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Zimbabwe commissions Chinese-funded 600MW power plant

Published

1 year ago

August 4, 2023

Zimbabwe has launched a Chinese-funded 600MW coal-fired power plant that it said would go a long way in easing power shortages.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, while addressing a crowd of supporters after the inauguration, said the new plant would be “a critical enabler of development”, adding that Zimbabwe was “open for business”.

The plant, which is an enlargement of an existing station, is one of four energy projects funded by a $1.2 billion loan from China, a country with which Harare has historical links that date back to the country’s struggle for independence from Britain.

Also at the event, Chinese Ambassador, Zhou Ding, reiterated that “China is always ready to support Zimbabwe to realize its goal of uplifting its people.”

Despite isolation from major countries in the West, Zimbabwe enjoys healthy trade relations with China. As of May, an increase in China’s year-by-year exports to Zimbabwe recorded an increase in exported products such as vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins, semiconductor devices, and electrical transformers.

An increase in China’s year-by-year imports from Zimbabwe is also notable in product imports like Ferroalloys, Raw Tobacco, and Chromium Ore.

Mnangagwa toppled independent Zimbabwe’s first president, Robert Mugabe, in a coup in 2017, ending his 37-year rule. He is seeking re-election for a third term and has embarked on a series of project commissioning as a form of a campaign with the election drawing close.

Prior to travelling to the northwest town of Hwange for the plant commissioning, the president had launched a coal mine on Monday, and two clinics on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mnangagwa will face pastor and attorney, Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), who is thought to be his most formidable rival in the presidential election scheduled for August 23.

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IMF, Egypt reach agreement for fourth review of Egypt’s $1.2 billion loan request

Published

22 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement over the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which might lead to a $1.2 billion payout under the program.

In March, Egypt, struggling with rising inflation and cash shortages, consented to the $8 billion, 46-month facility. Its economic problems were made worse by a precipitous drop in Suez Canal revenue over the last year due to regional tensions.

Over the next two years, Egypt’s government has committed to raising its tax-to-revenue ratio by 2% of GDP, according to the IMF, emphasising removing exemptions rather than raising taxes.

According to a statement from the IMF, this would allow it to expand social expenditure to support vulnerable populations.

“While the authorities’ plans to streamline and simplify the tax system are commendable, further reforms will be needed to enhance domestic revenue mobilization efforts,” the statement said.

According to the IMF statement, Egypt had also committed to maintaining its commitment to a flexible currency rate and to taking more urgent action to guarantee that the private sector became the primary driver of development.

The IMF’s executive board still has to accept the fourth review’s staff-level agreement.

VenturesNow

Libya’s eastern govt accepts petrol subsidy elimination

Published

22 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a recent statement, the eastern government of Libya claimed it had reached a consensus on a plan to eliminate gasoline subsidies and would draft a mechanism to carry out the accord.

Additional information on the idea was not released by the administration led by Osama Hamad, a challenger to the internationally acknowledged Tripoli-based government.

However, it is uncertain if Hamad’s government would be able to carry out the plan in the divided nation.

According to the Global Petrol Prices online tracker, a litre of gasoline costs just 0.150 Libyan dinars ($0.03) in OPEC member Libya, making it the second-cheapest in the world.

Following an uprising against former ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, smuggling networks have thrived in the ensuing political unrest and armed fighting. In 2014, conflicting eastern and western governments separated the nation.

A World Bank analysis estimates that the annual value of fuel smuggling from Libya is at least $5 billion.

In a meeting with Mari Barrasi, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), located in Tripoli, and four members of the bank’s board of directors, Hamad in Benghazi supported the idea of removing subsidies.

The CBL’s Benghazi branch offices served as the venue for the conference.

The eastern parliament appointed Hamad in 2023 to succeed Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who had been put in position in 2021 under a U.N.-backed procedure that the parliament said had lost its legitimacy.

Dbeibah, who is located in Tripoli, stated in January that he will conduct a public poll on the topic of eliminating gasoline subsidies, but he hasn’t done anything about it since.

According to CBL figures, gasoline subsidies cost 12.8 billion Libyan dinars between January and November of this year. 4.8 Libyan dinars to $1 is the official exchange rate.