A debtor's dilemma 😔

Dec 16, 2022

Hello Venturers, 👋

Have you heard about the term “the fragile five”? No, it’s not a league of superheroes. It’s a group of emerging markets heavily dependent on foreign investment to finance their growth. In other words, countries that take a lot of international money.

Ghana, Kenya, Angola, Ethiopia, and Zambia —Africa’s “fragile five"— are the most indebted countries. If a fiscal reconstruction does not occur soon, these nations run the risk of having their loan requests denied by international lenders and investors.

Making difficult decisions for survival as a result of debt is now necessary. Ghana has asked its local bondholders to accept losses on interest payments. Last week, it decided on a debt swap, aiming to restructure its debt to qualify for an IMF loan.

In one of our articles, we discuss how Ghana’s plan to save its economy is bringing pain to investors.

Zainab Amoo

Social Media Executive.

What's New?

Ghana’s plan to save its economy is hurting investors

Last week, Ghana made the tough choice of asking its local bondholders to accept losses on interest payments. It made this decision through a debt swap, aiming to restructure its debt to qualify for an IMF loan. Ghana’s debt crisis is already chasing investors from the country. Until this year, foreign investors were unusually dominant in Ghana’s debt market, holding nearly 40% of domestic debt. But that figure is dropping so fast that it might sink below 10% by the year’s end. Read more

Weekly economic index: Cash restrictions in Nigeria, africa in G20 and COVID in China

On Tuesday, 6th of December, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued new guidelines on cash withdrawals made through POS, ATMs and over-the-counter (OTC) for Nigerian residents and businesses in furtherance of its cashless policy.The new policy would help drive the cashless economy agenda while advancing the rapid adoption of the e-Naira. Read more

Post COP27: African leaders discuss innovative finance instruments for energy transition at afis.

At the Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) recently held in Lome, Togo, leading figures of the African financial ecosystem had a dialogue on what African financial institutions can do to bolster climate financing post-COP27. Energy financing was at the core of this discussion, raising the imperative to have the right mix to finance Africa’s energy transition. Read more

My pivot journal: Chief Vera’s evolution from dentistry to content creation

The first time Vera Chidimma Okoh (a.k.a Chief Vera) picked up a camera, she did not yet fathom how steeply it would turn her life’s trajectory. Today, her videos about the coal city of Enugu have attracted a global audience. But she was no sudden emergence.

In this week’s episode of My Pivot Journal, Vera takes us through her transition from dentistry to mastering content creation. Read more

Top infrastructural projects in africa underway in 2022.

Africa is fast becoming an investment destination zone for investors. The continent is changing, and it is beginning to see the erection of various state-of-the-art infrastructures across different regions.

In this article, we list some high-rated infrastructural projects in Africa with a huge economic impact on its people. Read more

How Libya’s petroleum sector is taking a tough route to democracy.

Libya's petroleum sector has stagnated for over a decade. Since 2011, the country has not arrived at the democracy it hoped for. According to Statista’s 2022 analysis, proven oil reserves in Libya stood at the same spot (6.3 billion metric tons) since 2012. But it recorded an increase from the 5.7 million metric tons registered in 2008. Its oil revenues and small population have given Libya one of Africa’s highest nominal per capita GDPs. Read more

VA BIZ HIVE: The Agric Issue

The need for a technological footprint has given rise to an agritech ecosystem on the continent. Startups in this space are proferring technological solutions to problems faced in the agricultural sector with ultra-modern technologies like drones, automated irrigation systems, soil sensors, etcetera. Read more.

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