LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 12.5%, the central bank governor said on Monday.



Godwin Emefiele said eight of the 10 monetary policy committee members voted to retain the rate and two voted for a rate cut.



The bank unexpectedly cut the rate by 100 basis points, to 12.5% from 13.5%, in May. It was the largest rate cut since 2015.

asasassa

Nigeria’s central bank holds benchmark lending rate at 12.5 pct

By Zinathi Gquma



“It’s not going to be easy, but I think it’s a challenge that can be met”, the words of Amina Mohamed, one of the three African candidates vying for the World Trade Organisation’s top job.



Talking to CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop, Kenya’s Sports Cabinet Secretary promised reforms, as she acknowledged that the job will come with challenges. She was speaking from Geneva where she sat down for her interview for the post before scores of WTO delegates on July 16. The interview entailed a 15-minute presentation followed by a 75-minute grilling. 



Mohammed is considered a front runner among of six candidates in the race for the Director-General position at the WTO. The other five hopefuls are:Yoo Myung-hee from South Korea; Jesus Seade Kuri from Mexico; Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Egypt’s Hamid Mamdouh; and Tudor Ulianovschi from Moldova.



The spotlight has been shone on Mohamed, because she could make history as the first African-born woman at the top seat of the body that deals with global rules of trade between nations.



Mohamed, a lawyer who has held key decision making positions in the WTO, could be second time lucky; she lost out on the job in 2013, to Brazil’s Roberto Azevêdo who will be stepping down at the end of August.



“I have worked the corridors of the body and&nbsp;I have a track record of delivery at the WTO”, said Mohamed to Bishop, as she was speaking on her extensive knowledge of the WTO’s work. In 2005, Mohammed was the Chairperson of the General Council, the&nbsp;highest-level decision-making body in Geneva.



Mohamed has acknowledged that the job of Director-General will not be a walk in the park, because the WTO was already troubled before the Covid-19 pandemic. Admitting that the next leader would have to walk a tight rope, as they deal with mammoth challenges within the organisation, she is willing to inject confidence into the system. She has expressed her commitment to tackle challenges and to move the organisation forward through recovery, reform, renewal and results.



With her knowledge of member states’ goals, she is promising to facilitate talks on reforms within the body. With the negative effects of climate change, Mohamed vowed to promote sustainability. Looking at benefits to the African continent, through her potential role as Director-General, she will encourage integration in the African region. She has also promised to use the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, as an engine for growth.



“I’m convinced that if I got the job, I would work energetically, but very sensitively and reasonably to make sure that members come together to address issues that are of concern to all members states. The issues that if resolved, will drive the global economy,” said Mohamed.

Amina Mohamed

“It’s not going to be easy,” Amina Mohamed on fixing world trade at the WTO

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand weakened early on Monday as a global surge in COVID-19 infections put the brakes on risk-taking.



At 0700 GMT the rand was 0.19% weaker at 16.7300 per dollar compared to Friday’s close of 16.6975.



The rand had rallied to a one-month best in mid-week before facing technical resistance around the 16.50 mark.



Investors demand for yield was tempered by growing coronavirus cases locally and abroad, as well as resurfacing diplomatic tensions between Washington and Beijing.



“We start the trading week on a subdued risk negative footing as the surging number of COVID-19 cases once again weighs on markets,” TreasuryOne currency trader Andre Botha said.



More than 14 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 595,459​ have died, according to a Reuters tally.



Locally, positive cases approached the 340,000, with nearly 5,000 deaths.



Bonds opened flat, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 paper up 0.5 basis points to 9.415%.

101416618-rand

South African rand retreats as virus surge weighs on sentiment

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube said on Monday the country was on track to meet its budget deficit target of 1.5% of GDP in 2020 in a key update that was absent from his mid-term budget last week.



“I am still focusing on a budget deficit of 1.5% of GDP and we are well on our way to achieving that,” Ncube said during a review of the half-year budget held virtually, adding the government will not seek any further funding because it had spent less than 50% of the budget by June.

zimuuu

Zimbabwe on course to meet 2020 budget deficit target -finmin

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



($1 = 16.6788 rand)

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Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said on Sunday he had tested positive for COVID-19, and became the first member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet to contract the new coronavirus.



