Refinitiv Newscasts - Africa in Business: Zambia's debt and Kenya's tax

Sasol

23/06/2023 15:32

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_fk172ifp&referenceId=tag:reuters.com,2023:newsml_RW214123062023RP1_930&pageId=RefinitivNewscasts
Source: Reuters

Description: Africa has been in the spotlight as world leaders met to discuss
debt burdens and boosting climate finance in Paris. David Doyle runs through
some of the top business stories from that event and across sub-Saharan
Africa.
Short Link: https://refini.tv/3Jpi4jt

Video Transcript:

Here is what has been making the business headlines in Sub-Saharan Africa this
week:

Zambia has clinched a deal to restructure more than $6 billion in debts owed
to other governments, a French official said on Thursday. It is a long-awaited
breakthrough for what was the first African country to default on its
sovereign debt during the global health crisis. Zambia's private sector
creditors are expected to follow the public sector example and also agree to
reschedule the $6.8 billion owed to them.

The announcement was made at summit in Paris aimed at easing the debt burden
of the world's most vulnerable countries while freeing up billions of dollars
for climate finance. At the event, a deal was struck for a coalition of
countries to provide $2.7 billion for Senegal to increase its installed
capacity of renewable energies to 40% by 2030, according to President Macky
Sall.

We think that if this money is gathered, we will be able to reach or even
surpass this objective.

One tool in focus at the summit was debt-for-nature swaps, which help
countries reduce what they owe in exchange for climate commitments. The EU's
lending arm, the European Investment Bank, is expecting to back its first
debt-for-nature swap this year, with its director of lending estimating that
there were 5-10 possibilities in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.

South Africa petrochemical firms Sasol - the world's biggest producer of fuels
and chemical from coal and gas - is also making moves to combat climate
change. On Wednesday, it said it had agreed to form a sustainable aviation
fuel joint venture with Danish decarbonization company Topsoe. SAF is made
from non-petroleum materials such as agricultural waste and has similar
properties to conventional jet fuel but with a significantly lower carbon
footprint.

And finally, Kenya's parliament approved a contentious government finance bill
late on Wednesday that will double the fuel tax and introduce a new housing
levy. President William Ruto says a raft of tax hikes being pushed through as
part of his maiden budget are necessary, but the opposition is threatening
protests if they are signed into law