Africa – 02 April 2024

AFRICA

• El Nino and the dry and hot weather. It’s brought is withering crops, igniting inflation and affecting government and monetary policy across a swath of southern Africa. It’s also threatening to leave millions of people hungry in nations such as Zimbabwe and Malawi while curbing the hydropower needed to drive what little industry there is. Lesetja Kganyago, South Africa’s central bank governor, said El Nino is giving pause for thought as it threatens to push up prices. That may delay interest-rate cuts needed to spur an anemic economy. (Source)

• SADC troops to withdraw from Mozambique. Troops from southern Africa’s regional bloc who were deployed to tackle an Islamist insurgency in Mozambique are to leave the country due to financial constraints. The Southern African Development Community has been considering its budget limitations, Mozambique’s foreign minister said, and added that the bloc believes Mozambique is relatively stable compared to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been wracked by armed groups for decades. Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said SADC’s plans to withdraw its forces by July did not mean the nation’s fight against jihadist groups would stop. (Source)