South Africa’s rand weakened early on Friday as global sentiment over chances of a quick coronavirus recovery soured, with infections continuing to surge amid downbeat economic data.

At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.7% weaker, giving back almost all of the previous session’s gains that had lifted it to a one-month high.

The currency had shrugged off dismal manufacturing data showing output fell 49.4% year on year in April, its worst in 12 years.

Bonds also trade weaker, with yields inching higher at the shorter end of the curve. The yield on the benchmark 2030 government issue added 2 basis points to 9.67%.

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A University Professor heading the trials says Africa could have a COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021 if human trials underway in South Africa succeed.

The experimental vaccine is one of 19 being tested on humans globally in a race to find vaccines to stop a pandemic that has killed more than half a million people so far.

It is also being tested in Brazil by Oxford University scientists who are working with British drugmaker AstraZeneca on development and production.

Trials will depend on 2,000 volunteers aged 18-65 years who will be monitored for 12 months after vaccination to asses its efficacy.

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TikTok has posted on its website that it has halted operations in Hong Kong.

The company flagged the move earlier this week after China imposed a new security law on the city.

The law has restricted freedoms in the semi-autonomous territory, raising concerns of official oversight of social media.

Other social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter are also reviewing operations in Hong Kong.

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Moody's rating agency has warned that Britain will suffer the sharpest peak-to-trough economic slump of any major economy this year. In a report on Friday, Moody’s said the UK government’s latest stimulus package, announced this week, would aid a gradual economic recovery but add further pressure to the UK’s fiscal position.

The rating agency added that the UK’s public debt ratio will likely rise by 24 percentage points of GDP or more relative to 2019 levels.

Moody’s rates Britain Aa2 with a negative outlook.

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Shares in China fell 1.8% today from a five-year high, as state media discouraged retail investors from chasing the market higher.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.3%. Australian stocks declined by 0.6% as an extension of loan-payment deferrals hit the banking sector. Japanese stocks were down by 1.1%.

The e-mini futures for the S&P 500 erased early gains to trade down 0.6%.

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Sudan’s prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, replaced the finance, foreign, energy and health ministers and three other senior cabinet post-holders on Thursday as part of a sweeping reshuffle.

In a statement, the government said the transitional Prime Minister had dismissed the health minister and accepted the resignation of Badawi and the others. It named interim replacements to lead all seven ministries.

The reshuffle comes nine days after large street protests demanding faster and more comprehensive reforms from transitional authorities.

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Air Namibia says it will be allowed to temporarily operate commercial flights after a court late on Wednesday suspended the cancellation of its air licence.

The airline, which operates 10 aircraft and has close to 800 staff, requires around 8 billion Namibian dollars ($469 million) to stay afloat, but only received a tenth of that in last month’s budget. In a statement on Thursday, the airline said "The suspension of Air Namibia’s service licence has been upended by the High Court. Air Namibia shall continue to fly all domestic flights as per published schedule”.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for August 3.

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Zambia's ministry of mines says the nation’s copper production increased to 342,734 tonnes in the first five months of this year, from 330,024 tonnes in the same period of 2019.

Copper production was projected to continue rising in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 in line with rising prices driven by factors including growing production of electric vehicles that rely on copper.

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A U.N report on wildlife crime says illegal global trade in ivory has shrunk while the trafficking of pangolins has soared. The report, released on Friday, was based on four years' data.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in its World Wildlife Crime Report, said national bans on selling ivory, particularly China’s in 2017, appear to have helped to curb ivory trafficking after it peaked around 2011-2013. The UNODC however said the trafficking of pangolins, during the same period, has surged.

The UNODC estimates the annual income generated by ivory trafficking between 2016 and 2018 at $400 million. It said seizures of pangolin scales, mainly sourced in Africa, increased tenfold between 2014 and 2018. In that time, 185 tons of scales were seized, for which roughly 370,000 animals would have been killed. 

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Botswana has started rationing fuel after an announcement on Thursday by President Mokgweetsi. The president said the move was part of efforts to ease a crippling shortage that has seen some consumers rush to stock up.

In a televised address, President Mokgweetsi said sales will be limited to the value of 250 pula worth of fuel, though the limit would not apply to front-line workers and public transport operators. He said the country has started importing fuel through Nambibia and Mozambique to complement supplies from South Africa.

Long queues have formed in recent weeks at fuel stations in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, as some ran dry. The shortages have disrupted businesses and threaten to exacerbate the woes of an economy already expected to shrink 13% this year.

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