NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; There have only been two direct listings on the New York Stock Exchange in the last two years. There are about to be two more in a single day.



Data analytics company Palantir Technologies&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/PLTR.N">PLTR.N</a>&nbsp;and workplace software maker Asana Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ASAN.N">ASAN.N</a>&nbsp;are set to debut on the U.S. stock market on Wednesday bypassing an initial public offering (IPO).



The last direct listing was workplace messaging platform Slack Technologies Inc&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WORK.N">WORK.N</a>&nbsp;debut in 2019, which came a year after music-streaming service Spotify Technology SA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPOT.N">SPOT.N</a>&nbsp;went public without an IPO.



It is a seminal moment for some investors and corporate executives who have been pushing to shed investment banks as their middlemen. For years, they have criticized IPOs as chummy deals that allowed bankers to allocate the most shares to their top clients.



“Ever since the IPO process has existed, entrepreneurs and their investors have believed that bankers have sub-optimized and taken too much for themselves,” said Ben Narasin, a partner at U.S. venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.



“If Palantir and Asana are successful, which they should be, more and more companies will return to looking seriously at direct listings,” Narasin added.



IPOs have been on a tear this year, as companies rode the stock market rally that followed the coronavirus-induced slump. Companies have launched almost $50 billion in U.S. IPOs so far in 2020, excluding special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs. This has already outpaced the haul for all of 2019 and is on track to be the busiest since 2014 and second biggest since 2000.







In 2020, the price of a newly listed company’s shares has risen by an average of 38% on the first day of trading, according to IPOScoop data and Reuters calculations.



This has fueled renewed criticism among investors snubbed by the investment banks underwriting the IPOs, as well as suspicion among some companies that bankers are leaving money on the table in their IPO to help create a first-day trading “pop”.



Phil Hellmuth, an angel tech investor and poker player with over $20 million in career winnings, said in an interview that he tried to buy $500,000 worth of shares in data warehouse company Snowflake Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SNOW.N">SNOW.N</a>&nbsp;during its $3.36 billion IPO earlier this month.



Hellmuth knocked on the door of four hedge funds, acquaintances in Silicon Valley, mutual fund Fidelity, and one of the banks underwriting the Snowflake listing, but had no success getting into what has been this year’s largest IPO. As a result, he missed out when Snowflake’s shares more than doubled in its debut.



“If I can’t get a piece, the average investor has no chance to get a piece,” said Hellmuth.



Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman told Reuters he had no regrets with how the company’s IPO went.Slideshow&nbsp;( 2 images )



Fidelity said it was not possible to ascertain why an investor was unable to participate in an IPO without knowing the customer’s details.



In a direct listing, no shares are sold in advance, as is the case with IPOs. The company’s share price in its market debut is determined by orders coming into the stock exchange.



The downside is that the companies involved cannot raise money, though both NYSE and Nasdaq have requested U.S. regulators allow them to change their rules to allow companies to sell new stock in a direct listing.



This inability to raise funds has so far curbed the enthusiasm for direct listings of many cash-hungry companies, especially during the economic downturn brought about by the pandemic.



“I think we were going to see more direct listings this year but for COVID-19. Many companies that were thinking about a direct listing switched to an IPO for the capital raise aspect,” said Ran Ben-Tzur, a capital markets lawyer at Fenwick &amp; West LLP.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">NO MONEY RAISED</h2>



Palantir and Asana are two technology companies defying the coronavirus downturn.



Palantir will also be the first direct listing where the majority of shares will be restricted from being sold until after the company reports 2020 earnings early next year. Such lock-up agreements are standard in IPOs but have so far been absent from direct listings and can result in a company achieving a higher valuation.



“Banks have done the math on the impact of not having lock-up agreements in a traditional IPO and believe that without a lock-up structure a company will not able to raise at as high of a valuation because there’s no scarcity of shares,” Ben-Tzur said.



For Asana, whose investors will not be subject to any lock-up restrictions, one reason the company was attracted to a direct listing was the desire for a fairer way to price the shares, according to a person familiar with the matter.



Asana declined to comment.



Kevin Hartz, who took the event-ticketing company he co-founded, Eventbrite Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/EB.N">EB.N</a>, public through an IPO two years ago, said in an interview that more companies are considering alternative ways to go public including direct listings in search of a better price-discovery process.







“It’s still a very broken process for new issuances like the Snowflake IPO. By underpricing, this brought significant dilution. That is not an optimal outcome for the company nor existing investors,” said Hartz.



Both Palantir and Asana hired banks to provide financial advice for their direct listings. On the direct listings done to date, a smaller group of banks have shared a smaller pot of fees.



For its 2019 listing, Slack, which was worth around $23 billion when it started trading, expected to pay $22.1 million in fees to three financial advisers. By comparison, 26 banks earned $85 million in commissions from the 2017 IPO of Snap Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SNAP.N">SNAP.N</a>, which was worth about $31 billion at the time of its public listing.

