<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="753" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MoralEconomybanner.png" alt="" class="wp-image-513383" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MoralEconomybanner.png 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MoralEconomybanner-300x118.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MoralEconomybanner-820x322.png 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MoralEconomybanner-160x63.png 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MoralEconomybanner-768x301.png 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MoralEconomybanner-1536x602.png 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: <a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/street-protests-nairobi-kenya-july-month-long-over-government-william-ruto-continue-youth-seeking-better-leadership-image326684651" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joshua Wanyama/Dreamstime</a></figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-recent-protests-in-kenya-signal-a-shift-from-ethnic-based-to-interest-based-politics-which-could-have-broader-implications-for-the-region">Recent protests in Kenya signal a shift from ethnic-based to interest-based politics which could have broader implications for the region.</h2>



The recent protests in Kenya mark a turning point in Kenya’s, and perhaps Africa’s, political trajectory. Changes were already apparent in Kenya’s last elections, which showed a growing number of Kenyans turning away from ethnic-based voting towards class and interest-based voting. The tax protests take this a step further, giving voice to those who felt ignored and disenfranchised by the government’s decisions. The crowd, through their protests, have exerted an influence beyond the traditional patronage networks. How did this happen? Will it have a lasting impact? And will it spread to other African countries?&nbsp;



In 1971, the British historian E.P. Thompson published an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/650244" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">article</a>&nbsp;titled ‘The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the 18th Century.’ It argued that the riots, especially bread riots, that plagued 18th-century British politics reflected not so much the disorder of agitators, looters and hooligans, as contemporary politicians liked to paint them, but the attempt by ordinary poor people to enforce the laws and customs that protected their livelihoods and made life affordable for them. Their targets were traders and magistrates who ignored the rules for their own profit. The state nevertheless saw them as a threat and responded with repression. It took decades for the protesters to organise themselves politically and campaign successfully for the vote as a more effective way for their voices to be heard.&nbsp;



The recent Kenyan protests were linked to similar concerns, in this case rising prices caused by tax increases, but with one big difference: it was not just the poor protesting but the middle classes, the mobile phone-owning, digitally-mobilised youth of Gen Z. This is much more politically threatening to the status quo.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1108" height="658" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph.png" alt="" class="wp-image-513381" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph.png 1108w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-300x178.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-820x487.png 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-152x90.png 152w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-768x456.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1108px) 100vw, 1108px" /></figure>



While the immediate target was to rescind the proposed tax increases, which would have immediately impacted the cost of living for all Kenyans, the protests were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/01/kenya-protests-finance-bill-government-debt" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">focused</a>&nbsp;as much on the endemic corruption amongst the political and business elite, including Ruto’s immediate circle, as on the IMF, which approved the tax increases to pay off the accumulated debts of the past. The elite’s affluent lifestyle, flaunted on social media and impervious to the tax hikes, simply rubbed salt in the wound.&nbsp;



Above all, protesters were making the point that the taxes proposed in the budget were&nbsp;unfair.&nbsp;Not only were they retrogressive, impacting more heavily on the poor, but they were designed to raise money to repay loans from which the elite had grown fat and from which the middle and lower classes had derived little tangible benefit. Sure, there was now another train line to Mombasa; but that didn’t provide them with jobs, or help them cover the rising cost of living.&nbsp;



President Ruto initially&nbsp;<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/06/28/kenya-protests-ruto-imf-taxes-poverty-broke-social-contract/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">condemned</a>&nbsp;the protests as the ‘treasonous’ actions of ‘criminal’ elements and sent in the army to ‘restore order’, killing some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/12/kenya-police-chief-resigns-after-criticism-over-protest-crackdown#:~:text=Kenya&amp;apos;s%20national%20rights%20watchdog%20said,resignation%20was%20%E2%80%9Cvery%20significant%E2%80%9D." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">39 protesters</a>&nbsp;in the process. There is still an&nbsp;<a href="https://trtafrika.com/insight/kenya-anti-tax-protests-how-businesses-became-collateral-damage-18181320" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">argument</a>&nbsp;over whether the looting of shops and burning of the Parliament building was caused by hired vandals brought in to discredit the protests and provide a justification for repression, or by some protesters simply expressing their anger or taking advantage of the situation. In practice, it doesn’t matter: the damage was done and the country was shocked.



Ruto is finding out that in a society with a degree of accountability, protest that deteriorates into disorder is what Thompson calls a ‘social calamity’: it destroys existing social and political relations on which political stability is built. Under an authoritarian government, those in power have little compunction in deploying force to repress dissent: they rule by fear, and this simply reinforces the intimidation of society. Opposition leaders and dissidents can be rounded up, beaten, imprisoned or killed without it threatening their dominance.&nbsp;



But where the government is by consent, the authorities need to protect their legitimacy. The question is, whose consent? Kenya is a democracy, and Ruto became President in an election in 2022 declared adequately free and fair. The budget was approved by a democratically-elected Parliament. And yet people still took to the streets in protest.&nbsp;



