The International Labour Organisation&nbsp;<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2015/04/497132-new-un-report-finds-bulk-worlds-rural-populations-excluded-healthcare-access">estimated</a>&nbsp;in 2015 that 56% of people living in rural areas worldwide do not have access to essential healthcare services. And in Ghana today, rural people can’t always get basic healthcare like antenatal checkups and vaccinations, because there aren’t enough quality healthcare facilities or trained personnel.



Mobile technology offers ways to address these gaps. It can reduce costs and connect people to health care providers.



Mobile health, or m-health, involves the use of portable devices to create, share and store information to improve patient safety and care. It includes using mobile phone applications such as SMS, voice calling and wireless data transmission to collect or disseminate health-related information. And to offer direct care in the form of advice.



M-health solutions have been used to monitor cardiovascular patients in China and the US, for example. And in Japan and South Africa, m-health allows people in remote areas of the country to communicate via wireless networks to get timely information to manage their own health.



Ghana could be a good candidate for m-health services because of its large, medically underserved rural population and its uptake of mobile technology.



The World Bank&nbsp;<a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?locations=GH">reports</a>&nbsp;that Ghana had a rural population of nearly 44% in 2018. The&nbsp;<a href="https://healtheconomicsreview.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13561-016-0128-0">ratio of doctors</a>&nbsp;to patients in rural regions is about 1:18,257 compared to 1:4,099 in an urban region. In contrast to the scarcity of health personnel in rural Ghana, the country has the highest mobile penetration in West Africa and already outperforms many of its regional peers. By the end of 2019,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/blog/the-state-of-mobile-in-ghanas-tech-ecosystem/#:%7E:text=Ghana%20has%20the%20highest%20mobile,is%20at%2044.8%20per%20cent.&amp;text=There%20are%2013.1%20million%20active,million%20registered">mobile adoption</a>stood at 55%, higher than the regional average of 44.8%



This means a huge number of rural people could receive digital services. In our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14783363.2018.1541734">study</a>, we explored how mobile health could be used or improved as part of the effort to broaden access to maternal health care for rural Ghanaians.



We developed a model to assess service quality in m-health. We wanted to know which aspects of service quality would influence user satisfaction and continued use of an m-health service.



Our study found that the quality of human interaction – in other words the person providing the service – had a positive and significant relationship with user satisfaction. We also established that people who are more vulnerable to health-related challenges might show much interest in health innovation such as m-health and might be more willing to continue to use the services than those who are healthy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What we found</h2>



Ghana has seen a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jmir.org/2019/2/e11268/">proliferation</a>&nbsp;of m-health programmes alongside increasing rates of phone usage in the population. At least 22 different projects have been piloted since 2004.



The women surveyed in our study used m-health services to monitor common pregnancy related issues like the rate of development of their babies and their own individual health.



To assess service quality we measured three dimensions: system quality (users’ perceptions of the technical level of communication); interaction quality (communication between service provider and consumer); and information quality (benefits of information services).



All three m-health quality dimensions were positive and significant on continual use. But we found that of the three m-health service quality dimensions – interaction quality – had the strongest relationship with user satisfaction. In other words, what mattered most to the women who used the service was communication with the service provider.



We found that more than the cost of acquiring a hand set and reliable mobile networks, the patience of health personnel in explaining health issues and helping the respondents to navigate same, was the most important determinant of user satisfaction. This result contrasted with a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225654619_Service_quality_of_mHealth_platforms_Development_and_validation_of_a_hierarchical_model_using_PLS">study</a>&nbsp;which found that all the service quality dimensions had a positive relationship with satisfaction.



We also found a significant relationship between user satisfaction and continual usage. Women who were satisfied with the service said they would continue to use it. Rural women who perceived m-health service costs (equipment and service access) as affordable also have a greater tendency to be satisfied and willing to continue using the system, in the absence of alternative care, than those who considered it expensive.



It could be argued that cost also contributes to continual usage and we found that the majority of the respondents (59%) were using shared phones from relatives and friends to access the services.



In spite of the importance of cost, we still conclude that what influences m-health quality, user satisfaction and usage the most is the human side of the service.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to improve mobile health services</h2>



Policy makers and service providers can learn from our findings. We recommend that health personnel should deliver timely services and provide the right service the first time. They should provide information that is safe for maternal healthcare and customised to individuals.



