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In the eye of the COVID-19 pandemic The African regional director for the World Health Organisation Matshidiso Moeti admitted that any hold on US money would hamper efforts to protect the health of Africans in these difficult times, but hopes common sense will prevail.



President Trump said he would put a hold on US funding of the WHO in apparent retaliation for what he implied was poor advice from the organisation over COVID-19.



&#8220;They called it wrong,&#8221; he said, adding: &#8220;They really, they missed the call. Fortunately, I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?&#8221;



On US financial contributions to the WHO, he said: &#8220;We&#8217;re going to put a hold on money spent&#8230; we&#8217;re going to put a very powerful hold on it and we&#8217;re going to see.&#8221;



In its weekly briefing on Africa, journalists asked how it could affect operations in Africa.



“The USA is among the top five financial donors to WHO, so they play a very important role and they enable us to do our work. If that decision is made it would severely impact our work here in Africa,” says Moeti.



“I can only emphasise what has been said already. It is a question of international solidarity, this virus impacts on people around the world. We hope we can carry on with our work.”



So who does pay the bills for WHO?



According to the website Reality Check, run by BBC News: “The WHO relies on funding from both government and private sources. Its funding is also split into mandatory and voluntary contributions, with the last one becoming increasingly important over the years.



In the last financial year, more than 80% of WHO funds came from voluntary contributions made by governments, private organisations like charities, and other UN agencies as well as multilateral bodies like the EU.



The US government is the largest of these voluntary contributors, accounting for just under 15% of WHO funding in 2019. But the next biggest was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, making up nearly 10% of funding.



Other countries which made significant voluntary contributions in 2019 include the UK (7.8%) and Germany (5.7%). It is worth adding that the US also owes the WHO most in terms of mandatory contributions. Figures for March 2020 show that the US still had more than $99m (£80m) in outstanding payments, much more than anyone else.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti – WHO Regional Director for Africa

COVID-19: Trump hold on finances would hurt our work in Africa – WHO.

By Chris Bishop



As the COVID-19 spreads across Africa there have been 10,000 cases – with South Africa suffering the most &#8211; killing 500 people with a 9.4 per cent recovery rate.



The figures are likely to be even higher, in reality, as the World Health Organization admits that it is struggling to test outside African capitals because of a lack of resources, equipment and planes.



“We now have 44 African countries in the WHO region, sub-Saharan Africa, including Algeria, who are testing. In most of these countries there is urgent need to move testing beyond capital cities. We are also facing very much challenge of procurement and supply of equipment,” says Matshidiso Meoti, the director for Africa for the WHO.



“There is a shortage on a global level this is a huge concern for WHO as we work to procure testing kits. Some philanthropists are procuring and providing. There is availability on international markets and transportation but there is a lack of availability of flight in countries. We are working on how can kits can be moved and it is one of the most acute issues we are working on at this time.”



When asked about certain countries in different continents restricting the export of COVID-19 testing and protective equipment Michel Yao, a WHO representative to the Central African Republic, said: “ We are in talks with manufacturers, we need solidarity with countries , who can produce, to have a global approach in this outbreak The outbreak needs to be addressed everywhere at one time if we continue to have outbreaks in Africa, it will continue to affect everyone else.”



A lack of mobility was also causing problems for Africa’s migrants. The lockdown in many countries had seen people stranded up at borders, from Djibouti to the border between Burundi and Tanzania, according to Nairobi-based Mohammeed Abdiker a regional director for the International Organization for Migration. He also warned governments to be careful with refugees.



“Governments should think hard about deporting refugees at this time. If we look at cross border movements, just by deporting two or three thousand people across a border we are increasing the risk of pandemic,”



On the movement front, Ethiopian Airlines told CNBC Africa that, despite losing $550 million dollars through the pandemic, it was prepared to fly equipment to every country in Africa. The airline said billionaire philanthropist Jack Ma had cooperated with the government of Ethiopia to supply equipment for mercy flights across Africa.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; The World Bank’s executive board is expected to consider later this week the first fast-track funds to help Afghanistan and Ethiopia respond to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank’s president said on Sunday.



