There are indications that the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund may approve the $3.4bn loan sought by Nigeria on Tuesday.

Reuters and Bloomberg reported that the IMF would meet over the request today. Although the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had announced on April 6, that Nigeria had applied for the loan and the funds was expected within six to 12 weeks

The loan, if approved, would be among the largest allocations by the IMF to an African country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is expected that the IMF Executive Board would approve the loan having already approved similar requests for several countries.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Australia Government said nearly two million Australians rushed to download a new smartphone app designed to make coronavirus contact tracing easier, overlooking privacy concerns in the hope of speeding up the end of social-distancing lockdowns.

Health Minister Greg Hunt hailed take-up since the app was released Sunday evening as “extraordinary”, saying 1.9 million people had downloaded the program in less than 24 hours.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said many of the restrictions, which include a ban on travel to Australia by non-residents, will last until at least September.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Officials in South Korea are calling for caution amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be ill, emphasizing that they have detected no unusual movements across the border in the north.

At a closed-door forum on Sunday, South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Yeon-Chul, who oversees engagement with the North, said the government has the intelligence capabilities to say with confidence that there was nothing unusual happening.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banks in the European Union are to get more capital relief to help companies struggling in the coronavirus pandemic and avoid crippling provisions for loans hit by a looming deep recession.

The bloc's financial services chief Valdis Dombrovskis is expected to propose this week that the EU will "emulate in some form" a move by the Federal Reserve to allow banks to ease how they calculate their leverage ratio.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. House Of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Joe Biden for president, according to a video statement released by her on Monday.

Pelosi's endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president follows that of U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, former president Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Al Gore, who all threw their support behind Biden earlier this month.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Burundi’s political parties started campaigning for next month’s presidential elections on Monday despite opposition accusations of intimidation and the global coronavirus crisis.

With only one death and 15 COVID-19 cases found in minimal testing, authorities are pressing on with the May 20 vote for a successor to President Pierre Nkurunziza, an ex-rebel leader in power since the 2005 end of a civil war killing 300,000 people.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stock markets rallied on Monday as the Bank of Japan added more stimulus to cushion the impact of the coronavirus and investors cheered news more countries were easing lockdowns, though the oil price took another tumble with storage running short.

The Bank of Japan matched market speculation by pledging to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds and sharply raising purchases of corporate and commercial debt, the latest in a raft of vast central bank stimulus plans that have helped propel a near 25% rally in global stock markets.

The Euro STOXX 600 rose 1.8%, following on from decent gains on Asian markets. Germany’s DAX rose 2.37%, France’s CAC 40 1.93% and Britain’s FTSE 100 1.66%.

Wall Street also looked set to open higher, with S&P futures 0.7% ahead.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Kenyan shilling held steady on Monday but was seen easing against end month dollar demand from the energy and manufacturing sector.

At 0711 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 106.90/107.10 per dollar this is the same as Friday’s close.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a document viewed by Reuters that the United States should work to achieve a single, comprehensive agreement with Kenya that removes barriers to trade and investment, instead of pursuing a phased approach.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Feb. 6 announced the intention to start formal talks on what would be first U.S. bilateral trade deal with a sub-Saharan African country. In comments submitted to the U.S. Trade Representative, the Chamber’s U.S.-Africa Business Center said a high-standard agreement would boost the long-term economic outlook for both countries, and further position Kenya as a model for economic reform across Africa.

Two-way goods trade between the United States and Kenya totaled $1.1 billion in 2019, up 4.9% from 2018.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Energy Minister of Ghana, John Peter Amewu, has commissioned a 330/161 KV interconnecting Auto Transformer at Sunon Asogli Power Plant in Tema boost power transmission and supply in the country.

The interconnecting transformer which was built by the Ghana Grid Company Limited Ghana Limited and Asogli cost 5.4 million dollars.

The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) invested $3.3 million, whiles Sunon Asogli, put in $2 million.

The project, which has commenced full-scale operation involves the installation of a 200MVA Autotransformer to facilitate evacuation of about 120MVA additional generation capacity from the Sunon Asogli power plant onto the grid.

It will also provide flexibility in system operation by allowing power transfer between the 161 kV and 330 kV networks, thereby ensuring stable and reliable transmission of power.

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices