Africa Business News

The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has joined several stakeholders in the aviation sector to seek palliatives to keep airlines afloat.
Onyema stressed that palliatives would help airlines save staff jobs.
He said, Palliatives, bailout, rollout, intervention funds is necessary. All over the world, the government is giving palliatives, bailout funds to their airlines.
Onyema said sacking workers could lead to more crime in the society
He also added that as also said that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s decision to increase the passenger service charges on flight tickets by 100 per cent would increase flight cost.
He made this known at the end of a flight simulation exercise ahead of the resumption of domestic flights in the country.
FAAN had last week announced its plan to increase passenger service charges on domestic flights from the current rate of N1,000 to N2,000 and from $50 to $100 on international flights.
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President Muhammadu Buhari is set to inaugurate the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline in Kogi State and in Rigachikun, Kaduna State.
According to a tweet by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the ceremony would hold virtually on Tuesday.
The corporation also stated that the construction phase of the AKK pipeline would go ahead simultaneously with the inauguration by the president.
The AKK gas pipeline is a project designed to facilitate the development of three gas-based independent power plants in Abuja, 1,350 megawatts; Kaduna, 900MW; and Kano, 1,350MW.
The NNPC noted that being a section of the Trans Nigeria Gas Pipeline, the AKK gas pipeline had the capacity to transport about 2.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day.
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Virgin Australia has been bought by US private equity group Bain Capital after falling into administration due to coronavirus travel restrictions.
The airline was struggling with long-term debt of A$5bn (£2.55bn; $3.17bn) even before the pandemic struck.
Australia's second biggest carrier had unsuccessfully asked for government loans before its collapse in April.
Administrators for the airline, Deloitte, said on Friday that Bain would become the new owners, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of August.
A statement said Bain supports the airline's current management team and its turnaround plan for the business. It has also committed to retain thousands of jobs.
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US telecoms operator Verizon has become the latest major company to pull advertising from Facebook platforms.
The company joins Ben and Jerry's and a growing list of firms boycotting the social media giant over its handling of controversial posts.
Verizon is believed to be the biggest advertiser so far to back the Stop Hate for Profit campaign.
Other than its namesake platform, Facebook's social media brands also include Instagram and WhatsApp.
Verizon spokesperson told the BBC that the brand safety standards have not changed. They are pausing advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes them comfortable.
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CEO Allan Kilavuka told reporters on Friday that Kenya Airways has lost an estimated $100 million in revenue as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns.
Kilavuka said they don’t have the full picture of how much they have lost but the estimate since January to date will be around $100 million.
He said according to estimate the ailine will lose between $400 and $500 million.
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Ratings agency Moody’s on Thursday said The South African government target to stabilise its ballooning debt by 2023 will be very difficult to achieve and unlikely.
The Treasury on Wednesday presented a supplementary budget in response to the coronavirus crisis that projected a wider budget deficit, while public debt was estimated to be more than three quarters of gross domestic product in the medium term.
Moody’s in a research note on the budget said the government hopes to achieve a primary surplus by fiscal 2023 that would stabilise debt.
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Djibouti Government on Thursday said it is setting up a sovereign wealth fund for domestic and regional investment, aiming to fund it to the tune of $1.5 billion over the next decade.
Wealthy nations traditionally use sovereign wealth funds to invest surplus billions overseas to prevent inflation at home, diversify income streams and accumulate savings.
The government said Djibouti will however use its fund to finance domestic investment including in the telecoms, logistics and infrastructure sectors. It will also prioritize investments in the Horn of Africa region.
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President Edgar Lungu on Thursday said Zambia’s expenditure is expected to rise by approximately 20 billion kwacha ($1.11 billion) this year as the local currency weakens, piling more pressure on a nation already struggling with huge debt.
Lungu said in a national address External debt service will rise by 8.7 billion kwacha because of a sharp fall in the currency.
Zambia has $3 billion of Eurobonds outstanding and owes $2 billion to commercial banks, $2 billion to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and a further $3 billion to China.
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South Africa’s rand was little changed early on Friday amid surging global coronavirus infections, despite the currency’s staging a recovering after a gloomy budget earlier in the week.
At 0617 GMT, the rand traded at 17.1750 versus the dollar, 0.2% lower than its New York close on Thursday.
The rand had regained ground after the budget speech, which forecast ballooning debt and a higher government deficit, as well as fading hopes globally of a quick economic recovery.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Wednesday said the main budget deficit would widen to a record 14.6% of gross domestic product in 2020/21, while public debt would top 80% as the country borrows to plug gaps in revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Frimpong Boateng, has given a one-week ultimatum to some steel manufacturing companies within the Tema Free Zones enclave to come out with a road-map on how they intend to deal with environmental pollution in their areas of operation.
The Minister’s warning comes in the wake of several complaints from some adjoining companies operating within the Free Zones enclave as well as residents living nearby regarding pollution from the steel companies in the area.
Among the steel manufacturing companies visited were United Steel, Rider steel, MND Metal and Success Aluminum Company.
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