Newscast - Africa

China's Commerce Ministry on Thursday said China will take necessary measures in responses to Britain's "discriminatory" ban on Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, which has severely damaged China's investment confidence in the country.

Ministry spokesman Gao Feng during a weekly briefing said China is evaluating the UK actions that have betrayed free trade principles and will take necessary measures to resolutely defend Chinese firms' legal rights.

China's foreign ministry said Britain has lost its independence on the matter of Huawei adding that the British government should make responsible decisions in line with its long-term interests.

Gao urged Britain to correct its wrong behaviour and protect its good trade ties with China.

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Europe's top court on Thursday rejected a key EU tool used to transfer Europeans' personal data across the Atlantic for commercial use but upheld the validity of another tool used by hundreds of thousands of companies to transfer data worldwide.

The court said the Court of Justice invalidates Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield.

It said it however considers that Commission Decision 2010/87 on standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries is valid.

The rulings came in a clash between Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems.

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Google has become the latest US technology giant to invest in Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries' digital business.

The Alphabet-owned search engine has agreed to pay $4.5bn (£3.6bn) for a 7.7% stake in Jio Platforms.

Reliance's billionaire owner Mukesh Ambani says the two companies will develop phones for 4G and 5G networks.

Google joins a list of new investors in Jio that includes Facebook, Intel and Qualcomm.

Mr. Ambani in a statement to shareholders said Google has empowered millions of Indians to access helpful information and, like Jio, is a force for change and innovation.

Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai said the pace and scale of digital transformation in India is hugely inspiring for them and reinforces their view that building products for India first helps them build better products for users everywhere.

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China's economy grew 3.2% in the second quarter following a record slump.

The world's second biggest economy saw a sharp decline in the first three months of the year during coronavirus lockdowns.

Figures however released on Wednesday show China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) returned to growth during April to June.

The numbers are being closely watched around the world as China restarts its economy.

The figure is higher than experts were predicting and points towards a V-shaped recovery which is a sharp fall followed by a quick recovery.

It also means China avoids going into a technical recession - signified as two consecutive periods of negative growth.

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Official figures indicate that the number of workers on UK payrolls has fallen by 649,000 between March and June.

The total was not as big as many feared, because large numbers of firms have put employees on the government-backed furlough scheme.

Economists say the full effect on employment will not be felt until the scheme ends in October.

Analysts say the number of hours worked per week is currently a truer reflection of the impact of the coronavirus crisis because of the effect of the furlough scheme on the employment market.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that since the start of the pandemic, total weekly hours worked in the UK had fallen by a record 175.3 million, or 16.7%, to 877.1 million hours.

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The Environment and Forestry ministry on Wednesday said Namibia has resumed the transport and export of timber, mostly rosewood, under strict new conditions ending a ban imposed in March.

Demand for furniture in China has led to widespread felling of rosewood in Africa even though the variety is protected under the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Romeo Muyunda said presently forest resources are still reasonably good, but the fear is that they will turn into a desert because of uncontrolled timber harvesting.

The transportation of timber for local supply and processing will be given priority and the harvesting of new timber is still prohibited.

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Fitch on Wednesday said a failure by South Africa to lower public debt risks triggering credit downgrades deeper into subinvestment.

Debt in Africa’s most industrialized economy is set to breach 80% of gross domestic product next year as the government borrows more to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

Fitch downgraded South Africa’s credit rating deeper into “junk” territory in April, citing the lack of a clear path towards debt stabilisation and higher economic growth. The other top ratings firms, Moody’s and S&P, also rate the country at sub-investment grades.

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The public enterprises and finance ministries in a letter to the airline’s administrators seen by Reuters said South Africa’s government has committed to secure funds for the overhaul of struggling state-owned South African Airways (SAA).

On Tuesday creditors approved the plan, which requires at least 10 billion rand ($600 million) of new funds, on the understanding the government would find the necessary cash.

In the letter, signed by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, the ministers said they acknowledged the funding requirements set out in the restructuring plan and were committed to mobilising funds for a viable and sustainable national airline.

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Anglo American Platinum (Amplats)on Thursday said the production of platinum group metal (PGM) fell by 41% or 521,600 ounces in the second quarter because of shutdowns in South Africa and Zimbabwe due to coronavirus crisis.

Amplats said Total PGM production for the quarter was 665,100 ounces.

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The nation’s economy recorded a net foreign exchange inflow of $9.35bn in February.

The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its February monthly report.

It said Foreign exchange flows through the economy resulted in a net inflow of $9.35bn in the review period, compared with $9.99bn and $4.58bn at end-January 2020 and end-February 2019, respectively.

It said the external sector performance declined in February due to the 11.7 per cent decrease in the international price of crude oil to $58.45 per barrel.

The CBN added that the aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy amounted to $16.19bn, indicated a decrease of 4.4 per cent, compared with the preceding month.

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