Africa Business News

Starbucks has announced it will suspend advertising on some social media platforms in response to hate speech.
The coffee giant joins global brands including Coca-Cola, Diageo and Unilever which have recently removed advertising from social platforms.
A Starbucks spokesperson told the BBC the social media "pause" would not include YouTube, owned by Google.
Starbucks in a statement said they believe in bringing communities together, both in person and online.
it said the brand said it would have discussions internally and with media partners and civil rights organizations to stop the spread of hate speech". it will however continue to post on social media without paid promotion.
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The South African rand was little changed early on Monday, despite health officials recording a steeper rise in coronavirus infections over the weekend.
Health experts say the local virus outbreak is yet to reach its peak, after authorities delayed a surge in infections by imposing a strict lockdown in late March.
At 0657 GMT, the rand traded at 17.24 versus the dollar, 0.1% stronger than its closing level on Friday.
The yield on the 2030 government bond was 1.5 basis points higher at 9.20%, reflecting slightly lower bond prices.
According to a central bank estimate, the coronavirus crisis is expected to take a heavy toll on Africa’s most industrialised economy, which was already in recession in the final quarter of 2019 and could contract by 7% in 2020.
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The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, has said reduced domestic interest rates will empower local banks to participate in the cocoa syndicated loan.
COCOBOD is seeking to raise 1.3 billion dollars to finance the 2020/2021 crop season.
Financial analysts have however maintained that the funds used in purchasing cocoa beans would have been retained in the country if more local banks participate in the process.
Dr. Addison stated that there is the need to work on interest rates to encourage local banks fund cocoa purchasing while appearing before Parliament’s Public Account Committee.
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The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, says government has been able to erase the misconception that Ghanaian cocoa farmers exploit children on their farms.
A recent report funded by the US Department of Labour, claimed that Ghana and Ivory Coast were using more than 2 million children on cocoa farms. Even though Ghana has already petitioned the U.S Labour Department disputing the report
The CEO of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, says Ghanaian cocoa farmers have been educated on best practices to prevent the international community from boycotting Ghana’s cocoa.
Ghana’s cocoa industry is a major contributor to government revenue and GDP. It employs approximately 800,000 farm families spread over nearly half of the 16 regions of Ghana as the crop also generates about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually.
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The private sector Coalition against COVID-19 has raised about N29bn in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this during the commissioning of Lagos State Isolation Center at Yaba, on Sunday.
He commended the Nigerian private sector who have come together under the Coalition Against COVID-19 to support the government by providing donations which today stands at almost N29bn.
He said the donations are being used to build well equipped centers cross the 36 states of the federation.
He added that CACOVID has established 32 isolation centers across states in the country and by the end of july,39 isolation centers would have been established by CACOVID all over the country.
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Lagos State Government said it paid insurance benefits worth N93m to relatives of deceased civil servants in three months.
This was disclosed in its report, titled ‘Towards a greater Lagos.’
According to the report, Lagos presented insurance death benefits of N93m to 35 direct beneficiaries of deceased civil servants between December 2019 and March 2020.
It said the Governor approved the reinstatement of the global insurance package for year 2020/2021 insurance year.
The state government also disclosed that it had commenced the issuance of identity cards to retirees, and enlightened them on the need to enroll for the health insurance scheme as well as enjoy free rides on government mass transit buses and ferry.
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Lagos State Government said it paid insurance benefits worth N93m to relatives of deceased civil servants in three months.
This was disclosed in its report, titled ‘Towards a greater Lagos.’
According to the report, Lagos presented insurance death benefits of N93m to 35 direct beneficiaries of deceased civil servants between December 2019 and March 2020.
It said the Governor approved the reinstatement of the global insurance package for year 2020/2021 insurance year.
The state government also disclosed that it had commenced the issuance of identity cards to retirees, and enlightened them on the need to enroll for the health insurance scheme as well as enjoy free rides on government mass transit buses and ferry.
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The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency on Sunday insisted that it would continue fixing price bands for petrol despite opposition by oil marketers to the move.
It also declared that a regulation for petrol, had been established in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
The Executive Secretary, PPPRA, Abdulkadir Saidu, disclosed this while addressing questions on the PMS pricing regime, which commenced on March 19, 2020.
Since the introduction of the regime, marketers had expressed concerns over the issuing of monthly guiding prices for petrol.
Saidu argued that different sectors of the economy operate under the guidance of national regulators.
He said that while the market-based pricing regime was a policy introduced to free the market of all encumbrances to investment and growth, it should not be misconstrued to mean a total abdication of government’s responsibility to the sector and citizenry.
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Nigeria has been excluded from the list of countries whose travelers could be received into Europe when the borders reopen on July 1.
Schengenvisainfo.com reported that the European Union Commission released a list of 54 countries that qualified for travels into Europe as the union opens its borders that were shut to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The commission said that citizens of Brazil, Qatar, the US and Russia would only be able to enter Europe at a later date when the epidemiological situation in these countries improves.
The EU Commission spokesman, Eric Mamer, said the union had the right to choose who would enter its borders.
He said the European Union has an internal process to determine from which countries it would be safe to accept travelers, adding that it was based on health criteria.
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The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has warned stakeholders about 13 vessels bound for Nigeria from five countries heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Eight of the vessels are expected to berth in Apapa, Lagos; four in Bonny, Rivers State; and one in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
The Director-General of NIMASA, Jamoh Bashir, who raised the alarm in a statement, said there was a need to ensure stakeholders adhered strictly to the guidelines put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Bashir said the advisory was to alert all agencies of government and private sector operators at the ports of the expected arrival of the vessels and ensure that they operated the vessels with the highest level of professionalism.
The vessels, previous port of call included the United States, Brazil, India, Spain and the United Kingdom.
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