As part of efforts to plough its natural resource wealth into development projects and savings for future generation, the government of Djibouti has launched the Djibouti Sovereign Fund (Fonds Souverain de Djibouti – FSD) following the implementation decrees promulgated on June 24, 2020, a special inter-ministerial committee was held under the high authority of President Ismaël Omar Guelleh, in the presence of the Prime Minister, members of the government and the Fund’s administrators.
President Ismaël Omar Guelleh
The Sovereign Fund presents itself as an ambitious and innovative financial instrument aimed at turbocharging the country’s development. It will strive to modernize the country’s economy, to boost the growth of a competitive private sector and to enhance the development of the public productive sector, one of the essential instruments of this transformation.
Among the personalities present were the co-chairmen of SouthBridge, Mr. Donald Kaberuka (in videoconference) and Lionel Zinsou, as well as Mr. William Ediko, partner, who advised the Republic of Djibouti in setting up the Fund. Also present, Mr. Amir Jahanguiri, partner at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who advised the government for this project.
The holding of the inter-ministerial committee was also an opportunity to formalize the appointment of the Managing Director of the FSD, the Senegalese Mamadou Mbaye. A seasoned professional, Mr. Mbaye is a graduate of École Polytechnique and École nationale de la statistique et de l’administration économique (ENSAE) in France. He brings with him an outstanding experience in both the private and public sectors. He was previously Vice-President of the Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments of Senegal (Fonsis).
The creation of the FSD is a flagship measure of the “Vision 2035”, a long-term development strategy of the Republic of Djibouti which aims to position the country as a leading commercial, logistics, port and digital hub. Established in the form of a private limited company whose sole shareholder is and will remain the State of Djibouti, the Fund aims to “collect” national wealth to leverage Djibouti’s ability to invest quickly. The FSD will allow better control of projects while focusing on the national and strategic interests of the country. The FSD will play the role of a strong and committed partner sought by external and domestic investors.
The Fund acts both for growth and for today’s employment while working on creating a diversified economy and building reserves for new generations. It is an intergenerational instrument that brings together the requirements of the short term with those of the long term. Finally, transparency and governance are key elements of the Fund’s legitimacy and credibility. The FSD meets the highest international standards in terms of the independence and accountability of its management bodies, corporate governance, transparency and performance reporting, in accordance with Djibouti law and the Santiago Principles.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Ambassador Tijani Muhammad-Bande, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and until yesterday, the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has completed his tenure as UNGA President bowing out gracefully as President of the 74th session of the General Assembly. He handed over the gavel to Turkish diplomat and politician, Volkan Bozkir, who will be steering the ship of the 75th session of the 193-member lawmaking body. The change of baton took place during the closing ceremony of the 74th session.
Ambassador Tijani Muhammad-Bande
The brief ceremony, held inside the General Assembly Hall at the UN headquarters in New York under strict social-distancing rules, saw UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in attendance. In his remarks, Guterres said the 74th session was like no other in the 75-year history of the UN, citing the COVID-19 pandemic made the last seven months extremely difficult for the world.
The UN Chief congratulated Muhammad-Bande for his sterling leadership that saw the 74th session completing its full programme of work in spite of the enormous challenges.
“It has been a privilege to work with the General Assembly, our common platform for international consensus and action, during these difficult days, under the leadership of His Excellency Professor Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.
“Professor Muhammad-Bande’s capable stewardship saw the General Assembly adopt new working methods to continue its work smoothly.
“He made great efforts to ensure business continuity through regular convening of the General Committee and other online briefings.
“On a personal note, I would like to thank Professor Muhammad-Bande for his wise, determined and serene approach to those unforeseen challenges, and his excellent judgment under pressure. I commend the patience and support he has demonstrated during these unprecedented times.’’
Guterres also thanked representatives of member-states for their support and cooperation, urging them to extend same to Bozkir in the 75th session.
In his inaugural speech, the new General Assembly president thanked Muhammad-Bande for his “considerate and steady leadership.
“Your Excellency, you once described yourself as a perpetual student. Your efforts to navigate the General Assembly through these difficult times proved that you are also a fast learner.
