| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. Hakainde Hichilema resoundingly won 2021 elections to become Zambia’s president, having run a campaign in which he promised zero tolerance for corruption. Four years later, as Bloomberg reported, an official who blew the whistle on alleged theft at both the education and finance ministries is effectively out of work. Grandy Ntumbo told courts finance-ministry officials subjected him to repeated intimidation and he was pushed out of a safe house.  Hichilema supporters in Lusaka in August 2021. Photographer: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images Hichilema, who Ntumbo says he wrote to directly, hasn’t commented and government agencies have ignored court orders that would have brought some relief to the whistleblower. Prosecutors haven’t yet brought finance ministry officials investigated in relation to the allegations to court despite them being arrested two years ago. The lack of action on this case by government agencies comes as Hichilema has repeatedly talked up his government’s anti-graft credentials, addressing the topic in speech after speech. It’s been a key plank of efforts to win support for his attempts to extract itself from a 2020 default on international debt that has locked the southern African nation out of global capital markets. There’s no doubt Zambia is in a better place insofar as its relations with foreign investors are concerned than it was under Edgar Lungu, Hichilema’s predecessor. But Ntumbo’s alleged plight suggests that there’s a long way to go before trust is fully restored in the willingness of the government to crack down on graft, political-risk analysts say. The International Monetary Fund has said more work needs to be done to address graft. The state last year tried to push through changes to mining laws that companies argued would have added to “corruption risks.” In the meantime, Ntumbo is in limbo. — Antony Sguazzin Key stories and opinion:
Whistleblower Allegations Challenge Zambia’s Anti-Graft Leader
Zambia Mines Lobby Calls on Government to Halt Reforms
Zambian President Suspends Three Constitutional Court Judges
Zambia’s New Leader Pledges to Stabilize Nation’s Shaky Finances US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% reciprocal tariff on the tiny southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, the highest of any nation. Here’s a list of what countries are facing, with the levies expected to hit some of the world’s poorest the hardest. Trump says he’s open to reducing the duties if other governments are able to offer something “phenomenal” in exchange. South African Trade Minister Parks Tau plans to visit the US to discuss the tariffs that supersede the AGOA trade pact after saying it would be ill considered to rush into imposing reciprocal levies on the US. Listen to our Next Africa podcast on the impact of Trump’s action.  WATCH: Bloomberg’s Africa economist, Yvonne Mhango, discusses the effect of Trump’s tariffs on the continent’s economies. Russia has agreed to provide arms and military training to a newly formed joint force between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, using instructors already present in the three West African nations. Moscow has used instability in the Sahel caused by military coups and Islamist insurgencies to extend its influence in the region, while capitalizing on popular resentment toward perceived Western meddling and former colonial power France. South Africa’s ruling coalition risks unraveling after a dispute between its main members over proposed tax hikes deepened. Tensions within the alliance were already running high because of disagreements over contentious laws and exploded after budget plans were approved by parliament. The vote split the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance, which opposes an increase in VAT. The DA is challenging the fiscal framework in court, while ANC leaders may debate whether to remove the smaller party’s ministers from the cabinet. Separately, two US lawmakers introduced a bill to review South Africa’s ties with Washington, alleging that it supports America’s adversaries.  South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg Nigerian President Bola Tinubu hired the former head of a Shell unit to run the state oil company as Africa’s biggest crude producer works to boost output and prepare the firm for an initial public offering. Bashir Ojulari, who most recently served as chief operating officer of Renaissance Africa Energy and previously led Shell Nigeria Exploration, will replace Mele Kyari as head of the NNPC. A gradual production increase — with companies including Shell announcing investments in offshore output in December — are encouraging signs for the industry. Mozambique’s central bank announced temporary measures to ease a dollar crunch that hit fuel supplies and threatened to trigger bread shortages in the southeast African nation. The decision to reduce the proportion of revenues exporters must convert to local currency marks a walkback after Governor Rogério Zandamela last week dismissed concerns of foreign-currency shortages. Since then, there have been reports of fuel pumps running dry, and bakers warning of dwindling wheat supplies.  Motorists queue at a gas station in Maputo, Mozambique, in December. Photographer: Amilton Neves/AFP/Getty Images A liquidity crunch in Zimbabwe is deepening the economy’s embrace of the US dollar and undermining the bullion-backed currency introduced by the government almost a year ago. The ZiG, the southern African nation’s sixth attempt at replacing the dollar with a functional local currency since 2009, isn’t doing well. Also, in this explainer we look at why speculation continues to swirl that Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa will seek to extend his tenure beyond the constitutional limit, despite him insisting he’ll retire when his second term ends in 2028. Next Africa Quiz — How many people permanently live on Heard Island and McDonald Islands, on which Trump imposed a 10% tariff? Send your answers to gbell16@bloomberg.net. Data Watch - Ghana’s annual inflation rate fell to a five-month low in March, days after the central bank unexpectedly raised borrowing costs.
- South Africa’s tax collection exceeded estimates, boosted by a strong performance in personal income and corporate levies.
- Nigeria’s naira climbed the most against the dollar in two weeks on Wednesday after the central bank said net foreign-exchange reserves climbed to the highest in more than three years.
Coming Up - April 7 South Africa central bank reserves & government bond holdings for March, Mauritius reserves & inflation, Seychelles inflation
- April 8 Kenya interest-rate decision, Namibia inflation for March
- April 9 Kenya central bank’s post-MPC briefing
- April 10 South Africa manufacturing data for February, Rwanda inflation, Bloomberg’s Next Africa seminar in Johannesburg
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