JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand fell to its weakest in more than three weeks on Monday, as fears about the economic fallout from rising COVID-19 cases dented investors’ appetite for riskier assets.



At 0625 GMT, the rand was 0.47% weaker at 17.1400 per dollar, its weakest since July 8.



Signs of a resurgence in global infections in recent days have tamed global demand for assets perceived as risky, putting pressure on the rand, which was already vulnerable because of the frailty of South Africa’s economy.



In South Africa, confirmed cases of COVID-19 crossed half a million on Saturday.



“Markets continue to dwell on uncertainty regarding trade tensions, U.S. elections and recovery, as well as rising virus numbers,” said Bianca Botes, executive director at Peregrine Treasury Solutions.



Government bonds weakened, and the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2030 rose 9 basis points to 9.335%.

101416618-rand

South Africa’s rand falls as virus fears hit risk appetite

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; The first of thousands of South African-designed ventilators rolled off a Cape Town assembly line on Friday, responding to requests from hospitals needing them for severe COVID-19 cases but unable to get them on global markets, officials said.



Poorly resourced hospitals across Africa, which is nearing a million cases of COVID-19 — more than half of them in South Africa — have struggled to cope with a burgeoning case load amid a global scramble favouring richer nations in procuring ventilators and protective gear.



South Africa, which now has the world’s fifth highest infection burden of around 482,169 confirmed cases, launched a 250 million rand ($14.80 million) project in April to make them here.



“Today the first batch of completed ventilators are coming off the assembly line, part of an initial order of 10,000 units,” Ebrahim Patel, the trade and industry minister, said during a COVID-19 conference.



He added that 20,000 would be built in total.



Based on the clinical experience of COVID-19 epicentres such as China, Britain and the United States, the government decided that the production of non-invasive Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices would have the greatest chance of saving lives in South Africa, Patel said.



Ventilators are used to supply oxygen to the lungs of severely ill patients, who make up around 5% of overall cases.



Each CPAP device consists of some 30 separately manufactured components, he said, adding that final assembly currently takes place at the Cape Town factory of medical supplies firm Akacia Medical ahead of distribution to hospitals across the country.



“There is a worldwide shortage and extraordinary demand on some of the components,” Peter Brierley, operations director at Akacia Medical, told Reuters.



The company only this week managed to find a local machine shop able to make vital “peep valves” which help control the pressure in the device and allow the patient to exhale, he said.

Clarification on COVID-19 “hotspots” as SA moves to level 3 lockdown

South Africa produces its first ventilators to fight COVID-19

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s central bank will extend its tool kit to manage market liquidity by adding short-term, bilateral reverse repurchases of government bonds from commercial banks, it said on Friday.



The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has taken a number of measures since March to manage market liquidity as the spread of the coronavirus crisis globally hit demand for government bonds, including the launch of a bond-buying programme.



The bank has decided to expand such operations, it said in a statement, with changes to be introduced from Aug. 3.



“The SARB will commence conducting short-term buy-sell backs, of up to one month, with commercial banks on a bilateral basis for the purposes of managing money market liquidity,” it said, using a term for reverse repurchases.



The programme would be on an ad-hoc basis, it said, while the sum on offer would be at the SARB’s discretion.



It added that the SARB would also apply greater flexibility by allotting debentures and long-term reverse repurchases at a wider variety of rates.

south-african-flag-1486137288VYk

South Africa’s central bank plans more reverse bond repurchases

At a signing ceremony in Harare on the 29th July, the Commercial Farmers Union President, alongside other former Commercial Farmers signed a deal with the Zimbabwe Government to say that a compensation amount of 3.5 billion US dollars would be sought to pay compensation to commercial farmers who had been evicted from their farms.