As Peter Lockwood has argued,&nbsp;<a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/122/487/205/7133587" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kenyan politics</a>&nbsp;is already moving away from ethnically-based voting, where people trust only someone from their own region and ethnic group to represent them, towards interest-based voting. Ruto’s success among Kikuyu voters was based partly on his appeal to the ‘hustlers’: the poor, the street vendors, the disadvantaged who wanted to believe he would help them. But it was also based on their disenchantment with Uhuru Kenyatta’s ‘elite capitalism’ and Kenya’s patron-client politics (neo-patrimonialism for political scientists), in which political support for the President buys access to lucrative business opportunities. As in 18th century England, corruption (‘Old Corruption’ as it was called then) is integral to the political system: it is how political loyalty is bought and political patrons secure money to satisfy their clients. But it only works where constituencies can be bought off in this way. Where a political system is sewn up through such patronage, the only way for those outside the system to make their voices heard is in the street.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1060" height="699" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-513382" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-2.png 1060w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-2-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-2-820x541.png 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-2-136x90.png 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMF-Graph-2-768x506.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1060px) 100vw, 1060px" /></figure>



What underpinned the protests of the crowds in Nairobi and throughout the country was that Ruto had not changed this political process but simply shifted the benefit to his friends and political allies. Not just the hustlers but Kenya’s growing middle classes are suffering from the inflation that debt-fuelled spending and the falling shilling have brought. They saw no reason to suffer higher taxes to pay off the debts that were accumulated without their agreement or benefit. Ruto had done little to prepare the political ground for his debt strategy – either through the tax-and-pay-back approach approved by the IMF or the cut-and-pay policy he is now proposing.&nbsp;



In Britain’s recent election, neither party was willing to admit that Brexit was substantially responsible for the country’s economic woes: the subject was too toxic to raise, seen as a vote loser by both sides. The problem therefore remains unaddressed. So too in Kenya, no one seems willing to admit that it is the imprudent borrowing and incompetent investment by the previous government (in which Ruto was Vice-President) which fuelled the debt crisis that now dominates budget policy. Far easier to blame the international financial system – which has its share of blame, but where the inequality is less immediately visible to Kenyans than is the unfair affluence of their own elite.



Being forced first to withdraw the budget and now to re-structure his whole cabinet shows that Ruto has registered the need to re-establish his legitimacy by bringing in a wider range of political forces to the government. But until the policy issue is debated honestly in public, Ruto’s government will remain vulnerable to popular protest, whoever is co-opted into the cabinet. The moral authority of the crowd has been asserted: it will not disappear, even if it is no longer on the street.&nbsp;



Kenya is not alone in facing this kind of economic crunch over debt, but others have handled it differently.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/ghanas-debt-restructuring-takes-another-step-forward-2024-06-24/#:~:text=*%20January%202024%20%2D%20Ghana%20reaches%20a,loan%20payout%20a%20week%20later." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ghana</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/zambias-three-year-debt-restructuring-takes-step-forward-2024-03-25/#:~:text=July%202022%3A%20Zambia&amp;apos;s%20OCC%2C%20co,worth%20of%20loans%20to%20Zambia." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zambia</a>&nbsp;both chose to default and restructure their debt obligations rather than try to meet the unaffordable repayments by drastically raising taxes or cutting spending. The cost for these countries has been excluded from global capital markets and weakened currencies, but they have so far avoided riots. The issue is already a critical one in the Ghanaian elections due in December, so the debate there cannot be avoided.&nbsp;



<a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/key-takeaways-from-senegals-presidential-election/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Senegal’s elections</a>&nbsp;earlier this year posed a political rather than economic challenge, but it was as much the people on the street as the phone calls from global leaders that finally persuaded Macky Sall to allow the elections to go ahead and hand over the Presidency peacefully to opposition leader Diomaye Faye who stood on a strong anti-corruption platform. In Senegal too, the elite had to listen to the crowd, which now has a leader it trusts.



In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ceqde3dqd05o" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uganda</a>&nbsp;also the crowd has taken up the anti-corruption message and taken to the streets. As in Kenya, the authorities have responded with repression, but their legitimacy is put at risk. Just as coups spread across the Sahelian countries reflecting people’s unhappiness with their ruling elites, in African countries with more robust civil societies, popular protest is spreading demanding more democratic change.



Nigeria is the African country currently most vulnerable to such popular protests. The&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17506352241239550?icid=int.sj-abstract.citing-articles.1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">#EndSARS protests</a>&nbsp;in October 2020 already demonstrated the ability of young Nigerians to mobilise public protest against what was seen as a recurrent injustice of arbitrary arrest by the police. Though it came to an abrupt end after the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/nov/01/nigeria-end-sars-protesters-find-no-justice-one-year-on" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘Lekki Gate massacre’</a>&nbsp;and the state has taken extensive&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/10/19/nigeria-year-no-justice-endsars-crackdown" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">steps</a>&nbsp;to discourage such protests since, the mobilisation of middle-class opinion fed through into&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/peter-obi-and-dream-deferred" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Peter Obi’s</a>&nbsp;strong showing in the 2022 Nigerian elections.