Onyeama, 64, said on Twitter he had taken a COVID-19 test because of a throat irritation.



“Did my fourth Covid-19 test yesterday at the first sign of a throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive,” he tweeted. “Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best.”



Buhari’s cabinet has been conducting executive council meetings virtually as part of measures to keep the government working while abiding by social distancing rules.



The government started a phased easing of lockdowns in May after implementing measures to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed 778 people in Nigeria and infected more than 36,000.



Onyeama has played a role in repatriating Nigerians stranded because of travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.



Buhari’s former chief of staff, Abba Kyari, died in April from the novel coronavirus, making him the most high profile person in the country to die from the virus.

1280px-Geoffrey_Onyeama_-_June_2016

Nigerian Foreign Minister Onyeama tests positive for coronavirus

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian banks plan to reduce the amount customers can spend abroad using debit cards on Monday, two lenders said, as banks try to limit foreign currency settlement risk.



The country is facing dollar shortages because of the sharp fall in the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, and domestic banks are trying to avoid transactions with hard currency.



Stanbic IBTC Bank (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/IBTC.LG">IBTC.LG</a>), the local unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SBKJ.J">SBKJ.J</a>), said it will halve the spending limit for offshore card transactions to $500 per month from Monday and will limit cash withdrawals to $100.



Another top tier lender Zenith Bank (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ZENITHB.LG">ZENITHB.LG</a>) said it will temporarily suspend the use of debit cards abroad for cash withdrawals and cut the monthly spending limit abroad by more than half to $200.



“This review is in response to today’s economic realities,” Zenith said in a notice, advising clients to request prepaid dollar cards.



Other lenders — Ecobank (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ETI.LG">ETI.LG</a>) and Fidelity Bank (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FIDELIT.LG">FIDELIT.LG</a>) — have also lowered withdrawal limits for individuals while abroad.



Such moves have previously been at the behest of the central bank, but it was not clear if the regulator was behind the latest action. The central bank did not respond to a request for comment.



The bank is battling to conserve dollar reserves that are down 19% from a year ago. Last week it depreciated the currency on the official market&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=NGN&amp;destCurr=USD">NGN=</a>&nbsp;prompting the naira to weaken on the black and over-the-counter spot markets.



Bankers told Reuters that it now takes more than six months to settle foreign lines of credit.



Nigeria is yet to resume forex sales to retail currency traders after it banned international travel as part of a lockdown measure to slow the spread of the coronavirus that has killed 778 people and infected more than 36,000.

shutterstock_306272309

Nigerian banks to limit debit card spending abroad to ease FX risk

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



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



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



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



Telkom SA (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TKGJ.J">TKGJ.J</a>), among the top three telecom service providers in Africa’s most industrialised country, is run independently and not bound by government guidelines set up for most South African sate-owned enterprises.



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



ADVERTISEMENT



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



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



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

Airbus_A330-200_South_African_AW_(SAA)_F-WWYL_-_MSN_1223_-_Will_be_ZS-SXX_(5838450879)

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said on Sunday he had tested positive for COVID-19, and became the first member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet to contract the new coronavirus.



Onyeama, 64, said on Twitter he had taken a COVID-19 test because of a throat irritation.



“Did my fourth Covid-19 test yesterday at the first sign of a throat irritation and unfortunately this time it came back positive,” he tweeted. “Heading for isolation in a health facility and praying for the best.”



Buhari’s cabinet has been conducting executive council meetings virtually as part of measures to keep the government working while abiding by social distancing rules.



The government started a phased easing of lockdowns in May after implementing measures to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed 778 people in Nigeria and infected more than 36,000.



Onyeama has played a role in repatriating Nigerians stranded because of travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.



Buhari’s former chief of staff, Abba Kyari, died in April from the novel coronavirus, making him the most high profile person in the country to die from the viru

Central Bank of Nigeria cuts benchmark lending rate to 12.5%

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s gross revenues rose to 653.35 billion naira ($1.7 billion) in June from 517.8 billion naira in May due to higher crude and tax receipts, accountant general Ahmed Idris said, as oil prices recovered from April’s crash.



The coronavirus outbreak early this year prompted a sharp fall in oil prices, Nigeria’s main export, slashing government revenues, weakening its currency and creating a large financing gap for the country.



The global benchmark Brent LCOc1 has since recovered to about $43 a barrel from a 21-year low below $16 in April.



OPEC member Nigeria relies on crude oil sales for two-thirds of government revenue.



The government generated 42.83 billion naira from exchange rate gains, it said in a statement. Income from crude sales and value added tax (VAT) made up the bulk of gross revenues.



Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed has pushed for the central bank to unify its multiple exchange rates so that the government can generate more naira from its crude receipts.



In February, Nigeria increased VAT to 7.5% from 5% to boost revenues, seen among the lowest in the world. Lower government revenue could worsen Nigeria’s debt to revenue ratio this year from a year earlier.

shutterstock_326112950

Nigeria’s revenues rise in June on higher oil, tax receipts

The energy sector currently accounts for two-thirds of global carbon emissions and expedited progress on energy efficiency and low-carbon sources in the energy mix is required to achieve deep decarbonization.



1. We need an energy transition.



Business as usual will use up the Paris Agreement carbon budget within 20-30 years and bring us towards a hothouse earth. We need a transition from energy that emits greenhouse gases to renewable energy to avoid this fate.



2. We know what we need to do.



The broad shape of the energy transition is to reduce demand where possible through energy efficiency and behavioural change, decarbonize electricity, electrify everything you can and use some variety of renewable-based hydrogen for the rest. To transition at the necessary pace may also require the use of biomass and emissions removal technologies.



3. The energy transition will be difficult.



Fossil fuels provide around 80% of global energy supply and are the foundation of modern society. Many countries and companies are dependent on the wealth generated by fossil fuels and the Bank of England has noted that up to $20 trillion of assets are at risk from the energy transition. South African Banks must work with public sector, for mitigation and policy mindfulness to allow the economy to be ready with measures and targets set.



4. The forces of transition are likely to prevail.



Those who would benefit from a transition vastly outnumber those who benefit from continuity; 80% of people live in countries that import fossil fuels. Just 1% of the global workforce works in the fossil fuel industry and a large share of the rents from fossil fuels flow into the hands of a small number of fossil fuel exporters.



We are living in a fast changing world and South Africa needs to have foresight on what will replace coal exporting , we can use it locally while catching up to make our production cost effective.



5. The energy transition is just.



The global view is, Fossil fuels are used mainly by the rich and the few, while their costs are shouldered mainly by the poor and the many. In contrast, renewables are everywhere, can be deployed at any scale and are being used to solve last-mile problems and provide electricity to the 1 billion people who lack it. Domestically, we are one of the leading exporter of coal, which require reflectiveness and mindfulness leadership on policy transitions. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) predicts an energy transition that will create more new energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs, while South Africa can lose jobs when the transition is not planned well.



6. We have technology solutions.



There are rising numbers of technology solutions available to start the transition in a cost-effective manner. Efficiency gains have already curbed energy demand growth from 3% to around 1% on average and could drive growth still lower. Reflecting on the manufacturing technologies we can take advantage to match the global manufacturing industry standards and have smart factories and smart industries with innovation factor driven tier systems.



7. Incumbents are at risk.



Peaking demand and technological competition put incumbent players in the energy system at considerable risk of lower prices and stranded assets if they fail to react in time. Coal became too expensive to the South African economy, making electricity prices more expensive to businesses and households, which suggest adaptation to renewables and transition to cost effective electricity. That’s the only way South African manufacturing industry can peak and be competitive. Coal is too expensive to the South African economy, we must manage production to serve the required just transition phase and decarbonize the future economy.



8. We need more policy action to reach Paris goals.



Policy-makers need to take much more assertive action if they wish to drive the transition fast enough to meet the aspirations of the Paris Agreement. There is tremendous scope for major policy action.



9. Policy-makers need to plan for change.



Policy-makers need to retool fossil fuel dependent states and systems, to retrain workers in order to ensure that the transition is just, to plan for new sources of tax revenue and to hold back from investing capital in assets which are likely to be stranded by the transition. Eskom and coal companies must start training a pool of their staff for the just transition or renewable energy materials and management of systems. Transformation must be communicated to all staff in time and have a decade or two decade plan that will make ease to tailored programmes to shape human capital to the decarbonized future economy.



It remains uncertain on how the political economy will play out in South Africa. Every country is different and there is no single solution. Some countries&#8217; fossil fuel interests have been able to seize the reins of government to try to hold back an energy transition, while the energy transition will also create new constituencies that benefit from investment and growth as well as jobs in the wider economy. The sustainability and Impact Investment criteria forces unlisted investments and banks adapt to the just transition.



Miyelani Mkhabela is an Executive Director for Antswisa Transaction Advisory Services.

miyelani mkhabela

Nine ways to decarbonize the South African energy sector

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian banks plan to reduce the amount customers can spend abroad using debit cards on Monday, two lenders said, as banks try to limit foreign currency settlement risk.



The country is facing dollar shortages because of the sharp fall in the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, and domestic banks are trying to avoid transactions with hard currency.



Stanbic IBTC Bank, the local unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, said it will halve the spending limit for offshore card transactions to $500 per month from Monday and will limit cash withdrawals to $100.



Another top tier lender Zenith Bank said it will temporarily suspend the use of debit cards abroad for cash withdrawals and cut the monthly spending limit abroad by more than half to $200.



“This review is in response to today’s economic realities,” Zenith said in a notice, advising clients to request prepaid dollar cards.



Other lenders — Ecobank and Fidelity Bank — have also lowered withdrawal limits for individuals while abroad.



Such moves have previously been at the behest of the central bank, but it was not clear if the regulator was behind the latest action. The central bank did not respond to a request for comment.



The bank is battling to conserve dollar reserves that are down 19% from a year ago. Last week it depreciated the currency on the official market prompting the naira to weaken on the black and over-the-counter spot markets.



Bankers told Reuters that it now takes more than six months to settle foreign lines of credit.



Nigeria is yet to resume forex sales to retail currency traders after it banned international travel as part of a lockdown measure to slow the spread of the coronavirus that has killed 778 people and infected more than 36,000.

Stanbic_Bank_Bill_Board

ALGIERS (Reuters) &#8211; Algeria, already under financial pressure after a fall in energy earnings, expects state carrier Air Algerie’s losses from the coronavirus pandemic to reach 35 billion dinars ($272 million) this year, the government said on Saturday.



It said all other sectors have suffered losses due to movement restrictions and lockdowns aimed at limiting the spread of the novel coronavirus.



Air Algerie suspended both external and domestic operations in March before operating some emergency flights mainly from Europe, Turkey and Gulf countries.



That suspension caused losses estimated at 16.31 billion dinars by April, a figure that may climb to 35 billion by the end of the year, Finance Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane told a meeting with businessmen and unions.



President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has said air, sea and land borders would remain closed until the end of the health crisis.



The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad, was intended to set up a commission with the aim of evaluating overall economic losses from restrictions linked to the virus.



“The state has taken preventive measures to cope with the health crisis. These measures have seriously affected the national economy,” Djerad told the meeting.



He cited energy, construction, public works and transport as the main sectors that have suffered since the government started imposing restrictions in mid-March.



OPEC member and gas-exporting Algeria has already announced public spending cuts and delayed planned investment projects for this year in sectors including energy to ease the impact of lower oil prices.



“Algeria is facing an unprecedented economic situation,” Djerad said.

7T-VKB_B737-800_Air_Algerie_(6776851695)

Algeria sees state carrier’s losses from coronavirus at $272 mln this year

(Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours.



The biggest increases reported on Saturday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday. Deaths rose by 7,360, the biggest one-day increase since May 10. Deaths have been averaging 4,800 a day in July, up slightly from an average of 4,600 a day in June.



Total global coronavirus cases surpassed 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 600,000 people in seven months. The surge means that 1 million cases were reported in under 100 hours.



The WHO reported 71,484 new cases in the United States, 45,403 in Brazil, 34,884 in India and 13,373 in South Africa.



India on Friday became the third country in the world to record more than 1 million cases of the new coronavirus, behind only the United States and Brazil. Epidemiologists say India is still likely months from hitting its peak.



Cases in Brazil crossed the 2 million mark on Thursday, doubling in less than a month and adding nearly 40,000 new cases a day. A patchwork of state and city responses has held up poorly in Brazil in the absence of a tightly coordinated policy from the federal government.



The United States, which leads with world with over 3.7 million cases, has also tried to curb the outbreak at the state and local levels with only limited success.

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

WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases for second day in a row

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Twitter Inc disabled a campaign-style video that President Donald Trump retweeted on Saturday, citing a copyright complaint.



The video, which included music from the group Linkin Park, disappeared from the president’s Twitter feed late Saturday with the notification: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”



Twitter removed the video, which Trump had retweeted from White House social media director Dan Scavino, after it received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice from Machine Shop Entertainment, according to a notice posted on the Lumen Database which collects requests for removal of online materials.



Machine Shop is a management company owned by the rock band Linkin Park, according to its LinkedIn page.



“We respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives,” a Twitter representative said in an email statement.



The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Twitter began challenging Trump’s tweets in May and has repeatedly clashed with him since. The social media company has several times disabled or commented on tweets by the president because of what it said were copyright complaints or violations of a policy against threatening violence.



Twitter removed an image the president tweeted on June 30, which included a picture of Trump, because of a complaint from the New York Times, whose photographer had shot the image.



The company also put a tweet from the president behind a warning label in late May, saying that he had violated its rules against “glorifying violence” when he advocated that Minneapolis authorities be tough in responding to protests over the death of George Floyd.

gettyimages-642093036-594×594-2

Twitter disables Trump tweet over copyright complaint

(Reuters) &#8211; China’s embassy in Myanmar on Sunday accused the United States of “outrageously smearing” the country and driving a wedge with its Southeast Asian neighbors over the contested South China Sea and Hong Kong, as tensions mount between the superpowers.



Responding to U.S. claims Beijing was undermining the sovereignty of its neighbors, the Chinese embassy said U.S. agencies abroad were doing “disgusting things” to contain China and had showed a “selfish, hypocritical, contemptible, and ugly face”.



The United States last week hardened its position on the South China Sea, saying it would back countries in the region that challenge Beijing’s claim to about 90% of the strategic waterway.



In a statement on Saturday, the U.S. embassy in Yangon called China’s actions in the South China Sea and Hong Kong, where Beijing has imposed tough new national security laws, part of a “larger pattern to undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors”.



The U.S. statement drew parallels between China’s actions in the South China Sea and Hong Kong with large-scale Chinese investments projects in Myanmar that the United States warned could become debt-traps, along with trafficking of women from Myanmar to China as brides, and the inflow of drugs from China into Myanmar.



“This is how modern sovereignty is often lost &#8211; not through dramatic, overt action,&nbsp;but through a cascade of smaller ones that lead to its slow erosion over time,” the U.S. embassy said.



In its rebuke, China said the statement showed a “sour grapes” attitude by the United States towards “flourishing China-Myanmar relations” and was “another farce on a global tour by the U.S. authorities to shift the attention on domestic problems and seek selfish political gains”.



“The U.S. should first look in the mirror to see whether it still looks like a major country now,” it said.



The Chinese embassy in Yangon did not answer phone calls seeking further comment. The U.S. embassy was not immediately available for comment.



Myanmar has increasingly become a battleground for influence between the two countries since relations between the government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the West became strained over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority.



Author and historian Thant Myint-U told Reuters in an email although the country was of negligible economic value to the rivals, its strategic importance as a bridge between mainland China and the Bay of Bengal was hard to ignore.



“Myanmar’s instincts since independence in 1948 are to try to be friends with everyone, but it’s not clear that’s going to remain possible, in this coming period of increasingly febrile superpower rivalry,” he said.



“The&nbsp;sheer weight of China’s giant industrial revolution next door is already transforming Myanmar; if multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects are added to the mix, the border between the two countries will become increasingly difficult to see,” he said.



“It’s important to remember that Myanmar was one of the few countries in the world where the last Cold War led to proxy armed fighting which in turn led to military dictatorship and decades of self-imposed isolation.”

Trump’s Renewed Fight With China Explained

‘Ugly face’: U.S. and China trade barbs in Myanmar as South China Sea rift deepens

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwean police have issued a warrant against the largest mobile phone operator Econet Wireless to hand over a list of its mobile money transactions and subscribers because authorities suspect it of involvement in money laundering, according to the warrant.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has already suspended some of Econet’s mobile money transactions. Authorities last month also halted all trade on the local stock exchange.



In the search warrant issued on Friday night and seen by Reuters, police accused Econet of creating fictitious mobile money and converting it to cash to facilitate purchasing foreign currency on the black market and taking the money out of Zimbabwe.



The central bank has made similar accusations before, which Econet has denied.



A senior Econet official, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the government Econet would challenge the move in court.



A spokesman for the company said he could not immediately comment.



The police ordered Econet to provide a list of all subscribers, mobile money transactions and financial statements covering Jan. 2 to June 30 this year “for the purporse of investigating or detecting a case of money laundering.”



Police spokesman Andrew Phiri declined to comment.



Zimbabwe has alarmed investors with its decision to suspend the stock exchange.



Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party has asked the government to de-list Old Mutual’s local unit from the Zimbabwe stock exchange, accusing it of fanning the foreign currency black market.



The Zimbabwe dollar, which was brought back last year without any foreign or gold reserves, is in freefall, fuelling inflation to more than 700%.

Newsletter

Nigeria’s central bank holds benchmark lending rate at 12.5 pct

“It’s not going to be easy,” Amina Mohamed on fixing world trade at the WTO

South African rand retreats as virus surge weighs on sentiment

Zimbabwe on course to meet 2020 budget deficit target -finmin

Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

Nigerian Foreign Minister Onyeama tests positive for coronavirus

Nigerian banks to limit debit card spending abroad to ease FX risk

Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

Nigerian Foreign Minister Onyeama tests positive for coronavirus

Nigeria’s revenues rise in June on higher oil, tax receipts

Nine ways to decarbonize the South African energy sector

Nigerian banks to limit debit card spending abroad to ease FX risk

Algeria sees state carrier’s losses from coronavirus at $272 mln this year

WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases for second day in a row

Twitter disables Trump tweet over copyright complaint

‘Ugly face’: U.S. and China trade barbs in Myanmar as South China Sea rift deepens

Zimbabwe accuses mobile phone operator Econet of money laundering

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletter

Nigeria’s central bank holds benchmark lending rate at 12.5 pct

“It’s not going to be easy,” Amina Mohamed on fixing world trade at the WTO

South African rand retreats as virus surge weighs on sentiment

Zimbabwe on course to meet 2020 budget deficit target -finmin

Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

Nigerian Foreign Minister Onyeama tests positive for coronavirus

Nigerian banks to limit debit card spending abroad to ease FX risk

Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

Nigerian Foreign Minister Onyeama tests positive for coronavirus

Nigeria’s revenues rise in June on higher oil, tax receipts

Nine ways to decarbonize the South African energy sector

Nigerian banks to limit debit card spending abroad to ease FX risk

Algeria sees state carrier’s losses from coronavirus at $272 mln this year

WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases for second day in a row

Twitter disables Trump tweet over copyright complaint

‘Ugly face’: U.S. and China trade barbs in Myanmar as South China Sea rift deepens

Zimbabwe accuses mobile phone operator Econet of money laundering

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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