396×276(11)

Wall Street’s IPO enemies ready one-two punch

Zoli Kunene, a towering man and a larger-than-life lawyer, has passed away after a long life furthering the cause of human rights and black entrepreneurship in South Africa. He was one fifth of the legendary Kunene brothers who spent years building up black ownership in business, long before legislation lent a helping hand.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Mr.-Zoli-Kunene-1-1110x740.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-383002" width="625" height="504"/><figcaption>Zoli Kunene</figcaption></figure>



Zoli, Keith, Dudu, Zanosi and Menzi Kunene all ended up in business together, with a wide portfolio of companies carrying out everything from canning Coca-Cola to selling Daimler-Chrysler&nbsp; cars.&nbsp;



Zoli Kunene trained as a lawyer in the days when it was rare for a man of his background to do so. He fought many human rights cases in the dim days of apartheid, in South Africa, and had unrivalled knowledge of the names of all the black lawyers working in and around Johannesburg in his era, no matter how small.



&#8220;There were so few of us, in those days, that you knew every black lawyer in a 100-hundred- mile radius!&#8221; he used to laugh.



The Kunene brothers&#8217; business empire began way back in 1978 when Keith acquired a sub-lease to sell fresh milk in Vosloorus east of Johannesburg. Kunene Bros. Holdings took over a nearby liquor licence from the government, in 1983, and also began wholesaling Coca Cola. The latter business led to the creation of Coca-Cola Fortune the second largest bottling and distribution company in South Africa.



As the brothers worked hard, in concord,&nbsp; they built up a robust stable of companies to include a financial services company and defence and security outfit.&nbsp;



Zoli Kunene,&nbsp;was also active in public and corporate life. He was an honorary colonel in the South African National Defence Force and chairman of the South African Aerospace Maritime and Defence Industries Association. He was also past president of the Defence Industries Interest Group of South Africa and served as chairman of Denel. In the corporate world he was chairman of Grintek Ewation and a director of Cell C.&nbsp; 



&#8220;Zoli was a keen golfer and a larger than life figure at the annual father &amp; son golf day; he will be missed by all.A great man, dynamic leader, family man, friend and above all a human being who cared for all those around him. He will be missed,&#8221; says Rakesh Wahi, the chairman of CMA Investment Holdings and a close friend of Zoli Kunene.



&#8220;Zoli was a pioneer in business and human relations.He championed the cause of the workers and took interest in technology-driven business operations . He was a pillar of the family business alongside his siblings. He recently pioneered the growth and diversification strategy of the Kunene Brothers business group for the future business environment. He remained humble in all his business achievements. Above all, remained a resolute family man pursuing the welfare of his entire family,&#8221; says Sam Bhembe, a non executive director of African Business News.

Mr. Zoli Kunene

Zoli Kunene – Larger than life champion of black business passes away.

JOHANNESBURG/ABIDJAN (Reuters) &#8211; When COVID-19 hit Ivory Coast, Bonaventure Kra, who works at an import-export business, began to worry. Handling hard cash all day was a risk. Queuing in crowded bank branches exposed him to infection.



Then, in the midst of the pandemic, French telecommunications giant Orange&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ORAN.PA">ORAN.PA</a>&nbsp;launched an entirely digital bank &#8211; its first full banking venture in Africa.



“Going back to cash would be like travelling back in time,” Kra said in the country’s commercial capital, Abidjan. “I intend to use it permanently.”



Africa’s mobile phone operators are ramping up plans to bring banking to millions of Africans, in some cases for the first time, after the coronavirus crisis caused a surge in use of digital financial services.



Orange, MTN&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MTNJ.J">MTNJ.J</a>, Telkom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TKGJ.J">TKGJ.J</a>&nbsp;and Vodacom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VODJ.J">VODJ.J</a>&nbsp;are lowering fees, rolling out new lending services ahead of schedule, and expanding mobile payment networks with the aim of finally denting the so-far unshakeable dominance of cash.



“It’s one of those industries that we consider to be ripe for disruption,” Sibusiso Ngwenya, financial services managing executive at South Africa’s Telkom, told Reuters.



With their revenue under threat as governments cap data prices and customers abandon voice phone services for free messaging apps, telcos have sought to leverage their reach into remote villages and urban shanty towns in a pivot to banking.



The global health crisis has been an unexpected catalyst, with some African governments releasing COVID-19 stimulus grants via mobile money platforms and central banks easing regulations, including limits on mobile transactions.



Orange added over five million new customers for its mobile money services in April and May alone. MTN hit one million South African users in June, when it had expected half of this, and recorded a 28% jump in mobile money transactions per minute across all its African markets in the first half of the year.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TAKING ON THE CASH KING</h2>



Cash is still king in Africa.



It accounts for around 99% of transactions in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, and dominates even in South Africa (90-95%) where banking penetration is relatively high, according to a 2017 estimate from consulting firm McKinsey.



World Bank figures indicate just under 43% of sub-Saharan Africans over the age of 15 had a bank account in 2017. The region’s total population stood around 1.1 billion last year.



That compared with 55% in Latin America and the Caribbean, almost 70% in South Asia and around 74% in East Asia and the Pacific.



That presents a huge opportunity, said Francois Jurd de Girancourt, head of McKinsey’s financial institutions practice Africa. Prior to the crisis, it rated the continent as the world’s No.2 market in terms of growth and profitability potential with banking revenues set to hit $129 billion by 2023.



Telcos are well-positioned to secure a piece of that pie.



