Daily Watch – APC deny Makinde pact, Anchor Borrowers sees 24% repayments

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said only 24 per cent of loans disbursed under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) have been repaid. The Bretton Woods institution made the disclosure in its Selected Issues paper on Nigeria, which was prepared by a staff team of the fund as background documentation for periodic consultations with the country. According to the IMF, the document was based on the information available as of the time it was completed on 12 January 2023. It said agricultural credit in the country has not significantly boosted production and the right recipients were not targeted. “Part of the problem is that the incentive structure for repayment is weak, the recipient loans are not always well targeted and occasionally the funding is used for other purchases (e.g., new agricultural input trading companies to elicit trading rents),” the paper said in part.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Committee (PCC) in Oyo has dismissed speculation of any standing agreement between President-elect Bola Tinubu and Governor Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 11 March governorship poll. In a statement signed by the Chairman of Central Media Presidential Gubernatorial Council, Mr Kehinde Olaosebikan, the party said Makinde was only deceiving his members. A PCC member, Nike Ajagbe, said Tinubu’s visit to Makinde on 16 February during a rally in Ibadan had nothing to do with an endorsement. She described the president-elect as a party man, who cannot joke with the success of his party across the country, especially the South West, which is regarded as his stronghold.

Ghana’s Eurobonds sank to the lowest level in nearly three months after the country missed a self-imposed deadline to restructure its bilateral debt and S&P Global Ratings warned that bondholders face larger losses than anticipated. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta wanted to reach a restructuring agreement with bilateral creditors by the end of February to help qualify for a $3 billion International Monetary Fund program. So far, Ghana has only partially completed the domestic-debt part of the exchange plan. Meanwhile, S&P said private creditors may have to write off as much as 50 per cent of their debt holdings — far higher than the 30 per cent haircut the government initially suggested. The country’s 2032 dollar bonds slumped to 36.69 cents on the dollar on Wednesday, the least since 5 January 2023.

Thousands demonstrated on Wednesday in Diapaga, Eastern Burkina Faso, to demand “more security,” three days after a deadly attack on a neighbouring town whose death toll remains unknown. “SOS,” “We also have the right to life,” and “What is our fault for being abandoned?” could be read on the numerous signs of the demonstrators, who walked the streets of Diapaga, in the province of Tapoa. On Sunday, suspected jihadists attacked the town of Partiaga, in this province, killing several people, according to residents and a security source. According to residents, the Burkinabe armed forces abandoned the town before the attack. Wednesday’s demonstration aims to “denounce the inaction of the authorities during the Partiaga tragedy and demand protection and more security for all,” according to one of the protesters, Issa Lankoandé.