April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Most stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Tuesday, pressured by losses in their banking shares as the International Monetary Fund warns on rising debt risks in virus-hit Middle East.
The IMF said on Sunday countries in the Middle East and Central Asia need to curb their financing requirements, as a surge in government debt, exacerbated by the pandemic, threatens recovery prospects.
Lower demand and a slump in commodity prices eroded state finances last year. In the Middle East and North Africa, fiscal deficits widened to 10.1% of GDP in 2020 from 3.8% of GDP in 2019.
Saudi Arabia&#8217;s benchmark index was down 0.1%, hit by a 0.8% decrease in Al Rajhi Bank and a 1.4% fall in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services.
In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.1%, with First Abu Dhabi Bank, the country&#8217;s largest lender, losing 0.7%, while Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank retreated 4.1%, as the sharia-compliant lender went ex-dividend.
In Dubai, the main share index edged up 0.1%, helped by a 0.4% increase in its top lender Emirates NBD Bank .
However, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) fell 0.7%.
DIB, the largest Islamic lender in the United Arab Emirates, has hired banks to arrange a planned benchmark issuance of U.S. dollar-denominated Additional Tier 1 sukuk, a document showed on Monday.
In Qatar, the index lost 0.2%, weighed down y a 1.8% fall in Qatar National Bank, the Gulf&#8217;s biggest lender.
On Sunday, the lender reported a first-quarter net profit of 3.3 billion riyals ($906.32 million), down by 7% from a year earlier as it booked 1.4 billion riyals in &#8220;precautionary&#8221; loan-loss provisions.
($1 = 3.6411 Qatar riyals) (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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MIDEAST STOCKS-Most Gulf markets ease in early trade

By Sybille de La Hamaide
PARIS, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Ynsect has agreed a takeover of Dutch firm Protifarm, the French supplier of edible insects for animal feed said on Tuesday, marking a move into the food market amid rising demand for healthy, eco-friendly eating.
Protifarm is a leader in insect ingredients for human food, and the deal follows the European Food Safety Authority&#8217;s (EFSA) clearance in January of mealworms as safe for human consumption.
&#8220;They are one of the rare other actors who also raise mealworms like us but they were in human food and we were not, (we were) only in food for dogs, cats and fish,&#8221; Ynsect co-founder and chief executive Antoine Hubert told Reuters in an interview.
Ynsect will start focusing on high protein supplements for athletes and the elderly and work on the taste aspect aiming to serve the booming market for meat substitutes within a few years, Hubert said.
The edible insects market is expected to rise at an annual growth rate of 26.5% to reach $4.63 billion by 2027, according to Meticulous Research.
Actor Robert Downey Jr.&#8217;s Footprint Coalition was among the backers of Ynsect&#8217;s capital raising from global investors, which totalled $425 million, it said.
Ynsect is due to open what it says will be the highest vertical farm in the world in northern France next year.
The company is aiming for revenue of at least 500 million euros ($595 million) within five years, with the food market accounting for about 5%-10%, Hubert said.
Insects, mostly fed with waste, can be used as an alternative to grain and oilseed-based proteins.
Other large insect protein producers include France&#8217;s Innovafeed and Dutch maker Protix.
Consolidation in the sector is inevitable with big agrifood groups likely to step in within a few years, Hubert said.
Protifarm&#8217;s plant east of Amsterdam would be Ynsect&#8217;s third and take its capacity over 100,000 tonnes per year with the possibility to rise to 230,000 tonnes in the medium term.
Ynsect aims to have more than 10 factories within 15 years, mainly targeting the booming U.S. pet food market while looking at projects in Canada, Mexico, Asia, Africa and South America, Hubert said.
($1 = 0.8403 euros) (Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; editing by Jason Neely)
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France’s Ynsect targets food market with Protifarm buy

* Britain has offered shots to high-priority groups
* Johnson: aim to offer all adults a shot by end-July
* Moderna rollout begins in England
* Surge testing in London to track South Africa variant
By Alistair Smout
LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Britain has offered all over-50s a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine as the rollout of Moderna&#8217;s shot in England began on Tuesday, the government said, adding it was on track to give a shot to all adults by the end of July.
Britain has seen one of the world&#8217;s quickest vaccine rollouts, behind only Israel in the proportion of its population receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 shot.
The government said it had offered at least one shot to priority cohorts 1 to 9, which include all adults over 50, the clinically vulnerable, and health and social care workers, ahead of a target to do so by Thursday.
&#8220;We will now move forward with completing essential second doses and making progress towards our target of offering all adults a vaccine by the end of July,&#8221; Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.
Britain has slowed down the pace of first doses, to ensure people in high-priority groups receive a second dose despite lower vaccine supplies in April than March.
In a boost to vaccine supplies for first doses, the rollout of Moderna&#8217;s shot in England begins on Tuesday, after first doses were given in Wales last week.
Johnson&#8217;s office said that the government remained on track to offer all adults a shot by July 31. People in their late 40s are expected to be the next to be invited for shots, his office said, pending confirmation from vaccine officials.
The success of the vaccine programme has underpinned Johnson&#8217;s roadmap out of lockdown, which on Monday saw all shops and outdoor hospitality settings in England reopen, with some celebrating on the street into the evening.
Adding a note of caution to the optimism, the government announced an expansion so-called surge testing in the south London boroughs of Lambeth and Wandsworth to detect cases of the variant first found in South Africa.
There have been 74 confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus variant, known as B.1.351, in the boroughs, and there is concern that vaccines are less effective against it.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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Britain offers all over-50s first COVID-19 shots in boost for PM Johnson

JOHANNESBURG, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; The South African rand weakened slightly early on Tuesday, dragged down by a souring of global sentiment towards emerging markets as the dollar began to climb again.
At 0700 GMT the rand was 0.12% weaker at 14.5800 per dollar, having closed at 14.5625 overnight in New York.
Investors were mostly holding fire on large bets ahead of U.S. inflation data that will give further indications on the direction of lending rates in the world&#8217;s biggest economy.
Accommodative monetary and fiscal policy there has fuelled flows to riskier emerging market assets, but a steady rise in Treasury yields has raised fears of a quicker rise in rates.
&#8220;Any suggestions of rising inflationary pressures in today’s U.S. CPI print for March could potentially reignite the rise in UST yields that caused havoc in global markets through Q1,&#8221; said ETM Analytics economists said in a note.
Domestically, February mining output data at 0930 GMT is the only big-ticket release.
Higher global commodity prices since late 2020 have supported the currencies of resource exporters such as South Africa while also boosting tax revenue.
Bonds were also weaker, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 government issue up 2 basis points at 9.375%. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana Editing by David Goodman )
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South African rand edges lower in cautious trade

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

ECONOMIC EVENTS
South Africa&#8217;s Treasury auctions long-term bond notes
Mining production data for February

COMPANIES
Capitec declared an annual dividend of 1,600 cents ($1.10) per share and reported a 27% decline in full-year profit Tuesday.

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS
South Africa&#8217;s rand recovered from initial losses on Monday on the back of a weaker dollar as traders awaited crucial U.S. inflation and retail sales data in coming days.
The Johannesburg All-share index was down 1.19%, while the Top-40 index fell 1.28%.

GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stocks markets were broadly positive Tuesday after China&#8217;s exports grew at a strong pace during March and imports rebounded giving investors heart that domestic demand is improving as part of the recovery from the pandemic.

WALL STREET
The S&amp;P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average ended lower on Monday, with investors waiting for cues from the upcoming corporate earnings season and a key inflation report later this week.

GOLD
Gold prices were flat on Tuesday as market participants kept to the sidelines ahead of U.S. inflation data that is expected to shed more light on recovery in the world&#8217;s largest economy.

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; Treasury starts to wind down ‘ineffective’ Covid-19 loan scheme
&#8211; Naspers staying out of bitcoin market for now
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South African Markets – Factors to watch on April 13

JOHANNESBURG, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; South African lender Capitec declared an annual dividend of 1,600 cents ($1.10) per share on Tuesday, when it also reported a 27% decline in full-year profit.
The bank said its headline earnings per share &#8211; the main profit measure in South Africa &#8211; stood at 3,966 cents for the year to Feb. 28, compared to 5,428 cents a year earlier and in the middle of its forecast range. ($1 = 14.5860 rand) (Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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S.Africa’s Capitec declares FY dividend, reports 27% profit drop

(Repeats Monday&#8217;s story with no changes to text)
* WTO DG has made health a top priority
* Says she&#8217;s held two &#8220;very good&#8221; meetings with USTR
* Seeks to clinch fisheries deal, advance reforms
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The head of the World Trade Organization said on Monday a meeting this week to tackle &#8220;glaring&#8221; inequity in COVID-19 vaccine allocation will be attended by major manufacturers and look at solutions such as firing up idle or under-used manufacturing plants in Africa and Asia.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian minister and World Bank executive who took up the position last month, has vowed to &#8220;forget business as usual&#8221; at the ailing 25-year-old global trade watchdog and said her top priority was to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The April 14 meeting will bring together vaccine makers from the United States, China and Russia, ministers from wealthy and developing countries, and banking officials to discuss vaccine export restrictions, scaling up manufacturing and a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 drugs and shots, she told Reuters.
&#8220;The vaccine inequity is glaring,&#8221; Okonjo-Iweala said. &#8220;I&#8217;m a pragmatic person and what hurts me now is that people are dying from not having access to vaccines.&#8221;
&#8220;We have the technology in the world to save lives so I want to get onto it and find some solutions that will make a difference.&#8221;
Among the possible practical solutions are re-purposing animal vaccine plants to make COVID shots or firing up unused capacity in countries like Bangladesh, Thailand and Senegal by connecting them with financiers like the European Investment Bank or the World Bank&#8217;s International Finance Corporation.
The meeting, the first of a series, will also raise the controversial waiver of TRIPS intellectual property rights for COVID-19 drugs on which members are deadlocked, amid opposition from wealthy countries.
However, Okonjo-Iweala was upbeat: &#8220;I am hearing more pragmatism from all sides and that is leading me to think that members will come to the table and agree on something that will work for all sides.&#8221;
She praised countries that were exporting some of their COVID-19 vaccines but also said she had brought up vaccine export curbs in talks with Thierry Breton who heads the EU executive&#8217;s vaccine task force and trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis, and with Indian officials.
&#8220;I am urging: let us try not to impede the supply chain,&#8221; she said, adding she thought her message was &#8220;being heard&#8221;.