By last year, sub-Saharan Africa boasted 469 million mobile money accounts &#8211; more than any other region in the world &#8211; according to industry body GSMA.Slideshow&nbsp;( 4 images )



Mobile phone penetration outstrips access to banks. Operators’ distribution models are low-cost. And telcos possess a wealth of customer data they can use to assess lending risk, a big advantage in a region where most markets lack credit bureaus.



Vodacom, the African unit of Britain&#8217;s Vodafone&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VOD.L">VOD.L</a>, is now moving to expand lending, insurance and payment businesses currently available only in South Africa to other markets.



It has advanced by months launches of initiatives like overdrafts for the mobile money agents that work on its behalf, helping customers open accounts and withdraw and deposit cash.



It has also accelerated plans for cash advances to merchants at registered pay points, its financial services CEO Mariam Cassim told Reuters.



Orange has Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal in its sights as expansion markets for Orange Bank Africa, with the timetable dependent upon local regulatory approval.



Both MTN and Telkom, meanwhile, are preparing to offer micro-loans in South Africa, the companies said.



MTN, Africa’s largest operator, will roll out a mobile money offering for businesses, which is currently being piloted in Rwanda, to other markets by the end of the year. It will also pilot an initiative to digitise cash-heavy small businesses in South Africa, namely small shops known as spazas and often located in townships, executives told Reuters.



And after growing the number of vendors accepting payment via its platform by 100,000 in the first half of the year, it has now doubled an end-2021 target to 1 million.



“We are &#8230; using the opportunity that the crisis is offering us to really accelerate,” said Serigne Dioum, who heads MTN’s mobile financial services division.



‘NO LOSERS’



Mobile operators still have a long way to go to overtake traditional lenders.



Banking revenue pools in sub-Saharan Africa stood around $70 billion in 2019, according to a McKinsey estimate, while the main mobile operators earned less than $3 billion from financial services.



Some regulators remain wary of mobile money, and many informal businesses still don’t accept digital payments.



Such factors mean mobile money adoption varies wildly across the continent. Cash use actually rose in some countries during the pandemic.



M-Pesa, run by Vodacom unit Safaricom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SCOM.NR">SCOM.NR</a>, dominates the financial system in Kenya. But both MTN and M-Pesa have in the past been forced to drop mobile money initiatives in South Africa after struggling to attract customers.



“You need a massive market share to be making a lot of money just from payments,” said McKinsey’s Jurd de Girancourt, adding that telcos will need customers to use other services too.



“It’s fine if you are M-Pesa. But we’re probably not going to see that,” he said.



Big banks, historically deterred by low incomes and poor infrastructure, are also fighting back and pushing into underserved segments.



They are agreeing partnerships with fintech firms, building their own networks of agents to distribute banking services and launching rival offerings.



They also partner with telcos, marrying their vast balance sheets with the mobile firms’ wide customer bases.



South African lender Absa&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ABGJ.J">ABGJ.J</a>&nbsp;is set to launch partnerships with mobile operators in Tanzania and Uganda, its head of retail banking in Africa Vimal Kumar told Reuters.



Absa is also expanding its Kenyan digital offering to cover full-service banking with roll-outs in Zambia, Botswana and Mauritius set for later this year and the rest of its markets in 2021.



“There is no loser,” Kumar said. “The opportunity is so large that no one player is going to be able to dominate.”

Sub-Saharan Africa to suffer 23.1% decline in remittances in 2020 – World Bank

Pandemic spurs Africa’s mobile telcos to ramp up banking bid

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Africa’s overburdened public health systems, dearth of testing facilities and overcrowded slums had experts predicting a disaster when COVID-19 hit the continent in February.



The new coronavirus was already wreaking havoc in wealthy Asian and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year.



In May the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that 190,000 people on the continent could die if containment measures failed. Yet as the world marks 1 million COVID-19 deaths, Africa is doing much better than expected, with a lower percentage of deaths than other continents.



The continent’s case fatality count stands at 2.4%, with roughly 35,000 deaths among the more than 1.4 million people reported infected with COVID-19, according to Reuters data as at late Monday. In North America, it is 2.9% and in Europe 4.5%



Hard-hit countries such as Italy and Britain have recorded fatality counts of 11.6% and 9.0% respectively, compared to 1.6% for Ethiopia, 1.9% for Nigeria and 2.4% for South Africa, the continent’s worst affected country.



Hospitals in many African countries say COVID-19 admission rates are falling.



“Based on what we have seen so far it is unlikely that we are going to see anything at the scale that we are seeing in Europe &#8211; both in terms of infections and mortality,” said Rashida Ferrand, a London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine professor working at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the Zimbabwean capital Harare.



Experts say that some COVID-19 deaths in Africa probably are being missed. Testing rates in the continent of about 1.3 billion people are among the lowest in the world, and many deaths of all types go unrecorded.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382893" width="696" height="803" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-887x1024.jpg 887w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-260x300.jpg 260w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-693x800.jpg 693w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-768x887.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-1330x1536.jpg 1330w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-scaled.jpg 1774w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-696x804.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-1068x1233.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-1920x2217.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px" /><figcaption>The head of the WHO for Africa. Matshidiso Moeti</figcaption></figure>



South Africa saw some 17,000 extra deaths from natural causes between early May and mid-July, 59% more than would normally be expected, according to a July report from the South African Medical Research Council. That suggests the death toll from COVID-19 could be significantly higher than the official figure, currently over 16,000, researchers say. Even so, there is wide agreement that COVID-19 fatality rates have not so far been as bad as predicted.



