Why subsidies are fuelling protests around the world fragile African economies taking a hit
Across Africa – and a string of other emerging market nations – debt-laden governments trying to shed costly fuel subsidies are running headlong into angry populations reeling from years of increasing living costs.
Polish students, lecturer detained in Nigeria for allegedly displaying Russian flags during protests
The Polish foreign affairs ministry said on X that its officials in Nigeria are establishing “the exact circumstances” of the incident with Nigerian authorities. Thousands of mostly young Nigerians had poured onto the streets across the country to protest against the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and against alleged bad governance that has stifled the country’s development despite being a top oil producer.
US businesses brace for digital financial markets as Trump talks says he plans to hoard billions in bitcoin
When former US president Donald Trump announced a plan to establish a national “bitcoin stockpile” if he is re-elected, the crowd at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, erupted into a fit of celebration. The frontrunner in the upcoming election was speaking their language. “For too long, the government...
Central bank boss shrugs off recent credit downgrades by financial market experts, forecasts Kenya shilling surge
Rating agencies Moody’s and Fitch downgraded Kenya’s sovereign ratings following the withdrawal of the tax measures, saying the move could complicate the East African country’s fiscal consolidation efforts.
Revenue starved Elon Musk’s X goes after advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’
In November 2023, about a year after Musk bought the company, a number of advertisers began fleeing X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with Musk inflaming tensions with his own posts endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
Analysts: Turmoil in world market is a result of end of cheap funding, not hard and fast shifts in US economy
While Friday’s weaker-than-expected US jobs data was the catalyst for the market sell-off, with Japan’s blue-chip Nikkei index on Monday suffering its biggest one-day rout since the 1987 Black Monday selloff, the employment report alone wasn’t weak enough to be the main driver of such violent moves, they added.
World financial markets jittery as investors are jolted by US job cut reports as recession looms
A report on Friday showing hiring by US employers slowed last month by much more than expected followed weak reports on manufacturing and construction and stoked fears the US economy was finally bending under the pressure of high interest rates. Investors worldwide sold stocks and moved to the safety of bonds, pushing bond yields sharply lower.
New survey shows Kenya private sector activity declined in July following public protests
Kenyan youth-led marches continued after Ruto withdrew the tax legislation, with protesters calling for the president to resign and an end to what they called widespread government corruption and inefficiencies.
Big Three lie? Questions raised about credit rating of Africa as experts doubt methodology
At the UN Development Programme, the agency instrumental in the push to get credit ratings for sub-Saharan nations, senior economist Raymond Gilpin disagreed, saying it was “unconscionable” that the Big Three didn’t have a larger presence on the continent. At the same time, he said he saw no bias in the way the Big Three apply their methodologies, and he echoed other officials and academics when he told said that the rating agencies’ work can be hampered by local realities.
Nigeria’s President Tinubu calls for end to hardship protests, says he won’t stand ‘idly’ as looting persists
The protests, which began on Thursday, have been accompanied by reports of looting and vandalism, as well as accusations that security forces have used excessive force. Amnesty International has reported the deaths of nine protesters in clashes with police, while another four were killed by a bomb. The Nigerian police denied the Amnesty report.
