International Monetary Fund - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

Kenya to go to international bond market soon as conditions allow

KENYA intends to go to international bond markets as soon as the market situation allows, its finance minister and central bank governor said in a letter to the International Monetary Fund published. The East African nation has been on the radar of foreign investors in recent months due to a $2 billion Eurobond that is maturing this June amid a drop in hard currency reserves, a steep weakening of the currency, and revenue challenges. Separately, the head of an IMF mission to Kenya said the fund does not think Kenya will default on its Eurobond payment. The rolling over of…

Jan

2024

By VICTORIA WALDERSEE

Ghana will reengage bondholders next week, says finance minister

BUSINESS

GHANA will reengage with its international bondholders from next week, finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta told Reuters, as the country seeks to build on the momentum of a deal last week to restructure $5.4 billion of official creditor debt. The West African country will seek to continue discussions after meeting holders of its around $13 billion in outstanding Eurobonds in Marrakech in October, Ofori-Atta said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting. Officials will also travel to China on January 23, he added. China and France co-chair Ghana's Official Creditor Committee and the agreement reached with…

Jan

2024

By JORGELINA DO ROSARIO and MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA

IMF board to review Ghana $600 mln loan payout on Friday

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board is due to meet to consider the first review of Ghana's $3 billion rescue loan programme, a spokesperson said by email. Board sign-off of the review would unlock a $600 million disbursement. Such approvals are usually seen as a formality once a meeting date has been agreed. Reuters earlier reported the meeting date, according to three sources familiar with the matter, after the cocoa, gold and oil-producing country reached an agreement to restructure $5.4 billion of official creditor debt. Ghana struck the deal with its bilateral lenders, including China and France, late last week, a…

Jan

2024

By MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA and JORGELINA DO ROSARIO

Ghana official creditors agree on restructuring date, key step to deal – sources

BUSINESS

GHANA'S official creditors have agreed to restructure debts that were extended to the country up until December 2022, two sources told Reuters, with Accra closing in on a key step required to advance its restructuring. A deal between Ghana and its official creditors would pave the way for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the disbursement of $600 million under its $3 billion bailout programme. Discussions over the "cut-off date" - the date after which new loans signed with bilateral creditors will not be restructured - had recently emerged as a stumbling block to an…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

IMF ‘optimistic’ Ghana will reach official creditor debt deal soon

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund said that it was "optimistic" that Ghana and its official bilateral creditors would reach a debt restructuring deal soon, paving the way for another $600 million IMF loan payment to the country. Discussions between Ghanaian authorities and the Official Creditor Committee, co-chaired by China and France, are showing "promising progress", the IMF's Resident Representative for Ghana, Leandro Medina, said. "We are optimistic that an agreement will be reached soon, allowing to swiftly present the first ECF (Extended Credit Facility) programme review to our Executive Board," he said via email. The West African nation defaulted on most…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

IMF approves disbursement of $60.7 million to Mozambique

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund's executive board has completed the third review of Mozambique's three-year loan program, allowing for an immediate disbursement to Maputo of about $60.7 million, the fund said. The review brings total disbursements under the $456 million Extended Credit Facility program approved in 2022 to about $273 million, the IMF said late on Monday. "Program performance has been satisfactory," it said in a statement, adding that inflationary pressures had declined sharply and the economic recovery is accelerating. The three-year arrangement is expected to support economic recovery and policies to reduce public debt and financing vulnerabilities, while creating space…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Rwanda says GDP growth expected to rise in 2024, still below 2022 figure

BUSINESS

RWANDA'S economy is expected to grow 6.6% in 2024, up from this year's figure of 6.2%, the finance minister and central bank governor told the International Monetary Fund in a letter. In February, Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana had forecast economic growth of about 7.5% for the East African country in 2024 and 2025. The economy grew 8.2% in 2022. "We foresee a temporary softening of economic growth, driven by needed tighter fiscal and monetary policies," Ndagijimana and Central Bank Governor John Rwangombwa said in the November 29 letter, made public late on Monday. "On the demand side, private consumption and investment are…

Nov

2023

By EDWARD MCALLISTER

The big topics that will define Congo’s election

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

As the Democratic Republic of Congo heads to the polls in December, much will come down to President Felix Tshisekedi's perceived performance running the giant Central African country of nearly 100 million people since 2019. Below are the key topics on voters' minds. THE ECONOMY Congo's economy grew 8.5% in 2022, one of the fastest in sub-Saharan Africa, driven by stronger mining output, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Tshisekedi successfully negotiated a $1.5 billion programme with the IMF in July 2021, the first since the IMF broke ties with Kinshasa in 2012 under Tshisekedi's predecessor Joseph Kabila. But despite its…

Nov

2023

By RACHEL SAVAGE and KARIN STROHECKER

Zambia dealt major setback as official creditors object to bond deal

BUSINESS

ZAMBIA suffered a major setback in its debt restructuring efforts after the government on Monday said a revised deal to rework $3 billion of Eurobonds could not be implemented at this time due to objections from official creditors, including China. Zambia and the country's official creditor committee (OCC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been at odds over whether the initial deal struck with a group of bondholders in late October offered comparable debt relief from bilateral as well as commercial lenders. The IMF approved a tweaked deal but official creditors again rejected it, Zambia said. "The OCC, through its co-chairs, concluded…

Nov

2023

By DUNCAN MIRIRI and GEORGE OBULUTSA

Kenya gets additional $938 mln from IMF, soothing nerves

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement with Kenya, unlocking immediate access to a $682.3 million tranche and boosting the current lending programme by $938 million, the fund said. The East African nation is grappling with acute liquidity challenges caused by uncertainty over its ability to access funding from financial markets before a $2 billion Eurobond matures next June. Its balance of payments and financial positions have also been strained by the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic and frequent climate change-induced droughts, the fund said after a two-and-a-half-week review mission to Nairobi. "The tightening global financing conditions for…