Musings From Abroad

Children in Central Africa Republic most impoverished in the world, according to UNICEF

Published

6 months ago

July 3, 2024

According to UNICEF, the three million children living in the Central African Republic are among the most disadvantaged in the world. The nation is very vulnerable to a humanitarian crisis due to widespread malnutrition, limited access to healthcare, and insecurity.

According to the UN Children’s Agency, about 40% of the nation’s children suffer from chronic malnutrition and half of them lack access to health care. Few people have access to hygienic food, clean water, or both.

The situation of the children in the African nation has become “painfully invisible” due to the attention that the war in Gaza and other crises have garnered worldwide, UNICEF representative Meritxell Relano Arana told reporters in Geneva.

“The three million girls and boys of the Central Africa Republic face the highest registered level of overlapping and interconnected crises and deprivation in the world,” she said.

Following a peace agreement reached in February 2019 between the government and fourteen armed groups, violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), one of the world’s poorest nations, decreased.

However, the situation is still unstable because large areas of the country are still uncontrolled.

With nearly 7 out of 10 people living on less than $2.15 per day, the international poverty limit for extreme poverty, the CAR has one of the highest rates of poverty in the world. Even if they spend their whole household budget on food, more than half of them are food impoverished, meaning they cannot buy enough food.

Musings From Abroad

World Bank doubts Ethiopia-IMF debt assessment

Published

2 days 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

5 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.