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Africa's Growing Crypto Market Needs Better Regulations
November 22, 2022--The risks from crypto assets are evident-it's time to regulate
The collapse of the world's third largest crypto exchange FTX, and subsequent plunge in the prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major crypto assets, is prompting renewed calls for greater consumer protection and regulation of the crypto industry.
Regulating a highly volatile and decentralized system remains a challenge for most governments, requiring a balance between minimizing risk and maximizing innovation.
Only one-quarter of countries in sub-Saharan Africa formally regulate crypto. However, as our Chart of the Week shows, two-thirds have implemented some restrictions and six countries-Cameroon, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and the Republic of Congo-have banned crypto. Zimbabwe has ordered all banks to stop processing transactions and Liberia directed a local crypto startup to cease operations (implicit bans).
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Source: IMF.org
African Exchanges Link platform goes live today
November 18, 2022--A cross-border order-routing platform linking seven leading African securities exchanges has gone live today, 18 November. The African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP) technology allows 33 stockbrokers across Africa to send client orders to each other and brings the brokers live data from each of the exchanges.
The AELP platform was officially switched on at 00:00 UTC, according to this announcement .
The African Exchanges Linkage Project is a flagship project of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to facilitate cross-border trading of securities in Africa. It aims to boost liquidity in securities trading on African stock exchanges and support capital markets development in Africa.
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Source: africancapitalmarketsnews.com
African Development Bank predicts economic slowdown in East Africa in 2022, but bounce back in 2023
November 16, 2022--The African Development Bank has released its latest East African Economic Outlook, predicting a slow recovery in the region in 2022 at 4.0 percent against 5.1% in 2021.
The slowdown is due to the lingering effects of COVID-19; the adverse impacts of geopolitical tensions (notably the Russia-Ukraine conflict); climate change and devastating locust invasion, together with regional conflicts and tensions.
The report notes that because of these obstacles, countries in the region have experienced heightened inflationary pressures, particularly on food and fuel, leading to rising cost of living. This has resulted in weakening national currencies, floods and drought, contraction in agricultural production; depressed business activity, and falling revenue collection, among others.
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Source: afdb.org
South Africa: Water Crisis a Greater Threat than Energy Crisis, Infrastructure Group Warns
November 11, 2022--Water Crisis to Outpace Energy Crisis, Infrastructure Group Warns
According to American multinational infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, a looming water crisis in South Africa will eclipse the nation's current struggle for a stable supply of electricity, Business Tech reports.
Darrin Green, Africa MD at globally trusted infrastructure firm AECOM, said: The energy crisis is confronting us first, or maybe it is the most obvious, but for me, the current water shortage in Gauteng is absolutely a worse crisis.
While the fundamental issues are the same, it is going to be a much more difficult situation for people to live with on a day-to-day basis". Green added that as climate change becomes increasingly important, South Africa has failed to make the topic more noteworthy and thereby changing its current reactive stance to one that is more proactive. Clients are not perceiving this as a priority. It must start with an overall understanding of sustainability and its key drivers. The South African market has not reached a sufficient level of maturity in this regard," Green said. An additional example was made of integrated hydrological models of South Africa's coastlines not being updated or maintained.
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Source: allafrica.com
Nigerian Stocks Halt Run of Big Slides As Sell-Offs in Mega-Cap Shares Ease
October 21, 2022--The all-share index grew 14.1 basis points to 44,332.2, while market capitalisation marginally climbed to N24.1 trillion.
Nigerian stocks Thursday took a breather from a string of depreciations leading up to the biggest three-day slide of the year to date, with the benchmark index moving 0.03 per cent up as the size of trade fell 28 per cent and turnover by 13 per cent compared to the previous session.
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Source: allafrica.com
Africa's Inflation Among Region's Most Urgent Challenges
October 20, 2022--Tackling inflation while supporting growth and protecting the vulnerable warrants careful and vigilant monetary policy tightening
Sub-Saharan Africa faces one of the most challenging economic environments in years, marked by a slow recovery from the pandemic, rising food and energy prices, and high levels of public debt.
One of the most urgent issues confronting the region is the need to tackle decade-high levels of inflation-which are devastating incomes and food security-while also supporting growth.
While there are big differences between countries, the median of inflation rates in the region increased to almost 9 percent in August. And even though the rise has been less dramatic than in other parts of the world, and the drivers are different, inflation is nearly double pre-pandemic levels, risking social and political instability and worsening food insecurity.
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Source: imf.org
Carbon markets and climate funding-capitalising on synergies
October 18, 2022-- A new survey report highlight the growing appetite for blending the two instruments
As the momentum to curb global warming gathers pace, carbon markets have become recognised as fundamental to scaling up and accelerating the green transition: carbon pricing enables cost efficient capital allocation, drives systemic change, generates additional revenue streams over and above limited public funds, and offers countries the ability to meet their climate targets more flexibly.
Today, nearly 23 per cent of global emissions are covered through either Emission Trading Schemes or carbon taxes. With the emergence of carbon border adjustment mechanisms, such systems are now also getting a global reach. At the same time, over 5,000 companies worldwide have set net-zero targets, driving growth in the voluntary carbon market, which increased in value towards USD 2 billion in 2021.
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Source: ebrd.com
Nigeria Inflation Hits 17-Year High Of 20.8% Amid Soaring Food Prices
October 17, 2022--The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the NBS showed that inflation rose by 20.8% in September, the highest rate since 2005, up from 20.52% recorded in the previous month.
Nigeria's inflation rate hit a 17-year high on the back of soaring food prices and supply chain disruption in September, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the NBS showed that inflation rose by 20.8% in September, the highest rate since 2005, up from 20.52% recorded in the previous month.
On a month-on-month basis, the index rose by 1.36% compared to the 1.77% increase recorded in the previous month, it said.
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Source: allafrica.com
Pandemic Shocks, Russia-Ukrainian Crisis Transforming African Trade
October 12, 2022--The pandemic effects and the Ukrainian crisis have led to rising commodity prices, surging inflation, and shifts in the global financial situation that have transformed African trade and production capabilities.
After overperforming in its post-pandemic recovery in 2021, Africa's economic growth will expectedly lag in 2022.
According to IMF, exports topped pre-pandemic levels to reach $150 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
Countries with highly diversified markets, like Kenya, have boosted domestic processing and manufacturing to establish themselves as intra-regional trade hubs.
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Source: allafrica.com
Absa Africa Financial Markets Index 2022
October 11, 2022--Index shows improving market infrastructure in majority of countries in the region
Now in its sixth year, the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index evaluates countries' financial development based on measures of market accessibility, openness and transparency.
Key findings include:
South Africa, Mauritius and Nigeria maintain their positions in the top three this year, as they continue to score highly on measures of market depth, transparency and enforceability of legal agreements.
Uganda rises two places to fourth, while Namibia and Kenya improve their ranking within the top 10. Scores for these three countries primarily rose due to progress on adopting ESG policies and frameworks.
Seventeen countries in the index now have sustainability-focused policies - five more than last year.
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Source: omfif.org
