<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="548" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-479911996-820x548.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411402" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-479911996-820x548.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-479911996-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-479911996-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-479911996-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-479911996-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-479911996-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Customers refuel their automobiles on the forecourt of Royal Dutch Shell Plc&#8217;s 150th gas station on its opening day in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, July 8, 2015. The global industry is scurrying to respond as oil below $50 a barrel guts cash flows. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LAGOS, Aug 11 (Reuters) &#8211; Oil major Shell will pay a Nigerian community 45.9 billion naira ($111.68 million) to settle a case over an oil spill that took place more than 50 years ago, a spokesman said on Wednesday.



The company will pay the Ejama-Ebubu community in Nigeria&#8217;s Ogoniland the &#8220;full and final settlement&#8221; to end the case over a spill that took place during the 1967-70 Biafran war.



Nigeria&#8217;s Supreme Court in November last year denied Shell&#8217;s bid to challenge a 2010 award of 17 billion naira ($41.36 million), that with accruing interest the community had said was worth more than 180 billion naira.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-shell-says-starts-gas-production-at-expanded-nigeria-project">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2017/shell-says-starts-gas-production-expanded-nigeria-project/">Shell says starts gas production at expanded Nigeria project</a></h3>



Shell has said it never got a chance to defend itself against the substance of the claims, and early this year initiated international arbitration against Nigeria over the case.



Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, in a statement, said it maintained that the spills were caused by third parties during the war, and that it had fully remediated the sites in the Ebubu community.



The company, the most significant international oil major operating in Nigeria, has faced a string of court losses over the past year over oil spills and is in talks with the government to sell its stakes in onshore oilfields. 



($1 = 411.0000 naira) 



(Reporting By Libby George, additional reporting by Tife Owolabi; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

Royal Dutch Shell Plc Opens Its 150th Gas Station In Russia

Shell to pay $111 million over decades-old Nigerian oil spill

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411398" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GettyImages-1234616916-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Zambian presidential candidate for the opposition party United Party for National Development (UPND) Hakainde Hichilema gives a press conference at his residence, in Lusaka on August 11, 2021. &#8211; The UPND, the main rival to the ruling Patriotic Front (PF), is eager to tap into mounting disillusionment in the city&#8217;s poorest neighbourhoods, where dissent has grown since the last 2016 poll. (Photo by Patrick Meinhardt / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK MEINHARDT/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



LUSAKA, Aug 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Zambians started voting on Thursday in a showdown between President Edgar Lungu and main opposition rival Hakainde Hichilema that looks too tight to call and comes amid mounting debt and a flagging economy.



Polling opened at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) with long queues seen at voting booths in the capital Lusaka, which could point to a huge turnout in Africa&#8217;s No. 2 copper producer.



At a voting station in the Kabwata suburb of Lusaka, first time voter Ben Mulenga, 19, said he had arrived two and half hours before voting started because he anticipated long queues.



&#8220;The things that are happening in our country, including the bad state of the economy and the high levels of unemployment need to be addressed,&#8221; said Mulenga, a student at the University of Zambia.



Lungu was among the earliest voters, having brought forward his voting time. Wearing a black leather jacket and a white face mask, Lungu, accompanied by his wife, waved to a cheering crowd as he left in his motorcade.



&#8220;We are winning, otherwise I wouldn&#8217;t have been in the race if we were not winning,&#8221; Lungu told reporters shortly after he voted at a polling station in the Chawama township in Lusaka.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-zambia-s-central-bank-to-raise-cap-on-foreign-exchange-transactions">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/zambias-central-bank-to-raise-cap-on-foreign-exchange-transactions/">Zambia’s central bank to raise cap on foreign exchange transactions</a></h3>



Some 54% of registered voters are 34 or younger, statistics from the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) show.



That could help Hichilema, who is facing Lungu for the third time and has placed the economy front and centre of his campaign, political analysts said.



In November, Zambia became the first African state to default on part of its debt during the coronavirus pandemic. It will be among the continent&#8217;s slowest growing economies this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates.



Zambia owes in excess of $12 billion to external creditors and spends 30%-40% of its revenues on interest payments on its debt, credit rating firm S&amp;P Global estimates.



In office since 2015, 64-year-old Lungu narrowly defeated Hichilema, the CEO of an accountancy firm before entering politics, in a disputed election the following year.



The president has touted the new road, airport and energy projects he has overseen as laying the groundwork for economic development and growth.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"> Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/zambia-imf-make-progress-towards-bail-out-loan-programme/">Zambia, IMF make progress towards bail-out loan programme</a></h3>



His push for greater state control over the mining sector &#8211; an approach that has sparked fears of resource nationalism among international investors &#8211; will create jobs, he says.



&#8220;The challenge we have is the economy and we are doing our best to ensure that the challenge is faced head on,&#8221; Lungu said during his final virtual campaign rally on Wednesday.



But so far his debt-financed infrastructure splurge has failed to pay economic dividends, and unemployment remains high.



That has left him open to attack from Hichilema.



&#8220;So much money was borrowed at a very high cost and this is frustrating development efforts,&#8221; Hichilema, popularly known as HH, told a news conference on Wednesday. 



(Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Joe Bavier and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

ZAMBIA-POLITICS-ELECTIONS-UPND

Zambia starts voting in presidential election seen too close to call

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/twitter-1795652_1280-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-406024" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/twitter-1795652_1280-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/twitter-1795652_1280-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/twitter-1795652_1280-120x80.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/twitter-1795652_1280-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/twitter-1795652_1280.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Aug 11 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria will soon lift its ban on Twitter after resolving some of its differences with the social media platform, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said on Wednesday, signalling the end of a policy widely condemned as an affront to freedom of expression.



The Nigerian government <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/nigeria-says-it-suspends-twitter-days-after-presidents-post-removed/">suspended Twitter on June 4 after it removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari </a>that threatened to punish regional secessionists. Some telecoms companies subsequently blocked access to users in Nigeria.



&#8220;The ban on Twitter will soon be lifted as we are getting close to reaching full agreement,&#8221; Mohammed told reporters after a cabinet meeting. &#8220;We have agreed on some areas. Hopefully in the next few days or weeks we will conclude.&#8221;



Mohammed said one outstanding issue was Nigeria&#8217;s demand that Twitter set up an office in the country. He said Twitter had agreed to this but was saying it could not do so until 2022.



A Twitter spokesperson said: &#8220;We recently met with the Nigerian government to discuss why Twitter has been blocked and ways to resolve the matter. Our aim is to chart a path forward to the restoration of Twitter for everyone in Nigeria. We look forward to ongoing discussions with the Nigerian government and seeing the service restored very soon.&#8221;



The ban on Twitter drew condemnation from the social media platform itself, from Nigerian civil society groups including <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/nigerians-fight-governments-twitter-ban-with-legal-action/">some that sued the government over it</a>, from numerous Nigerian users and from the U.S. government.



Nigeria&#8217;s attorney general initially said those who breached the Twitter ban should be prosecuted, but that was not enforced.



A West African court ruled on June 22 that the Nigerian authorities could not prosecute people for using the service while it considered a suit seeking to overturn the ban.



In practice, many Nigerian users continued to post on Twitter, but government ministries and other public bodies stopped using it.



The ban was imposed after Twitter on June 2 removed a post by Buhari that it said violated its &#8220;abusive behaviour&#8221; policy.



In the post, Buhari referred to the 1967-70 civil war, during which he served in the Nigerian army as it battled southeastern secessionists. Talking about modern-day secessionists in the same region, he said he would &#8220;treat them in the language they understand&#8221;.



Relations between the Nigerian government and Twitter had been tense even before the removal of the president&#8217;s tweet.



In April, Mohammed reacted angrily when <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/media-portrayal-of-nigeria-led-twitter-to-choose-ghana-for-africa-office-minister/">Twitter chose Ghana</a>, a much smaller West African country, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/twitter-opens-first-african-office-in-ghana/">for its first office</a> on the continent. The minister said the company had been influenced by media misrepresentations of Nigeria.



Another disagreement arose from a period of intense popular protests last year against police brutality. Demonstrators used social media to organise, raise money and share evidence of police harassment.



Twitter&#8217;s chief executive, Jack Dorsey, tweeted to encourage his followers to donate, infuriating the Nigerian authorities. 



(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Steve Orlofsky)

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Nigeria to lift Twitter ban soon, minister says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106915933-1627040132848-gettyimages-903649520-ab2_2370.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411378" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106915933-1627040132848-gettyimages-903649520-ab2_2370.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106915933-1627040132848-gettyimages-903649520-ab2_2370-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106915933-1627040132848-gettyimages-903649520-ab2_2370-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Drazen_ | E+ | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



A transition to renewable sources of energy will prompt a surge in demand for base metals in the coming years, Wood Mackenzie has predicted.



In a report published Monday, analysts at the energy consultancy said that as governments fulfil commitments to limit global warming, a growing reliance on solar power would boost demand for several non-ferrous metals.



Three metals in particular were named by Wood Mackenzie as commodities to watch: aluminum, copper and zinc.



The report’s authors outlined three possible scenarios for the metals, with demand growth for each depending on the success of international efforts to limit global warming.



Under the Paris Agreement — a landmark deal adopted in 2015 and signed by 196 countries — nations agreed to a framework to prevent global temperatures from rising by any more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, although the treaty aims to prevent global temperature rises exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aluminum"><a></a>Aluminum</h2>



Wood Mackenzie’s base case scenario assumes that by the end of the century, temperatures will have risen by 2.8 to 3 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times.



In this situation, aluminum demand from the solar power sector would rise from 2.4 million tons in 2020 to 4.6 million tons in 2040.



Typically, aluminum is used in solar panel frames and their structural parts, Kamil Wlazly, a senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, noted.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/oil-could-plummet-to-10-by-2050-if-paris-climate-goals-are-achieved-energy-consultancy-says/">Oil could plummet to $10 by 2050 if Paris climate goals are achieved, energy consultancy says</a></h3>



If the global temperature rise was kept between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius, however, it would mean that aluminum demand for solar power had reached between 8.5 million tons and 10 million tons a year by 2040, the analysts said.