“Since the start of the pandemic, the office of the President of the General Assembly under your direction has guided the work of the body transparently and effectively.
“You have shown strong leadership; I look forward to continuing to champion the priorities of your term, including poverty eradication and inclusive and equitable education for all” adding that “these Sustainable Development Goals are crucial to the future prosperity and peace of our planet”.
“On behalf of all member states, I would like to thank you and your team once again and look forward to continuing to work with you as the Nigerian Permanent Representative,’’ Bozkir said. In his closing statement, Muhammad-Bande thanked the Secretary-General, Presidents of the Security, and Economic and Social Councils, and heads of other organs of the UN for their support.
He expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for nominating him for the post, and the African countries in the UN for their endorsement. “We started this session guided by the hopes and aspirations of the people we serve.
“From the beginning, I entreated Member-States to give due attention to a number of critical issues.
“In particular, I urged them to tackle the root causes of conflict by galvanising multilateral efforts for poverty eradication and zero hunger, quality education, climate action, and inclusion (including gender equality). “As illustrated in the handover report, the General Assembly has made great strides in these areas,’’ he said.
The Nigerian envoy echoed the call for a recommitment to multilateralism and global cooperation to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and attain the Sustainable Development Goals.
He said the first high-level meeting of the 74th session centred on global health; little did it know that COVID-19 was around the corner. The pandemic, according to him, underscored the need for deeper multilateral cooperation in the health sector, as in other areas, to build a healthier and better world for all. “It is important that in achieving this, we must continue to deepen cooperation to ensure that despite the challenge posed by COVID-19, we will meet the goals and targets that we set for ourselves by 2030,’’ he said.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Nigeria’s leading bank in tech innovations, Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) is moving quickly with its restructuring plans. In March, the bank told investors it would restructure into a holding company which would allow it to offer more financial services beyond pure banking. During its H1 2020 earnings call with analysts, GT Bank’s CEO, SegunAgbaje disclosed that the holding company structure would be completed by Q1 2021.
Group Managing Director of GTBank, Segun Agbaje
“[T]he operational model for the Holco is set,” Agbaje said on the call. “You will have the centre, which is the controlling or holding company and then a couple of business units. Operationally, in terms of Holdco, we are going to do a one for one exchange, which means that the shares of GTBank would move up to the Holdco,” he added.Under the new holding company, GT Bank will operationally be split into four businesses. Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria will serve the Nigerian market as a business.
It will operate Guaranty Trust Bank East Africa which will house the bank’s operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.Guaranty Trust Bank West Africa will oversee the bank’s businesses in Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire and Liberia.The fourth business is GT Bank UK, the bank’s international office which was established in 2008.
“I really am excited about Holdco,” Agbaje said on the call. Hinting at the recent growth of digital payments in Nigeria, he added: “I think everything that has happened with the pandemic has proved that we are on the right path.”
“I think you can see that we’re gearing up the business for another high growth phase, not only are we taking the banking business and operationally splitting it into [four], where we can look at Nigeria very differently from East Africa and from West Africa and people can drill down.”The restructuring comes at a time when the bank is due to appoint a new CEO. Current CEO Agbaje has been at the helm of affairs since 2011 following the death of the bank’s co-founder and then CEO, TayoAderinokun. But according to Nigeria’s banking regulation, a CEO can only serve a maximum of 10 years.
By creating a holding structure, Agbaje might just be elongating his reign over the bank. He could become CEO of the restructured company while the bank is operated by a different chief executive.While GT Bank’s holdings structure operations will be split into these four geographies, Agbaje explains that other non-banking business units would emerge. “The business unit we are looking at commencing with would be Asset Management, a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) and a payment company,” he told analysts. “Hopefully this week, we would put in our application for final approval for the payment company.”
The choice of a PFA is interesting. Agbaje considers it a strategic position. A recent pension industry regulation will allow customers to switch fund administrators the same way they do with other financial assets. Once that kicks in fully, “we can only go to gain market share from where we want to start,” Agbaje told analysts.Agbaje hinted that the bank will also offer asset management services “which will basically complement our personal banking business for people who are looking for a high yield.”However, payments are really what are driving the bank’s decision to restructure.
GT Bank has a growing e-business operation. In its recent H1 2020 presentation, the bank recorded impressive growth in mobile banking, USSD payments and internet banking.USSD payment volume grew to 356.4 million for the first six months of 2020 but suffered a decline in transaction value perhaps due to the pandemic. While GT Bank added 600,000 new USSD customers, USSD transaction revenue took a hit following the reduction in transfer fees to ₦10 for transactions below ₦5,000. According to the bank, around 50% of all USSD transactions are below ₦5,000. Fees and commissions revenue fell 32.2% as a result.
Mobile banking also rode to 95 million transactions worth ₦5.7 trillion, while internet banking grew 14% to ₦1.2 trillion during the same period.GT Bank has bigger ambitions in the payments business and its interest has been growing for the last three years.The bank has been the most aggressive traditional financial institution competing against fintechs in Nigeria with different digital products.“There is not one thing called payments”, Agbaje said in a March 2020 presentation, “there are different parts of it.”
It operates GTPay, a payments gateway similar to Paystack; GTCollections, a payments aggregator; QuickCredit, a digital lending platform; and Habari, GTBank’s e-commerce superapp. The bank is also an issuer, issuing payments cards and operating international money transfer services.Under the new holding company structure, many of these business units could be bundled under a standalone payments business entity.And GTBank has made serious efforts to promote these services by slashing interest rates on loans, deepening uptake of its USSD payments offering and intensifying engagement with small businesses.
“[Payments] is a space we’re coming into,” Agbajesaid earlier in the year, “so we will have to look at the likes of Paystack as bigger than us on the day we start, as knowing more than us, but I promise you we will bridge that gap very quickly.”Earlier in the year, Agbaje told analysts that “today, a good way to gauge what you control of the payment space are NIP payments.”
NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) is a real-time interbank payment scheme. The online-based system to facilitate instant transfers within the country between member financial institutions in Nigeria including banks and mobile money operators. In the month of August alone, NIP transaction volume was nearly 200 million, while total transaction value was a little shy of ₦15 trillion ($38.9 billion). On the recent call with analysts, Agbaje explained that GT Bank is “actually number one in both NIP inflow and outflow at the moment [and] we have been for a few weeks. The bank is now responsible for over 18% of outflows and almost 17% of inflows.
“When we take that business, we think the payments business is something that is going to do really well.”Earlier in the year, Agbaje summed up GTBank’s payments ambitions: “GTBank is going to win [the payment space] and we’re going to win very easily.” GT Bank’s restructuring is designed to achieve this. In March, Agbaje explained to analysts that the bank could follow a few routes. One option was to “hive off” its current payments business as a standalone, or use acquisitions to develop a separate business. The long term plan is to keep the payments business as a stand-alone business, then possibly prepare the business for a stock market listing.
“[T]he people that will win the payment space won’t operate within the traditional banking framework,” Agbaje believes. “They will operate outside of the traditional banking framework, kind of like what you saw with Worldpay.” UK-based WorldPay traces its roots to 1997 when it was founded in partnership with National Westminster Bank. It later became a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group following a takeover of National Westminster Bank. WorldPay took on a life of its own, Agbaje explained and “has become this mammoth company in 2019 that was acquired for $43 billion. So, in that case, you would see that it really wasn’t a fintech per se.”
GT Bank will follow the same route, the bank’s CEO hinted in March. “[GT Bank’s fintech] will definitely be a separate business unit,” Agbaje said. “We will then watch and see whether we want to list it somewhere else. But I think if you are going to leverage the current advantages we have as an organisation it will start as a separate business unit.” GT Bank said its payments arm will have an Africa-focus, hinting that it will expand the business unit to other countries in West and East Africa.
