Africa on the Spot: Jobless South Africans Suffer as Growth in Somalia’s Mobile Money Face Risks

The unemployment rate in South Africa is one of the highest in the world and it is not surprising that the dire situation calls for more jobs.

Amid the recently concluded 2018 jobs summit, South Africa is desperately groping for solutions to reduce the unemployment rate that has, since 2018, increased from 22 percent to 27.2 in 2018.

Notably, the majority of South Africans can’t find jobs and they scrounge for a living on the sidelines of the economy.
Meanwhile, the summit produced some useful agreements between the social partners: government, organized labor and business (essentially, big business).

Read More Here

What are the Risks in Somalia’s Growing Mobile Money Market?

Recently, a World Bank report showed that Somalia has one of the most active mobile money markets in the world, outpacing most other countries in Africa. It’s even superseded the use of cash in the country of 14 million people.

But what factors have driven the growth? First off, the transfers in mobile transactions in the country are in US dollars, unlike Kenya’s M-PESA. When the idea was conceived, it was quickly adopted as the safest and convenient way of saving and transferring cash.

Mobile operators in the country are increasingly forming part of large conglomerates that also offer banking and money transfer services. The total mobile transactions in the country stand at an average of 2.7 billion dollars a month. So, what are the risks of this form of banking in the country?

Read More Here

South African Rand Strengthens Against the US Dollar

The South African rand ahead of the country’s credit review gained traction against the globally hobbled US dollar early on Friday, Moody’s reported.

According to the rating agency, the rand was 0.85 percent stronger at 14.5100 per dollar at 0650 GMT, having closed in New York at 14.6350.

The rand is expected to trade between 14.3500 and 14.7000 to the dollar on Friday, NKC African Economics wrote in a note.

Moody’s is the last of the top rating agencies to have Pretoria’s long-term foreign-currency debt in investment grade.

South Africa’s stable outlook on its credit rating means there is little chance of a downgrade…

Read More Here