Fifteen U.S. airlines were granted final government approval on Wednesday to temporarily halt service to 75 domestic airports as travel demand has been crushed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Transportation Department said all airports would continue to be served by at least one air carrier. Despite some objections to a tentative list made public on May 22, the government did not make any changes.

The U.S. airline industry has been awarded $25 billion in government payroll assistance grants to help weather the pandemic while carriers must maintain minimum service levels to receive the assistance, many petitioned to stop service to airports with low passenger demand.

The department has previously allowed some airlines to halt service to some airports and rejected other requests.

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Mali’s mines and petroleum ministry on Wednesday said Industrial gold production in Mali is expected to fall by 8.3% year on year to 59.77 tonnes this year compared with 2019 due to falling output at several mines.

It said total gold production is expected at 65.7 tonnes in 2020, including 6 tonnes from the artisanal, or small-scale mining sector, compared with 71.1 tonnes a year ago.

Companies operating in Mali’s mining sector includes Barrick Gold, Resolute Mining, Anglogold Ashanti and B2Gold.

mines ministry official Mamadou Sidibé told Reuters that Reserves at Anglogold Ashanti’s Sadiola mine is reaching depletion phase, and will produce 832 kg compared with 4.6 tonnes last year.

He added that output at Barrick’s Morila mine is expected at 1.9 tonnes, compared with 3.5 tonnes the previous year, while Resolute’s Finkolo mine will produce 440 kg compared 6.6 tonnes in 2019.

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South Africa’s rand eased against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday, after a strong rally in the previous session that was fuelled by hopes of a global economic rebound.

At 0642 GMT, the rand traded at 17.0200 per dollar, 0.49% weaker than its close on Wednesday, when it climbed to an 11-week peak of 16.8900.

Governments around the world have gradually started to lift tough lockdown measures imposed to contain the coronavirus which has infected more than 6.43 million people globally and killed over 380,000.

In South Africa, the government on Monday partially lifted a lockdown that has battered the economy which was already in recession before the coronavirus crisis, allowing mines and factories to run at full capacity.

In fixed income, the yield on the 10-year government bond due in 2030 was up 2.5 basis points to 8.690%.

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The chairman of its National Petroleum Institute (INP) on Wednesday said Exxon Mobil Corp’s final investment decision (FID) on a blockbuster $30 billion gas project in Mozambique’s extreme north should come in 2021.

The oil giant postponed its FID for the project, which had been expected this year, in March as the coronavirus outbreak and an oil price slump forced firms to delay projects and slash spending.

INP Chairman Carlos Zacarias told a press conference that the final investment decision of the Rovuma LNG project has been postponed to, in principle, next year, referring to the project in the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado led by Exxon.

Other big oil companies, including France’s Total and Italy’s Eni, are also involved in projects in the region, home to one of the biggest gas finds in a decade.

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A survey on Thursday showed Kenya’s private sector activity inched up in May after falling sharply a month earlier because of restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, but conditions are expected to worsen in coming months.

The Markit Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 36.7, higher than April’s 34.8 but still well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.

The survey compilers in a report said driving the downturn was a considerable fall in output levels in May, as businesses reported lower activity due to weak sales.

Tourism and horticulture, leading sources of foreign exchange, have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, as have transport and manufacturing.

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The Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Adam Mutawakilu, has asked the government to immediately withdraw the increment in the BOST margin announced by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

He said the decision to increase the margin amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is unfortunate.

He said the Minority in Parliament is concerned that while the government appears to be granting some reliefs to individuals and businesses due to COVID-19, it has been secretly introducing new levies and taxes that places extra burden on Ghanaians.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in a statement over the weekend said the BOST Margin which used to be three pesewas on each litre of petroleum product has been increased by an additional three pesewas.

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According to Tax Analyst, Dr. Abdallah Ali Nakyea, Businesses that have been struggling as a result of the impact of the novel Coronavirus can appeal to government to amend the law that allows the payment of interest on deferred taxes.

He said deferment of tax payment can be done, but does not clear one off the charge to be paid on a due date as established by law while speaking on the topic, Compliance in Abnormal Times’ on the third day of the on-air series of the Citi Business Festival.

He explained that just as government has done for companies donating towards the National COVID-19 Trust Fund and also the approval of tax reliefs and exemptions for frontline health workers.

He said the government must look at laws which need to be amended if even they can give the amendment a life span to the end of the year because experts are saying that the pandemic would last for the next two to three years

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The Senate has queried the Central Bank of Nigeria over alleged unremitted $3.3bn from the $21.3bn collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service as foreign tax in 2015.

The Public Accounts Committee of the red chamber issued the query after its meeting on Wednesday.

The Senate panel said it acted on an audit query raised against the CBN by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation.

The panel quoting the audit query said while the FIRS recorded $21.3bn as the total sum of foreign tax collected by it in 2015 and domiciled in the apex bank, the CBN on the other hand, recorded $18bn.

The Chairman of the panel, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, asked the CBN management to explain the shortfall.

The Deputy Governor (Corporate Affairs) of the bank, Mr Edward Adamu, had given an explanation that was not convincing to the panel stating that the shortfall of $3.3bn was neither missing nor unremitted.

The Senate committee then directed him and other top officials of the CBN to report back to it on Monday with required documents on the alleged variations in the exchange rate.

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Data obtained from the Department of Petroleum Resources have shown that the Federal Government may generate at least N3.17bn from the payment of fees for the marginal fields put on offer for bidding.

Indigenous oil firms and other investors willing to bid for any of the 57 marginal fields are expected to pay fees amounting to N55.6m per field.

The Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, had said last month that the government would accelerate marginal fields licensing and renewal of expiring oil mining licences as part of measures to augment revenues.

The DPR said in addition to the above-listed fees, the signature bonus shall be paid by successful bidders prior to award.

According to the guidelines, registration, application and processing fees are to be paid into the Treasury Single Account while the fees for data leasing, data prying, CPR and field-specific report are to be paid into the National Data Repository account, and signature bonuses to be paid into the Federation Account.

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Polestar, the premium electric vehicle maker owned by China’s Geely, plans to open 20 showrooms in the mainland, as it prepares for delivery of its Polestar 2 electric sedans to compete with Tesla Inc’s locally made Model 3.

The automaker in a statement on Wednesday said Polestar, which currently has only one showroom in Beijing, plans to have 20 in 17 Chinese cities. The Gothenburg, Sweden-based company is manufacturing cars in China’s eastern city of Taizhou.

The automaker plans to export Polestar 2 sedans to Europe and the United States, and will open showrooms first in Shanghai and then expand to coastal Ningbo and southern Guangzhou. The showrooms will be mostly in shopping malls.

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