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Musings From Abroad

Financial difficulties may affect Kenyan-led police mission in Haiti

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To replace the current Kenya-led mission in Haiti, the United States of America and Ecuador have published a draft resolution requesting that the UN start preparing for a U.N. peacekeeping operation.

Since June, around 400 Kenyan police have been deployed as part of the U.N.-backed mission.

The United States diplomats stated that the Kenya-led mission, which is dependent on donations from the public, is experiencing financial difficulties and could consider using a U.N. peacekeeping force. Thus far, most of the funding has come from the United States and Canada. In contrast, money for peacekeeping efforts comes from a separate U.N. budget.

It won’t change anything if the proposed Security Council resolution lists the “achievements” of the multinational mission supported by the United Nations.

The state of emergency in Haiti was extended last week to include the whole country.

2017 saw the end of the last UN mission in Haiti. It was said to have caused a cholera outbreak by disposing of contaminated sewage into a river. Nine Haitian children were exploited by at least 134 UN personnel in a sex ring between 2004 and 2007, according to an internal UN investigation.

A 2004 revolt brought the nation dangerously close to collapse, prompting the United Nations to send in reinforcements. Following successful elections and a devastating 2010 earthquake that claimed up to 300,000 lives and ended in October 2017, it contributed to the stabilisation of the impoverished nation.

However, there was a cloud cast over U.N. forces when troops from Nepal were widely accused of bringing cholera, which has killed over 10,000 people in Haiti since 2010, and other troops were linked to sexual assault, including rape and the targeting of undernourished children.

The United Nations has operated several small operations in Haiti since 2017. A Haitian-led political process aimed at advancing elections, the rule of law, and human rights is the goal of the most recent political mission, BINUH.

Given the controversies surrounding the previous peacekeeping deployment, many Haitians have resisted the idea of another one. In addition, some Haitians view U.N. forces as an invading army.

In 2022, Haiti requested an international force to fight gangs, and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres pleaded for months for a nation to take the lead in organising the force before Kenya stepped up and offered 1,000 police.

Police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica are anticipated to join them, expanding the global force to 2,500 members.

Musings From Abroad

Nigeria, China extend $2bn currency swap deal

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A 15 billion yuan ($2 billion) currency-swap arrangement between China and Nigeria has been extended to boost investment and commerce between the two countries.

According to the People’s Bank of China, the agreement is anticipated to strengthen financial cooperation and encourage the wider use of the yuan and naira in bilateral transactions, as reported by Bloomberg and Chinese local media on Friday.

“The agreement is valid for three years and may be renewed upon mutual consent,” the central bank said in a statement.

The bank stated that by lowering reliance on third-party currencies like the US dollar, the currency-swap agreement renewal is expected to strengthen economic linkages, promote investment, and ease cross-border commerce.

When the Central Bank of Nigeria and the People’s Bank of China inked an agreement worth renminbi (RMB) 16 billion (about $2.5 billion) in May 2018, the currency-swap framework was first implemented.

Yi Gang, the former governor of the PBoC, and Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the CBN, signed the deal.

The original agreement was intended to eliminate the need for third-party currencies like the US dollar by giving companies and industries in both nations direct access to the yuan and naira.

“This agreement will provide naira liquidity to Chinese businesses and RMB liquidity to Nigerian businesses respectively, thereby improving the speed, convenience, and volume of transactions between the two countries,” the CBN had said at the time of the signing.

To promote flexible and varied regional monetary and financial cooperation, including local currency swaps, to ease commerce between the two countries, President Bola Tinubu and President Xi Jinping of China met in September.

The leaders also talked about how currency-swap programs contribute to global financial stability.

Nigeria and China agreed to strengthen international collaboration on financial intelligence, emphasizing anti-money laundering and fighting the funding of terrorism, since commerce between the two nations makes up around 30% of Nigeria’s total trade.

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Musings From Abroad

World Bank suspends loan fees for impoverished countries

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To lower borrowing costs for vulnerable nations, the World Bank has announced the elimination of several loan fees. The action is a component of larger initiatives to increase financial capacity and tackle pressing global issues including inequality, climate change, and economic instability.

This was revealed by the international bank in a statement on Wednesday. The bank has extended its lowest pricing to tiny, fragile nations, removed the prepayment cost on International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loans, and instituted a grace period for commitment fees on undisbursed amounts.

“The bank is working hard to make it easier for countries to borrow and to pay back their loans more easily by removing some fees on IBRD loans,” the financial institution stated.

The financier claims that these adjustments are intended to relieve the financial strain on countries that require development funding the most.

“These measures are designed to make borrowing easier and more affordable for countries facing significant challenges,” the bank said. It added that the reforms align with its vision of building a “better, more efficient, and bigger” institution capable of addressing overlapping global crises.

The World Bank’s larger financial reforms, which include fee eliminations, are intended to boost lending capacity by $150 billion over the next ten years.

As part of the changes, the IBRD’s equity-to-loans ratio was lowered from 20% to 18%, allowing for an additional $70 billion in lending over ten years.

According to the statement, $1 billion was obtained through a guarantee from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and an additional $10 billion has been released through bilateral guarantees.

“The adjustments to our capital framework reflect our commitment to scaling up resources while maintaining financial stability,” the bank said.

The international lender highlighted that these adjustments are essential to tackling the billions of dollars that are required each year to help fragile governments, fight climate change, and advance digital inclusion.

It did concede, nevertheless, that states and multilateral organisations are insufficient to discharge these financial obligations on their own.

The Bank has created a Framework for Financial Incentives to close the gap, promoting investments in cross-border issues like pandemic prevention, energy access, water security, and biodiversity.

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