The Africa Report Newsletter 5/19/2023

 

AFRICA INSIGHT

	AFRICA INSIGHT Our daily Editor's picks, featuring the best of our reporting and analysis

	Dear Reader, Kenya’s downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service highlights the need for voluntary debt restructuring to avert the risk of default, economists say. Kenya needs to “come to the table with creditors and find a way of restructuring the debt,” says Reginald Kadzutu, CEO at Amana Capital in Nairobi. Debt service costs are now eating close to 70% of all revenue collected. As David Whitehouse writes, “The longer Kenya wants to restructure its debt, the more its options will narrow.” LEARN MORE Nicholas Norbrook Managing Editor

	TODAY TOP STORIES Analysts say fiscal discipline needed following Ghana-IMF deal Government will need to maintain radical economic reform to honour the arrangement with the IMF, say financial experts. Read more... Kenya: Farmers watch helplessly as noxious weed kills Maasai livestock As Timothy Kaleke makes his way through an opening in a wire fence separating the tarmac road from a greening tangle of prickly brush, the 29-year-old Maasai man explains the most recent headache his community is facing: livestock dying from a noxious weed. Read more... ‘In start-ups, you’ve got to bet on soft skills, not numbers’, says investor Ryosuke Yamawaki A partner in one of the continent’s most dynamic funds, Japanese investor Ryosuke Yamawaki describes his method for spotting the future champions of African tech. Read more... Ethiopia: Telebirr given headstart over M-Pesa Government measures give Ethiotelecom’s mobile money offering, Telebirr, a boost as Safaricom’s M-Pesa gets the green light in Ethiopia Read more... Emefiele’s cashless policy aggravates Nigeria’s food security The Central Bank of Nigeria’s ill-advised cashless policy left many farmers in the rural areas scratching their heads over how to pay labourers during the planting season, a situation that could further worsen the country’s expected food shortage this year. Read more... Other top stories

	ON THE POD Suzman argues that spare capacity in the West and elsewhere should not just be ploughed back into third dose boosters, but rather "could and should have much greater impact" if deployed in Africa for global health outcomes.

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