The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, fell on Monday after Saudi Arabia and Russia postponed a meeting to discuss output cuts that could help to reduce global oversupply as the coronavirus pandemic pummels demand.

Brent, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced, dropped by $1.21 to $32.90 per barrel as of 7.15pm Nigerian time on Monday.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, were scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss cutting production but the meeting was moved to Thursday.

BNP Paribas analyst, Harry Tchilinguirian, was quoted by Reuters, He noted that the initial disappointment at the delay had driven down prices in Asian business.

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Japan will declare a state of emergency as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus. This comes as the government is preparing a stimulus package to soften the blow on an economy already struggling to avoid a recession. Reports say the new measures would likely come into force on Wednesday. More than 3,500 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Japan and 85 have died, but the numbers keep rising with particular alarm over the spread in Tokyo, which has more than 1,000 cases.

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South African telecoms regulator, ICASA, has announced an emergency release of broadband spectrum to meet a spike in internet usage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, ICASA said the emergency release of the spectrum does not negate the processes that are currently underway for permanent assignment of spectrum through an auction. It said the Authority has committed to finalise by the end of 2020.

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South Africa’s rand weakened early on Monday, sliding to a record low, after ratings agency Fitch cut the country’s credit rating on Friday. The South African currency was down 0.3 percent to 19 rand, 11 cents per dollar, pulling back from 19 rand, 35 cents which is its weakest ever.

Bonds opened weaker, with the yield on the benchmark debt due in 2026, up 3 basis points to 11.465%. In equities, retailer Woolworths said it expects profit for the 52 weeks to June 28 to fall more than 20% year-on-year due to a drop in sales owing to measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

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South Africa’s central bank slashed its growth forecasts on Monday, predicting the economy could shrink by as much as 4% in 2020. This is due to the COVID-19 pandeemic that has forced a national lockdown and triggered two credit ratings downgrades.

In its bi-annual Monetary Policy Review, the bank also said growth was unlikely to exceed 1% the following year. The reserve bank also said there were downside risks to the dire forecasts should the lockdown be extended, or if the global economy weakened more than expected.

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A study by the Africa Union has shown that about 20 million jobs are at risk in Africa as the continent’s economies are projected to shrink this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The study titled "Impact of the coronavirus on the Africa economy" projects that GDP across the continent will shrink

Before the onset of the pandemic, continent-wide gross domestic product growth had been projected by the African Development Bank to reach 3.4% this year. Under what the AU researchers deemed their realistic scenario, Africa’s economy will now shrink 0.8%, while the pessimistic scenario said there would be a 1.1% dip. The study says up to 15% for foreign direct investment could disappear.

Exports and imports are projected to drop at least 35% from 2019 levels, incurring a loss in the value of trade of around 270 billion dollars.

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Malawi’s president and cabinet will take a 10 percent salary cut and redirect the money towards the fight against coronavirus. President Peter Mutharika made the announcement over the weekend as he announced a stimulus package in an address on state television.

President Mutharika also announced a number of measures aimed at cushioning small- and medium-sized businesses. These include tax breaks, a reduction in fuel prices and an increase in risk allowances for health workers.

He also ordered the country’s Competition and Fair Trading Commission to put in place strict monitoring of price controls and punish anyone found increasing prices at the expense of Malawians.

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A survey has shown that Egypt’s non-oil private sector activity contracted at a far faster rate in March than in February as the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown spread across the globe. IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index for the non-oil private sector came in at 44.2 last month, down from 47.1 in February and far below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction.

It was the sharpest contraction since January 2017, shortly after Egypt put in place austerity measures as part of an IMF-backed economic reform programme signed in November 2016.

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Egypt has postponed the launch of mega-projects including the grand Egyptian Museum. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made the announcement over the weekend, saying the mega-projects include moving civil servants to a planned new capital city to 2021. The presidency said the postponement was due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Sisi’s government has said it wants to start running Egypt from the new city, located 45 km east of Cairo, as soon as the middle of 2020. However, the 58 billion dollar project has struggled to raise funds and faced other challenges after some investors pulled out.

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Tunisia’s annual inflation rate rose to 6.2 percent in March. This is according to official data released on Sunday. It is the first rise in six months. In February, inflation was at 5.8 pct.

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