Introduction.
The Coronavirus imposed a détente in U.S. — Iran relations, as a rising number of cases and deaths kept the saber-rattling to a minimum. However, the end of President Trumps’ presidency is ushering a new era of uncertainty as Iran is poised to increase its enrichment of nuclear-grade Uranium. In 2015, The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Iran. The agreement enabled Iran to access international capital markets and trade with the rest of the world in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.
However, the U.S. under Donald…
Introduction.
The last year has been wrought with uncertainties across the world stemming from COVID-19 and security challenges in the Northern region of Cameroon. Never has this been more true than in Africa, with underinvestment in the health sector and an ever-growing reliance on foreign financing and loans to fund vital health care services; meanwhile, the last decade has seen a plethora of digital solutions emerge; targeting youths, patients, and civil society. These have contributed to addressing the infrastructural gaps, allowed by years of ill-targeted investments and cash-strapped governments across the continent. …
Climate Change? Africa Needs a Different kind of Oil.
Introduction
COVID-19 has caused significant harm to global manufacturing supply chains and industrial activity, halting transport, and global travel in the process. As global economic and human activity was brought to a grinding halt, African economies felt the brunt with rising current account and fiscal deficits and debt sustainability concerns reemerging ever more strongly. Indeed, 38 out of 53 African countries are currently net oil importers (African Development Bank, (2020)), exposing them to lower oil prices which are poised to recover as vaccines rollout and the reopening of economies ensue. …
Introduction.
The year 2020 will be remembered as the year of the great lockdown, with COVID-19 bringing the world to a grinding halt. The global economy slowed, countless lives are lost and everything from business revenues to profitability plummeted. With all this in mind, one can expect a few things from 2021. This list is not exhaustive but identifies key trends across development that will make or break countries in 2021.
1). Oil Prices Will Recover: Several countries have begun the process of inoculating citizens against the virus. These include but are not limited to the UK, Europe, and the…
Introduction.
The COVID-19 pandemic has rattled financial markets, caused a protracted slowdown in the global economy, and accelerated structural trends such as digitization, automation, and aging demographics across advanced economies. As the pandemic ravaged through economies, it equally caused a broad-based decline in currencies across developing and emerging market economies. This depreciation was driven by a deteriorating global picture, lower external demand, and weaker oil prices. This was accentuated by a stronger dollar, which appreciated after its haven properties were triggered and a surge of inflows into the U.S; treasury’s provided support for the “greenback”.
A case is the Franc…
Introduction.
The COVID-19 pandemic has rattled financial markets, caused a protracted slowdown in the global economy, and accelerated structural trends such as digitization, automation, and aging demographics across advanced economies. As the pandemic ravaged through economies, it equally caused a broad-based decline in currencies across developing and emerging market economies. This depreciation was driven by deteriorating global conditions, lower external demand, and weaker oil prices. This was accentuated by a stronger dollar, which appreciated after its haven properties were triggered and a surge of inflows into the U.S; treasury’s provided support for the “greenback”.
A case is the Franc CFA…
Introduction.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of the global trading systems that are increasingly intertwined, financially, and otherwise. While the human costs and pressure on health care systems leave little to desire, policymakers undertook a range of policy measures to limit the contagion from dismal health outcomes, social distancing, and border closures on the economy. Once again, monetary policy appears to be the only game in town, with the central bank cutting policy rates to new lows, with the ECB using other mechanisms given its policy rate is already in negative territory.
It is now evident that policy…
COVID-19 has accentuated the global inflation problem.
Introduction.
COVID- 19 has caused significant harm to both global health outcomes, with border closures and social distancing guidelines impeding economic activity across continents. As the virus has waxed and waned, with countries adapting at different rates, the economic dislocation caused by asynchronous contagion across sectors ranging from manufacturing, transport, health care, and education, tourism, and a range of services spanning farmers’ markets to restaurants and bars.
Central banks have resorted to unprecedented measures, cutting policy rates to new lows across advanced economies in an attempt to attenuate the shock from the virus…
Introduction.
Can Africa live? This question is contingent on the ability of citizens and policymakers’ openness to technological advances as the anchor for future prosperity. Admittedly, COVID-19 has exposed the frailties of African economies and threatens to reverse development gains. The World Bank projects that the number of people living below the poverty line is projected to rise by up to 40%, with the majority living in Sub-Saharan Africa. This translates to higher rates of inequality, poor access to nutritious food, lower educational achievement, and higher gender disparities. …
Introduction.
Modern-day economics is besieged by a wave of anti-capitalist thought, but to overstate this will be ascribing to what Nigerian Author Ngozi Chimamanda calls the dangers of a single story. In modern times, capitalism has come to characterize inequality, deindustrialization, and globalization that has failed to deliver the benefits latent in market-based economic systems. A digital divide has emerged ever more strongly even as the precarity of jobs is endemic in most parts of the world. Meanwhile, weaker worker bargaining power has equally obliterated working conditions and inflation-adjusted increases in wages; As modern-day capitalism tickles ever further into everyday lives…
Henri Kouam
I am an economist and contributor to Nkafu policy, a think tank. I cover global economic, fiscal and monetary policy with policy and asset price implications.