 On the face of it, it all sounds quite hopeful; except for the fact that the Zimbabwe Government hasn’t got any of the 3.5 billion to pay.&nbsp; &nbsp; There is a solution here though: a joint team of Commercial Farmers and the Zimbabwe Government is launching an offensive to head off to raise the money from wherever they can. Zimbabwe commercial farmers, now spread across the globe, are itching to get sight of the agreement.&nbsp; Only a few have so far been allowed to see it, despite many calls for it to be scrutinised independently.&nbsp; This has created a high degree of mistrust as to what is really happening.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="834" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1110x834.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-377703" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1110x834.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1536x1154.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-2048x1539.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-696x523.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1068x802.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1920x1442.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-600x451.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Ben Freeth</figcaption></figure>



 One lawyer I spoke to did manage to go around to the Commercial Farmers Union and look at the agreement.&nbsp; He came away shaking his head.&nbsp; He told me that the agreement [that has subsequently been signed] was outside the framework of the Zimbabwe Constitution and Zimbabwe law.&nbsp; The laid down procedures for compensation in Zimbabwe’s own Constitution have been bypassed. Secondly the exchange control act doesn’t allow money to be paid in US dollars, particularly of its paid outside the country to farmers scattered far and wide.&nbsp; There have many cases already where contracts in US dollars have been converted to Zimbabwe currency at hugely prejudicial rates.&nbsp; Thirdly, parliament hasn’t given any assent to seeking a loan agreement of this magnitude;&nbsp; and fourthly the agreement seems to lock the title deed owner in to just getting money for improvements and nothing for the land or stolen crops, livestock, machinery or other losses associated with the forced evictions.



 Assuming these legal aspects are able to be sorted out, what about the amount being agreed?&nbsp; Under international law it is unquestionably a very poor deal.&nbsp; Heinrich Von Pezold did a full claim under international law due to a bilateral investment treaty and was awarded a sum of close to 200 million US dollars.&nbsp; Admittedly he was a large Investor,&nbsp; but if the same criteria of international law were used for the rest of the farmers, the bill would be at least 5 times the current amount &#8211; and probably considerably more. &nbsp;



 So what are the chances of money being able to be raised?&nbsp; Zimbabwes foreign debt stands at 7 billion &#8211; but perhaps quite a lot more. Our credit rating is down with the very worst of the defaulters.&nbsp; All recent attempts to borrow more money have been a failure.



 On top of that there is the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act.&nbsp; This is Marshall type plan to rebuild Zimbabwe; but the plan needs Zimbabwe to put the right foundational rule of law parameters in place.&nbsp;



One of these is following the international law judgments of the Southern African Development CommunityTribunal.&nbsp; This lays down how property rights should be respected &#8211; and that fair compensation should be paid according to international law. &nbsp; In a country where the people are hungry, the economy is collapsing and the army and the police are on the streets committing human rights violations against the people, there will be precious little appetite to put money towards compensating a bunch of white farmers.&nbsp; If there was a real will to restore property rights,&nbsp; come back to the rule of law and utilise the skills base that’s currently dormant, it might well be a different story;&nbsp; but it seems that this is simply another propaganda exercise by the Zimbabwe Government to have people believe that all is now well in Zimbabwe. &nbsp;

IMG_0910

OPINION: Inside Zimbabwe’s $3.5 bn deal for farmers- Ben Freeth

Zimbabwe finance minister Mthuli Ncube has told sceptical farmers that his government will pay them out in hard currency for farms taken by violent mobs 20 years ago.



Speaking to CNBC Africa from Harare, Ncube confirmed that the government was negotiating with more than 4,000 dispossessed farmers to pay compensation for improvements to their erstwhile &nbsp;&nbsp;land after a referendum gave the green light to the idea. Many farmers fear that the government will try to pay them out in discredited bonds. &nbsp;&nbsp;



“I can assure you that this agreement is in US dollars &#8211; it will be honoured in dollars, no other currency. In terms of the process of approval there was a referendum of 4,000 plus farmers around the globe who accepted this deal,” says Ncube.



“A lot of this money will make its way back into farming. &nbsp;It is a constitutional requirement the supreme law of the land Zimbabwe wants to follow the law that is what this agreement is going to do.”



Yet many former Zimbabwean farmers remain sceptical, including veteran farmer Ben Freeth. Privately, farmers feel that this is a way Zimbabwe is trying to ingratiate itself with the international finance community by giving the impression that property rights have been restored.



“It is a pie in the sky scheme as far as I am concerned. The government doesn’t have the money. The idea is to portray this as the government and farmers kissing and making up leaving Zimbabwe looking like a great place to invest – it is just an illusion,” says Freeth.



“There is a lot of concern out there no one has actually seen the agreement there is a great deal of secrecy around the deal it is all a bit mysterious.”



Farmers have also questioned the 99-year lease on farms that government is offering in a bid to kick start what was once the bread basket of Southern Africa. Ncube tried to reassure farmers.



“In terms of 99 year leases that is a different matter..the way we will do it is working with farmers &nbsp;and provide a guarantee to banks&nbsp; extending loans &nbsp;to farmers , but we understand it take time for banks to accept 99 year leases,”says Ncube



“It is a big step in the right direction 20 years after the land acquisition was carried out. We will work together to deal with our issues.”

Finmin Ncube on who will fund Zim’s $3.5bn compensation to white farmers

EXCLUSIVE: “I can assure you that this agreement will be honoured in dollars” Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube on the $3.5 billion deal with farmers

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe agreed on Wednesday to pay $3.5 billion in compensation to white farmers whose land was expropriated by the government to resettle black families, moving a step closer to resolving one the most divisive policies of the Robert Mugabe era.Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks during his meeting with Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko (not pictured) in Minsk, Belarus January 17, 2019. Natalia Fedosenko/REUTERS/File Photo



But the southern African nation does not have the money and will issue long term bonds and jointly approach international donors with the farmers to raise funding, according to the compensation agreement.



Two decades ago Mugabe’s government carried out at times violent evictions of 4,500 white farmers and redistributed the land to around 300,000 Black families, arguing it was redressing colonial land imbalances.



The agreement signed at President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State House offices in Harare showed white farmers would be compensated for infrastructure on the farms and not the land itself, as per the national constitution.



Details of how much money each farmer, or their descendants, given the time elapsed since the farms were seized, was likely to get were not yet clear, but the government has said it would prioritise the elderly when making the settlements.



Farmers would receive 50% of the compensation after a year and the balance within five years.



Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and acting Agriculture Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri signed on behalf of the government, while farmers unions and a foreign consortium that undertook valuations also penned the agreement.



“As Zimbabweans, we have chosen to resolve this long-outstanding issue,” said Andrew Pascoe, head of the Commercial Farmers Union representing white farmers.



The land seizures were one of Mugabe’s signature policies that soured ties with the West. Mugabe, who was ousted in a coup in 2017 and died last year, accused the West of imposing sanctions on his government as punishment.



The programme still divides public opinion in Zimbabwe as opponents see it as a partisan process that left the country struggling to feed itself. But its supporters say it has empowered landless Black people.



Mnangagwa said the land reform could not be reversed but paying of compensation was key to mending ties with the West.

Emmerson_Mnangagwa_(2019-01-15)

Zimbabwe agrees to pay $3.5 billion compensation to white farmers

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure Post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

BAP EP8: How to shift African economies from reliance on bailouts towards real growth

#VodacomDurbanJuly: The impact of Durban’s Virtual July Experience

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Scandal-hit South African retailer Steinhoff International said on Monday it had proposed a settlement, worth up to around $1 billion, to settle a stream of legal claims against the company.



The value would be paid in both cash and shares in retailer Pepkor, Steinhoff’s subsidiary, if the settlement is given the consent of creditors, regulators and eligible claimants, Steinhoff said in a statement.

Louis_Du_Preez_-_ISM8_-_2017_in_Brno

S.Africa’s Steinhoff proposes $1 bln settlement to solve legal disputes

(Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s MTN Group (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MTNJ.J">MTNJ.J</a>) expects first-half sales to double, beating analyst estimates, the company said on Friday, sending its shares up more than 7%.