A few things are propelling GT Bank’s payments and fintech ambitions. One is the shot at greater revenue. “About 30% of banking revenue comes from the payment space,” he told the crowd at the Lagos Social Media Week. It is estimated that the [Nigerian] payments market [paywall] could grow between $20 billion and $40 billion in the next few years. But fintechs are eating into this revenue. A consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan predicts that Nigerian fintech revenues will grow from $153.1 million in 2017 to $543.3 million by 2022. “What this means is that 30% of banking income is easily at risk,” he explained. As these fintechs eat up banking revenue, their valuations will increase and it will be very difficult to acquire these companies. Agbaje already considers many of fintechs too expensive, discouraging him from both partnerships and acquisitions.“We’re not going to rush into any partnership[s],” he said, “because we’re also not going to pay any valuations that are overly rich. We can on our own build this business.”
“But if we can’t go on our own… we’re definitely not going into any valuations of like 20 or 30 times earnings, no,” he added. Another reason propelling GT Bank’s fintechambitions is the scale at which rival fintechs are growing in the market. While there’s a risk that banks will lose a significant portion of their revenues, the scale at which some fintechs are growing. “That is what made OPay very scary,” Agbaje said. “Anybody who has the guts to pilot at scale, and has the money, and has the will, and has the drive is someone you really have to watch. And they have grown market share.” Those models are the reason why I’m very encouraged that Guaranty Trust Bank going into the payment space will do very well, because we will pilot at scale and we will be very aggressive, he added.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Sahara Energy Logistics Holding Limited (a Sahara Group company) and the national oil company of Cote d’Ivoire (Société Nationale d’Opérations Pétrolières de la Cote d’Ivoire ) Petroci Holding), have entered into a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) to facilitate the construction of a 12,000 Metric Tonnes Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage facility to guarantee LPG supply security in the nation. The cost of the project is estimated at $43million and will be executed in two phases, with commissioning scheduled for November 2021 and October 2022 respectively.
Olayemi Odutola, Country Manager, Sahara Energy
Incorporated as SAPET Energy S.A., the joint venture company will handle the construction, operation, and maintenance of the ultra-modern LPG storage terminal. Upon completion, the facility will become the largest of its kind is Sub-Saharan Africa, and more importantly, support the government’s efforts to meet Cote d’Ivoire’s growing LPG demand.
Speaking at the execution of the agreement, Dr. Ibrahima Diaby, Director General Petroci, said, “this joint venture project is the first of its kind in Cote d’Ivoire and will serve as a model for other projects in the energy sector. It is a historic event that will pave the way for a robust and seamless storage, distribution, and supply of LPG. This translates to more clean energy, growth, and productivity in Cote d’Ivoire. We are delighted and look forward to more collaboration with Sahara Energy.”
Olayemi Odutola, Country Manager, Sahara Energy said the project was in tandem with Sahara Group’s commitment to promoting clean energy in Africa through investments, new technology, and collaboration with regional and global institutions. He stated that the partnership with Petroci further reiterates Sahara Group’s support and commitment to enhancing economic growth in Cote d’Ivoire and contributes to the UN SDG7 goal which aims at ensuring access to affordable and clean energy.
“We are excited about the project and the huge opportunity it will confer on Cote d’ Ivoire as the leading LPG hub in the sub-region. Sahara Energy continues to support the energy value chain in the nation as a foremost partner. Sahara Group remains unwavering in its commitment to enhance capacity, productivity, reliability, safety, profitability, competitiveness, and sustainability in Africa’s energy sector. We will continue to explore other investment and partnership opportunities to replicate similar projects across the continent,” he said.
Industry experts say the development is cheery news for the nation with a population of 25 million people which has recently emerged as one of West Africa’s fastest growing LPG markets. National LPG consumption has grown from 175KT in 2013 to 380KT in 2019, a significant increase that far exceeds the country’s demand for liquid products (excluding gasoline).
The proposed facility will increase the country’s LPG storage capacity by 60% and significantly enhance importation, storage, supply and distribution of LPG and other related activities in Cote d’Ivoire and its neighboring countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea. The investment will also bridge the current product supply and storage gap in the market and ensure more product availability and security by increasing stockholding from 15 days to 27 days.
