Musings From Abroad

After initial evaluation, IMF raises Ethiopia’s international reserves target

Published

12 hours ago

November 6, 2024

In order to make it easier to pay for future hard currency expenses, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased Ethiopia’s aim for net international reserves, the Fund announced.

After implementing a number of reforms, including floating its birr currency, the East African country was granted a $3.4 billion, four-year financing program by the IMF in July. Additionally, a new initiative to restart its debt restructuring is underway.

“An increase in near-term target is warranted by Ethiopia’s vulnerabilities and heightened uncertainty around the outlook,” the IMF said in a report published late on Monday.

An overachievement of the August target for net international reserves was caused by increased gold exports and lower-than-expected amounts of hard currency sales by the central bank through auctions, according to the IMF.

According to the Fund, net overseas reserves were $1.3 billion in mid-August, more than twice the $630 million projection.

To help build a buffer for the nation to settle maturing letters of credit for gasoline imports issued before the start of reforms, it increased the end-June 2025 target by $300 million to $400 million.

The IMF stated that although the official and black market rates converged as a result of the birr currency’s launch, market activity increased more slowly than anticipated, resulting in a sustained unmet demand for dollars.

According to the Fund, Ethiopia intends to agree with its bilateral creditors by the end of the year, and then “as soon as is feasible” with its Eurobond investors.

According to bondholders, the government was disregarding the fact that Ethiopia is dealing with a liquidity problem rather than an insolvency one when it suggested a haircut, or decrease in the principal amount, of 18% in a recent investor presentation.

“The authorities are making good faith efforts to agree terms with Eurobond holders,” the IMF said.

Between 2024 and 2029, Ethiopia’s national debt is expected to rise steadily by a total of 58.7 billion USD (+178.09%). The national debt is predicted to reach 91.7 billion USD in 2029, marking a new peak after ten years of continuous growth. Notably, throughout the previous few years, the national debt has been steadily rising.

Musings From Abroad

Prince William visits South Africa, meets President Ramaphosa

Published

3 days ago

November 4, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following a nature walk in Table Mountain National Park with rangers and conservationists, Prince William of Britain, on his visit to South Africa, met with President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town on Tuesday.

The Prince of Wales is in South Africa for four days to attend the annual Earthshot Prize awards event. In addition, he will attend a global wildlife meeting and participate in other climate-related events.

William and Ramaphosa were seen shaking hands and sharing pleasantries in video footage released by Ramaphosa’s office at the beginning of their meeting.

“The visit is indicative of the strong ties the United Kingdom, including the Royal Family, share with South Africa, and also another step towards the deepening of these historic ties,” South Africa’s presidency said in a statement.

According to the presidency, South Africa is happy to host this year’s Earthshot Prizes since it brings attention to the effects of environmental degradation and climate change in Africa.

Established in 2020, the prize seeks to identify technologies to address climate change and other environmental concerns. Five winners will get one million pounds ($1.3 million) apiece to support their projects.

Musings From Abroad

UN head slams Sudan’s RSF as Britain seeks Security Council action

Published

4 days ago

November 2, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

While Britain announced it would work for a United Nations Security Council resolution on the conflict, which has been going on for more than 18 months, United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has denounced reported attacks on civilians by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday.

The world’s largest relocation crisis began in mid-April 2023 when the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces engaged in a power battle ahead of a scheduled handover to civilian administration.

The RSF is mostly to blame for the waves of ethnically motivated violence that have resulted from the current conflict.
According to activists, the RSF massacred at least 124 people in a village in El Gezira State last month, making it one of the bloodiest occurrences of the conflict.

The army is allegedly arming citizens in Gezira, according to the RSF. In the past, the RSF has denied causing harm to civilians in Sudan and blamed renegade actors for the action.

“Reports of large numbers of civilians being killed, detained and displaced, acts of sexual violence against women and girls, the looting of homes and markets and the burning of farms,” a U.N. spokesperson said, horrifying Guterres.

“Such acts may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Perpetrators of such serious violations must be held accountable,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

According to Britain, which took over as the Security Council’s November presidency on Friday, the 15-member council will convene on Sudan on November 12 to talk about “scaling up aid delivery and ensuring greater protection of civilians by all sides.”

“We will be shortly introducing a draft Security Council resolution … to drive forward progress on this,” Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward told a press conference.

She stated that the draft would concentrate on “developing a compliance mechanism for the warring parties commitments they made on the protection of civilians in Jeddah over a year ago in 2023 and ways to support mediation efforts to deliver a ceasefire, even if we start local ceasefires before moving to a national one.”

For a resolution to be enacted, it must have at least nine votes and not be vetoed by the United States, France, Britain, Russia, or China.

The action was taken because the U.N. and aid organisations’ three-month permission from Sudanese authorities to utilise the Adre border crossing with Chad to provide humanitarian aid to Darfur is about to expire in mid-November.

Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed stated on Monday that the army-backed administration is dedicated to enabling humanitarian supplies throughout the nation, even in areas under RSF control.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, stated on Monday that it would be “inappropriate to put pressure on” the Sudanese administration to decide whether the Adre crossing would be open past mid-November.

“We’re categorically opposed to the politicization of humanitarian assistance,” he said. “We believe that any humanitarian assistance should be conducted and delivered solely with the central authorities in the loop.”