means of production to strengthen the foundation of entrepreneurship within the African-American community and equalize access to opportunities in a largely agrarian economic environment, the model would have smoothed the transition of landless and uneducated free slaves into a new world of self-reliance.



Restorative justice today should prioritize the renewal of productive capacities across African and Caribbean nations, but also within the African diaspora in the US and other countries. This will drive entrepreneurship, expand their contribution to global output and trade, and break the vicious cycle of economic dependency and recurrent balance of payment crises that have dominated the post-abolition and independence era. This requires significant investment in physical and human capital to drive endogenous growth and structural transformation in a world where growth is increasingly powered by technology, as well as support from the international community as the African Union intensifies its efforts to pursue restorative justice.



At the same time, African leaders should, in memory of the victims of slavery, establish an International Day of Commemoration to be observed throughout Africa and beyond. They must also reform their institutions and education systems to memorialize and reappropriate their history and cultural heritage. It is equally important and urgent for African leaders to aggressively invest in preserving and restoring their cultures and revitalizing their languages. Language is identity; it is also a powerful vector of projection into the future, and Africa, the cradle of civilization, cannot afford to miss out on the ongoing digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution. That revolution is also taking a linguistic shape and will be represented by voice.



The process of restorative justice cannot be unidirectional. It requires more than atonement and money—if we are all to heal, collaboration between both descendants of slaves and slave owners is crucial. Recognizing slavery’s lasting impact as a crime against humanity, in addition to the steps being taken now by the African Union and other world leaders, are essential milestones amid ongoing efforts to create a better and equitable future for all people. But genuine success will depend on the commitment of all actors on both sides of the restorative justice equation.



Hippolyte Fofack, a former chief economist at the African Export-Import Bank, is a fellow with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network at Columbia University, a research associate at Harvard University, a distinguished fellow at the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils, and a fellow at the African Academy of Sciences.

MFT5KPTY55OPPPKFL2CKGKSG2E

Reparatory Justice and Africa’s Emancipation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="390" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Z7OUSBHECZMJVEHQT7G2AZVSQU.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-573028"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South African Rand coins are seen in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/Illustration/File photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South African markets were on edge on Wednesday as the finance minister prepared to present a revised annual budget, with local media reports suggesting there was still no agreement between the two largest political parties.



At 0830 GMT the rand traded at 18.3475 against the dollar, down more than 0.7% on Tuesday&#8217;s closing level.



The Johannesburg Stock Exchange&#8217;s Top-40 index was down 0.1% and the benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally weaker.



The budget has been the biggest test so far of South Africa&#8217;s fractious coalition politics.



It was due out three weeks ago but was postponed at the last minute because of disagreements in the coalition over a plan to hike value-added tax by 2 percentage points to 17%.



Local media have reported that the amended budget is likely to propose a smaller VAT increase, in a concession&nbsp;the finance ministry hopes will help it pass.



But it is still not clear&nbsp;if that&nbsp;will work.



The biggest party in the coalition, the African National Congress, needs the support of at least one other big party in parliament&nbsp;to pass the fiscal framework.



All other big parties including the second-biggest in the coalition, the Democratic Alliance, have publicly opposed raising VAT.



Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana&#8217;s budget speech is expected to start around 1200 GMT.



&#8220;Uncertainty reigns as reports indicate no final agreement between the ANC and DA within the (coalition), meaning the budget could still face opposition in parliament,&#8221; Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE, said.



&#8220;While investors were hoping for a clear fiscal path, speculation suggests the ANC will push ahead regardless, setting up a potential political battle that could impact markets.&#8221;



(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Andrew Heavens)

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2203090787-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-596161" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2203090787-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2203090787-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2203090787-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2203090787-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2203090787-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2203090787-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">ACCRA, GHANA &#8211; MARCH 3: Cassiel Ato Forson, Ghana&#8217;s finance minister, speaks during the National Economic Dialogue on March 3, 2025, in Accra, Ghana. The National Economic Dialogue brings together representatives from government, business, and civil society for a dialogue around the theme &#8220;Resetting Ghana: Building the Economy We Want Together&#8221; and takes place ahead of the reading of Ghana&#8217;s national budget in Parliament on March 11. (Photo by Ernest Ankomah/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, March 11 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Ghana&#8217;s Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Baah Forson said on Tuesday that the West African nation faced significant external debt service costs over the next four years.



