ABUJA, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria&#8217;s biggest lender Access Bank has invested around $60 million to acquire a stake in South Africa&#8217;s Grobank, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Access invested both equity and debt in the South African bank, part of a regional expansion to tap into correspondent and trade banking deals on the continent, Herbert Wigwe told CNBC Africa Television. (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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Nigeria’s Access Bank invested $60 mln for stake in South Africa’s Grobank -CEO

NEW DELHI, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Indian payments firm MobiKwik on Tuesday said it will get an independent forensic audit but assured customers their information was safe after allegations emerged of a breach that exposed the data of millions of its users.
An Indian security researcher last month flagged on Twitter that data of 110 million MobiKwik customers had been leaked from the company&#8217;s servers.
MobiKwik denied the claim on March 4, saying it did not find any security lapses, adding that its legal team would take &#8220;strict action against this so-called researcher&#8221;.
After several other users said the leak seemed genuine, MobiKwik on Tuesday said it is probing the matter.
&#8220;The company is closely working with requisite authorities, and is confident that security protocols to store sensitive data are robust and have not been breached,&#8221; MobiKwik said in a statement. &#8220;Considering the seriousness of the allegations, and by way of abundant caution, it will get a third party to conduct a forensic data security audit&#8221;.
MobiKwik also said users could have uploaded their data on several platforms and it was incorrect to say their information visible on the darkweb was accessed from the payments company.
Based on the outskirts of Indian capital New Delhi, MobiKwik counts India&#8217;s Bajaj Finance, U.S. venture fund Sequoia Capital and South Africa&#8217;s Net1 as it backers.
It provides digital payments services to customers, competing with Alibaba-backed Paytm and Walmart&#8217;s PhonePe. (Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Nupur Anand; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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Indian payments firm MobiKwik says it is probing date breach claims

By Sangmi Cha and Neil Jerome Morales
SEOUL/MANILA, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Several Asian countries sought alternative sources for COVID-19 inoculations on Tuesday after export restrictions by manufacturer India left a World Health Organization-backed global vaccine sharing programme short of supplies.
The export curb deepens the problems facing the COVAX scheme, relied on by 64 poorer countries, and adds to previous setbacks that include production glitches and a lack of funding contribution from wealthy nations.
The shortage could leave poor countries further behind in inoculations, increasing the vaccine inequity, complicating global efforts to tame the coronavirus including more infectious variants, and exposing fresh pleas for a global treaty on pandemics as rather hollow.
South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are among countries to be hit by shipment delays to vaccines they have been promised under the COVAX programme, which was created mainly to ensure supplies for poorer countries.
&#8220;Our planned increase in daily vaccinations will be affected,&#8221; Carlito Galvez, Philippines&#8217; vaccination chief, told reporters.
India, the world&#8217;s biggest vaccine maker, put a temporary hold on exports of AstraZeneca&#8217;s vaccine being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), as officials focus on meeting rising domestic demand.
The Serum Insitute was due to deliver 90 million vaccine doses to COVAX over March and April and, while it was not immediately clear how many would be diverted for domestic use, programme facilitators warned that shipment delays were inevitable.
In Indonesia, health ministry official Siti Nadia Tarmizi told Reuters that 10.3 million doses from COVAX were likely delayed until May.
South Korea confirmed it would only receive 432,000 doses of the 690,000 it had been promised and delivery of those would be delayed until around the third week of April.
&#8220;There&#8217;s uncertainty over global vaccine supplies but we&#8217;re working on a plan to ensure no disruptions in the second quarter and making efforts to secure more vaccines,&#8221; said Kim Ki-nam, head of South Korea&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccination task force team.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte loosened government restrictions on private sector imports of vaccines, pleading with companies to obtain supplies no matter the cost, as his country battles a resurgence of the pandemic.
In Vietnam, officials have similarly asked the private sector to step in after their COVAX supplies were slashed by 40% to 811,200 doses and shipments were pushed back by weeks.
India has not provided details on the length of its export curb but UNICEF, a distributing partner of COVAX, said at the weekend that deliveries are expected to resume by May.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday COVAX needed 10 million doses immediately as a stop-gap measure.
&#8220;We are already in discussion with some countries (to fill the gap) and there is some positive signal, we will keep you informed,&#8221; he said.
Data from UNICEF showed on Tuesday that India itself had received more than a third of the nearly 28 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from COVAX so far, the most of any country. News that the largest allocation of the programme&#8217;s Indian-made vaccines had never actually left India could add to criticism of New Delhi and COVAX.
The Gavi alliance, which co-leads COVAX with the WHO, said India had been given a big allocation early, in part because it approved the vaccine for emergency use before the WHO did.
Africa is overwhelmingly dependent on COVAX and nearly all the 89 million shots the continent was due to receive through the initiative by end of this quarter were AstraZeneca from India. A Reuters tally of deliveries found that just 15 million have been delivered so far. https://tmsnrt.rs/3sqDhiP
About 63% of people who have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine are from high income countries, according to a Reuters tally. More than 45% of Britons have received one dose, but only 0.4% South Africans.