&#8220;DELIVERY UNIT&#8221;
Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman and first African to head the WTO and since beginning on March 1, observers say she has often worked late hours at the headquarters on Lake Geneva, nearly emptied by COVID restrictions.
Asked what the WTO could deliver in time for a major ministerial meeting planned in December, Okonjo-Iweala said she wanted a framework on trade and health, a deal on ending harmful fisheries subsidies as well as progress on agriculture, e-commerce and reform of the WTO&#8217;s Appellate Body.
The WTO&#8217;s top dispute settlement body was rendered inoperable after former U.S. President Donald Trump blocked judge appointments in a bid to overhaul it. Okonjo-Iweala said she had had two &#8220;very good&#8221; meetings with the USTR Katherine Tai on the matter and was waiting for more input from Washington.
&#8220;I feel the atmosphere is supportive,&#8221; she said of her first six weeks. &#8220;But I feel we must deliver because if we don&#8217;t that support may disappear.&#8221; (Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Stephanie Nebehay and William Maclean)
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RPT-WTO chief seeks solutions to ‘glaring’ vaccine inequity, upbeat on IP waiver

By Helen Reid
JOHANNESBURG, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Under fire after a string of high-profile disasters, mining firms are shaking up their boardrooms in response to criticism that they are failing to meet their own environmental, social, and governance standards.
Shareholders are demanding change from an industry whose reputation has been battered by deadly collapses of mine waste storage facilities in Brazil, and Rio Tinto&#8217;s destruction of sacred rock shelters in Australia.
Companies are responding with changes to the structure and skillset of their senior management &#8211; a shift investors and governance experts say is sorely needed to mitigate risk in an inherently hazardous industry.
&#8220;The level of understanding and capability at board level is insufficient at the moment in the mining sector, and it doesn&#8217;t yet in our view support the transition of these companies to best practice,&#8221; Andy Jones, metals and mining lead at investment manager Federated Hermes, said.
Brazil&#8217;s Vale SA &#8211; keen to show its dedication to safety and sustainability after two tailings dam failures in less than four years &#8211; recently announced the biggest shakeup in its board since it was privatized in 1997.
Seven of the 13 members of the new board set for approval this month have extensive experience in ESG and sustainability-related issues, up from five previously. The company has also added requirements for nominees to have experience in community relations.
AngloGold Ashanti last year appointed as a non-executive director a mining governance adviser to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Kojo Busia, after the board identified the need to increase its efficacy in ESG oversight, it told Reuters.
Barrick Gold also bolstered its ESG credentials with the appointment of World Bank executive director Anne Kabagambe to its board in November, highlighting her experience in international development.
Some miners have also begun tying executives&#8217; and directors&#8217; bonuses directly to measurable ESG outcomes. Rio Tinto has connected 15% of executives&#8217; annual bonuses to ESG metrics for the first time.
Bonuses for the director of Vale&#8217;s executive board for safety are calculated based only on health, safety, and sustainability indicators.
But companies must also improve internal reporting and foster a culture of openness if the industry is to prevent a repeat of past mistakes, governance experts say.
&#8220;The remuneration is obviously key in terms of setting incentives, but that on its own doesn&#8217;t work unless the board is getting the quality of information and there is a spirit of independent thought and challenge,&#8221; said Joanna Hewitt, a partner at law firm Baker McKenzie in London who advises companies on corporate governance.
For boards to exercise proper oversight, directors need access to information that bypasses management, Daniel Smith, a governance advisor with CGI Glass Lewis, told Reuters last November.
To achieve that, a specialist heritage advisor reporting directly to the board could be appointed, or a board could have an ESG subcommittee responsible for stakeholder management, including of traditional owners, he said.
To help investors track their progress, mining companies must publish more data on issues like community engagement, water and air quality, and rehabilitation and closure plans, said Charlotte Valeur, founder of governance advisory firm Global Governance Group.
As a result of investor pressure, more mining companies are reporting so-called scope 3 emissions data, a measure of downstream CO2 emissions by metal consumers. Data transparency is key, says Valeur.
&#8220;It has to be deeds, not words,&#8221; she said. &#8220;What it&#8217;s easy to do is have some fluff &#8211; but what we want is hard numbers.&#8221; (Reporting by Helen Reid in Johannesburg, Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Helen Reid; Editing by Amran Abocar and Jan Harvey)
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‘Deeds, not words’: mining firms reshape boardrooms as investors demand sustainability

