Africa briefs

One in three chance of South Africa recession this year

South Africa’s economy probably struggled to gain traction in the second quarter after shrinking at the start of 2018, according to a Reuters poll of economists who said there was a one in three chance of recession this year.

Around 30 economists polled expect Africa’s second-largest economy to grow by 1.4% this year and by 1.9% next, slightly lower than the median view last month.

The South African Reserve Bank was even more pessimistic at its last monetary policy meeting, in July. It forecast that the economy would expand by just 1.2% in 2018, sharply down from a 1.7% projection in May.

-Nampa/Reuters

Egypt targets US$11b foreign investment

Egypt plans to attract US$11 billion in foreign direct investment in the current 2018-19 fiscal year, up from US$7.9 billion the year before, Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed said on Wednesday.

The minister said the government, under a medium-term development plan to 2022, hopes to create about 750 000 jobs in the current fiscal year which ends in June 2019.

Egypt is implementing deep reforms under a 2016 IMF-backed austerity plan that called for energy subsidy cuts.

Economists say that the reforms, which had piled up pressure on ordinary Egyptians grappling with higher fuel, transportation and electricity prices, were intended to help attract more foreign investments into the country.

-Nampa/Reuters

Ivory Coast to auction cocoa crop in advance

Ivory Coast’s Cocoa Coffee Council (CCC) has decided to auction all of its cocoa production to exporters in advance in order to set a guaranteed price throughout the season for producers, CCC sources said on Wednesday.

Approximately 1.7 million tonnes of cocoa export contracts have already been sold in mid-August, which should allow the CCC to set a guaranteed price of between 750 and 800 CFA per kg in October, the sources said.

One CCC source said it had already sold 1.4 million tonnes of the main and 320 000 tonnes of the mid-crop.

“We think that by selling all the harvest before the beginning of the season, it gives us more guarantee in case of falling prices and allows us to set a guaranteed price for planters unchanged between the main and the mid-crop,” the source told Reuters.

-Nampa/Reuters

US poultry industry to urge retaliation if South Africa ends quota

The United States poultry industry will press its government to retaliate if South Africa suspends a quota that excludes some US imports from an anti-dumping tariff, the head of a poultry trade group said.

The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has filed a lawsuit seeking to force the government to suspend the quota in response to the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from South Africa.

“We will certainly be encouraging our government to take appropriate action,” James Sumner, president of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, told Reuters late on Tuesday.

eSwatini will not switch to China from Taiwan

The Kingdom of eSwatini will not switch its allegiance from Taiwan to China, its foreign affairs minister said on Wednesday, after China said it expected Taiwan’s last diplomatic ally in Africa to switch allies soon.

“They must not play mind games because our relationship with Taiwan is over 50 years so we will not dump them,” Mgwagwa Gamedze told Reuters from Taiwan, where he was on a visit. “We have no desire to change camps since Taiwan has been good to us.”

eSwatini was formerly known as Swaziland.

-Nampa/Reuters