Africa Business News

The governor of the Bank of South Sudan has warned that the coronavirus pandemic means the country needs to find a "plan B" for making money.
The global oil prices plummeted earlier this year in the wake of the pandemic spreading across the world.
The Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, Gamal Abdalla Wani, said the country’s economy had been severely hit by coronavirus pandemic because the government did not have "plan B" and "plan C" apart from oil revenue.
He said the coronavirus pandemic had forced South Sudan to try and work out where else to make money apart from oil.
He suggested that the central bank could buy and refine gold.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to a letter for the governor of Uganda’s central Bank (BoU), the bank has threatened to stop the interest that commercial banks can charge borrowers, after the industry failed to reduce loan rates in response to cuts in benchmark rates.
The BoU cut its Central Bank Rate by 200 basis points to an all-time low of 7% between April and June, to try to help jumpstart an economy battered by the impact of the coronavirus.
Its governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile in the letter dated July 7, sent to all commercial banks and seen by Reuters said that he was disheartened to see they had not acknowledged that reduction with cuts of their own.
The central bank was therefore considering invoking a law that allows it to determine maximum and minimum rates that financial institutions may impose on credit extended in any form.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State statistics agency CAPMAS on Thursday said Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation increased to 5.6% in June from 4.7% in May.
The agency said Month-on-month headline inflation stood at 0.1% in June, from 0% in May.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

South Africa’s rand backtracked early on Thursday after gaining ground in the previous session as investors opted to take profits ahead of local manufacturing data expected to highlight the weakness of the real economy.
At 0700 GMT the rand was 0.12% weaker at 16.9400 per dollar.
The currency advanced more than 1% against the U.S. currency on Wednesday as concerns about rising coronavirus infections globally and in the United States prompted a selloff in the dollar as investors looked for yield in higher-risk emerging market assets.
Demand however subsided overnight with key data releases domestically, in Europe, and a weekly jobs report in the United States making investors more cautious.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A government statement on Wednesday said Malawi’s new President Lazarus Chakwera has appointed Wilson Banda, a former central bank official, as its new governor.
Chakwera, sworn in in June, also appointed a number of other individuals to his 31-member cabinet though key positions like the finance minister had already been announced.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to South African lender FirstRand’s local unit, FNB Mozambique,
French oil major Total has secured $15.8 billion in funding for its massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique.
In a press release published on Wednesday, FNB Mozambique said the financing contracts for Total’s blockbuster development had been signed on Friday. While this was widely reported in local media at the time, Total has not confirmed the signing.
It said FNB intends to enter other large natural gas projects in Mozambique, just as it entered into Total’s financing, in a consortium of 20 banking institutions that granted $15.8 billion, for which the last contracts were signed last Friday.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sealink Promotional Company Limited on the use of Ajaokuta jetty landing port.
It said the MoU would enhance government’s bid to develop the economy and diversify the economy.
The Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development said it was executing the project in conjunction with the Nigeria Export Import Bank.
It disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Edwin Opara, which was entitled, “MMSD Signs MoU with Sealink on Ajaokuta Jetty as Landing Port.”
The ministry said the project was geared towards utilising the commercial value of the jetty and effective usage of the waterway.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the naira resumed trading on the official market at 381 to the dollar after no quotes for two straight sessions, as the central bank unified the country’s multiple exchange rates.
It noted that the central bank had been under pressure from both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for currency reforms in order to qualify for budget-support loans, and from the Nigerian government, to get more naira for its crude oil receipts.
The World Bank was expected to approve a $3bn budget- support loan for Nigeria in the coming months.
Nigeria offered multiple foreign-exchange rates, which it imposed to manage dollar demand after oil prices crashed. But dollar shortages have followed, stifling growth.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

the latest figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday showed that Currency in circulation dropped by N52.5bn from N2.35tn at the end of May to N2.29tn in June.
Recent figures showed that there was a steady rise in cash in circulation during the lockdown introduced in some states to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Statistics obtained from the CBN showed that currency in circulation, which stood at N2.29tn at the end of March, rose to N2.3tn in April.
The apex bank said Currency in circulation at end-November 2019 rose by 9.9 per cent to N2.2tn, in contrast to the decline of 0.4 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2019.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria has said it will continue to create opportunities for its members and enlighten the government on the need to employ professionals.
The President, CITN, Mrs. Olajumoke Simplice, said this during the institute’s 28th annual general meeting, which was also held online.
She said in response to the challenges faced by members, particularly at the states, council has sustained its advocacy for opportunities for members to be engaged.
She said that the creation of tax units manned by a qualified tax professional at Ministries, Departments and Agencies, is being canvassed.
She added that the CITN represented to relevant agencies of government at the federal and state levels for proper placement of the institute’s certificate in the scheme of service.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices