South African firm Grindrod will invest $80 million over two years to expand the Matola Coal Terminal at Maputo Port from 8 million to 12 million tonnes annually. President Daniel Chapo, at the launch of new administrative facilities, emphasised prioritising rail over road to boost efficiency and regional competitiveness. The investment aims to create 800 direct jobs by 2027 and enhance sustainable development through integrated logistics.

Jihadist attacks in Mozambique as Total plans gas project restart

Islamic State-linked militants have renewed attacks in northern Mozambique, including deadly raids on military posts and a wildlife reserve, as TotalEnergies prepares to restart its major gas project. Analysts link the violence to recent announcements, including $4.7 billion in new funding from the US.

Mozambique keeps key interest rate steady at 18% in June

Mozambique’s benchmark interest rate for credit will remain at 18% in June, according to the Mozambican Banking Association (AMB). The rate has fallen steadily from 24.1% in January 2024, with a 0.5 percentage point cut in May and earlier in March. The AMB kept it steady at 19% in February and April. This decline follows reductions in the central bank’s monetary policy interest rate (MIMO rate), which dropped from 12.25% in January to 11.75% in March, reflecting continued low inflation expectations despite fiscal risks. Meanwhile, credit to the economy rose slightly in March to nearly 285 billion meticais (€3.99 billion), after a notable drop in February.

Government settles all unpaid debt service from 2024

Mozambique fully cleared its 2024 external debt arrears in Q1 2025 , paying $210.34 million (€185.6 million) in principal and interest, according to a Ministry of Finance report. Over half of the €47.3 million in unpaid debt was owed to Portugal. Payment delays had been blamed on post-election unrest and budget shortfalls. The report warns of added fiscal pressure in 2025 due to residual obligations and debt management system limitations.

Chapo wants fewer trucks, more trains to the port of Maputo

Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo has called the growing use of road transport for coal and magnetite to the Matola Coal Terminal “unacceptable,” urging a return to boost efficiency and competitiveness. Speaking at the inauguration of Grindrod’s new office and the launch of an $80 million expansion, Chapo stressed that Matola’s infrastructure was built for rail. He also highlighted the $160 million container terminal project and the broader port expansion under the 25-year extension of the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) concession, which includes $600 million in planned investments. MPDC aims to modernise facilities, reduce logistics costs, and create new jobs, reinforcing Mozambique’s role as a logistics hub in southern Africa.

The Turkish government is considering a law that could lead to jail sentences for individuals accused of working under foreign influence. Critics fear that the law could silence NGOs and journalists who are critical of the government. The Hans India reports that the draft legislation is not final and would still need to be approved by parliament. German-Turkish lawmaker Mustafa Yeneroglu described the law as dangerous and susceptible to abuse. There have been protests in neighbouring Georgia against a similar law aimed at limiting foreign influence on non-governmental organisations.

Gas field operations

Trillion Energy has launched an operations programme at the South Akcakoca Sub-Basin (SASB) gas field in the Black Sea, offshore Turkey. This two-month programme will consist of multiple phases. According to Offshore Technology , it will target seven or eight wells, including six drilled last year and others with historical water loading issues. Service contractors have been hired for various tasks, and marine vessels will transport the equipment offshore. In June 2024, the operations will begin with the perforation of 49 meters of gas pay across four wells, followed by the installation of a velocity string in the AKK-3 well.

$226 million Turkish Airlines profit

Turkish Airlines reported a profit of $226 million in the first quarter of 2024, with total revenues reaching $4.77 billion. Total revenues increased by 9.6 percent in January-March, reaching $4.77 billion, with passenger revenue rising 4.8 percent to $3.82 billion. Cargo revenues amounted to $750 million in the first quarter, up 27 percent from the previous year. The net income margin stood at 4.7 percent. According to Daily News , fuel expenses, which made up 32 percent of the carrier's total costs, increased by 4.1 percent to $1.5 billion. Personnel expenses surged by 41.3 percent from the first quarter of last year to $1.03 billion. The company spent $325 million on sales and marketing, a 3.2 percent annual increase.

Interest rate maintained

Turkey's central bank maintained its key interest rate for the second consecutive month on Thursday, despite the country's ongoing struggle with soaring inflation. The bank's monetary policy committee decided to keep the policy rate steady at 50 percent, while remaining highly attentive to inflation risks, according to New Arab . Before the March 31 local elections, the central bank raised its rate from 45 percent to 50 percent as inflation became a persistent issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. In April, inflation reached 69.8 percent year-on-year, up from 68.5 percent in March, according to official data released in early May.

Turkey's longest-range radar

Turkey's longest-range radar, the ALP 300-G, has been delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces by ASELSAN. The radar, developed domestically, is a highly strategic product for battlefield and border security. Azer News maintains that the radar is capable of processing a large amount of data and has superior capabilities compared to other radars. ASELSAN aims to become one of the world's largest defence industry companies by 2030, focusing on developing game-changing technologies and export-oriented growth.

The MPC, however, maintained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45% for commercial banks and increased the CRR of merchant banks from 10% to 14%.

Ahead of the two-day meeting, Cardoso said in an interview with the Financial Times that the Central Bank would do everything to stabilise Nigeria's economy and inflation levels even if it meant increasing interest rates.

“There is every indication that the MPC would do whatever is necessary. They will continue to do what has to be done to ensure that inflation comes down,” he said.

However, experts lament that consumers and citizens will be the bearers of the burden this rate hike will impose.

According to Chijioke Ekechukwu, an economic expert, who spoke to Xinhua , "This will ultimately be borne by consumers through higher prices of goods and services. There are other drivers of inflation, which are not within the control of the monetary policy."