The Nigerian state, even more than the Kenyan, revolves around&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/nigerias-all-too-familiar-corruption-ranking-begs-broader-questions-around-normative" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">patronage networks</a>&nbsp;lubricated by access to state funds. The dependence on oil revenue has meant that personal and trade taxation in Kenya is negligible. The tax take is reported to have risen from 6.7% of GDP in 2021 (<a href="http://chrome-extension//efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https:/www.oecd.org/tax/tax-policy/revenue-statistics-africa-nigeria.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OECD</a>) to 10.8% in 2023 (<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/7/nigeria-on-quest-to-almost-double-tax-to-gdp-ratio-in-three-years#:~:text=Nigeria%20has%20one%20of%20the%20lowest%20tax%20collection%20rates%20in,and%20the%20rest%20from%20borrowing." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">government adviser</a>), but this is as likely to reflect that Nigeria’s measured GDP has fallen sharply since the last election, and is still amongst the lowest in the world. But people do care about the cost of living, the removal of fuel subsidies, and the falling value of the Naira – all of which underpinned the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerian-unions-shut-down-power-grid-start-strike-over-minimum-wage-2024-06-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">general strikes</a>&nbsp;called by Nigerian unions in May and June this year, demanding a raise in the minimum wage. If nothing is done about it sooner rather than later, the Nigerian crowd could take to the streets once more to demand action from a government that has so far failed to deliver.&nbsp;



For now, Tinubu’s government seem to believe that maintaining the patronage networks is more important for their political survival than fending off public protest and that the corruption underpinning those networks can be left in place. Given the size, diversity and devolution of Nigeria’s political system, that may be right – for now. But the risk is that if things do not improve very soon, protests will break out and the authorities may lose political control completely in some areas which they will find very hard to restore without more drastic political and economic reform. Only time will tell.&nbsp;

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The Moral Economy of the African Crowd

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1604532787-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-506008" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1604532787-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1604532787-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1604532787-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1604532787-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1604532787-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1604532787-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ugandan shilling and US dollars in the draw at a foreign exchange currency bureau in Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Uganda&#8217;s central bank said it stands ready to act if the World Bank&#8217;s decision to halt new funding over the country&#8217;s passage of anti-LGBTQ legislation impacts the currency further. Photographer: Luke Dray/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



KAMPALA, July 31 (Reuters) &#8211; The Ugandan shilling was barely changed on Wednesday, with some end-month dollar inflows from charities offering some support, traders said.



At 1050 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,716/3,726, compared with Tuesday&#8217;s closing rate of 3,717/3,727.



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa)

Ugandan Economy Following Rate Cut

Ugandan shilling stable, draws support from charity FX inflows

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1853257074-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-513290" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1853257074-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1853257074-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1853257074-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1853257074-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1853257074-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1853257074-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">ACCRA, GHANA &#8211; DECEMBER 13: H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, speaks at the Diaspora Engagement Policy launch at the Jubilee House on December 13, 2023 in Accra, Ghana.The Diaspora Engagement Policy (DEP), for the first time in the history of the country of Ghana, was developed to provide the necessary framework within which the Ghanian Diaspora can be constructively engaged in political, social, economic and cultural discourse towards the effective mobilization and coordination of their contributions to the national development process. (Photo by Robert Okine/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, July 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;A high court in Ghana has blocked civil society groups from holding protests in the capital Accra, one of the organisers said, joining other African governments in trying to quell youth-led demonstrations over the high cost of living.



Organisers said the protests would draw over two million people onto the streets to demand more action from President Nana Akufo-Addo on corruption and living conditions, as well as to protest delays in signing an anti-LGBT bill into law.



High court Justice Abena Afia Serwaa approved a request by Ghana&#8217;s police to ban a handful of organisations from carrying out protests planned between July 31 and August 6 after the police said it lacked the personnel necessary to provide security as officers have been deployed to political rallies amid election campaigning for elections.



A wave of youth demonstrations has swept across several African countries in recent weeks.



In Kenya, more than 50 people have been killed and nearly 700 arrested in a police crackdown on demonstrations since mid-June, when protesters began taking to the streets to oppose tax increases proposed by President William Ruto, according to the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).



Ruto has fired his cabinet and scrapped the tax bill.



Last week, young people in Uganda took to the streets to protest against alleged corruption and demand the resignation of the parliament speaker.



Police there shut down a march and arrested more than 70 people, according to a legal aid organisation.



Nigeria, meanwhile, on Saturday offered its young people jobs in the state-oil company and billions of naira worth of grants among other incentives to discourage protests, days before a planned nationwide demonstration over bad governance and a high cost of living.



In Ghana, protest organiser Mensah Thompson said elections should not block citizens from exercising their right to demonstrate.



&#8220;Young people are poised to demonstrate with or without the approval of the authorities,&#8221; he said.



&#8220;A time comes when they will spontaneously jump on the streets and we will have a &#8216;Kenya&#8217; on our hands.&#8221;



Ghana&#8217;s economy buckled after the effects of years of over-stretched borrowing were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the knock-on impacts of the war in Ukraine and higher global interest rates.



The gold, cocoa and oil producer has been restructuring most of its $30 billion external debt to be able to implement a $3 billion, three-year International Monetary Fund bailout programme and emerge from its worst economic crisis in a generation.



Ghanaians head to the polls in December to elect legislators and a replacement to President Akufo-Addo in an election expected to be keenly contested.



(Editing by Portia Crowe; editing by Miral Fahmy)

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1254" height="836" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-404443" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling.jpg 1254w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1254px) 100vw, 1254px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Macro view of a screen of trading terminal with abstract financial graph and digits. Trading and forex concept. 3D Rendering</figcaption></figure>



July 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Currencies of most emerging European countries slipped against the dollar on Wednesday, with the Turkish lira touching a record low, while a gauge of EM stocks rose as investors awaited the Federal Reserve&#8217;s interest rate decision later in the day.



MSCI&#8217;s indexes tracking emerging market stocks jumped 1.1%, lifted by gains on Asian bourses on hopes for economic stimulus in China after data showed the country&#8217;s manufacturing activity slipped to a five-month nadir in July.



