<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="803" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-104899247-1110x803.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-393037" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-104899247-1110x803.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-104899247-300x217.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-104899247-820x593.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-104899247-768x556.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-104899247-1536x1111.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-104899247-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. AFP PHOTO / Kimihiro Hoshino (Photo credit should read KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



SEOUL/GENEVA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was poised to become the first African and first woman to lead the embattled World Trade Organization, after a South Korean rival withdrew on Friday and the United States reversed its previous opposition.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala poses outside a Nigerian diplomatic residence in Chambesy, near Geneva, Switzerland, September 29, 2020. 



The government of President Joe Biden expressed its strong support for Okonjo-Iweala in a statement late Friday, lauding her experience at the World Bank and leading Nigeria’s finance ministry, and pledging to work with her on needed reforms.



The twin developments ended months of uncertainty over the leadership of the global trade body, and cleared the way for WTO members to conclude a consensus-based process and confirm Okonjo-Iweala as the next WTO director-general.



The U.S. administration of former President Donald Trump had blocked Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy after a WTO selection panel recommended her as chief in October. The decision required consensus.



Okonjo-Iweala said she was looking forward to the conclusion of the race and moving forward with needed reforms.



“There is vital work ahead to do together,” the former World Bank executive said in a statement.



The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said it was ready to get work with Okonjo-Iweala, noting she was “widely respected for her effective leadership and &#8230; proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership.”



“The Biden Administration looks forward to working with a new WTO Director General to find paths forward to achieve necessary substantive and procedural reform of the WTO,” it said. Last week it also pledged a commitment to “positive, constructive and active engagement” on reforms.



The Geneva-based watchdog has gone without a director-general since Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo quit a year early in August and his replacement must contend with a COVID-induced recession, U.S.-China tensions and rising protectionism.



South Korea’s trade minister Yoo Myung-hee, a finalist selected from among eight candidates, on Friday withdrew her name after months of diplomatic pressure to bow out.



“In order to promote the functions of WTO and in consideration of various factors, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy,” Yoo said in a statement. She said her decision was made after consulting with allies including the United States.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WAITING FOR WASHINGTON</h2>



Observers say the leaderless WTO is facing the deepest crisis in its 25-year history. It has not clinched a major multilateral trade deal in years and failed to hit a 2020 deadline on ending subsidies for overfishing.



Many hope the change in U.S. administration will lead to meaningful reforms of the WTO. Some of its functions are paralyzed after the Trump administration blocked judge appointments to its top appeals body.



Okonjo-Iweala has previously stressed the need for the WTO to play a role in helping poorer countries with COVID-19 drugs and vaccines &#8212; an issue on which members have failed to agree in ongoing negotiations.



The WTO could in theory call a meeting of its 164 members to confirm the next chief at short notice.



However, some delegates saw that as unlikely given that Biden’s choice of trade representative, Katherine Tai, has not yet been sworn in. Nor has a Geneva-based deputy been selected.



The International Chamber of Commerce’s John Denton urged WTO members to act quickly.



“With geopolitical tensions high, the global economy in recession and ‘vaccine nationalism’ threatening an equitable recovery, there is now no reason for further delay in filling this critical role with the well-qualified candidate at the ready,” he said.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, managing director f

Nigerian woman poised to lead WTO after rival withdraws, Washington offers support

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="544" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-820x544.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-396401" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-820x544.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1195404729.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghana&#8217;s president, gestures as he speaks during a news conference on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and policy makers attend the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Jan. 21 &#8211; 24. Photographer: Gem Atkinson/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Africa needs to find its own resources in order to drive a sustainable post-Covid-19 recovery and reconstruction plan built on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the President of Ghana told this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this was crucial as the continent seeks to return to macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility while leveraging rapidly changing digital technologies to improve livelihoods.



“The multilateral system is under strain, and we must do all that we can to generate the needed resources to achieve sustainable development,” the Ghanaian leader told a session entitled `Building Inclusive, Sustainable and Job-Creating Growth in Africa&#8217;”.



“We in Africa should make every effort to generate for ourselves the additional funds we need to advance, and hopefully our external partners – private and public – will lend their backing to the priorities we set.”



