| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it's headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. As food shortages intensify across southern Africa in the wake of a once-in-a-generation drought, the international aid agency spearheading relief efforts is shutting up shop. The United Nations' World Food Programme has told staff that its Johannesburg hub, one of six it has globally, will close this year due to funding cuts. While Cindy McCain, the WFP's executive director, stressed that feeding the hungry in the region remains a priority, sources are dubious that its response will remain as effective.  A farmer inspects crops damaged by drought in Zambia. Photographer: Guillem Sartorio/AFP/Getty Images Some 26 million people across seven southern African nations are short of food after sweltering temperatures and inadequate rainfall hit corn production. The situation will remain dire until the next harvests are reaped in a few months' time. Carl Skau, the WFP's deputy director, told its employees in South Africa the funding squeeze is a consequence of US President Donald Trump's administration cutting most foreign aid, and European nations paring back their assistance as they bolster spending on defense. The WFP expects donor contributions to slump by about two-fifths to $6 billion this year. The US provided almost half of the $9.7 billion it received in 2024. The UN agency's Johannesburg bureau buys hundreds of thousands of tons of grain from South Africa and other countries, and transports it to areas in need. The region is regularly hit by drought because it's periodically affected by the El Niño weather phenomenon, as it was last year. Governments in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and other countries lack the means to step in and finance an adequate response. That's left some of the world's most vulnerable people to fend for themselves, casualties of a global geopolitical shake-up. — Antony Sguazzin Key stories and opinion:
UN Food Agency Shuts Southern Africa Office Amid Trump Aid Cuts
Trump's Aid Order Seen Risking Lives and US Influence in Africa
What Is USAID, the Aid Agency Trump Is Targeting?: QuickTake
US Is Withdrawing From Global Health at a Dangerous Time
USAID Is in Dire Need of Reform. But Not Like This: Mihir Sharma Johnson Asiama, Ghana's new central bank governor, expects the cedi to stabilize after last year's volatility if an appropriate monetary policy stance is maintained and President John Mahama's administration sticks to its commitment to fiscal discipline. The practice of using gold to pay for oil, which the previous government introduced to counter currency swings in the West African nation, has been suspended, Asiama said in an interview.  WATCH: Asiama speaks with Bloomberg's Ondiro Oganga. Nigeria and the UN aim to raise $500 million for a fund to finance the roll out of so-called distributed renewable energy, such as solar home systems and mini-grids. The initiative is backed by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and the UN's Sustainable Energy For All organization. The fund will be linked to the Mission 300 program led by the World Bank and the African Development Bank to provide electricity to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. Zimbabwe's daily 18-hour electricity outages may get worse as two key units at the main thermal-fired power plant in Hwange undergo a scheduled revamp. Maintenance on one unit began on Sunday and will last until March 29, according to power utility Zesa. The other unit will be taken offline from March 15 to May 14. "This is being carried out to ensure readiness for increased generation during the peak winter season," the utility said.  The Hwange power plant. Photographer: Ziyange Auntony/AFP/Getty Images A body representing eight southern African nations in the Zambezi River Basin, a critical water source for more than 50 million people, is seeking $703 million to strengthen climate resilience. The Zambezi Watercourse Commission made its funding pitch to the Washington-based Climate Investment Funds, which works through multilateral lenders including the World Bank. The money would support a five-year project to address climate change, ecosystem degradation and unsustainable land use. The commission represents Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Officials from the Economic Community of West African States left Guinea-Bissau on Saturday after President Umaro Sissoco Embaló threatened to expel them. Ecowas deployed a high-level delegation to the West African nation last month in an attempt to reach political consensus on how elections should be conducted. A vote was scheduled for late November, but Embalo postponed it. The opposition challenged the delay as unconstitutional and the election timeline remains uncertain.  Umaro Sissoco Embaló. Photographer: Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg Rwanda wants Britain to pay it £50 million after it walked away from a deal to send asylum seekers to the East African country. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year scrapped the controversial deportation plan, which was spearheaded by his predecessor Rishi Sunak. Britain suspended most financial aid to Rwanda last week over its backing for the M23 rebel group, which has seized large swathes of mineral-rich territory in neighboring eastern Congo. Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Sammy Kibet who was first to identify Malawi as the African nation where the president fired his trade minister following protests over prices. South Africa's economy grew modestly at the end of last year, averting a recession. Gross domestic product expanded 0.6% in the three months through December, compared with a 0.1% contraction in the previous quarter. The agriculture and finance sectors were the biggest contributors to growth. Consumer spending benefitted from low inflation, interest-rate cuts and pension fund members getting early access to part of their retirement savings. Thanks for reading. We'll be back in your inbox with the next edition on Friday. Send any feedback to mcohen21@bloomberg.net | 
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