
<p>LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Britain’s economy could shrink by more than 14% this year and government borrowing risks approaching 400 billion pounds ($500 billion) if there is lasting damage from the coronavirus, government budget forecasters warned on Tuesday.</p>



<p>The Office for Budget Responsibility said its central scenario, with only moderate scarring, showed a 12.4% fall in output, with a 14.3% decline if scarring is deeper.</p>



<p>Under an ‘upside scenario’ &#8211; which it said was an update of the sole scenario it presented in April &#8211; output would fall by 10.6%, while government borrowing would be limited to 263 billion pounds.</p>


The Tories have it – Boris Johnson returns to power with a stronger Brexit mandate

UK economy risks shrinking 14% this year, budget forecasters warn


<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/journalists/andy-bruce" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Andy Bruce</a></p>



<p></p>



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<p>LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Britain’s economy shrank by the most since 1979 in early 2020 as households slashed their spending, according to official data that included the first few days of the coronavirus lockdown.</p>



<p>Gross domestic product dropped by a quarterly 2.2% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.</p>



<p>That was below the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a fall of 2.0%.</p>



<p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out his plan to speed up the British economy’s recovery later on Tuesday when he will promise to fast-track 5 billion pounds ($6.13 billion) of infrastructure investment.</p>



<p>Britain’s economy may have contracted by 20% in the first half of 2020, the Bank of England said earlier this month as the full effects of the lockdown hammered most sectors in the April-June period. The BoE has said the slump in the economy this year could be the worst in three centuries.</p>



<p>Tuesday’s figures &#8211; which build on previously released data for the first quarter &#8211; showed a surge in household saving as their spending collapsed by the largest amount, in cash terms, since records began in the 1950s.</p>



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<p>“The lockdown of most businesses on March 23 meant that households were unable to spend even if they wanted to,” said Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, adding that it will take the economy until 2022 to regain its pre-crisis level.</p>



<p>The household savings ratio shot up to 8.6% in the first quarter from 6.6% at the end of 2019.</p>



<p>The ONS has previously estimated that Britain’s economy shrank by a record 20.4% in April from March but there have been some signs of recovery more recently.</p>



<p>The ONS also said Britain’s current account deficit widened by more than expected in the first three months of 2020.</p>



<p>The balance of payments deficit &#8211; a long-standing concern for investors because it leaves Britain reliant on foreign inflows of cash &#8211; grew to 21.1 billion pounds ($25.9 billion) in the first quarter, compared with a median forecast of 15.4 billion pounds in a Reuters poll of economists.</p>



<p>Stripping out volatile movements of gold and other precious metals, the current account deficit narrowed slightly, the ONS said.</p>



<p></p>



<p>3 MIN READ</p>



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<p>LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Britain’s economy shrank by the most since 1979 in early 2020 as households slashed their spending, according to official data that included the first few days of the coronavirus lockdown.FILE PHOTO: The Canary Wharf financial district is seen from the construction site of 22 Bishopsgate in London, Britain June 25, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo</p>



<p>Gross domestic product dropped by a quarterly 2.2% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.</p>



<p>That was below the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a fall of 2.0%.</p>



<p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out his plan to speed up the British economy’s recovery later on Tuesday when he will promise to fast-track 5 billion pounds ($6.13 billion) of infrastructure investment.</p>



<p>Britain’s economy may have contracted by 20% in the first half of 2020, the Bank of England said earlier this month as the full effects of the lockdown hammered most sectors in the April-June period. The BoE has said the slump in the economy this year could be the worst in three centuries.</p>



<p>Tuesday’s figures &#8211; which build on previously released data for the first quarter &#8211; showed a surge in household saving as their spending collapsed by the largest amount, in cash terms, since records began in the 1950s.</p>



<p>“The lockdown of most businesses on March 23 meant that households were unable to spend even if they wanted to,” said Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, adding that it will take the economy until 2022 to regain its pre-crisis level.</p>



<p>The household savings ratio shot up to 8.6% in the first quarter from 6.6% at the end of 2019.</p>



<p>The ONS has previously estimated that Britain’s economy shrank by a record 20.4% in April from March but there have been some signs of recovery more recently.</p>



<p>The ONS also said Britain’s current account deficit widened by more than expected in the first three months of 2020.</p>



<p>The balance of payments deficit &#8211; a long-standing concern for investors because it leaves Britain reliant on foreign inflows of cash &#8211; grew to 21.1 billion pounds ($25.9 billion) in the first quarter, compared with a median forecast of 15.4 billion pounds in a Reuters poll of economists.</p>



