WEBVTT - Why Water Is Africa’s Next Precious Commodity 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:07.000 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.160 Water It's essential to daily life and well being, but 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:17.480 across the African continent, investment into this resource is addressing 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:19.400 vastly different initiatives. 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:23.920 This project makes Lesutu probably one of the most impactful 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:27.360 countries in the world. In this says that this water 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.200 powers the biggest economic hub in Africa. 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.480 With some countries facing crippling water shortages and some others 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:39.040 with plenty to spare, water diplomacy is emerging as a 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.000 potential solution to help ease the disparities. 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:45.600 I often say to the Prime Minister of Lisutu, what 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:50.400 you get free from nature, you now package to sell 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.640 to us. You then ask us to come and build 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:57.640 the dam and build the channels to bring free water 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:02.760 to Howding to Hannesburg, and then you want money for it, 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.200 And he says, that's what small countries do. 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:10.000 On today's podcast, we'll look at a multi billion dollar 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.640 water sharing deal between Lesutu and its neighbors South Africa 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:19.200 and whether similar transnational deals can become commonplace across the continent. 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.320 I'm Jennifer's Abasaja and this is the Next Africa Podcast, 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.559 bringing you one story each week from the continent, driving 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.840 the future of global growth with the context only Bloomberg 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:36.800 can provide. And in a moment, we're going to speak 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.880 with Olivier Kojels, who's had a fifty year career advising 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:45.240 governments across both Asia and Africa on water. He's also 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.360 former CEO of the Mekong River Commission. But first I'm 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:54.280 pleased to be joined by Bloomberg's Andre Pierre Duplaci, who 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:56.559 traveled with me to Lusutu to find out more about 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:00.280 progress on the Lusutu Highlands Water Project. We travel to 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.200 Li Su Tuo together and you know better than most 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.760 that this relationship between the Sutu and South Africa dates 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:09.639 quite a long way back. It'd be helpful, I think 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.480 for viewers and listeners to actually understand where this is 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:15.799 coming from before where it's going. Can you just give 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:18.440 us a bit of history about this project. 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.360 I mean, the story starts decades before this treaty was 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.520 signed in the nineteen eighties, so you know, people have 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.000 an eyeing list Cuitus water. As far back as the 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:34.919 nineteen fifties, engineers realized something quite remarkable. This small mountain kingdom, 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.600 which only makes up a tiny part of the basin 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:42.000 of the Orange River supplies a huge share of the 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:46.120 water because of its high rainfall and altitude. You know, 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.760 if you look at the topographic map of Southern Africa, 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:51.359 it's quite fascinating. 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:53.880 It's a spike all around Leasutu. 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.639 I think it's about one thousand meter or just about 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:02.360 three thousand foot in elevation. It's the highest independent nation 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.480 on Earth, so you can imagine the amount of water 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:06.000 it gets. 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:08.760 And so you know, fast forward. So engineers, obviously now. 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.560 They're thinking in the nineteen eighties, towards the end of 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.600 a party, the South African government and places like Johannesburg, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:20.359 the industrial heartland of South Africa was growing at a 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:23.560 rapid speed and so they looked to list to which 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.880 at the time at very little else in terms of 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:27.239 natural resources. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:28.800 So the two countries. 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.440 Stroke a deal in nineteen eighty six to basically turn 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.480 this geography into an economic partnership. And I think a 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.080 lot of people say, oh, but what's so unique about 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.520 this compared to other dams, other water sharing agreements on 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:45.280 the continent. Well, this one focuses on sharing money as 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.160 a commodity, so it monetizes. 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.720 Water, which makes it unusually commercial. 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.760 It's one of the few examples on the continent where 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:56.240 water is effectively treated as an export commodity. 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.880 That sort of speaks to what we heard on the ground, 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:04.880 which seemed to be that this new phase of the 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:09.640 agreement and of the project could potentially mean something different 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:13.960 for Lsuitu than years past. Did you get that same sense. 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.719 This treaty that's been signed in nineteen eighty six was 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:21.240 very much based on the economics of the eighties. What 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.839 I mean by that is, you know, at that time, 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:27.440 governments around the world thought of these kind of engineering 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:32.279 projects as an engineering solution and cost comparison. 