In a blog posted on LinkedIn on Sunday, David Malpass said funding for the projects could come out of a $14 billion Fast Track Facility (FTF) approved last week to help countries deal with the health and economic impact of the coronavirus. 



The respiratory disease has infected more than 305,000 people around the world, and killed more than 13,000, according to the latest Reuters tally. 



In the blog, Malpass said World Bank teams were preparing projects in 40 countries for up to $1.7 billion under the FTF. 



Projects in Afghanistan and Ethiopia were the most advanced and would be presented to the board this week, he said, teeing them up for formal approval. Work was also advancing on projects in 14 other countries, he said, without naming them. 



These projects could then be quickly replicated in other parts of the same country, through funding from other multilateral development banks, or in other countries. 



In addition, the Bank and the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the Bank, were working to free up $1.5 billion in COVID-19 funding in 24 countries by restructuring existing projects, he said, without naming them. 



The IFC was also working to start extending trade finance and working capital lines to clients, with regular board action expected on those efforts in the next two to four weeks.



Malpass said Bank officials were in close touch with finance ministers and central bankers from around the world to discuss their needs and responses to the crisis. 



Bank officials had also identified ways to support countries as they race to procure much-needed medical equipment and upgrade medical facilities. 



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Peter Cooney)



This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN21A0O6-OZABS">https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN21A0O6-OZABS</a> and is republished with its permission.

World Bank moving forward on first $1.7 bln in pandemic aid projects

Report by Julianna Tatelbaum



Key Points



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The FDA commissioner has confirmed the agency is currently looking at drugs already approved for other diseases.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Biotech giant Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is trialing its drug kevzara for use against COVID-19.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Chloroquine is a generic malaria drug which has shown promise as a treatment against COVID-19.</li></ul>



Scientists around the globe are racing to develop tests, treatments and vaccines to combat the COVID-19 disease.&nbsp;



Near term, tests are the priority. Beyond testing, regulators are trying to get treatments approved as quickly and safely as possible to serve as a bridge to a vaccine, which is likely to take 12 months, according to the U.S. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Health-care experts broadly agree that a treatment is likely to come before a vaccine. “If a good treatment emerges, whatever it is, we expect regulators to prioritize expeditious review,” Laura Sutcliffe, a UBS health-care analyst said in a research note.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Treatments</h2>



U.S. regulators are leaning heavily on previously developed treatments. At a press conference with President Donald Trump, the FDA commissioner confirmed the agency is currently looking at drugs already approved for other diseases. Several therapies have been thrust into the spotlight in recent days for their promise: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GILD">Gilead</a>’s remdesivir, Regeneron’s kevzara and generic antimalarial drug chloroquine (and an alternative version called hydroxychloroquine).&nbsp;&nbsp;



Remdesivir was developed by U.S. pharma giant Gilead Sciences Inc and was previously tried as a treatment for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), another type of coronavirus, and Ebola. Remdesivir is currently in clinical trials and is also permitted for compassionate use&nbsp; — meaning it can be used to treat a severely ill patient when no other treatments are available. The Credit Suisse pharma team note that this is the most advanced novel therapy, but they have concerns about supply.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Biotech giant <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=REGN">Regeneron Pharmaceuticals</a> is trialing its drug kevzara for use against COVID-19. It is currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Regeneron co-developed the drug with French health-care firm <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=SAN-FR">Sanofi</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Chloroquine is a generic malaria drug which has shown promise as a treatment against COVID-19. German biosciences conglomerate, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BAYN-DE">Bayer</a>, announced Tuesday it has donated 3 million tablets of its malaria drug resochin which is made of chloroquine phosphate, to the U.S. government to aid in the fight against the virus.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The Credit Suisse pharma team see manufacturing and supply as the key challenge for the majority of proposed COVID-19 therapies and, in due course, vaccines: “A global pandemic requires a huge volume of drug in a very short space of time. Stocks of legacy drugs, new drug candidates will take months to build, in our view.”



