This archive report was first published on 3 October 2019.
Kenya's central bank has retired $210 million worth of $10 bank notes, which will be shredded and compressed into briquettes with a face value of $10,000 each.
Published on October 3, 2019, the move has sparked curiosity, with some analysts wondering if the briquettes could be added to the list of unique collector items.
However, the central bank's governor, Patrick Njoroge, has clarified that the briquettes can be burned, dispelling any thoughts of conservation.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has attempted to win over local and international critics by announcing the restoration of sugar and oil subsidies to vulnerable groups and releasing some of the 2,000 people detained after protests.
Additionally, Zimbabwe's central bank has restored cash transactions involving mobile money services, which it had banned on Monday, after enhancing monitoring to prevent abuse by agents charging commissions in excess of 40 percent.
The country is facing a shortage of banknotes, with commercial banks rationing withdrawals, leading to most electronic financial transactions being carried out on cellphones.
Uncertainty has gripped talks aimed at resolving the Western Sahara conflict following the resignation of former UN envoy Horst Kohler in May on health grounds.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed hope to sustain the momentum built by Kohler through a series of roundtables involving Morocco, Frente Polisario, Algeria, and Mauritania.
However, the lack of trust between the parties has hindered planned monthly meetings, and a successor to Kohler has yet to be found.
Angry teachers and government workers in the kingdom of eSwatini clashed with police on Wednesday as they rallied to demand better pay and lower living costs.
Police in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, said they had busted another illegal maternity unit where captives were impregnated and forced to give birth to babies for sale.
The World Bank has reported that sub-Saharan Africa's debt levels rose by eight percent, with total foreign debt held by developing nations jumping more than five percent to $7.8 trillion in 2018.
The surge was driven by Chinese credit, up by 15 percent, as well as the International Monetary Fund's record aid to Argentina.
Finally, the United States has announced plans to slap tariffs on $7.5 billion of goods from Europe starting October 18 in retaliation to illegal subsidies on Airbus, following a favourable ruling by the World Trade Organisation.
