Over the past week, many important stories from around the African continent have been published, and we have served you some of the most topical ones.

Here is a rundown of the backstories to some of the biggest news in Africa that we covered during the week:

Musings on CBN rates across Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa

During the week, many African countries announced monetary policy decisions. The Central Bank of Nigeria decided unanimously on Tuesday to raise its benchmark interest rate by an additional 50 basis points, to a new record high of 27.25%. This is the sixth hike in a row this year. The decision was made in an effort to reduce inflation, strengthen the naira, and draw in capital. Governor Olayemi Cardoso reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to controlling inflation and underlined how several rate hikes have contributed to its moderation.

Nigeria’s West Africa neighbour followed suit on Friday as the Bank of Ghana reduced its benchmark monetary policy rate by 200 points to 27% at a normal meeting. With inflation having slowed and disinflationary pressures mounting, this is the first decline in eight months and the steepest since March 2018. August 2024 saw a fifth consecutive month of decline in Ghana’s annual consumer inflation, which was still much higher than the central bank’s medium-term target range of 6% to 10%. The country’s annual inflation rate dropped to a nearly two-and-a-half-year low of 20.4% from 20.9% in July.

A week prior, as anticipated, the South African Reserve Bank decreased its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 8% after holding seven consecutive meetings at a 15-year high of 8.25%. As price pressures decreased, the SARB is loosening policy for the first time since the epidemic in 2020

As monetary varying shifts across the continent continue, African nations are still facing numerous severe shocks and significant structural challenges, such as rising food and energy prices brought on by geopolitical tensions like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, climate issues that impact agriculture and energy production, and ongoing political instability.

Africa’s real GDP growth slowed to 3.1% in 2023 from 4.1% in 2022 as a result of this difficult climate. With growth predicted to reach 3.7% in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025, the economic picture is projected to improve going ahead, underscoring the resilience of African countries.

Zambia and its post-drought plans

Zambia’s finance minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane stated on Friday that the nation intends to quickly recover from its worst drought in living memory and cut its budget deficit in half the following year.

The minister stated in a budget address that the copper producer hopes for a 6.6% growth in 2025, as opposed to a projected 2.3% increase in 2024. The country is aiming for a speedy recovery. as the government crop assessment data shows that over nine million people are affected in 84 of the 117 districts after suffering through the driest farming season in over forty years, which has led to considerable crop losses, an increase in livestock deaths, and worsening poverty,

Real GDP increased gradually between 2022 and 2023, from 5.2% to 5.8%. The supply side was driven by mining and quarrying, wholesale and retail commerce, and agriculture; the demand side was driven by consumer and business spending. Food prices, transit expenses, and the nominal exchange rate are the key drivers of inflation, which is expected to remain elevated and reach 11.0% and 10.9% at the end of 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The economic challenges faced by Zambia are exacerbated by the drought, especially when considering its debt load. Its debt restructuring talks under the G20 Common Framework have progressed far more slowly than was originally anticipated when the Common Framework was first proposed.

In 2017, Zambia was placed under debt distress, and as a result, non-concessional lending from multilateral development banks was discontinued. It’s possible that by overestimating sovereign risks, the main credit rating firms exacerbated the debt crisis and dealing with a post-drought crisis might just be another “too high hurdle”

As the World Bank and Uganda LGBTQ saga continues

The World Bank is taking more action in support of Uganda’s LGBTQ community. The global lender announced on Wednesday that it is implementing steps to guarantee that lenders to Uganda are not subjected to discrimination due to a severe anti-gay law. According to a World Bank representative, both new and continuing projects would be subject to the procedures, which also include an impartial monitoring system to guarantee compliance.

Same-sex partnerships are forbidden and punishable by life in prison; similarly, anyone convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” faces the death penalty. The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was passed by Uganda, a largely conservative nation, in May of last year and it has led to considerable Western censure and US penalties.

Other than Uganda, several African nations have strict laws that discriminate against individuals who identify as LGBTQ. Hakainde Hichilema, the president of Zambia, issued a warning in March to supporters of the LGBTQ movement to stop endorsing homosexuality. He also asked that Zambia “maintain laws that abhor alien orientations like gayism and lesbianism.”

South Africa, which has a constitution that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation, was the first and only African nation to legalise same-sex marriage in 2006. Some African nations, such as Angola, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, and Seychelles, have laws that are favourable to the continent’s population but Uganda appears to be unbothered or tempted despite the many causes and costs of its anti-gay stand.

Ahead of Tunisia’s presidential election

During the week, another Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment for using “fraudulent certificates” as opposition voices in the North African country continue on attack as President Saied positions himself for what is likely to be a reelection, as all but one of the opposition candidates are either incarcerated or have had their eligibility ruled invalid by the Tunisian electoral commission.

On September 19, a third candidate who had received the election commission’s approval was sentenced to 20 months in prison. Saied, who is currently running for reelection for a second five-year term, was originally elected in 2019 as an anti-establishment candidate who pledged to combat poverty and eradicate corruption. However, in 2021 he declared that he would rule by decree after overthrowing Mohamed Ennaceur and the elected parliament, a move denounced as a coup by the opposition and the international community.

Additionally, he has deployed more oppressive strategies, which may indicate that he is not confident in his ability to win with conviction. His severe actions could indicate a new stage in Tunisia’s democratic backsliding and foreshadow more crackdowns and turmoil during an inevitable second term.

Meanwhile, concerns exist over potential voting turnout as well. Under Saied, Tunisia has conducted three elections, with dismal voter turnout in each. Less than one-third of voters cast ballots in favour of a new constitution that solidified Saied’s power and overthrew the 2014 charter in July 2022. After Saied dismissed the previous legislature in December 2022, only 11% of voters cast ballots for new members of parliament, which is among the lowest turnout percentages ever recorded in a national election worldwide. The next December, Saied called elections for a new second house of parliament, repeating this dubious performance.

Over the past week, there were many important stories from around the African continent, and we served you some of the most topical ones.

Here is a rundown of the backstories of some of the biggest news in Africa that we covered during the week:

What’s in a permanent seat for Africa in the Security Council?

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, is scheduled to declare that the US supports awarding two permanent seats to African nations on the Security Council, with one seat being rotated among small island developing states.

The US is taking this move to patch things up with Africa, where a lot of people are angry about Washington’s support for Israel’s assault in Gaza, and to fortify its ties with Pacific Island nations, which are vital to countering Chinese dominance in the region.

The call for improved participation in international organizations and reform of these structures has been a major subject in the international arena and has divided blocs. Last year, during the United Nations 78th General Assembly many African leaders made the call. Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, during his address called for an end to different standards. He called for equal political commitment and deployment of resources to Africa by the international community. He noted, however, that economic challenges were unique across countries of the world, thus Africa sought a specific and equal firm commitment to partnership.

At the same event, Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo criticized the reluctance of the United Nations’ “Big Powers”, a reference to its Security Council, to embrace democratic principles. “We cannot continue to preach democracy, equality and good governance around the globe, we cannot insist on peace and justice in the world when our global organization is seen by the majority of its members and the people of the world as hampered by an unfair and unjust structure, ” Akufo-Addo said.

The Security Council has the power to use force, impose sanctions, and enforce arms embargoes to maintain international peace and security. When the UN was founded in 1945, the Security Council had eleven members. By 1965, there were fifteen members: ten elected governments with two-year terms in office and five permanent veto-wielding powers (the US, Britain, China, Russia, and France).

Kenya and the geopolitics of sugar production

Kenya prohibited sugar import on Tuesday from countries outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the East African Community (EAC), two regional trade blocs.
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary Andrew Karanja of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development said in a statement released in Nairobi, the country’s capital, that the government is expected to produce more than 800,000 metric tonnes of sugar this year due to an increase in local sugar output.

With an output of 514 thousand metric tonnes, Uganda was the biggest producer of sugar in East Africa as of 2019. Kenya came in second place, producing about 441 thousand metric tonnes of sugar. Kenya’s sugar cane production reached its greatest point in the preceding five years in 2022, when it reached approximately 8.7 million metric tonnes, up from 7.8 million metric tonnes the year before. This signified an increase of 11.5%. Under the EAC-wide duty remission scheme, industrial sugar is imported and used in the manufacturing of all sugar-based products made in Kenya. This sugar import is subject to a 10% tax due.

Sugar is a strategic and political commodity. In Kenya, the sugar subsector employs almost a million people. It contributes to the development of rural infrastructure and provides jobs. This commodity competes with both the residual global market and imported sugar under the COMESA agreement.

