Currencies

Africa: Naira Among Worst-Performing Currencies in Africa, Depreciates By 43% – World Bank

[ad_1] The Nigerian naira has been listed as one of the worst-performing currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, according to the World Bank's latest Africa's Pulse report. As of August 2024, the naira had depreciated by approximately 43% year-to-date, ranking it among the weakest currencies alongside the Ethiopian birr and the South Sudanese pound. The decline is attributed to surging demand for U.S. dollars in Nigeria's parallel market, limited dollar inflows, and slow foreign exchange disbursements by the central bank. […]

October 16, 2024

Africa

African Countries Are Struggling With High Debt, Demands to Spend More and Collapsing Currencies – the Policy Fixes That Could Help

[ad_1] Highly indebted African countries are facing stark trade-offs between servicing expensive debt, supporting high and growing development needs, and stabilising domestic currencies. Government debt has risen in at least 40 African countries over the past decade. As a result, some are experiencing a bad combination of high debt, elevated development spending needs amid budget shortfalls, and unfavourable exchange rate pressures. These issues have become more pressing since 2022, when persistently high inflation prompted major central banks around the world […]

February 1, 2024