Kenya

CBK Cuts Benchmark Rate, Revises 2025 GDP Growth

The Central Bank of Kenya Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 9.75%, returning it to single digits for the first time since May 2023.

This move signals the continuation of the CBK’s monetary easing cycle to boost lending and support the economy amid easing inflation. Since August 2024, the CBK has delivered six consecutive rate cuts, moving the rate from 13.00% to 9.75%. The MPC has also revised Kenya’s expected GDP growth rate for 2025 from 5.4% to 5.2%, attributing this change to higher tariffs that will impact trade and have ripple effects on specific key sectors.

 (The Kenyan Wall Street)

Uganda

World Bank Resumes Lending to Uganda

In 2023, the World Bank suspended new loans to the African country after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality”. Reuters reported that the Bank decided to resume lending on June 5.

“We have now determined the mitigation measures rolled out over the last several months in all ongoing projects in Uganda to be satisfactory,” a spokesperson told Reuters in an email. “Consequently, the Bank has prepared three new projects in sectors with significant development needs – social protection, education, and forced displacement/refugees – which have been approved by the Board.”

 (Washington Blade)

Tanzania

Tanzania, China Commit To Deepen Economic Diplomacy

Tanzania and China have reaffirmed their commitment to deepen economic diplomacy and strengthen their historic bilateral relationship.

The commitment was reached during a meeting between Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, and China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, held on the sidelines of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Coordinators’ Meeting in Changsha.

Minister Wang Yi emphasised China’s dedication to advancing the longstanding partnership established by the founding fathers of the two nations Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Mao Zedong of China. As part of this commitment, China pledged to support the timely rehabilitation of the Tanzania–Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) line, a symbol of enduring China–Africa solidarity.

 (Daily News)

Rwanda

No Minimum Wage Review For Workers Amid Rising Cost Of Essential Goods

The government is reluctant to review the minimum wage, despite increasing demands by workers to cope with the high cost of living. Currently, the minimum wage remains Rwf100, which was set in 1973. There is a concern that, despite the dramatic rise in the cost of living in recent years, thousands of casual workers lack the bargaining power to secure better pay. In 2018, following the enactment of the labour law, the government promised to shortly follow up by passing the minimum wage law in a separate ministerial order. However, more than five years later, it has still not been passed.

 (Rwanda Today)

Ethiopia

Foreign Debt Service Takes Priority in Record Federal Spending Bill

Repayment of foreign debt is slated to consume nearly 30 per cent of the record ETB 1.93 trillion federal budget proposed to lawmakers for the 2025/26 fiscal year, according to Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance. On Tuesday, the Minister told Parliament that an estimated ETB 463.3 billion is earmarked for foreign debt service over the coming year.

The Bill, which was approved by the Council of Ministers last week, proposes to allocate 1.18 trillion Birr for recurrent expenditures and 415 billion Birr for capital expenditures. A further 415 billion Birr is reserved for regional subsidies, with the Oromia, Amhara, Somali, and Tigray administrations slated to receive more than half of the total.

The Bill does not specify a subsidy budget for Addis Ababa, despite the City Administration receiving ETB 5.4 billion last year. Its authors foresee spending 7.2 per cent of the total budget on education, 3.8 per cent on health, and close to six per cent on defence.

 (The Reporter)

Sudan 

Sudan Economy To Shrink Further, Poverty To Engulf 71% Of Population – World Bank

Sudan’s economy will contract by a further 13.5% in 2024 after shrinking by nearly a third last year, while extreme poverty is projected to engulf 71% of the population amid an ongoing conflict, the World Bank said in a report on Tuesday.  The report, “The Economic and Social Consequences of the Conflict: Charting a Path to Recovery,” outlines a severe economic collapse and humanitarian crisis following the eruption of conflict in April 2023. The Bank estimates real GDP contracted by 29.4% in 2023.

The conflict has created the world’s largest displacement crisis, with 12.9 million people forced from their homes, and has pushed the nation to the brink of a widespread famine, which was confirmed in one camp in August 2024, the report said. The rate of extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $2.15 a day, is estimated to have more than doubled from 33% in 2022. Unemployment has surged to 47% from 32% over the same period.

 (Sudan Tribune)

Somalia

Türkiye-Somalia Partnership: A blueprint for Development in Africa

Türkiye’s growing humanitarian and strategic involvement in Somalia, primarily through the recent oil and gas exploration, is one of the most significant developments in the quickly changing geopolitical landscape of the Horn of Africa region. Despite widespread disinformation and misleading narratives about the benefit-sharing mechanism of Somali resources and geopolitical competition, it is crucial to acknowledge the development possibilities and potential inherent in this diplomatic collaboration, which will benefit Somalia. Through ongoing oil and gas explorations, Türkiye can unlock Somalia’s abundant, untapped natural resources and encourage economic growth, thereby promoting regional stability. In addition, this cooperation affords Ankara a strategic position and role at the nexus of major international trade routes that converge in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden.

 (Daily Sabah)