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="President Donald Trump directs FDA to fight coronavirus by examining malaria drug" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JKC8gu7UsVo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Vaccines&nbsp;</h2>



Usually vaccine development takes more than five years and requires significant capital investment. This lengthy process has created problems in the past, for example with Ebola.&nbsp;



But the scientific community is better prepared now than it was for Ebola, argues Sutcliff. A body was set up to coordinate developing vaccines for pandemics and researchers can now leverage work done during previous outbreaks to propel them forward.&nbsp;&nbsp;



While meaningful progress has been made in recent weeks, in particular from biotech firms specializing in mRNA molecules (these are used to instruct the body to produce its own response to fight a range of diseases) like Moderna and BioNtech, this approach has been more successful in veterinary medicine than in humans. There is no guarantee they will be successful. In parallel to the work being done by these biotech firms, traditional pharma giants like <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GSK-GB">GlaxoSmithKline</a> and Sanofi are leaning on their experience dealing with seasonal flu to try to come up with an immunization. But even then, there is no guarantee of success.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Testing&nbsp;</h2>



Several countries, in particular the U.S. and the U.K. are facing heavy criticism from health-care experts over testing. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday the U.K. is in negotiations to buy hundreds of thousands of tests which would be able to detect whether someone has had COVID-19 by checking the presence of antibodies. He argued this could turn the tide in the fight against the virus.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A continuous process&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>



Health-care companies and regulators have a fine balancing act to maintain: They must race against the clock to get effective treatments and vaccines to market, but they must also ensure those treatments do not have negative effects on patients.&nbsp;



That requires rigorous and time-intensive clinical trials. This is a continuous process and every aspect of the solution matters — from testing to treatment to immunization.



This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/20/a-coronavirus-treatment-could-come-much-quicker-than-a-vaccine.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/20/a-coronavirus-treatment-could-come-much-quicker-than-a-vaccine.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Hopes are high for a coronavirus treatment, which could come much quicker than a vaccine

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Mauritius has confirmed its first three cases of coronavirus, its government said in a statement on Thursday. 



“It concerns three Mauritian nationals who have travelled back to Mauritius recently aged 21, 25 and 59 years respectively. Two have worked on cruise ships and one is from the United Kingdom,” the government said in a statement on its website. 



(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Sandra Maler)



This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN2160YB-OZATP">https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN2160YB-OZATP</a> and is republished with its permission.

Mauritius confirms first three cases of coronavirus

Report by Kevin Stankiewicz



Key Points



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Mark Cuban said Wednesday he’s been “dipping his toes” into the market during its recent stretch of coronavirus-driven volatility.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>“I’ve been putting in 1% [to] 1.5% to work on every down day,” Cuban said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The billionaire entrepreneur said he’s mostly been buying the ETF that tracks the S&amp;P 500 and shares of&nbsp;Live Nation.</li></ul>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Mark Cuban says he&#039;s been &#039;dipping his toes&#039; into the market amid coronavirus-driven volatility" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pNPmZ7pF2Iw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/10000348">Mark Cuban</a> said Wednesday he’s been “dipping my toes” into the market during its recent stretch of coronavirus-driven volatility.



“I’ve been putting in 1% [to] 1.5% to work on every down day,” Cuban said on CNBC’s “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/squawk-box-us/">Squawk Box</a>.”&nbsp;



The billionaire entrepreneur said he’s mostly been buying the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=SPY">SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF Trust</a>, the exchange-traded fund that tracks the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=.SPX">S&amp;P 500 index.</a>



He said he’s also buying shares of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=LYV">Live Nation</a>,&nbsp;and that he’s&nbsp;sold&nbsp;some of his put and call options because “the premiums are just incredible. It’s stunning the premiums that are in place right now.”