Sahara Group is already a leading LPG supplier on the continent via its joint ownership of MT Africa Gas and MT Sahara Gas, both LPG vessels with a combined capacity of 76,000 cubic metres (cbm). The vessels have delivered about 600,000 metric tonnes of LPG, making households, communities and nations cleaner and safer as well as boosting economic growth and development across markets.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Global commodities trader Glencore is suing Cameroon’s only refinery to the tune of FCFA 9.6 Billion for late payments and penalties in connection with contracts to deliver 1.6 million barrels of crude oil between 2012 and 2015. The Swiss commodities trader is claiming 9.6 billion FCFA from Sonara, Cameroon’s only refinery in connection with the deliveries made. The national refining company (Sonara), a public company in Cameroon, is currently the subject of a lawsuit before the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, reveals the specialized platform Energies Média , which quotes Law360, a publication specializing in legal affairs and commercial litigation.
Indeed, before this English court, and by the company of the British law firm Ince Gordon Dadds, Glencore, a Swiss commodities trader, through its subsidiary Glencore Energy UK Ltd, is claiming unpaid amounts from Sonara in the amount of total of 14.7 million euros, or 9.6 billion FCFA.
According to Glencore, this envelope represents, for the most part, penalties for late payments, in connection with contracts to deliver just over 1.6 million barrels of crude oil to Sonara, between November 2012 and January. 2015. Clearly, the Swiss trader accuses his Cameroonian partner of not having paid his invoices within the contractual deadlines and therefore demands repairs. For the moment, the Sonara has not officially reacted to this legal procedure opened before the British justice, since June 2020, and revealed by Law360, on August 11 .
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
In a bid to expand the combo of its offering to so users can now convert BTC to USDT to protect their funds from volatility, with trading function in the development, global peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace, Paxful announced today the addition of Tether (USDT) to its platform. USDT belongs to a class of cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins. A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value reflects an existing fiat currency (e.g. US Dollars). The inclusion of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market value, will assist users in combating a volatile market, protecting their assets, and expanding their portfolio.
Ray Youssef, CEO, and co-founder of Paxful.
The industry has seen a surging demand for a stable digital currency amidst fears of an economic recession in both traditional and digital markets. In the last 12 months, Tether has established itself as a champion amongst stablecoins, with a market capitalization of over $13 billion. “We consider this a big step for us since this is the first cryptocurrency other than bitcoin we have on the platform,” said Ray Youssef, CEO, and co-founder of Paxful. “We always listen to our customers. We understand that some come to Paxful for wealth generation and turn to crypto for stability when their national currency is affected by inflation. We hope that this can aid them to be more in control of their finances.”
The addition comes with a hedging option, allowing users to instantly convert BTC to USDT and vice versa, helping the users protects their funds during bitcoin price fluctuations. The company also plans to enable USDT trading on the platform. Same as with the bitcoin (BTC) trading in the Paxful marketplace, users can buy and sell USDT with over 300 payment methods. The USDT balance is accessible via the wallet page, where the current market price for both coins is displayed. The launch of this feature marks Paxful’s first step towards potentially adding new cryptocurrencies in the future.
The company recently announced that the platform Paxful has hit 4.5 million registered wallets, reached 4.6 billion USD in trading volume, and reduced dispute levels to under 1%. Since inception, they have added 1 million users per year and so far in 2020 and are on track to sign up an additional 2 million users by the end of the year.
Paxful is a people-powered marketplace for money transfers with anyone, anywhere, at any time. Their mission is to empower the forgotten four billion unbanked and underbanked around the world to have control of their money using peer-to-peer transactions. The company, founded in 2015, has over 4.5 million users globally who you can instantly buy and sell bitcoin with—using over 300 different payment methods. As part of their mission, Paxful launched #BuiltWithBitcoin, a social good initiative to build 100 schools funded entirely by bitcoin all across emerging markets. Paxful was co-founded in 2015 by Ray Youssef, Chief Executive Officer, and Artur Schaback, Chief Product Officer.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Efforts to improve service delivery in the e-commerce sector of Nigeria have received a boost as leading industry provider Kwik Delivery releases its highly innovative WooCommerce Plugin enabling a 2-Hour delivery for thousands of Nigerian online merchants. By installing this plugin in a few minutes, merchants large and small can offer Kwik Delivery’s on-demand, just-in-time delivery service to all their customers. This makes Kwik Delivery the first African last-mile delivery platform to release a WooCommerce plugin, enabling thousands of Nigerian online merchants to seamlessly integrate its delivery service to their WordPress online stores.
