Debt restructuring: Zambia dealt major setback as official creditors object to bond deal
Zambia’s debt restructuring is taking place under the Common Framework, a process set up in response to Covid-19 by the G20 to bring in China, India and other bilateral creditors that are not members of the Paris Club of creditor nations.
Kenya could lose up to 7.25 per cent of GDP to climate change by 2050 – World Bank report
With about 90 per cent of its electricity coming from renewable sources like hydro-generation and geothermal wells, Kenya is well positioned to provide solutions to other countries looking to lower their emissions, the report said.
IMF to lend Kenya additional $938m,which central bank hopes will pad weak local currency
Subject to the approval of the Washington-based fund’s executive board, Kenya will have access to a total of $3.88 billion, which would bring its total funding under the existing Extended Fund Facility and Extended Credit Facility arrangements to $4.43 billion, the IMF said.
Workers at 200 Starbucks stores walk off job on busy Red Cup Day to protest labour practices
Thursday’s strike was the fifth major labour action by Starbucks workers since a store in Buffalo, New York, became the first to unionise in late 2021. Workers at 110 stores walked out last year on Red Cup Day; most recently, a strike in June protested reports that Starbucks had removed Pride displays from its stores.
Poisoned beauty: How Johnson & Johnson failed to dodge $9 billion fines using bankruptcy law
J&J said in May 2020 that it would discontinue sales of talc-based baby powders in the US and Canada and replace them with cornstarch-based baby powders. The company said talc powders would “continue to be sold in other markets around the world where there is significantly higher demand for the product.”
50,000 lawsuits expose J&J’s 40 years of deception about asbestos in baby powder
In 2006, IARC classified cosmetic talc as “possibly carcinogenic” when used in the genital area. J&J then “looked for ways to sell more Baby Powder to two key groups of longtime users: African-American and overweight women,” Reuters reported in 2019.
Central Europe’s war industry scrambles for African weapons market as Russia battles Ukraine
The Czech Republic in 2022 exported ammunition, guns, aircraft and other military supplies valued at around 32 million euros to 10 sub-Saharan African countries, many which rely on Soviet-era weapons manufactured with different standards and calibres than those used in the West. This was up from just under 2 million euros in 2011.
China’s Xi Jinping meets US’ Biden to restore communication, reduce military tension
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who with Blinken opened the APEC ministerial session, said the San Francisco meeting came at a time of “great uncertainty and challenges” for the region. She noted increasing geopolitical tensions, fragile supply chains and a worsening climate crisis.
Intra-African Fair in Cairo told AfCFTA can end colonial legacy of exporting raw materials
Jean-Louis Ekra, Deputy Chairperson of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) Advisory Council and a former President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
Kenya to pay back $300 million of $2 billion bond in December, says President Ruto
Kenya will in December pay back $300 million of a $2 billion Eurobond that falls due next June, President William Ruto said on Thursday. The East African nation is being watched closely to see how it handles the bond due to its growing debt repayments, weakening currency and a surge...
