The most important developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Six days a week.
Rising oil prices keep pushing up costs for Africa's fuel importers: Brent crude jumped about 5% to around $105 a barrel on 8 October after new attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. In the Central African Republic, civil society groups on 8 October called a stay-away for 12 October against a fuel price rise to 1,150 CFA francs a litre for petrol and 1,400 for diesel. Uganda's shilling fell past 4,000 to the dollar for the first time this week, according to Bloomberg, while bus and taxi fares in Eswatini have risen by up to 38%. Exporters such as the Republic of Congo gain revenue, but importers face weaker currencies, faster inflation and protests.
Credit ratings are improving across sub-Saharan Africa: on 7 October Moody's turned its outlook for the region's governments to positive, citing falling debt and borrowing needs. Eight of the 25 sovereigns it rates, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Angola and Zambia, now have positive outlooks, against four negative ones: Mauritius, Gabon, Mali and Senegal. The agency expects government debt to fall from 62.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 to 56.6% in 2027, with Zambia and Ethiopia seeing the largest declines. Upgrades would lower borrowing costs for governments returning to Eurobond markets, although Moody's names high interest bills, weak revenue and a renewed rise in inflation as risks.
Mozambique's government on 8 October set out a plan to settle arrears of up to 81.3 billion meticais ($1.27 billion), including 38.9 billion meticais in unpaid bills to suppliers. Finance Minister Carla Louveira said old debts will be validated within 90 days, small suppliers will receive 6 billion meticais a year, and no spending will be allowed without budget cover. Wages and debt service absorb 86% of monthly revenue, and the government is negotiating a new loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which plans another mission in November. Clearing arrears would ease cash shortages for local firms, while tighter spending controls are likely conditions for IMF support.
Zambia's installed generating capacity has reached 4,722 megawatts (MW), up from 3,777 MW in 2024 and nearly twice peak demand of about 2,400 MW, energy ministry figures presented on 8 October show. Solar capacity rose from 178 MW to 1,028 MW, passing the 2026 target, after a drought in 2024 cut hydropower output and caused long power cuts. President Hakainde Hichilema warned that transmission and distribution lag behind new generation. A planned $300 million line from Kalumbila to Kolwezi, backed by a Congolese sovereign fund, Trafigura and the investor Gridworks, would carry up to 550 MW to the copper mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Grid investment will decide how much of the surplus Zambia can sell.
Burkina Faso's cabinet on 8 October adopted a bill banning the privatisation of strategic state companies and allowing the state to take stakes in any company it deems strategic, together with the 2027 budget bill. The budget plans revenue of 4,220 billion CFA francs ($7.5 billion), up 13% on the revised 2026 forecast, and spending of 4,839 billion, leaving a deficit of 2.9% of GDP. The government raised its 2026 growth forecast to 6% on higher gold output and approved import rules to protect local makers of soap, detergent and tomato paste. The measures extend the military government's drive for state control of the economy, which has already taken over several gold mines, and may deter private investors.
Niger's petrol supply gap keeps widening: the shortfall reached 196.6 million litres in the first eight months of 2026, against 159.7 million litres in all of 2025 and 47.3 million in 2024. Petroleum Minister Hamadou Tini presented the figures to the transitional advisory council on 5 October, adding that diesel has also moved into a deficit of 52.6 million litres this year. The Soraz refinery in Zinder, with capacity of 20,000 barrels a day, produces mostly diesel, while demand has recovered and fuel flows to border areas. The gap forces Niger to import more fuel at high world prices, straining the state distributor Sonidep and the budget; the minister said the figures do not automatically point to fraud.
Moove, a vehicle-financing company founded in Lagos and backed by Uber, said on 8 October that it will end its Nigerian operations after six years. Eligible drivers will receive full ownership of their vehicles, worth more than 35 billion naira (about $26 million), and payments due from 1 October are waived. The exit comes about a month after Uber left Nigeria; Moove's co-founder Ladi Delano said Uber had been the main platform supporting its Nigerian model. Drivers gain their cars outright, while the two departures reduce competition in Nigeria's ride-hailing and car-financing market.