The telecoms sector has experienced a spike in network data traffic as millions of South Africans were forced to work and entertain themselves from home after the government imposed a lockdown from the end of March to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="275" height="183" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/mtn.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-376942"/></figure>



However, the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers also benefited from foreign-exchange gains, it said without elaborating.



The group estimates headline earnings per share (HEPS), which strips out certain one-off items and is the main profit measure in South Africa, to be up at least 195 cents at more than 390 cents for the six months to June 30, against analyst expectation for HEPS of 271 cents.



Shares in the company jumped 7.7% to 64.49 rand by 0801 GMT, on course for their highest daily gain in three weeks.



“The market was very worried about the slightly high levels of debt at MTN and potentially the impact of the coronavirus, but it looks like they are tracking well ahead of the numbers that we were expecting,” said Nadim Mohamed, a partner at First Avenue Investment Management.



Taking into account a price-to-earnings ratio of less than 8 times, with a strong dividend, the stock is potentially undervalued, he added.



The company, which reports results on Aug. 6, also said it expects an increase of at least 140% in first-half earnings per share, which include gains on the disposal of the ATC Uganda and ATC Ghana tower joint ventures.



Rival Vodacom Group (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VODJ.J">VODJ.J</a>) on Thursday reported a 7.6% rise in first-quarter group service revenue, buoyed by strong demand for voice, data and financial services in South Africa during the lockdown.

South Africa’s MTN buoyed by expected leap in first-half earnings

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Tanzania’s former President Benjamin Mkapa, who ushered in multiparty democracy at home and worked to end conflict in East Africa, died in the early hours of Friday, President John Magufuli said.



Mkapa led several regional peace mediation initiatives as his country’s third president between 1995 and 2005, and afterwards continued to seek reconciliation in Burundi, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-376927" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-533x800.jpg 533w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-scaled.jpg 1365w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-696x1044.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-1068x1602.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Benjamin_William_Mkapa-600x900.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure>



He died while receiving treatment at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, Magufuli said in a statement, without elaborating.



“In Kenya we retain fond memories of his mediation efforts,” said former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.



“(He) helped the country return to peace after the 2007-2008 election violence,” Odinga said, referring to a period in Kenya when 1,200 people were killed in ethnic clashes resulting from a presidential vote whose outcome Odinga disputed.



“A statesman particularly remembered as an indefatigable peacemaker in the East African region,” said the African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat.



Magufuli declared a seven day mourning period, during which all flags will be flown at half-mast.



“I am saddened by the death of our elder Benjamin Mkapa,” Magufuli said in a tweet. “I will remember him for his love of country &#8230; hard work and effort in building the economy. The nation has lost a strong figure.”



Mkapa, 81, a former journalist, also served as an ambassador, foreign minister and leading official of the ruling CCM party.



Mkapa was first elected president in 1995 in Tanzania’s first multi-party elections and oversaw macroeconomic reforms that helped stabilise a struggling economy and secured debt relief from foreign donors.



ADVERTISEMENT

Benjamin_William_Mkapa

Former president of Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa is dead.

(Reuters) &#8211; Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:



South Africa’s 59% excess deaths imply hidden COVID-19 toll



South Africa witnessed some 17,000 extra deaths from natural causes, or 59% more than would normally be expected, between early May and mid-July, scientists said, suggesting many more people are dying of COVID-19 than shown in official figures.



New data by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), released overnight, showed that just in the week to July 14 &#8211; the latest figures available &#8211; there was an excess of 5,022 deaths by natural causes, about half more than usual.



Africa’s most industrialised nation is in the middle of a runaway epidemic of the coronavirus, with cases increasing by more than 10,000 a day and the current total just shy of 400,000. But its recorded death toll has so far been low, at 5,940 deaths, or less than 1.5% of cases.



U.S. Senate Republicans, White House cite early progress on coronavirus aid bill



Leading U.S. Senate Republicans and the White House said late on Wednesday they had hammered out agreements in principle on portions of a potential coronavirus-response bill, which could be presented to Democrats as early as this week as lawmakers race to pass legislation by the end of July.



Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters there was an agreement on sending another round of direct-payment checks to Americans to help them get through economic woes created by the worsening pandemic.



