Naira devalued for real, utility deals in Ethiopia & SA

Policymakers in Nigeria appear to have bowed to pressure to devalue the official exchange rate, which will probably improve the public finances and help unlock multilateral financing. That said, a unified and fairly valued naira is unlikely to follow any time soon. Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s ambitious reform agenda seems to be faltering on nearly all fronts. In South Africa, troubled electricity provider Eskom was a source of good news this week for a change, but power cuts are likely to remain a threat to the economic outlook.