Nigeria resists hikes, Zambia debt, Transnet problems

Zambia and Angola raised interest rates this week in response to high inflation, but Nigeria didn’t. Indeed, the scheduled CBN meeting for this week didn’t even take place. The Bank now has its work cut out to restore credibility. Meanwhile, official creditors rejected Zambia’s proposed debt relief deal with private bondholders, highlighting again that the more diverse array of lenders to Africa is a hurdle to such talks and that the Common Framework is ineffective. Finally, South African inflation jumped to a higher-than-expected 5.9% y/y in October, but the SARB’s meeting this week made clear that further tightening is no longer on the cards.