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.

The International Monetary Fund’s chief capped a visit to Kenya with an enthusiastic endorsement of its economic management and expressed confidence that the cash-strapped nation would keep servicing its debts, Bloomberg News reported. Kristalina Georgieva said that in the IMF’s assessment, Kenya’s debt is sustainable and the administration of President William Ruto is moving swiftly to improve its fiscal position. The remarks come at a sensitive time for the East African nation, with some investors dumping its bonds and questioning its ability to make a $2 billion payment next year.

Nigeria’s debt burden is poised to jump 50% after lawmakers approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to convert 22.7 trillion naira ($49 billion) in loans from the central bank into bonds, Bloomberg News reported. The Senate’s acceptance is expected to push the West African nation’s official debt-to-gross domestic product ratio toward a 40% limit set by the government. “The advances were made to ensure that the government does not shut down,” according to a report by a special committee that the upper chamber of parliament endorsed on Wednesday.

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission is processing applications for digital exchanges on a trial basis in a bid to widen market participation in Africa’s most populous country where the central bank restricts trading in cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg News reported. The SEC is considering permitting tokenized coin offerings on licensed digital exchanges that are backed by assets including equity, debt, property but “not crypto,” Abdulkadir Abbas, head of securities and investment services at the Abuja-based commission said in an interview in Lagos.

Some investors of Ghana's 2030 Eurobond have received coupon payments which had been due on April 14, Reuters reported. The country announced it would default on some its external debt in December and has not made payments on its international bonds since. However, the bond maturing in 2030 with a coupon of 10.75% is partially guaranteed by the World Bank, so payment kicked in this week via the bank's International Development Association.