CHINA AND RUSSIA
China and Russia are primed to step into the breach.
&#8220;We have good diplomatic relations with China and Russia and we are asking if we can have access to their vaccines in April,&#8221; the Philippines&#8217; Galvez said.
Both the Philippines and Indonesia are currently relying heavily on vaccines from China&#8217;s Sinovac Biotech to run their inoculation drives. The Philippines and Vietnam have both approved Russia&#8217;s Sputnik V vaccine, along with more than 50 other countries, mainly developing nations. The Philippines expects to receive its first batch of Sputnik V in April.
Chinese vaccine maker Sinopharm, meanwhile, plans to produce its COVID-19 vaccine at a new plant in the United Arab Emirates.
The spate of export curbs is also being felt by wealthier countries reliant on foreign manufacturing, including Japan, where the national vaccine rollout has been slow due to the limited number of Pfizer vaccines shipped from Europe.
&#8220;Some people are using vaccines for diplomacy, some people are trying to prioritize. Some people are buying like three to five times as many vaccines compared to their population. That&#8217;s unnecessary,&#8221; Japan&#8217;s vaccine minister, Taro Kono, told Reuters on Monday in an interview.
&#8220;We really need to have the global leaders sit down and think this is a global issue, not the domestic issue, and try to solve this together.&#8221;
(Reporting by Sangmi Cha in Seoul, Rocky Swift in Tokyo, Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, Neil Jerome Morales in Manila, James Pearson in Hanoi and Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Jane Wardell and Peter Graff)
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WRAPUP 3-Asian countries seek vaccine supplies after India export curbs hit COVAX

CAPE TOWN, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s government on Tuesday released a revised climate change policy document for public comment, significantly reducing the upper limit target for harmful carbon emissions seen over the next decade, senior officials said.
The draft Nationally Determined Contribution document, which updates a previous 2015 study, outlines the mitigation, adaptation and financing policies Africa&#8217;s worst polluter and most industrialised country will pursue. Once finalised, the NDC will be deposited at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change before November.
A key new policy proposal shows that greenhouse gas emission targets will likely be in a range of 398 million tonnes of carbon equivalent to 510 MTCO2e in 2025, and in a range of 398-440 MTCO2e by 2030.
&#8220;Both the 2025 and 2030 targets are consistent with South Africa&#8217;s fair share (to global mitigation efforts) and also an ambitious improvement on our current NDC target,&#8221; said Maesela Kekana, international climate change negotiator at the department of environmental affairs.
In the previous study, the government pledged the upper limit as 614 MTCO2e by 2025 and a similar amount by 2030. Greenhouse emissions were expected to peak between 2020 and 2025, plateau for a decade before declining in absolute terms thereafter.
&#8220;When it comes to the 2030 target &#8230; this translates into a 28% percent reductions from the 2015 target, so it is quite a significant improvement,&#8221; Kekana added.
He said South Africa needs to access around $8 billion in financing each year, quadruple the amount it sourced before, until 2030 for its mitigation and adaptation initiatives to succeed.
A water-scarce country with large coal reserves, most of South Africa&#8217;s emissions derive from energy production, with about 80% percent of the country&#8217;s electricity generated by ageing coal-fired power stations.
South Africa has already introduced a carbon tax and intends to decommission several coal-fired power plants by 2030 as it diversifies its energy mix to include solar and wind projects. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by David Evans)
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S.AFrica proposes reduced 2030 greenhouse gas emission targets

JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s government sold a total of 4.8 billion rand ($321.4 million) of its 2037 , 2044 and 2048 bonds on Tuesday. Yields rose compared with the previous auctions. R2037 BOND: Jan 31, 2037 &#8211; 8.5% coupon Auction date: 30/03/21 02/03/21 Best bid % 11.250 10.420 Worst bid % 11.700 10.760 Clearing yield % 11.330 10.545 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 4.335 5.110 Allotted (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 2.200 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.7 2.2 R2044 BOND: Jan 31, 2044 &#8211; 8.75% coupon Auction date: 30/03/21 23/02/21 Best bid % 11.335 10.880 Worst bid % 11.950 11.230 Clearing yield % 11.545 10.940 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 3.940 6.225 Allotted (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 2.200 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.5 2.8 R2048 BOND: Feb 28, 2048 &#8211; 8.75% coupon Auction date: 30/03/21 26/01/21 Best bid % 11.355 10.710 Worst bid % 11.850 11.050 Clearing yield % 11.500 10.810 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 3.270 8.485 Allotted (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 2.200 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.0 3.9 ($1 = 14.9345 rand) (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana Editing by Alexander Winning) 
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TABLE-Yields higher in weekly South African government bond auction

March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), New York&#8217;s SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.08% on Monday from Friday, while holdings of the largest silver-backed ETF, New York&#8217;s iShares Silver Trust, remained unchanged during the same period. Exchange-traded funds, the most widely recognized type of ETP, back each security issued with physical stocks of a given commodity, creating a product they say is free from counterparty risk. Name New Holdings Date Prev Holdings Prev Abs Change % chg YTD Abs Change (OZ) (OZ) (OZ) (OZ) GOLD SPDR Gold Trust 33,356,508.7 Mar 29 33,328,400.5 Mar 26 28,108.1 0.08% -4,283,797.3 COMEX Gold Trust 16,296,665.7 Mar 29 16,296,665.7 Mar 26 0.0 0.00% -584,985.9 ETF Securities gold (ex-US) 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Gold ** 5,442,921.6 Mar 26 5,466,221.5 Mar 19 -23,299.9 -0.43% -154,867.9 Sprott Physical Gold Trust 2,606,213.0 Mar 29 2,604,213.0 Mar 26 2,000.0 0.08% 30,993.0 ETFS Physical Swiss Gold 844,902.3 Jan 24 844,902.3 Jan 24 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ABSA &#8211; NewGold ETF 634,315.2 Mar 29 634,330.8 Mar 26 -15.7 0.00% 10,639.8 Total 68,475,268.8 68,468,476.2 6,792.6 0.01% -5,224,728.1 SILVER iShares Silver Trust 578,605,155.4 Mar 29 578,605,155.4 Mar 26 0.0 0.00% 19,889,273.0 Sprott Physical Silver 130,937,765.0 Mar 29 130,736,414.0 Mar 26 201,351.0 0.15% 39,829,110.0 ETF Securities silver ex-US 100,389,761.6 Nov 30 100,389,761.6 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; 27,135,104.7 ZKB Physical Silver 95,035,446.4 Mar 26 94,956,516.3 Mar 19 78,930.1 0.08% 1,591,365.5 ETFS Physical Silver Shares 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; -307,868.5 Total 927,876,426.7 927,596,145.6 280,281.1 0.03% 88,136,984.7 PLATINUM ETFS Physical Platinum Shares 738,343.9 Mar 20 738,343.9 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ABSA &#8211; NewPlat ETF 572,636.8 Mar 29 572,653.1 Mar 26 -16.3 0.00% -446,671.8 ETF Securities platinum ex-US 617,330.8 Nov 30 617,330.8 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Platinum 442,230.8 Mar 26 442,230.8 Mar 19 0.0 0.00% 18,976.3 Total 2,370,542.4 2,370,558.6 -16.3 0.00% -405,668.0 PALLADIUM InvestPalladium ETF # 142,113.5 Mar 25 142,113.5 Mar 25 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ETFS Physical Palladium Shares 129,466.6 Mar 20 129,466.6 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ETF Securities palladium ex-US 111,915.0 Nov 30 111,915.0 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Palladium 78,361.8 Mar 26 78,361.8 Mar 19 0.0 0.00% 352.6 ABSA &#8211; NewPalladium ETF **** 29,415.2 Mar 29 27,470.9 Mar 26 1,944.2 7.08% -12,452.3 Total 491,272.1 489,327.9 1,944.2 0.40% -49,403.6 The figures above are those reported to Reuters by the organizations involved by telephone or email on the date shown, or those that are publicly available on their websites. ** ZKB physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium funds are fully backed by physical precious metal and investors are entitled to physical delivery of them. *** Shareholders in the GAM Gold fund can elect to hold &#8220;A class&#8221; shares, which are fully backed by physical gold. Investors in that class are entitled to physical delivery of the precious metal. Investors may also elect to hold &#8220;AX&#8221; class shares, which are fully backed by physical gold. Investors in that class are not entitled to physical delivery of the precious metal. **** Absa Capital&#8217;s NewPalladium Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) was listed on March 27, 2014 and is fully backed with South African palladium. # Standard Bank&#8217;s AfricaPalladium ETF, South Africa&#8217;s first listed palladium exchange traded fund, debuted on March 24, 2014. 
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TABLE-Holdings of SPDR Gold rise, iShares Silver unchanged

JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s non-agriculture sector saw employment increase by 76,000 to 9.640 million people in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with the third quarter, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. % change % change Q4&#8217;20 Q3&#8217;20 q/q y/y Number of employees (mln) 9.640 9.564 0.8 -5.8 Gross earnings (R&#8217;bln) 740.895 680.570 8.9 -4.6 (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo) 
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TABLE-South Africa’s formal employment sector adds 76,000 jobs in Q4 2020

By Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; India itself has received more than a third of the nearly 28 million Indian-made AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered so far by the global programme for poor countries, according to data from UNICEF and a source.
The revelation that the largest allocation of doses India has supplied to the COVAX programme never actually left the country could add to criticism of India and COVAX, after New Delhi decided this month to delay big exports of vaccines that poor countries around the world had been counting on.
Data on UNICEF&#8217;s website shows that India had received 10 million doses of vaccine from COVAX, the most of any country. Nigeria is second with about 4 million doses. Many poor nations entirely reliant on the programme have so far received little or no vaccine.
Hundreds of millions of AstraZeneca doses made under license by the Serum Institute of India form the vast bulk of the initial order for COVAX, the global system set up to vaccinate people mainly in poor countries. Fifty million doses were meant to be delivered in April, but much of that order is likely to be delayed by India&#8217;s new export restrictions.
COVAX, led by the World Health Organization and the Gavi alliance of countries, charities and companies, aims to provide 2 billion vaccine doses this year. UN children&#8217;s agency UNICEF distributes the shots.
But the programme has so far gotten off to a slow start, with officials complaining that rich countries have hoarded most early doses of vaccines.
The source, who had direct knowledge of the matter but was not authorised to speak on it publicly, said India had received its 10 million doses early, as COVAX had to wait for the vaccine to be approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization before it could start to distribute doses globally.
The WHO authorisation came through in mid-February, while India approved the vaccine in January and rolled out its own inoculation campaign on Jan. 16. The source did not specify precisely when India received the doses from COVAX.
India, the world&#8217;s biggest maker of vaccines, has reported 12 million COVID-19 cases, the most after the United States and Brazil. So far it has exported 64 million vaccine doses, more than the 60.4 million inoculations conducted at home. The government is under pressure to step up the domestic vaccine programme.
India&#8217;s health ministry, Gavi and UNICEF did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.
The SII has an agreement with COVAX to supply its licensed version of the AstraZeneca drug, which it sells as Covishield, to 64 countries.
India&#8217;s move to suspend major vaccine exports has alarmed many countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, a continent-wide body, said last week he felt &#8220;helpless&#8221;. (Reporting by Krishna N. Das Additional reporting by Euan Rocha Editing by Peter Graff)
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Biggest share of Indian-made vaccines for poor country programme stays in India

