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Highest in East Africa, Uganda’s trade surplus with Congo DR hits $53 million

Published

9 months ago

February 28, 2024

According to the Ministry of Finance’s Performance of the Economy report, Uganda had the largest trade surplus with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in January, totalling $53.07 million (Ush208.9 billion).

The report, which summarises the monthly performance of several economic sectors, found that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) was the recipient of more exports from Uganda than any other member state of the East Africa Community (EAC), followed by South Sudan ($41.68 million, or Sh164 billion), Rwanda ($23.1, or Sh90.9 billion), and Burundi ($5.25 million, or Sh20.6 billion).

Uganda did, however, report deficits of $88.41 million (Ush348 billion) with Tanzania and $12.39 million (Ush48.7 billion) with Kenya. Meanwhile, exports to its EAC partner states increased to $231.47 million during the performance period, while its imports remained at $209.17 million.

With 37.6% of the total market share, the EAC continued to be Uganda’s top export destination, followed by the EU and the Middle East. Uganda, however, trades at a $267.64 million deficit with Asia, $118.15 million with the rest of Africa, and $6.64 million with Europe.

According to the Ministry of Finance report, Uganda’s total export revenue in December was $616.36 million, up 0.2% from $615 million in November of the previous year. This increase was mostly attributable to higher export revenues from cotton, tobacco, and simsim.

A 6.7% decrease in coffee exports from $470.68 million was recorded as a result of heavy rains delaying harvests and drying out freshly harvested coffee.

Between November 2023 and December 2023, the value of imports fell by 3.1% to $886.24 million, mostly as a result of decreased imports from the private sector, which included, among other things, wood and wood products, electricity, petroleum products, and animals.

With China and India being the main contributors, accounting for 61.9% of the region’s imports, Asia continued to be Uganda’s largest source of imports, accounting for 41.2% of the country’s total imports.

Other noteworthy regions with respective shares of 23.6%, 15.1%, and 10.2% were the Middle East, the East African Community, and the rest of Africa.

Related Topics:Congo DR Featured Trade Surplus Uganda

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

56 minutes ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.