&#8220;The next four years we&#8217;ll be made to call upon to pay $8.7 billion representing 10.9% of GDP, with heavy concentration in the year 2027 and 2028,&#8221; Forson told parliament in his first budget speech.



He that Ghana will have to pay $2.5 billion in 2027 and $2.4 billion in 2028.



&#8220;In spite of all these upcoming domestic and external debt service obligations, no buffers were built to cushion this unprecedented debt service burden,&#8221; Forson said.



The West African nation is emerging from its deepest economic crisis in a generation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, higher global interest rates and years of excessive borrowing.



President John Dramani Mahama, who took office in January, has vowed to boost the economy and create jobs. He faces the fallouts of a cost-of-living crisis, an ongoing bailout from the International Monetary Fund and a sovereign debt default in the cocoa and gold-producing nation.



(Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Writing by Sofia Christensen and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Bate Felix and Tomasz Janowski)

National Economic Dialogue Held In Ghana

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VHFMCME3UZO7DANJAKAOCLCA2U-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-495905" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VHFMCME3UZO7DANJAKAOCLCA2U-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VHFMCME3UZO7DANJAKAOCLCA2U-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VHFMCME3UZO7DANJAKAOCLCA2U-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VHFMCME3UZO7DANJAKAOCLCA2U-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VHFMCME3UZO7DANJAKAOCLCA2U-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/VHFMCME3UZO7DANJAKAOCLCA2U-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Nigeria&#8217;s President Bola Tinubu looks on after his swearing-in ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, March 11 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria&#8217;s government has started vetting potential candidates to lead its more than 100 diplomatic missions, with appointments expected &#8220;very soon&#8221;, 18 months after President Bola Tinubu recalled all ambassadors, sources familiar with the matter said.



Nigeria, Africa&#8217;s most populous country and a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist insurgents in West Africa, has operated without ambassadors since September 2023.



The minister of foreign affairs has previously blamed a lack of funds for the delay in naming new diplomats.



A government source told Reuters that the issue &#8220;is being resolved&#8221; and &#8220;that means the appointment will be announced very soon.&#8221;



Nigeria&#8217;s security services were conducting background checks on possible appointees and had started sharing their findings with the relevant agencies within the presidency and legislature, an intelligence official told Reuters.



A spokesperson from the presidency referred questions to the foreign affairs ministry, which declined to comment. The sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak on the matter.



Since coming to power in May 2023, Tinubu has prioritised fixing Nigeria&#8217;s struggling economy, with foreign policy taking a back seat, said a former ambassador who served in Africa and the United States.



The government has this year budgeted 302.4 billion naira ($198.30 million) to run its foreign missions.



The former Nigerian ambassador said he was informed by government officials that the issue of the absence of ambassadors in their countries had come up in discussions between Tinubu and some foreign leaders.



&#8220;Assurance had been given that they will soon be appointed,&#8221; said the former ambassador, who declined to be named.



($1 = 1,525.0000 naira)



(Reporting by Ope Adetayo, additional reporting by Ben Ezeamalu in Lagos; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

FILE PHOTO: Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu looks on after his swearing-in ceremony in Abuja

Nigeria to appoint ambassadors, 18 months after worldwide recall, sources say

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="480" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/6XIG4R3DRFK2ZPWEVWERAVU4PA.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-590617"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The new logo of the Nigeria oil company is seen at the NNPC Mega Gas Station in Abuja, Nigeria August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LAGOS, March 11 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria&#8217;s state oil company NNPC Ltd has begun discussions with the Dangote Oil Refinery to extend its contract for supplying crude oil in the naira currency, the company said.