Additionally, geopolitical risks remained on the radar after Hamas said its leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, drawing worries about further escalation in the region.



Turkey&#8217;s lira dipped 0.2% versus the dollar, touching a fresh all-time low of 33.1075 against the greenback, while stocks in Turkey dipped 0.5%.



Currencies in emerging European economies edged lower, with the Hungarian forint and Czech crown losing about 0.1% against both the euro and the greenback.



Meanwhile, the Polish zloty slipped 0.2% against the euro after data showed inflation jumped significantly in July, from 2.6% to 4.2% year-on-year, primarily due to the government&#8217;s partial withdrawal of measures aimed at keeping down energy prices.



Investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve&#8217;s policy decision later on Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to hold rates but could potentially signal rate cuts are imminent.



The Fed is a key event on a central bank-packed week. The Bank of Japan hiked interest rates earlier in the day. Decisions are on deck from the central banks of Colombia, Brazil, Chile on Wednesday, and the Czech Republic on Thursday.



&#8220;The BoJ and FOMC meetings bookend and are the focal points for a very busy day,&#8221; said Marc Ostwald, global strategist at ADM Investor Services International.



&#8220;It is also month end, and price action thus far this week suggests this has been a constraint, above all given all of the event risk this week, not to mention long-standing national and geopolitical issues,&#8221; Ostwald said, adding plenty of trading activity was likely post the Fed meeting as investors rebalance portfolios.



The emerging markets stock index is on pace for its first monthly decline since January, while an index tracking EM currencies is on track to rise about 0.3%, as markets have grappled with a U.S. tech-led equity selloff, while gauging the likelihood of lower interest rates in the U.S.



Emerging market bonds have fared better, with J.P. Morgan&#8217;s index of dollar-denominated EM bonds returning 1.6% in July, putting its year-to-date gains at nearly 4%.



Elsewhere, the World Bank&#8217;s board approved $1.5 billion in financing for its first ever budget support lending to Ethiopia, it announced on Tuesday.



Ethiopia&#8217;s birr was trading around 74.738 against the dollar.



Nigeria&#8217;s naira was also under pressure, quoted at 1610 to the dollar and on course to fall nearly 7% in July.



(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

Macro view of a screen of trading terminal with abstract financial graph and digits. Trading and forex concept. 3D Rendering

Emerging European FX slips, EM stocks rise as all eyes on Fed

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1366" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-880072092-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-409717" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-880072092-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-880072092-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-880072092-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-880072092-120x80.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-880072092-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-880072092-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kenyan shilling banknotes and coins sit arranged at a market stall in Mombasa, Kenya, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017. The countrys Treasury has already cut this years growth target to 5 percent from 5.9 percent as the protracted election furor damped investment and a drought curbed farm output. Photographer: Luis Tato/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, July 31 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya&#8217;s shilling strengthened on Wednesday, lifted by dollar inflows from horticultural produce exporters, traders said.



At 0751 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 128.50/129.50 to the U.S. dollar, compared with Tuesday&#8217;s closing rate of 129.50/130.50.



(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning)

General Economy As Kenya Faces Bleak 2018 Outlook In Vote Aftermath

Kenyan shilling firms; horticulture dollar inflows help

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="574" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3SPNJHTH4ZKOBH7O5TPG5SMUHA-820x574.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-513287" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3SPNJHTH4ZKOBH7O5TPG5SMUHA-820x574.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3SPNJHTH4ZKOBH7O5TPG5SMUHA-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3SPNJHTH4ZKOBH7O5TPG5SMUHA-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3SPNJHTH4ZKOBH7O5TPG5SMUHA-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3SPNJHTH4ZKOBH7O5TPG5SMUHA-1536x1075.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3SPNJHTH4ZKOBH7O5TPG5SMUHA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk towards a Woolworths store in Cape Town, South Africa, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, July 31 (Reuters) &#8211; South African upmarket fashion and food retailer Woolworths said it expects to report a decline of up to 32% in full-year total headline earnings on weak sales, as higher living costs continue to weigh on discretionary spend.



Woolworths said on Wednesday headline earnings per share (HEPS) for total operations are expected to fall by 27% to 32% in the 53 weeks ended June 30, from 514.7 cents in the prior year.



Excluding Australian department store David Jones&#8217; contribution in the prior year before being sold and on a comparable prior 52-week period, HEPS are seen falling by 14% to 19%.



The retailer will also book a non-cash impairment of goodwill on its Australian men&#8217;s fashion brand Politix after reassessing the carrying value of that brand. This will only impact the EPS line and not HEPS.



Group turnover and concession sales for the total group decreased by 16.4%, with its South African Fashion, Beauty and Home business delivering turnover growth of 1.4%, while the food business grew sales by 11.2%, further buoyed by the inclusion of the Absolute Pets acquisitions in the fourth quarter.



On a comparable basis and from continuing operations, group turnover grew by 6.2% and by 5.6% on a constant currency basis.



Woolworths said its fashion business was impacted by the weak macro environment, poor product availability due to congestion at the ports &#8220;and increased competition from the disruptive entry of international online retailers.&#8221;



The cold weather also arrived late in winter, delaying shopping for winter clothes.



Fast-fashion online retailers Shein and Temu have aggressively expanded worldwide, including in South Africa, as online shopping has surged after the COVID pandemic. Shein has lured local shoppers with its $5 tops and $10 dresses.