Cuban said he thought the market had settled into a trading range of up 5% one day to down 5% the next. “I’m not quite sure why,” he added.



“It felt like for a while we had active management doing all the work and trying to figure things out and now over the last three days it feels like we’re starting to get more algorithmic trading coming into the market,” Cuban said.&nbsp;



“I’ll act accordingly,” he added.



The “Shark Tank” investor’s comments come as U.S. stock futures were pointing to a significant loss at Wednesday’s open on Wall Street, one day after the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=.DJI">Dow Jones Industrial Average</a> rebounded more than 1,000 points.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/billionaire-investor-mark-cuban-adds-to-his-twitter-stake-as-stock-market-craters.html">Last Thursday,</a> Cuban told CNBC he added to his stake in <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=TWTR">Twitter.</a>&nbsp;“I’m a long-term holder there. I owned shares going into this decline. I don’t know what’s going to happen or when, but I think long-term we’ll be okay.”



He also said then that he bought shares in Live Nation earlier last week.



This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/mark-cuban-reveals-what-hes-been-buying-in-coronavirus-market-swings.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/mark-cuban-reveals-what-hes-been-buying-in-coronavirus-market-swings.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Billionaire Mark Cuban reveals what he’s been buying in the coronavirus stock market swings

Report by Elliot Smith



Key Points



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The pound fell 1.5% on the session to hit $1.1873, its lowest level since an overnight flash crash in October 2016 and below the levels seen in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Fears over the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and radical monetary policy action from the U.S. Federal Reserve are exerting downward pressure.</li></ul>



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GBP=">Sterling</a> slid below $1.19 on Wednesday to hit its lowest point since October 2016 as liquidity concerns sent the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=.DXY">dollar</a> surging and hammered currencies around the world.&nbsp;



The pound fell 1.5% on the session to hit $1.1873, its lowest level since an overnight flash crash in October 2016 and below the levels seen in the aftermath of the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/brexit/">Brexit</a> referendum.



Fears over the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and radical monetary policy action from the U.S. Federal Reserve are exerting further downward pressure over the past two weeks as investors flock to the surety of the dollar.



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The greenback surge has sent currencies around the world tumbling, as the world’s most liquid currency notched new multi-year highs against both the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AUD=">Australian</a> and New Zealand dollars, while the Norwegian crown hit an all-time low against the U.S. currency.



The dollar index on Wednesday advanced to 100, its highest level since April 2017.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sterling rebound?</h2>



The main reason for dollar demand is liquidity concerns amid the volatility arising from the pandemic. In such volatile circumstances, companies and investors need dollars to settle transactions, according to UBS strategists Dean Turner and Thomas Flury.



UBS suggested in a note Monday that sterling is now trading at a more-than-20% discount versus the dollar, but Turner and Flury projected a rebound once the global economy stabilizes.



“As the Fed and other central banks coordinate to provide dollar liquidity across the globe through tools such as swap lines, we expect those concerns to dissipate, which can then lead to a rebound that can be as violent as the fall in recent days,” Turner and Flury added.



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This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/sterling-falls-to-levels-not-seen-since-2016-as-dollar-strength-hammers-global-currencies.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/sterling-falls-to-levels-not-seen-since-2016-as-dollar-strength-hammers-global-currencies.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Sterling falls to levels not seen since 2016 as dollar strength hammers global currencies

Report by William Feuer



Key Points



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>COVID-19 cases surpassed 200,000 worldwide on Wednesday as the new coronavirus continues to spread outside of China, the original epicenter of the outbreak.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The total number of cases now stands at 201,436 as of 7:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, according to data compiled by John Hopkins.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="624" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-1110x624.png" alt="" class="wp-image-363907" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-1110x624.png 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-820x461.png 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-696x391.png 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-1068x601.png 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally-747x420.png 747w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-cases-top-200000-globally.png 1910w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /></figure>



COVID-19 cases surpassed 200,000 worldwide on Wednesday as the new coronavirus continues to spread outside of China, the original epicenter of the outbreak.



