Africa Business News

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic are set to be cut off from the $702bn strong Economic Community of West African States economy following their planned exits. This potential exit could further worsen widespread food insecurity in the region as well as backfire on already fragile economies. A report from Bloomberg highlighted that the trio of countries are all landlocked and among the poorest in the region, with their annual per-capita gross domestic product of less than $1,000. It stated that exiting the ECOWAS region would expose them to increased tariffs and restrictions on the movement of goods and financial flows.

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Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic are set to be cut off from the $702bn strong Economic Community of West African States economy following their planned exits. This potential exit could further worsen widespread food insecurity in the region as well as backfire on already fragile economies. A report from Bloomberg highlighted that the trio of countries are all landlocked and among the poorest in the region, with their annual per-capita gross domestic product of less than $1,000. It stated that exiting the ECOWAS region would expose them to increased tariffs and restrictions on the movement of goods and financial flows.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered Deposit Money Banks to sell their excess dollar stock latest February 1, 2024, as part of moves to stabilise the nation’s volatile exchange rate. The apex bank also warned lenders against hoarding excess foreign currencies for profit. The Central Bank of Nigeria has noted with concern the growth in foreign currency exposures of banks through their Net Open Position. CBN says this has created an incentive for banks to hold excess long foreign currency positions, which exposes banks to foreign exchange and other risks. The apex bank says this calculation must be done using the Gross Aggregate Method, which provides a comprehensive view of the bank’s foreign currency exposure.

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The United States has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey after the Turkish parliament this week ratified Sweden’s NATO membership. The US Department of State notified Congress of the $23bn agreement to sell the warplanes to NATO ally Turkey along with a companion $8.6bn sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Greece, also an ally in the Western military bloc. The department’s notification came hours after Turkey deposited its instrument of ratification for Sweden’s accession to NATO with Washington, which is the repository for alliance documents and after several key members of Congress lifted their objections.

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The United States has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey after the Turkish parliament this week ratified Sweden’s NATO membership. The US Department of State notified Congress of the $23bn agreement to sell the warplanes to NATO ally Turkey along with a companion $8.6bn sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Greece, also an ally in the Western military bloc. The department’s notification came hours after Turkey deposited its instrument of ratification for Sweden’s accession to NATO with Washington, which is the repository for alliance documents and after several key members of Congress lifted their objections.

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China has tightened its financial industry rules as the government tries to halt a deepening sell-off in the world's second-largest economy. Nearly $6tn has been wiped off Chinese and Hong Kong stocks since their most recent peak three years ago. The China Securities Regulatory Commission says the measures will create a fairer market order. Under the new rules limits will be put on so-called short-selling from Monday. The CSRC says that following a complete suspension of the lending of restricted stocks which takes effect further limitations on securities lending will be introduced from 18 March.

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China has tightened its financial industry rules as the government tries to halt a deepening sell-off in the world's second-largest economy. Nearly $6tn has been wiped off Chinese and Hong Kong stocks since their most recent peak three years ago. The China Securities Regulatory Commission says the measures will create a fairer market order. Under the new rules limits will be put on so-called short-selling from Monday. The CSRC says that following a complete suspension of the lending of restricted stocks which takes effect further limitations on securities lending will be introduced from 18 March.

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Debt-laden Chinese property giant Evergrande has been ordered to liquidate by a court in Hong Kong. Judge Linda Chan says enough is enough after the troubled developer repeatedly failed to come up with a plan to restructure its debts. The firm has been the poster child of China's real estate crisis with more than $300bn of debt. Evergrande's executive director, Shawn Siu, described the decision as regrettable but said the company would continue to operate in mainland China. He says the firm's Hong Kong arm was independent from its mainland business.

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Debt-laden Chinese property giant Evergrande has been ordered to liquidate by a court in Hong Kong. Judge Linda Chan says enough is enough after the troubled developer repeatedly failed to come up with a plan to restructure its debts. The firm has been the poster child of China's real estate crisis with more than $300bn of debt. Evergrande's executive director, Shawn Siu, described the decision as regrettable but said the company would continue to operate in mainland China. He says the firm's Hong Kong arm was independent from its mainland business.

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Several African leaders are in Italy's capital, Rome, for the Italy-Africa summit, which is aimed at boosting relations between Africa and the European nation. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says during the summit Italy is expected to launch a new approach for cooperating with African countries, which is not predatory, not paternalistic, but not charitable either. The targeted areas for collaboration include energy, economic and infrastructure development, culture, food security education and vocational training. Several other countries have organised similar summits to strengthen ties with African countries, including Germany, Russia and China.

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