The agreement connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion. The World Bank says it has the potential to pull more than 30 million people out of extreme poverty.



Akufo-Addo said goodwill towards the continent remained strong as shown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who told the virtual WEF Davos Dialogues that South Africa had mobilised around $51 billion (R774billion) in new investment commitments over the last three years.



Ramaphosa said around a fifth of the committed value had already been invested in construction and essential equipment for mining, manufacturing, telecoms and agriculture.



Naspers SA Chief Executive Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa told the meeting that digital had the ability to help reduce some of the inequalities exacerbated by the coronavirus.



“Africa’s digital transformation has the potential to leap frog many cycles of development. We can make significant advances enabling sustainable economic growth ensuring we move forward collectively so that no one is left behind.”



Absa Group Chief Executive Daniel Mminele said the there was an opportunity to leverage public funds and infrastructure investments better to uplift communities.



“We need to find sustainable solutions to some of the funding problems we have but funding is very key and a responsibility that sits on the shoulders of both the public and private sector and banks.”

Day Three Of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020

Africa must use continental new trade agreement to plan Coronavirus recovery plan

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230791248-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-396369" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230791248-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230791248-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230791248-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230791248.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>BRAZIL &#8211; 2021/01/25: In this photo illustration the Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter app icons seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



By now most of us have heard about WhatsApp&#8217;s privacy conundrum which it quickly backtracked on <a href="http://[https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/01/18/whatsapp-delays-privacy-update-over-user-confusion-and-backlash-about-facebook-data-sharing/">https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/01/18/whatsapp-delays-privacy-update-over-user-confusion-and-backlash-about-facebook-data-sharing</a>/ after public backlash. 



We&#8217;ve also heard about how social media played a part in the U.S. Capitol&#8217;s storming on 6 January and how social media platforms banned Trump and other right-leaning voices; how Apple and Google banned the Twitter-alternative Parler from their app stores; and then how Amazon Web Services (AWS), who were hosting Parler, shut the whole thing down entirely.



Since then, things have continued to escalate, with Apple facing a lawsuit <a href="http://[https://mashable.com/article/apple-telegram-lawsuit/]">https://mashable.com/article/apple-telegram-lawsuit/</a> for not removing Telegram from its App Store because of calls to violence apparently taking place there too.



Free-speech arguments aside, there is a massive silver-lining in all of this. This year might, at last, be the year of social media&#8217;s reckoning. WhatsApp&#8217;s privacy miscalculation has led to what Telegram founder, Pavel Durov has called the &#8220;largest digital migration in human history <a href="http://[https://t.me/durovschat]">https://t.me/durovschat</a>.



Last year, Facebook threatened to shut down its services in the EU as a result of it enforcing its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules <a href="http://[https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-threatens-to-leave-europe-due-to-proposed-new-data-sharing-regulat/585619/]">https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-threatens-to-leave-europe-due-to-proposed-new-data-sharing-regulat/585619/</a>. Change is coming.



For years, social media has been protected in the U.S. under a law called &#8220;Section 230&#8221; which protects an “interactive computer service” from lawsuits if a user or client on its platform engages in illegal behaviour (with some exceptions). 



This is why, unlike publishers, Facebook and Twitter are not liable for what users put on their platforms. But the fact remains that these platforms are monetising what users are doing and controversial accounts keep people on the platform and are actually good for business. Plus, Twitter and Facebook&#8217;s enforcement of their own terms of service is very haphazard.



In 2018, Facebook was linked to genocide in Myanmar <a href="http://[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebook-genocide.html].">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebook-genocide.html</a>. There are many megalomaniac dictators tweeting as you read this. Both platforms were silent when the PR firm Bell Pottinger was using their algorithms to drive open our racial wounds in South Africa; or when xenophobic violence was incited on these platforms; or even when people died in the mid-2020 Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. due to what was being organised on their platforms.



 (Incidentally, Twitter seems to be cracking down on Antifa accounts too now. <a href="http://[https://nypost.com/2021/01/22/twitter-suspends-antifa-accounts-with-over-71k-followers/]">https://nypost.com/2021/01/22/twitter-suspends-antifa-accounts-with-over-71k-followers/</a>). In fact, this sort-of practice hearkens all the way back to the first, heady days when we were all blown away by how #OccupyWallStreet went mainstream because of social media and how the Arab Spring was able to happen because of these platforms. 



