Standard & Poor’s has just released its latest assessment of Nigeria which retains the country’s sovereign rating at BB- with a negative watch. Previously, it was BB-with a negative outlook.
This means that the rating agency has adjusted its rating slightly by placing the country on negative watch because of pressure from falling oil prices on the economy as well as political risks. Thus, Nigeria has not been downgraded but the country clearly needs to work harder to actualize its recently announced policy response to the current economic challenges, it said.
Other oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia have also been put on negative watch, while a number of others, including Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Oman were downgraded.
In spite of the serious challenges arising from the sharp fall in oil prices, Nigeria is doing quite well compared to some other oil producing countries. For example, while the economies of Russia and Venezuela are projected to contract and experience negative growth this year, Nigeria’s GDP has been projected by the IMF to grow by 4.8%.
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Dark day for press freedom? (Al Jazeera)
August 29, 2015
A court in Egypt sentences Al Jazeera journalists to at least three years in prison in trial widely seen as political.
For Al Jazeera journalists Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste, justice has been denied again.
A retrial widely criticised and condemned by the White House, the EU and the United Nations has resulted in a guilty verdict.
The Cairo court sentenced the journalists to at least three years in prison. Greste, who was tried in absentia and deported to Australia, will avoid imprisonment.
Six other Al Jazeera journalists have also been convicted in absentia.
The verdict has been described as a deliberate attack on press freedom.
So, was this a political trial? And should journalists be locked up for doing their job?
Presenter: Mike Hanna
Guests:
Sherif Mansour – Middle East and North Africa Programme Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Sue Turton – Former Al Jazeera correspondent and convicted in absentia.