Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is looking good to some Nigerians who commented on social media after learning today that the country’s economy is officially in recession, Naij.com reported.
“I’m weeping for those who voted against GEJ,” Jacob Amidyere Adombire commented.
South Africa’s economy contracted 1.2 percent in the first quarter with second-quarter growth figures expected next week.
The South African currency could sink as low as 19 rand to the dollar this year, economists say, according to Buzz South Africa.
The two countries often see each other as competition. They’re more like book ends, said Martyn Davies, managing director of emerging markets and Africa at the auditing and consulting firm Deloitte, in a Voice of America report.
Since Nigeria rebased its gross domestic product in 2013, the two countries have jockeyed for the economic top spot in Africa. South Africa recently regained the No. 1 position from Nigeria. But many global investors see them as part of the same Africa package.
“South Africa and Nigeria are the bookends, if you will, of the sub-Saharan economy. One’s misfiring, the other one’s in severe contraction,” Davies said.
Jonathan lost the 2015 election to President Muhammadu Buhari, in part because of perceptions of government corruption. Buhari campaigned by promising to end corruption, and in his 15 months in power, has launched aggressive action to investigate suspects in government fraud.
– See more at: http://afkinsider.com/132091/what-people-are-saying-about-nigeria-officially-in-recession-will-politics-send-south-africa-there-too/#sthash.46J7iB34.dpuf
Why patronage and state capture spell trouble for South Africa
If patronage politicians win the battle within the ruling ANC and complete the capture of the state, SA will slip from stagnation into the abyss, writes Co-Pierre Georg, senior lecturer at UCT’s African Institute for Financial Markets and Risk Management.
South Africa has caught the world’s attention with an epic battle between two powerful factions within the governing African National Congress (ANC) which has spilt into government. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has aptly described this as a government that wages “war with itself”.
On the one side there is the largely rural based faction of patronage politicians around President Jacob Zuma. The other side is less well defined, but it can be safely assumed that the beleaguered finance minister Pravin Gordhan is among them. What makes this battle different from the usual political quarrels is the viciousness with which the patronage politicians are fighting to get the upper hand.
Source
Turkey targets Gulen schools in Africa
Turkish government anger with the Gulen movement, over its alleged involvement in the failed July 15 coup, has spread to Africa. Governments are being pressured into closing down Gulen schools.
Children are romping around the school grounds apparently without a care in the world. A few of them are standing together and reciting in unison “I for ice cream, J for job.” The atmosphere is bright and cheerful and the school has a clear vision of its future and that of its students. Such is the impression which the Nigeria Turkish International School in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, seeks to convey to visitors.
The school belongs to the Hizmet movement run by US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. It is one of a chain of 17 educational establishments operating in various parts of Nigeria since 1998. Their goal is not merely to pass down knowledge from teacher to student, Hizmet representative, Cemal Yigit told DW. “As educators, we can help build a more peaceful society in countries troubled by conflict,” he said.
Source
The future will be built in Africa – Mark Zuckerberg
Johannesburg – Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has said the “future of the world” will be built on the African continent.
Zuckerberg made the statement during his first Sub-Saharan visit to Africa in Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday.
A small group of media were invited to a live-stream of the Nigerian event in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
“The thing that is striking [about Nigeria] is the entrepreneurial energy. I think when you’re trying to build something, what matters the most is who wants it the most. This is where the future is going to be built,” Zuckerberg said from Lagos.
He said that once the world woke up to the entrepreneurial energy coming from Africa, the continent would begin to change the world.
“You feel that here, as soon as you get off the plane and start talking to people, you feel that passion and entrepreneurial energy,” Zuckerberg added.
Source
What People Are Saying About Nigeria Officially In Recession. Will Politics Send South Africa There Too?
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is looking good to some Nigerians who commented on social media after learning today that the country’s economy is officially in recession, Naij.com reported.
“I’m weeping for those who voted against GEJ,” Jacob Amidyere Adombire commented.
South Africa’s economy contracted 1.2 percent in the first quarter with second-quarter growth figures expected next week.
The South African currency could sink as low as 19 rand to the dollar this year, economists say, according to Buzz South Africa.
The two countries often see each other as competition. They’re more like book ends, said Martyn Davies, managing director of emerging markets and Africa at the auditing and consulting firm Deloitte, in a Voice of America report.
Since Nigeria rebased its gross domestic product in 2013, the two countries have jockeyed for the economic top spot in Africa. South Africa recently regained the No. 1 position from Nigeria. But many global investors see them as part of the same Africa package.
“South Africa and Nigeria are the bookends, if you will, of the sub-Saharan economy. One’s misfiring, the other one’s in severe contraction,” Davies said.
Jonathan lost the 2015 election to President Muhammadu Buhari, in part because of perceptions of government corruption. Buhari campaigned by promising to end corruption, and in his 15 months in power, has launched aggressive action to investigate suspects in government fraud.
– See more at: http://afkinsider.com/132091/what-people-are-saying-about-nigeria-officially-in-recession-will-politics-send-south-africa-there-too/#sthash.46J7iB34.dpuf