Twitter may have been happy for all of this because it was not affecting them back home. Now, when it has, the penny seems to be dropping and the pressure seems to finally be on.



Perhaps you are partial to some of these movements, but the point is to note that these platforms increasingly have to act more like publishers than &#8220;Section 230&#8221; organisations. 



I think this is a good development. Their ability to get the best of both worlds—to not be held liable while increasing their profits through &#8216;gamification&#8217; and addiction to their platforms, monetising human nature&#8217;s worst aspects—is now going to run to an end. It&#8217;s time to classify them differently.



There is a bigger picture here that I think those who are claiming and advising people stay on Whatsapp appear to be missing. It&#8217;s time we demand innovation that doesn&#8217;t keep us reliant and addicted to these platforms but find better ways to serve us, even as Africans.



 It&#8217;s time to check out local services like 2go <a href="http://[https://www.2go.im/]">https://www.2go.im/</a>, for instance. It&#8217;s also a good time for us to form our own laws that we want applied that will benefit us, just as the EU has.



This is the big picture and right now, you and I, the &#8220;users&#8221; of these platforms have an opportunity to make an impact by getting off the platforms that make money from our time, our emotions, our relationships, our photos, our lives, and insist on better, more human technology.



Ryan Peter is the editor-in-chief of Disrupting Africa (disruptingafrica.com), a freelancer writer and ghostwriter. See more info at ryanpeterwrites.com.

In this photo illustration the Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal,

The Year of Social Media’s Reckoning

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="613" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230042203-820x613.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-396361" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230042203-820x613.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230042203-300x224.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230042203-768x575.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1230042203.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>ANNAPOLIS, MD &#8211; November 17: 
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan keeps his mask on as he answers questions during a press conference to address COVID-19 concerns in Annapolis, MD on November 17. 
(Photo by Bill O&#8217;Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Maryland has reported a case of the new, highly transmissible&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/coronavirus/">Covid-19</a>&nbsp;variant first found in South Africa, marking the third case to be detected in the U.S., Gov. Larry Hogan announced on Saturday.



The case involves an adult resident living in the Baltimore region with no history of international travel, Maryland health officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed.



“We strongly encourage Marylanders to practice extra caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant,” Hogan said. “Please continue to practice standard public health and safety measures, including mask wearing, regular hand washing and physical distancing.”



The first two U.S. cases of the South African variant, known as B.1.351, were identified in South Carolina on Jan. 28. Other variants found in the U.S. have originated from Britain and Brazil.



The variants don’t appear to cause more significant illness or increased risk of death, but are believed to be highly contagious. Health officials are particularly concerned about the B.1.351 variant because preliminary research suggests vaccines may be less effective to fight it.



President&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/joe-biden/">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;signed a travel ban last week on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who were recently in South Africa and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/24/biden-to-sign-south-africa-travel-ban-to-slow-spread-of-new-covid-19-strain-.html">reinstated travel restrictions</a>&nbsp;on the entry of non-U.S. citizens from the U.K. and Brazil.



The virus has infected more than 25.9 million people and killed at least 436,000 people in the U.S. since the pandemic began,&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to data</a>&nbsp;compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan holds a press conference to address COVID-19 concerns, on November 17 in Annapolis, MD.

Maryland confirms case of South African Covid variant that’s more infectious

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Covid-19 has accelerated the need for digital transformation, to build inclusive economic growth in Africa. Technology is also set to play a big role on trade across the continent, with the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area. Naspers South Africa CEO, Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa joins CNBC Africa for more.

Naspers SA CEO: Why digital transformation is key to driving inclusive growth in Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="740" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230688605-1110x740.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-395477" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230688605-1110x740.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230688605-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230688605-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230688605-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230688605-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230688605-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>A City of Tshwane Healthcare official takes a throat swab to test for the COVID-19 coronavirus on a woman at the Denlyn Mall taxi rank in Mamelodi township, East of Pretoria on January 20, 2021. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP) (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



New and more contagious variants of Covid-19 are spreading across Africa, causing a spike in infections and deaths, according to the World Health Organization.



More than 175,000 new cases and more than 6,200 deaths were reported across the continent in the week leading up to Thursday, the WHO said in an update, while infection rates rose 50% between Dec. 29 and Jan. 25 compared to the previous four weeks.



Deaths doubled over the same period to 15,000, concentrated in 10 mainly southern and northern African nations, with 22 countries now seeing infection rates surging.



“The variant which was first detected in South Africa has spread quickly beyond Africa and so what’s keeping me awake at night right now is that it’s very likely circulating in a number of African countries,” WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said at a virtual press conference on Thursday.



The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/south-carolina-health-officials-detect-first-known-us-covid-cases-of-more-problematic-variant-from-south-africa.html">variant first discovered in South Africa</a> is driving record infection rates in the subcontinent, and has now been identified in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and the French Indian Ocean region of Mayotte, Zambia, the WHO confirmed, along with 24 nations outside of Africa.



Meanwhile, the highly contagious s<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/22/boris-johnson-evidence-new-covid-variant-associated-with-higher-mortality-.html">train initially detected in the U.K.</a>&nbsp;has now made its way to Nigeria and Gambia.



The Africa CDC has set up sequencing laboratories across the continent, and the WHO called on all nations to ship at least 20 samples to the sequencing labs per month in order to help coordinate a targeted response.



“In addition to the new variants, COVID-19 fatigue, and the aftermath of year-end gatherings risk powering a perfect storm and driving up Africa’s second wave and overwhelming health facilities,” Moeti said.



“Africa is at a crossroads. We must stick to our guns and double down on the tactics we know work so well. That is mask wearing, handwashing and safe social distancing. Countless lives depend on it.”



Infections over the past week dipped slightly in South Africa, the worst affected country on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/02/lockdowns-curfews-and-doorstep-testing-africas-crackdown-on-the-coronavirus.html">continent which has for the most part avoided</a>&nbsp;the exponential spread of the virus that has brought many major economies to a standstill at various points over the past year.



As of Friday morning, South Africa had recorded 1,437,798 cases of Covid-19 and 43,105 deaths. The entire continent has reported around 3.5 million cases and 88,985 deaths, according to a BBC aggregation of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

SAFRICA-HEALTH-VIRUS

New coronavirus variants are fueling a ‘second wave’ in Africa, WHO warns

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Nigeria was the second most corrupt country in West Africa according to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 by Transparency International.

Transparency International: Nigeria 2nd most corrupt country in West Africa

By Emma Rumney and Alexander Winning
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Days before coronavirus vaccinations start in South Africa, medical schemes have still not agreed how and to what extent they will contribute to the cost of inoculations for people without insurance cover, industry executives told Reuters.
South Africa is expecting its first 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to land on Monday and will start immunising health workers from mid-February. The country has been the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent, with more than 1.4 million cases and over 43,000 deaths to date.
A top medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health , said earlier this month that medical schemes, funds that pool member contributions to cover healthcare costs, had agreed to pay above cost for vaccine doses for their members &#8211; roughly 7 million adults over the age of 15 &#8211; thereby &#8220;cross-subsidising&#8221; procurement for another 7 million adults without private cover.
But other schemes or their administrators said the industry had not yet formally agreed those parameters and there were different views on how to proceed. More than 80% of South Africa&#8217;s population of roughly 60 million are not covered by medical schemes.
&#8220;The principle of cross-subsidy we are 100% on board with, but the level, &#8230; I think needs to be discussed,&#8221; said Damian McHugh, executive head of sales and marketing at Momentum Health Solutions.
He said medical schemes were able to contribute to different extents, adding that an agreement could reached as soon as next week. &#8220;These things move quite rapidly, &#8230; there are meetings that were held last night, there are meetings today,&#8221; McHugh said on Friday.
Fedhealth Chief Executive Jeremy Yatt said the cross-subsidy proposal was legally complicated, adding &#8220;as an industry we are very confused as to why (Discovery) are so hot to trot on this particular idea. &#8230; There&#8217;s lots of governance and technical problems.&#8221;
Discovery Health told Reuters: &#8220;Uncertainty still remains around the ultimate funding arrangements. &#8230; Various iterations of models are still being discussed&#8221;.
Medshield Medical Scheme and Bonitas Medical Fund said they needed more information from the government and that some details still needed to be ironed out.
Profmed said one proposal under discussion would place a greater financial burden on medical schemes than the government or companies, and alternatives should be discussed.
The National Treasury said this week that the government was still talking to medical schemes about their contribution. The government also expects businesses like mining companies to chip in.
($1 = 15.1150 rand) (Reporting by Emma Rumney and Alexander Winning Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Frances Kerry)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

