Ethiopia / Eurobond restructuring: "The government had proposed a 20% haircut, citing the International Monetary Fund's debt sustainability analysis. But a group of investors representing bondholders rejected the proposal, and have said that Ethiopia's export earnings data indicate ..."

How to build trust and capabilities for effective governance in Africa: world-bank-afronomics.captivate.fm/episode/how-...

"Before the coup, Noureddin described himself as an “Africa-focused entrepreneur”. Now, he says he may not be able to return to the continent. And when we ask whether he would ever go back to #Gabon, he gives a weary laugh and slowly shakes his head. “Never.” www.standard.co.uk/news/nouredd...

"In 2019, after Trump imposed tariffs on China, Beijing slashed US soyabean imports. The Trump administration launched a $23bn bailout for farmers. “The last time [the US] did this, we lost about 20% market share to Brazil, and that never came back” www.ft.com/content/b920...

Time to go long Kosovo? 😅🙃 " Other available concessional financing includes two World Bank development policy loans, each for EUR90 million, and two bilateral loans totalling EUR 160 billion." www.fitchratings.com/research/sov...

"China has aligned decarbonization with its economic growth strategy. In practice that means systematically building infrastructure, sophisticated supply chains and a predictable domestic market for clean energy." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/o...

S&P brings #Morocco back to investment grade after 4½ years. Upgrade reflects "our view of a supportive macroeconomic policy mix, contributing significantly to solid macroeconomic prospects, gradual budgetary consolidation, and contained current account deficit." www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/r...

Good article on UK and US draining African countries for doctors and nurses by not educating enough medical professionals. www.theafricareport.com/393266/ghana...

Trump's Argentine bail out could set up biggest sovereign story of the decade. If Argentina defaults despite the bail out, Trump will want seniority, but IMF cant give it. You can imagine how this descends into a colossal row between IMF and its biggest shareholder www.ft.com/content/4127...

"At the request of the #Kenyan authorities, an IMF staff team will begin initial discussions in the coming days on a possible Fund-supported program." An IMF staff team, led by Haimanot Teferra, will visit Nairobi 25/9-9/10 to initiate discussions with the authorities. www.imf.org/en/News/Arti...

Norway had always been “the little brother or sister” to Denmark & Sweden when it came to film. Sarah Almbjerg said it would not be long before Danish film was “back in the international limelight”. “Until then, the Norwegians can enjoy their place in the sun” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Djibouti / IMF Art IV staff report. The sovereign arrears situation is quite broad ... www.imf.org/en/Publicati...

Moody's shifts outlook on #Rwanda B2 rating from negative to stable to reflect that external financial assistance, especially from international financial institutions, has remained strong over the past few months and will likely continue to support its credit profile. www.moodys.com/research/Moo...

so, about those Tesla door handles... www.thesun.co.uk/news/3677623...

ITFC recorded its first significant new non-performing exposure (NPE) in late 2024, rising to 2.8% from 0.0% in 2023. it's the first major overdue in excess of 90 days since 2016, resulting from exceptional political circumstances in Mali. As of 8/9/25, Mali has fully repaid its financing from ITFC.

I'm optimistic about the long-awaited launch of IFFEd. It's hard to beat the returns on investing in children, so cheaper loans for middle-income countries to spend more now is probably a good bet www.devex.com/news/moonsho...

C'est pas pour faire nos intéressants mais @afriquexxi.bsky.social raconte des histoires qu'on ne lit pas ailleurs. Passionnant papier de @lowcausse34.bsky.social // À Johannesburg, la vie brutaliste de Ponte City

Guinea (Conakry) gets its first credit rating, B+ with S&P. External financing for Simandou and other projects still likely to come from China Exim Bank. Useful external financing table in tweet below. Possible that Afrexim will get involved. x.com/Markbohlund/... www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/r...

Being a co-founder of a global macro fund with no less a personage than Stephen Miran gets you in the door to be deputy managing director of the IMF these days I see. www.ft.com/content/1209...

This column estimates the potential trade efficiency gains between 45 African countries & 43 trading partners over 1996-2020, highlighting the untapped trade potential between African countries and how removing trade barriers across regional communities can boost trade. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

S&P lowered its t ratings on #Botswana to 'BBB' from 'BBB+' with negative outlook maintained. "Even with consolidation efforts to reduce spending, our projections indicate a still-sizable overall deficit of about 7.6% of GDP for fiscal 2025." www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/r...

"We anticipate declining public external debt amortisations combined with resilient external financing sources (*cough Algeria/Saudi *cough) will help narrow #Tunisia's net negative external financing flows from a record 3.7% of GDP in 2024 to 1% in 2027." www.fitchratings.com/research/sov...

new @britishintinv.bsky.social report about (the absence of) international corporate bonds from sub-Saharan Africa, and how getting that market going would make getting foreign capital into the continent a whole lot easier: www.bii.co.uk/en/news-insi...

2/14 While the primacy of the dollar is certainly good for bankers, financiers, and very wealthy owners of movable capital, what's much less obvious is the extent to which it benefits or harms American workers, manufacturers and middle class households.

When she made her debut, she was following in the footsteps of her maternal grandfather, Bokretsion Gebrehiwot, who played for Ethiopia (which annexed Eritrea between 1950 and 1993). www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The pressure on the #Maldives FX reserves has continued with the black-market FX rate weakening above MVR20/USD. The MMA allowed the rufiyaa peg, which has been held at MVR15.25/USD for the past two-and-half-years to move to MVR15.4/USD on 5 September with a larger move potentially in the offing.

Angola / IMF post-financing assessment. Context is a recent rocky attempt at further limiting fuel subsidies: "Near-term financing pressures remain elevated due to sizable maturing external debt ... Noting the delay to 2028, they emphasized the importance of advancing the fuel subsidy reform, ..."

Sri Lanka / IMF working paper on lessons from its debt restructuring. "NPV relief for total restructured debt was around 41 percent NPV/NPV (at 9 percent discount rate corresponding approximately to the bond restructuring exit yields) in the baseline case of the MLBs ..."

"[Mark] Bohlund said Kenya's financing needs in the 25/26 fiscal year had risen due to delays in IMF and World Bank funds, prompting the government to redirect the proceeds from the US$1.5 billion eurobond sale in February from their planned use ..." @mbohlund.bsky.social

Melvyn Bragg has been one of the last standard-bearers for a really important, and unfashionable, idea: that good conversation, between people who really know their stuff, on complex or difficult subjects, can be fantastic radio - and that the national broadcaster should do this. I hope it endures.

RBM.. said the terms brought on board by IMF included restructuring the debt with the regional creditors with 17 years of moratorium and repayment over 13 years. In the new deal, some of the loans be repaid in local currency, other in USD .. and that payment has started. mwnation.com/rbm-makes-mo...

"Combative rhetoric underscored that tariffs could be weaponised, employed as deterrence or vengeance for national wrongs, real or perceived. But tariff reform could never live up to the promises made by its promoters." www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

Biya-Kamto : face-à-face manqué au Cameroun afriquexxi.info/Biya-Kamto-l...

"Why would a government choose NY law if it exposes the country’s foreign property to turnover orders by US courts? Even if the US court lacks the ability to enforce such orders, treating the directive with contempt may cause diplomatic, political or trade frictions" www.ft.com/content/abb7...

S&P has raised its credit rating on #Kenya to 'B' from 'B-'. "External data revisions, coupled with strong performances in coffee exports and diaspora remittances, supported a narrowing of the current account deficit to 1.3% of GDP in 2024 from 2.6% in 2023." www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/r...

"Increasingly for African development banks, these deals to share risk on loans are “the future of private sector lending. I don’t understand why they aren’t doing more of this”, says Humphrey at ODI. www.ft.com/content/ba9a...

IMF on Chad: The authorities relied primarily on a concessional loan from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development1 (US$500m) and a direct sale of treasury securities of CFAF 50bn (US$83m) to Afreximbank to finance the budget in 2024, on account of difficulties to issue debt in the regional market 2H24."

"The late Kenyan novelist and activist believed erasing language was the most lasting weapon of oppression. Here, Aminatta Forna recalls the man and introduces his essay on decolonisation" www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

2/2 What is more, private flows seem to be much more speculative and destabilizing to developing-country financial systems. Capital controls are not a panacea, but it is hard to justify the unfettered flow of capital to low-income countries.

Tanzania🇹🇿 blocks election observers from the East Africa Community #EAC and the Southern African Development Community #SADC, both of which it is a member, for its October 29 polls but grants permits to 12 Western observer diplomatic missions based in the country to observe the elections.

Interesting Fed note on using proceeds from valuation gains on gold and foreign exchange reserves to reduce public debt distress. Over the past 30 years, only five countries have done so—Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Curacao and Saint Martin, and South Africa. www.federalreserve.gov/econres/note...

"The Kenyan people expected Raila to come to their rescue through condemnation and mobilisation for justice and reforms. However Raila has long been intentional in protecting his own interests and political comfort, rather than protecting the peoples’ interests" democracyinafrica.org/from-a-tiger...

Meanwhile bondholders are holding out to avoid a haircut...(apparently coffee and gold exports are looking good). www.foreignaffairs.com/ethiopia/eth...

Angola: "Overnight, transport costs have doubled to about 4000 kwanza ($4.36) /day for workers who rely on public transport such as minibus taxis, exceeding the daily wages of 53% of Angolans, who earn less than $3.65/day & 31% who live on less than $2.15/day [WB]." www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/...

Good article @semafor.com about #Uganda coffee boom, cashing in on high prices. www.semafor.com/article/08/0... Should be read keeping in mind extensive smuggling from the DRC as reported very impressively by @afriquexxi.bsky.social and x.com/Ukwelicoalit... afriquexxi.info/Corruption-t...

"The announcement of a EUR 6bn (39% of 2024 GDP) infrastructure development agreement with the UK in May 2025 is likely to result in some sovereign loan commitments from the UK, which could further increase North Macedonia’s debt levels." www.fitchratings.com/research/sov...

It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.

Trump will need someone with a good head for numbers, a can-do attitude, spreadsheet skills and relaxed attitude to factual accuracy at the BLS.