The total number of cases now stands at 201,436&nbsp;as of 7:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, according to data compiled by John Hopkins. The virus emerged in Wuhan, China in December. It has since spread to most countries around the world, according to the World Health Organization.



Almost half of all cases in the world are in China, but the virus, known as COVID-19, has quickly spread across borders. Last week, the WHO declared that Europe had become the new epicenter of the virus.



“More cases are now being reported [in Europe] every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.



Italy, where officials have implemented a nationwide lockdown, has reported more than 31,000 cases, according to JHU, and over 2,500 deaths. The virus has infected more than 16,000 people in Iran, JHU’s data shows, and over 13,000 in Spain.



On Jan. 20, four countries, China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea, had reported a total of 282 cases, most of which were in China, according to the WHO.



The WHO <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/11/who-declares-the-coronavirus-outbreak-a-global-pandemic.html">declared the virus a global pandemic last week</a>.



“In the past two weeks the number of cases outside China has increased thirteenfold and the number of affected countries has tripled,” Tedros said. “In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths and the number of affected countries to climb even higher.”



The WHO has criticized responses by some countries for failing to communicate clearly with their population, not taking proactive containment measures and not committing politically to combat the virus.&nbsp;



“Some countries are struggling with a lack of capacity. Some countries are struggling with a lack of resources. Some countries are struggling with a lack of resolve,” Tedros said after declaring the virus a pandemic.



To curb the spread of the virus, governments across the world are closing schools, restricting travel and ordering people to remain in their homes.&nbsp;<a href="https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">European leaders</a>&nbsp;agreed Tuesday to close the European Union’s external borders for 30 days. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a similar travel ban on most European countries.



Italian officials locked down the entire country earlier this month, banning public gatherings, shuttering schools and closing businesses.



This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/worldwide-coronavirus-cases-top-200000-for-the-first-time.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/worldwide-coronavirus-cases-top-200000-for-the-first-time.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Worldwide coronavirus cases top 200,000 for the first time

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Sasol aims to generate $6 billion by the end of the 2021 financial year through several measures, including a potential rights issue and asset sale, as the company looks to address debt levels after a crash in the price of oil.



Shares in the petrochemicals group rose 15% at the market open before reversing some gains to trade up 6.28% at 47.55 rand by 0716 GMT. 



Sasol saw its shares plunge last week, falling to a 21-year low after oil prices dived, raising concerns about its debt levels following delays and cost overruns at its Lake Charles Chemicals project (LCCP) in Louisiana. 



“The immediate focus is on the actions to stabilise the company and protect the balance sheet so that the underlying value of the portfolio is not compromised, and instead the potential realised in the interests of all Sasol’s stakeholders,” Sasol said. 



The world’s top manufacturer of motor fuel from coal said it would target immediate measures to deliver a cash improvement of approximately $1 billion by June,30 2020. 



Sasol said it could raise up to $2 billion in a potential rights issue after the 2020 financial year results. 



The company had already entered into a standby underwriting agreement with BofA Securities, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Securities for a rights issue. 



Sasol, which has completed a review of its assets started in 2017, said it would accelerate disposals and expand the scope to realise proceeds above its previous target of $2 billion. 



The company said it would also seek a potential partner at Sasol’s U.S. Base Chemicals assets. 



Sasol said it was engaging its lenders under its debt facilities to discuss adequate flexibility on its financial maintenance covenant thresholds in its debt agreements. 



(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Kim Coghill and Louise Heavens)



This article was first published on Reuters Africa <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN21419C-OZABS">https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN21419C-OZABS</a> and is republished with its permission.

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Worldwide coronavirus cases top 200,000 for the first time

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