CEO’s Desk
By Dr. Ibrahim Seibure
Having started 2024 with bated breath, we have ended another tumultuous year. Our unbroken determination is to bring to our adored readers another publication of the A-Z African magazine. We apologise for the lull in getting a new edition of this magazine to you since we were unable to bring you a new copy since our last edition in June 2023.
Realistically, we were squeezed by economic constraints. Having surmounted the financial gridlock, we are pleased to round off the calendar year, 2024, by painstakingly examining:
GLOBAL CRISES AND AFRICA’S ECONOMIES.
Except one is living under a rock, he/she cannot help but see the palpable economic difficulties almost every nation on earth is going through, which cannot be disconnected to local conditions in African countries from the realities of global circumstances. While it is sometimes easy for people to make conclusions or think that the government is not doing enough to address economic challenges, a careful examination of economic indicators shows that the world is getting complex day by day. It is needless to over-emphasise the point that we are living in an interconnected and interdependent world. What has also been made clear is that blame-shifting or providing excuses is simply not enough.
A conflict in one corner of the world might have a disproportionate effect beyond that immediate geographical space. Look at how the conflict between Israel and Hamas has captivated the imagination of global audiences. Just as important as the economic fallouts are the geopolitical ramifications of an entire region. It has the potential to engulf the entire Middle East and even lead to a 3rd World War with belligerents using nuclear weapons. Africa has already been forced to traverse a geopolitical Catch-22 prompted by the Ukraine/Russia war.
The Gaza conflict – and subsequent divergences between East and West – adds another layer of complexity to the current economic and geopolitical landscape. Again, African states are in an ostensibly grim situation. Hard alignment with Israel risks alienating the East, while sympathising with Hamas risks alienating the West.
Meanwhile, there’s an unspoken requirement for Africa’s position on Gaza to be consistent with its stance on Ukraine, lest countries on the continent be labelled hypocritical. Since mid-November 2023, the Yemen-based and Iran-backed Houthi rebel group has attacked dozens of commercial ships in the Red Sea, with no signs of slowing down. An exodus of shipping companies from the region now threatens to hamper supply chains and inflate consumer prices.
Being one of the most important chokepoints in the global shipping system, the Red Sea is crucial for international commerce and trade, with one-third of all container traffic flowing through it. Any sustained disruption in trade there could send a ripple effect of higher costs throughout the world economy. In Sierra Leone for example, the IMF’s real GDP growth projection in 2022 stood at 4.0% with a sharp decline to 2.7% in 2023, and an expected peak in projection to 4.7 by the end of 2024. In all, the economy is expected to be buoyant by the end of 2024.
The Government of Sierra Leone has not only established transparency around currency re-denomination but has also assured of recapitalising the Bank of Sierra Leone to help boost confidence in the currency and support the effective execution of the central bank’s mandate. In addition, the Government has created the space to prioritise social spending to support the most vulnerable by way of launching the Big Five Agenda, with “Feed Salone” being its flagship project. Added to these investments is the recently approved Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact to boost the energy sector and other foreign direct investments, the horizon and potentials for the economy become even brighter.
This edition also covers the ISRAEL- PALESTINE CONFLICT, what Trump’s Presidency means for the world and other interesting features in Sports and Entertainment. We also take an in-depth look at Africa’s coup epidemic and go on to ask a salient question-Has democracy failed the continent? This edition is indeed a must read.