Anglophone West Africa
 Nigeria

• According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation accelerated to 21.8% y/y in Jan-2023, the highest since Sep-2005, from 21.3% y/y in the prior month. The main drivers of the price increase were soaring food prices and a weaker naira. Food inflation, the major component of the CPI basket, rose to 24.3% y/y from 23.8% y/y in the prior month.
• Core inflation climbed to 19.2% y/y, driven by the nation’s high fuel cost amid the fuel scarcity crisis. On a monthly basis, consumer prices surged by 1.87%, the most in almost 16 years, after a 1.71% increase in the previous month.
• The President, Mohammadu Buhari, has directed that the old N200 note, along with the newly redesigned N200, N500 and N1000 notes, should be allowed in circulation within the economy. He further noted that the old N200 note can be accepted as legal tender until April 10.
• According to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), crude oil production rose by 1.9% m/m to 1.26mbpd in Jan-2023 from 1.24mbpd in Dec-2022 due to increased efforts by the Federal Government in improving output through curbing oil theft and pipeline vandalism. According to the report, Nigeria surpassed Angola to become Africa’s leading producer.
• The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved the Nigeria Agenda 2050, a plan aimed at increasing real Gross Domestic Product growth by 7.0% annually, creating 165.0mn new jobs and reducing the number of people living in poverty to 2.1mn by 2050 from the 83.0mn estimated in 2020.

 Ghana

• According to Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the headline inflation rate eased slightly to 53.6% y/y in Jan-2023 from 54.1% y/y in Dec-2022, supported by the appreciation of the Ghanaian cedi. This marks the first month inflation has slowed since May-2021 but remains well above the central bank’s target band of 6.0%-10.0%. Core inflation slowed to 47.9% y/y from 49.9% y/y in Dec-2022.
• Ghana’s finance ministry announced that around 85.0% of eligible bondholders had registered for its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), bringing it one step closer to securing the $3.0bn International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. The announcement came after five deadline extensions as the nation fought to secure its targeted 80.0% subscription rate. It also extended the settlement date of the exchange to Feb. 21 from a previously announced Feb. 14 to provide sufficient time to settle the new bonds efficiently.
• Fitch Ratings has downgraded Ghana’s Long-Term Local Currency (LC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Restricted Default (RD) from ‘C’.

Francophone West Africa (WAEMU)
Senegal

• According to the National Agency of Statistics and Demography, Senegal's consumer prices rose 10.6% y/y in Jan-2023 vs its 12.8% y/y print in Dec-2022, indicating that general prices in Senegal rose at a much slower pace in Jan-2023.

 Ivory Coast

• According to Bloomberg, Cocoa futures surged after reports of bean shortages in top-producer Ivory Coast, bucking a broad commodity slump amid a strong US dollar.
• The most-active contract climbed as much as 3.8% to £2,124 a tonne in London, the highest since Nov-2016, before paring gains as a strong dollar depressed most commodities. In New York, it rose as much as 3.8% to $2,759 a tonne, the priciest in a year.
• According to the Hightower Report, some exporters in Ivory Coast are close to defaulting on their contracts due to a lack of beans, with estimates of as much as 150,000 tons.

East Africa
Kenya

• The parliamentary budget office revealed that the East African nation may raise between Ksh60.0bn and Ksh110.0bn from the sale of stakes in state-owned companies in the medium term.
• According to Bloomberg reports, Kenya plans to raise Ksh50.0bn ($398.0mn) selling an infrastructure bond in Mar-2023. The 17-year bond will be issued to help fund infrastructure projects in the East African country.
• Kenya’s Treasury revealed that Kenya’s total expenditure and net lending in the fiscal year beginning Jul-2023 is projected to print at Ksh3.7tn in the current period.
• The Government targets to narrow fiscal deficit, including grants, to 4.4% of GDP from an estimated 5.7% of GDP in 2022-23.
• Other key highlights from the treasury report were that outstanding bills climbed to Ksh481.0bn as at 31-Dec-2022. Treasury paid arrears of Ksh2.8bn on a Kenya Airways loan after a government guarantee on the debt was called due to non-payment of the principal.
• According to the Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya's overseas remittances rose 3.2% y/y in Jan-2023 versus the 1.9% y/y increase recorded in Dec-2022, Kenya’s remittance inflows grew by 8.0% y/y to $4.0bn in 2022.
• The apex bank further revealed that the value of mobile phone-based transactions increased to Ksh7.9tn in the 12 months through Dec-2022. Mobile money accounts during the period rose 7.5% to 73.1mn. The value of transactions in Dec-2022 advanced 11.0% m/m to Ksh708.1bn.

 Rwanda

• According to the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda, Rwanda's urban CPI rose 20.7% y/y in Jan-2023 versus 21.6% y/y print in Dec-2022.
• According to the country's National Agricultural Export Development Board, Rwanda's coffee export revenue rose 34.0% y/y 2022 due to higher prices and more volume. Revenue rose to $105.0mn from $78.3mn a year earlier. A total of 17.85mn kg of coffee beans were sold for export at an average price of $5.88 a kg in 2022, compared with 17.5mn kg at an average price of $4.48 a kg a year earlier.

 
 Uganda

• According to the Bank of Uganda, Uganda's M3 money supply rose 7.4% y/y in Dec-2022 from the revised +4.4% in Nov-2022.

