KENYA

Treasury marks Sh5trn for loan repayment in five years

Interest payments on public debts will cost taxpayers Sh 5 trillion over the next five years, new data by the Treasury shows.In the Budget Summary for 2024/25, the Treasury projects that the government will spend an equivalent of Sh2.8 billion a day on interest payments during fiscal years 2023/24 to 2027/28, underlining the burden of public debt. Interest payments on public debt are a mandatory charge on the Consolidated Fund Services (CFS) and constitute the first item before any other expenditure.

(Business Daily)

TANZANIA

Tanzania among recipients of $100 million trade finance deal

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, has inked a $100 million risk-sharing facility with Citi, in a bid to bolster trade finance and support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporates in Tanzania and other African economies.

Announced during a signing ceremony at the World Bank’s Spring Meetings in Washington, the initiative aims to address the critical lack of foreign currency in the region. By providing trade finance liquidity to Citi’s network of commercial banks, the investment seeks to enable financial institutions to support African businesses in importing key commodities like wheat, fertilizer, rice, and sugar.

(The Citizen)

UGANDA

Uganda to get $295m loan from development bank

Uganda has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for a $295 million loan to fund road construction and other projects, the East African country’s finance minister said on Tuesday. The move underscores Uganda’s efforts to diversify its sources of external funding, as talks with the World Bank to resume lending have dragged on. Ugandan Finance Minister Matia Kasaija signed the loan agreement with IDB president Muhammad Al Jassar in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, Kaisaja said in a post on social media platform X. The money will finance the construction of a bridge crossing the River Nile and roads totalling 105 kilometres, the ministry says.

(Reuters)

ETHIOPIA

MoR collects 374 billion Birr in revenue

Ministry of Revenues (MoR) disclosed that it has raised 374 billion Birr over the past nine months. Revenues Minister Aynalem Nigussie told the House of People’s Representatives Plan, Budget and Finance Standing Committee that the ministry collected 374 billion Birr of the planned 391 billion Birr in the past nine months of the Ethiopian fiscal year. In her performance report, the minister said the performance over the stated period is 95 percent of the target and shows an increment of 43 billion Birr compared to the same period of last year. 

(ENA)

SUDAN

Sudan gold revenues ‘unaffected by war’

Although the war between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has continued since mid-April of last year, gold exports have allegedly not stopped or been affected by the war. In interviews with Radio Dabanga, one economic analyst called for further regulation of gold exports, while another was sceptical about the reports given the current situation in Sudan. 

At the end of last week, the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company announced a gold export report for the first quarter of this year, which generated revenue exceeding $428 million for the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS). These revenues did not reduce the rise in the price of the US dollar against the Sudanese pound, which continues to decline without any state control and has a negative impact on livelihoods.

(Dabanga)

SOMALIA

Turkey’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin boosts security and economic cooperation in Mogadishu

Ibrahim Kalin, the Director of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, was in Mogadishu holding key discussions aimed at enhancing security and economic cooperation between Turkey and Somalia. Among the prominent topics on the agenda are strategies to enhance cooperation between the intelligence agencies of both countries and the exploration of avenues for robust economic collaboration between Turkey and Somalia. With a strong emphasis on fostering increased trade, investment, and development partnerships, the discussions reflect a broader commitment to strengthening bilateral relations beyond the realms of security cooperation alone.

(Radio Dalsan)