Why? Scientists and public health experts cite a number of possible factors, including the continent’s youthful population and lessons learned from previous disease outbreaks. African governments also had precious time to prepare due to the relative isolation of many of their citizens from airports and other places where they could come into contact with global travellers.



Some scientists also are exploring the possibility that a tuberculosis vaccine routinely given to children in many African countries might be helping reduce deaths from COVID-19.



Another theory being considered is whether prior exposure to other coronaviruses including those that cause the common cold has provided a degree of resistance in some of the very communities once thought to be most vulnerable.



“There is a lot of circumstantial evidence,” Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious disease specialist who has advised the government on COVID-19, told Reuters, “but there is no smoking gun.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">LESSONS LEARNED</h2>



The virus hit Africa later than other continents, giving medical personnel time to set up field hospitals, source oxygen and ventilators, and learn from improvements in treatment elsewhere.Slideshow&nbsp;( 3 images )



“We got the gift of time,” said Thumbi Mwangi, senior research fellow at the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases. “We had an amount of preparation that others did not.”



One reason could be that international travel is limited in many African countries, and travelling domestically can be more difficult than on other continents, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, told a news conference on Thursday.



The continent’s governments have also battled deadly infectious diseases such as Ebola, which killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa in 2013-16. So officials took notice when the new coronavirus started spreading around the globe rapidly early this year.



Many African countries were quick to introduce screening at airports, suspend flights from heavily affected nations and enforce social distancing measures and mask wearing.



Within a week of Kenya reporting its first case, schools were shut, incoming travellers had to undergo a mandatory quarantine and large gatherings were banned. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, imposed a ban on interstate travel and a curfew. Many of its land borders had already been closed since August 2019 to cut down on smuggling, which helped fight the pandemic too.



South Africa introduced one of the world’s toughest lockdowns in late March, when the country had confirmed just 400 cases.



“Africa brought down the hammer earlier in terms of coronavirus lockdowns,” said Tim Bromfield, regional director for East and Southern Africa at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a U.K.-based think tank.







Experts also point to the continent’s demographics.



Research has found that the risk of developing severe COVID-19 increases with age.



A 2019 United Nations report said 62% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population was under 25 and just 3% 65 or over. In the U.N.’s Europe and North America region, 28% were under 25 while 18% were age 65 and up.



Chikwe Ihekweazu, director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, attributed his country’s relatively low case mortality rate in part to the fact that the majority of patients were between the ages of 31 and 40.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CROSS-PROTECTION?</h2>



Scientists in several countries including South Africa are testing whether the century-old Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, widely used on the continent against tuberculosis, provides a degree of cross-protection.



BCG vaccines have been shown to protect against other viral respiratory illnesses, and a study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in July found that countries with higher vaccination rates for tuberculosis had lower peak mortality rates from COVID-19.



ADVERTISEMENT



Studies have also started in South Africa and Zimbabwe to assess the impact of past exposure to other coronaviruses.



More than half of Africa’s urban population is concentrated in slums, where access to water for hand washing is scarce, and physical distancing is near-impossible.



Diseases spread rapidly under such conditions, but some scientists wonder whether that may have been an unexpected boon in this case. There is some evidence that T cells developed by the body’s immune system after exposure to other common cold coronaviruses could help fight off COVID-19.



“I would say that is at least a plausible explanation as to why there are different levels of resistance to the virus in different populations,” said Thomas Scriba, an immunologist and deputy director of the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative.



Others are more sceptical.



“All other regions have been exposed to coronaviruses, have poor people and slums and have received BCG vaccination,” said Humphrey Karamagi, team leader for data and analytics at the WHO’s Africa office. “We are most probably looking at a mix of multiple factors working together &#8211; and not a single magic bullet.”



For Sam Agatre Okuonzi, from the Arua Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda, the doomsday predictions were informed by entrenched prejudices, including that the continent is prone to disease.



“COVID-19 has shattered a lot of biases about disease in general but also about Africa,” he told Thursday’s briefing. “The severity of the pandemic has not played out in line with the outrageous predictions.”

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

How Africa fought COVID-19

<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The Covid-19 global death toll marked yet another a grim milestone, taking more than 1 million lives.</li><li>CNBC Africa has pulled together a package of stories looking back at how the coronavirus has changed society over the last nine months. </li><li>Roughly half of the world’s total Covid-19 fatalities have been reported in only four countries — the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.</li></ul>



The coronavirus has killed at least 1 million people across the globe, a nightmarish milestone in the world’s fight against the virus that emerged from Wuhan, China, late last year, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.&nbsp;



Roughly half of the world’s total <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/covid-19/">Covid-19</a> fatalities have been reported in only four countries — the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico, according to Hopkins data.



