Monday, June 5, 2023
  • Login
Upgrade
The Southern African Times
  • Home
  • Southern Africa
  • Business
    • African Start ups
    • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • Tech
    • Lifestyle
      • Health
      • Culture
      • Food and Drink
      • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Events
  • SAT Jobs
  • About Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Southern Africa
  • Business
    • African Start ups
    • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • Tech
    • Lifestyle
      • Health
      • Culture
      • Food and Drink
      • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Events
  • SAT Jobs
  • About Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
The Southern African Times
No Result
View All Result
Home

10 African countries with the lowest foreign exchange reserves

by SAT Reporter
June 29, 2022
in Business
0
10 African countries with the lowest foreign exchange reserves
0
VIEWS

Amid forecasts of drastic declines in global economic growth and possible stagflation threats, many African countries are also grappling with a serious dollar shortage crises.

The forex crises has already dealt a huge blow on many economies on the continent. For instance, we reported last week on how foreign airlines operating in Nigeria are finding it difficult to repatriate their earnings due to the country’s inability to raise dollars for them. In the same vein, other businesses in the West African countries are struggling raise dollars to facilitate essential imports.

Over in Kenya, many businesses are also struggling due to dollar scarcity. In the past months, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has repeatedly raised concerns over the economic risks posed by the country’s worsening dollar scarcity. The situation is so bad such that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) recently directed commercial banks to ration dollar sales. And the implication of this is that not everyone who needs the currency is able to get it.

Mind you, Nigeria and Kenya among Africa’s top economies. A previous article by Business Insider Africa listed them among 10 African countries with the largest foreign exchange reserves. Now, if countries with the largest foreign exchange reserves are facing forex-related difficulties, imagine how much worse the situation would be for countries with low foreign exchange reserves.

The rest of this article shall be focusing on African countries with the lowest foreign exchange reserves. But first, let’s briefly explain what foreign exchange entails.

What are foreign exchange reserves?

According to Investopedia, foreign exchange reserves are typically dollar-denominated assets that are held on reserve by central banks.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) further defines foreign exchange reserves as “official public sector foreign assets that are readily available to, and controlled by the monetary authorities, for direct financing of payments imbalances, and directly regulating the magnitude of such imbalances, through intervention in the foreign exchange markets to affect the currency exchange rate and/or for other purposes.”

The constitutions of different African countries require their central banks to maintain external assets in the following forms: bullion or gold coins, foreign short-term treasury bills, bonds, the IMF’s special drawing rights, account balances in foreign banks, etc.

Each of these assets must possess a basic feature of liquidity and can easily be converted to either dollars, pound sterling, Euro or other similar hard currencies.

Importance of foreign exchange reserves

  • Foreign exchange reserves are necessary for influencing the monetary policies of countries.
  • Foreign exchange reserves serve as backup funds just in case a country’s currency drastically devalues.
  • It’s a source of economic prestige, as countries with high foreign exchange reserves are respected for their strong economic standing.
  • Countries with good foreign exchange reserves tend to attract viable foreign trade and investment opportunities.

Below are 10 African countries with the lowest foreign exchange reserves

  1. Somalia: Has foreign exchange reserves of $23.1 million, according to The World Bank.
  2. Equatorial Guinea: Has foreign exchange reserves of $40.8 million, according to The World Bank.
  3. Sao Tome and Principe: Has foreign exchange reserves of $75.2 million, according to The World Bank.
  4. Sudan: Has foreign exchange reserves of $177.9 million, according to The World Bank.
  5. South Sudan: Has foreign exchange reserves of $183.6 million, according to The World Bank.
  6. Burundi: Has foreign exchange reserves of $266.1 million, according to The World Bank.
  7. Chad: Has foreign exchange reserves of $310 million, according to The World Bank.
  8. Comoros: Has foreign exchange reserves of $329.6 million, according to The World Bank.
  9. Central African Republic: Has foreign exchange reserves of $350 million, according to The World Bank.
  10. Liberia: Has foreign exchange reserves of $538.5 million, according to The World Bank.

 

 

Previous Post

Venture studio Adanian Labs fuels startup growth in Africa

Next Post

The Pan African Parliament elects its first President from Southern Africa

SAT Reporter

Related Posts

Nigeria Unveils World’s Largest Refinery, Fueling Economic Growth
Business

Nigeria Unveils World’s Largest Refinery, Fueling Economic Growth

by SAT Reporter
May 23, 2023
The Southern African Times Joins Sky  Channel 7 TV to Bring News from the Region to UK Viewers
Business

The Southern African Times Joins Sky Channel 7 TV to Bring News from the Region to UK Viewers

by SAT Reporter
May 22, 2023
Botswana Implements National Quality Policy to Boost Economic Growth
Business

Botswana Implements National Quality Policy to Boost Economic Growth

by SAT Reporter
May 22, 2023
Lagos-based B2B E-commerce Startup Sabi Raises $38M at $300M Valuation
Business

Lagos-based B2B E-commerce Startup Sabi Raises $38M at $300M Valuation

by SAT Reporter
May 19, 2023
Zimbabwe Suspends Import Duties on Basic Commodities for Six Months
Business

Zimbabwe Suspends Import Duties on Basic Commodities for Six Months

by SAT Reporter
May 17, 2023
Next Post
The Pan African Parliament  elects its first President from Southern Africa

The Pan African Parliament elects its first President from Southern Africa

Browse by Category

  • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • African Debt
  • African Start ups
  • Algeria
  • Analysis
  • Angola
  • Asia
  • Botswana
  • BOTSWANA
  • BRICS
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Business
  • Business
  • Cameroon
  • Central Africa
  • China
  • Climate Change
  • Climate Changev
  • Congo Republic
  • COVID 19
  • Culture
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Eastern Africa
  • Education
  • Egypt
  • Energy
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Ethiopia
  • Europe
  • Fashion
  • Feature
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Food and Drink
  • Foods
  • Ghana
  • Global
  • Guinea
  • Health
  • Immigration
  • in Southern Africa
  • International news
  • Just In
  • Kenya
  • Lesotho
  • Libya
  • Life Style
  • Lifestyle
  • Malawi
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Markets
  • Middle East
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Nigeria
  • North Africa
  • North-Eastern Africa
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Racism
  • Rwanda
  • SAT Jobs
  • Senegal
  • Seychelles
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sports
  • Startup Africa
  • STOCK EXCHANGE
  • Sustainablity
  • Tanzania
  • Tech
  • Togo
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Uncategorized
  • West Africa
  • World
  • World
  • ZAMBIA
  • Zambia
  • ZIMBABWE
  • Zimbabwe

Browse by Tags

africa African business news Africa News african footballer African investments African news African start-up Agriculture banking Business China Classic Climate change Content currency economy Explore Bali Finance football Health Investment Kenya Life Style Markets Market Stories Nigeria oil and gas Opinion Pandemic Politics Premium Russia South Africa Southern African News sports Stay Home technology Travel United Kingdom United Stated Vaccine Work From Home Wuhan Zambia Zimbabwe

WHO WE ARE

The Southern African Times is a regional bloc digital newspaper that covers Southern African and the world news. The paper also gives a nuanced analysis on news and covers a wide range of reporting which include sports, entertainment, foreign affairs, arts and culture.

Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram Rss

Copyright © 2022 The Southern African Times | Powered by The Southern African Times

Privacy Policy

Terms and Conditions

  • Home
  • Southern Africa
  • Business
    • African Start ups
    • African Continental Free Trade Area
  • Tech
    • Lifestyle
      • Health
      • Culture
      • Food and Drink
      • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Events
  • SAT Jobs
  • About Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Contact Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?