Uche Uwaleke, a capital market expert also stated that the rate hike "Has the potential of triggering portfolio rebalancing in favour of fixed-income securities." Adding that the over-reliance on the monetary policy rate to battle inflation does not "make any meaningful impact due to the significant non-monetary factors driving inflation in Nigeria."

In April, Nigeria's headline consumer inflation surged to a new 28-year high, reaching 33.69% year-on-year, up from 33.20% in March. This increase marked the rise in inflation for the 16th consecutive month for the country.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 11.47% points higher than the rate recorded in April 2023, which was 22.22%.

Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in April 2024 was 2.29%, marking a decrease of 0.73% compared to the rate recorded in March 2024 (3.02%).

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study in April also projected a US$ 74.5 billion savings for African countries if credit ratings were based on “less subjective assessments”.

At an explosive side meeting in Washington DC on the margins of the 2023 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, the UNDP opened a can of worms on the impact of credit ratings on the cost of development finance in Africa. African finance and economy ministers unequivocally backed the call for a review of international financing systems.

“If we want to bring about change, we need to change the game,” said Oulimata Sarr, Senegal’s economy minister. “It is time for Africa to have its own credit rating agency. However, major challenges, such as systemic bias and limited data are still a hindrance,” said Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s finance minister present at the event. 

The UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Regional Director for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa, further painted a picture of the financial poverty Africa is facing against the injustice served by the rating agencies. “We are at the heart of polycrisis and African governments are struggling with a drought in development financing… We urgently need more fairness and justice in the way we conceptualize multilateral agencies. We need to foster agency for African people to meet development aspirations and a system where risk can be fairly priced.”

Meanwhile, the capacity of the “big three” rating agencies to determine the sovereign credit ratings for African countries where data is often missing or of poor quality was questioned at this meeting organised by the UNDP, the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution and AfriCatalyst.

The Director of the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, Aloysius Uche Ordu, explained that despite the difficulty in quantifying future uncertainties by the rating agencies, “they employ inexperienced staff who are good in mathematics but lack an appreciation of the complexity of the real world, especially the complex operating environment in Africa.”

Coincidentally,  S&P Global Ratings and Moody's are based in the U.S., while Fitch is dual-headquartered in New York City and London, and is controlled by Hearst.

Ghana has been the most vocal against the “big three” after all the international rating agencies downgraded the country’s creditworthiness to junk status at the height of its economic crisis. The country has struggled to access the capital market following the rating. 

“The tag of Africa as investment risk is little more than, in substance, a self-fulfilling prophecy created by the prejudice of the international money market, which denies us access to cheaper borrowing, pushing us deeper into debts,” said Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo in his speech at the UN’s 77th General Assembly in 2022.

“It has become clear if ever there was any doubt, that the international financial structure is skewed significantly against developing and emerging economies like Ghana. The avenues that are opened to powerful nations to enable them to take measures that would ease pressures on their economies are closed to small nations,” he added.

Criticism Outside Africa

While Africa battles with its rating woes, the Arab states have also called for an Arab credit rating agency to “operate with utmost impartiality, transparency, and reliability, free from the influence of personal biases and international interests observed in certain renowned global rating agencies.”

This call was championed by Adnan Yousif, Chairman of the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) at the Annual Investment Forum held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in May 2023 with the same complaints as the African region. 

India also made an appeal to the “big three” this year for an upgrade while questioning the rating agencies about their parameters in deciding a country's rating. Moody's, like S&P and Fitch which rated India with 'BBB-', had rated India at the lowest investment grade of "Baa3" with a "stable" outlook.

All three ratings agencies have denied any bias and say their ratings follow the same formula everywhere in the world.

Alternative Agencies

Like China which has its own Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Ltd. that issues credit ratings for all bond issuers in China, the African Union has advanced discussions to create an African credit rating agency.

According to the lead expert for country support on rating agencies with the African Union, Misheck Mutize, the agency would craft its own assessment of the risks in lending to African countries and would be based on the continent.

"Our goal has not been to replace the big three...we need them to support access to international capital. Our view has been to widen diversity of opinions. We know the big three follow the opinion of other smaller ratings agencies. They've acknowledged that other smaller ratings agencies have got an edge in understanding domestic dynamics," he was quoted by Reuters.

In an article published by Misheck Mutize outlining the implementation of the African credit rating agency, he stated categorically that despite the adopted declaration and developed proposal for the legal, financial and structural aspects of the rating agency, “what’s not yet agreed is how the sustainability, credibility and independence of the agency will be achieved”.

However, he outlined how it could be achieved stating that it could either be an organ of the union, funded by its member states’ contributions or a self-funded autonomous specialised agency of the union, with the latter being the better option.

“Because the credit rating business requires credibility and independence, the best option is the specialised agency. Examples already in operation are the African Export-Import Bank and the Africa Risk Capacity Agency.

“As an independent specialised agency of the AU, the agency would have diverse classes of shareholders. African governments could own it either directly or through their designated public institutions. Shareholding could include other smaller African-owned rating agencies, multilateral finance institutions and African national financial institutions.

“As a financing structure, the agency would adopt the “issuer-pay” business model. The issuers of debt will pay the agency for rating its entity and products.

“It would be fully funded by its shareholders and through loans from pan-African financial institutions. Multilateral development banks would either encourage or make it mandatory for their clients to have a rating from the African rating agency. Once this is done it should be able to sustain itself through revenue generated from its services,” Misheck Mutize explained in an article published by The Conversation.

The African rating agency could be established through an agreement signed by at least 10 member states targeting a 2024 launch, Mutize added. 

So far, only  32 African countries have received a sovereign rating from at least one of the “big three” agencies since 1994 when South Africa became the first African country to receive a sovereign rating.