
<p>HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s economy is expected to shrink by 4.5% this year owing to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and a brutal climate change-related drought, the finance minister said on Thursday.</p>



<p>The crucial mining sector will contract by 4%, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube added in a mid-term budget speech, although he projected that GDP would rebound to 7.4% growth in 2021.</p>



<p>Ncube added that inflation was expected to gradually decline to 300% by December, compared with 737.36% currently.</p>



<p>Zimbabwe’s economy was in a mess even before COVID-19 struck, with rampant inflation, chronic shortages of food, foreign currency and medicines, all worsened by a drought that scorched crops.</p>



<p>“With regards to the domestic economy, the impact of the pandemic is &#8230; lower commodity demand and&#8230; prices, reduced tourist arrivals due to travel restrictions &#8230; currency volatility, high inflation,” Ncube told parliament.</p>



<p>Exports, however, seemed to remain resilient, despite the COVID-19 shock, declining only slightly to $1.53 billion in first five months of this year against $1.56 billion in the same period of last year.</p>



<p>As is often the case, Zimbabwe’s economic crisis risks spurring renewed social unrest. The opposition is planning street protests on July 31 to demonstrate against government corruption and its handling of the economy.</p>



<p>The Zimbabwe dollar currency, which was re-introduced last year unbacked by any foreign or gold reserves, has plummeted, eroding wages and triggering memories of the 2008 hyperinflation in 2008 — which wiped out savings and forced the government to abandon its previous currency.</p>



<p>Public sector unions want U.S. dollar pay, but the government says that is impossible, offering a 50% pay rise that unions have rejected.</p>


Zimbabwe economy to shrink by 4.5% this year on COVID-19, drought


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand was weaker in early trade on Thursday, pausing a recent rally to one-month highs as disappointing Chinese consumption data dampened investor hopes of a quick economic recovery from the coronavirus.</p>



<p>At 0730 GMT the rand was 0.47% weaker at 16.6775 per dollar from the previous session’s best of 16.5075.</p>



<p>Wednesday’s rally, across most emerging market assets, was spurred by progress in finding a vaccine to counter the pandemic by U.S. firm Moderna, whose experimental vaccine showed it was safe and provoked immune responses to the novel coronavirus in all 45 healthy volunteers.</p>



<p>But China’s unexpected drop in retail sales &#8211; for a fifth straight month &#8211; poured water on the enthusiasm and saw some investors run for cover in safe-haven assets.</p>



<p>“The rand is trading on the back foot as demand for the USD recovered overnight,” market economists at ETM Analytics said in a note.</p>



<p>“Should the market’s spotlight once again shift away from the rising coronavirus caseload and simmering US-Sino tensions, however, the local unit could have a second attempt at the 16.50/$ level.”</p>



<p>Bonds also weakened, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 government issue up 2 basis points to 9.38%.</p>


south-africa-cape-town-griqua-town-r5-griqua-town-coin

S.African rand slips as weak China data overshadows vaccine hope


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose in the first quarter of 2020, to 29.0 billion rand ($1.74 billion) compared to inflows of 10.5 billion rand in the final quarter of last year, the central bank said on Thursday.</p>



<p>“South Africa’s direct investment liabilities increased &#8230; mainly as a result of the foreign acquisition of a domestic manufacturer and distributor of food and beverage products,” the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said in its quarterly bulletin.</p>



<p>Local competition authorities approved United States food giant PepsiCo’s $1.7 billion takeover of food and drinks producer Pioneer Food Group in February.</p>



<p>At the same time, portfolio investments, reflecting a record of buying and selling of securities such as bonds and shares, showed a sharp outflow, of 97.6 billion rand in the first quarter compared to inflows of 9.3 billion rand in fourth quarter of 2019.</p>



<p>Non-residents sold bonds worth 74.4 billion in the first quarter, while selling 23.1 billion rand in equities, the bank said in the analytical release.</p>



<p>South Africa saw aggressive selling of government bonds in March and April as the novel coronavirus struck, forcing the central bank to enforce emergency liquidity measures and launch a quantitative easing style purchase of bonds in the secondary market.</p>



<p>($1 = 16.6576 rand)</p>


adversting-blue-can-cold-drink

South Africa’s foreign direct investment inflows rise to $1.7 bln in Q1

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<p>Oil producer club and its allies, OPEC+ agreed to ease production cuts to 7.7 million barrels per day from August until December this year. Dayo Amzat, Managing Director and CEO of Zedcrest Capital joins CNBC Africa to discuss what these decisions mean for the global oil market and emerging economies like Nigeria.</p>


OPEC & allies agree to ease oil production cuts

OPEC & allies agree to ease oil production cuts, here’s how this impacts emerging markets

