<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3333" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/3DW6LEO47VMC3CWA77J2OKJYYU-1.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-573919"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The logo of British multinational oil and gas company Shell is displayed during the LNG 2023 energy trade show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, (Reuters) &#8211; Shell will write down around $400 million over an oil discovery offshore Namibia that it deemed commercially unviable in a blow to the southern African country&#8217;s efforts to become a crude producer.



Shell told Reuters that discovered oil and gas resources in offshore block PEL39 in Namibia &#8220;cannot currently be confirmed for commercial development.&#8221;



Shell and its partners, QatarEnergy and Namibia&#8217;s national oil company, first discovered hydrocarbon in block PEL39 in 2022, which together with another discovery TotalEnergies made in a nearby block sparked huge global interest in Namibia which has no oil and gas production.



Shell has drilled nine wells in the licence over the past three years, making several other discoveries.



More recently, Portuguese oil company Galp also made a major discovery in a different offshore licence.



But the British company encountered technical and geological difficulties for the development of the resources.



&#8220;While we recognise that extracting the discovered resources presents challenges, the extensive data collected shows that there remain opportunities. Together with our partners, we are continuing to explore potential commercial pathways to development, while actively looking for further exploration opportunities in Namibia,&#8221; Shell said in a statement on Thursday.



CEO Wael Sawan told analysts on Oct. 31 that Namibia&#8217;s acreage was &#8220;very challenging,&#8221; and that the lower permeability of the rock made extracting oil and gas harder.



Sources told Reuters that the offshore discoveries also had a high natural gas content, further complicating their development.



Namibia&#8217;s Ministry of Mines and Energy said in a statement on Thursday that Shell&#8217;s decision will not significantly impact Namibia&#8217;s oil and gas development.



&#8220;It is not a setback. We are positive that the remaining potential of PEL39 and other exploration campaigns will translate into commercial developments,&#8221; the ministry said.



Galp, Chevron, Rhino Resources and Azule Energy, a joint venture between Italy&#8217;s Eni and BP, are all planning to drill exploration wells in Namibia this year. TotalEnergies plans to make a final investment decision on the development of its Venus discovery by year-end.



Shell said in a trading update ahead of fourth quarter results on Jan. 30 that it expects to take an exploration write-off of around $400 million, without providing details.



It will take another $300 million write-off related mainly to exploration licences in Colombia, the company added.



(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Sandra Maler)

3DW6LEO47VMC3CWA77J2OKJYYU

Shell writes down Namibia oil discovery in blow to country

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_IIYWQDB4WFNKFJIYVD4GQSNLGM-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-573699" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_IIYWQDB4WFNKFJIYVD4GQSNLGM-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_IIYWQDB4WFNKFJIYVD4GQSNLGM-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_IIYWQDB4WFNKFJIYVD4GQSNLGM-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_IIYWQDB4WFNKFJIYVD4GQSNLGM-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_IIYWQDB4WFNKFJIYVD4GQSNLGM-1.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A local farmer sprays a pesticide on her maize field in Chikwawa District, Malawi March 19, 2018. REUTERS/Eldson Chagara/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



CHIKWAWA, Malawi, Jan 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Maxwell Nsona stood in the dried-out bed of the Nthumba River in Malawi&#8217;s southern Chikwawa district and recalled how this wide ribbon of footprint-studded sand turned into a raging torrent during heavy rains a decade ago.



The fear is that this could happen again as a country brought to its knees by southern Africa&#8217;s worst drought in decades braces for a rainy season that meteorologists say could bring widespread flooding and landslides.



People, animals and the very land across huge swathes of southern Africa have been depleted and desiccated with millions of people going hungry and economies faltering.



The drought has been fuelled by El Niño, a climate phenomenon that can exacerbate drought or storms &#8211; weather conditions that are made more likely by climate change.



Rain is desperately needed in Malawi, but with deliverance from drought comes danger and that is because the impending La Niña weather phenomenon, which involves the cooling of ocean surface temperatures, could bring increased rainfall, but it also threatens flooding, soil erosion and landslides.



It is not as though Nsona and his fellow farmers from Pende village have been idle either.



They have done what they can to prepare for what they know is coming in a country that regularly experiences the deadly, and ever more frequent, pendulum swing from life-threatening droughts to devastating floods.



For example, they built dykes along the river and reinforced the banks with rocks and by planting trees and other vegetation.



&#8220;We made a resolution to find a solution after floods had displaced a chief and killed three people almost 10 years ago,&#8221; said the 50-year-old father-of-three, who has lived in the region his whole life and grows maize, millet and cotton.



&#8220;We tried to redirect it back to its course using hoes and shovels &#8230; We also built a 150-metre dyke using an excavator, but it was washed away when cyclones Ana and &#8230; Freddy hit this area,&#8221; he said, explaining that two relief agencies helped them with the construction.



Cyclone Ana hit Malawi in 2022, and Freddy, one of the deadliest storms to hit the continent in two decades, ripped through Malawi just over a year later.



Another storm season has already begun, with devastating consequences.



On Dec. 14, peoples&#8217; cell phones beeped with a warning from the Department Of Disaster Management Affairs: Cyclone Chido was on its way and could bring torrential rains and flooding.



The message, sent in local languages, told people to head for the hills, if they could.



Just two days later, after laying waste to the French overseas territory of Mayotte off Africa&#8217;s east coast, Chido barrelled into Malawi, killing at least 13 people, destroying homes and leaving many communities without food, water and healthcare.



