World Bank forecasts sub-Saharan Africa’s economy to slow to 3.1% in 2023

World Bank Chief Economist for Africa Andrew Dabalen said weak growth combined with debt vulnerabilities and dismal investment growth risks a lost decade in poverty reduction, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sudanese leader vows to establish civilian rule despite delay in signing political deal

Khartoum, April 7

(IANS)

Nairobi, April 6 (IANS) The World Bank has projected economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa to slow to 3.1 per cent in 2023 from 3.6 per cent in 2022.

According to the World Bank’s April 2023 economic update for sub-Saharan Africa released on Wednesday, growth across the region remains sluggish, dragged down by uncertainty in the global economy, the underperformance of the continent’s largest economies, high inflation, and a sharp deceleration of investment growth.

The report says the African governments must sharpen their focus on macroeconomic stability, domestic revenue mobilisation, debt reduction, and productive investments to reduce extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the medium-to-long term amid dampened growth prospects and rising debt levels.

“Policymakers need to redouble efforts to curb inflation, boost domestic resource mobilisation, and enact pro-growth reforms while continuing to help the poorest households cope with the rising costs of living,”

Dabalen added.

According to the report, economic activity in South Africa is set to weaken further in 2023 (0.5 per cent annual growth) as the energy crisis deepens, while the growth recovery in Nigeria for 2023 (2.8 per cent) is still fragile as oil production remains subdued.

The World Bank said the real GDP growth of the western and central Africa subregion is estimated to decline to 3.4 per cent in 2023 from 3.7 per cent in 2022, while that of eastern and southern Africa declines to 3 per cent in 2023 from 3.5 per cent in 2022.

The report says debt distress risks remain high, with 22 countries in the region at high risk of external debt distress or in debt distress as of December 2022.

“Unfavourable global financial conditions have increased borrowing costs and debt service costs in Africa, diverting money from badly needed development investments and threatening macro-fiscal stability,” it notes. According to the report, despite these challenges, many countries in the region are showing resilience amid multiple crises. These include Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, and Congo, which grew at 5.2 per cent, 6.7 per cent, and 8.6 per cent, respectively, in 2022.

It notes that in Congo, the mining sector was the main driver of growth due to an expansion in capacity and recovery in global demand.

The report reveals that harnessing natural resource wealth provides an opportunity to improve the fiscal and debt sustainability of African countries, but cautions that this can only happen if countries get policies right and learn the lessons from the past boom and bust cycles. The World Bank said high inflation and low investment growth continue to constrain African economies.

President Kagame re-elected as Rwanda’s ruling party leader

its headquarters in Rusororo, on the outskirts of the capital Kigali, reports Xinhua news agency.

Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has vowed to move forward toward establishing the civilian rule and completing the political process in Sudan.

His remarks came on Thursday after the postponement of the signing of a political agreement to end the political crisis in the country, while mass demonstrations took place on the same day in the capital Khartoum and other cities, demanding the restoration of civilian rule.

“The postponement of signing the agreement tended to set solid frameworks to maintain the momentum and vigour of the revolution, and the parties were now working seriously to complete the discussion on the remaining issues,” Al-Burhan was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Council. “We reaffirm our determination to proceed together on the same path to complete the ongoing political process as quickly as possible and in a way that closes the doors to all attempts to cripple this process,” he added. The military and civilian leaders were scheduled to sign a final political agreement on Thursday to end the political crisis in the country, but the signing has been postponed as the parties failed to reach a consensus regarding the security and military reform process and the integration of armed groups into the Sudanese Army, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kigali, April 3 (IANS) Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been re-elected as chairman of the ruling party Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) for a five-year term.

Kagame won 2,099 out of 2,102 total votes, defeating Abdul Karim Harerimana, at the party’s 16th national congress held at

On the last day of the party’s two-day national congress, which coincided with the party’s 35th anniversary, party delegates gathered at the Intare Conference Arena and elected RPF’s National Executive Committee, the party’s leadership that includes the chairman, vice chairman, secretary general and 25 commissioners. The party congress also saw the election of Consolee Uwimana to the position of vice chairperson. Wellars Gasamagera was elected as the new party secretary-general, succeeding Francois Ngarambe.

Uwimana’s election as vice chairperson makes her the first woman in the party’s 35-year history to hold such a position. According to the party constitution, at least 30 per cent of NEC members must be women. There are also special slots designated for the youth among the commissioners.

Earlier during the congress’s opening, Kagame said that the country and the party share the same ambition, sense of responsibility, expectation, and burden as any other country, irrespective of size.

The President emphasized accountability and sacrifice, calling them crucial elements in advancing the party and maintaining the achievements of the past few decades.

Unicef appeals for funding to respond to cholera outbreak in 11 African nations

It said it is developing individualized cholera response plans based on the unique conditions within each affected country. According to the Unicef, the budgets for both Malawi and Mozambique include requirements to address each country’s recent cyclone-related flooding, given that flooding is a priority compounding risk to the spread of cholera.

Nairobi, March 29 (IANS) The Unicef has appealed for $171 million to respond to the rise in cholera cases in 11 countries in eastern and southern Africa. It said 28 million people are in need in Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, South Sudan, Burundi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, reports Xinhua news agency.

“To respond to the increasing needs of children and families in the region impacted by cholera, Unicef is urgently calling for funding of $171 million,” the UN body said in a statement.

The Unicef said the funds will be used to provide lifesaving water, sanitation and hygiene, health, risk communication, nutrition, child protection, and education services to women and children affected by the outbreak.

The 11 countries are experiencing an extremely worrying cholera outbreak with 67,822 cases and 1,788 estimated deaths, noting that actual figures are likely higher as limitations in surveillance systems, underreporting, and stigma hamper monitoring, the UN agency said.