Any additional cost such as an m-health service fee might discourage rural women from using the service. Policy makers and service providers should consider developing and deploying innovative m-health subsidy support schemes.



Finally, managers of m-health services must constantly identify the changing needs of their customers and continuously improve their services accordingly. The Ministry of Health and regional public sector health institutions could consider introducing or strengthening customer service units to oversee m-health programmes.



Service providers should also remember that societal needs change over time. Users’ desire for quality and preferences in technology services might change as they become more exposed to information technology and competitors’ services.

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Mobile health services can help in rural Ghana if they have the human touch

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African banks are looking at options ranging from debt consolidation to new ways of leveraging equity to avoid defaults when coronavirus-related debt relief measures end, industry officials said.



The banks gave customers in good standing relief on loans during the pandemic, including payment holidays of up to three months. But some consumers are still in trouble.



Some banks have offered extensions, while others like Capitec offered to refund interest accumulated during payment holidays.



Jacques Celliers, CEO of FirstRand’s retail division, said the lender was worried about the impact of job losses and wanted to avoid a wave of property evictions that would affect prices.



Mortgages make up 59% of 489 billion rand ($28.88 billion) in loans considered at risk, according to the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA).



“We’ll have to be very clever between all of us as to how do we navigate the property game,” Celliers said.



Options could include leveraging the equity in properties, including family members’ properties, in new ways, using pensions or granting term extensions on mortgages, he said.



Anton de Wet, chief client officer in Nedbank’s retail and business bank, said debt consolidation on home loans was a possibility and that term extensions, as well as other solutions, could be discussed with customers individually.



Standard Bank also said its solutions were based on individual clients’ circumstances. Absa said it would make an announcement on its post-debt relief plans in the near future.



Banks have already warned of rising bad loans: Capitec, for instance, said its credit impairment charge was 145% above expectation and it had increased provisions by 3.3 billion rand since February.



Some banks have applied a less-stringent approach to provisioning for loans granted relief after regulators allowed more flexibility in strict new accounting rules.



BASA managing director Bongiwe Kunene said higher provisions could be triggered if consumers can’t keep up with payments following the relief period.



($1 = 16.9307 rand)

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S.Africa’s banks mull how to avoid loan defaults when virus relief ends

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Africa could have a COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021 if human trials underway in South Africa succeed, a university professor heading the trials said on Thursday.



The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 experimental vaccine is one of 19 being tested on humans globally in a race to find vaccines to stop a pandemic that has killed more than half a million people so far.



It is also being tested in Brazil by Oxford University scientists who are working with British drugmaker AstraZeneca on development and production.



“A vaccine could be made commercial as early as the beginning of next year,” said Shabir Madhi, professor of vaccinology at University of Witwatersrand who is leading the South African trial.



“But it is completely dependent on the results of clinical trials,” he cautioned, adding that out of the 19 potential vaccines being tried out, the most positive outcome would be if even two succeed.



Trials will depend on 2,000 volunteers aged 18-65 years who will be monitored for 12 months after vaccination to asses its efficacy.



Madhi, however, said early results could be seen by November or December.



“The timing of an efficacy read-out depends on when we have approximately 42 Covid-19 cases at least one month after vaccination,” he said.



COVID-19 cases in Africa topped half a million as of Wednesday, with almost 12,000 deaths.



Madhi said governments must put in an upfront purchase order for the potential vaccine.



A number of countries, including the United States and several in the European Union, have struck deals with drugmakers to reserve supplies of the experimental vaccines, even before they have been approved.



“(The) big challenge is we are looking at requiring billions of doses of vaccine. It is really going to be how companies can scale up and make it affordable and accessible,” said Pontiano Kaleebu, director at Uganda Virus Research Institute.



African manufacturers have not manufactured a single vaccine in the last 25 years, Madhi said.

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Africa could have COVID-19 vaccine in Q1 if human trials work: S.Africa trial lead

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Struggling South African power utility Eskom implemented planned power outages for the first time since March on Friday, ending a period of unusually stable power supply thanks to reduced demand during a coronavirus lockdown.