<p>Stripping out volatile movements of gold and other precious metals, the current account deficit narrowed slightly, the ONS said.</p>


Administrators propose sales plan for SA retailer Edcon, see potential job cuts

UK economy shows biggest drop in 40 years in early 2020


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African Airways (SAA) said on Wednesday that it had cancelled 162 international and regional flights until the end of this month due to low demand and restrictions linked to the coronavirus. </p>



<p>SAA is under a form of bankruptcy protection and battling for its survival. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday announced travel bans affecting several countries where SAA flies, including the United States, Britain and Germany. </p>



<p>(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Tim Cocks)</p>



<p>This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN21512G-OZABS">https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN21512G-OZABS</a> and is republished with its permission.</p>


South African Airways cancels 162 flights due to coronavirus


<p>NAIROBI/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) &#8211; More African nations confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus and shut borders amid fears of the disease’s impact on fragile health systems, as Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma pledged to donate over 1 million testing kits to the continent.</p>



<p>Thirty African countries &#8211; more than half the continent &#8211; are now treating nearly 400 patients with coronavirus, after Tanzania, Liberia, Benin and Somalia said they registered their first cases. </p>



<p>Africa had until recently been spared the rapid spread of COVID-19, which has infected at least 180,000 people worldwide and caused over 7,000 deaths. But health experts are concerned the continent’s often dilapidated health infrastructure will struggle to cope as cases mount. </p>



<p>“We cannot ignore the potential risk to Africa and assume this continent of 1.3 billion people will blissfully escape the crisis. The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,” Ma’s foundation said in a statement. </p>



<p>The foundation will send 1.1	million testing kits, 6 million masks and 60,000 protective suits and face shields to Ethiopia for distribution to Africa’s 54 nations, it said. </p>



<p>Earlier on Monday, the World Bank said it had committed $60 million to Kenya to help the East African nation battle the outbreak. </p>



<p>Some countries on the continent, such as conflict-hit Somalia, depend on donors to support basic public health facilities. </p>



<p>Somalian Health Minister Fawziya Abikar Nur said the ministry had quarantined and tested four Somalis who came from China last week, and one had tested positive for the respiratory disease. International flights to Somalia were suspended for two weeks, the aviation minister said. </p>



<p>In West Africa, the small and impoverished nation of Liberia announced its first case. Liberia was devastated by a 2014 Ebola epidemic that killed 4,000 people, and its healthcare system has remained underfunded despite promises of investment. </p>



<p>Benin, considered a relatively stable democracy in the turbulent West African region, also announced its first case. The Health Ministry said the Beninois national was being held in an isolation ward in the capital after returning from Belgium and Burkina Faso on March 11. </p>



<p>The Health Ministry in the East African nation of Tanzania also confirmed its first case, a Tanzanian woman who had travelled to Denmark, Sweden and Belgium. She had her temperature taken at the airport but had no fever and was allowed to pass, but later felt unwell at her hotel, the ministry said. [L8N2B913C] </p>



<p>Also on Monday, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Senegal and Cameroon all reported more cases and South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said his nation, which has 62 cases so far, may need to raid other government departments for funds to fight the disease. He did not provide any figures. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CRACKDOWN AS BORDERS CLOSE </h3>



<p>Many African nations, including some without reported cases, have ordered tougher control measures, including bans on public gatherings, halting flights and closing schools and universities. </p>



<p>In northern Africa, Tunisia said it would suspend international flights and close its land border in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. </p>



<p>Botswana, in southern Africa, said on Monday it would bar entry to travellers from 18 high-risk countries, including China, Britain, the United States, Iran, France and Italy.  </p>



<p>In West Africa, Senegal said it would suspend flights to and from France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Portugal, as well as Tunisia and Algeria, for a period of 30 days. </p>



<p>Ivory Coast said it would bar entry to travellers from countries with over 100 cases, although Ivorian citizens and residents would be allowed to return if they went into quarantine for 14 days. It also closed schools, nightclubs and cinemas and banned gatherings of over 50 people, according to a national security council statement. </p>



<p>Ethiopia, Africa’s second-largest nation, joined the growing list of countries that closed schools for two weeks, suspended all large gatherings and cancelled all sports events, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said.  </p>



<p>Government buses will give people free rides to curb overcrowding in the public transport system, a statement said. </p>