South African medical schemes divided on vaccine funding model

By Julie Steenhuysen
Jan 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Johnson &amp; Johnson on Friday said its single-dose vaccine was 72% effective in preventing COVID-19 in the United States but a lower rate of 66% was observed globally in the large trial conducted across three continents and against multiple variants.
In the trial of nearly 44,000 volunteers, the level of protection against moderate and severe COVID-19 was 66% in Latin America and just 57% in South Africa, where a particularly worrying variant of the novel coronavirus is circulating.
Those results compare to the high bar set by two authorized vaccines from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc, which were around 95% effective in preventing symptomatic illness in pivotal trials when given in two doses. Those trials, however, were conducted mainly in the United States and before the broad spread of new variants now under the spotlight.
J&amp;J&#8217;s main study goal was the prevention of moderate to severe COVID-19, and the vaccine was 85% effective in stopping severe disease and preventing hospitalization across all geographies and against multiple variants 28 days after immunization.
That level of prevention &#8220;will potentially protect hundreds of millions of people from serious and fatal outcomes of COVID-19,&#8221; Dr. Paul Stoffels, J&amp;J&#8217;s chief scientific officer, said in a statement.
The company plans to seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next week.
Public health officials have been counting on the J&amp;J vaccine to increase much-needed supply and simplify the U.S. immunization campaign.
Unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, J&amp;J&#8217;s does not require a second shot weeks after the first or need to be kept frozen, making it a strong candidate for use in parts of the world with weak transportation infrastructure and insufficient cold storage facilities.

SOUTH AFRICA
Several studies have emerged this month showing that a South African variant of the coronavirus has mutated in areas of the virus that are key targets of vaccines, reducing their efficacy.
&#8220;What we are learning is there is different efficacy in different parts of the world,&#8221; Stoffels said in a telephone interview.
Importantly, though, in a sub-study of 6,000 volunteers in South Africa, Stoffels said, the J&amp;J vaccine was 89% effective at preventing severe disease. Ninety-five percent of cases in the South Africa portion of the trial were infections with the South African variant.
A mid-stage trial of a Novovax Inc coronavirus vaccine in South Africa also showed lower efficacy in the country. It proved to be 60% effective among volunteers who didn&#8217;t have HIV. In a separate, late-stage trial in the UK, the vaccine was 89.3% effective.
In the J&amp;J trial, which was conducted in eight countries, 44% of participants were from the United States, 41% were from Central and South America and 15% were from South Africa. Slightly more than a third of the volunteers were over age 60.
There were no serious adverse events among those who received the shot, the company said. Full results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
J&amp;J&#8217;s vaccine uses a common cold virus known as adenovirus type 26 to introduce coronavirus proteins into cells in the body and trigger an immune response.
The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines use a new technology called messenger RNA (mRNA) that requires it to be stored in a freezer.