Mnuchin, however, would not provide details on the amount of money individuals and families might receive, or qualifications for getting the checks under this Republican-crafted plan.



Siemens to roll out flexible working app for 100,000 staff



Siemens is rolling out its Comfy mobile phone app to hundreds of its offices around the world to help staff safely return to the office after the coronavirus shutdown.



More than 100,000 staff in 30 countries will get access to the app, which gives data on occupancy levels and updates on the local COVID-19 situation so they can comply with physical distancing regulations.



Staff worried about COVID-19 infections among fellow workers can also use a contact-tracing feature on the app created under a partnership with U.S. software developer Salesforce.



COVID-induced khat shortage adds to Somalia’s health woes



In sweltering Mogadishu, Sharif Ahmed, 22, tried to attack relatives and neighbours, resulting in an emergency trip to a psychiatric hospital in handcuffs. He is suffering withdrawal from the narcotic leaf khat.



Somalia shut down flights in late March to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, meaning the drug could no longer be imported by air from Kenya. That affected users, causing some to go for long periods without sleep.



The price of khat surged when the flights were stopped, putting it out of reach for most users and straining resources at Mogadishu’s Habeeb Psychiatric Emergency Hospital.



“Out of the total number of patients we have, half of them are addicted to the drug,” said Abdirashid Abdulahi, a doctor at the hospital, referring to the 40 patients under his care.



Reducing Corporate America’s real-estate footprint



A Reuters analysis of quarterly earnings calls over the past week revealed more than 25 large U.S. companies planned to downsize their office space in the year ahead, moves designed to reduce the second-largest expense after payrolls at corporations.



Reductions in office spending could likely be followed by layoffs and investments in technology that should help improve productivity, said Bill McMahon, chief investment officer of active equity strategies at Charles Schwab.



While companies tend to cut back on their real estate needs during typical recessions, the last four months of economic lockdown have shown many workers can remain productive at home, said Danny Ismail, an analyst at independent research firm Green Street Advisors. As a result, the cutbacks that companies are making are more likely to be permanent, he added.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African government has not committed to fund a restructuring plan for struggling South African Airways (SAA), Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in court papers seen by Reuters on Tuesday.tit



Administrators took over SAA in December after almost a decade of financial losses, and last week creditors approved the restructuring plan, which requires at least 10 billion rand ($600 million) of new funds, on the understanding the government would find the necessary cash.



Mboweni said in an affidavit filed in the High Court that funding options the government might explore included approaching institutions for investment of pension funds, private equity or other partners who might want a shareholding in a restructured SAA.



The minister was responding to a court case launched by opposition party the Democratic Alliance, which wants to block Mboweni from using emergency powers to channel more public funds to rescue the airline.



Mboweni and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan sent a letter last week to SAA’s administrators committing to “mobilising funding” for the plan.



Mboweni said in his affidavit that no definitive decisions had been taken on how funds would be sourced for SAA. He said he had not used his powers to authorise using funds from the National Revenue Fund, nor was such a move imminent.



The finance ministry has not responded to a Reuters request for comment.



SAA’s administrators need certain conditions to be met by Wednesday for their restructuring plan to work.



One of them is that the government finds money for the plan, which envisages scaling back the airline’s fleet and shedding jobs before gradually ramping up operations as COVID-19 disruption eases.



In a document sent to trade unions over the weekend giving the rationale for the planned job cuts, the administrators said SAA had made a net loss of 5.5 billion rand in the year to end-March, with further losses incurred since.



The administrators plan to have terminated all SAA’s aircraft leases by the end of July, leaving it with nine Airbus A340 planes which are on sale, Louise Brugman, spokeswoman for the administrators told Reuters.

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 16: Finance minister, Tito Mboweni briefs the media on the details of government interventions in various sectors of the departmental portfolios on COVID-19 at DIRCO Media Centre.