<p>In Central Africa, Congo Republic said it would suspend all flights from high-risk countries from Thursday. Neighbouring Gabon reduced the number of flights from abroad to one a week per airline and ordered restaurants to close, barring takeout and delivery. </p>



<p>Nigeria’s Health Ministry said the country, Africa’s most populous, had strengthened contact tracing, stockpiled reagents used in test kits and increased testing capacity.  </p>



<p>Also on Monday, Kenyan police raided a clinic alleged to be selling fake coronavirus testing kits. Police detained staff and locked the facility, witnesses told Reuters journalists at the scene, after it had been advertising testing kits online. </p>



<p>(Reporting by Giulia Paraviciniin Addis Ababa, Adbi Sheikh in Mogadishu, Omar Mohammed, Baz Ratner and David Lewis in Nairobi, Juliette Jabkhiro in Dakar, Clement Uwiringiyiman in Kigali; Olivia Kumwenda in Johannesburg and Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Diadie Ba in Dakar; Christian Elion in Brazzaville; Loucoumane Coulibaly in Abidjan; Gerauds Wilfried Obangome in Libreville; Writing by George Obulutsa, Katharine Houreld and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by William Maclean, Steve Orlofsky and Peter Cooney)</p>



<p>This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN214194-OZATP">https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN214194-OZATP</a> and is republished with its permission.</p>


More African countries confirm first coronavirus cases as Jack Ma pledges aid

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In Kenya, firms dealing in flowers have registered a 60 per cent drop in production this season following heavy rains, plagued by pests and diseases, which in turn hurt supplies and increase the cost. Britain is the second largest export destination for Kenya&#8217;s cut flowers after the Netherlands, taking almost 18 per cent of the flowers produced in the country. Alex Owiti, Communication Consultant of the Horticulture Industry in East Africa joins to share how much of an impact the drop is to the economy as well as if Brexit will affect the Kenya flower trade.</p>


What’s behind Kenya’s 60% drop in flower production?

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As the UK officially leaves the European Union today, Marta Foresti, Director of ODI Europe at the Overseas Development Institute joins CNBC Africa to discuss what lies ahead for Britain and the future of its relationship with Africa.</p>


Overseas Development Institute: How Brexit impacts UK-Africa relations

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Britain’s divorce from the European Union takes place today after an emotional debate that took place on Wednesday and a tumultuous three years of voting and a rotating door of prime ministers. Today marks the symbolic exit of Britain from the European Union as the official regulatory exit will take another 11 months to officially be parted from the EU. Deon Gouws, Chief Investment Officer at Credo Wealth joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Britain is leaving the EU today but Brexit is far from over


<p>LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Prime Minister Boris Johnson will call for deeper investment ties between Britain and Africa at a summit for leaders of 21 African countries on Monday that comes days before his country will leave the European Union.</p>



<p>After securing Britain’s departure from the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc, on Jan. 31, Johnson is keen to develop business ties with countries outside Europe.</p>



<p>At the summit in London, Johnson will call for Britain to be the “investment partner of choice” for Africa. He will highlight deals worth billions of pounds with countries on the continent, underlining the roles British companies are playing in providing anything from smart street lighting in Nigeria to environmentally friendly breweries in Kenya.</p>



<p>The prime minister will also announce an end to British support for thermal coal mining or coal power plants overseas, according to a statement issued before the summit’s start.</p>



<p>Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Pravin Char</p>


UK’s Boris Johnson is pushing for deeper trade ties with Africa as Brexit nears

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<p>The eye of the world was on Europe this morning as it paused to remember the hundreds of thousands of men and women who fought on the beaches of Normandy in the biggest invasion in history. More than 150,000 allied soldiers – including many Africans and Indians – landed on the beaches to usher in the end of World War Two just under a year later in May 1945. It was an emotional ceremony with British Prime Minister Teresa May and French Premier Emmanuel Macron.</p>


Britain, France remembers D-Day

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<p>David Schwimmer, Chief Executive Officer of the London Stock Exchange says British investors see a long-term growth potential and opportunity in Africa. He discussed this and more with CNBC Africa’s Wole Famurewa when he visited Nigeria as part of the U.K delegates who accompanied Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May.</p>


How do UK investors view Africa?

