N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | The cash-strapped central African nation of Chad has suspended a plan to reduce the salaries of its civil servants, Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke announced on Wednesday. The plan, announced earlier this month, aims to ease the strains on a budget badly hit by a nearly …
Read More »World Bank upgrades global growth forecasts as recovery strengthens
Washington, United States | AFP | For the first time in many years, the World Bank’s outlook for the global economy is better than expected rather than worse, with all regions seeing improved growth, according to its latest forecast released Tuesday. However, the bank warns that countries must make investments to …
Read More »Angolan leader denies tensions with predecessor despite clean-up campaign
Luanda, Angola | AFP | Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Monday denied “any tension” with his long-serving predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos, many of whose relatives and friends he has sacked from public office in a fight against corruption in the oil-rich southern African nation. In November, within three months …
Read More »Sudan students, police clash on third day of protests
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Hundreds of Sudanese students from the University of Khartoum threw stones at anti-riot police Monday on a third day of protests against soaring bread prices, an AFP correspondent reported. Bread prices more than doubled last week as flour manufacturers raised prices on dwindling wheat supplies …
Read More »Sudan student killed in protests against bread price rise
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A student was killed in Sudan on Sunday during protests against soaring bread prices, officials and witnesses said. Protests broke out in areas of war-torn Darfur and Blue Nile states as well as the capital Khartoum with demonstrators burning tyres and blocking roads and police …
Read More »Protest in Sudan against rising bread prices
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Police fired tear gas on Saturday at groups of students protesting in a central Sudanese town against soaring bread prices, witnesses said, as opposition parties called for anti-government demonstrations. Bread prices almost doubled on Friday across Sudan after flour manufacturers raised prices amid dwindling supply …
Read More »US job gains disappoint, unemployment holds at 4.1%
Washington, United States | AFP | The US economy’s job creation ability disappointed in December, despite solid hiring in manufacturing and construction, according to government data reported Friday. But with the country believed to be near full employment, the jobless rate still held steady at its 17-year low of 4.1 …
Read More »Qatar allows full ownership for foreign investors
Doha, Qatar | AFP | Qatar has approved legislation allowing 100-percent ownership for foreign investors in most sectors of the economy in a bid to boost non-energy revenues, the government said on Thursday. The move comes at a time of political crisis in the Gulf, with Qatar under an economic and …
Read More »The good, bad of Uganda’s economy in 2017
Key indicators remain largely unchanged Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | 2017 appears to have been a good and bad year for Uganda’s economy even as key indicators remained largely unchanged. Bank of Uganda’s monetary policy tamed inflation to below the set target of around 5% as well as stabilised exchange rate …
Read More »Make reforms while sun shines on world economy: Lagarde
Paris, France | AFP | International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has urged France and other countries to push through reforms “while the sun is shining” on the global economy. In an interview with France’s Le Journal du Dimanche published Sunday Lagarde said the strength of the global economic recovery …
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