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:34.080 So if we build. 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:38.640 It in Lacitu, South Africa arguit we'll share the savings. 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:43.120 So Lasuitu right now in twenty twenty six, they still 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:44.000 get a share. 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:47.679 Of South Africa's savings. But today, forty. 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:52.159 Years later, natural resources are usually priced based on scarcity. 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.640 You know, living in Johannesburg, we see how this is 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.960 the growing issue. So the more scarce were to become, 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.240 you should automatically earn more. I think that's an argument 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:07.640 that the National Resources Minister of LU told us, and 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:09.880 that's a big reason I think why last too, now 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.880 wants to revisit the deal which comes up for renewal. 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:19.200 The royalties agreement comes up for renegotiation, and part of 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:23.760 this treaty says that every twelve years there should be 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:28.920 some kind of discussion about what the core elements are 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:32.560 of this nineteen eighty six deal, which it seems like 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:37.360 the government of LSITU indicated that for the past decade 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.640 they haven't really come to an agreement of what this 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:43.480 new royalty payment should be. 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:47.080 Thanks ap, let's bring in now the role that water 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.760 is playing in Pan African diplomacy. Joining me now is 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:55.120 Olivier Kojels. He's had a long career advising governments across 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:59.400 Asia and Africa on water issues and he's also Professor 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.760 Emerita at you see levent Olivia. 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:04.440 Thank you so much for your time. 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.880 Maybe you can speak from your own perspective, how important 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.640 are agreements like what we saw with Lissutu and South 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:15.920 Africa going to be as more countries struggle with water shortages. 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.040 What has been your experience in some of these treands 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:20.360 boundary agreements. 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.600 Yeah, the agreements are absolutely essential, but one thing must 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:28.320 be clear is that this specific case of risotto transfer 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.960 to South Africa is a very unique and very specific 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.880 because it's about selling water from one country to another, 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.440 and that is not at all the situation elsewhere in Africa. 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:42.440 So agreements are absolutely needed, that they are there already, 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.560 but they have to be inforced. But it's much more 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.640 complex than just one country selling water to another, although 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:53.000 I know it's already something very difficult in other African basins. 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.440 The situation is even much more complex than that. I've 0:06:56.480 --> 0:07:00.680 been working in most of other African basins. Of course, 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:03.680 after the Meccong, I have been a lot involved in 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.040 the Night Basin with the Grant Ethiopian Rensaissance Dam and 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.160 the issues there between Ethiopia and Egypt and so. But 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.120 I've been working the selling out basin, the nis Air Basin, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.560 the many many other Zambasi whatever. There are so many. 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:19.880 There are sixty or more than sixty basins transboundary where 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:24.120 situation is extremely complex because sometimes you have a lot 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:28.440 of countries. The Nihle is eleven countries, the Niz nine countries, 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.360 the Vault has six. So countries are interconnected. They are 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:36.640 upstream and sometimes upstream and downstream or only downstream. It 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:40.560 is extremely complex and all the time very specific situations, 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.920 so we cannot transpose one agreement to another. It's not possible. 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:45.520 And stick with me, Olivia. 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.360 We're going to take a quick break and when we 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.160 come back, we'll hear more about some of the challenges 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:52.520 around water diplomacy across the continent. 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:58.840 We'll be right back, Welcome back. Today. 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:01.720 We are looking at the role water is playing in 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:07.280 Pan African diplomacy. We have Olivier Coajels still with me now, Olivia. 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.760 We saw with the JR. Dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.160 to them some of the complications that come with multiple 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:18.040 countries being along one certain water base. How do you 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:22.760 get to and address the confluence of issues that everyone 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.000 sort of brings to the table. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:30.000 Yeah, it's a huge, enormous challenge and only very small, 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.000 limited basins have succeeded to do it very well. And 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.520 the most successful example is the sending out river basin. 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.600 And that's the philosophy, and that's the approach that everybody 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:44.400 should have. It's saying heads of states come together and 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:48.440 they are aware that alone they cannot solve the water crisis, 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.400 they cannot fight against drought alone, et cetera, et cetera. 