In Australia and New Zealand, retail trading conditions have deteriorated further in the second half, with consumer sentiment at near-record lows and the prolonged cost of living crisis continuing to impact both footfall and discretionary spend, Woolworths said.



As a result, sales at its fashion Country Road business fell by 6.8%.



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Woolworths in Cape Town

South Africa’s Woolworths flags sharp drop in profit as shoppers spend less

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-609576648-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-513284" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-609576648-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-609576648-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-609576648-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-609576648-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-609576648-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-609576648-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">John Dramani Mahama, Ghana&#8217;s president, speaks during the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016. The forum focuses on trade and investment opportunities on the continent for African heads of government and American business leaders. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, July 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Former Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama will try to renegotiate terms of an International Monetary Fund bailout and boost local ownership of future oil and mining projects if&nbsp;he wins a new term in office&nbsp;in December, he told Reuters.



Mahama, who was in office from 2012-16, will be the main challenger to the ruling party&#8217;s candidate, Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia, with a good chance to win given a severe economic crisis that has made the government unpopular.



&#8220;I&#8217;ve been in an IMF programme before, when I was president, and I know that the IMF is not averse to sitting and talking and renegotiating issues,&#8221; Mahama, 65, said in an interview.



Ghana defaulted on most of its $30 billion external debt in 2022 after the effects of years of overstretched borrowing were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, knock-on impacts of the war in Ukraine, and higher global interest rates.



The oil, gold and cocoa producer secured a $3 billion IMF bailout in May 2023, and in June this year reached separate deals with bilateral and commercial creditors to restructure its debts and freeze repayments until 2025.



The IMF has already disbursed $1.56 billion with another $360 million due by December. But Mahama said he would seek additional IMF funds&nbsp;to help Ghana resume the debt repayments.



He also said he would amend a public finance management law to introduce a compulsory debt-to-GDP ceiling of 60-70% to prevent excessive borrowing.



Further, Mahama said he would respect existing production contracts with oil and mining companies and not seek to raise taxes, but rather aim for higher royalties from future projects.



&#8220;I think we are at the upper range of taxes on profit &#8230; But I do think that in some cases the level at which we locked in the royalties is low.&#8221;



He held out the prospect of higher government stakes in future projects via the Minerals Income and Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth facility.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-northern-duel">NORTHERN DUEL</h2>



While vice president in 2012, Mahama, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), became president when John Evans Atta-Mills died in office. Mahama won his own mandate in a presidential election a few months later.



He lost elections in 2016 and 2020 to Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who must step down after this year&#8217;s Dec. 7 vote as he will have served the maximum two terms.



As president, Mahama invested heavily in infrastructure but drew criticism over power shortages, macroeconomic instability and allegations of political corruption, though he was not personally tainted. Critics of the NPP say those trends have continued or worsened under Akufo-Addo&#8217;s administration.



Mahama and Bawumia are both from northern Ghana, where the NDC was dominant for many years but the NPP has been making inroads.



&#8220;We the youth are hopeless, we don&#8217;t have jobs. How to eat, pay bills and feed our families is very hard,&#8221; Abdul-Wakil Neindow, 30, who lost his construction job in 2017 and has yet to find work, said at Mahama&#8217;s campaign launch at the weekend.



Ghana is one of Africa&#8217;s most stable democracies, with a history of peaceful transfers of power. No party has ever won more than two consecutive terms in government.



However, the last election was marred by opposition accusations that the government used the advantages of office to unfairly influence the outcome, which it denied.



Mahama urged supporters at his campaign launch to stay awake for 48 hours after voting to guard against any vote-rigging.



($1 = 15.4500 Ghanaian cedi)



(Writing by Portia Crowe; Editing by Estelle Shirbon and Mark Heinrich)

Key Speakers At The U.S.-Africa Business Forum

Ghana’s Mahama would renegotiate IMF deal if he regains presidency

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/103026087-Rand.jpg" alt="Waldo Swiegers | Bloomberg | Getty Images" class="wp-image-381748" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/103026087-Rand.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/103026087-Rand-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/103026087-Rand-696x391.jpg 696w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Waldo Swiegers | Bloomberg | Getty Images
</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, July 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s rand strengthened early on Wednesday, ahead of a much-anticipated policy decision by the Federal Reserve.



At 0718 GMT, the rand traded at 18.22 against the dollar, about 0.6% stronger than its previous close.



Investors focus will be on the Fed on Wednesday for clues on the future interest rate trajectory of the world&#8217;s biggest economy. The central bank is expected to leave rates unchanged, but markets are betting on a cut at its September meeting.



&#8220;The rand is likely to continue to trade in an R18.20/R18.45 range ahead of the (meeting),&#8221; Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE, said.



Domestic investors will also be looking at June trade balance data to be released by Statistics South Africa later in the day.



On the stock market, the Top-40 index was up 1.2%.



South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2030 government bond firmed in early deals, with the yield down 3.5 basis points to 9.470%.



(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Waldo Swiegers | Bloomberg | Getty Images

South African rand firms ahead of Fed policy decision

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="408" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400697" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Double exposure of coin stack with city background and world map, financial graph, world map and global network business concept idea, element by NASA.</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, July 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The following scheduled economic event, equity and currency market moves may affect South African markets on Wednesday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-economic-event">ECONOMIC EVENT</h2>



Statistics South Africa to release June trade balance data



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-south-african-markets">SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS</h2>



The South African rand gained on Tuesday as markets waited on the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday which could give hints on its rate-cut timeline.