Olivier DECROCK, Chief Technology Officer at Kwik Delivery
By installing this plugin in a few minutes, merchants large and small can offer Kwik Delivery’s on-demand, just-in-time delivery service to all their customers. Kwik’s platform delivers within two hours in Lagos State. “Kwik is the first delivery platform focused on African businesses and riders to offer a seamless, easy integration into a major e-commerce framework such as WordPress/Woocommerce” declares Olivier DECROCK, Chief Technology Officer at Kwik Delivery. “We will continue to innovate by expanding this policy to other major e-commerce frameworks in the near future.”
“The online shopping solution offered by WordPress and Woocommerce is particularly popular in Lagos and in Nigeria. With this plugin, any online merchant can now provide reliable, traceable and efficient same-day deliveries to their customers”, says Romain POIROT-LELLIG, Founder & CEO of Kwik Delivery. “This is at the heart of our mission to enable the growth and efficiency of e-commerce in Africa.”
Launched in 2019, Kwik Delivery is an on-demand, last-mile delivery platform that connects African businesses to independent delivery riders, dubbed Kwiksters. The Kwik platform is currently open to Kwiksters operating in Lagos State. The Kwik Delivery app is available on iOS and Android. Kwik Delivery is the trading name of Africa Delivery Technologies SAS.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
One of East Africa’s biggest petroleum infrastructure projects comes onstream next year as the government of Uganda, and the French oil supermajor, Total E&P moves rapidly towards common ground on the country’s oilfield project. The signing of the agreement has now paved the way for a final investment decision (FID) on the 230,000Barrels of Oil per day development. The final agreement on the Host Government Agreement (HGA) for the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project was entered into by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TOTAL over the weekend.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda
The two parties agreed on the participation of the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) in the EACOP as well as on governance issues around the benefits, to Host Governments from the export pipeline in Uganda. The project is expected to cost the consortium $3.5Billion, with construction expected to start early next year, a government statement declared. The Host Government Agreement aims to ensure that both countries (Uganda and Tanzania) fully benefit from the project in the course of transportation of the crude to the international market.
Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TOTAL
The Host Government Agreement will govern the construction and operation of the crude oil pipeline from Hoima, the Ugandan oil rich district, to Tanja, the Tanzanian port town from which the crude will be exported. “We now look forward to concluding a similar agreement with the Government of Tanzania and to completing the tendering process for all major engineering, procurement and construction contracts,” said Pierre Jessua, managing director of TOTAL E&P Uganda.Jessua said the conditions are set for the ramp-up of project activities and in particular, the land acquisition activities in Uganda. TOTAL E&P Uganda is leading the development activities towards production in the Tilenga project area – Exploration Area1 (EA-1) and Exploration Area2 North(EA-2N) within the Albertine Region.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
“Flatten the curve.” Do you remember that phrase? It was on everyone’s lips back in the spring, when the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began rampaging across the world in earnest. At the time, the idea was that the best way to combat the germ known as SARS CoV-2 was to go home and stay there long enough for hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities to build up the capacity needed to handle the expected flood of new patients. Most of us expected that this departure from routine would be a temporary thing. We hoped it wouldn’t last long — that we’d be able to return to our normal routines after a brief disruption, with confidence that all necessary safeguards were in place.
Senegalese President Macky Sall
Of course, it didn’t turn out that way. We spent far more time than we expected sheltering in place, unable to visit friends and family, attend school, or go to work in the usual manner. Many of us lost our jobs and saw our businesses fail, and the cumulative result of all these individual disasters was that the global economy took a sharp downward turn.
We Still Need To ‘Flatten the Curve’ … But How?
