Africa Business News

Tesla has become the world's most valuable carmaker, overtaking Japan's Toyota, after its stock hit a record high.
Shares in the electric carmaker touched $1,134 on Wednesday morning before falling back, leaving it with a market value of $209.47bn (£165bn).
That is roughly $4bn more than Toyota's current stock market value.
However, Toyota sold around 30 times more cars last year and its revenues were more than 10 times higher.
Shares in Tesla have surged since the start of 2020 as investors have begun to feel more confident about the future of electric vehicles.

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France Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin on Wednesday via Twitter said French tax investigators helped the state recover almost 12 billion euros in 2019, calling it a record year.
Figures published by the financial daily Les Echos and confirmed by the economy ministry showed Revenue obtained following tax audits accounted for almost 11 billion euros ($12 billion), on top of which rectified declarations added 358 million euros and judicial conventions involving Google and asset management firm Carmignac another 530 million euros.
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Foreign exchange regulator on Wednesday said Morocco’s trade deficit shrank by 12% to 73.7 billion dirhams ($7.58 billion) in the first five months of 2020 from a year earlier.
Imports dropped 16.9% to 174.5 billion dirhams and exports tumbled 20.1% to 100.8 billion dirhams, the regulator said in a monthly report citing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Energy imports, including gas and oil, fell 9.2% to 22.9 billion dirhams, on the back of lower prices.
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Mauritius on Wednesday said Mauritius’s central bank and Financial Services Commission have started a joint investigation into alleged round-tripping linked to Wirecard AG.
German police and prosecutors raided Wirecard’s headquarters in Munich on Wednesday as they widened their fraud investigation into the payments company that collapsed last week.
The central bank in a statement said Wirecard AG could have been linked to a probable case of round-tripping involving a Mauritius-registered entity, adding that it will seek the help of other law enforcement agencies.
It added that The Bank and the FSC are determined to bring to light any possible breach of regulatory requirements.
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The firm representing the businesses has calculated that Virus-related claims from just over 500 small South African firms battling insurers who have rejected them are worth up to 4 billion rand ($232 million).
Loss adjustment firm Insurance Claims Africa (ICA) is pushing a host of big South African insurers including Santam, Old Mutual, Hollard and HIC Underwriting Managers to make payouts under business interruption policies sold to its clients.
ICA CEO, Ryan Woolley, told journalists on Wednesday that its calculations showed the claims by the firms ICA is representing amounted to between 3.5 billion rand and 4 billion rand, though it had offered the relevant insurers reduced amounts to settle the matter.

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South Africa’s central bank data on Thursday said the country’s current account balance swung to a surplus of 1.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2020 from a deficit of 1.3% of GDP in the previous three months.
The surplus was the first since the first quarter of 2003.
The trade balance showed a wider surplus of 208 billion rand ($12.27 billion) in January-March, more than double the 102.5-billion-rand surplus in the previous three months.
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An Economist, Dr. Adu Owusu Sarkodie, says the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta should be able to outline the progress made so far with the allocation of support under the government’s Coronavirus Alleviation Programme when he presents the Mid-year budget review to Parliament later this month.
Dr. Sarkodie says limiting budgetary allocation is critical, since an increase is likely to impact the country’s budget deficit, which is the difference between the revenue and expenditure.
Finanve Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to present to legislators revised estimates on the performance of the economy he presented in November 2019.
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Oando Plc has commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for spearheading the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline Project and others aimed at developing critical infrastructure in the country.
The project was championed by two consortia, comprising select indigenous and international companies, and commenced in 2013 with the announcement for tenders by the NNPC.
Oando said the project would support the addition of 3,600 megawatts of power to the national grid and connect energy demand from the northern part of the country with supply from the South.
The Group Chief Executive, Oando, Adewale Tinubu, said as acompany focused on driving indigenous participation, they have always been proponents of public-private partnership in accelerating the actualisation of the nation’s goals.
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The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria says it has rescheduled its April diet examinations to hold along with the October diet examinations.
A statement by the Head Corporate Communication and External Relations, Mr Nelson Olagundoye, said the examination was rescheduled to ensure the safety of the students and other stakeholders that would participate in it.
He said the decision to reschedule the examination was in line with the uncertainty surrounding the full relaxation of the measures imposed by the federal and state governments to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
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A survey by Reuters found that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries saw its oil output hit the lowest in two decades in June as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab members made larger cuts.
The group compliance in a supply reduction pact rose above 100 per cent despite incomplete adherence by Iraq and Nigeria.
The 13-member OPEC pumped 22.62 million barrels per day on average in June, the survey found, down 1.92 million bpd from May’s revised figure.
OPEC and its allies in April agreed to a record output cut to offset a slump in demand caused by the coronavirus crisis. An easing of lockdowns and lower supply have helped prices climb above $40 from April’s 21-year low of below $16 a barrel.
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