Compared to other regional producers and international market prices, which are lower than the production costs in any country that produces sugar due to political considerations, Kenya’s cost of production is high.

Millions affected in Nigeria as West Africa’s flood crisis continues

Severe flooding in northeastern Nigeria during the week killed at least 30 people and affected more than one million others, the authorities have said. This comes after the collapse of the Alau dam on the Ngadda River in Borno State on Tuesday caused some of the state’s worst flooding since the same dam collapsed 30 years ago, and prompted residents to flee their homes.

The state government said on Wednesday that the dam was at capacity due to unusually high rains. Officials expected the death toll to rise. The accident comes nearly two years after Nigeria’s worst flooding in a decade killed more than 600 people across the country.

Ezekiel Manzo, spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency, on Wednesday put the death toll at 30.

“One million people have been affected so far,” said an aide for Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, adding that as efforts to document displaced people begin, that number could rise to nearly two million.

Over 40% of Maiduguri town, which is estimated to have a population of over 870,000, including the IDP camps of Muna and Jere, which together house about 230,000 people, are reportedly under water. It has been claimed that certain wild animals, such as crocodiles and snakes, have escaped their enclosures due to flooding at the Maiduguri Zoo.

The regions of Maiduguri that are most severely impacted are Budum, Special Hospital, Gwange, Bama Road, Maiduguri Zoo, Post Office, State Secretariat, Lagos Street, Shehu’s Palace, the Maiduguri Main Market, and the Customs / Gamboru neighbourhoods.

Tens of thousands of hectares of farmland in Nigeria have been destroyed by floods ahead of harvest season, coinciding with record highs in the price of fuel and food. Due to agricultural loss, there is a chance that food insecurity could worsen throughout the current lean season and in the upcoming months. This might cause the nation’s already concerning level of food insecurity to worsen. According to the March 2024 Cadre Harmonisé food security and nutrition assessment, over 32 million people in Nigeria are severely food insecure.

The United Nations reports that more than 2.3 million people have been affected so far this year, a threefold rise from the previous year. Following one of the hottest years on record for the continent, a new analysis released on Monday revealed that African countries are losing up to 5% of their GDP annually as a result of bearing a greater cost than the rest of the globe due to climate change. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, up to 9% of the budgets of many African countries are allocated to climate adaptation initiatives.

Meanwhile, some observers have maintained that the flood issues are rather consequences of governance failures and infrastructural deficits, beyond the growing “climate change rhetorics”

Bowing to pressure? Guinea Bissau’s President Embalo won’t seek re-election

Guinea-Bissau’s President, Umaro Cissoko Embalo, said on Friday that he will not run for reelection in November, in an unprecedented move. The 51-year-old Embalo who succeeded replace departing President José Mario Vaz would have been qualified for a second term in office after defeating Domingos Simoes Pereira, the runner-up, with 54% of the vote in 2020. The startling disclosure might cause a leadership void and escalate political instability in the coup-prone nation of two million people. At the end of a council of ministers meeting on Thursday night, Embalo said that his wife had talked him out of seeking government again.

President Embalo has been under fire from several opposition parties, who claim he is an authoritarian and wants to impose a dictatorship. The major story is on the necessity of creating and sustaining momentum for a stable system of government, regardless of the results of the elections. The electoral commission members’ tenure, which is up for renewal, is a significant concern surrounding the elections. Normally, the parliament would appoint these members, but because the parliament has been dissolved, no organisation is in place to make the process of appointing new commission members easier.

Guinea-Bissau’s politics are conducted within the framework of a multiparty, semi-presidential representative democratic republic, in which the prime minister leads the government and the president serves as head of state. The government is in charge of exercising executive power. The National People’s Assembly and the government both can enact laws. The ruling party or coalition in Guinea Bissau selects the government under the present political system. But the president can remove it under certain circumstances, which often lead to turmoil and deadlock in politics.

The African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde, a socialist party, and the Party for Social Renewal have controlled the country’s party system since 1994. The nation, like the majority of African nations, is underdeveloped and has turned into a major centre for the cocaine trafficking industry. Last Saturday, authorities detained approximately 2.63 tonnes of cocaine that had arrived on an aircraft from Venezuela.