VACCINE TARGETS
The news of another safe and effective vaccine comes as the United States has surpassed 430,000 COVID-19 deaths and with hospitals in many states still struggling to keep up with patients despite recent declines in new infections.
Concerns about fresh surges in the United States have also grown due to the presence of a more contagious coronavirus variant first discovered in the UK and news of the arrival of the South African variant on Thursday in South Carolina.
The U.S. vaccination program got off to a slow start in December and has accelerated to around 1 million shots per day nationwide.
U.S. President Joe Biden has promised that at least 100 million shots will be administered in his first 100 days in office, but concerns about supply disruptions have added uncertainty to that target.
The United States has an agreement to buy 100 million doses of J&amp;J&#8217;s vaccine for $1 billion. The company said in a statement the vaccine would be ready immediately upon emergency approval but Stoffels declined to specify how many doses. The government also has the option of purchasing an additional 200 million doses.
J&amp;J has said it plans to deliver 1 billion doses in 2021 and will produce the vaccine in the United States, Europe, South Africa and India.
U.S. trial results for the vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University are expected in early February, opening up the possibility of a fourth vaccine option. It has already been approved in the UK, Europe and many countries based on results of a separate trial.
Novavax is also discussing with the FDA whether its data is sufficient to apply for emergency use authorization.
J&amp;J is studying the effects of its vaccine given in two doses at two months apart, but results of that trial won&#8217;t be available until this summer, Stoffels said.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; additional reporting by Manas Mishra and Dania Nadeem in Bangalore; editing by Caroline Humer, Peter Henderson and Edwina Gibbs)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
&nbsp;
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J&J COVID-19 vaccine is 72% effective in the U.S., and 66% overall in large trial

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Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee has retained the Central Bank Rate at 7 per cent for the sixth time in a row. The committee also expects inflation to remain within the target range supported by lower food prices and muted demand pressures. Moreover, banks in Kenya have now restructured more than half of their total loan books, highlighting the persistent economic hardship facing businesses, due to COVID-19 disruptions. Economic Analyst, Reginald Kadzutu joins CNBC Africa for more.

Kenya’s Central Bank keeps benchmark rate unchanged at 7%

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230440907-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-396217" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230440907-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230440907-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230440907-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230440907-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230440907-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>POLAND &#8211; 2021/01/05: In this photo illustration, a Reddit logo seen displayed on a smartphone with stock market prices in the background. (Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Wall Street has been watching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GME">GameStop</a>&nbsp;in awe as a band of Reddit-obsessed retail investors managed to push the stock up 1,500% in two weeks, squeezing out short selling hedge funds.



A wave of at-home traders&nbsp;found each other on the red-hot “wallstreetbets” Reddit chat room, whose members have ballooned to over 3 million. By motivating each other to keep piling into shares and call options, they coordinated a monstrous short squeeze in the brick-and-mortar video game retailer.



“Retail investors with the help of technology acting as a union in attacking is a new phenomenon,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group.



“You combine the power of technology, which allows you through Reddit postings to magnify your individual impact, with some use of leverage and very targeted bets, they can have a significant influence, particularly on areas of vulnerability because of the short positions,” Paulsen said.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230837650-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-396216" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230837650-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230837650-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230837650-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230837650-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1230837650-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A GameStop Corp. store in Rome, Italy, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. GameStop Corp. had the biggest day yet of its dizzying rally, adding more than $10 billion in market value, as bullish day traders kept the upper hand over short sellers. Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Many enthusiastic Reddit users have been posting screenshots of their brokerage accounts, some of which touting astronomical returns north of 1,000% in a handful of days. These passionate investors often call out short sellers in the chat room in colorful language and unpleasant internet memes.



“This is gaining cult-like status,” said Quincy&nbsp;Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “It is a pack of traders and the pack is gaining momentum. The retail crowd is not just taking over the shorts and it’s taking over the headlines.”



The intense speculative behavior among retail investors is unnerving many on Wall Street as mounting losses by hedge funds could spill over to other areas of the market. Some also believe this buying frenzy could be an ominous sign for a market at record highs.



“It could potentially destabilize the overall market and the confidence in the market. Those who have not joined will be compelled to join,” Krosby added.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Rise And Fall Of GameStop" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dX6xBdcdUCg?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><figcaption>The Rise and Fall of GameStop</figcaption></figure>



These amateur investors have started targeting other heavily shorted names including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AMC">AMC Entertainment</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BBBY">Bed Bath &amp; Beyond</a>, leaving Wall Street analysts’ targets in the dust.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How does short selling work?</h2>



A short seller borrows shares of a stock and sells these borrowed shares to buyers willing to pay the market price. As the stock price falls, the trader would buy it back for less money, pocketing the difference.



However, when the stock jumps sharply higher, it forces short sellers to buy back shares in order to limit their losses. The short covering tends to fuel the stock’s rally further.



The rally in GameStop was initially triggered on Jan. 11, when news broke that activist investor and Chewy co-founder and former CEO Ryan Cohen is joining GameStop’s board. The stock jumped on the announcement on hopes Cohen would drive a change in strategy.



GameStop continued to rocket higher as retail traders showed no signs of letting up. Amid the massive squeezes, Melvin Capital closed out its short position in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GME">GameStop</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday afternoon after taking a huge loss, the hedge fund’s manager told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. Short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research said Wednesday he has covered the majority of his short position in GameStop at a loss.



GameStop was the single most traded name in the U.S. stock market on Tuesday, topping even mega-cap companies like Tesla and Apple, according to Deutsche Bank.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Options supercharging the squeeze</h2>



Many avid Reddit posters hyping up GameStop are buying call options, a type of derivative contracts that give the holder the right to buy the underlying security at a stated price within a specific timeframe. The call options contract values can surge by even larger magnitudes when the underlying stock is rallying by 100% in a single day. Options trading has become accessible and easy to millennial investors, thanks to those new and commission-free apps such as Robinhood.



“This is all a part of the democratization of the market,”&nbsp;Krosby said. “Normally when we are talking about levering up and options, it typically is associated with investors, professional managers, and hedge funds.”



When retail investors looks for cheap upside calls, it leaves the sell-side or the market makers who are the middlemen in the transaction short a lot of upside calls, or short gamma. As the stock rises towards those strikes, the market makers need to buy increasingly&nbsp;more stock to hedge their short calls.&nbsp;This effectively accelerated the rally further in GameStop and other heavily shorted names.



“Retail order flow in the options are essentially supercharging the short squeeze, like the tail wagging the dog,” CC Lagator of&nbsp;<a href="https://learn.optionsai.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Options AI</a>&nbsp;said. “That gamma effect adds buyer after buyer in the stock, with no one able to short the stock because it is hard to borrow. The effect is a massive short squeeze.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="How Reddit traders drove GameStop stock up 275% in a week: CNBC After Hours" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i7DHLjt_A4Q?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><figcaption>How Reddit traders drove GameStop stock up 275% in a week: CNBC After Hours</figcaption></figure>

GameStop Corp. Stores As Stock Soars

GameStop mania explained: How the Reddit retail trading crowd ran over Wall Street pros

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1221966026-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-396212" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1221966026-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1221966026-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1221966026-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1221966026-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GettyImages-1221966026-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>RIJSWIJK, NETHERLANDS &#8211; 2020/06/22: Radio mast seen destroyed by a fire outbreak.
Last night, a fire broke out at a 5G celler tower which is also a radio mast in Rijswijk, Gelderland. This is the second time that a fire has torched the mast. (Photo by Robin Utrecht/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Jan 28 (Reuters) &#8211; South African mobile network operator MTN Group has asked the Gauteng High court to scrap or review the telecom regulator&#8217;s auction process for awarding spectrum vital for rolling out 5G technology.



MTN is the latest mobile operator to take the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to court, after smaller rival Telkom sought the court&#8217;s help in December to halt the sale, a move ICASA says it will challenge.



The legal disputes threaten to delay the auction that is expected to be held by the end of March.



Operators have been waiting more than a decade for ICASA to release new spectrum licences seen as vital to attract new investment and help lower costs for operators and users.



MTN is challenging ICASA&#8217;s decision to put operators in two categories, putting MTN and rival Vodacom in Tier 1 and Telkom, Cell C and others in Tier 2, according to court papers seen by Reuters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The papers were filed on Wednesday.</h2>



Under this classification, MTN says Tier 1 operators would be excluded from an opt-in auction round, undermining their ability to secure access to the 3.5GHz radio frequency spectrum band seen as vital to their rollout of 5G technology.



MTN says this gives smaller operators, which already have spectrum in that band, first option to purchase more capacity, at the expense of MTN. It calls the definitions used to classify the companies &#8220;impermissibly vague, arbitrary and unreasonable.&#8221;



Telkom and Liquid Telecom already have access to the 3.5GHz band, while MTN, Vodacom and Cell C do not, the papers show.



MTN said it did not want a delay in allocating spectrum but said it had no choice but to ask the court to declare the process unlawful and review it or correct it or set it aside.



ICASA&#8217;s spokesman said the regulator would issue a statement on the matter by the end of the week.



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Edmund Blair)



(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html

Radio mast seen destroyed by a fire outbreak.Last night, a

South Africa’s MTN wants court to scrap or fix 5G spectrum sale process

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Moody&#8217;s has a negative outlook for the South African banking sector. The ratings agency says operating conditions remain challenging, with economic growth stubbornly low. Constantinos Kypreos, Senior Vice President at Moody’s joins CNBC Africa for more.

Moody’s: Negative outlook for SA banks

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Prospects for further stimulus under the Joe Biden presidency in the United States have supported risk assets. UBS has said that it maintains an overall “risk on” asset allocation.

UBS upgrades emerging markets equities

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Nigeria’s digital content creators have become a force to reckon with in terms of their earning power, as Nigeria’s highest grossing Youtuber gets an average of 1.4 million views daily which translates to just over $300 000 monthly in earnings according to Accredited Debt Relief. The African Polling institute recently put out an assessment of Nigeria’s digital content creators and Executive Director of the Institute, Bell Ihua joins CNBC Africa to discuss their findings.

How Nigeria can tap into the potential of digital content creation

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The International Monetary Fund says it expects Nigeria&#8217;s economy to grow by 1.5 per cent this year. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s earnings from Value Added Tax and Company Income Tax rose by 12 billion naira to 2.9 trillion naira in 2020. Tilewa Adebajo, CEO of CFG Advisory joins CNBC Africa for more.

IMF projects 1.5% GDP growth for Nigeria in 2021

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Data provider Refinitiv has partnered with the George Clooney Foundation to explore ways to prevent Africa’s illicit funds associated with human rights abuses from entering the international financial system. Che Sidanius, Head of Financial Crime Regulation at Refinitiv joins CNBC Africa for more.

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Nigerian woman poised to lead WTO after rival withdraws, Washington offers support

Africa must use continental new trade agreement to plan Coronavirus recovery plan

The Year of Social Media’s Reckoning

Maryland confirms case of South African Covid variant that’s more infectious

Naspers SA CEO: Why digital transformation is key to driving inclusive growth in Africa

New coronavirus variants are fueling a ‘second wave’ in Africa, WHO warns

Transparency International: Nigeria 2nd most corrupt country in West Africa

South African medical schemes divided on vaccine funding model

J&J COVID-19 vaccine is 72% effective in the U.S., and 66% overall in large trial

Kenya’s Central Bank keeps benchmark rate unchanged at 7%

GameStop mania explained: How the Reddit retail trading crowd ran over Wall Street pros

South Africa’s MTN wants court to scrap or fix 5G spectrum sale process

Moody’s: Negative outlook for SA banks

UBS upgrades emerging markets equities

How Nigeria can tap into the potential of digital content creation

IMF projects 1.5% GDP growth for Nigeria in 2021

Refinitiv, George Clooney Foundation partner to combat financial & war crimes in Africa

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Newsletter

Nigerian woman poised to lead WTO after rival withdraws, Washington offers support

Africa must use continental new trade agreement to plan Coronavirus recovery plan

The Year of Social Media’s Reckoning

Maryland confirms case of South African Covid variant that’s more infectious

Naspers SA CEO: Why digital transformation is key to driving inclusive growth in Africa

New coronavirus variants are fueling a ‘second wave’ in Africa, WHO warns

Transparency International: Nigeria 2nd most corrupt country in West Africa

South African medical schemes divided on vaccine funding model

J&J COVID-19 vaccine is 72% effective in the U.S., and 66% overall in large trial

Kenya’s Central Bank keeps benchmark rate unchanged at 7%

GameStop mania explained: How the Reddit retail trading crowd ran over Wall Street pros

South Africa’s MTN wants court to scrap or fix 5G spectrum sale process

Moody’s: Negative outlook for SA banks

UBS upgrades emerging markets equities

How Nigeria can tap into the potential of digital content creation

IMF projects 1.5% GDP growth for Nigeria in 2021

Refinitiv, George Clooney Foundation partner to combat financial & war crimes in Africa

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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