 Tanzania

• According to the National Bureau of Statistics Tanzania, the nation’s CPI index rose 4.9% y/y in Jan-2023 from the 4.8% y/y increase recorded in Dec-2022.
• The bureau also revealed that Tanzania recorded a 57.7% y/y rise in arrivals of foreign tourists who visited the East African nation in 2022.
• According to the World Bank’s Tanzania Economic Update report, the nation’s economic growth is projected to accelerate from an estimated 4.6% in 2022. Growth will accelerate as investment increases, and terms of trade improve but will remain below Tanzania’s estimated long-run potential expansion rate of about 6.0%.
• The nation’s Central Bank governor, Emmanuel Tutuba revealed in the monetary policy statement that inflation is projected to remain below the central bank’s target of 5.4% and around 5.0% in Tanzania and Zanzibar, respectively, in the six months through Jun-2023, because of improved food supply and easing global commodity prices.
• The apex bank also revealed Tanzania's oil-product import costs rose 80.0% y/y in the first half of fiscal 2023 due to higher global prices. Import costs of fuel and lubricants increased to $2.1bn in the Jul-2022 through Dec-2022 period from $1.2bn in the same period a year earlier.
• Tanzania's diamond exports rose sharply in the first six months of the fiscal year 2023 due to increased production. Tanzania exported diamonds worth $40.4mn from Jul-2022 through Dec-2022, up from $8.1mn the same prior-year period.
• According to the memo published by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) and its allies, Tanzania loses an estimated $1.5bn annually in revenue to Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML).
• The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority’s statistical report for Q4-2022 shows that the overall telecom voice penetration stands at 98.0% as of Dec-2022.

Southern Africa
South Africa

• According to Statistics South Africa (SSA), the country’s consumer prices rose 6.9% y/y in Jan-2023, down from 7.2% y/y in Dec-2022 and 7.4% y/y in Nov-2022.
• Food inflation rose to 13.4% y/y in the period, from 12.4% y/y in Dec-2022. It represents the highest rate since Apr-2009. The Monetary Policy Committee’s midpoint target range is 4.5%.
• Also, the country’s retail sales fell 0.6% y/y in Dec-2022 vs a rise of 0.8% y/y in Nov-2022. Seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 0.6% m/m vs a rise of 1.0% m/m in Nov-2022.

 Angola

• The Parliament has given final approval for the Kz20.1tn ($39.5bn) annual budget for 2023. The budget was approved with 124 votes by the ruling party against 86 from the opposition. The opposition cites the government’s failure to audit the nation’s debt among its reasons for opposing the budget.
• According to figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Angola produced 1.1mbpd in Jan-2023, up 20.0kbpd from Dec-2022.
• According to the Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Angola’s national consumer price rose 12.6% y/y in Jan-2023 vs 13.9% y/y in Dec-22 and 15.2% in Nov-22. Luanda CPI rose 11.8% y/y vs 13.1% y/y in Dec-22.

 Zimbabwe

• According to a statement from Fidelity Gold Refinery, a unit of the Central Bank, the country’s Jan-2023 gold production dropped 34.0% y/y to 1,896 kg. Output by large-scale miners climbed to 934.9 kg from 814.3 kg, while deliveries by small-scale miners slumped to 961.1 kg from 2,054.0 kg.
• The African Development Bank (ADB) has been appointed lead financial adviser for the planned $5.0bn Batoka Gorge hydropower dam, designed to supply Zambia and Zimbabwe electricity. If it materialises, according to the Zambesi River Authority, the 2,400.0MW power station would end power shortages in both countries and support economic growth.

 Zambia

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised the benchmark interest rate by 25bps to 9.3%. It is the committee’s first hike since Nov-2021 to ease the downward pressure on the Kwacha (ZMW) and ease inflationary pressures.

Central Africa
Cameroon

• On Monday, President Paul Biya signed a decree empowering the Minister of the Economy to reach a financing deal with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). The agreement will see the lender grant CFA35.0bn to finance the solar electrification of 200 localities in the country.
• This investment is the 3rd phase of the project to electrify 1,000 localities with solar energy, which was launched in 2016 in partnership with Huawei Technology. The first two phases, which are still being implemented, will electrify 165 and 184 Cameroonian localities, respectively.
• Cameroon's Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motazé, is pushing for a plan to anticipate the impact of the end of the IMF-led program.
• The Cameroonian President Paul Biya has called for an accelerated implementation of the Guarantee Fund for young entrepreneurs.
• In his address to the youth on 10-Feb-2022, ahead of National Youth Day, he had instructed: "the government to speed up the creation of a Guarantee Fund for Young Entrepreneurs, with a special window for financing projects promoted by the Diaspora."
• This vehicle is a guarantee for young project carriers. It will allow the beneficiaries to raise financing on financial markets or obtain it from banks.
• Cameroon Workers Forum (Cawof) issued a statement calling on members to start on 15-Feb a one-month strike. They say they are unsatisfied with the recent minimum wage increase and are demanding a higher raise.

 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

• Earlier in the week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said a mining boom helped the Democratic Republic of Congo’s economy perform "significantly stronger" last year than earlier forecast.
• According to the IMF, the economy of the mining giant is estimated to have grown 8.5% in FY-2022, compared with an earlier projection of 6.6%.
• The fund also raised its growth forecast for this year to 8.0% from 6.7%, as it warned of downside risks "from the armed conflict in the east, uncertainty ahead of the elections, the continued effect of the war in Ukraine, and adverse terms-of-trade shocks."