The original six-month agreement, which ends later this month, was implemented in October after local refineries, including the Dangote facility, reported difficulties securing crude supplies.



The initiative aimed to alleviate those supply issues by allowing refineries to purchase crude in naira through NNPC Ltd. Under the existing arrangement, NNPC Ltd says it has supplied 48 million barrels of oil to the Dangote Oil Refinery.



While the initial plan included supplying seven other smaller refineries, only the Dangote refinery ultimately benefited from the agreement, and even it did not receive the initially agreed-upon volumes.



NNPC Ltd said that &#8220;discussions are ongoing towards&#8221; a new contract. The details of the potential new contract, including volume, pricing, and duration, are yet to be disclosed.



(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; editing by David Evans)

6XIG4R3DRFK2ZPWEVWERAVU4PA

Nigeria’s NNPC, Dangote Refinery in talks to extend naira-based crude supply deal

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBCYKZR44FM2XJAGL3GJEWP3KA-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-542097" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBCYKZR44FM2XJAGL3GJEWP3KA-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBCYKZR44FM2XJAGL3GJEWP3KA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBCYKZR44FM2XJAGL3GJEWP3KA-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBCYKZR44FM2XJAGL3GJEWP3KA-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBCYKZR44FM2XJAGL3GJEWP3KA-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBCYKZR44FM2XJAGL3GJEWP3KA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A person enters the JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. New York headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



March 11 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;J.P.Morgan on Tuesday downgraded South African equities to &#8220;neutral&#8221; from &#8220;overweight,&#8221; citing concerns over an economic slowdown and the effectiveness of the country&#8217;s policy reforms.



&#8220;While South Africa&#8217;s investment case on reforms remains an attractive point of departure, it is unlikely to result in meaningful (economic) growth that&#8217;s above 2% in the coming two years,&#8221; the brokerage said in a note.



Since the aftermath of the 2008-09 global financial crisis, the government of Africa&#8217;s most industrialised nation has struggled to deliver economic growth rates high enough to make a dent in inequality and unemployment.



In January, South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Lesetja Kganyago told Reuters in an interview that the region&#8217;s economic growth could be close to 2% in 2025.



Last month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his government would launch a second wave of reforms to try to bolster economic growth, by boosting struggling state companies and investing in infrastructure.



But despite improved power availability in the past year and optimism that the ruling Government of National Unity (GNU) coalition will seek to push through growth-enhancing reforms, the operating environment is expected to remain challenging for many businesses.



&#8220;We expect foreign investors to apply a wait-and-see approach while domestic investors will have to straddle the options of GNU’s imperfect execution of its reform agenda,&#8221; the brokerage said.



Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington&#8217;s ally Israel.



&#8220;Global dynamics resulting in South Africa/U.S. relations being strained by matters involving expropriation, ICJ case and domestic affairs around affirmative action&#8230;create uncertainty around the performance of South Africa&#8217;s domestic assets,&#8221; JPM said.



The brokerage said it prefers Emerging European equities within the Central &amp; Eastern Europe, Middle East &amp; Africa (CEEMEA) region, but prefers South African stocks to Middle East and North Africa&#8217;s (MENA) equities.



(Reporting by Siddarth S in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Varun H K)

A person enters the JPMorgan Chase & Co. New York headquarters in Manhattan, New York City

JPMorgan downgrades South African equities on economic slowdown concerns

Former Australian PM on why the gender pay gap is still a problem

Tariffs raise prices but aren’t technically inflationary

Tariffs raise prices but aren’t technically inflationary, says tax expert

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-595769" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Bitcoin fell on Monday as volatility in the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency continues following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump to create a strategic bitcoin reserve for the United States.



Earlier Monday, bitcoin prices slipped up to 6.5% to trade around $80,650 before paring most losses. By 4:12 a.m., the coin was down 0.74% at $82,050, according to Coin Metrics.



The reserve will be funded by coins that have been seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases and there are no plans for the U.S. government to buy more bitcoin. After the strategic reserve announcement last Thursday, crypto prices declined as investors were disappointed it wasn’t a more aggressive program.