106468131-1585649490275gettyimages-1207457483

South Africa has not committed to fund SAA rescue plan, finance minister says

In the last days of President Robert Mugabe the political scene painted British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a pantomime villain. The late President Mugabe railed against Blair at political rallies, in the early years of this century, calling him “B-Liar” and saying famously at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002: “You can keep your England, I shall keep my Zimbabwe.” Blair is unfazed by the years of criticism, in his decade in power at Westminster, and says he is happy to speak to Mugabe’s successor President Emerson Mnangagwa.



More than a decade on Blair – who now runs an institute promoting good governance in Africa &#8211; was asked how acrimonious his not very special relationship with Zimbabwe was, in an exclusive interview with CNBC Africa from London.



“I think acrimonious was probably and understatement!” smiled Blair more than a decade on.



“I am happy to speak to Mnangagwa, but these things are best done in a private way. I was actually thinking about Zimbabwe the other day. I think, at certain points, there were misunderstandings, not genuine disagreements. If Zimbabwe were to get its act together it would be an exciting place to be.”



Blair went further to call for reform in Zimbabwe and was effusive in his praise of the country were the politicians once scorned him.



“Zimbabwe I hope the new leadership there will take the necessary measure and reforms because Zimbabwe is a very wealthy country and I meet Zimbabweans around the world and they are a very talented people. I want the government to succeed; it really is what has to be done. I do think it is what needs to happened there not just opening up political space, but also economic reforms to take the country to a boom. If the government there showed real commitment or reform, it would help in the future because we need Zimbabwe back as a player in the continent,” says Blair. &nbsp;



The former British Prime Minister’s encouraging words contrast the bitterness that the late President Mugabe felt for Blair in return. The ruling ZANU pf party called its 2005 election campaign the “Anti-Blair Vote.”



At the launch of that election campaign, in December 2004, Mugabe set the tone with the words: “Regime change, Mr Blair? Who are you? Who are you to talk of regime change in Zimbabwe? One of us, by what connection sir, do you hear me? Ancestral connection? And who were these ancestors, can we know? No, Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans. And only Zimbabweans can determine who shall rule them and who shall not. Whether there is a situation here of political order, of lawlessness, violation of the rule of law, violation of human rights, lack of democracy, our neighbours would know that better than the British government… It is our land, ancestral land, our sacred land, never an extension of Britain.&#8221;

Tony Blair Gives Pro-Eu Keynote Speech

Blair on Zimbabwe and Mugabe:  the former British Prime minister is far from bitter and ready to meet Mnangagwa.

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s growing COVID-19 epidemic should be an alert to the rest of the continent to strengthen disease surveillance, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured at the World Health Organization (WHO) building in Geneva, Switzerland, February 2, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse



South Africa reported a surge of 13,373 new cases on Saturday, the fourth largest globally.



Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe also reported significant increases in cases over the past week, WHO’s top emergencies expert Mike Ryan told a news conference.



“Even though the numbers in those other countries are smaller I think what we starting to see is a continued acceleration of transmission in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and I think that has to be taken very, very seriously,” he said.



“South Africa may unfortunately be a precursor, it may be a warning for what will happen in the rest of Africa. So I think this isn’t just a wake-up call for South Africa &#8230; we need to take what is happening in Africa very very seriously.”



The WHO also warned that indigenous communities comprising half a million people around the world are especially at risk from the pandemic due to often poor living conditions.



Director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that as of July 6, there were more than 70,000 cases reported among indigenous peoples in the Americas, with more than 2,000 deaths.



“Indigenous peoples often have a high burden of poverty, unemployment, malnutrition and both communicable and non-communicable diseases, making them more vulnerable,” Tedros said, adding that those in current epicentre the Americas were of particular concern.



The WHO boss urged nations to take all necessary health precautions, with special emphasis on contact tracing.



“We do not have to wait for a vaccine. We have to save lives now,” he said.



ADVERTISEMENT



<figure><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html" width="0" height="242"></iframe></figure>



Global infections stand at more than 14.5 million, according to a Reuters tally, with more than 600,000 deaths.



The WHO welcomed news that AstraZeneca’s experimental vaccine was safe and produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials in healthy volunteers.