On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index closed 0.3% higher.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-markets">GLOBAL MARKETS</h2>



Asian stocks surged on Wednesday and the yen was volatile after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates in a hawkish pivot, while investors assessed contrasting results from Microsoft and chipmaker AMD that suggested a divide in the AI landscape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wall-street">WALL STREET</h2>



The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq stumbled to close lower on Tuesday, weighed down by weak chip and megacap shares ahead of earnings from heavyweight tech companies this week, but the Dow managed modest gains. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gold">GOLD</h2>



Gold prices firmed on Wednesday, heading for a monthly gain on the back of growing optimism about U.S. interest rate cuts and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, while traders shifted focus to the Federal Reserve&#8217;s policy verdict.



&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;



Some of the main stories out in the South African press:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-business-day">BUSINESS DAY</h2>



&#8211; Nersa rejects Eskom’s bid to reserve grid capacity for renewable energy projects



&#8211; Coronation warns water-shedding a risk to investment



(Compiled by Bhargav Acharya)

istockphoto-1076949610-612×612-1

South African Markets – Factors to watch on July 31

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="357" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400669" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1-300x175.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, July 31 (Reuters) &#8211; The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-events">EVENTS:</h2>



*Kenya and Uganda statistics offices are due to release their respective consumer inflation data for July.



*Ethiopia&#8217;s lawmakers are due to hold an emergency session to discuss the country&#8217;s loans. On Monday, Ethiopia secured an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a new financing program worth $3.4 billion.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-markets">GLOBAL MARKETS</h2>



Asian stocks rose on Wednesday and the yen was volatile after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates, while investors assessed contrasting results from tech bellwether Microsoft and chipmaker AMD that suggested a divide in the AI landscape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-world-oil-prices">WORLD OIL PRICES</h2>



Oil futures rebounded more than $1 a barrel from 7-week lows on Wednesday after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East, but prices stayed under pressure from concerns about weak China demand.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-south-africa-markets">SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS</h2>



The South African rand gained on Tuesday as markets waited on the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday which could give hints on its rate-cut timeline.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kenya-markets">KENYA MARKETS</h2>



Kenya&#8217;s shilling held steady on Tuesday, with traders projecting that dollar inflows from the tourism and agriculture sectors would bolster its strength.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ethiopia-economy">ETHIOPIA ECONOMY</h2>



Ethiopia&#8217;s new $3.4 billion financing deal with the International Monetary Fund paves the way for completion of its long-delayed debt restructuring in the next three to six months, a senior finance ministry official said on Tuesday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-liberia-central-bank">LIBERIA CENTRAL BANK</h2>



Liberia suspended its central bank governor on Tuesday after an audit found irregular loans to the government and unauthorised spending, the information minister and a spokesperson for the central bank said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cameroon-mining">CAMEROON MINING</h2>



Cameroon on Tuesday signed a bauxite mining deal worth at least $2 billion with a subsidiary of Australia-based Canyon Resources, as the central African nation seeks to become an upper middle-income country by 2035.



((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom))

World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance

African Markets – Factors to watch on July 31

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1292" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-scaled.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-scaled.jpeg 2048w, 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-820x517.jpeg 820w, 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" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">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>



July 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The World Bank&#8217;s board has approved $1.5 billion in financing for its first ever budget support lending to Ethiopia, the lender said late on Tuesday as the east African nation tries to push ahead with a long-running debt restructuring.



Africa&#8217;s second-most populous country secured a four-year, $3.4 billion programme from the International Monetary Fund on Monday, hours after its central bank floated its birr currency, paving the way for its debt overhaul to move forward.



The World Bank will provide a grant of $1 billion and another $500 million in a low interest credit line, part of the first ever direct budgetary support facility provided to Ethiopia, the global lender said.



&#8220;This policy operation supports home-grown reforms that will ultimately help the country transition to a more inclusive economy that allows the private sector to contribute more strongly to growth,&#8221; the World Bank said.



The bank plans to &#8220;provide around $6 billion in new commitments over the next three fiscal years and support economic reforms through fast-disbursing budget support,&#8221; it said.



The funding is part of a $10.7 billion financing package by the IMF, World Bank and other creditors, according to Ethiopian officials.



The financial support, however, was conditional on the government implementing significant economic reforms, including the liberalisation of the foreign currency market.



Ethiopia&#8217;s birr  was down 3% against the dollar early on Wednesday, trading at 77.13. It was little changed on Tuesday after tumbling 30% on the day it was floated on Monday.



Ethiopia sought to restructure its sovereign debt in 2021, under the G20 Common Framework initiative to offer relief to developing nations, but progress was slowed by a civil war in the northern region of Tigray that ended the following year.



Ethiopia&#8217;s winding debt restructuring mirrors that of Chad and Zambia which completed their debt overhauls under the Common Framework. Ghana, another African country saddled with high debt, is nearing the finish line of its own restructuring under the initiative.



Ethiopia&#8217;s development partners have welcomed its move to a market-based foreign exchange rate, but some analysts have said the move could drive up inflation and the cost of living, especially for its poorest residents.



The country of 126.5 million people also faces a number of other challenges, including the impact of climate change and the post-war reconstruction of Tigray.



(Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

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

World Bank approves $1.5 billion in financing for Ethiopia

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="1280" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-510152" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI-1.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President William Kipchirchir Ruto of Kenya speaks during a plenary session of the Summit on peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, June 16, 2024. URS FLUEELER/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, July 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;A former head of Kenya&#8217;s main state-owned trading company was charged in court on Tuesday with abuse of office and other offences over a 2022 scheme to import edible oil that local media said cost more than $120 million.



The arraignment of Pamela Mutua is the first notable attempt by President William Ruto&#8217;s government to rein in Kenya&#8217;s rampant corruption, after more than 50 people were killed in deadly protests against tax hikes and the graft.



Mutua, who was managing director of the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC), was accused of flouting procurement laws in the award of a contract to a company called Purma Holdings Limited at an anti-corruption court in the capital.



She and KNTC both deny the charges. The imports were worth 16 billion shillings ($123.55 million), domestic media outlets have reported, but there was no mention of the figure in the charges presented in court.



Mutua faces six charges and she was freed on bail until Aug. 12 when she will appear before the court again. She was charged alongside another official of the company.



The cooking oil import scheme was put in place by Ruto&#8217;s government after he got into office in late 2022, to lower the price of the commodity, but it has been criticised by the public and local media for only benefiting well-connected importers.



KNTC contracted private companies to import the oil, mainly from Asia. The government&#8217;s standards body initially said the oil was not fit for human consumption before rowing back and clearing the consignment.



Ruto, who is forming a new government after the protests forced him to fire all but one minister, has pledged to change the laws to allow for speedy prosecution of graft suspects.



($1 = 129.5000 Kenyan shillings)



(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Andrew Cawthorne)

42CTWLL6LJPYDHMYIWIJ6ISWHI (1)

Kenya charges ex-state firm head over edible oil import graft

Why The U.S. Has The Oldest Politicians In The World

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1251784570-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-484765" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1251784570-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1251784570-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1251784570-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1251784570-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1251784570-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1251784570-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters during the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The IMF trimmed its global-growth projections, warning of high uncertainty and risks as financial-sector stress adds to pressures emanating from tighter monetary policy. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



ADDIS ABABA, July 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Ethiopia&#8217;s new $3.4 billion financing deal with the International Monetary Fund paves the way for completion of its long-delayed debt restructuring in the next three to six months, a senior finance ministry official said on Tuesday.



The announcement of the four-year, $3.4 billion programme on Monday came hours after Ethiopia had undertaken one of the IMF&#8217;s key recommendations and floated its currency, the birr.



&#8220;Debt restructuring should be finalised before the next IMF programme review,&#8221; State Minister of Finance Eyob Tekalign told Reuters, adding that would typically be between three and six months.



The IMF deal is expected to be followed by further financing of up to $7.3 billion from the World Bank and other creditors, Ethiopian officials have said.



The World Bank&#8217;s board was scheduled to meet later on Tuesday to approve its portion of the extra funds, Eyob said.



News of the IMF deal lifted the $1 billion government bond at the centre of the restructuring plan to its highest level since October 2021 on Tuesday. A more than 2 cents jump left it trading at almost 78 cents on the dollar or just over a 20% discount of its original face value.



In the foreign exchange market, leading commercial banks quoted the Ethiopian birr at 74.74 against the dollar. That was unchanged from where it had settled after Monday&#8217;s float announcement prompted it to drop 30% against the dollar.



Ethiopia&#8217;s development partners have welcomed the move to a market-based foreign exchange rate, but some analysts have said it could drive up inflation and the cost of living, especially for the poorest.



Ethiopia also faces other challenges including the impact of climate change and the need to reconstruct its northern Tigray region, which was ravaged by a two-year civil war that ended in late 2022.



(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa and Marc Jones in London; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

Ethiopia’s IMF deal paves way for debt restructuring, official says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="535" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235602799-820x535.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-512981" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235602799-820x535.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235602799-300x196.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235602799-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235602799-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235602799-1536x1003.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1235602799-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; SEPTEMBER 28: Gauteng MEC Parks Tau at the launch of the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library at the Thabo Mbeki Foundation on September 28, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The new library will serve as an archive centre for historical data such as speeches and documents of the former President and will also receive special collections from other African historical figures. (Photo by Luba Lesolle/Gallo Images via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, July 30 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s trade minister said on Tuesday he is confident his country will maintain preferential trade status with the U.S. despite concerns in Washington over its foreign policy including a strong pro-Palestinian stance.



Parks Tau was in Washington last week to lobby for renewal of the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and South Africa&#8217;s continued participation in the programme, which provides duty-free access to the U.S.



South Africa has come under fire by some U.S. lawmakers for its relationship with Russia and its criticism of Israel in the Gaza conflict. It could lose eligibility for AGOA if it were determined to be undermining U.S. foreign policy interests.



&#8220;I am confident that AGOA will continue and that South Africa will stay in AGOA,&#8221; Tau told a press briefing.



&#8220;We will keep a close eye on the process and will continue to lobby,&#8221; he said, adding that further engagements were needed even though they had received a &#8220;relatively warm reception&#8221;.



U.S. trade officials said on Monday that they had positive discussions with the South African delegation.



&#8220;I think it was clear that our partners in South Africa have heard the concerns that were raised and there has been close engagement on multiple levels,&#8221; said the U.S. State Department&#8217;s Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Joy Basu.



AGOA is due to expire next year and President Joe Biden supports its renewal, but the U.S. election in November and possibility of a Donald Trump presidency introduces uncertainty.



Tau said that ideally the legislation would be renewed before the vote though U.S. officials have said that is unlikely. An annual review of each country&#8217;s eligibility is underway.



Separately, the U.S. House of Representatives last month voted in favour of a bill that would require a full review of the U.S. relationship with South Africa, citing concerns about ties to Russia and China and accusing it of supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas.



The bill would still need to pass the Senate and be signed by the president to become law.



South Africa says that supporting Palestinians does not equate to supporting Hamas.



Western nations are also unhappy with South Africa for failing to condemn Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine. It has sought to position itself as a neutral mediator.



(Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Launch of the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library in South Africa

S.Africa confident of U.S. trade status despite unease over foreign policy

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1530" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7OZEB7WQTRJX3G7KJCGNA3OJYU-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-512977" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7OZEB7WQTRJX3G7KJCGNA3OJYU-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7OZEB7WQTRJX3G7KJCGNA3OJYU-300x224.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7OZEB7WQTRJX3G7KJCGNA3OJYU-820x613.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7OZEB7WQTRJX3G7KJCGNA3OJYU-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7OZEB7WQTRJX3G7KJCGNA3OJYU-768x574.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7OZEB7WQTRJX3G7KJCGNA3OJYU-1536x1148.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A person walks through a flooded street, following a heavy rainfall in Kassala, eastern Sudan, July 26, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Abdel Majid/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



CAIRO, July 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Thousands of people are stranded on the streets of the eastern Sudanese city of Kassala as a deluge of rain compounds the suffering of more than a million Sudanese who sought refuge in the region from a 15-month-old war.



The rainy season that began earlier this month has already damaged shelters, made roads unusable, and will put millions at risk of water-borne diseases across large areas of the country.



It comes as the number of displaced people within Sudan, currently more than 10 million, continues to tick up as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) expands its territory in the war with the national army.



The war erupted in April 2023 and has sparked warnings of famine and what the United Nations has labelled the world&#8217;s largest humanitarian crisis.



Some 765,000 people are sheltering in Gedaref state, and more than 255,000 people are in Kassala state, which saw the worst of the rains over the weekend, according to the United Nations.



The most recent wave of 165,000 people is from Sennar state, many arriving on foot in the rain in recent weeks. More than 10,000 who arrived in Kassala city were packed in the few remaining empty buildings, including a school courtyard and an empty hangar, which quickly flooded with water.



&#8220;We endured the sun beating down on us, but we can&#8217;t handle the rain,&#8221; said Nada Omer.



They now wait under store awnings or tarps in the street, with heavier than usual rains expected to continue until September. Some have rejected a plan to move them outside the city, a government official and aid workers said, where there would be few income opportunities.



&#8220;We are waiting in the street and have nowhere to settle,&#8221; said Hussein Abdo, another displaced person.



At least five people have reportedly been killed because of the rains, according to the United Nations.



Those who arrived earlier from Khartoum or El Gezira state, or in slightly drier al-Gedaref, are not much better off, sleeping on the floor in schools with few services and makeshift, shallow toilets that have also been flooded.



Little was done to prepare for the situation, said Plan International&#8217;s Mohammed Qazilbash. &#8220;We are coming up to 500 days of the war, and everybody is exhausted&#8230; It&#8217;s one tragedy over another over another,&#8221; he told Reuters.



The government and aid workers are bracing for the expected rise in water-borne diseases, including cholera, malaria, and dengue fever, with few medicines to treat them.



&#8220;We are sharing what is available, but it is above our capacity&#8221; said Dr Ali Adam, head of the state health ministry.



The rainy season impacts most of the country. Last week, more than 1,000 houses and 800 latrines were destroyed by rain at Zamzam camp in North Darfur, one of the locations in the country where experts say famine is likely.



Meanwhile, the RSF&#8217;s advance has not stopped, and on Monday it said it had reached an area about 180km (112 miles) from Gedaref, one of the states that has sheltered the most people.



Kassala, the only neighbouring army-controlled state, does not have capacity to absorb people from Gedaref, nor does the army&#8217;s de facto capital Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.



&#8220;People are scared, but there&#8217;s no options,&#8221; said a volunteer in the Gedaref emergency response room. &#8220;They are awaiting their fate, the other cities are full.&#8221;



(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir, additional reporting by Mohammed Abdulmajid; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Alexandra Hudson)

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The Moral Economy of the African Crowd

Ugandan shilling stable, draws support from charity FX inflows

Ghana court bans planned protests against cost of living

Why becoming an Olympic athlete is so expensive

Emerging European FX slips, EM stocks rise as all eyes on Fed

Kenyan shilling firms; horticulture dollar inflows help

South Africa’s Woolworths flags sharp drop in profit as shoppers spend less

Ghana’s Mahama would renegotiate IMF deal if he regains presidency

South African rand firms ahead of Fed policy decision

South African Markets – Factors to watch on July 31

African Markets – Factors to watch on July 31

World Bank approves $1.5 billion in financing for Ethiopia

Kenya charges ex-state firm head over edible oil import graft

Why The U.S. Has The Oldest Politicians In The World

Ethiopia’s IMF deal paves way for debt restructuring, official says

S.Africa confident of U.S. trade status despite unease over foreign policy

Rain and floods add to misery of Sudanese displaced by war

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