Other cryptocurrency prices also proved volatile on Monday. Both ether and XRP were trading in the green by 4:12 a.m. after earlier falling around 7.5%.



Some investors, however, said the move to establish a reserve was bullish in the long-term.



“I absolutely think the market has this wrong,” Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at&nbsp;Bitwise Asset Management, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday. “The market is short-term disappointed” that the government didn’t say it was immediately going to start acquiring 100,000 or 200,000 bitcoin, he added.



Hougan pointed towards comments on X from White House Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks, who said the U.S. would look for “budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided that those strategies have no incremental costs on American taxpayers.”



“I think the right question to ask is: did this executive order make it more likely that in the future, bitcoin will be a geopolitically important currency or asset? Will other governments look to follow the U.S.’s lead and build their own strategic reserve? And to me, the answer to that is emphatically yes,” Hougan said.



“The reason that questions matters is that’s the question that determines if bitcoin is $80,000 a coin or $1 million a coin.”



Hougan called the decline in crypto prices a “short-term setback.”



“I think the market will soon find its footing and realize that actually this is incredibly bullish long term for this asset and for crypto as a whole,” he said.



<a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/andrew-ng-book-recommendations-onboarding/?utm_source=taboola&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_campaign=20240906_TB_PRO_AndrewNGTTS-OnboardingTest_DW_Universal_MaxConversion-OnboardingLength&amp;utm_term=cnbc&amp;utm_content=4031132309&amp;taboola_click_id=GiDj4YBFh-KY4ULxc1Tv38w6L4sAzStLAzm14ncTr9ZdryCtlkEosfHclcKfxLBgMMQE&amp;tblci=GiDj4YBFh-KY4ULxc1Tv38w6L4sAzStLAzm14ncTr9ZdryCtlkEosfHclcKfxLBgMMQE#tblciGiDj4YBFh-KY4ULxc1Tv38w6L4sAzStLAzm14ncTr9ZdryCtlkEosfHclcKfxLBgMMQE"></a>

108112693-1741359002550-gettyimages-2202592326-raa-cryptocr250303_npQOY

Bitcoin falls as much as 6.5% as volatility continues after Trump’s bitcoin reserve plan

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="469" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/I7JNEWQ4GVLM3NU76F6XVVSAV4.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-564821"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People walk on the street around Kwame Nkrumah circle in Accra, Ghana, December 2, 2016. Picture taken December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, March 10 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Ghana&#8217;s&nbsp;economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter of last year,&nbsp;dragged down by a weaker performance of the industry sector, the&nbsp;country&#8217;s statistics agency said on Monday.



Gross domestic product grew by 3.6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, the data showed, compared with a revised 7.5% in the third quarter.



Economic growth for the year 2024 was at 5.7%.



Growth in the&nbsp;fourth quarter&nbsp;was&nbsp;mostly&nbsp;driven by&nbsp;the services sector, which grew 6.3%,&nbsp;and&nbsp;agriculture,&nbsp;which rose 2.9%, government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim said,&nbsp;adding that the industry sector only&nbsp;expanded by 0.2%.



The West African country is emerging from its deepest economic crisis in a generation, with turmoil in the vital cocoa and gold industries.



Ghana&#8217;s consumer inflation rate slowed for the second month in a row in February, to 23.1% from 23.5% in January.



However, it remains well above Bank of Ghana&#8217;s 8% target with a margin of error of 2 percentage points either side.



President John Dramani Mahama, who returned to office in January, has promised to cut taxes and expenditure to attract investments and lift growth.



(Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Bate Felix and Toby Chopra)

I7JNEWQ4GVLM3NU76F6XVVSAV4

Ghana’s growth slows in fourth quarter of 2024

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3500" height="2224" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/7XTI2CWP3BLPFASXQO4LHAPT4I.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-595714"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A view of processing facilities at Tenke Fungurume, a copper and cobalt mine 110 km (68 miles) northwest of Lubumbashi in Congo&#8217;s copper-producing south. Picture taken January 29, 2013. REUTERS/Jonny Hogg/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



March 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The United States is open to exploring critical minerals partnerships with Congo, the State Department said in a statement to Reuters on Sunday, after a Congolese senator contacted U.S. officials to pitch a minerals-for-security deal.



