Musings From Abroad

Africa needs investment, not development aid— President Ruto

Published

2 years ago

June 23, 2023

Kenyan President, William Ruto Thursday at the ongoing Paris climate summit joined his voice to calls for reforms around financial aid and credit structure for African countries.

President Ruto said he attended the summit “not to ask for help” from the rich countries but to contribute his bit to ensuring reform of the global financial architecture that would enable developing countries to “take part in the solution.”

“The current financial architecture is unfair, punitive, and inequitable”, said William Ruto.

“The countries of the South pay up to eight times more interest than developed countries because they are considered risky”, said Ruto.

Ruto’s stand is for Africa to attract private investment rather than development aid.

“We are tired of this narrative” that portrays Africans as “victims of climate change”, “looking for favors” and “lamenting”, explains Mr. Ruto: “We are not asking for help, we want to be part of the solution”.

In Kenya, “we pay around 10 billion dollars every year to honor our debt,” he says. If we were to use it instead for the country’s development, it would be an immediate redirection of immense resources, and it would have an enormous impact” on the energy transition, health, electrification, etc. To achieve this, all we need to do is to “get the international community to take action”.

To achieve this, all we need to do is “convert the money we were supposed to pay to the World Bank, the IMF, and all the other lenders into a 50-year loan facility with a 20-year grace period,” he explains.

The effects of the numerous economic, energy, health, and climatic crises, particularly in the most vulnerable nations, are one of the issues at stake during the summit. The success of the event will also depend heavily on the funding required to address these crises.

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Musings From Abroad

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

Published

13 hours 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.

Musings From Abroad

Blinken to reveal UN Sudan funding additions

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Additional financing for humanitarian aid to Sudan and initiatives to strengthen civil society in the nation, where a conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, will be announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the United Nations on Thursday.

Blinken will make many announcements when he leads a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan on Thursday, which will centre on humanitarian aid and civilian protection, Deputy U.S. Representative to the UN Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday.

According to Price, the announcements would include more money for humanitarian help, initiatives to strengthen civil society, and the return of democracy.

“Sudan, unfortunately, has risked becoming a forgotten conflict,” Price said.

“So part of the reason the secretary … opted to convene a signature event on this very topic is to make sure it remains in the spotlight,” Price said.

For almost 18 months, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and Sudan’s army have been engaged in combat, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis that has forced over 12 million people from their homes and made it difficult for U.N. organisations to provide aid.

A power struggle between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces preceded a planned shift to civilian administration, which sparked the conflict in April 2023.

Although the army declined to join this year’s U.S.-mediated peace negotiations in Geneva, the warring parties did pledge to increase assistance access, which prevented any movement towards a ceasefire.

Price stated that before President Joe Biden’s term ends next month, the United States would keep collaborating with allies to enhance humanitarian access in Sudan and eventually end hostilities.

“We are going to leave nothing on the field in our efforts to work with allies, with partners, with the Sudanese stakeholders themselves, on the issues that matter most – humanitarian access, the provision of humanitarian assistance, ultimately, the process by which we can work to get to a cessation of hostilities, which is most urgently needed,” he said.