ROTTING MANGOES



Malawi declared a state of disaster in March 2024 as the drought decimated crops, leaving around 5.7 million people &#8211; 20% of the population &#8211; facing acute food insecurity.



At the end of the year, rains started in some parts of Malawi, a country where more than 80% of people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, but these downpours have also caused problems among people who have been left with few resources as crops wilted in the fields.



In November, heavy winds and rain struck Namwera, an area in Malawi&#8217;s old capital Zomba, damaging homes and blowing the drought-resistant mangoes that people rely on for food off the trees.



In the nearby district of Machinga, which was not affected by the storm, Hanna Wethiwa, 52, was busy picking fresh mangoes from trees outside her home in Lumera village.



She cut them up and boiled them over an outside fire before adding a powdered juice, which costs around 700 Malawi kwacha ($0.4077), as two of her six children waited eagerly nearby for their meal.



Apart from mangoes, Wethiwa has been relying on wild yams and grass seeds to survive, even though there are reports of people dying from food poisoning after eating wild tubers.



&#8220;This year has been the hardest because all of our crops dried due to the drought. We started eating sorghum-like grass seeds, which we fetched from the bush,&#8221; the mother-of-seven told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.



&#8220;We dry them, pound and cook porridge, but they did not last long because every household was relying on them.&#8221;



CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP



At November&#8217;s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, Malawi&#8217;s Vice President Michael Usi, who was also representing the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, told delegates climate change &#8220;is not a distant abstraction&#8221;.



He said floods, droughts, and unpredictable weather patterns were disrupting lives in Malawi and threatening the well-being of future generations.



&#8220;For a country like Malawi, the consequences are not only economic, but also deeply inhumane. The catastrophe compromises food security, public health and infrastructure development, exacerbates poverty and undermines our hard-won development gains,&#8221; he said.



Although Malawi&#8217;s greenhouse gas emissions are among the lowest in the world, Usi said the country was committed to reducing them further. He also said Loss and Damage funding must be made available to vulnerable countries.



Countries at the COP29 summit adopted a $300-billion-a-year global finance target to help poorer nations cope with impacts of climate change, but those countries said it was woefully insufficient.



In the meantime, officials in Malawi must do the best they can. Like Daniel Mandala, the district disaster risk management officer for Nsanje in southern Malawi, where areas around the Shire River are prone to flooding.



He is busy preparing for coming months by reviewing the district disaster contingency plan, which includes all emergency activities ranging from preparedness, response and recovery.



&#8220;Prevention is better than cure hence the (Nsanje district) council is also warning communities to relocate to safe places before the rains reach their climax,&#8221; he said, adding that people were being urged to take weather warnings seriously.



Mandala said flooding and storms had become more frequent and intense in Nsanje over the last decade.



&#8220;It is not necessarily difficult to manage annual disasters as we already know the areas to be affected and the estimated number of households to be affected,&#8221; he said.



&#8220;The only challenge is the magnitude of the flooding, which has increased, and the reluctance of some communities to move to upland when early warnings are issued in good time.&#8221;



($1 = 1,717.0200 kwacha)



(Reporting by Charle Pensulo; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile and Jon Hemming)

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In parched Malawi rains promise deliverance but also danger

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1200" height="694" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_2RDQ23M7XBMRNLWULMA2ULYTGU.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-573616"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Royal Dutch Shell logo is seen at a Shell petrol station in London, January 31, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Shell SHEL.L will write down around $400 million over an oil discovery offshore Namibia that it deemed commercially unviable in a blow to the southern African country&#8217;s efforts to become a crude producer.



Shell&nbsp;told Reuters that discovered oil and gas resources in offshore block PEL39 in Namibia &#8220;cannot currently be confirmed for commercial development.&#8221;



Shell and its partners QatarEnergy and Namibia&#8217;s national oil company first discovered hydrocarbon in block PEL39 in 2022, which together with another discovery TotalEnergies&nbsp;TTEF.PAmade in a nearby block sparked huge global interest in the southern African country which has no oil and gas production.



Shell drilled nine wells in the licence over the past three years, making several other discoveries.



More recently, Portuguese oil company Galp also made a major discovery in a different offshore licence.



But the British company encountered technical and geological difficulties for the development of the resources.



CEO Wael Sawan told analysts on Oct. 31 that Namibia&#8217;s acreage was &#8220;very challenging,&#8221; and that the lower permeability of the rock made extracting oil and gas harder.



Sources told Reuters that the offshore discoveries also had a high natural gas content, further complicating their development.



The company said in a trading update ahead of fourth quarter results on Jan. 30 that it expects to take an exploration write off of around $400 million, without providing details.



It will take another $300 million write off related mainly to exploration licences in Colombia, the company said.



(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Chris Reese and Nick Zieminski)

https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_2RDQ23M7XBMRNLWULMA2ULYTGU

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="427" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FHI2NVCH5ZJB7MSERIE6PSCJPE.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-573381"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A woman displays a selection of Kwacha notes, the national currency and money used in Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Namukolo Siyumbwa/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LUSAKA, Jan 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zambia&#8217;s kwacha&nbsp;ZMW=&nbsp;has hit a series of record lows since the start of the year as a severe drought keeps the pressure firmly on the copper-producing Southern African country&#8217;s economy.



Analysts had hoped Zambia&#8217;s emergence from default early last year would have helped sentiment, but the currency is now roughly 3% below where it was before its debt restructuring deal and has fallen nearly 15% over the last six months.



It was trading at 27.95 per dollar on Wednesday, just above the latest record low of 28.05 on Tuesday.



&#8220;Zambia is in a state of severe drought, and this appears to manifest in currency weakness as the hydroelectrically dependent country faces an industrial slowdown,&#8221; Access Bank Zambia said in a research note.



&#8220;Mining companies are being forced to reduce copper production, a key foreign revenue earner,&#8221; it added.



The severe effects of El Niño caused the worst dry spell in southern Africa in a century last year, devastating crop production and forcing Zambia&#8217;s authorities to cut electricity generation on the Kariba dam, the biggest source of electricity.



The kwacha plunged when Zambia defaulted on $11 billion worth of external debt in November 2020, but saw a brief 20% jump last February when it became clear its restructuring efforts were going to be successful.



One financial analyst in Lusaka said some companies had sold dollars during Wednesday&#8217;s session in preparation for local tax payments next week, offering some support to the kwacha.



(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Marc Jones and Christina Fincher)

FHI2NVCH5ZJB7MSERIE6PSCJPE

Zambia’s currency stuck at record low as drought persists

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="455" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/V3RZUHSNTJNKLBFQBJIVO57VX4.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-573325"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Faberge emerald gemstone Emotion ring is seen at the Gemfields office in central London, November 17, 2014/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Jan 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Coloured gemstone producer Gemfields&nbsp;GEMGE.L,&nbsp;GMLJ.J&nbsp;has asked the Zambian government to remove a recently re-introduced 15% export tax on emeralds to avoid hurting the sector.



The southern African country, the world&#8217;s second largest emerald producer after Colombia, re-introduced the tax on Jan.1, after it was suspended in 2019.



&#8220;The company will engage with the Zambian government to seek the re-introduction of the suspension of this export duty or to remove it from the legislation given the impact on sector



sustainability and investment attractiveness,&#8221; Gemfields said in a statement.



The Guernsey-based miner and marketer of coloured gemstones operates the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia, one of the biggest in the world. Gemfields also owns the Faberge jewellery brand and a ruby mine in Mozambique.



Kagem paid an effective 31% of its revenues to the Zambian government in the form of mineral royalty, corporation tax and dividends, the company said in 2023. Gemfields owns 75% of Kagem, with the government of Zambia holding the balance.



The Kagem mine has reported cumulative emerald sales revenue of $1.1 billion between 2009 and 2023, according to Gemfields.



(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Christina Fincher)

V3RZUHSNTJNKLBFQBJIVO57VX4

Gemfields asks Zambia to reverse emerald export tax

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="507" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-59.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422969" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-59.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-59-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-59-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-59-768x487.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A car drives past a construction site of the Central Business District (CBD) in the capital Gaborone, Botswana, September 21, 2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



GABORONE, Dec 6 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Botswana&#8217;s economy could shrink 1.7% this year, the first contraction since the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly because of a prolonged downturn in the global diamond market, finance minister Ndaba Gaolathe said.



In February, when it presented its budget, the southern African country&#8217;s government forecast 4.2% growth in 2024 but weakness in the diamond market since late last year has hurt demand for Botswana&#8217;s key export.



Debswana, Botswana&#8217;s joint venture with De Beers, lowered its 2024 diamond production guidance by about 6 million carats to 17.9 million carats. De Beers diamond sales were down 40% in the first nine months of 2024 from the year earlier period.



Gaolathe told lawmakers on Thursday that the contraction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year could be greater than 1.7% should additional risks materialise, according to a copy of his remarks sent to reporters by the finance ministry.



Those risks include further disruptions in the diamond market, the impact of a severe regional drought and defects at a major power plant.



The budget deficit is now seen at 6.75% of GDP, compared to the estimate of 2.8% given in February, Gaolathe said.



Like other southern African countries Botswana has been affected by the worst regional drought in decades, which has sapped economic growth in neighbouring Namibia and Zimbabwe.



Botswana&#8217;s central bank said on Thursday that the economy would contract in 2024 but did not say by how much.



(Reporting by Brian Benza; Writing by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning, Kirsten Donovan)

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Botswana economy could shrink 1.7% this year, finance minister says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3333" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/UF4K7PHXAZNURIYHXZYZ7KQQXA.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-562468"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Diamonds are seen during an exhibition in Gaborone, Botswana, November 23, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



GABORONE, Dec 5 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Botswana&#8217;s central bank left its main lending rate unchanged on Thursday, saying the economy was expected to operate below capacity and not generate demand-driven inflationary pressures because of a slump in the global diamond market.



The Bank of Botswana held its Monetary Policy Rate at 1.90% for the second policy meeting in a row. The rate is based on a seven-day instrument.



&#8220;The economy will contract this year primarily due to the downturn in the global diamond market and moderately recover next year,&#8221; central bank Governor Cornelius Dekop told a news conference.



The southern African country&#8217;s economy is largely dependent on the export of diamonds, and declining earnings from the precious stone have limited government spending.



The central bank also lowered its primary reserve requirement to 0% from 2.5% due to significantly reduced liquidity in the banking system.



Dekop said inflation was expected to average 2.9% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025, compared with forecasts of 2.8% and 3.1% given at the bank&#8217;s previous monetary policy meeting in November.



The Bank of Botswana prefers inflation between 3% and 6% over the medium term. Annual inflation stood at 1.6% in October.



(Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Writing by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning, Kirsten Donovan)

UF4K7PHXAZNURIYHXZYZ7KQQXA

Botswana holds main interest rate as diamond slump saps economy

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="569" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LIDX3QHRFJO2VGB2V5J6GAXBSI-820x569.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-561959" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LIDX3QHRFJO2VGB2V5J6GAXBSI-820x569.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LIDX3QHRFJO2VGB2V5J6GAXBSI-300x208.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LIDX3QHRFJO2VGB2V5J6GAXBSI-130x90.jpg 130w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LIDX3QHRFJO2VGB2V5J6GAXBSI-768x533.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LIDX3QHRFJO2VGB2V5J6GAXBSI-1536x1066.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LIDX3QHRFJO2VGB2V5J6GAXBSI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)&#8217;s head office in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Dec 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s central bank said on Wednesday that its Monetary Policy Committee&nbsp;(MPC)&nbsp;had met and decided to leave its policy rate unchanged at 35%.



The bank said in a statement that the MPC wanted to maintain tight policy to anchor inflation expectations.



In September, the central bank allowed the country&#8217;s recently-launched currency Zimbabwe Gold to fall over 40% and hiked its policy rate to 35%.



The devaluation caused a sharp spike in inflation in October, when prices rose by 37.2% month-on-month in local currency terms. November&#8217;s month-on-month inflation rate slowed to 11.7%.



Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in a budget speech last week that economic growth would accelerate next year as the southern African country recovers from a severe drought.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Kim Coghill)

A general view of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s head office in Harare

Zimbabwe central bank keeps policy rate at 35%

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="696" height="441" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_6346.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-561585" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_6346.jpeg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_6346-300x190.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_6346-142x90.jpeg 142w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Namibia&#8217;s Vice President and SWAPO presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah gestures after casting her vote in the elections in Windhoek, Namibia, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Noah Tjijenda/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



WINDHOEK, Dec 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Namibia&#8217;s ruling SWAPO party led both the presidential and parliamentary races on Tuesday, a week after voting took place in an election marred by technical challenges.



SWAPO, which has governed the southern African nation since leading it to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, fielded Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its presidential candidate. If victorious, she would become Namibia&#8217;s first female leader.



Results were initially expected a few days after the Nov. 27 poll, but voting was extended to Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 at several polling stations after some voters were unable to cast their ballots on election day due to technical difficulties and ballot paper shortages.



At 0636 GMT, the electoral commission&#8217;s election portal showed Nandi-Ndaitwah was leading the presidential race with 54.82% of the vote after 65.57% of votes had been counted.



To win the presidency, a candidate must secure over 50% of votes, failing which a run-off is required.



Namibians vote separately for members of the National Assembly, and SWAPO led the ballot with 56.38% of the 66.39% of the votes tallied.



Opposition candidate Panduleni Itula and his Independent Patriots for Change trailed a distant second, with 28.09% of the presidential vote and 19.23% of the vote for the National Assembly.



The timeline for the final result announcement was unclear.



(Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa; writing by Tannur Anders; editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Lincoln Feast.)

IMG_6346

Namibia’s ruling party takes lead in election results

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1823067415-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-561385" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1823067415-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1823067415-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1823067415-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1823067415-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1823067415-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1823067415-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with President Joao Lourenco of Angola during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on November 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



LUANDA, Dec 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;U.S. President Joe&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;landed in&nbsp;Angola&nbsp;on Monday for a visit focused on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3N00D4&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S.-backed railway project</a>&nbsp;and on the legacy of slavery, but his decision to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS0N3HW02C&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pardon his son Hunter&nbsp;Biden</a>&nbsp;threatened to overshadow the official agenda.



The visit fulfils a promise to visit Sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency and aims to bolster the Lobito Corridor project, which links resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the&nbsp;Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean.



At stake are vast supplies of minerals like copper and cobalt, which are found in Congo and are a key component of batteries and other electronics. China is the top player in Congo, which has become an increasing concern to Washington.



China signed an agreement with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AP8N3JL034&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tanzania and Zambia</a>&nbsp;in September to revive a rival railway line to Africa&#8217;s eastern coast.



&#8220;It&#8217;s going to create incredible economic opportunities here on the continent,&#8221;&nbsp;Biden&#8217;s national security spokesperson John Kirby said, speaking about the Lobito Corridor during a briefing to reporters on Air Force One during the flight to Luanda.



He said&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;would unveil additional commitments to the project during his visit, as well as to health, climate and clean energy programs.



However, reporters on the flight had more questions about the Hunter&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;pardon than they did about investment in Africa. The president&#8217;s spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre responded to them mostly by repeating Joe&nbsp;Biden&#8217;s own statement on the issue.



The president, whose term in office finishes in January, flew out of Washington shortly after pardoning his son, who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and been convicted on firearms-related charges.



Biden&nbsp;himself did not answer reporters&#8217; questions on the pardon during a brief refueling stop in the small island nation of Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa, earlier on Monday.



During his two-day visit to&nbsp;Angola,&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;is scheduled to meet with President Joao Lourenco and the Zambian leader President Hakainde Hichilema, and to tour the national slavery museum and various facilities in Lobito.



Partly funded by a U.S. loan, the Lobito Corridor would make it faster and easier to export critical minerals towards the United States, which has been widely seen as a way to divert some of those resources from China.



&#8220;There is no Cold War on the continent. We&#8217;re not asking countries to choose between us and Russia and China,&#8221; Kirby said.



&#8220;We&#8217;re simply looking for reliable, sustainable, verifiable investment opportunities that the people of&nbsp;Angola&nbsp;and the people of the continent can rely on, because too many countries have relied on spotty investment opportunities and are now racked by debt,&#8221; he said.



The Lobito project is backed by global commodities trader Trafigura, Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil&nbsp;MOTA.LS&nbsp;and railway operator Vecturis. The U.S. Development Finance Corporation has provided a $550 million loan to refurbish the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) rail network from Lobito to Congo.



(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Chris Reese)

President Biden Meets With Angolan President Goncalves Lourenco At White House

Start of Biden’s visit to Angola overshadowed by son’s pardon

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3560" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-559717"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zimbabwe&#8217;s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube stands with a briefcase at the Parliament Building in Mt Hampden on the day he presents the 2024 National Budget, Harare, Zimbabwe November 30, 2023.REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Nov 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s government expects economic growth to accelerate to 6% in 2025 from 2% this year, helped by improved agricultural output and power generation as the country recovers from a severe drought, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Thursday.



Ncube added in a budget speech that the budget deficit was seen at 0.4% of gross domestic product next year versus 1.4% this year.



Like other countries in southern Africa, Zimbabwe&#8217;s economy was dealt a blow by an El Nino-induced drought which depressed food production and hydroelectric power supply.



Weaker lithium and platinum prices also weighed on its mining sector.



Ncube told lawmakers in parliament that the agriculture sector was projected to grow 12.8% in 2025 following a 15.0% contraction this year, while mining growth is seen accelerating to 5.6% next year from 2.3% in 2024.



Zimbabwe&#8217;s long-running currency problems persisted in 2024 as policymakers dumped the Zimdollar in April and replaced it with the ZiG, or Zimbabwe Gold, that has also slumped since its launch.



Ncube said without elaborating further that the government would next year seek to encourage greater acceptance of the ZiG by a sceptical public, who still use foreign currencies like the dollar for the bulk of local transactions.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono in Harare;Additional reporting by Tannur Anders and Bhargav Acharya in Johannesburg;Editing by Alexander Winning, Kirsten Donovan)

62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE

Zimbabwe sees 2025 growth rebound after this year’s drought

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3386" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/HUSJFCPJYBNIFPI5TQLV3BAP7A.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-559556"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A protester holds a machete and a saw near burning barricades during a &#8220;national shutdown&#8221; against the election outcome, at Luis Cabral township in Maputo, Mozambique, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Nov 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The governments of the United States, Britain, Canada, Norway, and Switzerland on Wednesday jointly condemned the escalating violence against civilians in Mozambique, a southern African nation currently embroiled in weeks of post-election protests.



&#8220;We call on the Government of Mozambique to uphold the role of security forces to protect the people of Mozambique,&#8221; the countries said in a joint statement.



Public outrage has surged after last month&#8217;s disputed election results, which sparked protests from opposition supporters.



The opposition is contesting what they say is a fraudulent victory by Frelimo, the party that has governed Mozambique since 1975.



The election result saw Frelimo extend its five-decade rule with its candidate, Daniel Chapo, succeeding President Filipe Nyusi to become Mozambique&#8217;s fifth president since its independence from Portugal.



Footage obtained by Reuters and shared on social media on Wednesday showed an armoured vehicle ploughing through a crowd of protesters in the capital, Maputo, hitting a woman.



In response to the incident, Mozambique&#8217;s army released a statement expressing deep regret over the accident, saying that the vehicle that was part of a properly marked convoy &#8220;accidentally ran over a citizen&#8221;.



The embassies of the five countries have called for an investigation into the incident.



Local monitoring group Plataforma Decide said last week at least 67 people were killed due to the unrest between mid-October and mid-November.



(Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Bate Felix and Sandra Maler)

HUSJFCPJYBNIFPI5TQLV3BAP7A

US, Britain and others condemn escalating violence in Mozambique

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1080" height="721" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/JYU723U4DNP4BBHG4FOIPPB3UQ.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-559182"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">amibia&#8217;s President Nangolo Mbumba greets presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia&#8217;s ruling party SWAPO, at a rally ahead of the upcoming elections in Windhoek, Namibia, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Noah Tjijenda/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



WINDHOEK, Nov 27 (Reuters) &#8211; Namibians go to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new president and parliament in what could be a tough election for the ruling SWAPO party, which is seeking to extend its 34-year rule.



SWAPO has governed the southern African nation since leading it to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. Its presidential candidate, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, would be the country&#8217;s first female leader if she wins.



Political analysts say that high unemployment, inequality and corruption allegations have led to disenchantment with the ruling party, especially among youth, but that longstanding loyalty to SWAPO among older and rural voters could help it pull through.



&#8220;It&#8217;s the most tense election since independence,&#8221; said Henning Melber, an associate at The Nordic Africa Institute and a longtime SWAPO member, who said that for the first time, he sees a possibility it could lose.



&#8220;The degree of frustration is really high.&#8221;



Leading the pack of 14 opposition candidates is dentist-turned-politician Panduleni Itula, who came in second in the last election in 2019.



Namibia is currently led by interim president Nangolo Mbumba, who took over in February after former president Hage Geingob died but is not running.



To be elected president, a candidate must get more than 50% of votes, otherwise there will be a second round of voting.



Namibians vote separately for the National Assembly.



About 1.4 million people are registered to vote in the sparsely populated country of around 3 million, according to the electoral commission. Results are expected within a few days.



(Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

JYU723U4DNP4BBHG4FOIPPB3UQ

Namibia votes with ruling party seeking to extend 34-year rule

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3338" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/FICYWLXYY5O65HYMVPAS2YUHJ4-reuters.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-558451"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">SWAPO presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah attends a rally ahead of the upcoming elections in Windhoek, Namibia , November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Noah Tjijenda</figcaption></figure>



WINDHOEK, Nov 25 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Namibians will vote on Wednesday in what is expected to be the most competitive election yet for the ruling SWAPO party, which has governed the southern African nation for 34 years.



If SWAPO candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah wins, she will become the country&#8217;s first female president. A SWAPO loss would mean the first transition of power to a new party since Namibia gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.



High unemployment, corruption allegations and inequality have eroded SWAPO&#8217;s support, which fell to 56% in the 2019 presidential election from 87% in 2014. There are no reliable polls on how it might fare this time.



The frontrunner among 14 opposition candidates is Panduleni Itula, a former dentist who won 29% of votes in 2019 after splitting from SWAPO and now leads a new political party, the Independent Patriots for Change.



Namibians vote separately for members of parliament and for the president, who needs more than 50% of votes to win.



&#8220;This will be the most challenging and significant election after the first one of 1989,&#8221; Rui Tyitende, a lecturer at the University of Namibia, said.



He said the outcome would largely hinge on the turnout of young voters, who make up more than half the electorate and are more likely to back the opposition.



&#8220;Young people are disproportionately affected by unemployment, poverty and consumed with a deep sense of hopelessness,&#8221; Tyitende said.



&#8220;If they do not pitch, SWAPO will win.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-independence-era-parties-challenged">INDEPENDENCE-ERA PARTIES CHALLENGED</h2>



Namibia is currently led by interim president Nangolo Mbumba, who took over in February after the death of former president Hage Geingob but is not contesting the election.



Namibia is an upper-middle-income country but has high levels of poverty and inequality, according to the World Bank.



A 2021 government report found that 43% of the population were living in &#8220;multidimensional poverty&#8221;, a measure that takes into account income as well as access to education and public services among other factors.



Namibia ranks second in the world for income inequality after neighbouring South Africa, World Bank figures show. Both countries spent decades under white minority rule.



SWAPO has struggled to distance itself from corruption scandals, although Nandi-Ndaitwah has never been implicated. Two former ministers are still on trial in the &#8220;fishrot&#8221; case, a major bribery scandal that surfaced in 2019.



&#8220;There is a possibility that the ruling party SWAPO could face a fate similar to the ANC in South Africa or the BDP in Botswana,&#8221; political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah said.



South Africa&#8217;s African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority in May and was forced into a coalition after 30 years in power, while the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) lost an October election which ended its 58-year rule.



Across southern Africa, independence-era parties are contending with a younger population that does not remember the liberation struggle and is more likely to judge them on their record of service delivery and job creation, analysts say.



On SWAPO&#8217;s side are its deep roots in rural areas, well-established party machinery and the legacy of its fight against apartheid which still resonates with some voters, Kamwanyah said.



Election observers have generally said past polls in Namibia were fair and credible.



(Additional reporting and writing by Nellie Peyton, Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Andrew Heavens)

FICYWLXYY5O65HYMVPAS2YUHJ4 reuters

Namibia to vote in toughest election yet for ruling party

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3454" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Q6WVUVN6WZNWTDJRVRCBW4TRQI.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-558403"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Emmerson Mnangagwa delivers his State of the Nation address at the State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, April 3,2024.REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Nov 25 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s president hosted creditors and finance executives on Monday to discuss ambitious goals to clear debt arrears and restructure $12.7 billion in external debt, as the country aims to eventually tap international capital markets for the first time in more than two decades.



The Southern African nation&#8217;s debt pile accounts for 81% of gross domestic product, and clearing it will be a tough challenge for a country that has faced numerous financial crises in recent decades, from repeated bouts of hyperinflation to multiple unsuccessful attempts to launch new currency regimes.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa told the conference that Zimbabwe is negotiating a Staff Monitored Program (SMP) with the International Monetary Fund.



Securing an SMP would set the stage for required policy reforms, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina told the conference.



&#8220;That is the key,&#8221; he said, adding that AfDB stood ready to offer financial support to cushion Zimbabwe&#8217;s economy against potential adverse effects of reforms.



Adesina said the AfDB also had money available from a special fund to help settle Zimbabwe&#8217;s arrears. He did not provide any figures.



Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said timelines would become clear by mid-2025, once Zimbabwe secured bridge financing commitments from lenders to help clear the arrears.



Analysts say paying off arrears is essential for an economy that currently cannot even access money from the IMF &#8211; the lender of last resort.



&#8220;The issue of arrears is a major albatross around our neck,&#8221; said Prosper Chitambara, a Harare-based independent economist.



&#8220;Once the arrears are cleared it will be cheaper to borrow and easier to attract investment.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unsustainable-situation">UNSUSTAINABLE SITUATION</h2>



Getting on track with bilateral creditors – and clearing arrears with the AfDB, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank – is necessary to unlock funding for Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket that now struggles to feed its own people.



&#8220;The IMF is currently precluded from providing financial support to Zimbabwe&#8221; due to an unsustainable debt situation and external arrears, an IMF spokesperson said.



The IMF SMP that Zimbabwe is targeting does not include financial assistance or require approval by the Fund&#8217;s executive board.



But government officials say it would help Zimbabwe demonstrate a return to sound economic policies. The government already missed its initial goal to have an SMP in place by April, as well as a second deadline last month.



This has limited IMF engagement to technical assistance, such as budget preparation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-debt-and-default">DEBT AND DEFAULT</h2>



The United Nations estimates 24 out of Africa&#8217;s 35 low-income countries are at high risk of debt distress, and since 2020, Zambia and Chad have finalised debt reworks. Ghana is wrapping up its own debt rework and Ethiopia is in the midst of a restructuring.



But Zimbabwe is no ordinary default. While 45% of its burden is outstanding debt, the rest is arrears and penalties, according to a 2023 government presentation.



The Africa Legal Support, an AfDB facility that helps countries deal with debt distress, is paying for two firms &#8211; the Global Sovereign Advisory Company and law firm Kepler-Karst &#8211; to help advise the government, Ncube said ahead of the conference.



Zimbabwe has only been paying token amounts to debtors, including 16 bilateral creditors, Ncube said, but gave no further details.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono and Duncan Miriri; Editing by Libby George and Susan Fenton)

Q6WVUVN6WZNWTDJRVRCBW4TRQI

Zimbabwe charts ambitious return to global finance at debt conference

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3495" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/PE4FFKBGVRIG3KXAM2ILG5AFKU.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-556585"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Namibia&#8217;s newly appointed President Nangolo Mbumba and his wife, Sustjie Mbumba embrace each other, following the death of Hage Geingob, in Windhoek, Namibia, February 4, 2024. REUTERS/Sharon Kavhu</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Nov 20 (Reuters) &#8211; Namibians are set to vote for a new president and parliament on Nov. 27, after Hage Geingob died and was replaced as president on a interim basis by his deputy, Nangolo Mbumba.



The election could mark a historic shift in the country&#8217;s political landscape if the ruling SWAPO party, in power since independence in 1990, loses control of the presidency or parliament for the first time.



The president is directly elected by voters and needs to garner more than 50% of votes to win. Support for SWAPO dropped from 87% in the presidential election in 2014 to 56% in 2019.



Here are the main candidates running for president:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-netumbo-nandi-ndaitwah">NETUMBO NANDI-NDAITWAH</h2>



Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, is also vice president of SWAPO and the party&#8217;s first female presidential candidate.



She joined SWAPO in the 1960s when the party fought for Namibia&#8217;s independence from apartheid South Africa. She served as SWAPO&#8217;s representative in central and eastern Africa after going into exile along with numerous party leaders.



After studying diplomacy in England, she returned to Namibia and has held various senior roles in SWAPO and government, including serving as a minister in portfolios of international relations, environment, and women&#8217;s affairs and child welfare.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-panduleni-itula">PANDULENI ITULA</h2>



Panduleni Itula is a 67-year-old politician who secured 29% of the presidential vote as an independent candidate in 2019 &#8212; the best any challenger has done against SWAPO.



He has since formed a new political party, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), which champions grassroots participatory democracy and anti-corruption. IPC also plans to contest parliamentary seats.



Itula was a SWAPO party youth leader during the fight for independence and was imprisoned by the apartheid regime. Post-release, he moved to England where he studied and practised as a dentist for over three decades before returning to Namibia in 2013.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mchenry-venaani">MCHENRY VENAANI</h2>



McHenry Venaani is leader of Namibia&#8217;s largest opposition party in parliament, the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), which holds 16 out of 96 elected seats.



Venaani, 47, studied law and became the country&#8217;s youngest member of parliament in 2003.



Despite the PDM strengthening its parliamentary presence in the 2019 election, Venaani came a distant third in the presidential race with only 5% of votes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bernadus-swartbooi">BERNADUS SWARTBOOI</h2>



Bernadus Swartbooi, 47, is the leader of the Landless People&#8217;s Movement (LPM), a progressive party advocating for land redistribution and restorative justice.



Swartbooi founded the LPM in 2017 after losing his job as deputy minister of land reform and leaving SWAPO.



LPM has four seats in parliament. Swartbooi won 3% of votes in the 2019 presidential election.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-job-amupanda">JOB AMUPANDA</h2>



Job Amupanda, 37, is a former SWAPO youth leader who fell out with the party and founded a leftist political movement called Affirmative Repositioning in 2014.



Like the LPM, the party focuses on land reform and redistribution of foreign-owned land.



Amupanda served as mayor of the capital, Windhoek, in 2021. He is also an associate professor of political science at the University of Namibia.



(Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Additional reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Alison Williams)

PE4FFKBGVRIG3KXAM2ILG5AFKU

Main candidates in Namibia’s presidential election

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="1245" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2J47EZ5UQBJOFPUZZQP3HAKCPE.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-554692"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Protesters run from police during a &#8220;national shutdown&#8221; against the election outcome, at Luis Cabral township in Maputo, Mozambique, November 7. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



MAPUTO, Nov 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Uber driver Rofino Fiel said the post-election protests that have convulsed Mozambique for weeks have been disastrous not only because of the running battles on the streets of Maputo &#8211; internet shutdowns are bleeding his business dry.



Like many working in small and medium-sized businesses, often in the informal sector, successive blackouts have cost him dear and there is little relief in sight as the protests over allegations of vote-rigging look set to continue.



&#8220;This is too much. We are having a very negative experience and per week it costs us a loss of 8,000 meticais ($126),&#8221; the 25-year-old told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.



&#8220;Our activity has come to a complete halt.&#8221;



Protests have escalated since election authorities said the Frelimo party had won the Oct. 9 vote with a landslide victory, extending its 49-year rule. More than 56% of Mozambique&#8217;s 17 million eligible voters abstained.



The results have been widely disputed, fuelling clashes between the police and protesters which rights groups and local hospitals say have killed at least 30 people. Many young people supported independent candidate Venancio Mondlane, who says the vote was rigged and has encouraged demonstrations.



Amnesty International has condemned the government&#8217;s &#8220;violent and widespread crackdown on human rights&#8221;, saying it is the worst suppression of protests in the country in years.



Civil society groups and international observers said the vote did not meet democratic standards, and the Constitutional Council has requested clarification from the electoral commission on discrepancies in the vote count.



Digital rights groups say that there have been at least five mobile internet shutdowns since Oct. 25, alongside social media shutdowns lasting several hours.



According to the constitution, the government can force mobile phone operators to shut down internet services in cases of national emergency but the government has not declared the current unrest a national emergency.



The #KeepItOn coalition, a global network of over 334 human rights organisations working to end internet shutdowns, urged Mozambique&#8217;s authorities to end the increasing use of shutdowns.



&#8220;Mozambican authorities&#8217; regular practice of shutting down the internet around elections and in times of political unrest must not be allowed to continue,&#8221; the coalition said in a statement on Nov. 7.



Mateus Magala, minister of transport and communications, said the recurrent internet restrictions were aimed at preventing the destruction of the country.



&#8220;When we see violations that jeopardise the integrity of all Mozambicans in the nation we have to act as such, so that our means of communication are not used for the destruction of the country,&#8221; he said on Sunday.



For Edson Chiado, who manages a real estate business in the centre of Maputo, the shutdowns are hurting his livelihood.



&#8220;I need the internet to work and make sales and, as it is, many things are at a standstill,&#8221; said the 34-year-old,&nbsp;who has worked in the property sector for 10 years.



&#8220;You always have to separate the internet, which is key to our economic life, from political matters.&#8221;



LOST CLIENTS



The shutdowns have affected a wide range of professionals from financial market operators, or traders, to website programmers, who generally work remotely.



A trader who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns said the internet outages had cost him as much as $100 dollars a day in recent weeks.



Americo Marime, owner of a tech start-up that does network analysis, management systems programming, and web page monitoring, said there were days when he was unable to meet deadlines and ended up losing some clients.



He said some of the web pages he monitors also suffered routine failures and he was unable to fix them.



&#8220;Even clients, some of whom are outside Mozambique, couldn&#8217;t contact me to report the problem &#8230; So, in short, the internet blockage stopped programmers&#8217; work,&#8221; said Marime.



Some people have tried to use Virtual Private Networks (VPN) or free WiFi to keep their businesses going but connection was very slow and there are only three places in Maputo where free WiFi is available.



Celio Lazaro, an activist who works on social justice and economic inclusion, said mobile phone operators should be held criminally responsible &#8220;for contributing to the limitation of citizens&#8217; rights&#8221;, as well as jeopardising the livelihoods of those who depend on the internet to work.



The country&#8217;s three mobile phone operators &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s Vodacom, and Mozambique&#8217;s Tmcel and Movitel &#8211; have sent messages to users saying the outages were beyond their control. When contacted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Vodacom and Movitel declined to comment while Tmcel did not immediately reply to a request for a comment.



&#8220;This (the blocking of the internet) is not helping to end the protests, but rather is intensifying popular dissatisfaction,&#8221; Lazaro told journalists on Monday during a press conference in Beira, in central Mozambique.



Even as internet services are gradually being restored, Mondlane has called for a new round of demonstrations across the country, meaning there could be more economic pain in a country where around 65% of the population live in poverty.



The president of the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique, Agostinho Vuma, said he was aware of the negative impact that the internet shutdowns were having on small businesses.



&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing we can do about it, but the situation does affect us,&#8221; he said.



($1 = 63.2700 meticais)



(Reporting by Samuel Come; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile and Ana Nicolaci da Costa.&nbsp;

Southern Africa

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Gemfields asks Zambia to reverse emerald export tax

Botswana economy could shrink 1.7% this year, finance minister says

Botswana holds main interest rate as diamond slump saps economy

Zimbabwe central bank keeps policy rate at 35%

Namibia’s ruling party takes lead in election results

Start of Biden’s visit to Angola overshadowed by son’s pardon

Zimbabwe sees 2025 growth rebound after this year’s drought

US, Britain and others condemn escalating violence in Mozambique

Namibia votes with ruling party seeking to extend 34-year rule

Namibia to vote in toughest election yet for ruling party

Zimbabwe charts ambitious return to global finance at debt conference

Main candidates in Namibia’s presidential election

Internet cuts after Mozambique’s disputed vote hit businesses

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Southern Africa

Shell writes down Namibia oil discovery in blow to country

In parched Malawi rains promise deliverance but also danger

Shell writes down Namibia oil discovery in blow to country

Zambia’s currency stuck at record low as drought persists

Gemfields asks Zambia to reverse emerald export tax

Botswana economy could shrink 1.7% this year, finance minister says

Botswana holds main interest rate as diamond slump saps economy

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