Five things to know to start your Monday

Senegal’s president’s party is on track to win the elections

Early signs suggest President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s party will win Senegal’s legislative elections held on Sunday, with two opposition leaders already admitting defeat while votes are still being counted.

The election campaign raised worries about possible unrest after some violent clashes between political opponents. This follows some of the country’s worst political violence in recent memory before March’s presidential election.

Faye, who wants a strong majority in parliament to push through his reforms, cast his vote in his hometown of Ndiaganiao and called for peace. “I once again call on voters… to show serenity, commit to the peaceful route, and to accept the popular will that will be expressed through the ballot box,” he said.

Voting ran from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. While official results aren’t out yet, early counts from polling stations show Faye’s Pastef party leading by a wide margin. This lead was significant enough that both Dakar’s mayor Barthelemy Dias and the leader of the Gueum Sa Bopp Les Jambars party have already conceded defeat to Pastef.

Foreign investments in the NGX are declining

Foreign investment in the Nigerian Exchange Limited hit its lowest point for the year in September, dropping to N11.26 billion, according to the NGX’s latest Domestic & Foreign Portfolio Investment Report.

The report shows two concerning trends: foreign investors are putting less money into Nigeria while taking more money out. Between August and September, investors withdrew more of their investments from the market.

Looking at the bigger picture, foreign investment in Nigeria for the first nine months of 2024 totaled N310.99 billion, which is higher than the N108.93 billion seen in 2023. Investment peaked in May 2024 at N54.87 billion but has been falling steadily since then, reaching the September low of N11.26 billion.

The amount of money leaving the market (foreign outflow) also increased, rising from N24.38 billion in August to N30.15 billion in September.

FG will spend 60% more on personnel costs in 2025

The Federal Government plans to increase its spending on employee salaries by at least 60 percent in 2025, mainly because of the new national minimum wage and related pay adjustments across all levels of federal civil service.

The government set aside N4.1 trillion for personnel costs in the 2024 budget. With the planned 60 percent increase, this will grow by N2.46 trillion to reach N6.56 trillion total.

This information comes from the government’s newly released 2025-2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council last Thursday. This document helps match policy goals with available money.

The increased spending follows President Bola Tinubu’s decision in July 2024 to raise the minimum wage for Nigerian workers from N30,000 to N70,000.

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Hong Kong’s marathon trial of 47 democrats is reaching a close

Hong Kong will sentence dozens of pro-democracy activists this week in a long-running subversion case. The trial has drawn attention to what critics see as China’s increasing limits on Hong Kong’s freedoms through its national security law.

The case caught international attention after more than 50 democracy supporters were arrested in early 2021. Their alleged crime was organizing an unofficial, peaceful “primary election” in 2020 to choose their strongest candidates for a local election.

The prosecution claims this was actually a “plot” to disrupt government operations in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese control in 1997 after being ruled by Britain.

FG spent $1.36 billion servicing debts to banks in H1 ’24

The Federal Government paid $1.36 billion to service debts owed to 12 international and multilateral lenders during the first half of 2024, according to data from the Debt Management Office.

This amount is much higher than the $431.23 million paid during the same period in 2023, showing a 216.07 percent increase. The jump in payments mainly came from rising interest rates, which made borrowing more expensive for the government.

The government owes money to several multilateral organizations, including the Africa Development Bank, European Development Bank, International Fund for Agriculture Development, African Development Fund, International Development Association, Africa Growing Together Fund, Islamic Development Fund, International Monetary Fund, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The government also owes three bilateral lenders: the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kreditantstalt fur Weideraufbua, and the Agency Francaise Development.