NAIROBI, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Though South Sudan has secured more than 2 million COVID-19 vaccines it will struggle to get shots into arms as the rainy season approaches, rendering many roads in one of the world&#8217;s poorest nations impassable, the outgoing head of the U.N. mission in the country said.
Getting vaccines out to the population &#8220;is not as easy as it sounds, in a place like South Sudan where logistics are so difficult&#8221;, said David Shearer, who leaves the country next month after heading the more than $1 billion per year United Nations peacekeeping mission since 2016.
South Sudan is expected to receive 2.3 million shots in the coming months through the global vaccine-sharing programme COVAX. But their arrival will coincide with rains that flood many of the only 400 kilometres (250 miles) of paved road in a country nearly as large as France.
Shearer said vaccines would need to be delivered by river barge.
The world&#8217;s newest nation has recorded only 10,119 infections and 108 deaths from COVID-19, according to data from Africa&#8217;s disease control body, but inadequate testing prevents a clear picture of the pandemic.
Nearly a decade after South Sudan gained independence following a bitter war, the country is grappling with the triple threat of conflict, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, Shearer said.
Nearly all the population depends on international food aid, he said, and most basic services such as health and education are provided by the U.N. and aid groups.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t see a government looking and taking care of its people,&#8221; he said, adding that some of the conflict between ethnic communities could be prevented by &#8220;leaders who are looking at serving their people above all rather than necessarily serving themselves&#8221;. (Reporting by Nazanine Moshiri and Maggie Fick; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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South Sudan COVID-19 campaign will be hampered by logistics, U.N. says

March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Metso Outotec Corp:
* METSO OUTOTEC AND BIA GROUP EXPAND DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP TO AFRICA
* MMETSO OUTOTEC AND ITS DISTRIBUTION PARTNER BIA GROUP SIGNED CONTRACT TO EXPAND THEIR AGGREGATES DISTRIBUTION COVERAGE TO AFRICA. Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdansk Newsroom)
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BRIEF-Metso Outotec Oyj – Metso Outotec And Bia Group Expand Distribution Partnership To Africa

JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa recorded foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows of 16.0 billion rand ($1.07 billion) in the fourth quarter from outflows of 12.2 billion rand in quarter three, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The South African Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin publication that the inflows in the latest quarter were due to non-resident parent entities increasing their equity investment and granting loans to domestic subsidiaries.
The country saw FDI inflows of 51.1 billion rand for the whole of 2020, down from inflows of 74.0 billion rand in 2019.
Portfolio investments, reflecting a record of buying and selling of securities such as bonds and shares, recorded inflows of 24.1 billion rand in the October-December quarter compared to outflows of 39.5 billion rand in the prior quarter.
Annual portfolio outflows however were at 159.3 billion rand against inflows of 87.5 billion rand in 2019.
($1 = 14.9676 rand) (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana Editing by Alexander Winning)
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South Africa records FDI inflows in 2020, sales of bonds and equities soar

JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s rand inched lower in early trade, having made gains in the previous session, as investors awaited key data later in the week.
At 0740 GMT the rand was 0.17% weaker at 14.9550 per dollar, compared with an overnight close of 14.9300. &#8220;Feb trade balance stats, due tomorrow, are expected to show net cross-border trade flows remain positive as local import demand has yet to recover from last year&#8217;s shock,&#8221; said economists at ETM Analytics in a note.
&#8220;Meanwhile, Feb monthly budget data, out later today, will once again reflect the fiscal slippage that remains the main structural risk to SA&#8217;s economy and the ZAR.&#8221;
High-yielding currencies in the developing world have come under pressure this month from rising U.S. bond yields, which have surged on expectations of higher inflation and have pushed up demand for the dollar.
The dollar climbed on Tuesday as Treasury yields spiked again, with accelerating vaccinations and massive stimulus in the United States stoking inflation concerns.
Bonds were also weaker, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 paper up 9 basis points to 9.54%. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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South Africa’s rand weaker in early trade