“We congratulate our colleagues for the progress they have made,” Ryan said. “This is a positive result, but there is a long way to go &#8230; We now need to move to large-scale trials.”

Dr Matshidiso Moeti – WHO Regional Director for Africa

South Africa outbreak should be wake-up call for continent: WHO

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa is considering an independent board for its ailing national airline, with a shareholder structure similar to that of part state-owned telecoms firm Telkom, a senior government minister told the local eNCA news channel on Sunday.



Debt-ridden South African Airways (SAA) has been in a form of bankruptcy protection since December. Its creditors approved a rescue plan last week that involves scaling down its fleet, shedding thousands of jobs and a commitment of over 10 billion rand ($599.6 million) from the government



“Telkom is an interesting model that we could actually look at as we go forward,” Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said, adding that the new SAA cannot be run by a “bunch of amateurs”.



He did not specify if the revamped airline will be a listed entity.



Telkom SA, among the top three telecom service providers in Africa’s most industrialised country, is run independently and not bound by government guidelines set up for most South African sate-owned enterprises.



The government directly holds a 37% stake in the listed entity and state-owned fund manager Public Investment Corp. owns around 15%. The rest is owned by institutional investors and the public.



Gordhan said the government was still trying to secure the 10 billion rand required for the business rescue plan to succeed. “Now where it comes from, what form it comes in is something is still being worked on.”



The public and finance ministries committed to finding the funds in a letter to the airline’s administrators seen by Reuters last Thursday. This is in addition to more than 16 billion rand the finance ministry set aside in its February budget to repay SAA’s guaranteed debt and debt-service costs.



He reiterated that the restructured airline will have a strategic partner, professional aviation managers and a more simplified salary structure.



($1 = 16.6788 rand)

Southern Africa

South Africa’s rand falls as virus fears hit risk appetite

South Africa produces its first ventilators to fight COVID-19

South Africa’s central bank plans more reverse bond repurchases

OPINION: Inside Zimbabwe’s $3.5 bn deal for farmers- Ben Freeth

EXCLUSIVE: “I can assure you that this agreement will be honoured in dollars” Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube on the $3.5 billion deal with farmers

Zimbabwe agrees to pay $3.5 billion compensation to white farmers

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure Post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

BAP EP8: How to shift African economies from reliance on bailouts towards real growth

#VodacomDurbanJuly: The impact of Durban’s Virtual July Experience

S.Africa’s Steinhoff proposes $1 bln settlement to solve legal disputes

South Africa’s MTN buoyed by expected leap in first-half earnings

Former president of Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa is dead.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

South Africa has not committed to fund SAA rescue plan, finance minister says

Blair on Zimbabwe and Mugabe: the former British Prime minister is far from bitter and ready to meet Mnangagwa.

South Africa outbreak should be wake-up call for continent: WHO

Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Southern Africa

South Africa’s rand falls as virus fears hit risk appetite

South Africa produces its first ventilators to fight COVID-19

South Africa’s central bank plans more reverse bond repurchases

OPINION: Inside Zimbabwe’s $3.5 bn deal for farmers- Ben Freeth

EXCLUSIVE: “I can assure you that this agreement will be honoured in dollars” Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube on the $3.5 billion deal with farmers

Zimbabwe agrees to pay $3.5 billion compensation to white farmers

#Africa50: Why Investing in Digital Infrastructure Post-COVID-19 is Critical to Africa’s Recovery

BAP EP8: How to shift African economies from reliance on bailouts towards real growth

#VodacomDurbanJuly: The impact of Durban’s Virtual July Experience

S.Africa’s Steinhoff proposes $1 bln settlement to solve legal disputes

South Africa’s MTN buoyed by expected leap in first-half earnings

Former president of Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa is dead.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

South Africa has not committed to fund SAA rescue plan, finance minister says

Blair on Zimbabwe and Mugabe: the former British Prime minister is far from bitter and ready to meet Mnangagwa.

South Africa outbreak should be wake-up call for continent: WHO

Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters