Daily Watch – Namibia elects first female leader, PenCom lifts suspension on commercial papers

The Senate has approved the medium-term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper (MTEF/FSP) ahead of the 2025 budget proposal consideration. The upper legislative chamber approved the documents on Tuesday, after Sani Musa, chairman of the finance committee, presented a report on the MTEF/FSP. Also, the senate approved the expenditure framework with a total spending of  ₦47.9 trillion for 2025 and a new borrowing plan of  ₦9.22 trillion, constituting both domestic and foreign borrowings. The lawmakers also approved the framework with an exchange rate of  ₦1,400 per dollar and the oil price benchmark of $75, $76.2, and $75.3 per barrel and daily oil production output of 2.06 million, 2.10 million, and 2.35 million barrels for the years 2025, 2026, and 2027 respectively. 

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has lifted its suspension on investment in commercial papers by licensed pension fund administrators (LPFAs). The development comes more than one month after PenCom suspended investments in commercial papers due to an unestablished regulatory framework by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). The PenCom had warned the LPFAs to desist from investing in the affected portfolio pending the provision of guidelines on the issuance of commercial papers by the SEC. In its Tuesday statement, “PenCom has noted that SEC has developed draft rules and an amendment to rule 8 (Exemptions) to regulate the issuance of Commercial Papers by its regulated entities.” 

Data from the Bank of Ghana (BoG), shows a significant rise in mobile money transactions. Between September and October 2024, mobile money transactions surged from 705 million to 728 million. This increase corresponded to a rise in transaction value, which climbed from GH¢284.9 billion to GH¢298.6 billion. However, the mobile money float balance—funds held in accounts—fell slightly, from GH¢25.1 billion to GH¢24.2 billion over the same period. Meanwhile, the government again missed its treasury bills target by a massive GH¢2.262 billion as liquidity remains tight in the money market. This represented an undersubscription of 37.09%. According to the Bank of Ghana’s auction results, the government got GH¢3.83 billion from the sale of the short-term instruments, against a target of GH¢6.098 billion.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party has been elected president and will be the country’s first female leader, results released by the country’s electoral commission showed on Tuesday. Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is the current vice president. Her victory will extend SWAPO’s 34 years in power since it led Namibia to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. She received roughly 57% of valid votes in the presidential race, according to a breakdown given by the Electoral Commission of Namibia. Nandi-Ndaitwah needed to secure more than 50% of the votes to secure a win. “The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said after being declared president-elect. Her main challenger in this election was Panduleni Itula from the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party, who came second with roughly 26% of votes. The IPC has said it will challenge the results in court, calling the electoral process “deeply flawed.”