Africa Business News

The Federal Government on Monday said it would carry out a simulation trial of domestic flight operations at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Saturday as it prepares to reopen the country’s airspace to commercial flights.
It also assured Nigerians that airfares would not be outrageously high as speculated by many, based on plans to begin the social distancing rule onboard flights.
This came as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority declared that it would submit the aviation restart plan to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, while speaking at Monday’s briefing of the PTF in Abuja, doused concerns about a possible hike in airfares when commercial flights resume.
He added that they are doing everything to ensure that tickets’ prices are not skyrocketed. They may be different but affordable to passengers.
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European stocks moved into positive territory after a negative start on Monday, as investors focus on prospects of a quick economic recovery despite a resurgence in coronavirus cases in Germany, the US and Australia. Robert Koch Institute said that the covid-19 reproduction rate in Germany jumped to 2.88 Sunday, up from 1.79 a day earlier, a rate showing infections are rising above the level needed to contain the disease over the longer term. Meantime, the WHO reported the largest single-day increase in global infections, with more than 183 thousand cases in a 24-hour period.
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The dollar index depreciated to 97.3 on Monday from a two-week high of 97.6 on Friday as investors try to shrug off fears of a second wave of coronavirus and its consequences for the global economic recovery. The Australian dollar was one of the best performing major currencies against the dollar after the central bank governor said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic would not be as bad as initially taught. The British pound also strengthened amid prospects of a Brexit trade agreement.
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At the just concluded Zimvest Economy Conversation, looking at The Economic Landscape and Investor Preferences in Post-pandemic Africa, The Keynote speaker Mr Bola Onadele, CEO FMDQ Group, Mr Bola indicated that Covid-19 Pandemic Paid-off For Ghana and South Africa as Gold Price soars, while Other African Economies Struggle to grasp the rapid Impact of the Pandemic. Mr Bola Onabole further spoke to the African markets in terms of equity and fixed income as impacted by covid-19 pandemic. Less liquid assets suffered more, volatility level is reported to be comparable to the 2008 level. Equity market capitalization in total lost about $17 trillion in just 52 days. Remittances from tourism industry are drying up very fast. Massive sell-off were witnessed in Nairobi and Tanzania among other negative trends. Post Pandemic, Nigeria should not wait but position herself for the next waves of opportunities in the financial market.

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Lufthansa shares slumped 5.7% on Monday morning after CEO Carsten Spohr said the company would seek to avoid a grounding and insolvency in a battle with the airline’s biggest shareholder over the terms of a 9-billion-euro bailout.
Lufthansa has been hard hit by what is expected to be a protracted travel slump because of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing it to seek a state rescue.
Billionaire shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele will meet the economy minister on Monday to discuss his objections to the state-backed bailout
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According to influential economist Jeffrey Sachs, the deepening cold war between the US and China will be a bigger worry for the world than coronavirus.
He told the BBC that the world is headed for a period of massive disruption without any leadership in the aftermath of the pandemic.
He warned that the divide between the two superpowers will exacerbate this.
The Columbia University professor blamed the US administration for the hostilities between the two countries.
He said in an interview with BBC's Asia Business Report that the US is a force for division, not for cooperation.
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Scandal-hit payments firm Wirecard has said the €1.9bn (£1.7bn) missing from its accounts simply may not exist.
Wirecard's chief executive quit on Friday as the search for the missing cash hit a dead end in the Philippines.
On Sunday the central bank of Philippines said none of the money appears to have entered the country's financial system.
The German company also said it was withdrawing its financial results for 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
The company in a statement on Monday said the Management Board of Wirecard assesses on the basis of further examination that there is a prevailing likelihood that the bank trust account balances in the amount of 1.9 billion EUR do not exist. The missing money accounts for around a quarter of its total balance sheet.
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a stament said it has approved $148 million in emergency credit to Guinea to bolster the West African country’s economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IMF said Worsening global conditions and a rapidly spreading local outbreak have deteriorated Guinea’s short-term growth prospects and hindered mining exports and tax revenues.
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The National Treasury on Saturday said the New Development Bank established by the BRICS group of emerging nations has approved a $1 billion COVID-19 emergency loan to South Africa to help reduce the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.
South Africa was already in recession before the pandemic wreaked further havoc in Africa’s most industrialised economy.
The Treasury in a statement said the COVID-19 emergency program loan to South Africa will be provided in response to the urgent request and immediate financing needs of the South African government.
Finance minister Tito Mboweni is expected to unveil an emergency budget with major changes to spending and revenue forecasts in parliament on Wednesday.
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South Africa’s rand weakened early on Monday, reflecting the gloom in global markets as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections around the world increased investor jitters ahead of a local emergency budget later this week.
At 0700 GMT the rand was 0.49% weaker at 17.4050 per dollar from Friday’s 17.3200 close, with the sell-trend that took root last week, pushing the currency to its lowest in June, set to continue until at least Wednesday’s budget.
Bonds also took a hit, with the yield on the government issue due in 2030 up 9.5 basis points at 9.315%.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is expected to paint a bleak picture in a revised budget that comes almost three months after government announced a 500 billion-rand ($28.78 billion) stimulus package leaning heavily on new borrowing.
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