NAIROBI, April 13 (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; GLOBAL MARKETS Asia share markets were cautious on Tuesday after U.S. markets weakened as investors anticipated the start of corporate earnings seasons and the release of key inflation data to indicate how the global recovery from the pandemic will emerge. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday on tensions in the Middle East after the Yemen-based Houthi movement said it fired missiles on Saudi oil sites and on an expected drawdown in crude oil inventory in the United States. 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 recovered from initial losses on Monday on the back of a weaker dollar as traders awaited crucial U.S. inflation and retail sales data in coming days. KENYA MARKETS The Kenyan shilling was stable on Monday amid subdued appetite and some dollar inflows from a range of sectors including remittances and coffee, and staying at an eight and a half-month high, traders said. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO POLITICS Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s Prime Minister announced a new Cabinet on Monday, completing a government overhaul by President Felix Tshisekedi that strengthens his hold on power. IVORY COAST COCOA Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.718 million tonnes by April 11 since the start of the season on Oct. 1, exporters estimated on Monday, up 2.8% from 1.672 million tonnes over the same period last season. UGANDA OIL French major Total said on Monday and its partners have concluded final agreements to launch the Lake Albert resources development project in Uganda and Tanzania. 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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African Markets – Factors to watch on April 13

April 13 (Reuters) &#8211;
For other diaries, please see:

Top Economic Events
Emerging Markets Economic Events
Government Debt Auctions
Political and General News
U.S. Federal Reserve
Today in Washington &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212; This Diary is filed daily. ** Indicates new events &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;
TUESDAY, APRIL 13 BELGRADE &#8211; National Bank of Serbia holds Executive Board meeting and unveils interest rate decision.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14 ** SINGAPORE &#8211; The Monetary Authority of Singapore will release its policy statement, and is expected to leave its policy settings on hold as Singapore&#8217;s economic growth remains susceptible to risks from the COVID-19 pandemic &#8211; 2330 GMT.
UGANDA – Bank of Uganda announces rate decision &#8211; 1500 GMT
WINDHOEK &#8211; Central Bank of Namibia holds Monetary Policy Meeting.
THURSDAY, APRIL 15
** JOHANNESBURG &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s central bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago, speaks to Reuters about the economy and monetary policy following the annual IMF and World Bank Spring meetings in Washington &#8211; 1130 GMT.
ANKARA &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s Central Bank new Governor Sahap Kavcioglu to head first monetary policy committee meeting to set benchmark rate &#8211; 1100 GMT. SEOUL &#8211; Bank of Korea holds monetary policy meeting to announce interest rates. ANKARA – Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey holds monetary policy meeting.
MONDAY, APRIL 19
JERUSALEM &#8211; Bank of Israel announces its interest rate decision. KYIV &#8211; National Bank of Ukraine holds monetary policy meeting.
JAKARTA &#8211; Indonesia&#8217;s Central Bank holds Board of Governors Meeting (To April 20)
TUESDAY, APRIL 20
PRAGUE &#8211; Czech National Bank Governor Jiri Rusnok speaks in an interview on topics including monetary policy and economic prospects. SYDNEY – Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will release the minutes of April Monetary Policy Meeting – 0130 GMT.
FRIDAY, APRIL 23 MOSCOW &#8211; Central Bank of Russia holds board of directors monetary policy meeting &#8211; 1030 GMT. MOSCOW &#8211; Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina gives press conference after interest rate &#8211; 1200 GMT. MONDAY, APRIL 26 BISHKEK &#8211; National Bank of Kyrgyzstan holds Board meeting on Monetary policy rate. NUR-SULTAN &#8211; Kazakhstan Central Bank Announces interest rate decision. &#8211; 0900 GMT. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 Tbilisi – National Bank of Georgia holds Monetary Policy Committee Meeting.
THURSDAY, APRIL 29 CAIRO &#8211; Central Bank of Egypt holds monetary policy committee meeting. GABORONE – Bank of Botswana Monetary Policy Committee Meeting – 1000 GMT. LILONGWE – Reserve Bank of Malawi monetary policy committee meeting (To April 30)
FRIDAY, APRIL 30
BAKU &#8211; Azerbaijan&#8217;s central bank to hold a monetary policy meeting, followed by a news conference. BOGOTA &#8211; Bank of Colombia Board Meeting of the Board of Directors, April &#8211; Policy Rate Decision. CHISINAU &#8211; National Bank of Moldova announces interest rate decision.

