
<p></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="777" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-1110x777.jpg" alt="South African economy to shrink 4.9% in 2020, SARB to cut rates in May – Poll" class="wp-image-368592" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-1110x777.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-820x574.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-768x538.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-1536x1075.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-696x487.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-1068x748.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GettyImages-1211817673-1920x1344.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<p><br>BENGALURU, Dec 14 (Reuters) &#8211; More than 71.15 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,608,736​ have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.<br>Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/2FThSv7 in an external browser.<br>Eikon users can click https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1063154666 for a case tracker.<br></p>



<p>The following table lists the top 50 countries by the number of reported cases. A complete list is available with the above links.</p>



<p><br>COUNTRIES AND TOTAL DEATHS CONFIRMED DEATHS PER TERRITORIES CASES 10,000 INHABITANTS<br>United States 298,101 16,107,064 9.12<br>India 143,019 9,857,029 1.06<br>Brazil 181,123 6,880,127 8.65<br>Russia 46,941 2,653,928 3.25<br>France 57,911 2,376,852 8.65<br>United Kingdom 64,170 1,849,403 9.66<br>Italy 64,520 1,843,712 10.68<br>Spain 47,624 1,730,575 10.18<br>Argentina 40,668 1,494,602 9.14<br>Colombia 38,866 1,417,072 7.83<br>Germany 21,746 1,325,852 2.62<br>Mexico 113,704 1,241,436 9.01<br>Poland 22,864 1,135,676 6.02<br>Iran 52,196 1,108,059 6.38<br>Turkey 16,417 1,044,927 1.99<br>Peru 36,609 983,045 11.22<br>Ukraine 15,154 894,215 3.4<br>South Africa 23,276 860,964 4.03<br>Indonesia 18,819 617,820 0.7<br>Netherlands 10,048 613,487 5.83<br>Belgium 17,902 605,966 15.66<br>Czech Republic 9,535 579,079 8.97<br>Iraq 12,579 574,634 3.27<br>Chile 15,846 569,781 8.46<br>Romania 13,385 556,335 6.88<br>Bangladesh 7,052 490,533 0.44<br>Canada 13,350 454,852 3.6<br>Philippines 8,730 448,331 0.82<br>Pakistan 8,796 438,425 0.41<br>Morocco 6,624 399,609 1.84<br>Switzerland 5,396 373,831 6.34<br>Saudi Arabia 6,048 359,888 1.79<br>Israel 2,962 352,868 3.33<br>Portugal 5,461 344,700 5.31<br>Austria 4,473 321,632 5.06<br>Sweden 7,514 320,098 7.38<br>Hungary 6,965 280,400 7.12<br>Serbia 2,331 266,432 3.34<br>Jordan 3,365 259,614 3.38<br>Nepal 1,698 248,423 0.6<br>Ecuador 13,874 201,524 8.12<br>Panama 3,331 190,585 7.97<br>Georgia 1,790 189,726 4.8<br>United Arab Emirates 617 184,949 0.64<br>Japan 2,614 181,342 0.21<br>Bulgaria 5,626 178,952 8.01<br>Croatia 2,640 175,886 6.46<br>Azerbaijan 1,922 175,874 1.93<br>Belarus 1,254 158,334 1.32<br>Dominican Republic 2,360 153,585 2.22<br></p>



<p>Source: Reuters tally based on statements from health ministries and government officials<br>Generated at 04:00 GMT.</p>



<p>(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html</p>


FACTBOX-Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 71.15 million, death toll at 1,608,736

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<p>Nigerian headquartered Access Bank has received approval to obtain a controlling interest in South Africa&#8217;s Grobank.</p>