The U.S. reached a death toll above 200,000 people&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/22/us-coronavirus-death-toll-tops-200000-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-.html">last week</a>, more than any other country on the planet.&nbsp;Declared a pandemic over six months ago, the coronavirus has swept through nearly every nation and has infected more than 33 million people along the way, according to Johns Hopkins. It’s shuttered businesses and schools, wreaking havoc on global economies and leaving millions unemployed.&nbsp;



“One million is a terrible number, and I think we need to reflect on that before we start considering a second million,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, told reporters on Friday. 



The new coronavirus was wreaking havoc in Asia and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year.



In May the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that 190,000 people on the continent could die if containment measures failed. Yet as the world marks 1 million COVID-19 deaths, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/coronavirus/2020/09/29/puzzled-scientists-seek-reasons-behind-africas-low-fatality-rates-from-pandemic/">Africa is doing much better than expected</a>, with a lower percentage of deaths than other continents.



CNBC Africa has compiled a package of stories that will run Monday and Tuesday looking back at how the coronavirus pandemic has changed health care, the economy and society itself since its discovery less than nine months ago.  Please check back here for links to these coming stories and more as they are published:



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CDC coronavirus

The coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people and upended the global economy in less than nine months

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Remgro has just released its full year results. In the company’s trading statement 2 weeks ago, headline earnings were projected to drop between 65 per cent and 75 per cent. This is with the negative impact caused by COVID-19 and lockdown measures. Remgro CEO, Jannie Durand joins CNBC Africa for more.

Remgro sees decline in headline earnings on COVID-19 impact

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According to official data, Kenya&#8217;s annual fish production last year was 146,543 metric tonnes valued at Ksh24.5 billion and according to the ministry of agriculture, it is feared that local fish production cannot keep up with domestic demand. Angela Juliana Odero, Director and Co-Founder of Rio Fish Limited joins joins CNBC Africa for more.

Unlocking the potential of fish farming in Kenya

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Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has sent the revised Petroleum Industry Bill to the National Assembly for deliberation. The new bill, will among other things privatize the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation according to Reuters. Gbenga Biobaku, Senior Partner at Gbenga Biobaku &#038; Co joins CNBC Africa’s Esther Awoniyi for more.

Buhari transmits revised Petroleum Industry Bill to National Assembly

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A recent survey by accounting firm, Deloitte and CEOs of African businesses, shows that Nigeria is not among the top five most attractive countries for investment destinations in Africa. So how can the country change this narrative and reposition itself post-COVID-19? Sam Chidoka, Managing Director and CEO of Kairos Capital joins CNBC Africa for more.

Kairos Capital CEO on how to improve Nigeria’s competitiveness post-COVID-19

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Ghana&#8217;s president made good on his promise to hike farm gate cocoa prices by over 28 per cent starting from the first of October. Cote d&#8217;Ivoire has also indicated plans to follow suit. So, what does this mean for cocoa farmers in Nigeria? Joining CNBC Africa for this conversation is Akin Laoye, Executive Director, FTN Cocoa Processors.

Ghana cocoa price hike: How should Nigeria respond?

Ghana cocoa price hike: How will Nigeria respond?

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s long-awaited oil reform bill would privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), amend changes to deepwater royalties made late last year and scrap key regulatory agencies in favour of new bodies, a copy of the bill seen by Reuters showed.



President Muhammadu Buhari has sent the bill to the Senate, two sources told Reuters. It, along with the House of Representatives must sign off on it before it can become law. Nigeria is Africa’s largest crude exporter. [L5N2GJ6E7]



The legislation has been in the works for the past 20 years and looks to revise laws governing Nigeria’s oil and gas exploration not fully updated since the 1960s because of the contentious nature of any change to oil taxes, terms and revenue-sharing.







The bill proposes turning the NNPC into a limited liability corporation into which the ministers of finance and petroleum would transfer NNPC assets.



The government would then pay cash for shares of the company and it would operate as a commercial entity without access to state funds.



The changes would in theory make it easier for the struggling company to raise funds.



The legislation would also amend controversial changes to deep offshore royalties made late last year by cutting the royalty for offshore fields producing less than 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7.5% from 10%.



It would also change a price-based royalty so that it kicked in when oil prices climbed above $50 per barrel, rather than $35.

rig-drilling-drilling-rig-oil

Nigeria would privatise NNPC, amend royalties under draft oil reform bill

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian labour unions agreed with the government on Monday to suspend a planned strike over fuel and power price rises hours before businesses were due to grind to a halt, the labour minister and trade unions said.



The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which represents millions of workers across most sectors of Africa’s biggest economy, including parts of the oil industry, last week announced its plans to embark on a general strike.



Nigeria cut costly subsidies in September to allow the petrol price to be determined by the market and increased the power tariff. President Muhammadu Buhari had said Nigeria could no longer afford the subsidies but the unions said a reversal of price hikes was needed to avert the strike.







The strike was due to begin on Monday but Labour and Employment Minister Festus Keyamo said in a statement, posted on Twitter, that an agreement was reached between the government and unions at 2:53 a.m. (0153 GMT). “Strike suspended,” he wrote.



He said the deregulation of petrol pump prices would remain in place and the government would roll out a financial support package for workers, and a joint committee comprising of government officials and labour union members would over a two-week period examine the justification for the electricity tariff policy.



A communique issued by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) stated that the strike had been suspended and outlined the details outlined by Keyamo.