Along the way, of course, we’ve learned quite a bit more about SARS CoV-2 — how it makes people sick, how to treat it more effectively, what kind of resources our medical providers need most, and so on. But we’ve also stopped talking about “flattening the curve.” Even in places where hospitals and clinics have been able to build up their stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and other necessities, we’ve moved on to other topics.
In my view, this is a mistake. I’d like to explain why I think so.
It’s not because our understanding of the virus has changed over time.
It’s not because we’ve seen infection rates rise after the lifting of lockdown orders.
It’s not because we don’t have a vaccine yet.
It’s not because the idea of “flattening the curve” seems callous when more than 900,000 people out the nearly 28 million infected around the world have already died of COVID-19.
It’s because we need to rethink the idea of what “flattening the curve” means.
And I believe President Macky Sall’s call for African debt relief is a good place to start that rethinking.
The President’s Perspective
First, let’s look at what President Sall has to say. In late August, the Senegalese leader urged members of the G20 group of countries to continue helping African nations balance their obligations to creditors with their obligations to their own citizens in the face of a deadly pandemic. Speaking to a group of business leaders at the French Entrepreneurs’ Conference, he noted that the group had taken up his call for a moratorium on the collection of debt from impoverished countries in Africa and elsewhere in April. He suggested that this moratorium be extended into 2021 rather than allowed to expire at the end of 2020.
“For the most part, and for all African countries, internal efforts will not be enough to lessen the shock of COVID and revive economic growth,” he said. “We need more financial capacity, which is why, with other colleagues, I have made a plea for substantial relief of Africa’s public debt and private debt on terms to be agreed upon.”
What the President’s Words Mean
Sall’s statements reflect the fact that the emergence of SARS CoV-2 was not a one-off event that sparked a short-term crisis, but rather the start of a struggle that will take a long time to resolve. They recognize that the outbreak is likely to be a drag on the world economy for years to come — and that the countries battling COVID-19 outbreaks need time to build up their capacity to fight back.
What’s more, the president’s words advance the idea that African states will be in a better position to meet their financial obligations in the future if they take the time and the trouble to address the public health situation first. Indeed, he made a point of stressing that Africa takes its financial commitments seriously, since he mentioned debt relief and not debt forgiveness. (He also suggested that members of the G20 group offer debtors the same kind of breathing room they have granted themselves, such as temporary exemption from rules limiting debt to 3% of GDP or less.)
In other words, Sall is asking the G20 group to give Africa time and space to flatten the curve. He may not have used those exact words, but that appears to be his goal. He is hoping creditors will agree to suspend business as usual so that African states can build up their capacity for economic growth, just as regular citizens of many countries around the world agreed to disrupt their usual routines of work and school and leisure activities so that hospitals could build up their capacity for patient care.
Sall also understands that this flattening of the economic curve is not a simple process. He knows it will take more than one round of deferred payments to compensate for the economic consequences of the pandemic, and that is why he has now asked the G20 to extend the debt moratorium, which was originally due to expire at the end of 2020, into next year.
Compensating for the Setbacks of the Last Six Months
And make no mistake: Africa needs that extra time. The continent has suffered enormously over the last six months.On the economic front, the pandemic has triggered a global recession that has caused millions of salaried African workers to lose their jobs. Meanwhile, many more millions have seen their livelihoods dwindle or disappear because restrictions on movement have stifled the informal sector and forced the closure of small businesses. Additionally, the continent has experienced shortages of fuel and other essential goods as a result of disruptions in the supply chain.
Some parts of Africa have also weathered political disruptions. Mali suffered a coup in mid-August, following more than two months of anti-government demonstrations. Libya’s civil war, pitting the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli against Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), has continued to grind on, effectively crippling the country’s lucrative oil industry. Investors in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Mozambique have grown more nervous since a militia with ties to the Islamic State group, also known as Daesh, seized control of a key port in Cabo Delgado state.
Under other circumstances, African fossil fuel producers might have been able to use their reserves to help build up the cash needed to cope with the consequences of COVID-19. After all, as I explained in my latest book, Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals, the oil and gas industry has the potential to serve as a springboard, amplifying and accelerating economic growth. It can create opportunities for economic diversification and — through petroleum companies’ research and investments — help pave the way to the creation of a renewable energy sector.