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.880 And when they have this conviction. Then they sit down 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:56.800 and they say, okay, let's work together, and then they 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.600 co invest, they go, they borrow together, they invest, they 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.200 operate their dams together. They even shed sometimes the ownership 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.440 of the dams. But that is very rare most of 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.160 the time, and that is why it's not working. Cooperation 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:14.360 over water in trans boundary river basins, it's not working well. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:18.199 It's very weak. Agreements are weak, institutions are poor, they 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.679 have no money, they have no staff. It's very because 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:23.360 there are many issues we can talk about. 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:24.600 It, yeah, please please. 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.560 The main thing is about sovereignty and this is why 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.480 it is so difficult. Of course, now the pressure is 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:35.080 so great on population growth is so enormous in Africa. 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.640 Just take that one as probably the main driver of everything. 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:43.000 It's just remind that when I was born in nineteen fifty, 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.160 there were two hundred and fifty million Africans two hundred 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:49.440 and fifty in Sub Saharan Africa, and I hope I 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:53.199 will die before twenty fifty and there will be two billion, 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.520 five hundred Africans. They have to share the same amount 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.960 of water, you can imagine. So that's why every country 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.760 we has a big pressure from insight to develop and 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.439 economically they are more powerful now and they have more 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:09.480 money so they can develop dams and borrow money from 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:14.120 even now Asian countries, China, whatever. The issue is that yes, 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:16.160 as we country wants to build the dams for their 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.480 own people. It's about national interest above all. And you 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.400 know about the sovereignty in issue in Africa now which 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:25.680 is growing everywhere. That is the main issue. Well, whatever 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:27.760 you are a rich country in terms of dams, in 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.440 terms of water, you may be in Aia with a 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.640 lot of water, or you Ethiopia with a lot of 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:36.080 water as compared to Egypt with has nothing. Whatever the 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:41.000 situation you want. The main reaction of every government for 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:46.160 electoral reasons is to have unilateral decisions and to promise 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:50.120 food self sufficiency and these kinds of things and electricity production, 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:55.920 hyperpower development. So infrastructure is booming and that is because, yeah, 0:10:55.960 --> 0:11:00.960 the demand is booming because population and economy, development and 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:06.600 urbanization and so on. Overcoming this sovereignty, the willingness of 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.960 developing national interest first is the main challenge and that's 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:17.120 why River basin organizations. There are so many agreements have 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:20.760 been signed, but very general, very very basic, like saying 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.040 we may not harm each other. Okay, but what does 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:28.360 it mean exactly? We have to have equitable use. Yes, okay, 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:30.920 we all signed that, but what is the quitable So 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.800 you see the issue is that the agreements are too 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:37.560 weak and a week because the political willingness to do 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:41.520 things together is not there. It's not there in most cases. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.920 You have exceptions, but in most cases it is not 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:44.439 still there. 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.719 And I wonder if a model like what we are 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:51.480 seeing with the Sutuo in South Africa potentially then can 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.760 work for others. You know, you're mentioning sort of the 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:59.240 disparity between some of these resource rich countries like Lasutu 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.199 has plenty of water, South Africa is struggling with its 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.200 own water issues. Maybe they balance each other out in 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:09.760 terms of Lisuto is now able to leverage that resource 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:12.680 right in order to build up its own economy. So 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:14.920 it could be a win win situation, right or do 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.160 you think that ultimately they are going to be winners 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.040 and losers across the board. 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:25.920 It's much more complex. Then you cannot go generalized South Africa. 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.080 That's that's more like a resource you take, you put 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:30.880 in the pipe and you send to another country and 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:35.040 you sell it. It's never like this elsewhere elsewhere water 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:38.640 is flowing since millions of years through countries, and you 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.600 cannot sell water which is flowing. How can I would 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:46.000 say Boulkina Faso sell its water to Ghana. That doesn't 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.679 make sense. It flows, that's it. What happens is that 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.720 if Bokina is building tens and hundreds of small dams, 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.760 Ghana will suffer from having less water. And then you 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:59.320 have a yeah, you have need to negotiate or you 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.760 have a dispute. But it is not about okay, you 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:04.920 have a lot of water, you can sell it to me. 