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<p>The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown many business models into a tailspin, but some entrepreneurs are building resilience through creativity and innovation. The CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu joins CNBC Africa to discuss how young entrepreneurs can sail through these turbulent times.</p>


Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: How young entrepreneurs can navigate COVID-19 shocks

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<p>As South Africa’s COVID-19 infections rise rapidly, the needs of the healthcare sector and social stability has increased as well. Nomkhita Nqweni, CEO of the Solidarity Fund joins CNBC Africa for an update on the fund that was set up to address the vulnerability of the country in the wake of the pandemic.</p>


Solidarity Fund CEO: What an extended lock-down means for the fund

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<p>At least two of the African candidates for the top job at the World Trade Organization will go for their interviews before delegates at its headquarters in Geneva in Switzerland today. Kenyan government minister Amina Mohamed and former Nigerian finance Ngozi Okonjo Iweala 15 minutes each to put forward their case for the job. Then each will be grilled for 75 minutes by delegates about their vision for the future of world trade. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Chris Bishop took a look at the background. International Relations Analyst, Brook Spector unpacks this further.</p>


Here is what awaits the next WTO leader

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<p>There has been intense innovation activity in many African countries ignited by the global pandemic. However, the looming question now, is how to sustain this innovation momentum post the COVID-19 crisis. CNBC Africa spoke to Bitange Ndemo, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi for more.</p>


How to sustain the innovation momentum post COVID-19

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<p>They say justice delayed is justice denied but what happens to administering justice during a global pandemic? Markus Green, Board Member with the Attorney General Alliance for Africa joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


COVID-19: How prosecutors are adapting to the pandemic to deliver justice

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<p>The Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) has been focusing on professional development and exploring Fintech integration for the past month, but how has the Islamic Banking and Finance space fared overall since the beginning of the pandemic? CNBC Africa spoke to the Secretary General of CIBAFI, Abdelilah Belatik for more.</p>


How Islamic banks & financial institutions are responding to COVID-19


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) 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, it said on Thursday.<br><br>Total PGM production for the quarter was 665,100 ounces, Amplats said.<br><br></p>


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Amplats platinum output fell 41% in second quarter

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<p>As we continue through lock-down, co-operation and support between commercial landlords and tenants have been key, in order to ensure South Africa’s most successful Central Business District will survive this period. Landlords in Cape Town have moved swiftly to provide relief and advice, to support tenants battling to stay afloat amid stringent lock-down regulations. Rob Kane, Chairperson of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Why office space is making a comeback despite COVID-19

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<p>Africa&#8217;s literacy traditions might be on the wane according to experts, but what do those in the publishing industry think? CNBC Africa spoke to Jide Martin of Comic Republic and Deborah Ahenkorah of Africa Bureau Stories&#8230;.</p>


Assessing Africa’s literature in the new age


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; A failure by South Africa to lower public debt risks triggering credit downgrades deeper into subinvestment, Fitch said on Wednesday.<br><br>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.<br><br>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&amp;P, also rate the country at sub-investment grades.<br><br>“A continued rise in government debt/GDP and failure to formulate a clear and credible path towards stabilising the government debt/GDP ratio could lead to a further downgrade in South Africa’s ‘BB’ rating, which is on Negative Outlook,” said Jan Friederich, Fitch’s head of Africa sovereign ratings.<br><br>Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in an emergency budget in June the Treasury would stick to its promise of some 230 billion rand ($13.5 billion) of spending cuts in the short term, a target set in February before the COVID-19 pandemic.<br><br>“Social and political factors, including exceptionally high inequality, powerful trade unions, and deep divisions within the governing African National Congress, present significant hurdles to fiscal consolidation,” Friederich said in a research report.<br><br></p>