Eskom, which generates the vast majority of South Africa’s power but for years has had to manage supply from its ageing coal-fired power plants using blackouts, said the outages would last from 1000 GMT until 2000 GMT though the system could remain under pressure through the weekend.



“This loadshedding has been caused by an increase in plant breakdowns exceeding 3,000 megawatts of capacity,” Eskom said in a statement, using the local term for power cuts.



It added it was working to return broken-down generation units back to service and asked the public to limit their usage to take some of the burden off.



Eskom had to implement some of the worst blackouts in years in late 2019, putting further strain on South Africa’s already struggling economy which tipped into recession in the final quarter of the year.



But it received an unexpected respite when the pandemic struck and the government implemented a nationwide lockdown, taking many power-hungry industries offline for weeks.



The vast majority of the economy has now returned to work, and demand is also higher due to cold weather.



Its Chief Executive Andre du Ruyter told lawmakers in May that it expected only three days of stage-one power cuts, in which up to 1,000 megawatts are taken off the national grid, during the winter period.

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South Africa’s Eskom implements first power outages in months

TOKYO (Reuters) &#8211; With just over a year to go until the Tokyo Olympics, medical experts say the event could pose a grave health risk to the Japanese public, predicting that few people will have coronavirus antibodies and that vaccines will not be widely available.



Olympic organisers and the Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments are scrambling for steps to prevent the pandemic from derailing the event. But they say concrete plans are unlikely to shape up before the end of this year.



The global death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, reached half a million late last month, and cases topped 10 million.



Although Tokyo on Thursday confirmed 224 new infections, a record high for a single day, Japan has largely avoided the disastrous effects seen in other countries.



That has scientists and medical experts concerned about how things might look next summer, a year after the Tokyo Games were postponed.



In interviews with a dozen infectious diseases experts, a common theme emerged: the Olympics would increase the risk of an outbreak.



“Infection will flare up if we push ahead with the Olympics and hold them. There is no doubt about it,” said Daiichi Morii, a doctor at Osaka University Hospital’s infection control team.



“The virus is barely under control as we are putting a halt on the inflow of people from overseas,” Morii added. “With events like the Olympics, the virus will come in for sure and the number of infections will shoot up inevitably.”



Japan’s success in containing the virus is part of the reason. A recent government survey showed only 0.1% of Tokyo residents have coronavirus antibodies. That is much lower than 14% in the state of New York in April, and 7% in Stockholm.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“Very few are infected in Japan and pretty much everyone is susceptible,” said Katsunori Yanagihara, professor in Nagasaki University’s school of tropical medicine and global health.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Antibodies help fight off infections, and scientists say having antibodies for the coronavirus might provide protection against re-infection. &nbsp;&nbsp;



There are more than 100 potential vaccines in development, but experts say none will likely be available in enough quantity in time for the Olympics, which involves about 200 countries.



“Even if a vaccine has been developed by then, it’s near impossible for it to go around the world,” said Atsuo Hamada, a professor at Tokyo Medical University Hospital.



A Tokyo voter survey by the Asahi Shimbun daily late last month showed that 59 percent of those polled believe the Olympics should be cancelled or postponed again, underscoring the public’s nagging worries about the pandemic.



In a bid to address such concerns, Yoshiro Mori, head of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee, on Monday told the capital’s governor, Yuriko Koike, that he planned to set up a task force with the central and metropolitan governments by September.



In the meeting, they discussed infection screening for foreign visitors and limiting crowd sizes, public broadcaster NHK reported.



Japan has had only about 20,000 cases and 980 deaths. Researchers have cited various factors for those low numbers, from the nation’s robust healthcare system to infrequent hugging and handshaking. But they say there is no clear single reason for the country’s success.



Norio Sugaya, a member of the World Health Organization’s influenza panel, said people in Japan should not feel secure just because of the relatively small scale of infections and deaths there so far.



“Talks about how Japan has ridden out the first wave successfully. Talks about ‘Japan miracle’. Those make me very worried,” Sugaya said. “It’s terrifying if there are people out there who believe Japan is invincible.”