Democratic Republic of Congo, which is rich in cobalt, lithium and uranium among other minerals, has been fighting Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who have seized swathes of its territory this year.



Talk of a deal with the U.S. &#8211; which is also in discussions with Ukraine over a minerals pact &#8211; has circulated in Kinshasa for weeks.



&#8220;The United States is open to discussing partnerships in this sector that are aligned with the Trump Administration&#8217;s America First Agenda,&#8221; a State Department spokesperson said, noting that Congo held &#8220;a significant share of the world&#8217;s critical minerals required for advanced technologies.&#8221;



The U.S. has worked &#8220;to boost U.S. private sector investment in the DRC to develop mining resources in a responsible and transparent manner,&#8221; the spokesperson said.



Kinshasa has not publicly detailed a proposal, instead saying it is seeking diversified partnerships.



&#8220;There is a desire for us to diversify our partners,&#8221; Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said last week, adding there were &#8220;daily exchanges&#8221; between Congo and the U.S.



&#8220;If today American investors are interested in coming to the DRC, obviously they will find space &#8230; DRC has reserves that are available and it would also be good if American capital could invest here,&#8221; he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-regional-stability">REGIONAL STABILITY</h2>



Andre Wameso, deputy chief of staff to Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, travelled to Washington earlier this month for talks on a partnership, two sources told Reuters.



On February 21, a lobbyist representing the Congolese Senator Pierre Kanda Kalambayi sent letters to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other American officials inviting U.S. investment in Congo&#8217;s vast mineral resources in exchange for helping to reinforce &#8220;regional stability&#8221;.



That initiative was not sanctioned by the broader Congolese government or presidency, according to two Congolese officials. There are, however, several initiatives underway, albeit in nascent stages, sources from Congo&#8217;s presidency, its ministry of mines, and from Washington told Reuters.



A Congolese delegation had been scheduled to meet with the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 6, but cancelled the meeting at short notice, according to two sources.



&#8220;I think it&#8217;s certainly something that will pique people&#8217;s interest in Washington, and I think it has attracted interest,&#8221; said Jason Stearns, a Congo expert at Canada&#8217;s Simon Fraser University, noting that Congo&#8217;s mineral supply chains are currently dominated by China.



But, he said, the U.S. does not have state-owned companies like China does, and no private American mining companies currently operate in Congo.



&#8220;So if the Congolese want to make this work, it will probably not be by offering a U.S. company a mining concession. They&#8217;ll have to look at more complicated ways of engaging the U.S.&#8221;, he added.



(Reporting by Congo newsroom, Sonia Rolley and Portia Crowe; Editing by David Holmes)

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South Africa proposes smaller VAT hike in revised budget, disagreements remain

South Africa to remove luxury duty on lower value smartphones

We ‘must act’: Europe retaliates against Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports

Reparatory Justice and Africa’s Emancipation

South African markets on edge before budget showdown

How the CEO of one Asia’s largest healthcare providers is expanding despite medical inflation

What if we could recycle textile waste instead?

Ghana faces significant external debt service, finance minister says

Why Estée Lauder Is Spending $1.5 Billion On A Makeover

Nigeria to appoint ambassadors, 18 months after worldwide recall, sources say

Nigeria’s NNPC, Dangote Refinery in talks to extend naira-based crude supply deal

JPMorgan downgrades South African equities on economic slowdown concerns

Former Australian PM on why the gender pay gap is still a problem

Tariffs raise prices but aren’t technically inflationary, says tax expert

Bitcoin falls as much as 6.5% as volatility continues after Trump’s bitcoin reserve plan

Ghana’s growth slows in fourth quarter of 2024

US open to minerals partnerships with Democratic Republic of Congo

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