In the most optimistic climate scenario, where renewable sources of energy were embraced more readily to cap warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, demand from the solar sector would account for 12.6% of total global aluminum consumption by 2040 — up from 3% in 2020.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Copper</h2>



Demand for copper — used in high and low voltage transmission cables and thermal solar collectors — is also set for “notable gains” as solar energy becomes more mainstream, Wood Mackenzie said.



The report’s base case scenario predicted that demand for copper arising from solar power generation would rise from 0.4 million tons in 2020 to 0.7 million tons a year by 2040.



Copper consumption in the solar sector would increase to 1.3 million tons by 2040 if global warming was capped at 2 degrees Celsius.&nbsp;



If temperature rises could be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the industry’s consumption of the red metal was expected to jump to 1.6 million tons a year within the next two decades, the report claimed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Zinc</h2>



Meanwhile, analysts noted that only zinc coatings could offer cheap, long-lasting corrosion protection, with the metal used in solar panels’ structural parts.



Currently, solar power installations account for around 0.4 million tons of annual global zinc consumption, Wood Mackenzie said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/copper-is-the-new-oil-and-low-inventories-could-push-it-to-20000-per-ton-analysts-say/">Copper is ‘the new oil’ and low inventories could push it to $20,000 per ton, analysts say</a></h3>



If global temperatures were on track to rise by 2.8 to 3 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, this number was projected to grow to 0.8 million tons by 2040.



With temperature rises limited to 2 degrees Celsius, zinc consumption would increase to 1.7 million tons a year by 2040. If warming was successfully limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, zinc consumption in the solar sector would rise to 2.1 million tons a year by 2040, analysts predicted.



Wood Mackenzie’s predictions for the three metals were only around demand coming from the solar power industry, and did not speculate on total global demand.



Wlazly pointed out in Wood Mackenzie’s note on Monday that falling production costs and efficiency gains had lowered the price of solar power around the world.



“As a result, solar has become cheaper than any other technology in many parts of the U.S. and several other countries across the globe,” he said. “As costs continue to fall, solar’s share of power supply will rise and begin to displace other forms of generation. This presents a huge opportunity for the base metals sector.”

106915933-1627040132848-gettyimages-903649520-ab2_2370

Surging demand for renewables will boost these 3 metals, analysts predict

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411374" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Director general of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on July 28, 2021. Jaber Abdulkhaleg | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The World Health Organization is calling for $7.7 billion that officials say is urgently needed to help low-income countries survive the delta Covid variant by providing vaccines, oxygen and medical care.



The funding will go toward WHO’s Access to Covid-19 Tools, or ACT, Accelerator program, which delivers critical medical supplies across the globe to combat the coronavirus, Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to WHO’s director-general, said at a Q&amp;A with WHO officials livestreamed Tuesday on its social media accounts.



Aylward said the funds are needed to partially cover a $16.8 billion shortfall that impedes the WHO’s ability to fight the pandemic in developing nations that have little or no access to vaccines.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-new-kinds-of-loans-and-bonds-could-fill-28-bln-covid-funding-gap-who">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2020/update-1-new-kinds-of-loans-and-bonds-could-fill-28-bln-covid-funding-gap-who/">New kinds of loans and bonds could fill $28 bln COVID funding gap: WHO</a></h3>



“Besides the moral issue — people should not die if the technology is available somewhere else, you know, the technology should help humanity as a whole — there’s also the issue that we can’t sort out this pandemic one country at a time,” said Dr. Mariangela Simao, the WHO’s assistant director-general for access to medicines, vaccines and pharmaceuticals.



“That’s the reality,” she continued. “We need to help countries move more together. Otherwise, we’re going to live with this virus much longer than we need to.”



WHO officials have set a goal of vaccinating at least 10% of the global population by the end of September, at least 40% by the end of this year and 70% by the middle of next year. Some nations across the world have yet to start their vaccination campaigns, while wealthier countries such as the U.S. and Israel have already fully vaccinated more than half of their populations.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



Aylward said people in poorer nations who have a fever or other symptoms don’t have the testing supplies to know whether it’s from Covid or other diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia or HIV. In addition to providing vaccine doses, Aylward said, the funding will also cover Covid testing, oxygen treatments and masks.



Wealthy nations have spent trillions of dollars mitigating the impact of the pandemic, he said. “Your economy is telling you you have to vaccinate the world, and of course we didn’t listen,” he said.



The WHO previously said that it urgently needed $7.7 billion to run the ACT Accelerator, requesting an additional $3.8 billion at that time to purchase 760 million Covid vaccine doses for delivery next year, Reuters reported.



“This is the defining moment of our time,” Aylward said. “At some point, we will look back and that’s going to be the question: In these defining moments, how did you act?”

106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646

WHO says it urgently needs $7.7 billion to help poorer nations survive delta Covid variant

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411370" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>A medical worker injects the AstraZeneca&#8217;s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to a woman at the Nationa Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Aug 10 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria will restart COVID-19 inoculations on Aug. 16 after taking delivery of 4 million doses of Moderna vaccine, with shipments of Johnson &amp; Johnson shots also due imminently, the head of the primary healthcare agency said on Tuesday.



Nigeria has so far vaccinated only a tiny fraction of its population of 200 million, largely due to a lack of supply. The latest data, in June, showed that 2 million people had received one dose and 700,000 had received two.



The rollout of vaccines was halted on July 9 because supplies had run out.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



The Moderna doses, which arrived in Nigeria from the United States last week, were being prepared for rollout, said Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.



In particular, he said labels with barcodes were being prepared that would allow for efficient record-keeping of administered doses.



&#8220;We want to call on all Nigerians to remain assured that the vaccines that we have are safe and will be deployed next week,&#8221; Shuaib told reporters.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="http://Just give us the vaccines, WHO pleads, as poor countries go wanting">Just give us the vaccines, WHO pleads, as poor countries go wanting</a></h3>



Since the start of the pandemic, Nigeria has recorded about 175,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 2,000 deaths, but the real figures could be much higher as testing is patchy.



The highly contagious Delta variant has recently been detected in the country and authorities have warned infections are rising.



(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, writing by Estelle Shirbon, editing by Giles Elgood)

MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE

Nigeria to resume COVID vaccinations on Aug. 16

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924407-1628577059768-gettyimages-1234583715-China_Nanjing_Covid-19_Test.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411362" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924407-1628577059768-gettyimages-1234583715-China_Nanjing_Covid-19_Test.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924407-1628577059768-gettyimages-1234583715-China_Nanjing_Covid-19_Test-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924407-1628577059768-gettyimages-1234583715-China_Nanjing_Covid-19_Test-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Medical personnel work on the sixth round of covid-19 test since late July in Nanjing in east China’s Jiangsu province on Sunday, August 08, 2021. Feature China | Barcroft Media | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



China has tightened Covid-19 measures to combat an uptick in daily cases — a move that could hold back the country’s economic growth and hit its stock markets, said veteran strategist David Roche.



Investor sentiment toward Chinese stocks has been dampened by Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on sectors including technology and after-school tutoring.



“Markets have got into the mode of thinking Covid is very&#8230; bad, but economic recovery (is) taking away lockdowns, removing social restrictions — that’s kind of the world recipe at the moment,” Roche, president and global strategist at Independent Strategy, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2017/pfizer-roche-aspen-face-south-africa-probe-cancer-drug-prices/">Pfizer, Roche and Aspen face South Africa probe over cancer drug prices</a></h3>



“Well it’s very much not the world recipe in China for good reasons, and therefore markets have to come to terms with the fact that there are economic costs not only within China, but globally as a result of this,” he added.



The country’s National Health Commission reported 143 new Covid cases in mainland China on Monday — the highest number of daily infections since January, according to Reuters. Chinese state media attributed the latest resurgence in infections to the highly transmissible delta variant.



Chinese authorities last week ordered mass testing in Wuhan city — where the coronavirus was first detected — and imposed widespread movement restrictions in major cities including Beijing.



Some economists have raised concerns about China’s “zero tolerance” approach to Covid, which refers to the country’s aggressive clampdown on any flare-ups in Covid cases. The approach, which includes strict lockdowns and mass testing, helped China keep previous outbreaks under control before the latest resurgence.



But the delta variant is more contagious and could be more difficult to contain — and that could hurt economic recovery in China, economists have warned.



“If lockdowns and vaccination progress do not allow local economies to reopen by mid-August or early September we will need to revisit our 8.8% 2021 GDP forecast,” economists from Australian bank ANZ wrote in a Tuesday report.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-china-effect-on-the-global-economy"><a></a>China effect on the global economy</h2>



Any disruptions in the Chinese economy could affect global economic growth, said Roche.



The strategist explained that broader lockdowns across China could interrupt global supply chains – much of which are located in the country.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/roche-sanofi-arthritis-drugs-reduce-death-rates-among-sickest-covid-19-patients/">Roche, Sanofi arthritis drugs reduce death rates among sickest COVID-19 patients</a></h3>



That could hit international trade, increase the costs of some goods, and raise inflation expectations around the world, he added.



Roche expects China’s year-on-year growth in the third quarter to slow to between 2% and 3% from the second quarter’s 7.9% expansion.



Over the longer term, China’s economic growth will settle at around 5% to 6%, according to Roche.



“I think China is in the process of exiting its big recovery story from Covid, which of course is ahead of the world &#8230; and is now converging with a long-term growth trajectory which is much, much lower than what people became used to in China,” he said.

106924407-1628577059768-gettyimages-1234583715-China_Nanjing_Covid-19_Test

China’s Covid lockdown could have economic costs to the world, says strategist

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="526" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-9-820x526.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408221" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-9-820x526.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-9-300x192.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-9-125x80.jpg 125w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-9-768x493.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-9-1536x985.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-9-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>CAPE TOWN/SOUTH AFRICA, 12JUN2009 &#8211; Jacob Zuma, Presdent of South Africa, at the Closing Plenary : Africa&#8217;s Roadmap: From Crisis to Opportunity held during the World Economic Forum on Africa 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa, June 12, 2009

Copyright World Economic Forum www.weforum.org / Eric Miller emiller@iafrica.com</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Aug 10 (Reuters) &#8211; A South African court on Tuesday again <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/court-grants-delay-in-former-president-jacob-zumas-arms-deal-corruption-trial/">postponed a long-delayed corruption trial</a> against jailed former president Jacob Zuma to September 9 following<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/former-president-zuma-admitted-to-hospital-from-prison/"> his hospitalisation last week</a> for an undisclosed medical condition.



Zuma, whose jailing last month for <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-court-gives-ex-leader-zuma-15-months-jail-for-inquiry-no-show/">15 months on a separate contempt of court matter</a> led to a wave of looting and unrest, was expected to appear in court in a $2 billion arms deal corruption case that led to his sacking as South Africa&#8217;s deputy president in 2005.



He was moved to a hospital on Friday for medical observation. Prison officials did not provide details on his condition.



High Court Judge Piet Koen granted the postponement but ordered Zuma&#8217;s team to produce a medical report by Aug. 20. He also ordered the state to appoint a medical doctor of its choice to assess whether Zuma was fit to stand trial and give evidence.



&#8220;We are at the moment completely in the dark as to the justification for the postponement, more particularly Mr Zuma&#8217;s condition,&#8221; said Wim Trengove, representing the National Prosecuting Authority, during a virtual hearing.



Trengove said that, according to a letter from Zuma&#8217;s doctor, the former president suffered from a condition requiring extensive emergency procedures that had been delayed for 18 months.



&#8220;We find it very hard to understand how that suddenly transforms into an inability to stand trial,&#8221; he said.



Zuma&#8217;s lawyer Dali Mpofu said his client&#8217;s medical condition was a matter of confidentiality.



&#8220;The fact that the problem has existed for 18 months is exactly the reason why it is exacerbated now, especially since the incarceration of the accused,&#8221; he told the hearing.



Zuma, 79, last month asked the Constitutional Court to annul his jail sentence, partly on the grounds that he was suffering from an unspecified medical condition.



In the dock with French arms firm Thales, Zuma is facing 18 charges including corruption and money laundering and has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Thales has also denied wrongdoing. 



(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Raissa Kasolowsky)

World Economic Forum on Africa 2009

Court postpones Zuma’s corruption trial to next month

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411348" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Nurses watch a computer screen in Bogota, Colombia on February 18, 2021. JUAN BARRETO | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are highly protected against severe infection, hospitalization and death caused by the virus. But coronavirus cases among the fully vaccinated — so-called “breakthrough” Covid cases — are still being seen among those who have had two doses.



This is happening for a number of reasons, experts note.&nbsp;



For a start, none of the vaccines being deployed in the U.S. or Europe are 100% effective at preventing infection.



In addition, new Covid strains such as the highly infectious delta variant — which is now prevalent around the world —have complicated the efficacy picture. There is also incomplete data into how long immunity from Covid lasts following vaccination.



The alarm was raised over breakthrough Covid cases when preliminary data in Israel — which had one of the fastest vaccination programs in the world — published in late July found that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was just 40.5% effective at preventing symptomatic disease.



The analysis, which was carried out as the delta variant became the country’s dominant strain, still found that having two doses of the shot provided strong protection against severe illness and hospitalization, however, the country’s Health Ministry reported.



The data also appeared to show a waning effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot too, with the vaccine only 16% effective against symptomatic infection for those individuals who had two doses of the shot back in January. For people that had received two doses by April, the efficacy rate (against symptomatic infection) stood at 79%, however.



But a study in England carried out from April to May found that, after two doses, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease caused by the delta variant.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/more-infectious-covid-19-variants-account-for-most-uae-cases-authority-says/">More infectious COVID-19 variants account for most UAE cases, authority says</a></h3>



Comparing the results is tricky, however, given differences in the nature of the vaccination programs in both countries (Israel gave all its adult population the Pfizer vaccine, for example, while in the U.K. there are several vaccines in use, with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot predominantly given to younger people) as well as differences in the study dates, Covid testing regimes and age groups.



Like the Israeli data, the English data also concluded that after two doses the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalization from the delta variant. Similarly, it found that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was 92% effective in preventing hospitalization after two doses.



Initial vaccine efficacy data following clinical trials, released by Pfizer and BioNTech last year, showed that the vaccine was 95% effective against infection from strains of the virus that were circulating at the time.



Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick’s Medical School in the U.K., told CNBC that cases of Covid in fully vaccinated people are a reminder that “no vaccine is 100% effective.”



“There will always be a proportion of individuals who will still remain susceptible to infection and illness,” he said Monday.



“There are also two other factors that impact vaccine effectiveness: (1) waning immunity — we still don’t know how long vaccine-induced protective immunity lasts. This is very likely to be a factor in those elderly and more vulnerable individuals who were vaccinated early in the vaccine rollout program,” he noted.



The second factor, he added, related to “breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals due to the more infectious delta variant” which added weight to the case for booster vaccination programs, he said. As yet, the jury is still out on booster programs with a decision yet to be made in the U.S. and U.K.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breakthrough-cases-by-number"><a></a>Breakthrough cases by number</h2>



It’s difficult to know the full extent of “breakthrough” Covid cases but figures collected by NBC News has found that at least 125,000 fully vaccinated Americans have tested positive for Covid and 1,400 of those have died. Still, the 125,682 “breakthrough” cases in 38 states found by NBC News represented less than 0.08% of the 164.2 million-plus people (and counting) who have been fully vaccinated since the start of the year, or about one in every 1,300.



That is, the number of cases and deaths among the vaccinated is very small compared to the number among the unvaccinated. Health officials, particularly in the States, are urging unvaccinated people to come forward for Covid immunization.



Andrew Freedman, a reader in infectious diseases at the U.K.’s Cardiff Medical School, told CNBC that “breakthrough” cases were to be expected.



“The vaccines are very good at protecting against severe infection, hospitalization and death but they’re les effective at protecting completely against infection and we know that many people who have been fully vaccinated are still getting delta infections with, in most cases, mild symptoms,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.



“What we don’t know is whether giving an additional booster will actually increase protection and reduce delta variant infections,” he noted.



It must be emphasized that studies show that fully vaccinated people are much less likely to suffer from a Covid infection — or to contract the virus in the first place.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/delta-variant-is-one-of-the-most-infectious-respiratory-diseases-known-cdc-director-says/">Delta variant is one of the most infectious respiratory diseases known, CDC director says</a></h3>



New research from the U.K. released last Friday showed that double vaccinated people were three times less likely than unvaccinated people to test positive for the coronavirus.



Analyses of PCR test results in the REACT-1 study — a major coronavirus monitoring program in Britain led by Imperial College London — also suggested that fully vaccinated people may also be less likely than unvaccinated people to pass the virus on to others, due to having a smaller viral load on average and therefore likely shedding less virus.



Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT program from Imperial’s School of Public Health, said the findings highlighted both the advantages and limitations of Covid vaccines.



“These findings confirm our previous data showing that both doses of a vaccine offer good protection against getting infected. However we can also see that there is still a risk of infection, as no vaccine is 100% effective, and we know that some double vaccinated people can still become ill from the virus,” he said.



Steven Riley, a professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial, said that so-called “breakthrough infections” in fully vaccinated people needed to be studied further, particularly as parts of the world contend with the spread of the delta variant.



“The delta variant is known to be highly infectious, and as a result we can see from our data and others’ that breakthrough infections are happening in fully vaccinated people. We need to better understand how infectious fully vaccinated people who become infected are, as this will help to better predict the situation in the coming months, and our findings are contributing to a more comprehensive picture of this.”

106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6

Fully vaccinated people are still getting infected with Covid. Experts explain why

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="656" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-1_cropped-820x656.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408759" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-1_cropped-820x656.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-1_cropped-300x240.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-1_cropped-100x80.jpg 100w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-1_cropped-768x614.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Jacob_Zuma_2009_World_Economic_Forum_on_Africa-1_cropped.jpg 1481w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>CAPE TOWN/SOUTH AFRICA, 10JUN2009 -Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director, World Bank, Washington DC; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum, at the Opening Plenary on Africa and the New Global Economy at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa, June 10, 2009

Copyright World Economic Forum www.weforum.org / Matthew Jordaan mattjordaanphoto@gmail.com</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 9 (Reuters) &#8211; Prosecutors and lawyers for&nbsp;South&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s jailed former president Jacob Zuma, who has been in <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/former-president-zuma-admitted-to-hospital-from-prison/">hospital since Friday</a>, have jointly asked a judge to postpone his scheduled appearance this week in a corruption trial, his foundation said on Monday.



Zuma, whose jailing last month on a contempt of court case led to a wave of <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/looting-arson-before-hearing-of-s-africas-former-leader-zuma/">looting and unrest</a>, was expected to appear at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday in an arms deal corruption case dating from his time as vice president.



The 79-year-old is serving a <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-african-ex-leader-zuma-gets-15-months-jail-for-inquiry-no-show-as-legal-options-run-out/">15-month sentence</a> at Estcourt prison in KwaZulu-Natal province but was moved to a hospital on Friday for medical observation.



&#8220;The NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) on behalf of all the parties sent a joint letter to Hon Judge Koen reflecting the parties&#8217; agreement to postpone the hearing,&#8221; the Foundation said on Twitter.



The request had been made because the former president was in hospital, it added.



NPA spokesman Mthuzi Mahaga declined to comment on whether a postponement request had been made. Zuma&#8217;s lawyers did not respond to an email seeking comment.



&#8220;The matter involving former President Jacob Zuma and the Thales Group will resume in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on 10 August 2021,&#8221; the Office of the Chief Justice said in a statement.



The Pietermaritzburg High Court is in KwaZulu-Natal &#8211; Zuma&#8217;s home province &#8211; where he enjoys strong support and which was the centre of almost a week of looting and arson that spread to other parts of the country and claimed over 300 lives.



His appearance could once again cause protests, especially in Pietermaritzburg.



Zuma faces charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering over a $2 billion arms deal involving French company Thales (then known as Thomson-CSF).



Zuma and Thales both have pleaded not guilty. 



(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Giles Elgood and Angus MacSwan)

ETHIOPIA-AU-SUMMIT-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="532" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA-820x532.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-410492" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA-820x532.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA-123x80.jpg 123w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA-768x498.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA-1536x996.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A healthcare worker receives the Johnson and Johnson coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination at Khayelitsha Hospital near Cape Town, South Africa, February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 6 (Reuters) &#8211; Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is working well in&nbsp;South&nbsp;Africa, offering protection against severe disease and death, the head of a trial in the country said on Friday.



The J&amp;J vaccine was administered to healthcare workers from mid-February in a research study, which was completed in May, with 477,234 health workers vaccinated, joint lead investigator on the trial Glenda Gray told a media briefing.



South Africa&#8217;s health regulator approved the J&amp;J shot in April, and it is being used in the national vaccine programme alongside Pfizer&#8217;s.



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Gray said the single-shot J&amp;J vaccine offered 91% to 96.2% protection against death, while offering 67% efficacy when the Beta coronavirus variant dominates and about 71% when the Delta variant dominates.



&#8220;Consistently after receiving the vaccine, there was very little death occurring in the vaccinated group as compared to the control group and showing a remarkable up to 96.2% protection against death,&#8221; Gray said.



&#8220;This was our primary endpoint and we are able to say this vaccine protected health workers against death,&#8221; she added. 



(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Jason Neely and Alexander Smith)

SB2IUNPQ2ZKXDERTZ7Y5SB2LQA

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="587" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JKOVXWJH5BI3RFVD6UUXVLOP3I-820x587.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411284" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JKOVXWJH5BI3RFVD6UUXVLOP3I-820x587.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JKOVXWJH5BI3RFVD6UUXVLOP3I-300x215.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JKOVXWJH5BI3RFVD6UUXVLOP3I-126x90.jpg 126w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JKOVXWJH5BI3RFVD6UUXVLOP3I-768x550.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JKOVXWJH5BI3RFVD6UUXVLOP3I.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation address in parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, February 11, 2021. Esa Alexander/Pool via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 5 (Reuters) &#8211;&nbsp;South&nbsp;African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday appointed the Development Bank of&nbsp;Southern&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s chair, Enoch Godongwana, as finance minister in a Cabinet reshuffle, replacing Tito Mboweni who had asked to be excused from his position.



Ramaphosa, who took office in 2018, has pledged to reform and revive an ailing economy, attract foreign investors and crack down on corruption.



The reshuffle included nine other minister positions and 11 deputy minister appointments.



Ramaphosa said he made the changes to improve government&#8217;s ability to speed the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, rebuild the economy and ensure stability in the wake of recent violence and destruction in parts of the country.



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Godongwana, who is also the chairman of the ruling&nbsp;African National Congress&#8217; (ANC) economic transformation subcommittee, is an influential figure in the ANC and government&#8217;s economic policy and has previously served in government as deputy minister of public enterprises and deputy minister of economic development.



Razia Khan, chief economist for&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;and Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank, said Godongwana represents continuity and stability in treasury.



&#8220;He has been reasonably well-known to investors for some time,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Moreover, Godongwana will bring to the role key attributes that may strengthen the likelihood of reform in&nbsp;South&nbsp;Africa.&#8221;



She added: &#8220;Not least, there is his ability to work with other key ANC constituents, winning them over in support of much-needed growth enhancing and fiscal reforms.&#8221;



Mboweni had been keen to leave government, after agreeing to accept the position following the sudden departure of former minister Nhlanhla Nene in October 2018.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mkhize-bows-out-new-faces">MKHIZE BOWS OUT, NEW FACES</h2>



The deputy health minister, Joe Phaahla, will now head the health ministry, Ramaphosa said, replacing Zweli Mkhize who has also resigned after being on special leave following allegations that his department irregularly awarded COVID-19-related contracts to a communications company controlled by his former associates.



Mkhize had also requested the president to allow him to step down &#8220;in order to bring certainty and stability to this important portfolio,&#8221; Ramaphosa added.



In a major shakeup of the security cluster &#8211; whose weaknesses were exposed by last month&#8217;s unrest &#8211; Ramaphosa scrapped the ministry of state security, moving it into the Presidency.



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The minister of defence and military veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, whose standing with Ramaphosa took a knock when she contradicted him saying the unrest was not an insurrection, was axed, while state security minister Ayanda Dlodlo was moved to head up public service and administration.



Thandi Modise, former speaker of the National Assembly, will take over from Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who in turn will be deployed to a new position.



&#8220;While calm has been restored to the affected areas and our law enforcement agencies are working hard to bring those responsible to justice, we have acknowledged that our security services were found wanting in several respects,&#8221; Ramaphosa said.



He also appointed a panel to review the government&#8217;s response to the recent <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-violence-looting-ebbs-but-death-toll-up-to-117/">looting and damage to businesses</a> including 3,000 shops in some parts of the country in order to prevent a recurrence. 



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla in Johannesburg; Editing by Promit Mukherjee, Sandra Maler and Matthew Lewis)

JKOVXWJH5BI3RFVD6UUXVLOP3I 2

President Ramaphosa appoints Godongwana as finance minister as Mboweni resigns

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="540" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-820x540.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408816" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-820x540.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-121x80.jpg 121w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-1536x1012.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



BRUSSELS, Aug 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Senegal&#8217;s Institut Pasteur of Dakar (IPD) has reached a deal with U.S. company MedInstill for the bottling of COVID-19 shots, an EU document shows, marking a step to becoming a fully-fledged maker of coronavirus vaccines for Africa.



The European Union is a major financial backer of the project which aims to enable IPD to manufacture 300 million COVID-19 vaccines a year and reduce Africa&#8217;s reliance on imported vaccines. IPD, however, has yet to secure a partnership with a COVID vaccine patent holder to produce shots.