Unfortunately, though, world oil prices crashed earlier this year, partly because of the competition between Russia and Saudi Arabia for market share and partly because the pandemic undercut energy demand. Prices hit historic lows in late April. And since they have yet to recover completely, African producers will need more than oil and gas to compensate for the setbacks they have experienced this year.
Debt relief will help African states weather the storms caused by the pandemic.
Debt relief will help African states take the steps needed to help people go back to work or build up their businesses.
Debt relief will help African states re-establish stability following political disruptions.
Debt relief will help African states make up for the sharp decline in oil and gas revenues and begin building renewable energy sectors.
Debt relief is necessary to flatten the curve. It’s what will give Africa time and space to start carving out a path towards recovery — to take the steps necessary to bring new investment to the oil and gas industry, to build Africa’s sustainable energy sector, to expand business and residential consumers’ access to electric power, to revive small businesses, to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, to foster job creation, and to remove red tape and regulatory obstacles.
Asking for More: Debt Forgiveness
Senegal’s president understands this — and I hope the leaders of the G20 group’s members do, too. I hope they can see how reasonable it is for impoverished countries in Africa and other regions to ask for what they need to flatten the curve.
But I’d also like to take it a step further. I’m going to ask for more.
I’m going to ask for debt forgiveness.
I’m going to suggest that members of the G20 group agree to forego payments from African debtors — specifically, from eligible African debtors. And by eligible debtors, I mean countries that commit themselves to a forward-looking agenda that includes wide-ranging and market-oriented reforms, as well as safeguards for economic freedom, good governance, free trade, and investment in education.
All of these points are in line with the ideals that have helped most G20 member states achieve so much with respect to economic growth. What’s more, they are exactly the sort of things that African states ought to do in order to maximize their chances of building up the momentum lost as a result of the pandemic — and to extend their recovery far into the future, beyond the point when vaccines, cures, and more effective treatments remove the threat of COVID-19.
I hope that G20 lenders to Africa will see it my way. I hope they will agree to help Africa do as much as it can to flatten the curve
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The Namibian government has expressed hopes that with the reopening of the country, there are opportunities to restore thousands of jobs in the country’s Covid-19 pandemic hard-hit tourism sector — its third-largest source of foreign exchange after the mining and fishing industries. As last year alone, Namibia received 1.6 million foreign visitors to its coastal deserts and renowned animal parks.
According to Carla Feely, owner of Windhoek Game Camp, “The international tourism market is going to take more than a year to recover from that. For the locals, we’ve dropped our prices, and I must say, we’ve had a very good response from our locals, especially the Windhoek people since we are still in lockdown now.”
The 40 odd passengers on the first international commercial flight that arrived in the country — mainly from Germany, Austria and Kenya, were required to show negative coronavirus test results taken no more than three days to their scheduled flight date in order to board the plane. In spite of the high hopes Namibia has to revive its tourism industry, few of the passengers are tourists. Many are simply finally able to fly back home.
The scarcity of foreign visitors in shops has some store owners a bit concerned, “Our average number of visitors are between 2,000 and 4,000 a month, that’s usually. We’ve maybe seen 150 per month. The Craft Centre supports about 80 people in the centre with direct employment. But indirectly it supports crafters and traders of up to 600 people from all over the country, so when we don’t sell, we don’t buy and when we don’t buy, people suffer.”
A public loudspeaker can be heard around many tourist-visited cities reminding people to respect virus-prevention sanitary guidelines such as handwashing and social distancing. As many store owners, still hopeful, organise merchandise and ready their locales to receive the highly-anticipated tourists, “We’ve been at home all this time. When I got the call, I jumped for joy,” says Salome Ndinoshisho, 37, who waits for the tourists on foot.
Paradoxically, Namibia’s reopening of its national borders comes at a time when coronavirus infections have been steadily rising since early August with reports of confirmed cases reaching over 9,200 — 96 of which were fatal.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
