The Bank of Ghana has established a new FinTech and Innovation Office to drive its cash-lite, e-payments and digitization agenda.

According to the central bank, the emergence of FinTech solutions has introduced significant complexities that require it to focus, understand and supervise effectively.

Among the role of the new FinTech and Innovation Office will be the licensing and oversight of dedicated electronic money issuers such as mobile money operators, payment service providers (PSPs), and closed loop payment products.

The Bank of Ghana said companies engaged in online or digital transactions including Mobile Money Operators and fintechs, have up to June 2020 to acquire their licenses to enable them operate in the electronic payment space.

Official said Chinese and US trade representatives agreed on Friday to create favourable conditions for the phase one trade deal signed in January, despite recent tensions over the coronavirus pandemic.

Vice Premier Liu He, who had led Beijing’s negotiations, held a call in the morning with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

A notice from China’s Ministry of Commerce said both sides agreed to strengthen macroeconomic and public health cooperation, strive to create a favourable atmosphere and conditions for the implementation of the phase one US-China economic and trade agreement, promoting positive results

US officials said after the call that both parties agreed “good progress” is being made on creating the governmental infrastructures needed to make the agreement a success.

The countries have also agreed to maintain communication and coordination.

The World Health Organisation warned on Thursday that 190,000 people in Africa could die of coronavirus in the first year of the pandemic if containment measures fail.

The UN health agency cited a new study by its regional office in Brazzaville which found that between 83,000 and 190,000 could die and 29 to 44 million be infected during the period.

The WHO said in a statement that the research is based on prediction modelling and covers 47 countries with a total population of one billion.

The statement further said the model predicts the observed slower rate of transmission, lower age of people with severe disease and lower mortality rates compared to what is seen in the most affected countries in the rest of the world.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the dissolution of the Interim Management Team and the appointment of an acting Managing Director for the Bank of Agriculture in the person of Alwan Hassan.

According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hassan is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the banking industry.

The FMARD said the President’s approval was conveyed to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammad Nanono, via a letter dated May 5, 2020 with reference No. PRES/95/MARD/14.

The ministry in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday described Hassan’s appointment as apt, adding that it would expectedly turn the fortune of the bank around considering his decades of experience in the banking sector.

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council says an assessment of the impact of coronavirus on agricultural exports shows that the pandemic will lead to a fall in export of cocoa beans, cashew nuts and sesame seeds this year.

The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, NEPC, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, while speaking at a webinar themed ‘Non-oil exports: Disrupting Nigeria’s growth cycle’ on Thursday, noted that based on commodity prices and market trends, fall in sesame seed export would be minimal.

He said the crash in oil prices as a result of the pandemic is an indication that a mono-product economy is not sustainable and that there is an urgent need to develop non-oil export.

He identified the export of services as a rapidly growing export industry that could generate more revenue for the government.

To ease the burden of non-oil export during the coronavirus pandemic, Awolowo suggested realigning the exporters’ foreign exchange window with the prevailing forex rate.

The Federal Government said gas flare penalty payment by oil and gas companies in the country will increase to N103.51bn this year.

The Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, disclosed this in a presentation where he highlighted the revenue measures taken by the government to manage the resultant budgetary pressure from the coronavirus crisis and the oil price slump.

Akabueze said the government would tighten implementation of the 2018 revised gas flare penalty payment regime (resulting in upward revision of gas flare penalty for 2020 from N44.7bn to N103.51bn).

Firms producing less than 10,000 barrels of oil per day will pay a gas flare penalty of $0.5 per 1,000 scf.

The NNPC, in its latest monthly report, said a total of 253.09 billion scf of natural gas was produced in January, while 7.9 per cent or 643.59 million scf per day was flared.

Oil marketers stated on Thursday said the latest reduction in the ex-depot price of petrol to N108 per liter will not translate to an immediate drop in the pump price of the commodity at filling stations.

On Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation announced a reduction in the ex-depot price of petrol from N113.28 per liter to N108 per liter.

Reacting to the development, oil marketers told Journalist that the reduction was welcomed but added that it would not immediately reflect on the current pump price of petrol.

The Vice President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, said marketers would have to sell their old stock at the current N125 per liter price before effecting any reduction.

He also noted that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency had yet to make any statement on the cost of the commodity, adding that it was not the duty of marketers to announce a new price.

The Philippines economy contracted for the first time in more than two decades during the first quarter, but officials warned Thursday that the worst was likely yet to come as the nation reels from the coronavirus pandemic.

Gross domestic product shrank 0.2 percent in January-March, its worst performance since 1998 during the Asian financial crisis as the Philippines joins a long line of countries to report devastating figures as a result of widespread lockdowns that have shut down economies.

The January eruption of the Taal volcano, which forced the temporary closure of Manila’s main international airport, also took a toll.

Economic Planning Acting Secretary Karl Chua said there would be more pain and the economy could further shrink in the second quarter.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders has given the green light for the Bundesliga to resume on May 15 after weeks of shutdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus.

The German Football League (DFL) confirmed the restart date to AFP subsidiary SID on Wednesday night.

The DFL said in a statement to magazine Kicker that after weighing up all the arguments, the DFL Executive Committee decided today to resume play in the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga from 15 May 2020.

Germany’s top-flight will become the first of Europe’s major leagues to return to the field.

Merkel at a press conference in Berlin said Permission was granted on condition that strict guidelines are followed with a hygiene officer appointed to each team to prevent contagion of the virus.

Japan Government plans to authorise the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat coronavirus patients with an eye to approving another medication Avigan this month.

This would make Japan the second country to approve the drug after US regulators authorised it on Friday for emergency use against severe cases of COVID-19.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters that If there is no problem they hope to swiftly approve (the drug) today at the health ministry’s regulatory panel,

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last week the government was getting ready to give a speedy green light to the experimental drug developed by US firm Gilead Sciences.

The US go-ahead came after a major clinical trial showed remdesivir which was originally developed to treat Ebola shortened the time to recovery in some patients by a third.