Africa Business News

Doctors in Lagos State under the aegis of the Medical Guild are set to begin a three-day warning strike from Monday.
The Chairman of the guild, Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, announced this on Sunday while addressing a press conference in Lagos State.
According to him, the medical practitioners took the decision to embark on industrial action over issues they say affect their safety and welfare.
Sodipo explained that the decision formed part of the resolutions reached during the meeting of the leadership of the association convened to review the challenges of medical doctors in the state.
Sodipo noted that the industrial action would commence from 8am on Monday to 8am on Thursday.
He, however, said members of the guild working in the state’s coronavirus (COVID-19) isolation centres have been exempted.
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The Federal Government has officially handed over the National Arts Theatre to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Bankers’ Committee, with a robust plan to rehabilitate the national asset.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in his remarks at the handing over ceremony held on Sunday in Iganmu, Lagos, is hopeful that the restoration of the edifice and the adjoining land will create more jobs as against speculations that it will lead to job loss.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, also gave an assurance that the National Arts Theatre would go through a transformation into a world-class facility.
He explained that the challenges posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have further necessitated the need for the Federal government to diversify its income generation avenues.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the reconstitution of Federal Government’s representatives on the boards of the Nigeria (Liquefied Natural Gas) and the Bonny Gas Transport Limited (BGT).
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, announced this in a statement on Monday.
He explained that the reconstitution of the boards became imperative since the present boards members were inaugurated in 2005.
According to the minister, there is a need for the injection of fresh ideas into the leadership of the companies.
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has confirmed 595 new cases of coronavirus in the country. This brings the total number of COVID-19 infections recorded in the country so far to 33,153.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this on Monday night.
According to the agency, the new infections were recorded in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in a tweet on its official handle, showed that Lagos has 156 cases which accounted for the highest number of infections.
A total of 13,671 persons have recovered from the virus while the death toll now stands at 744.
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Industry officials say South African banks are looking at options ranging from debt consolidation to new ways of leveraging equity to avoid defaults when coronavirus-related debt relief measures end.
According to Reuters, banks gave customers in good standing relief on loans during the pandemic, including payment holidays of up to three months. But some consumers are still in trouble.
Some banks have applied a less-stringent approach to provisioning for loans granted relief after regulators allowed more flexibility in strict new accounting rules.

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South Africa’s rand weakened early on Friday as global sentiment over chances of a quick coronavirus recovery soured, with infections continuing to surge amid downbeat economic data.
At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.7% weaker, giving back almost all of the previous session’s gains that had lifted it to a one-month high.
The currency had shrugged off dismal manufacturing data showing output fell 49.4% year on year in April, its worst in 12 years.
Bonds also trade weaker, with yields inching higher at the shorter end of the curve. The yield on the benchmark 2030 government issue added 2 basis points to 9.67%.

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A University Professor heading the trials says Africa could have a COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021 if human trials underway in South Africa succeed.
The experimental vaccine is one of 19 being tested on humans globally in a race to find vaccines to stop a pandemic that has killed more than half a million people so far.
It is also being tested in Brazil by Oxford University scientists who are working with British drugmaker AstraZeneca on development and production.
Trials will depend on 2,000 volunteers aged 18-65 years who will be monitored for 12 months after vaccination to asses its efficacy.

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TikTok has posted on its website that it has halted operations in Hong Kong.
The company flagged the move earlier this week after China imposed a new security law on the city.
The law has restricted freedoms in the semi-autonomous territory, raising concerns of official oversight of social media.
Other social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter are also reviewing operations in Hong Kong.

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Moody's rating agency has warned that Britain will suffer the sharpest peak-to-trough economic slump of any major economy this year. In a report on Friday, Moody’s said the UK government’s latest stimulus package, announced this week, would aid a gradual economic recovery but add further pressure to the UK’s fiscal position.
The rating agency added that the UK’s public debt ratio will likely rise by 24 percentage points of GDP or more relative to 2019 levels.
Moody’s rates Britain Aa2 with a negative outlook.

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Shares in China fell 1.8% today from a five-year high, as state media discouraged retail investors from chasing the market higher.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.3%. Australian stocks declined by 0.6% as an extension of loan-payment deferrals hit the banking sector. Japanese stocks were down by 1.1%.
The e-mini futures for the S&P 500 erased early gains to trade down 0.6%.

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