THE International Monetary Fund on Friday said its board had approved new three-year financing arrangements for Kenya valued at $2.34 billion to help the African country continue responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and address its debt vulnerabilities.

Approval of the new loans under the Fund’s Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility will enable immediate disbursement of about $307.5 million that Kenya can use for budget support, adding to $739 million it received in emergency COVID-19 aid in May 2020, the Fund said in a statement.

The IMF said Kenya’s debt remained sustainable, but it was at high risk of debt distress, and authorities should focus their near-term agenda on urgent structural policy challenges.

For nearly two years, Kenya has abandoned expensive commercial debt to cut back on ballooning repayments, while revenue collection has been squeezed by the pandemic.

It also faces huge budget deficits that have been deepened by the coronavirus crisis.

“The program supported by EFF/ECF arrangements with the Fund provides a strong signal of support and confidence,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh said in a statement. “The Kenyan authorities have demonstrated strong commitment to fiscal reforms during this unprecedented global shock, and Kenya’s medium-term prospects remain positive.”

Kenya was hit hard at the onset by the COVID-19 pandemic, but its economy has been picking up after likely posting a slight contraction of 0.1% in 2020, the IMF said.

It said it forecast a sharp swing to growth of 7.6% in 2021 and 5.7% in 2022, but said Kenya continued to face challenges in the return to durable growth, and its past gains in poverty reduction had been reversed.

The COVID-19 shock had also exacerbated the country’s pre-existing fiscal vulnerabilities, the IMF said, although Kenyan authorities had taken action to hold the fiscal deficit and debt ratios to 8.7 and 70.4% of GDP, respectively, this fiscal year.

Support from a Group of 20 moratorium on debt service payments and development partners will help Kenya close its financing gap in 2021 along with financing from capital markets.

Sayeh said Kenya was taking steps to reduce debt-related risks, but should continue to provide necessary support to the economy and focus on urgent structural policy challenges, including financial weaknesses in some state-owned enterprises. ZBC

Photo Anadolu Agency

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Friday said 58 women and children, who were abducted last year during vicious intercommunal fighting in Jonglei State, have been reunited with their families.

In a press statement, it said the exchange of abducted women and children came following a community-led goodwill agreement between the Lou Nuer, Murle and Dinka Bor ethnic communities.

“Abductions are a horrific aspect of conflict in this area,” said David Shearer, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan and head of UNMISS.

“However, the agreement reached to release the abducted women and children is an essential step to build trust and avoid the cycle of revenge. I applaud all those involved for their efforts to reunite these innocent victims with their families,” he added.

Intensive efforts to broker peace between the three communities have been underway since December 2020, backed by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, working together with agencies supported by the UK and the US.

The UN helicopters have been shuttling between Pibor, Pochalla, Pieri and Juba to pick up groups of women and children and return them to their communities.

The Director General of Information in Pibor Administrative area, Yasir Babakir, told Anadolu Agency by phone that authorities of Greater Pibor Administrative area have handed over 27 abducted children to authorities in Central Equatoria, Pochala County and Nuer community of Jonglei State.

He said their authorities have handed over 14 abducted children to Nuer, seven to Anyuak and six to Central Equatoria state.

He revealed that after handing over 14 children to Nuer community of Jonglei, Nuer also returned 14 children of Murle.

“Administration of Pibor is working hard to implement the resolutions of the peace conference held in Juba sometime back by people of Jonglei and Pibor. We want to have peace with all our neighboring states,” Babakir said. - Benjamin Takpiny, Anadolu Agency

Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan takes oath of office following the death of her predecessor John Pombe Magufuli at State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania March 19, 2021. Photo Reuters

Gender inequality remains a global challenge to women seeking political leadership. With several countries making progress to achieve gender parity, the swearing-in of Samia Suluhu Hassan as the president of Tanzania, brings a new dawn to women’s leadership in Africa. 

Born on January 17, 1960, a native of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago, Suluhu made history of being the first female president in East Africa. She took over power after her predecessor John Pombe Magufuli died in office.

Suluhu completed her secondary education in 1977, a time when many girls were not allowed to go to school in Tanzania. She advanced her studies and graduated with advance diploma in Public Administration from the Institute of Development Management (Mzumbe University) in the year 1986.

In 1992-1994, she graduated with a postgraduate diploma in economics from the University of Manchester. In 2015, she obtained her MSc in Community Economic Development through a joint-program between the Open University of Tanzania and the Southern New Hampshire.

Suluhu started her political career in 2000 when she was elected as special Sect Member to the Zanzibar House of Representatives. She became the only high-ranking woman minister in the Cabinet when President Amani Karume appointed her as a minister.

In 2010, she contested for the Makunduchi parliamentary seat and won by a landslide after getting more than 80 per cent of votes. President Jakaya Kikwete appointed her Minister of the state for Union Affairs. In 2014, she was elected as the Vice Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the country’s constitution.

Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential nominee John Pompe Magufuli chose her to be his running mate during 2015 presidential elections. She became the first female presidential running mate in entire history of CCM party.

On November 5, 2015, she became the first female vice president in the history of Tanzania when Magufuli was declared duly elected president.

In the history East Africa, Suluhu is the second woman to become vice president after Specioza Naigara Wandira of Uganda who was in office from 1994 to 2003.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, women’s participation in politics stands at (23.8%). Rwanda is amongst the highest globally with (61.3%) of women holding parliamentary seats in the National Assembly. Since 2008 elections, Rwanda became the first developing country to have majority of women in the National Assembly.

In Kenya, quite a number of women leaders were elected competitively to various political offices from gubernatorial, Senators, Members of the National Assembly and county assemblies during 2017 elections. This was a great milestone on women participation in politics under a new dispensation.

During 2015 Summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), world leaders adopted that women’s empowerment and equal participation in politics is essential to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

According to a global monitoring report by UN-Women Agency on Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, the agency made it clear: “There can be no Sustainable Development without Gender Equality.”

With women facing a number of challenges in their quest for political power, Ms Kaja Kallas are among few women leaders breaking political ceiling in a male dominated societies. She was elected as Estonia’s Head of State and Government and took office on 26th January 2021.

When US Vice President Kamala Harris congratulated Suluhu she underscored the importance of women scaling up their participation in political processes. - Gerald Lepariyo, The Standard

Source: Agencies/zl/CNA