Ghana’s debt fight, rate decisions, Ethiopia’s conflict

The Ghanaian authorities took steps this week to shore up the cedi and tackle the poor public finances but officials may eventually have to back down and turn to the IMF to shore up investor confidence. Elsewhere, there was a clear hawkish tilt by the South African Reserve Bank at Thursday’s MPC meeting. In contrast, Nigeria’s central bank showed little signs that is about to give up on its damaging FX policies. Finally, Ethiopia’s federal government efforts to bring a 16-month internal conflict to an end may prove too late to prevent damage to the economy’s long-term prospects.