Africa’s top oil exporter has been under pressure from international lenders such as the World Bank to carry out reforms to qualify for budget support loans after the coronavirus pandemic triggered an oil price crash that slashed the government’s income.



Cheap fuel prices have long been seen by many in Nigeria as a benefit of living in an oil-producing country. Previous attempts to eliminate subsidies were scuppered due to social unrest.

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Nigeria’s main unions suspend planned strike after government talks

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia should treat mineral royalty payments as a deductible expense in order to avoid double taxation and attract investment, the Zambia Chamber of Mines said on Monday.



Since 2019, mineral royalty payments have not been treated as a deductible expense when calculating corporate income tax and that provision was kept unchanged in the government’s annual budget unveiled on Friday.



“The effect of this is that mining companies end up being taxed on income that has already been paid over as a royalty – a situation referred to as double taxation,” the chamber said in a statement.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="740" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-1110x740.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-374752" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-1110x740.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-696x464.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zambia_2-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /></figure>



Reversing that provision could unlock a series of investment approvals and kick-start economic recovery, it said.



The chamber welcomed the withdrawal of duty on ore imports, announced in the budget on Friday, and acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue, given the initiation of negotiations to suspend Zambia’s bond repayments.



Africa’s No. 2 copper producer has asked creditors to defer interest payments on three outstanding dollar-denominated bonds amid a crisis, which has driven spending and hit copper earnings.







Zambia had been wrestling with growing public debt before the coronavirus outbreak forced lockdowns around the world and cut demand for raw materials.



The Chamber of Mines noted that a good proportion of the Eurobond holders also hold shares in mining and prospecting in Zambia.



Such a change in the tax regime would help spur growth in the mining sector and help bondholders mitigate their income loss during the proposed moratorium on coupon payments, the chamber said.

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Zambia chamber of mines says double taxation hurting investment

BEIJING (Reuters) &#8211; China’s electric vehicle startups are on the charge again, thanks to Tesla.



The country’s growing fascination with the U.S. pioneer’s sleek designs and cutting-edge technology is giving a string of second-wave home-grown Tesla wannabes the traction to raise more funding, expand production and boost sales.



Chinese EV startups NIO, XPeng Inc, Li Auto and WM Motor have raised more than $8 billion between them this year and now rival Aiways is planning to go public, its co-founder and President Fu Qiang told Reuters.



Speaking ahead of the Beijing auto show which starts on Saturday, Fu said the relative success of U.S. initial public offerings (IPO) by XPeng and Li Auto had helped fuel the company’s ambitions to list.



Since it was founded in 2017 in Shanghai, Aiways has raised “no more than 10 billion yuan” and it will need to secure more funding from some private equity funds and other investors, said Fu, the former head of Volvo Cars China who has also been an executive at Mercedes-Benz, Skoda and FAW-Volkswagen.



“IPO is also in our plans, and we’re planning to push ahead with it,” Fu said, adding that Aiways would most likely be listed within China, declining to elaborate further.



China has been the world’s fastest-growing EV market for years helped by generous state purchase subsidies but the sales boom started to sputter last year as Beijing began cutting back financial support and watering down other pro-EV policies.



Some prominent Chinese EV startups such as Byton and Singulato have struggled and NIO’s future looked in doubt last year. But a surge in Tesla’s market value &#8211; and its sales in China &#8211; suggest the country’s EV dream is far from over.







“As Tesla stock goes, so goes the fate for electric vehicle startups,” said China auto expert Mike Dunne. “Funds are flowing like a river in spring again. Tesla could end up pulling everyone into the future sooner than expected.”



‘JUST OUT OF THE GATE’



Tesla’s sales in China in the first eight months of 2020 have nearly tripled from a year ago to 73,658 cars, according to consulting firm LMC Automotive, despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.



Some Chinese auto executives say cars made by the company from Palo Alto, California are achieving the status of Apple’s first iPhones in China and with so many potential technological advances still to come, that gives them hope.



Fu believes the revived interest in EVs in China is partly because EV owners are fascinated by intelligent driving functions, as well as the interactive, so-called connected services that many newer models are starting to come with.



“Today’s smart, connected cars aren’t that smart. We’re just out of the gate and are in a stage that could be described as iPhone 1 or the original iPhone,” Aiways President Fu said. “As that gets developed step-by-step, in the near future we will get to iPhone 8, iPhone 9 and iPhone 10.”



Dunne, too, said Tesla was the primary factor sustaining interest in EVs among consumers and investors in China, and elsewhere in the world. Tesla’s shares have surged 10-fold over the past 12 months and it became the world’s most valuable car company in July.Slideshow&nbsp;( 4 images )



And cheaper running costs are also a significant factor.



Cui Yihua, who sells aquariums in the eastern city of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, switched from his gas-guzzling Audi Q7 to save cash and chose an electric-blue Aiways U5 sports-utility vehicle (SUV) after also test-driving a Tesla Model 3, saying he liked the U5’s interior design, its colour and extra space.