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.719 That doesn't work like this. It's about saying, okay, you 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:12.160 have two ways to go. Either we continue inilaterally and 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:16.240 then we try to mitigate the disputes and we continue 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.960 to fight but in a moderate way and do some 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:25.440 compromises afterwards. All we plan in advance, we do up 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.040 and that is my approach. That is my vision is 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:32.520 to do everything just upfront and not afterwards when things 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:35.480 are cooked. You know, when things are cooked, they are 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.319 not optimal. Dams are not always on the right place 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.200 in the basin. Because we talk about the basin, which 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.360 is shared by five six seven, ten countries and we 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:48.040 have to of course, water is scarce because population is growing, 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.920 we have to optimize water use and optimizing water use, 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.360 that doesn't mean that every country has to build dumps 0:13:54.400 --> 0:14:00.240 whenever wherever it wants. That doesn't make sense physically, economically, politically, etc. 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.560 So it is a big mess. I think it's funny. 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.040 I was listening to President Ramaposa here in South Africa 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.520 earlier this week and he was talking about the list 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:12.320 To Dam project and speaking to exactly what you just said. 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.040 He said, how are they charging us for water? You know, 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.880 he was talking in jest, but sort of alluding to 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.240 what you were just saying there, Olivier, before we let 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.840 you go. I wonder what is at risk if we 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:28.600 don't see this water diplomacy actually succeeding. You mentioned the 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:33.600 population growth, but with other natural resources, we've seen them 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.600 be a catalyst for conflict. Do you think that is 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.840 potentially where we're headed or is there potentially an opportunity 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.240 to get ahead of this before we get to that point. 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:47.200 If there is the political awareness, maybe with the help 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.760 of the African Union to say okay to heads of 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:55.120 states now stop, we cannot continue to work inilaterally and 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:59.360 build our dams without communicating always limited communication to the neighbors. 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:01.720 And we cannot just continue like this. Let's have it 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.520 at the highest political level. That's my way of seeing. 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.680 You need a declaration at heads of state level of 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:11.440 the African Union saying no, we need to coordinate. And 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.440 my word, my approach, my doctrine, I would say, I 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.600 call it the doctrine of coordinated investment that is published 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.720 now is really don't talk about no harm and equitable use. 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.600 You can do that, but in addition you have to 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:29.240 have the commitment of heads of states saying okay, now stop, 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.440 we cannot go for disputes all over the places in 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.200 Africa about water. That doesn't make sense, It is not 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.160 worth it. Let's discuss really with a vision for the 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:44.720 future and have the declaration saying, whatever big dams we build, 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.440 we do it in a coordinated way, not only the 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:51.160 planning but also financing and certainly operation. Because you have 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:54.200 cascades of dams and you have to even in the 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.480 Nile GRD is not the only one. You have a 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:00.080 cascade of dams just to us one. You have to 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.040 to manage the jointly. The dams may be there, but 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.360 at least you have also to operate the water releases 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:08.960 attat the right time and all these things have to 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:12.400 be done. So the keyword is coordination, and my doctrine 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:18.560 calls doctrine of coordinated investment upfront and not when the 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:19.480 things are cooked. 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.240 And thanks again so much to Olivia Cojails and also 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.480 Andre Pierre do play C for joining us this week. 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.480 You can read more of our reporting from Lasutu on 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:34.440 Bloomberg platforms. Now here's some of the other stories we've 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:38.120 been following across the region this week. With fuel prices 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.960 surging as much as eighty one percent, African governments are 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:46.320 rolling out subsidies and cutting taxes to help cushion households 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.720 from an increase in energy costs triggered by the US 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:55.720 Israeli War on a run and Mozambique repaid about seven 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.560 hundred million dollars to the International Monetary Fund ahead of 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:04.080 schedule and in full, a surprise move that raised questions 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.439 about its motivations and the status of talks over a 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.680 potential new program with the lender. And you can follow 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:14.480 these stories across Bloomberg, including the Next African Newsletter. Will 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.160 put a link to that in the show notes. This 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:22.000 program was produced by Adrian Bradley and tiwa Adebayo. Don't 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.960 forget to follow and review the show wherever you usually 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.199 get your podcasts, But for now I'm Jennifer Zabastaja. 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:29.720 Thanks, as always for listening.