TNT:Harambe: Zimbabwe Draws on Nigeria Lessons in Crypto Currency Plans | Bloomberg
(11/1/22)
Zimbabwe is drawing lessons from Nigeria as it pursues plans for its own central bank digital currency and won’t be deterred by lackluster interest shown in that country.
The slow uptake of the eNaira, Africa’s first CBDC, is unlikely to sway Zimbabwe’s decision-making, according to Innocent Matshe, deputy governor of the southern African nation’s Reserve Bank. Preparations remain in place to introduce a digital currency despite the jury being “still out” on the concept, he said.
“Certainly it’s a point to consider that there is hesitancy in the market,” he said Tuesday in an interview at a conference near Port Louis, Mauritius. “We don’t think that it is a deterrent at this point, we just think that it is a learning point for us. We can then adopt measures to try and mitigate the factors that are causing that hesitancy in the Nigerian market.”
Less than 0.5% of Nigerians transact in the nation’s digital money. That’s prompted the central bank to seek new ways to boost interest, including offering discounts to drivers and passengers of three-wheeler taxis to use the eNaira.
Zimbabwe has had its own currency woes. The local dollar has lost more than 80% of its value against the greenback this year and the government tried a series of measures to contain an even steeper decline on the parallel market that stoked rampant inflation. The US dollar is widely used in the country as an alternative.
The government sent teams to visit several central banks around the world to study their plans for CBDCs, including Ghana and China, Matshe said.
“It will have its own specificities,” he said. “We are not expecting that it will be directly linked to any currency, we are keeping all our options open.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-01/zimbabwe-draws-on-nigeria-lessons-in-crypto-currency-plans
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Tishwash: The discovery of oil wells in the poorest Iraqi governorates
Al-Muthanna Governorate said that it had discovered a number of oil wells in the Samawah desert, which will open promising development prospects for the future of the governorate, which has long suffered from high rates of poverty over the past eras for various reasons.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Planning, Al-Muthanna ranks first among the poorest governorates in the country with a rate of 52%, due to the accumulation of several decades, the disruption of the industrial and production sectors, the weak activity of the private sector, and the weak foundations of infrastructure. Direct per capita income is low, and it is affected by the level of services, education and health.
In an interview with the official newspaper, Naas said, “The discovery of a number of oil wells in the Samawah desert will open wide prospects for the future of the governorate, which has long suffered from poverty and deprivation throughout the past eras, as It will create huge resources that will actually contribute to the advancement of the service situation, and the initiation of these wells will inevitably achieve remarkable prosperity that casts a shadow over all sectors in the governorate.”
And he indicated that “tackling poverty is not an easy issue, especially since the governorate lacks financial resources, and there must be a systematic and studied plan to be developed by the local government and members of the House of Representatives, in order to cooperate in its implementation, as well as activating the supervisory role in the governorate to fight Corruption, which he stressed has played a major role in the spread of poverty and unemployment in the governorate.
According to specialists, Al-Muthanna enjoys a large number of archaeological sites, in addition to its border connection with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the Al-Jumaymah port, as well as the vastness of the Badia area, its oil wells, and its areas designated for agriculture, which, if properly utilized, will eliminate unemployment and poverty once and for all.
For his part, the Director of the Dhar Center for Economic Development, Majed Abu Kell, pointed to the “necessity of activating the capabilities and resources that the governorate enjoys, by adopting stimulating the agricultural sector, which has recorded remarkable growth and increased production quantities to record the highest production.”
He noted that the Muthanna Badia, with its vast land and raw materials For many industries, and a large reservoir of groundwater, it could be a turning point in the economy of the province and perhaps the entire country,” calling for “focusing on large investment projects, to absorb unemployment among young people, and to provide an encouraging investment environment for the private sector.” link
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Tishwash: The foreign ministers of Iraq, Jordan and Egypt affirm the implementation of the targeted projects
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fouad Hussein, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt Sameh Shoukry and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Affairs Ayman Safadi held a meeting within the framework of the tripartite cooperation mechanism between the three countries on the sidelines of the 31st Arab Summit meeting in the capital The algerian.
During the meeting, the ministers praised the level of achievement achieved by the relevant ministerial teams in the three countries during the past period, in order to achieve strategic integration within the framework of the tripartite mechanism, and stressed the need to follow up on the targeted projects and expedite their implementation in order to maximize benefit and benefit and develop economic capabilities, as a way to achieve further progress and prosperity.
The ministers affirmed that the leaders’ political will is translated through enabling joint coordination mechanisms between the three countries in order to enhance tripartite cooperation in various fields, and to embody strategic integration in the service of our peoples and the region.
Al-Safadi stressed his thanks to Jordan and Egypt’s continued support for brotherly Iraq and its security, which is considered an essential pillar for maintaining Arab national security in light of what binds their peoples of unity of destiny and common goals.
Safadi and Shukri congratulated their Iraqi counterparts on the occasion of forming the Iraqi government. link