“I have charging facilities in my housing compound, in the parking garage downstairs. I put a 100-yuan deposit down for charging and I’ve been using it for two weeks,” he said. “It’s negligible compared to gasoline-fueled cars.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">PRIVATE OWNERS</h2>



Automakers in China that were part of the initial wave of EV startups sold or leased many of their cars to drivers working for ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing and rival taxi services who were spurred on by rebates and other policy support for EVs.



Now, Fu and NIO co-founder and Chief Executive William Li believe China’s EV marketplace is driven more by private car owners and their pure interest in electric cars.



That’s most evident in the performance of Tesla’s Model 3 sedan, which is perceived by many consumers as fairly affordable at about 270,000 yuan ($39,750) after purchase subsidies.







Credit also goes to Wuling, a General Motors Co joint venture, whose Hongguang Mini EV has become China’s best-selling electric car this year, in part because its cheapest model sells for just 28,800 yuan.



To be sure, some companies hit hard by the initial slowdown in EV sales are still in limbo. Byton has suspended its business for six months through January and is working on a restructuring of its operations, a spokeswoman said.



Singulato, meanwhile, is operating on a limited capacity and is looking for further funding to finish developing two cars and launch them, a senior company source told Reuters.



But executives say raising funds has become markedly easier this year, and their confidence levels are climbing too.



NIO, for example, has raised $3.8 billion this year to get back on track, mostly through state-affiliated funds in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, and also with commercial paper and additional shares, its spokesman said.



WM Motor, backed by China’s most widely used internet search engine Baidu, raised $1.5 billion this week. XPeng Inc and Li Auto raised $1.5 billion and $1.1 billion respectively through U.S. listings in July and August.



‘DEMAND IS REALLY STRONG’







While sales of what China defines as new energy vehicles (NEV) &#8211; all-electric cars, plug-in electric hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles &#8211; started to contract more than a year ago, they jumped 26% in August after a 19.3% rise in July, which ended 12 months of year-on-year declines.



LMC Automotive expects sales of passenger NEVs to fall 8.9% this year but surge 48.4% in 2021 to hit 1.52 million vehicles, or 7% of expected passenger car sales. LMC’s Shanghai-based analyst Alan Kang expects NEV sales to accelerate mainly because Beijing recently enacted tougher green-car quotas for carmakers.



Fu said sales of the Aiways U5, its first model, have gained momentum since April to surpass 1,400 in the three months through August, when it also unveiled its sportier SUV U6 ion.



Within a year, he thinks Aiways could reach sales of 10,000 cars in China, with another 3,000 from Europe, where it has started selling in Germany. It plans to expend into Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.



In NIO’s case, sales of its ES8 and ES6 models zoomed to 10,331 vehicles in the second quarter, half of its 2019 sales and almost matching sales of 11,348 for all of 2018, when only its seven-seater ES8 SUV was on offer.



NIO’s overall gross margin turned positive in the second quarter and hit 9.7% for vehicle sales. Operating losses shrank nearly 65% from a year earlier to 1.1 billion yuan.



“We think we have decisively overcome the difficulties of last year,” Chief Executive Li, who says he still flies economy to save the company money, told Reuters.



“Demand is really strong. If you place an order with us right now you will need to wait for a really long time to pick up your new car,” Li said. “Our main challenge in the fourth quarter is to improve our production capability.”

Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan

Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan. gettyimages-1155740300-594×594

African born Elon Musk’s Tesla, charges up Chinese startups.

WINDHOEK, Sept 25 (Reuters) &#8211; Namibia is struggling to contain the second outbreak this year of the African migratory red locust, which has destroyed 500 hectares of grazing land in the north-east of the country, the country’s agriculture minister said on Friday.



At least 19 areas in the fertile Zambezi region, which borders Zambia, Zimbabwe Angola and Botswana, have been hit by a red locust outbreak since Aug. 12, agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein said in a statement.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="736" height="549" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/red-locust-3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382661" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/red-locust-3.jpg 736w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/red-locust-3-300x224.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/red-locust-3-696x519.jpg 696w" sizes="(max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px" /></figure>



In total, 4,002 square kilometres have been invaded and 500 hectares of livestock grazing land destroyed, he said.



Thecountry needs around 30 million Nambian dollars ($1.77 million) for additional resources to contain the spread and enable aerial spraying, the minister added.



Some neighbouring countries, also affected, are already spraying from the air, which Schlettwein said was driving the locusts to countries, such as Namibia, that have yet to do so.



The outbreak follows another in February of the large, red-winged grasshopper species, which is common to sub-Saharan Africa. It breeds prolifically in conditions of drought followed by rain and rapid vegetation growth.



Sophia Kasheeta, deputy executive director of the agriculture ministry, told Reuters the money needed could be sourced from the private sector, government “or anyone who can come on board”.



So far the Food and Africulture Organization is among international bodies providing technical help and materials.



“There are several challenges being faced by the team on the ground, which include lack of camping equipment, vehicles, and the vastness of the area,” the minister said.

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Red locusts destroy 500 hectares Nambian grazing land, minister says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; A U.S. judge said Thursday the Trump administration must either delay a ban on U.S. app stores offering TikTok for download or file legal papers defending the decision by Friday.