In February, the WHO Regional Office for Africa warned that if the current fast-rising trend of cholera continues, this year’s infections could surpass the number of cases recorded in 2021, the worst year for cholera in the continent in nearly a decade.

In 2021, 141,467 cases of cholera and 4,094 deaths were registered. Cholera is an acute, extremely virulent infection that can spread rapidly and dehydration results in high morbidity and mortality. The disease, however, is easily treatable. Most people can be treated successfully through prompt administration of oral rehydration solution or intravenous fluids.

Kampala, April 3 (IANS) The Ugandan military has said that the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels have started withdrawing and handing over their bases in the eastern Congo to the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF).

The Ugandan contingent of the EACRF on Sunday officially occupied the areas of Bunagana in North Kivu province after M23 left the area, Ahmad Hassan Kato, Military Spokesperson for the Ugandan contingent, said in a statement.

“Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has deployed in the general areas of Bunagana where they have set a foothold as they give M23 time to also vacate the general areas of Rutshuru, Kiwanja and Mabenga as agreed,” Kato added.

The development came after

Goma, (Congo), April 3 (IANS)

The first contingent of South Sudan’s army has arrived in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Congo, under the mandate of the regional force of the East African Community (EAC).

Composed of about 40 military personnel, the first South Sudanese contingent, transported by the Kenyan Army plane, will be deployed around Goma for peacekeeping operations, Xinhua news agency reported.

“As of this Sunday and during the coming week, we begin the deployment of our colleagues from South Sudan who will join the other colleagues already deployed on the ground,”

Emmanuel Kaputa, Deputy Commander of the EAC regional force, declared at the Goma airport.

This deployment came a few days after the deployment of nearly

Uganda on Wednesday sent 1,000 troops on a regional peacekeeping mission in the eastern Congo, Xinhua news agency reported.

The deployment followed the decision endorsed and adopted by regional leaders at the third East African Community Heads of State Conclave on Peace and Security in the eastern Congo held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi last June.

Ugandan troops joined Kenyan, Burundian and Angolan counterparts on the ground to bring lasting peace to the eastern Congo.

The East African country has other troops in the eastern Congo in a joint military operation with the Congolese Army against the Allied Democratic Forces rebels.

Congolese M23 rebels begin withdrawal from bases in Congo: Ugandan military South Sudanese troops arrive in Congo under EAC regional force mandate

1,000 Ugandan soldiers in the territory of Rutshuru of North Kivu.

South Sudan is, therefore, the fourth country to officially join the EAC regional force aimed at ending the violence in eastern Congo, after Kenya, Burundi and Uganda.

In 2022, the EAC countries set up a regional force to intervene in eastern Congo, in particular, to stem the advance of the March 23 Movement rebel group.

S.Korean President’s approval rating falls to 4-month low

In the poll of 1,000 adults conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, the positive assessment of Yoon’s performance declined 4 percentage points from the previous week, reports Yonhap News Agency. It marked the lowest level since the figure reached 30 per cent in the fourth week of November 2022.

Yoon’s disapproval rating rose 2 percentage points from a week earlier to 60 per cent.

South

Korean President Yoon Sukyeol’s approval rating fell to a four-month low of 30 per cent, a poll revealed on Friday.

Diplomacy was the most mentioned factor in making both positive and negative assessments of his performance. Among those who made positive assessments, 12 per cent mentioned diplomacy, followed by 9 per cent who mentioned his response to labour unions and an improvement in ties with Japan, respectively. Some 41 per cent in total mentioned diplomacy, ties with Japan and the issue of compensating Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labours as reasons they made negative assessments. The favourability ratings for the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party were tied at 33 per cent, the poll showed.

N.Korea says its nuclear capabilities ‘not empty talk’

their scheme to hold a massive live-fire exercise in June, Yonhap News Agency reported.

“The warmongers’ desperate acts are going to the extremes,” it said in the English-language commentary. It cited the 11-day Freedom Shield exercise held in March.

China increases video surveillance, inspections of street vendors in Lhasa

New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) China has increased video surveillance and inspections of street vendors in and around the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in an effort to ‘clean up’ the city, though sources inside the autonomous region said the measures are meant to get Tibetan hawkers off the streets, according to a media report. Local authorities began implementing the ‘Clean Up Lhasa’ campaign on March 20 in the city of about 5,60,000 people in which they are inspecting all street vendors in and around the Jokhang Temple, or Tsuglagkhang, Radio Free Asia reported.

Tibetan street vendors to stop selling CDs of Tibetan songs and are interrogating them for no reason, the source added.

Seoul, April 2 (IANS) North Korea is not making “empty talk” about its nuclear capabilities, Pyongyang’s state media said on Sunday, adding that the US and South Korea are engaging in “wrong behaviour of bringing themselves to a grave danger.” In a commentary, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) strongly criticised the allies’ ongoing joint military drills and

“Their war hysteria is running up to the climax along with the start of Ssangyong, a joint landing drill,” it added.

The Ssangyong (double dragon) training began March 20, the allies’ first major combined amphibious landing exercise in five years. It is set to end Monday.

The KCNA also took issue with the two sides’ plan to stage their largest-ever “combined joint firepower annihilation drill” in June to mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance.

“This reminds the people and army of the DPRK of June 1950 when they had to be subject to war calamity, and further arousing their high vigilance,” the KCNA said. The DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It stressed, “The US and its followers should never forget the fact that their rival state has possessed the nuclear attack capability in practice as well as the characteristics of the people and army of the DPRK which do not make empty talk.”