Musings From Abroad

Canada’s Trudeau fined $100 but will he learn?

Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has been fined $100 and it wouldn’t be the first time he is falling fowl of the law which seeks to guide against unethical practices

Published

7 years ago

June 23, 2018

Africa News Watch

Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has been fined $100 and it wouldn’t be the first time he is falling fowl of the law which seeks to guide against unethical practices.

The country’s parliament ethics watchdog fined Trudeau with a fine for breaking the Conflict of Interest Act over a pair of sunglasses.

Trudeau paid $100 for failing to declare a gift worth more than $200 within 30 days of accepting it, according to a notice from the office of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion. It was posted online sometime this month.

“As a result of an administrative error, the proper forms were not completed and the gift was not declared within 30 days,” said Trudeau’s press secretary Eleanore Catenaro in an email Friday.

The gift, according to the prime minister’s public declaration, was two pairs of leather-covered sunglasses made by Fellow Earthlings eyewear, based in the rural P.E.I. community of Guernsey Cove.

They were a gift from P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan last summer and retail between $300 and $500.

The fine was first reported by the Ottawa-based website Blacklock’s Reporter.

Trudeau sported the sunglasses on his trip to Vietnam in 2017.

It’s not the first time the prime minister has been caught on the wrong side of the Conflict of Interest Act.

Dion’s predecessor, Mary Dawson, ruled last year that Trudeau violated some provisions of the act when he vacationed on a private island owned by the Aga Khan during the 2016 Christmas season and took a private helicopter to get there.

She said the vacation could reasonably be seen as an effort to influence Mr. Trudeau in his capacity as prime minister.

Dawson also fined Finance Minister Bill Morneau $200 for failing to declare a corporation that owns a villa in France.
MacLauchlan’s office wouldn’t comment on the fine — but was happy to talk about the gift.

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Musings From Abroad

World Bank doubts Ethiopia-IMF debt assessment

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Some officials of the World Bank have questioned if the study supporting Ethiopia’s debt restructuring may be “faulty” after criticising an evaluation of the country’s finances done with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

World Bank consultant, Brian Pinto, and its head economist, Indermit Gill, evaluated the July Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), which was created by the IMF and employees of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries, in an internal document seen by Reuters.

According to the authors, Ethiopia is experiencing a short-term cash shortage rather than a long-term solvency problem, which is a source of conflict between the government and holders of its $1 billion international bond that is in default, based on the DSA.

“We found that the bondholders have interpreted the DSA correctly, but the DSA itself may be faulty,” Pinto and Gill wrote in the paper from earlier this month. “The disagreements about Ethiopia’s debt sustainability will be repeated as other countries become debt distressed.”

A World Bank representative responded to a question regarding the paper by saying, “We generally don’t comment on internal deliberations between the World Bank and the IMF or any of our partner institutions.”

As part of the most recent review of the Fund’s loan program, Ethiopian State Finance Minister Eyob Tekalign told Reuters that the DSA had just been reviewed by IMF and World Bank teams and that the status had not changed significantly.

Without providing further details, an IMF representative acknowledged that its officials travelled to Ethiopia in November for the second review of the Fund’s loan program and added that every review incorporates an update to the DSA. Regarding the memo, the spokeswoman remained silent.

A request for comment from Pinto and Gill was not answered. There has been a tense confrontation between Ethiopian officials and bondholders.

The main point of contention is whether, as bondholders contend, Ethiopia is experiencing a liquidity shortage that may be resolved by rescheduling debt or if it is experiencing longer-term financial issues that necessitate haircuts, or debt write-downs.

According to the DSA, certain statistics on exports indicated pressures on both liquidity and solvency.

It was reported in October that the DSA indicated a solvency problem and that writedowns were inevitable. Investors have criticised a government proposal that suggests an 18% haircut in addition to rejecting the evaluation.

Musings From Abroad

Swiss company Mercuria partners Zambia’s IDC in new metals trading firm

Published

4 days ago

December 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to a statement released by Swiss commodities trader, Mercuria, on Thursday, it has established a metals trading arm with Zambia, the second-largest producer of copper in Africa.

The trading unit is jointly owned by Mercuria and an arm of Zambia’s Industrial Development Company (IDC), and its purpose is to allow Zambia to engage directly in the minerals trading market.

The joint venture “envisages the establishment of a vehicle to market and trade Zambian copper by mutual leverage,” according to a statement from Cornwell Muleya, the CEO of IDC.

The southern African nation wants to increase copper output to roughly 3 million metric tonnes within the next ten years, and in 2023, it produced roughly 698,000 tonnes of copper, down from 763,000 metric tonnes the year before.

In June, the Zambian government announced that it would establish a minerals trading unit.

Investors including First Quantum Minerals and Barrick Gold are ramping up production, with output set to receive a further boost once Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines restart activity.

“Our joint venture with IDC marks a significant milestone for Zambia as it positions itself more strategically in the global minerals market,” Kostas Bintas, Mercuria’s global head of metals and minerals, said in the statement.