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With one year to go, experts warn of high-risk Tokyo Olympics amid pandemic

GABORONE (Reuters) &#8211; Botswana will ration fuel from Thursday, President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced, in a bid to ease a crippling shortage that has seen some consumers rush to stock up.



Long queues formed in recent weeks at fuel stations in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, as some ran dry. The shortages have disrupted businesses and threaten to exacerbate the woes of an economy already expected to shrink 13% this year.



Mokgweetsi said in a televised address that sales will be limited to the value of 250 pula ($21.40) worth of fuel, though the limit would not apply to front-line workers and public transport operators.



“We have also started to import fuel through Namibia and Mozambique to complement supplies from South Africa, where there are disruptions in the transportation industry,” he said, adding the government did not want strategic reserves to fall to below five days’ supply, from eight days’ currently.



The southern African country, which consumes about 3.3 million litres a day, normally keeps reserves at 12 days’ supply.



It has lifted a lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus but its borders remain closed, with only essential imports allowed and truckers tested for the virus and quarantined before they enter.



($1 = 11.6822 pulas)

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Botswana to ration fuel amid shortage

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will on Friday sign into law a 10.8 trillion naira ($28.38 billion) revised 2020 budget passed by lawmakers last month, the presidency said on Twitter on Thursday.



The budget was passed by parliament in June after it was revised as part of an effort by the government to tackle the new coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices.



Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed also on Thursday held talks with lawmakers during which she provided details of a framework for the government’s 2021-2023 spending plan, which she said she plans to submit to parliament later this month.



The benchmark price for oil for the 2021 fiscal year was pegged at $35, and then $40 for 2022 and 2023, respectively, according to a statement issued by the office of the leader of the Senate, parliament’s upper chamber.



The framework is used to calculate the government’s budget.



Oil production was placed at 1.86 million barrels per day (mbpd) for 2021, 2.09 mbpd for 2022, and 2.38 mbpd for the 2023. The exchange rate was set to remain at 360 naira per dollar.



Nigeria, the top oil producer in Africa, is heavily reliant on crude oil sales which make up around 90% of foreign exchange earnings.



($1 = 380.5000 naira)

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Nigeria’s President Buhari to sign revised 2020 budget into law on Friday -presidency

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; A South African court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by administrators in charge of South African Airways (SAA) against a ruling which prevented them from laying off staff.



The failure of the appeal means the administrators may have to start consultations about layoffs from scratch if employees do not accept severance packages they have been offered.



South African labour law stipulates a minimum two-month consultation period for layoffs.



The Labour Appeals Court upheld a May ruling that consultations on layoffs at SAA should wait until after the administrators published a rescue plan for the loss-making state airline.



That plan was published last month and tweaked earlier this week, after repeated delays and months of wrangling with the government and unions.



But the administrators, who took over SAA in December, issued notices to consult on job cuts in March, prompting some unions to approach the courts.



“The formulation of a business rescue plan is the central task of the business rescue practitioner,” read the Labour Appeals Court judgment seen by Reuters.



“As the business rescue plan must be published within a short period, retrenchments would be contained in the plan as opposed to a piecemeal reconstruction of the company which would allow a decision on retrenchments before the plan was published.”



The administrators said they were studying the judgment. The general secretary of the NUMSA union, Irvin Jim, celebrated it as a victory on Twitter.

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

South African court dismisses appeal against SAA layoff ruling

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; African countries must carry out more coronavirus testing and make people use masks, a regional disease control body said on Thursday as cases topped half a million in the continent.





New cases in Africa were up 24% over the past week, with data from governments and the World Health Organization showing it had 512,499 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 11,930 deaths.



“The pandemic is gaining full momentum,” John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a virtual news briefing from Addis Ababa.



Nkengasong said African countries, many of which do not have reliable data, must adopt an aggressive approach to encourage the wearing of face masks and ramp up testing and tracing.



“This will save lives and save (the) economy.”



Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Algeria account for 71% of infections on the continent, Nkengasong said.



Some governments have been reluctant to acknowledge epidemics or to expose crumbling health systems to outside scrutiny, while others are either too poor or conflict-ridden to carry out significant testing.



Nkengasong said it was inevitable that as cases rise, hospitals will become overwhelmed.



“That is something that is happening already. We will continue to see it as the pandemic expands,” he added.



