Foreign

Lagos, Jan. 17, 2023 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says about 15 per cent of low-income countries are already in debt distress. In a new report titled ‘Confronting Fragmentation Where It Matters Most: Trade, Debt, and Climate Action’, the IMF said an additional 45 per cent of the population was further at high risk of debt distress. It stated that debt would be a challenge that many countries would face and that fragmentation would make it harder to resolve sovereign debt crises, especially if key official creditors were divided along …

Davos, Jan. 17, 2023 – The World Economic Forum (WEF) has predicted that many countries will suffer economic recession in 2023. Their forecast was made at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The forecast shows that almost two-thirds of the forum’s chief economists believed in inevitability of recession. They predicted that the cost-of-living crisis may be approaching its peak with a majority (68 per cent) expecting it to have become less severe by the end of the year. WEF Managing Director, Saadia Zahidi, said: “Some 18 per …

Brussels, Jan. 11, 2023 – The European Union and NATO top officials on Wednesday announced the creation of a joint task force charged with offering better protection for the bloc’s critical infrastructure. “We have seen the sabotage of Nord Stream. That has shown that we need to be ready and that we need to confront this new type of threat,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels. In September, four leaks were discovered on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines following explosions in the Danish …

Lagos, Jan. 10, 2023 – Economic Growth dropped sharply to 2.6 per cent in the three largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa – Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa – in 2022. The World Bank Group reported this in its Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday in Washington DC. It reported that economic growth in Nigeria was weakened by production challenges in the oil sector. “Annual inflation in Nigeria exceeded 21 per cent last year, its highest level in 17 years, prompting more policy tightening. “Food affordability for vulnerable populations deteriorated …