Macron, Tshisekedi host economic summit for African leaders

Macron, Tshisekedi host economic summit for African leaders

President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo co-hosted a summit on financial assistance for  African economies on Tuesday, joining French President Emmanuel Macron at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris to discuss strategies for boosting recovery aid following the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. Tshisekedi, speaking in his…

IMF: COVID hampers Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic recovery

IMF: COVID hampers Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic recovery

There are at least 32 million more people living in extreme poverty across sub-Saharan Africa because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and countries in the region will need about $425 billion in additional external funding over the next five years, the IMF said on Thursday. “The outlook for sub‑Saharan Africa is…

G20 wraps up with African debt relief a priority

With Zambia’s recent default on debt repayment and global concern over pandemic-related economic impacts, the G20 meeting in Riyadh wrapped up Sunday with a commitment through June for the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to allow developing nations to defer debt payments. “The coronovirus pandemic is not only the greatest…

Who’s running the IMF as Lagarde steps away?

Who’s running the show at the International Monetary Fund, now that former managing director Christine Lagarde has stepped down temporarily while she is a candidate for head of the European Central Bank? Right now it’s David Lipton, who has served as deputy managing director since 2011 and is completing a…

IMF trims projections for sub-Saharan Africa, global growth

The new World Economic Outlook report projects that global growth will remain steady over 2018–19 at last year’s rate of 3.7 percent, but that’s revised down from 3.9 percent earlier this year. “There are clouds on the horizon. Growth has proven to be less balanced than hoped,” said Maurice Obstfeld, chief economist…

IMF adopts CPIFR assessment standard for Islamic banking

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Thursday that it will integrate Islamic banking, which now has a presence in more than 60 countries, into its financial stability assessments in nations where Islamic finance commands at least 15 percent of the banking sector market. Beginning in 2019, they’ll use the Core…

Barrow in Brussels for The Gambia-EU donor conference

President Adama Barrow of The Gambia is in Brussels Tuesday for a donor conference to help support the country’s democratic transition from the decades of rule under former dictator Yahya Jammeh. The conference, jointly organized by The Gambia and the European Union, will see Barrow co-chair the meeting alongside High…