Africa Business News

The Kenyan government plans to pump up to Sh1.6 billion into public schools in the next two months ahead of their scheduled reopening in January.
The cash will be used to set up additional classrooms, ablution blocks and labs, according to Education Chief Administrative Secretary Zack Kinuthia.
The project is being implemented through the secondary education quality improvement programme (SEQUIP) sponsored by the World Bank.

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IN Rwanda, officials have offered to help evacuate refugees being held in dire conditions in Libyan detention centres.
The central east African country, which is nine times smaller than the UK, is one of the world’s least developed states according to the United Nations (UN).
However, assisted by the African Union and the UN’s refugee agency, it has agreed to serve as a base of operations for an initial group of 500 refugees and migrants from a number of African countries being held in Libya - where UN officials say some 4,700 people are currently being detained in "dire conditions".

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Global education publisher Pearson (PSON.L) has appointed Andy Bird, a media veteran who ran the international arm of The Walt Disney Company, as its new chief executive to see it through the latest bout of turbulence to hit the company.
Pearson said Bird was due to start the new job on October 19, with current boss John Fallon remaining in the role until that date. He will then step down from the board and remain as an advisor until the end of the year.

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ByteDance investors are in talks to use their stakes in the Chinese technology firm to help finance their bid for its popular short-video app TikTok, according to people familiar with the matter.
ByteDance has been in talks to divest TikTok’s North America, Australia and New Zealand operations to potential acquirers, including Microsoft Corp  and Oracle Corp. President Donald Trump has ordered the Chinese company to sever ties with the social media app in the United States, citing concerns over the safety of the personal data it handles.

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This episode is sponsored by
· Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA

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U.S. President Donald Trump, in a Fox News interview on Sunday, raised the possibility of decoupling the U.S. economy from China.
In a video excerpt, President Trump initially said the US doesn't have to” do business with China, and then later mentioned decoupling, adding that the United States will certainly do it if China doesn't act right.
President Trump entered into a high-stakes trade war with China before reaching a partial Phase 1 trade deal in January. The US president has since shut the door on Phase 2 negotiations, saying he was unhappy with Beijing’s handling of the corona virus pandemic.

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This episode is sponsored by
· Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA

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Europe’s pan-regional STOXX 600 rose 1.3% and the global benchmark added 0.4% after U.S. regulators authorised the use of blood plasma from recovered patients as a treatment option.
The rises follow healthy gains in Asia, where MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan jumped 0.8% to flirt with a six-month high touched last week and Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3%.
U.S. futures indicated gains on Wall Street ahead, raising the prospect of record highs for the S&P 500.

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Japanese shares ended higher on Monday, taking cues from gains in e-mini futures and Asian peers, but rising speculations around Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s health weighed on sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei share average rose 0.28% to close at 22,985.51, while the broader Topix gained 0.19% to 1,607.13.
Creating tailwinds to the market, e-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.41%, while Hong Kong stocks rose 1.48%.
Trade volume was subdued as many market participants were absent due to the summer lull. The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main board was 0.78 billion.

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In South Korea, shares rose just over 1% on Monday, in line with Asian peers. This comes as the U.S. drug regulator’s authorisation of the use of blood plasma from recovered patients as a COVID-19 treatment lifted sentiment, while new domestic cases slowed. Both the Korean won and the benchmark bond yield weakened.
The benchmark KOSPI closed up 25.24 points, or 1.10%, to 2,329.83.

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Still in South Korea, the won ended trading at 1,189.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.24% lower than its previous close at 1,186.3.
In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,189.5 per dollar, up 0.2% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,189.4.

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Crude oil prices remained steady on Monday as storms closed in on the Gulf of Mexico, shutting more than half the region’s oil production.
Brent futures slipped 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $44.33 a barrel by 0316 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $42.32 a barrel. Both benchmark contracts had risen early on Monday.
On the commodities market, gold recovered from early losses to trade 0.4% higher at $1,947.20 an ounce.

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This episode is sponsored by
· Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support