The U.S. Commerce Department order banning Apple Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AAPL.O">AAPL.O</a>&nbsp;and Alphabet Inc&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/GOOGL.O">GOOGL.O</a>&nbsp;Google app stores from offering the short video sharing app for new downloads is set to take effect late Sunday. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said the government must file a response to a request by TikTok for a preliminary injunction or delay the order by 2:30 p.m. EDT Friday.



A federal judge in San Francisco on Saturday issued a preliminary injunction blocking a similar Commerce Department order from taking effect on Sunday on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat app.







The Commerce Department said it plans to challenge the WeChat injunction, but government lawyers have not yet filed a appeal.



U.S. officials have expressed serious concerns that the personal data of as many as 100 million Americans that use TikTok was being passed on to China’s Communist Party government.



On Saturday, the Commerce Department announced a one-week delay in the TikTok order, citing “recent positive developments” in talks over the fate of its U.S. operations.







TikTok said the restrictions “were not motivated by a genuine national security concern, but rather by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="480" height="360" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hqdefault-86.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-381823" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hqdefault-86.jpg 480w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hqdefault-86-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption>What is ByteDance? | CNBC Explains</figcaption></figure>



TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, said on Monday it will own 80% of TikTok Global, a newly created U.S. company that will own most of the app’s operations worldwide. ByteDance added that TikTok Global will become its subsidiary.



Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc have agreed to take stakes in TikTok Global of 12.5% and 7.5%, respectively. On Monday, Oracle said ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok would be distributed to ByteDance’s investors, and that the Beijing-based firm would have no stake in TikTok Global.

The Rise Of TikTok

Judge says U.S. must defend or delay TikTok app store ban by Friday

BOSTON (Reuters) &#8211; Top asset managers Vanguard Group Inc and BlackRock Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/BLK.N">BLK.N</a>&nbsp;on Thursday introduced new exchange-traded funds that exclude oil companies, coal producers and other industries that a growing number of investors want to avoid.



The so-called ESG funds use environmental, social or governance criteria to pick investments.



“In our conversations clients continuously bring up the topic,” said Rich Powers, head of ETF product management for Vanguard, the largest mutual fund company with $6.6 trillion under management.



Researcher Morningstar Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MORN.O">MORN.O</a>&nbsp;found flows into such funds reached a record pace this year, taking in $20.9 billion through June, just shy of the annual record of $21.4 billion for all of 2019.



The demand partly reflects the performance of the funds, which has often topped traditional investment products this year. That was despite many funds being held back by strategies such as not owning high-performing energy stocks, as second-quarter results showed.



The Vanguard ESG U.S. Corporate Bond ETF&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VCEB.O">VCEB.O</a>, the company&#8217;s first fixed income offering in the sector, will track the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Corporate Select Index, which excludes oil and gas, alcohol and civilian firearms companies.







Previously the manager launched ESG equity products including the Vanguard ESG US Stock ETF,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ESGV.Z">ESGV.Z</a>&nbsp;now with about $2 billion in assets.



BlackRock, with $7 trillion in total assets, will offer three ESG stock funds that recreate exposure to S&amp;P indexes of large, mid-cap and small-cap companies.



The ETFs will screen out companies with certain levels of investment in the thermal coal, oil sands or shale energy sectors, BlackRock said.



Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Richard Chang

Newsletter

Wall Street’s IPO enemies ready one-two punch

Zoli Kunene – Larger than life champion of black business passes away.

Pandemic spurs Africa’s mobile telcos to ramp up banking bid

How Africa fought COVID-19

The coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people and upended the global economy in less than nine months

Remgro sees decline in headline earnings on COVID-19 impact

Unlocking the potential of fish farming in Kenya

Buhari transmits revised Petroleum Industry Bill to National Assembly

Kairos Capital CEO on how to improve Nigeria’s competitiveness post-COVID-19

Ghana cocoa price hike: How will Nigeria respond?

Nigeria would privatise NNPC, amend royalties under draft oil reform bill

Nigeria’s main unions suspend planned strike after government talks

Zambia chamber of mines says double taxation hurting investment

African born Elon Musk’s Tesla, charges up Chinese startups.

Red locusts destroy 500 hectares Nambian grazing land, minister says

Judge says U.S. must defend or delay TikTok app store ban by Friday

Vanguard, BlackRock add new climate-focused ETFs as demand soars

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletter

Wall Street’s IPO enemies ready one-two punch

Zoli Kunene – Larger than life champion of black business passes away.

Pandemic spurs Africa’s mobile telcos to ramp up banking bid

How Africa fought COVID-19

The coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people and upended the global economy in less than nine months

Remgro sees decline in headline earnings on COVID-19 impact

Unlocking the potential of fish farming in Kenya

Buhari transmits revised Petroleum Industry Bill to National Assembly

Kairos Capital CEO on how to improve Nigeria’s competitiveness post-COVID-19

Ghana cocoa price hike: How will Nigeria respond?

Nigeria would privatise NNPC, amend royalties under draft oil reform bill

Nigeria’s main unions suspend planned strike after government talks

Zambia chamber of mines says double taxation hurting investment

African born Elon Musk’s Tesla, charges up Chinese startups.

Red locusts destroy 500 hectares Nambian grazing land, minister says

Judge says U.S. must defend or delay TikTok app store ban by Friday

Vanguard, BlackRock add new climate-focused ETFs as demand soars

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters