Samuel Alabi/EPA
Africa’s largest economy is in crisis, and unrest is growing.
Photo by Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images
Just over a year since he was sworn in, Ruto is no nearer to turning the Kenyan ship around.
Aliko Dangote.
Epa/Daniel Irungu
Dangote refinery will reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products and create jobs. But it may not be the best for the environment.
Protestors in Lagos rally against plans to remove the fuel subsidy in 2012.
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
Fuel subsidy removal can benefit workers and poor Nigerians, if the process is carefully managed and implemented.
A banner is displayed to advertise diesel available at a filling station in Lagos, Nigeria.
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
From the economic perspective, the year 2022 will be remembered, by many Nigerians, as a time of dashed hopes and disappointments.
William Ruto has promised to set aside US$500 million every year to fund micro, small and medium enterprises. Donwilson Odhiambo via
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Kenya’s new president campaigned on economic promises, but meeting them won’t be easy or instant.
The increase in the basic electricity and fuel rates will further disadvantage the poor.
Kendel Media/Pexels
Indonesia has more than doubled its government-funded energy subsidies this year, to Rp 349.9 trillion (US$23.56 billion). But how else could that money be spent to help people who need it most?
Government gets R90 billion a year from fuel levies.
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Subsidies to shield the general population from oil price increases do not automatically reduce poverty and inequality.
The coal-fired Suralaya power station in Banten, Indonesia.
(Source: Asep Fathulrahman/Antara)
Policies supporting fossil fuels are an instant way to ramp up the economy. However, this could come back to hit Indonesia’s economy in the medium to long-term.
Maureen McLean / Alamy
For expensive oil and gas to be politically acceptable, two things must happen.
Protestors march in Lagos during a demonstration against fuel subsidy removal in 2012.
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Image
Removal of the fuel subsidy in Nigeria is long overdue, but replacing it with a transport grant is not the best approach.
The World Bank says Nigeria’s surging inflation had pushed an estimated seven million citizens below poverty line in 2020.
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Food inflation figures in Nigeria give cause for concern. Accusing fingers are pointed at rising dollars, farmers and middlemen, but this expert says the can may have been placed on the wrong heads.
A January 2012 demonstration against the removal of petroleum subsidies in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.
LPhoto credit should read
Pius Utomi E/kpeiAFP via Getty Images)
Nigeria must remove fuel subsidies and channel the funds to critical sectors of its economy.
haireena / Shutterstock
Reforms to fossil fuel subsidies must be combined with effective anti-poverty policies.
Rush-hour traffic in Jakarta on 13 June 2017. If not for fuel subsidy cuts, the congestion could have been even worse.
Reuters/Beawiharta
Traffic continues to increase, but more slowly than would have been the case if the reforms had not gone ahead.