Africa Business News

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), has closed down its head office at Dzorwulu after 46 employees tested positive for the novel Coronavirus.
The office will be closed from Monday, July 6, 2020 to Monday, July 13, 2020.
A statement issued by the Corporate Communications Department of BOST said the cases were detected after a mass testing of staff was conducted at the head office.
Bost however assures the general public that the arrangement will not negatively impact its operations as all staff of BOST at the head office have been asked to work from home in the interim following the development.
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Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, has stated that various opportunities are available in China for Ghanaian Exporters to take advantage of in Asia’s largest Market.
China in particular, which is a major destination from where Ghana imports a lot of its goods, has also been hit hard, although a reduction in imports from that country is taking a huge toll on Ghanaian businesses.
Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, told Citi Business News there are also opportunities in China that Ghanaian importers can tap into by producing enough to meet the demands.
He says cocoa products and cash crops such as cashew and soy beans are in high demand by most Chinese. Trade volumes between Ghana and China reached 7.3 billion dollars in 2018.
Mr. Boateng believes this could be improved further if Ghanaian businesses diversify their exports to the Asian country.
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The Ministry of Aviation has dismissed reports that it has concluded processes to cede the management of Kotoka International Airport to a foreign company.
According to the Ministry, no such plan has been mooted by the government of Ghana.
In a statement to clarify the issue, the sector Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda, urged the public to disregard such claims.
He however explained that Government is engaging stakeholders including the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), to consider a projected Strategic Partnership Arrangement between GACL and TAV-SUMMA Consortium to improve service delivery and expansion of infrastructure at the KIA.
He further noted that the processes for the start of engagement has not begun.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria injected $11.5bn foreign exchange into the economy in the first three months of 2020.
Latest figures from the CBN on the supply of forex showed that $2.96bn, $3.39bn and $4.7bn were injected into the market in January, February and March respectively.
The investors’ and exporters’, small and medium enterprises and invisible segments got a total of $7,23bn; the Bureau De Change segment got $3.6bn, while the interbank and WDAS/RDAS got the rest.
According to the data, a total of $14.72bn was injected into the market in 2018 while $28.55bn was injected in 2019.
The CBN said it had resumed the provision of over $100m per week for school fees and the SMEs to adequately meet eligible demands from customers.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria debited N122bn ($338m) from banks’ excess cash with the apex bank before weakening the currency at a retail auction on Friday in a move to unify its multiple exchange rates.
Reuters reported on Monday that Nigeria’s multiple foreign-exchange rates were imposed to manage dollar demand after oil prices crashed.
The bank had earlier hinted of its plans to unify the multiple exchange rates, to generate more local currency from its dollar inflows and further achieve naira stability.
The central bank, Nigeria’s main forex supplier, asked lenders to bid for dollars at N380 to the dollar on Friday, five per cent above its official rate.
Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said he would not unify rates close to the black-market rate.
The currency had come under pressure in recent months after the coronavirus pandemic and a fall in price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, and as foreign investors exited, leaving the country with large financing gap.
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The Federal Government on Monday said it had positioned enforcement teams within and outside airport terminals to enforce all safety protocols against the spread of COVID-19 at airports.
It said the protocols had been approved by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and were in accordance with the guidelines of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Rabiu Yadudu, disclosed this at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International, Abuja.
Yadudu spoke when members of the House of Representatives Committee on aviation visited the NAIA to examine the guidelines ahead of commercial flight resumption on Wednesday.
He said a lot has been done a lot in the past few weeks. The protocols have already been established and approved by the NCAA and are in accordance with the guidelines of the NCDC as set out at the national level.
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The Federal Government has decided to write off 60 per cent of the N7bn owed by radio and television stations in licensing and renewal fees.
The government has also slashed the existing licence fee by 30 per cent for all open terrestrial radio and television services with effect from July 10.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed these at a press conference he addressed with the acting Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, in Abuja on Monday.
Mohammed however said for any debtor station to benefit from the 60 per cent debt relief, it must be ready to pay the 40 per cent balance within the next three months.
He said the debt relief offer would open on July 10 and close on October 6, 2020.
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The valuation of Asian shares surged to a 10-1/2-year high in June, tracking a rally in global stocks, as upbeat U.S. and China data renewed hopes of a swift economic recovery, offsetting concerns over rising coronavirus cases.
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares gained 4.83% last month, topping the MSCI’s World index’s. 3.03% gains.
The index’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio rose to 15.62 at the end of June, compared with 14.34 a month earlier. This was the index’s highest forward P/E ratio since December 2009, according to Refinitiv-Eikon data.
Benchmark equity indexes in India, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan, gained more than 6% each last month.
New Zealand, India and Malaysia shares were the most expensive in the region, with P/E ratios of 30.7, 19.3 and 17.4, respectively.
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Technology firm Fujitsu has said it will halve its office space in Japan as it adapts to the new normal of the coronavirus pandemic.
It said the Work Life Shift programme will offer unprecedented flexibility to its 80,000 workers in the country.
Staff will be able to work flexible hours, and working from home will be standard wherever possible.
The announcement follows a similar move in May by social media platform Twitter.
In a statement sent to the BBC, Fujitsu said it will introduce a new way of working that promises a more empowering, productive, and creative experience for employees that will boost innovation and deliver new value to its customers and society.
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The government has received a report into Huawei that is likely to change its policy over the Chinese firm's role in the UK's telecoms networks.
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre had delivered its findings, and officials were now examining them before advising the prime minister.
NCSC is believed to have said it can no longer assure the security of Huawei's products because of new US sanctions, Huawei said it was open to discussions.
One of the company's spokesmen however took a tougher line over the weekend, following newspaper reports that the government might ban the purchase of new Huawei 5G equipment by the end of the year.
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