Fitch Ratings

South Africa’s failure to lower debt could trigger downgrade – Fitch


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s cases of COVID-19 were set to reach 300,000 on Wednesday, the most in Africa and in the top 10 in the world, despite a swiftly imposed lockdown aimed at preventing infections spiralling as they did in the West.<br>Africa’s most industrialised nation has 298,292 cases at the last count, and with positive tests now increasing at a rate of more than 10,000 a day, it is all but certain to vault over the 300,000 mark when the ministry releases nightly figures on Wednesday.<br><br>At the end of March, President Cyril Ramaphosa took aggressive, early action, shutting shops, ordering people to stay at home and sending the army on to the streets to enforce it &#8211; when South Africa had only 400 cases and no recorded deaths.<br><br>The government later eased many curbs over fears for its struggling economy.<br><br>But with the world’s fourth-largest daily increase in coronavirus cases in a country of 58 million people, an exasperated Ramaphosa on Sunday reimposed an alcohol ban and a night curfew.<br><br>“South Africa went into lockdown &#8230; so early, (it looked) &#8230; really impressive,” said Charles Robertson, a senior economist at Renaissance Capital, who has been closely tracking the coronavirus.<br><br>“What became clear is that lockdowns don’t work in low-income countries,” he said. “In informal economies, (people) &#8230; can’t afford to stay at home.”<br><br>About half of South Africans live in poverty, and about a third are unemployed &#8211; some 3 million have lost their jobs since the lockdown began, according to a study by South Africa’s Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (CRAM) released on Tuesday.<br><br>In many parts of the country, COVID-19 wards are packed, so patients are spilling out into other bits of hospitals and into tents outside, health officials say.<br><br>“The storm that we have consistently warned South Africans about is now arriving,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told parliament.<br><br>At just 4,346 deaths, barely 1.5% of cases have proved fatal so far, in part because of a young population. That will rise as shortages of oxygen and hospital beds worsen. Ramaphosa said scientists had predicted up to 50,000 deaths.<br><br>“We are seeing a system that’s under pressure, not under disaster collapse &#8230; But it’s taking a huge strain,” Charl van Loggerenberg, head of emergency medicine at Life Healthcare, which has private hospitals treating COVID patients across the country, told Reuters.<br><br>At public hospitals, which were struggling with capacity anyway, medics have complained about a lack of staff and protective equipment.<br><br>“Not enough health workers have been hired, our requests for PPE have been ignored, guidelines are not being followed,” said Sibongiseni Delihlazo, spokesman for the main nurses’ union.<br><br>Gauteng, the province at the epicentre and home to the biggest city, Johannesburg, is adding beds, setting up field hospitals, and boosting numbers of medical workers, said Kwara Kekana, a spokeswoman for the provincial health department.<br><br></p>


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S.Africa COVID-19 cases set to reach 300,000 despite early lockdown

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<p>As the world moves towards producing renewable energy, companies and investors are finding ways to contribute to environmental improvement. One way to achieve the goal of fostering a green economy is through green bonds. Joining CNBC Africa to discuss the impact of green bonds and what they offer to the investor’s pocket is Bruce Stewart, Head of Debt Capital Markets Origination, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking.</p>


How COVID-19 is making green investing more attractive

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<p>June 15th is UN World Youth Skills Day and this year’s theme is, “Skills for a Resilient Youth in the Era of Covid-19 and Beyond”, apt for these times in any country and on this occasion CNBC Africa spoke the Vice Chancellor of Rwanda Polytechnic, a cluster of 8 technical colleges, Dr James Gashumba on how they’re prepping the youth for resilience.</p>


Coronavirus

Zimbabwe economy to shrink by 4.5% this year on COVID-19, drought

S.African rand slips as weak China data overshadows vaccine hope

South Africa’s foreign direct investment inflows rise to $1.7 bln in Q1

OPEC & allies agree to ease oil production cuts, here’s how this impacts emerging markets

Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: How young entrepreneurs can navigate COVID-19 shocks

Solidarity Fund CEO: What an extended lock-down means for the fund

Here is what awaits the next WTO leader

How to sustain the innovation momentum post COVID-19

COVID-19: How prosecutors are adapting to the pandemic to deliver justice

How Islamic banks & financial institutions are responding to COVID-19

Amplats platinum output fell 41% in second quarter

Why office space is making a comeback despite COVID-19

Assessing Africa’s literature in the new age

South Africa’s failure to lower debt could trigger downgrade – Fitch

S.Africa COVID-19 cases set to reach 300,000 despite early lockdown

How COVID-19 is making green investing more attractive

James Gashumba on why Rwanda should up-skill its youth for post COVID-19 resilience

News Tips

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Coronavirus

Zimbabwe economy to shrink by 4.5% this year on COVID-19, drought

S.African rand slips as weak China data overshadows vaccine hope

South Africa’s foreign direct investment inflows rise to $1.7 bln in Q1

OPEC & allies agree to ease oil production cuts, here’s how this impacts emerging markets

Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO: How young entrepreneurs can navigate COVID-19 shocks

Solidarity Fund CEO: What an extended lock-down means for the fund

Here is what awaits the next WTO leader

How to sustain the innovation momentum post COVID-19

COVID-19: How prosecutors are adapting to the pandemic to deliver justice

How Islamic banks & financial institutions are responding to COVID-19

Amplats platinum output fell 41% in second quarter

Why office space is making a comeback despite COVID-19

Assessing Africa’s literature in the new age

South Africa’s failure to lower debt could trigger downgrade – Fitch

S.Africa COVID-19 cases set to reach 300,000 despite early lockdown

How COVID-19 is making green investing more attractive

James Gashumba on why Rwanda should up-skill its youth for post COVID-19 resilience

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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