TUESDAY, MAY 4
YEREVAN &#8211; Armenia&#8217;s central bank to announce its decision on key refinancing rate – 0700 GMT. SYDNEY – Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) holds interest rate meeting – 0430 GMT.
THURSDAY, MAY 6 PERTH, Australia &#8211; Speech by RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle at the Shann Memorial Lecture, Perth &#8211; 0900 GMT.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
BUDAPEST &#8211; National Bank of Hungary publishes minutes of its last rate meeting &#8211; 1200 GMT

TUESDAY, MAY 18 SYDNEY – Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes of April monetary policy meeting &#8211; 0130 GMT.
FRIDAY, MAY 21
SYDNEY &#8211; Reserve Bank of Australia holds Payments System Board Meeting – 0130 GMT.
MONDAY, MAY 24
ACCRA &#8211; Bank of Ghana&#8217;s monetary policy committee holds a press conference to announce its interest rate decision – 1100 GMT.
THURSDAY, MAY 27
MEXICO CITY &#8211; Mexico central bank issues minutes of monetary policy meeting.

TUESDAY, JUNE 1
SYDNEY &#8211; Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) holds interest rate meeting &#8211; 0430 GMT.
FRIDAY, JUNE 4 CHISINAU &#8211; National Bank of Moldova announces interest rate decision.
MONDAY, JUNE 7 NUR-SULTAN &#8211; Kazakhstan central bank announces interest rate decision &#8211; 0900 GMT.
TUESDAY, JUNE 8 SANTIAGO &#8211; Central Bank of Chile holds monetary policy committee meeting.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9 BUDAPEST &#8211; Hungarian central bank to publish the minutes of its June 2021 rate-setting meeting &#8211; 1200 GMT. WARSAW &#8211; National Bank of Poland holds one-day decision making monetary policy meeting. ZAGREB &#8211; Croatia National Bank holds monetary policy meeting. THURSDAY, JUNE 10 LIMA &#8211; Central Reserve Bank of Peru announces interest rate decision. BELGRADE &#8211; National Bank of Serbia holds executive board meeting and unveils interest rate decision.
FRIDAY, JUNE 11 MOSCOW &#8211; Central Bank of Russia holds board of directors monetary policy meeting &#8211; 1030 GMT. MOSCOW &#8211; Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina gives press conference after interest rate &#8211; 1200 GMT.
TUESDAY, JUNE 15 SYDNEY &#8211; Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will release the minutes of June Monetary Policy Meeting &#8211; 0130 GMT. &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;
NOTE: The inclusion of items in this diary does not necessarily mean that Reuters will file a story based on the event. For technical issues, please contact Thomson Reuters Customer Support (TRCS) at https://customers.reuters.com/kccontactus/telephone.aspx
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DIARY-Emerging Markets Economic Events to June 15

N&#8217;DJAMENA, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; A group of Libya-based rebels attacked a Chadian border post in the north of the country as polling stations began counting votes from the weekend presidential election, the Chad government said late on Monday.
President Idriss Deby, an ally of western powers in the fight against Islamist militants in West and Central Africa, sought to extend his 30-year-rule over the central African country in an election boycotted by several opposition groups.
Results have not yet been announced.
A group of heavily armed vehicles crossed the border from Libya and attacked the border post at Zouarké at around 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Sunday, government spokesman Chérif Mahamat Zene said in a statement.
The rebels were on the run and being pursued by the air force, Mahamat said, without providing further details of the clashes.
The Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a political-military group founded by dissident army officers in 2016, claimed responsibility for the attack and disputed the government&#8217;s portrayal.
FACT, like opposition politicians and rights groups in Chad, accuse President Deby of repression surrounding the election.
The militia claimed to have seized several army garrisons including in Wour and Zouarké, and called Sunday&#8217;s election a masquerade.
People should &#8220;maintain momentum of pressure on the dictatorship and to help the valiant FACT fighters to liberate our homeland,&#8221; the group said in a statement posted on Facebook.
One witness said rebels seized control of Zouarké on Monday.
&#8220;We were woken this morning at dawn by heavy gunfire. By mid-day, the village was totally invaded by rebels,&#8221; said Hamid Abakar, a resident of Zouarke, in the region of Tibesti.
&#8220;The army will certainly retaliate and we fear the town will become a theatre of endless war,&#8221; he said.
A heavy military presence was deployed in opposition areas of the capital, N&#8217;Djamena, on Monday morning, as the population awaited election results, a Reuters witness said. (Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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Rebels attacked Chad border post on election day – govt