<p>CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; Britain will use its international aid budget to boost its national interest and deepen trade ties with Africa, Prime Minister Theresa May will tell an audience in South Africa on Tuesday.</p>
<p>May, battling to unite her divided party over her plan to take Britain out of the European Union, will also visit Nigeria and Kenya as part of a three-day visit to Africa alongside a group of business delegates.</p>
<p>She is expected to recommit to maintaining the overall British aid budget at 0.7 percent of economic output but will add that she will be “unashamed” to use it in a way that helps Britain.</p>
<p>The target has previously come under fire from many of May’s own lawmakers who say it is a blunt tool that is too high and should be spent elsewhere or in Britain itself.</p>
<p>May will say she wants Britain to become the biggest investor in Africa out of the countries in the Group of Seven nations, overtaking the United States, by using the aid budget to help British private sector companies invest on the continent.</p>
<p>“I am unashamed about the need to ensure that our aid programme works for the UK,” May will say in her speech, according to extracts released by her office.</p>
<p>“Today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty, but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest. This will ensure that our investment in aid benefits us all, and is fully aligned with our wider national security priorities.”</p>
<p>Writing by Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden</p>


May in South Africa to discuss Britain’s plans to boost trade in Africa, what you need to know…

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<p>Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone is on the hunt for just over R25 billion in investment. Its CEO Pumi Motsoahae explained why and what it is offering investors.</p>


Richards Bay IDZ is on the hunt for billions, this is what it is offering in return

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<p>Four days, in search of partnerships and billions of dollars in investment. Russell Curtis of Invest Durban provides insights into eThekwini and the province that houses it, KwaZulu-Natal’s most ambitious investment roadshow yet.</p>


In search of partnerships, investment Durban meets Europe

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<p>KwaZulu-Natal’s largest business and government delegation ever to travel to Britain were there to share the facts that Durban is Africa’s ‘premier investment destination’.</p>


These were the outcomes of invest Durban’s investment drive in the UK

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<p>Business leadership from Durban as well as provincial partners have embarked on a quest to promote Durban and South Africa as well as solidify links with the United Kingdom.</p>


UK seeks to expand trade links with Durban

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<p>The North East England Chamber of Commerce’s members employ half of the 1 million employed in the region. Its CEO James Ramsbotham explains why its members are ready to do business with eThekwini.</p>


North-East England’s largest business association ready to invest in Durban

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<p>When you think investment capitals, Newcastle doesn’t usually spring to mind. Phillip Sithole, eThekwini Municipality DCM, Economic Development and Planning explains why the city chose North-East England in search of investments.</p>


Britain

UK economy risks shrinking 14% this year, budget forecasters warn

UK economy shows biggest drop in 40 years in early 2020

South African Airways cancels 162 flights due to coronavirus

More African countries confirm first coronavirus cases as Jack Ma pledges aid

What’s behind Kenya’s 60% drop in flower production?

Overseas Development Institute: How Brexit impacts UK-Africa relations

Britain is leaving the EU today but Brexit is far from over

UK’s Boris Johnson is pushing for deeper trade ties with Africa as Brexit nears

Britain, France remembers D-Day

How do UK investors view Africa?

May in South Africa to discuss Britain’s plans to boost trade in Africa, what you need to know…

Richards Bay IDZ is on the hunt for billions, this is what it is offering in return

In search of partnerships, investment Durban meets Europe

These were the outcomes of invest Durban’s investment drive in the UK

UK seeks to expand trade links with Durban

North-East England’s largest business association ready to invest in Durban

Why eThekwini chose North-East England for its investment roadshow

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Britain

UK economy risks shrinking 14% this year, budget forecasters warn

UK economy shows biggest drop in 40 years in early 2020

South African Airways cancels 162 flights due to coronavirus

More African countries confirm first coronavirus cases as Jack Ma pledges aid

What’s behind Kenya’s 60% drop in flower production?

Overseas Development Institute: How Brexit impacts UK-Africa relations

Britain is leaving the EU today but Brexit is far from over

UK’s Boris Johnson is pushing for deeper trade ties with Africa as Brexit nears

Britain, France remembers D-Day

How do UK investors view Africa?

May in South Africa to discuss Britain’s plans to boost trade in Africa, what you need to know…

Richards Bay IDZ is on the hunt for billions, this is what it is offering in return

In search of partnerships, investment Durban meets Europe

These were the outcomes of invest Durban’s investment drive in the UK

UK seeks to expand trade links with Durban

North-East England’s largest business association ready to invest in Durban

Why eThekwini chose North-East England for its investment roadshow

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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