Access Bank buys controlling interest in SA’s Grobank


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-29T132436Z_1_LYNXMPEH2S0YM_RTROPTP_4_EGYPT-SUEZCANAL-SHIP-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400339" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-29T132436Z_1_LYNXMPEH2S0YM_RTROPTP_4_EGYPT-SUEZCANAL-SHIP-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-29T132436Z_1_LYNXMPEH2S0YM_RTROPTP_4_EGYPT-SUEZCANAL-SHIP-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-29T132436Z_1_LYNXMPEH2S0YM_RTROPTP_4_EGYPT-SUEZCANAL-SHIP-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-29T132436Z_1_LYNXMPEH2S0YM_RTROPTP_4_EGYPT-SUEZCANAL-SHIP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-03-29T132436Z_1_LYNXMPEH2S0YM_RTROPTP_4_EGYPT-SUEZCANAL-SHIP.jpg 2016w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A view shows the container ship Ever Given, one of the world&#8217;s largest container ships, after it was partially refloated, in Suez Canal, Egypt March 29, 2021. Suez Canal Authority/Handout via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



<p>Suez Canal says traffic in channel resumes after stranded ship refloated<br>CAIRO (Reuters) &#8211; The giant container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week was fully floated on Monday and traffic in the waterway would resume, the canal authority said in a statement.</p>



<p>A Reuters witness saw the ship moving and a shipping tracker and Egyptian TV showed it positioned in the centre of the canal.</p>



<p>(Reporting by Mohamed Abdel Ghany and Yusri Mohamed; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Alison Williams)</p>


A view shows the container ship Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, after it was partially refloated, in Suez Canal

Suez Canal says traffic in channel resumes after stranded ship refloated

<p>By Promit Mukherjee</p>
<p>JOHANNESBURG, March 29 (Reuters) &#8211; South African health insurer Discovery Ltd said on Monday it was in contact with all COVID-19 vaccine producers but cannot independently source vaccines as procurement and distribution is in the hands of the government.</p>
<p>As in many countries, vaccine procurement in South Africa is centralised and controlled by government but the pace of procurement and inoculation has been slow, with less than 250,000 people, or just 0.5% of the population vaccinated so far.</p>
<p>This has prompted calls from health experts to allow the private sector to source vaccines to bolster government efforts.</p>
<p>&#8220;While we (Discovery) might be in contact with vaccine manufacturers, the acquisition of the vaccine and the policy for who receives it and in what sequence remains the exclusive responsibility of government, until such time as government informs otherwise,&#8221; said Ryan Noach, CEO of the company&#8217;s medical scheme Discovery Health.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have been in regular liaison with vaccine manufacturers since September 2020,&#8221; Noach said in an emailed response to Reuters. He said the company is taking all measures to &#8220;ensure the procurement is efficient, and stock available quickly, especially for the most at risk.&#8221;</p>
<p>South Africa&#8217;s vaccine rollout faced a blow in early February when it decided to halt the rollout of AstraZeneca&#8217;s shots on concerns about its effectiveness against the 501Y.V2 variant that caused a huge spurt in infections late last year.</p>
<p>The country has since opted for Johnson &amp; Johnson&#8217;s vaccine under an &#8220;implementation study.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a note to policyholders on Friday, Discovery&#8217;s group CEO Adrian Gore said the company was aiming to vaccinate its three million adult policyholders, with the capacity of 50,000 vaccinations per day starting in May, if vaccine supplies are on time.</p>
<p>&#8220;This will enable all of Discovery&#8217;s 550,000 high-risk members to be vaccinated within a few weeks,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>South Africa&#8217;s Health Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment when asked about private vaccine procurement. (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee. Editing by Jane Merriman)</p>
<p>(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


S.African health insurer Discovery in touch with vaccine makers

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<p>According a report by GSMA, the value of mobile money transactions in Africa increased by 23 per cent to $490 billion, while the volume of transactions grew by 15 per cent to $27.4 billion in 2020. Akinwale Goodluck, Head of sub-Saharan Africa at GSMA joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Africa sees robust growth in mobile money transactions despite COVID-19

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<p>Rwanda has enacted a new Financial Consumer Protection Law that, among other things, introduces a ban on penalties imposed by banks on clients who make early repayments on loans. It is the second country to do so in the region after Kenya. Gerald Nsabimana AG. DG, Conduct Supervision, National Bank of Rwanda joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How Rwanda plans to implement the new Financial Consumer Protection Law

<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2fmwmluJl5E" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Nigerian equities kicked off the week on a bright note supported by gains from financial stocks. Moses Hammed, Research Analyst at Investment One Financial Services joins CNBC Africa for more&#8230;.</p>


