Africa briefs

Africa briefs SA's auditor general cancels all contracts with KPMG

South Africa’s Auditor General said on Tuesday he is terminating all contracts with auditing firm KPMG over a string of recent scandals that have cast doubt over the international audit firm’s professional and ethical conduct.

“Recent media reports relating to the external audit of VBS Mutual Bank and the conduct of KPMG audit partners are some of the reasons that prompted the decision to withdraw all KPMG audit mandates with immediate effect,” Auditor General Kimi Makwetu said in a statement.

-Nampa/Reuters

Uganda to borrow US$412m from China and WB

Uganda said on Tuesday it intends to borrow a total of US$412 million from the World Bank and China’s Exim Bank to fund projects in education, health and energy sectors.

Uganda’s public debt has grown rapidly in recent years on the back of the country’s voracious uptake of Chinese credit, raising concerns about the impact of high debt servicing costs on government finances.

-Nampa/Reuters

Nigeria's Senate seeks explanation of US$162m to buy helicopters

Nigeria’s upper chamber of parliament on Tuesday said it would invite the central bank governor and the ministers of finance and defence to explain the release of US$162 million to buy helicopters, it said on its Twitter feed.

Senator Sam Anyanwu said the money was withdrawn from the federal account in March without the approval of lawmakers.

“Senate resolves to invite the CBN governor and ministers of finance and defense to shed more light on the release of the funds,” the Senate said in a tweet.

-Nampa/Reuters

Mozambique state accountable for debt- President

Mozambique will assume responsibility for debt incurred by previous administrations, but there needs to be a shared responsibility by those providing the loans, the country’s president Filipe Nyusi said on Tuesday.

Heavily indebted Mozambique got cut off from multilateral and foreign donors such as the International Monetary Fund after the government admitted to US$1.4 billion of previously undisclosed loans in 2016. It presented a restructuring plan to its commercial creditors in March.

“We are making dialogue with the creditors and we are looking at what should be done, naturally this is a complex process,” said Nyusi, speaking through a translator at international think tank Chatham House in London.

-Nampa/Reuters

IMF makes positive about-turn on SA growth outlook

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is upbeat about South Africa's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2018, raising its forecast to 1.5% after cutting its prediction to 0.9% in January.

The international lender released its World Economic Outlook report in Washington DC on Tuesday, ahead of the IMF/World Bank Group Spring Meetings.

After experiencing 1.3% economic growth in 2017, amid a difficult economic climate, the IMF pencilled in 1.5% growth in 2018 and 1.7% in 2019. It slashed its forecast in January citing rising political uncertainty affecting investment and business confidence.

-Fin24