African countries have so far received a tiny portion of COVID-19 shots produced globally, as wealthy nations have bought most of the output. South Africa&#8217;s Aspen Pharmacare, which produces the Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, is Africa&#8217;s only COVID vaccine producer at present.



&#8220;IPD plans in a first phase to work on fill &amp; finish and only later to carry out full production,&#8221; the internal EU document seen by Reuters said.



&#8220;At the moment, partnerships have been signed with U.S. firm MedInstill for the fill &amp; finish, and with Belgian company Univercells for the development of the active substance,&#8221; the document, which was produced by the EU diplomatic delegation in Dakar, said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-demands-local-production-of-covid-vaccines">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-demands-local-production-of-covid-vaccines/">Africa demands local production of COVID vaccines</a></h3>



MedInstill declined to comment on the deal. IPD did not respond to a request for comment.



Backers of the IPD project announced last month that a new plant in Senegal to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines would produce 25 million doses per month by the end of 2022.



The EU document seen by Reuters said the plant is expected to begin production at the end of the second quarter of next year.



The deal with Univercells was first reported by Reuters in June.



The EU document said that the key decision on what type of COVID-19 vaccine will be produced at IPD has not yet been made. It lists as a major risk for the whole project the difficulties linked to the selection of the vaccine technology.



Two options are being assessed more closely at the moment, it says. The first is a partnership with BioNTech for the production in Senegal of the mRNA vaccine that the German firm has developed with U.S. giant Pfizer.



The second is a new partnership deal with Univercells for the production of a viral vector shot, which the Belgian firm is developing with Italy&#8217;s ReiThera. Or alternatively the production of an mRNA vaccine, which Univercells is trying to develop through its unit Quantoom Biosciences.



BioNTech declined to comment and Univercells did not respond to requests for comment.



The document says that &#8220;in theory&#8221; other holders of COVID-19 vaccine patents could be interested in making their shots in Senegal, citing AstraZeneca and Johnson &amp; Johnson .



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



Only vaccines that have already been approved by a major drugs regulator, such as the European Medicines Agency, or are pre-qualified by the World Health Organization can be chosen for production in Senegal, the EU document says. Univercells&#8217; potential vaccines are still being trialled and have no authorisation yet.



Senegal&#8217;s Institut Pasteur is the only facility in Africa currently producing a vaccine &#8211; a yellow fever shot &#8211; that is pre-qualified by the WHO, which requires manufacturers to meet strict international standards.



There are currently fewer than 10 African manufacturers that produce vaccines against any disease, in Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.



The EU has said it wants to back the development of vaccine production hubs in at least three African countries, including Senegal and South Africa. 



(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt and Carl O&#8217;Donnell in New York and Alessandra Prentice in Dakar; Editing by Susan Fenton)

vaccine

Africa’s COVID vaccine project takes a step forward with bottling agreement -document

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-401605" width="820" height="547" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Toronto,,Ontario,,Canada,-,February,14,,2021,:,A,Health Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Aug 5 (Reuters) &#8211; African Union officials said on Thursday that the body had begun shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired through a Johnson &amp; Johnson deal, but they raised alarm at the pace of total deliveries to a region where only 1.5% of people are vaccinated.



The AU&#8217;s COVID special envoy Strive Masiyiwa said the start of the J&amp;J shipments marked a step forward for the continent of more than 1.3 billion people, but he called Africa&#8217;s situation regarding vaccine deliveries a &#8220;crisis&#8221;.



&#8220;We were supposed to have received, by now, 320 million doses,&#8221; he told a virtual news conference. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t get them.&#8221; As of Monday, African nations had received a total of 103 million COVID vaccine doses, John Nkengasong, head of Africa&#8217;s disease control body, told the same news conference.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



Masiyiwa said the reasons for this could be debated, but noted that the global vaccine-sharing facility known as COVAX had told the AU in January that it planned to ship 320 million doses to African states by August.



&#8220;The WHO (World Health Organisation) yesterday at a meeting informed us that the actual shipments were less than 13 million.&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s 10% percent of what we were told we would get.&#8221;



The global partnership COVAX was intended to get shots in arms of people in poor countries whose governments were unable to afford and negotiate deals for vaccines early on. It has been plagued by delays including the halt of vaccine shipments from India amid a catastrophic surge of cases there. The United Nations-backed COVAX has said it has also struggled with funding shortages and bureaucratic hurdles in its effort to independently purchase doses.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/jj-in-deal-to-supply-covid-19-vaccine-to-african-union-member-states/">J&amp;J in deal to supply COVID-19 vaccine to African Union member states</a></h3>



Africa remains in the grip of a third wave of the pandemic, Nkengasong said on Thursday, and in the past four weeks the continent has recorded a 2% increase in cases and a 6% increase in deaths.



The pace of inoculations in poor countries, including all of Africa, has exposed vast global inequalities. On Thursday the WHO called for a halt on COVID-19 vaccine boosters, which some higher income countries are considering, until at least the end of September, citing the widening gap between vaccinations in wealthy and poor countries. 



(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

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Shell to pay $111 million over decades-old Nigerian oil spill

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WHO says it urgently needs $7.7 billion to help poorer nations survive delta Covid variant

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African Union says J&J vaccine shipments begin, warns of slow pace of deliveries

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