By Nancy Lapid
April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Autoimmune disease treatments may reduce vaccine responses
Immunosuppressive drugs for inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and ulcerative colitis can impair the body&#8217;s response to the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, according to new data. In 133 fully vaccinated people with such conditions, antibody levels and virus neutralization were about three-fold lower than in a comparison group of vaccinated individuals not taking those medicine, researchers reported on Friday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. Most patients in the study &#8220;were able to mount antibody responses in response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, which is reassuring,&#8221; said coauthor Alfred Kim from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. It is not clear yet whether reduced antibody levels will result in decreased protection from infection or hospitalization, Kim said. Particularly concerning, he said, is the 10-fold reduction in vaccine-induced antibody levels seen in patients who routinely use steroids such as prednisone and methylprednisolone and a 36-fold reduction seen with drugs that deplete B cells, including Roche&#8217;s Rituxan (rituximab) and Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). Reductions in antibody levels were more modest with widely used rheumatoid arthritis drugs in the class known as TNF inhibitors such as Abbvie&#8217;s Humira (adalimumab) and Amgen&#8217;s Enbrel (etanercept); antimetabolites like methotrexate and sulfasalazine; JAK inhibitors like Pfizer&#8217;s Xeljanz (tofacitinib), gut-specific agents such as Takeda Pharmaceutical Co&#8217;s Entyvio (vedolizumab), and IL-12/23 inhibitors including Johnson &amp; Johnson&#8217;s Stelara (ustekinumab). (https://bit.ly/2QmzRiY)
Most antibody drugs ineffective against Brazil variant
The coronavirus variant first identified in Brazil, known as P.1, is resistant to three of the four antibody therapies with emergency use authorization in the United States, according to a laboratory study. In test-tube experiments, researchers exposed the P.1 variant to various monoclonal antibodies, including the four currently being used to treat U.S. COVID-19 patients &#8211; imdevimab and casirivimab from Regneron Pharmaceuticals , and bamlanivimab and etesevimab from Eli Lilly and Co . Only imdevimab retained any potency, researchers found. The neutralizing ability of the other three were &#8220;markedly or completely abolished,&#8221; according to a peer reviewed report available on bioRxiv and provisionally accepted by the journal Cell Host &amp; Microbe. The researchers also exposed P.1 to plasma from COVID-19 survivors and blood from recipients of vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna. Compared to their effects against the original version of the coronavirus, the plasma and the vaccine-induced antibodies were less effective at neutralizing P.1. In earlier studies, however, they were even less effective against the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa. This suggests that the Brazil variant might not pose as great a threat of reinfection or decreased vaccine protection as the South Africa variant, said coauthor David Ho from Columbia University. Real-world evidence is needed to confirm the lab results, he said. (https://bit.ly/2Qgv4j1)

South Africa variant can &#8216;break through&#8217; Pfizer vaccine
The B.1.351 coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can &#8220;break through&#8221; Pfizer/BioNTech&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine protection to some extent, Israeli researchers have found. They compared almost 400 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 after one or two doses of the vaccine, against the same number of similar people with COVID-19 who were unvaccinated. The prevalence of the variant in Israel is low, and overall, it accounted for about 1% of all the COVID-19 cases in the study. But among those who received both doses of the vaccine, a larger proportion of COVID-19 infections were caused by B.1.351. The &#8220;disproportionately higher rate&#8221; of the South African variant in the fully vaccinated group (5.4%) compared to the rate in the unvaccinated group (0.7%) &#8220;means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccine&#8217;s protection,&#8221; said Tel Aviv University&#8217;s Adi Stern. In a report posted on Friday on medRxiv ahead of peer review, Stern&#8217;s team said the research was not intended to deduce overall vaccine effectiveness against any variant, since it only looked at people who had already tested positive for COVID-19, not at overall infection rates in the community. (https://bit.ly/3sdVzCR; https://reut.rs/32aqvt0)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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COVID SCIENCE-Autoimmune-disease drugs may reduce vaccine response; antibody treatments ineffective vs Brazil variant

* WTO DG has made health a top priority
* Says she&#8217;s held two &#8220;very good&#8221; meetings with USTR
* Seeks to clinch fisheries deal, advance reforms
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The head of the World Trade Organization said on Monday a meeting this week to tackle &#8220;glaring&#8221; inequity in COVID-19 vaccine allocation will be attended by major manufacturers and look at solutions such as firing up idle or under-used manufacturing plants in Africa and Asia.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian minister and World Bank executive who took up the position last month, has vowed to &#8220;forget business as usual&#8221; at the ailing 25-year-old global trade watchdog and said her top priority was to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The April 14 meeting will bring together vaccine makers from the United States, China and Russia, ministers from wealthy and developing countries, and banking officials to discuss vaccine export restrictions, scaling up manufacturing and a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 drugs and shots, she told Reuters.
&#8220;The vaccine inequity is glaring,&#8221; Okonjo-Iweala said. &#8220;I&#8217;m a pragmatic person and what hurts me now is that people are dying from not having access to vaccines.&#8221;
&#8220;We have the technology in the world to save lives so I want to get onto it and find some solutions that will make a difference.&#8221;
Among the possible practical solutions are re-purposing animal vaccine plants to make COVID shots or firing up unused capacity in countries like Bangladesh, Thailand and Senegal by connecting them with financiers like the European Investment Bank or the World Bank&#8217;s International Finance Corporation.
The meeting, the first of a series, will also raise the controversial waiver of TRIPS intellectual property rights for COVID-19 drugs on which members are deadlocked, amid opposition from wealthy countries.
However, Okonjo-Iweala was upbeat: &#8220;I am hearing more pragmatism from all sides and that is leading me to think that members will come to the table and agree on something that will work for all sides.&#8221;
She praised countries that were exporting some of their COVID-19 vaccines but also said she had brought up vaccine export curbs in talks with Thierry Breton who heads the EU executive&#8217;s vaccine task force and trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis, and with Indian officials.
&#8220;I am urging: let us try not to impede the supply chain,&#8221; she said, adding she thought her message was &#8220;being heard&#8221;.

&#8220;DELIVERY UNIT&#8221;
Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman and first African to head the WTO and since beginning on March 1, observers say she has often worked late hours at the headquarters on Lake Geneva, nearly emptied by COVID restrictions.
Asked what the WTO could deliver in time for a major ministerial meeting planned in December, Okonjo-Iweala said she wanted a framework on trade and health, a deal on ending harmful fisheries subsidies as well as progress on agriculture, e-commerce and reform of the WTO&#8217;s Appellate Body.
The WTO&#8217;s top dispute settlement body was rendered inoperable after former U.S. President Donald Trump blocked judge appointments in a bid to overhaul it. Okonjo-Iweala said she had had two &#8220;very good&#8221; meetings with the USTR Katherine Tai on the matter and was waiting for more input from Washington.
&#8220;I feel the atmosphere is supportive,&#8221; she said of her first six weeks. &#8220;But I feel we must deliver because if we don&#8217;t that support may disappear.&#8221; (Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Stephanie Nebehay and William Maclean)
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WTO chief seeks solutions to ‘glaring’ vaccine inequity, upbeat on IP waiver

DAKAR, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Twitter Inc will open its first African office in Ghana, it said on Monday, as the social media company seeks to make inroads in some of the world&#8217;s fastest-growing markets.
Africa is under-tapped terrain for technology firms, with internet use per population at around 39% against a world average of 59% according to web analytics firm StatCounter, but that number grows every year thanks to expanding mobile broadband networks and affordable phones.
&#8220;We must be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent,&#8221; Twitter said in a statement.
Twitter trails its largest rival, Facebook Inc, which opened its first African office in Johannesburg in 2015 and plans to open a second in Lagos this year. The firm struck a deal with African telecom majors in 2020 to build one of the world&#8217;s largest subsea cable networks.
Nearly 59% of African internet users had Facebook accounts as of March 2021, StatCounter figures show, compared with 11.75% who have Twitter.
Twitter&#8217;s move was welcomed in Ghana, which has emerged as a hub for African startups alongside the continent&#8217;s technology frontrunners, South Africa and Nigeria.
&#8220;This is the start of a beautiful partnership between Twitter and Ghana,&#8221; Ghana&#8217;s President Nana Akufo-Addo tweeted on Monday, saying its presence was crucial for the development of Ghana&#8217;s tech sector. (Reporting by Cooper Inveen Editing by Edward McAllister and David Holmes)
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Twitter to open first Africa office to tap fast-growing market

By Jan Strupczewski
BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The European Union cannot help EU-hopeful Montenegro repay its debts to China, but can help it complete a highway plan that started with a huge loan from Beijing, the European Commission said on Monday.
The small Balkan republic will struggle this year to start servicing a 1 billion euro loan from China that it took in 2014 to build the first phase of the highway linking the port of Bar on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast to landlocked neighbour Serbia.
Montenegro&#8217;s Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović said in March the EU should therefore help the country refinance the loan, taken out by the previous Montenegro government, to protect the EU candidate from becoming dependent on China.
Asked about the call for help, a Commission spokeswoman said that every country was free to make its own investment decisions but that the &#8220;EU did not repay loans from third parties.&#8221;
Montenegro will have to find its own way to handle the Chinese loan, spent on a 44 km stretch of the 165 km motorway, the spokeswoman said, but the EU was willing to help with money for the rest of the road through its 9 billion euro Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans.
&#8220;We are providing a mix of grants, guarantees and preferential loans from international financing institutions such as European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,&#8221; she said, noting the financing was at &#8220;very favourable conditions&#8221;.
Montenegro, with a population of 622,000, had a debt of 4.33 billion euros or 103 percent of GDP last year and its repayment ability has been weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic which is undermining its main source of income &#8212; tourism.
The motorway is at the heart of an intense debate about Chinese influence in Europe, both within EU member states and countries aspiring to join the bloc such as Montenegro and its Western Balkan neighbours Serbia, Macedonia and Albania.
As Beijing extends its economic reach under the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, poor countries across Asia and Africa have seized on attractive Chinese loans and the promise of transformative infrastructure projects.
The Commission said Chinese influence was a concern.
&#8220;The EU has concerns over the socioeconomic and financial effects some of China’s investments can have. There is the risk of macro-economic imbalances and debt-dependency,&#8221; the spokeswoman said. (Additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade; Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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EU says it can’t help Montenegro on China loan but can on financing

JOHANNESBURG, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa opener Aiden Markram struck a brisk half-century as the hosts levelled the four-game Twenty20 International series against Pakistan with a six wicket win in the second match at The Wanderers on Monday.
Pakistan elected to bat, but some poor stroke-play saw them restricted to 140 for nine in their 20 overs, well below par on one of the best batting wickets in world cricket.
South Africa never looked troubled in their reply as they reached their target with 36 balls left in a comprehensive win for a side missing seven leading players who are either injured or have been released to play in the Indian Premier League.
Pakistan’s innings got off to a somewhat bizarre start when in-form opener Mohammad Rizwan danced down the wicket to left-arm spinner George Linde (3-23) off the very first ball and was easily caught at mid-off by Markram.
Captain Babar Azam (50 from 50 balls) and Mohammad Hafeez (32 from 23) were the only batsmen to manage a score above 12 as seamer Lizaad Williams (3-35) and leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (1-22) bowled excellent spells for the home side.
Markram led the reply as he blasted 54 from 30 balls, with 46 of his runs in boundaries as he smashed seven fours and three sixes in an aggressive showing.
Stand-in skipper Heinrich Klaasen (36 from 21 balls) saw his side to the win as he added 49 in 3.4 overs in a fifth wicket partnership with Linde (20 from 10).
The third match of the series will be played in Pretoria on Wednesday. (Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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Cricket-Markram leads South Africa to easy T20 win over Pakistan

LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Sales of Angolan and Nigerian crude continued to be slow on Monday with many May-loading cargoes still seeking buyers, but traders said high Middle East prices may soon favour West African grades.
* Between 5 and 10 cargoes of Angolan oil loading in May have yet to sell, a relatively slow pace with new June-loading export schedules expected later in the week.
* Angolan and Congolese crude sales to China continue to be slow, along with North Sea crude grades.
* Traders cited increased Chinese imports of Iranian crude.
* Chinese refiners have stepped up buying of Brazilian Tupi crude as well, further squeezing out West African cargoes, with sale prices at around a premium $1.50 &#8211; down about $1 compared with two weeks ago.
* Middle East exporters have increased their official selling prices for some grades, leading some traders to predict that East Asian buyers may soon turn to abundant African oil.
* Two cargoes of Angolan Cabinda crude, one held by Eni were last offered for around dated Brent flat, putting differentials for the grade at their lowest since the depths of the pandemic last spring.
* With European demand still low, Nigerian oil is increasingly dependent on India for sales as that country reduces Saudi imports and its state oil company IOC made a larger purchase of Nigerian crude late last week.

RELATED NEWS
* Uganda, Tanzania and oil firms Total and CNOOC on Sunday signed agreements that will kickstart the construction of a $3.5 billion crude pipeline to help ship crude from fields in western Uganda to international markets. [nL1N2M408B
* Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia will meet most Asian customers&#8217; requirements for May-loading crude after some buyers had asked for lower volumes partly because of refinery maintenance and higher prices, several trade sources said on Monday. (Reporting by Noah Browning; Editing by Aditya Soni) ))
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MIDEAST STOCKS-Most Gulf markets ease in early trade

France’s Ynsect targets food market with Protifarm buy

Britain offers all over-50s first COVID-19 shots in boost for PM Johnson

South African rand edges lower in cautious trade

South African Markets – Factors to watch on April 13

S.Africa’s Capitec declares FY dividend, reports 27% profit drop

RPT-WTO chief seeks solutions to ‘glaring’ vaccine inequity, upbeat on IP waiver

‘Deeds, not words’: mining firms reshape boardrooms as investors demand sustainability

African Markets – Factors to watch on April 13

DIARY-Emerging Markets Economic Events to June 15

Rebels attacked Chad border post on election day – govt

COVID SCIENCE-Autoimmune-disease drugs may reduce vaccine response; antibody treatments ineffective vs Brazil variant

WTO chief seeks solutions to ‘glaring’ vaccine inequity, upbeat on IP waiver

Twitter to open first Africa office to tap fast-growing market

EU says it can’t help Montenegro on China loan but can on financing

Cricket-Markram leads South Africa to easy T20 win over Pakistan

W. Africa Crude-Trading muted as supply gluts persist

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