By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; African private equity raised less cash for investments in 2020 compared with the previous year as a result of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) said.
Private equity funds investing on the continent raised $1.2 billion last year, down from $3.9 billion the previous year, AVCA said in its Annual African Private Equity Data Tracker seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
African private equity raised $4.3 billion in 2015.
&#8220;2020 saw a decrease in fundraising numbers, as a result of the economic effect of the pandemic,&#8221; the association said.
The coronavirus pandemic has stalled Africa&#8217;s growth momentum. Though the continent has started to recover, although with regional disparities, full recovery is difficult to predict, the AVCA said.
The total value of private equity deals in Africa dropped to $3.3 billion last year, from $3.8 billion in 2019, due to the pandemic, the AVCA said.
Deals announced during the period included Helios Investment Partners&#8217; agreeing to acquire a stake in Africa Specialty Risk Group and Old Mutual Alternative Investments buying a stake in Sifiso Learning Group of South Africa.
AVCA said deals in technology-enabled companies accounted for more than half of the total deals in 2020. Healthtech, fintech, edtech and agritech were among the top picks.
&#8220;The pandemic and subsequent lockdown restrictions showcased the viability of some sectors and presented new investment opportunities.&#8221;
A total of $18.1 billion was raised by African private equity funds between 2015 and 2020, AVCA said. There were 1,257 private equity deals worth $21.7 billion during that period, the association added. (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha in Abuja Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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African private equity fundraising fell in 2020 due to pandemic -association

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Actor and comedian Lenny Henry and other prominent figures on Tuesday urged Black Britons to take the COVID-19 vaccine after figures showed a big lag in those from Britain&#8217;s Black community having the shot compared to the rest of the population.
&#8220;While other communities are rushing to get the vaccine and millions have already been vaccinated, some Black people in our community are being more cautious,&#8221; Henry said.
&#8220;You have legitimate worries and concerns, we hear that. We know change needs to happen and that it’s hard to trust some institutions and authorities.
&#8220;But we’re asking you to trust the facts about the vaccine from our own professors, doctors, scientists involved in the vaccine’s development, GPs, not just in the UK but across the world including the Caribbean and Africa.&#8221;
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge)
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Actor Lenny Henry tells Black Britons: get the COVID vaccine

JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Growth in private sector credit in South Africa slowed to 2.62% year on year in February from 3.26% in January, central bank data showed on Tuesday.
Expansion in the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply also fell, to 7.48% in February from 9.15% the previous month. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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South Africa’s February credit growth slows to 2.62% y/y

The following scheduled economic events, company announcements, equity and currency market moves may affect South African markets on Tuesday.

ECONOMIC EVENTS
&#8211; February credit and money supply figures published by central bank. 0600 GMT
&#8211; February budget balance. 1200 GMT
COMPANIES
&#8211; No major releases.

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS
&#8211; South Africa&#8217;s rand firmed on Monday, reversing early losses alongside other emerging market currencies as an improving U.S. economic outlook lifted demand for the dollar.
The benchmark all-share index .JALSH was up 0.38% to 67,089 points at day&#8217;s close and the bluechip index JSE top 40 .JTOPI ended up 0.33% to 61,444 points.

GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian shares were mixed early Tuesday as global investors shook off worries about a hedge fund default that roiled global banking stocks overnight, while rekindled concerns about inflation pushed bond yields higher.

WALL STREET
The S&amp;P 500 ended just slightly in the red on Monday, with bank shares falling amid warnings of potential losses from a hedge fund&#8217;s default on margin calls, while optimism over the economy limited the day&#8217;s declines.

GOLD
Gold prices slipped on Tuesday to their lowest in more than two weeks, weighed down by a firm U.S. dollar and Treasury yields as expectations of a swift economic turnaround grew with vaccination rates gaining traction.

EMERGING MARKETS
For the top emerging markets news, double click on
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;
Some of the main stories out in the South African press:

BUSINESS DAY
&#8211; Zimbabwe to issue electronic Covid-19 cards.
&#8211; ANC members charged with wrongdoing have 30 days to step aside or face suspension, Ramaphosa says.

FIN 24
&#8211; Of all G20 countries, SA is most reliant on coal for power &#8211; global review.
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South African Markets – Factors to watch on March 30

NAIROBI, March 30 (Reuters) &#8211; The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Tuesday. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; EVENTS: *KENYA &#8211; The central bank&#8217;s governor holds a virtual news conference, a day after the bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 7.0%. GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares were mixed early Tuesday as global investors shook off worries about a hedge fund default that roiled global banking stocks overnight, while rekindled concerns about inflation pushed bond yields higher. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices rose on Tuesday as shipping traffic resumed through the Suez Canal after days on hold and focus turned to an OPEC+ meeting this week where the extension of supply curbs may be on the table amid new coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa&#8217;s rand firmed on Monday, reversing early losses alongside other emerging market currencies as an improving U.S. economic outlook lifted demand for the dollar. NIGERIA CURRENCY Nigeria is keeping control of its naira currency despite demands for deeper reforms from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank and complaints from businesses. KENYA MARKETS Kenya&#8217;s shilling was stable on Monday, with muted importer dollar demand from sectors like energy, traders said. KENYA CENTRAL BANK RATE Kenya&#8217;s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 7.0% on Monday, the seventh &#8216;hold&#8217; decision in a row, saying that a package of measures unveiled since last year had protected the economy from substantial decline. KENYA EQUITY GROUP RESULTS Kenya&#8217;s Equity Group will withstand any potentially negative impact of new restrictions on movement imposed by the government to curb a new wave of COVID-19 infections, its chief executive said on Monday. MOZAMBIQUE SECURITY An attack on the northern Mozambique town of Palma where dozens were killed and thousands displaced may show the increasing &#8220;brazenness&#8221; of Islamic State in the country, a U.S. official said on Monday. AFRICA COVID-19 VACCINES Johnson &amp; Johnson will supply the African Union (AU) with up to 400 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine beginning in the third quarter, the drugmaker said on Monday, as the continent grapples with vaccinating 60% of its people. IVORY COAST SECURITY Dozens of militants from Burkina Faso attacked two military posts in northern Ivory Coast early on Monday, killing three soldiers and wounding seven, the West African nation&#8217;s army said. For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on 
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South African Markets – Factors to watch on March 30

African Markets – Factors to watch on March 30

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Nigeria’s Access Bank invested $60 mln for stake in South Africa’s Grobank -CEO

Indian payments firm MobiKwik says it is probing date breach claims

WRAPUP 3-Asian countries seek vaccine supplies after India export curbs hit COVAX

S.AFrica proposes reduced 2030 greenhouse gas emission targets

TABLE-Yields higher in weekly South African government bond auction

TABLE-Holdings of SPDR Gold rise, iShares Silver unchanged

TABLE-South Africa’s formal employment sector adds 76,000 jobs in Q4 2020

Biggest share of Indian-made vaccines for poor country programme stays in India

South Sudan COVID-19 campaign will be hampered by logistics, U.N. says

BRIEF-Metso Outotec Oyj – Metso Outotec And Bia Group Expand Distribution Partnership To Africa

South Africa records FDI inflows in 2020, sales of bonds and equities soar

South Africa’s rand weaker in early trade

African private equity fundraising fell in 2020 due to pandemic -association

Actor Lenny Henry tells Black Britons: get the COVID vaccine

South Africa’s February credit growth slows to 2.62% y/y

South African Markets – Factors to watch on March 30

African Markets – Factors to watch on March 30

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Advertise With Us

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