Although many have also started gradually easing lockdowns to reopen hard-hit economies, governments are conscious that opening up too quickly could lead to a spike in new cases.



The African Union Commission said on Thursday it had launched a consortium for vaccine clinical trials to be headed by the Africa CDC, which aimed to secure more than 10 late stage vaccine clinical trials as early as possible.



South Africa and Egypt are already running human trials for a potential vaccine.

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

Africa urged to test more as coronavirus cases exceed 500,000

BLANTYRE, Malawi (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Malawi’s newly-elected President Lazarus Chakwera has appointed women to a record 12 of 31 cabinet positions, with the new female leaders vowing to use their roles to help other women.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="220" height="220" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Dr__Lazarus_McCarthy_Chakwera-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-375998" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Dr__Lazarus_McCarthy_Chakwera-2.jpg 220w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Dr__Lazarus_McCarthy_Chakwera-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Dr__Lazarus_McCarthy_Chakwera-2-100x100.jpg 100w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 220px) 100vw, 220px" /></figure>



Women now hold 39% of the ministerial and deputy minister roles in the cabinet appointed by Chakwera, 65, who unseated Peter Mutharika in a re-run presidential election last month, which compared to about 20% in the previous government.



Vera Kamtukule, chief executive for the Malawi Scotland Partnership who was appointed deputy labour minister, said she would not disappoint women in the southeast African nation.



“There is a lot that happens to women in their workplaces because of their gender,” Kamtukule told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.



“As a woman, I also have a female domestic worker myself and I treat her well since charity begins at home.”



Malawi is ranked 116 out of 153 nations in the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap index.



Since the last general election in 2019, women have held 22.9% of seats in parliament, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, although Malawi has a target of between 30 and 50% women’s representation like many Commonwealth countries.



Chakwera, head of the Malawi Congress Party, told a news conference that the appointment of more women into ministerial positions will ensure “enough representation of women in our administration”.



The move came amid a rise in feminist activism in Malawi and protests this year against sexual violence after a series of alleged police assaults on women.



Four women are now ministers, up from two, including for community development and social welfare, education, and health.



Minister for Forestry and Natural Resources, Nancy Tembo, said her appointment was important as women in Malawi have such a critical relationship with the natural environment.



“If you look at the life of a woman it is synonymous with the environment,” Tembo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.



“It is a woman who fetches firewood, draws water and provides shade for the family. I will therefore ensure that there is sustainability for natural resources.”



Women’s rights campaigners welcomed more women in cabinet, which is the highest since Malawi’s first female head of state, Joyce Banda, appointed eight women in her cabinet in 2012.



But they criticised removing gender as a portfolio from the ministry for children and community development and the fact most women were appointed deputies rather than as ministers.



“I don’t think we’ve had a cabinet where 30% was reached so that’s the reason why we’re applauding the new government,” Maggie Kathewera Banda, executive director for the Women Legal Resource Centre told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.



“But we no longer have a line ministry to look into gender equality &#8230; we wonder why the new government has decided to strip it off.”



Reporting by Charles Pensulo, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith @BeeGoldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly.

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Malawi’s new female cabinet ministers vow to push for jobs for women

(Reuters) &#8211; The S&amp;P 500 and Dow dropped on Thursday as investors worried about another round of business shutdowns to contain a surge in coronavirus cases and began to shift their focus to earnings, though the Nasdaq registered another record closing high.FILE PHOTO: Traders wear masks as they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson



The United States saw more than 60,000 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, setting a single-day global record while Florida and Texas reported a record one-day increase in deaths.



Investors also began to turn their focus to the second-quarter earnings season, which shifts into higher gear next week. S&amp;P 500 companies are expected to post the biggest quarterly decline in earnings since the financial crisis, based on IBES data from Refinitiv.



Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WBA.O">WBA.O</a>) tumbled 8.2% after it reported a quarterly loss compared with a profit a year earlier, hurt by non-cash impairment charges of $2 billion as COVID-19 disrupted business at its Boots UK division.



“I expect a lot of confusing numbers and guidance. COVID is certainly not behind us in any way shape or form, so maybe the V gets elongated some,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.



The Nasdaq hit another record high, however, helped by gains in Amazon.com (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>), Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>) and Apple Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AAPL.O">AAPL.O</a>).



Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;fell 360.64 points, or 1.38%, to 25,706.64, the S&amp;P 500&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;lost 17.74 points, or 0.56%, to 3,152.2 and the Nasdaq Composite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>&nbsp;added 55.25 points, or 0.53%, to 10,547.75.



Helping stocks early in the day was data showing the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits dropped to a near four-month low last week, but a record 32.9 million people were collecting unemployment checks in the third week of June.



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A batch of upbeat economic data including the record pace of job additions in June has underscored that the stimulus-fueled domestic economy was on the path to recovery.



The benchmark S&amp;P 500 has risen more than 40% from its March closing lows.



In a bullish signal for near-term momentum, the benchmark S&amp;P 500’s chart formed a “golden cross” pattern, in which its 50-day moving average vaulted above the 200-day moving average.

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Dow, S&P 500 end lower on fears over surging virus cases but Nasdaq hits record high

KAMPALA (Reuters) &#8211; Uganda’s central Bank (BoU) has threatened to cap the interest that commercial banks can charge borrowers, after the industry failed to reduce loan rates in response to cuts in benchmark rates, according to a letter from its governor.



The BoU cut its Central Bank Rate by 200 basis points to an all-time low of 7% between April and June, to try to help jumpstart an economy battered by the impact of the coronavirus.



Its governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile said in the letter, &#8211; dated July 7, sent to all commercial banks and seen by Reuters &#8211; that he was “disheartened” to see they had not acknowledged that reduction with cuts of their own.



The central bank was therefore considering invoking a law that allows it to determine maximum and minimum rates that “financial institutions may&#8230;impose on credit extended in any form.”



Neighbouring Kenya capped lending rates for its commercial banks on similar grounds in 2016, but scrapped the policy last November after it was blamed for stalling lending to businesses.



Tumusiime-Mutebile said in the letter that weighted average lending rate on loans rose to 18.8% in May from 17.7% in April, at a time when economic activity in Uganda was facing an unprecedented decline due lower demand, lower capital inflows, reduced productivity and mass unemployment



If implemented, the cap would significantly hit revenues at commercial banks, whose leading local players include affiliates of Standard Chartered Bank and South Africa’s Standard Bank.



The World Bank projects growth in Uganda’s economy could slow 0.4% this year from 5.6% in 2019 due to the effects of the pandemic.

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Uganda’s central bank may cap commercial bank interest rates

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that it was setting up an independent panel to review its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response by governments.



The announcement follows strong criticism by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which accused the WHO of being “China-centric”, and U.S. formal notification on Tuesday that it was withdrawing from the U.N. agency in a year’s time.



Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head the panel and chose its members, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual meeting with representatives of WHO’s 194 member states, which was webcast.



“This is not a standard report that ticks a box and is then put on a shelf to gather dust. This is something we take seriously,” Tedros said, adding that the panel would provide an interim report to an annual meeting of health ministers being reconvened in November.



Clark, addressing the meeting, said that the assignment “could only be described as exceptionally challenging”.



Tedros noted that in May, WHO’s member states adopted unanimously a resolution put forward by the European Union calling for an evaluation of the global response to the pandemic.



More than 12 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 548,429​ have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti – WHO Regional Director for Africa

WHO sets up panel to review handling of COVID-19 pandemic

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; British health and beauty retailer Boots plans to cut 4,000 jobs and close 48 optician stores, in the latest major blow to the country’s retail sector from the COVID-19 crisis.



British brands including John Lewis and Harrods have announced thousands of job cuts in the last two weeks after the pandemic forced customers to shop online and many remained reluctant to return to the high street even as restrictions eased.



Walgreens Boots Alliance (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WBA.O">WBA.O</a>), the owner of the retailer, said on Thursday its most significant COVID-19 impact had come in Britain, with footfall down 85% in April, forcing it to take an impairment charge of $2 billion.

boots

One of the biggest name in the British High Street  takes a heavy blow

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O">TSLA.O</a>) is “very close” to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Thursday, referring to the capability to navigate roads without any driver input.



“I’m extremely confident that level 5 or essentially complete autonomy will happen and I think will happen very quickly,” Musk said in remarks made via a video message at the opening of Shanghai’s annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).



“I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level 5 autonomy complete this year.”



Automakers and tech companies including Alphabet Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/GOOGL.O">GOOGL.O</a>) Waymo and Uber Technologies (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/UBER.N">UBER.N</a>) are investing billions in the autonomous driving industry.



However industry insiders have said it would take time for the technology to get ready and public to trust autonomous vehicles fully.



The California-based automaker currently builds cars with an Autopilot driver-assistance system.



Tesla is also developing new heat-projection or cooling systems to enable more advanced computers in cars, Musk said.



Industry data showed Tesla sold nearly 15,000 China-made Model 3 sedans last month.



Tesla has become the highest-valued automaker as its shares surged to record highs and its market capitalisation overtook that of former front-runner Toyota Motors Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/7203.T">7203.T</a>).



Reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai, Yilei Sun and Yingzhi Yang in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Stephen Coates

Elon Musk At SpaceX Headquarters

African-born Elon Musk says he is very close to making cars that can drive themselves.

BLANTYRE (Reuters) &#8211; Malawi’s new President Lazarus Chakwera has appointed Wilson Banda, a former central bank official, as its new governor, a government statement said on Wednesday.



Chakwera, sworn in in June, also appointed a number of other individuals to his 31-member cabinet though key positions like the finance minister had already been announced.

48085890627_abd787a065_b

Malawi appoints Wilson Banda as new central bank governor

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; French oil major Total has secured $15.8 billion in funding for its massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique, according to South African lender FirstRand’s local unit, FNB Mozambique.



Total declined to comment.



In a press release published on Wednesday, FNB Mozambique said the financing contracts for Total’s blockbuster development had been signed on Friday. While this was widely reported in local media at the time, Total has not confirmed the signing.



“FNB&#8230; intends to enter other large natural gas projects in Mozambique, just as it entered into Total’s financing, in a consortium of 20 banking institutions that granted $15.8 billion, for which the last contracts were signed last Friday,” it said.



FirstRand’s corporate and investment banking unit, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), has previously said it was part of the consortium.



The project, Mozambique LNG, is one of several being developed in the country’s extreme north following one of the largest gas finds in a decade off its coast.

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Africa could have COVID-19 vaccine in Q1 if human trials work: S.Africa trial lead

South Africa’s Eskom implements first power outages in months

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Botswana to ration fuel amid shortage

Nigeria’s President Buhari to sign revised 2020 budget into law on Friday -presidency

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Africa urged to test more as coronavirus cases exceed 500,000

Malawi’s new female cabinet ministers vow to push for jobs for women

Dow, S&P 500 end lower on fears over surging virus cases but Nasdaq hits record high

Uganda’s central bank may cap commercial bank interest rates

WHO sets up panel to review handling of COVID-19 pandemic

One of the biggest name in the British High Street takes a heavy blow

African-born Elon Musk says he is very close to making cars that can drive themselves.

Malawi appoints Wilson Banda as new central bank governor

Total secures $15.8 bln in funding for Mozambique gas project – FNB

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Newsletter

Mobile health services can help in rural Ghana if they have the human touch

S.Africa’s banks mull how to avoid loan defaults when virus relief ends

Africa could have COVID-19 vaccine in Q1 if human trials work: S.Africa trial lead

South Africa’s Eskom implements first power outages in months

With one year to go, experts warn of high-risk Tokyo Olympics amid pandemic

Botswana to ration fuel amid shortage

Nigeria’s President Buhari to sign revised 2020 budget into law on Friday -presidency

South African court dismisses appeal against SAA layoff ruling

Africa urged to test more as coronavirus cases exceed 500,000

Malawi’s new female cabinet ministers vow to push for jobs for women

Dow, S&P 500 end lower on fears over surging virus cases but Nasdaq hits record high

Uganda’s central bank may cap commercial bank interest rates

WHO sets up panel to review handling of COVID-19 pandemic

One of the biggest name in the British High Street takes a heavy blow

African-born Elon Musk says he is very close to making cars that can drive themselves.

Malawi appoints Wilson Banda as new central bank governor

Total secures $15.8 bln in funding for Mozambique gas project – FNB

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