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All but one as Ibom Air pulls out of planned strike by Nigerian airline operators

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Following the announcement by major airline operators in Nigeria that they would embark on strike from tomorrow, Monday, 9 May, Akwa Ibom state owned Ibom Air on Saturday said it will no longer take part in the industry plan to stop flights.

Ibom Air claimed the planned strike would affect revenues needed to service obligations to financiers and suppliers.

Major Airline operators on Friday threatened to shut down operations from Monday. The Airlines, which include Air Peace, Ibom Air (now pulling out), Max Air, Arik Air, United Nigeria Airlines Aero Contractors, Azman Air, Overland Airways, and Dana Air said they could no longer operate under current price regime with the continued rise in cost of jet fuel.

Ibom Air, which is one of the smaller members of the nine airline association, is the first to say it will not participate in grounding flights.

The airline, which is backed by Akwa Ibom state, said high jet fuel posed a threat but stopping operations would exacerbate the situation due to obligations and that customers have paid in advance for flights.

Nigeria’s aviation ministry said it was concerned about the difficulties and the spiraling air fares due to jet fuel cost but appealed to the airlines to consider the effects of a shutdown on travellers at home and abroad.

Although Nigeria is one of the largest oil producers in the world, it does not refine its crude locally. Thus, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has affected the availability of refined crude for oil demand in the country. In the last two months, there has been scarcity and a hike in the price of other crude products like diesel, and petrol in Nigeria.

 

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

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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

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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.

 

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