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Cedi among 4 worst performing currencies in Sub Saharan Africa in 2024 – World Bank

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The World Bank’s October 2024 Africa Pulse Report has revealed that the Ghana cedi and three other currencies are the worst-performing currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2024.

The report indicates that the cedi has lost about 24% value to the US dollar, placing it as the 4th weakest in SSA.

South Sudan’s pound (over 60%), Ethiopia’s birr (51%) and Nigeria’s naira (over 40%) are the worst-performing currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024.

Interestingly, the Kenya shilling is the best-performing currency in Africa this year with a year-to-date gain of about 21% as of August 2024.

“Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria are among the worst performing in Africa this year, and their currencies continue weakening while demand for foreign exchange remains pressing”, the report said.

It added “By end-August 2024, the Ethiopian birr, Nigerian naira, and South Sudanese pound were among the worst performers in the region. The Nigerian naira continued losing value, with a year-to-date depreciation of about 43% as of the end of August. Surges in demand for US dollars in the parallel market, driven by financial institutions, money managers, and non-financial end-users, combined with limited dollar inflows and slow foreign exchange disbursements to currency exchange bureaus by the central bank explain the weakening of the naira”.

In contrast, the report said some currencies that weakened in 2023 have stabilised or strengthened this year.

“The Kenyan shilling is the best-performing currency in Sub-Saharan Africa this year: it appreciated by 21 per cent year-to-date by end-August 2024. The South African rand and currencies pegged to it have strengthened by 3.1% so far this year, after losing value in the past year”.

Although most currencies are stabilising, the October 2024 Africa Pulse Report pointed out that the exchange rate pressures and shortages of foreign exchange remain a concern for African policymakers.

“From a sample of 30 countries and two currency unions (the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa and WAEMU), more than one-third of the countries in the region are set to have less than three months of imports in international reserves by end-2024”.

Source: Joy Business

News, Politics, Topstory

Ghana is now a poster child for IMF, World Bank – Dr. Justice Srem – Sai

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Legal practitioner, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, has said that Ghana has become the poster child for major international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

According to him, these institutions use Ghana as a test country for their policies.
Speaking on Accra-based TV XYZ, he noted that this approach, even though it has some advantages, has never been beneficial to the country.

“We are now more like the poster child for the Bretton Wood Institutions; World Bank, IMF etc. The whole model of helping developing countries to come out of their poverty and become developed countries, Ghana is like the poster child for that project,” he said.

The NDC leader explained that being positioned as a model country for these institutions, when Ghana’s economy is not performing well, they offer other policies to cover up those weaknesses.
He explains that even while other countries find it hard to access funds from the Bretton Woods Institutions, Ghana gets easy access because the country is being used to test the viability of their policies.
“It has its own advantages such as it exposes the country to all of their products and policies. The other side which is negative is that, because we have been made like the poster child, they often don’t want us to fail or not let the reality show. Even when we are performing so poorly, as long as we are seen as good, the institutions and their policies are also good. So, they use us as a flagship cover while they hide our negative sides.
“When all other developing countries need money and they are not getting them from these institutions, Ghana shows up and they have no option than to give Ghana because if they don’t give us and we fail, it is as if their whole project has also failed. They use us as the justification for the policies which we all know are not solving our problems,” he noted.
The actions of the Bretton Wood Institution to Ghana, Dr Srem-Sai added, makes it hard to accurately portray the downsides of the economy.
“So, it is a challenge for you to actually portray the weaknesses in the Ghanaian economy and our institutions.,” he added.