Africa

Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment arm started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, has invested $493,000 into an experiment giving people in Kenya free money.

The Omidyar Network is hoping the study will help advance the debate around basic income from broad theoretical terms to more practical considerations.

Universal basic income (UBI) is the notion that a government should guarantee every citizen a yearly sum of money, no strings attached. The thinking is that such a program would relieve economic stress as automation technology severely reduces the demand for labor.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the sale of $850 million in bonds issued by Mozambique by Credit Suisse, Russia’s VTB Group and BNP Paribas, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The southern African nation in October said its debt was unsustainable and the International Monetary Fund suspended assistance to Mozambique when evidence of $2 billion in secret loans emerged.

The bonds were sold in 2013 to finance a Mozambican state-owned firm’s plans to develop tuna fishing in the impoverished nation, but the government later said it had also bought military equipment with the funds.
The probe opens a new chapter in a scandal of hidden debts which has rocked Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest countries, for months.

The SEC in November asked bondholders for documents provided by Credit Suisse, VTB and BNP Paribas during the sale of the bonds, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a letter sent to bondholders.

The letter also asked investors to share with the SEC all communications with the banks related to the bonds.

Algeria is changing its economy and opening up a market system, the state-owned banks will be listed on the stock exchange and therefore funded by private capital and foreign capital.

The North African country is thus implementing a clear change of direction than in the past, when the organisation was based on a state-run and centralized system since its independence from France and the economy was at 60% on profits derived from petrodollars, ie the proceeds from the sale of oil, which was strictly public.