Africa

Kenya is considering options including a potential buyback of part of a $2 billion bond due next year, Bloomberg News reported. Chris Kiptoo, the principal secretary of the National Treasury, declined to confirm the possible debt repurchase, but said the country is in talks with advisors and reviewing other alternatives. “We have many options,” he said in an interview.

The Foschini Group Ltd.’s turnaround of South African discount clothing chain Jet is grabbing the attention of a larger rival as competition for the lower end of the market intensifies, Bloomberg News reported. TFG, which acquired Jet three years ago, has refurbished the stores, revitalized the chain’s supply base and added its home-furnishing brand — Jet Home — to 78 of the almost 464 outlets across the country. Jet’s former owner, Edcon Holdings Ltd., was teetering on bankruptcy and didn’t spend on expansion, said TFG Chief Executive Officer Anthony Thunström.

The main hurdle for the completion of the International Monetary Fund's first review of Zambia's $1.3 billion program is an agreement with its official creditor committee, the IMF said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Julie Kozack, spokesperson for the IMF, said discussions between Zambia and its official creditors were happening "as we speak" and the fund was encouraged by those, while "we hope an agreement will be reached very soon on a debt treatment." Read more.

The World Bank said on Tuesday it approved a $1 billion loan to Kenya to support its budget as East Africa's economic powerhouse confronts high debts and a weakening currency, Reuters reported. The lending will be done through an instrument called a Development Policy Operations (DPO) loan, which commits Kenya to instituting reforms aimed at creating fiscal space, improving agricultural competitiveness and improving governance.

Call it a quasi-central bank digital currency or a government-sponsored stable coin — Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed virtual token is the country’s latest attempt to end decades of chaos, according to a Bloomberg News commentary. The digital coin went live earlier this month in a bid to divert demand for US dollars in the landlocked African nation, where inflation has soared and the local Zimbabwean dollar is struggling. The idea, at least according to officials, is that the new token will give people and businesses an easy way to use the ultra-safe value of gold as a currency benchmark.

South Africa's central bank has warned of risks to the country's financial stability, due to capital outflows and the possibility of sanctions following a U.S. diplomat's accusation of supplying weapons to Russia to aid its campaign in Ukraine, Reuters reported. These risks, along with the threat of a grid failure due to repeated power cuts and persistent high inflation, have increased the systemic risks to the financial system, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said in its biannual health check on Monday.

The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved a long-awaited $3 billion bailout for Ghana in hopes of combating the country’s economic crisis, the Associated Press reported. The arrangement will allow for the immediate release of $600 million, with the remaining funds to be made available over the course of the next three years, the IMF said in a statement Wednesday. Facing soaring inflation, high debt and a weakening currency, Ghana's government began negotiations with the IMF last July for a bailout package.

Ghana's official creditors have formed a committee co-chaired by China and France to launch debt restructurings talks, the Paris Club said on Friday, paving the way for a sign-off on a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan for the country, Reuters reported. The West African nation is struggling through its worst economic crisis in a generation, defaulting on most of its external debt in December and completing a domestic debt exchange in February.

The International Monetary Fund is in discussions with Ethiopian authorities, and any new program would require creditors' financial assurances, a spokeswoman said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The fund "welcomed" the progress toward restoring lasting peace in the East African country as well as the authorities' "homegrown economic reform agenda," said spokeswoman Julie Kozack in a scheduled press conference.