Financial stocks lift Nigerian equities

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<p>The International Energy Agency says Crude oil capacity in Nigeria will drop by two hundred thousand barrels to 1.6 million barrels per day by 2026 as a result of low investment. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government says it expects to generate $600 million from new marginal fields following the completion of licensing round and the notification of the 161 winners. Oyeyemi Oke, Oil and Gas Lawyer and a Partner at A02 Law joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


IEA: Low investment will reduce Nigeria’s oil capacity

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<p>In the 5 years since the Paris Agreement, the world’s 60 biggest banks have financed fossil fuels to the tune of 3.8 trillion dollar. That’s according to a report by the Rainforest Action Network. The report comes as U.S President Joe Biden invites 40 world leaders to a summit on climate change. Joining CNBC Africa for more is the CEO of AFIEGO, Dickens Kamugisha.</p>


World’s largest 60 banks spent $3.8trn on fossil fuels financing

<div style="max-width: 100%;">&nbsp;</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Nigerians have often been described as resilient, but when this resilience is stretched thin, how long will the pieces hold? A book co-authored by Andrew Nevin, Chief Economist at PwC Nigeria explores this theme. As we get some insight on this from him, Steve Osho, a Co-Managing Partner at Comercio Partners also joins CNBC Africa to share some perspectives as well.</p>


FSt500

Analysis: Why Nigeria is not a failed state?

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<p>The pandemic is making governments cash poor as they deal with the biggest economic shock since the 1930s. CNBC&#8217;s Silvia Amaro looks at where governments get their money from and why you could soon be paying more taxes.<br />
&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p>Subscribe to us on YouTube: http://cnb.cx/2wuoARM</p>
<p>Subscribe to CNBC International TV on YouTube: https://cnb.cx/2NGytpz</p>
<p>L&#8230;</p>


How do governments make money? | CNBC Explains

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<p>Coming out with its annual results, Stadio Holdings reported that its bottom line was impacted by abnormal items.</p>


Stadio reports 31% increase in headline earnings

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<p>The prescription eyewear market is expected to reach a million dollars by the end of 2024, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. So how can African manufacturers tap into this market? CNBC Africa spoke to the Co-Founder of Wazi Eyewear, Geogette Ndabukiye for more.</p>


How to lower the cost for prescription eyewear in Africa

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<p>Bboxx Rwanda has secured $3 million investment loan to expand solar electrification as countries seek to diversify energy supply and reduce dependence on energy sources that produce greenhouse gas emissions. What will it take to drive investment in renewable energy? Bboxx Rwanda Managing Director, Justus Mucyo joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Bboxx Rwanda MD Justus Mucyo on how to accelerate investment in renewable energy

<p><em>Content provided by APO Group. CNBC Africa provides content from APO Group as a service to its readers and does not edit the articles it publishes. CNBC Africa is not responsible for the content provided by APO Group.</em></p>
<p>Liquid Intelligent Technologies (www.LiquidTelecom.com), a pan-African technology group, today announces the culmination of its extensive business transformation from being a telecommunications and digital services provider to a full one-stop-shop technology group through a group-wide rebrand.</p>
</p>
<p>Over the last two decades, Liquid has firmly established itself as the leading pan-African digital infrastructure provider with an extensive network spanning over 73,000 KM.  This rebrand to Liquid Intelligent Technologies highlights the organisation&#39;s expansion of its Cloud business, Cyber Security services, and other technologies added to its existing telecoms and connectivity capability. </p>
</p>
<p>This furthers the Group&#39;s aim of accelerating growth by providing tailor-made digital solutions to businesses in the public and private sectors across the continent.  This strategic rebrand reflects Liquid&#39;s new digital-first product offerings, enabling employees and customers to interact with each other digitally irrespective of the time or location.</p>
<p>By aggressively expanding into new countries, including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liquid Intelligent Technologies is bringing its award-winning high-performance network connectivity closer to more people and accelerating the development of the digital workplace.</p>
<p>Liquid Intelligent Technologies will expand its Managed Services offerings to drive and ensure successful adoption of tools to re-imagine their customers&#39; businesses and how they work and connect. Whether they are focused on enabling collaboration or utilising the most advanced cloud applications. </p>
<p>As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Liquid Intelligent Technologies is redefining Network, Cloud and Cyber Security offerings through strategic partnerships with leading global players, bringing innovative business applications, intelligent cloud services and world-class security to the African continent.</p>
<p>With the future of network security-driven from the cloud, Liquid Intelligent Technologies&#39; recently launched its Cyber Security business unit, which uniquely delivers security at its core, protecting your business&#39;s data throughout its lifecycle.</p>
<p>According to Nic Rudnick, Group Chief Executive Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, &#8220;Our ongoing investment in our networks and data centres across Africa have uniquely positioned us to utilise our infrastructure to accelerate the availability of new intelligent technologies including the high computing power of the Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security to our customers. We are now excited to be executing our vision of bringing new technological opportunities to the market with a highly differentiated product set supported by our existing infrastructure and digital innovation. &#8220;</p>
<p> Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Liquid Intelligent Technologies.</p>


Liquid Telecom unveils its new identity – Liquid Intelligent Technologies, as it expands to a consolidated technology group

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<p>The virtual launch of the 2021 African Economic Outlook by the African Development Bank began with a one-on-one conversation between the bank’s President Dr Akinwumi Adesina and the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize Recipient in Economic Sciences, Professor Joseph Stiglitz. They both explore ways African countries can address the current debt situation.</p>


AfDB’s Adesina & Nobel laureate

AfDB’s Adesina & Nobel laureate, Stiglitz explore solutions to Africa’s debt

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<p>KPMG says it expect a modest growth of 1.9 per cent for Nigeria this year despite rising oil prices. The Tax and advisory services provider also say they expect inflation to taper while the Central Bank could exact a modest level of monetary tightening. Olusegun Zaccheaus, Associate Director for Strategy and Economics at KPMG Nigeria joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Newsletter

FACTBOX-Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 71.15 million, death toll at 1,608,736

Access Bank buys controlling interest in SA’s Grobank

Suez Canal says traffic in channel resumes after stranded ship refloated

S.African health insurer Discovery in touch with vaccine makers

Africa sees robust growth in mobile money transactions despite COVID-19

How Rwanda plans to implement the new Financial Consumer Protection Law

Financial stocks lift Nigerian equities

IEA: Low investment will reduce Nigeria’s oil capacity

World’s largest 60 banks spent $3.8trn on fossil fuels financing

Analysis: Why Nigeria is not a failed state?

How do governments make money? | CNBC Explains

Stadio reports 31% increase in headline earnings

How to lower the cost for prescription eyewear in Africa

Bboxx Rwanda MD Justus Mucyo on how to accelerate investment in renewable energy

Liquid Telecom unveils its new identity – Liquid Intelligent Technologies, as it expands to a consolidated technology group

AfDB’s Adesina & Nobel laureate, Stiglitz explore solutions to Africa’s debt

KPMG sees modest recovery for Nigeria despite rising oil prices

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Newsletter

FACTBOX-Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 71.15 million, death toll at 1,608,736

Access Bank buys controlling interest in SA’s Grobank

Suez Canal says traffic in channel resumes after stranded ship refloated

S.African health insurer Discovery in touch with vaccine makers

Africa sees robust growth in mobile money transactions despite COVID-19

How Rwanda plans to implement the new Financial Consumer Protection Law

Financial stocks lift Nigerian equities

IEA: Low investment will reduce Nigeria’s oil capacity

World’s largest 60 banks spent $3.8trn on fossil fuels financing

Analysis: Why Nigeria is not a failed state?

How do governments make money? | CNBC Explains

Stadio reports 31% increase in headline earnings

How to lower the cost for prescription eyewear in Africa

Bboxx Rwanda MD Justus Mucyo on how to accelerate investment in renewable energy

Liquid Telecom unveils its new identity – Liquid Intelligent Technologies, as it expands to a consolidated technology group

AfDB’s Adesina & Nobel laureate, Stiglitz explore solutions to Africa’s debt

KPMG sees modest recovery for Nigeria despite rising oil prices

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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