Welcome to the first episode of the 2023 weekly economic index. Here’s a roundup of top business stories from Africa and the rest of the world.

All the stars (link) are closer.

In May 2022, Elon Musk, the CEO of US-based SpaceX, announced that Starlink, the company’s satellite internet service, had received approval to operate in Nigeria and Mozambique. Since then, there has been a mix of anticipation and concern surrounding his arrival.

Starlink has now set its price for Nigerians. Residents will pay $600 (₦269,130) for the hardware kit and $43 (₦19,287.65) per month for a subscription. While it’s cheaper than in the US, where they pay between $110 and $500 for their basic and premium plans, there are still questions about its affordability. nigeria is very poor, with 133 million people living in multidimensional poverty. So as the official release of Starlink approaches, we are all wondering how much it will affect Internet connectivity in Nigeria.

Seychelles coming out of their shells

2022 marked a turning point for the Seychelles tourism sector as it received more visitors than expected. Data from its National Statistics Office shows that the country had 334,552 arrivals in 2022, 81 percent more than in 2021.

Seychelles’ economy has been heavily reliant on its tourism sector to thrive. But it fell off top tourist destinations in africa after it struggled to recover from the COVID-19 recession and border closures. However, 2022 marked a (somewhat surprising) rebound for its tourism sector. Before last year, most of its visitors came from Russia. So when the war started, it looked like the numbers would drop again. But many other European visitors flooded the Island, with Germany in the lead (44,772). France and Russia were the runners-up, with 44,503 and 31,180 visitors, respectively.

cutting down the amazon

Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce and cloud computing company, is laying off more than 18,000 employees. This action will affect several departments, including its retail arm, Amazon Stores, and its Human Resources, People, Experience and Technology (PXT) team.

Unfortunately, the wave of layoffs that began in 2022 did not fade with the year. The global economic slowdown has left seething effects on Amazon’s finances. The company’s stock price plunged more than 49% in 2022 and now it needs to readjust its spending. In November, Amazon cut its staff by 10,000 members. But according to CEO Andy Jassy, ​​the company misestimated how many people it should lay off. Therefore, it is cutting deeper this time.

In particular, Amazon’s need to reduce its workforce stems from overhiring during the pandemic. The same has happened with many other tech companies, like Salesforce, which laid off 10 percent of its workforce. Currently, there are no convincing signs that the economic downturn is reversing. But we can only hope that the layoffs don’t get worse.

ICYMI: market summary

  • The NGX All-Share Index started the year flat, losing 0.06% to close the first week at 51,222.34 points. The biggest gainers were John Holt (+20.55%), Nigerian Aviation Handling Co. (15.63%), Nigerian Breweries (+14.63%), BUA Foods (+14.62%) and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank ( +10%). The biggest falls were Champion Breweries (-15.64%), Consolidated Hallmark (-10.45%), Chellarams (-9.82%), University Press (-7.37%) and Jaiz Bank (-5.43%). %).
  • Brent crude finished the week at $78.84 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $74.03.
  • The naira closed the week at N461.50 at the investor and exporter window.
  • The cryptocurrency market gained $40 billion during the week to reach a market capitalization of $839 billion. BTC gained 3% to trade at $17,117; ETH gained 7.28% to trade at $1,286, and BNB gained 12.54% to trade at $274.
  • Millesima Technologies, a Tunisian video technology and data analytics company, announced it has received $480,000 in funding.
  • Mahaseel Masr, an Egyptian agritech startup, announced a partnership with Emirates International Investment Company to enable Mahaseel Masr to retain the medium-term investment capacity needed to capitalize on its expertise in Egypt to expand its leadership across the ecosystem.
  • Solarise Africa, a Kenyan energy startup, raised $3 million to provide tailored financing solutions for decentralized energy solutions to select commercial and industrial (C&I) clients across the continent.