Author: Padili Mikomangwa

The China Coronavirus outbreak has shaken the world with fears of its spread looming.

Global markets have witnessed investors pulling their resources while calculating the economic impacts of the outbreak.

As China dines with Africa on the economic lines of trade, investment, and industrialization, there are rising concerns of whether the continent can contain the virus, which has already taken over 170 lives, with 7,000 confirmed cases and spread in about 15 countries.

Economic ramifications

There are growing concerns about the impact of the outbreak on Africa’s economies, earlier this week, a broad sell-off was witnessed in the global markets, affecting South Africa’s rand performance.

Theafricareport indicated that Johannesburg Stock Exchange plunged by as much as 2.6 per cent on Monday 28, the steepest decline in more than eight months.

South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, and Tanzania are some of the vibrant partners of China, whose economies rely on …

The Tanzanian government has taken serious precautions towards curbing the China coronavirus outbreak that has taken over 170 lives and more than 7000 new cases confirmed.

According to the Tanzanian Foreign Affairs Minister Palamagamba Kabudi, who was quoted by The Citizen, Tanzanians in China, particularly those with plans to travel abroad, have been urged to take attentive precautions related to guidelines issued by the Chinese government.

On the other hand, Tanzania’s national carrier, Air Tanzania told Reuters that it will resort to postpone its maiden flights from commercial capital Dar es Salaam to China.

The state-run carrier has been promoting and planning its charter flights to its historic development partner next month ahead of the expected launch of scheduled direct flights to the key Asia tourist hotspot.

Air Tanzania managing director Ladislaus Matindi told Reuters that, the company is taking precautions for the safety of its passengers, despite acquiring a …

South Africa’s rand has gained a slightly against the dollar early on Tuesday, after beginning the week on Monday on the back foot as investors calculated the economic impact of the coronavirus, which left stocks in Asia abandoned by investors.

Reuters reported that Africa’s most diversified economy currency firmed after hitting a more than six-week low in the previous session, and yet the coronavirus still weighs on the economic outlook.

At 0640 GMT, the rand traded at 14.5800 per dollar, 0.17 per cent than its previous close, while on Monday, at 0702 GMT the rand traded at 14.4800 versus the dollar, which is 0.59 per cent lower than its New York close on Friday 24th.

On the other hand, Reuters reported that the rand slipped to 14.6570 per dollar on Monday, its weakest since Dec. 12, with the selloff largely driven by investors dumping emerging-market assets.

Nedbank analysts wrote in …

Tigo, Tanzania has unveiled a new package, allowing its customers to call across networks at the same tariff.

The package dubbed “Ujanja Ni” is expected to increase its customer base by stiffening competition witin the telecommunication sector in the country.

According to a statement from Tigo, the package offers absolute freedom to call any network at the same tariff, and customers purchase the voice, and data packages at affordable and competitive prices.

Tanzania Communications Regulations Authority (TCRA) September 2019 quarterly statistics, put Tigo Tanzania with 26.1 per cent of the subscription market share, at the height of voice consumption along-side other telco giants Vodacom and Airtel Tanzania.

The launching of the service adds up on the Tanzanian government’s efforts in ensuring that making calls across all networks in Tanzania is affordable and gives customers the assurance to enjoy a better internet experience on the biggest 4G+ network in the country.…

Barrick Gold, world’s second-largest gold producer, will start to ship out gold estimated to be worth $280 million from Tanzania, the miner chief executive Mark Bristow told Reuters on Monday.

According to Bristow, the decision to export came after, Barrick and the government of Tanzania, settled its three-year- tax disputes.

On Friday, January 24, Barrick and Tanzania settled the dispute, and the signing ceremony which was televised marked a fresh start for Barrick which is the largest miner in Tanzania.

“The shipments will start immediately and, as we speak, we are mobilizing the concentrates. It’s (worth) around $260-$280 million depending on the price of metal prices at the time of sale” Mark Bristow told Reuters in a telephone interview

Spot gold, which rose 18% last year, is hovering at about $1,600 per ounce. And yet, Barrick’s operations in Tanzania, contribute almost 6 per cent of its gold output.

READ:

South Africa, Africa’s most diversified economy has taken a hard hit on its currency as investors grow increasingly anxious over the impact of the spread of corona virus in Africa.

According to a reuters report, investors are slowing down as they are calculating the economic impact of China’s spreading coronavirus outbreak.

According to Reuters, at 0702 GMT, the rand traded at 14.4800 versus the dollar, 0.59 per cent lower than its New York close on Friday.

The South African economy has sustained a rather serious shakedown over the past year, causing its business index to plummet, thus—reports show the sluggish outlook for the local economy added further strain on the currency on Monday.

Global Markets tumbled on Monday as investors grew increasingly anxious about the economic impact of the outbreak of coronavirus, which has taken more than 80 people’s lives.

Further, Reuters noted that a weak growth outlook for …

Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper and cobalt producer stands to sustain a serious hit in its mining industry as the leading diversified natural resources producer, Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) had planned to put its Chambishi Metals copper and cobalt refinery in Zambia under maintenance and cut 229 jobs by the end of January.

According to a report by Reuters, the President of Mineworker’s Union of Zambia commented to the news agency that the union was informed of the layoffs as the miner was halting production temporarily due to difficulties sourcing raw materials for the refinery.

Reuters also confirmed that Zambia’s mines minister Richard Musukwa had been informed about the layoffs.

International Trade Administration (ITA) indicates that Zambia possesses the world’s highest-grade deposits of copper and is ranked the seventh largest copper producer and contributes to over 70 per cent of the nation’s foreign export earnings.

Zambia mining industry contributes 12 per …

Zambia’s economy is expected to grow by 3 per cent, according to nation’s President Edgar Lungu who said on Thursday that, the nation’s economic growth will be slightly off the previous forecast of 3.2 per cent.

According to Reuters, President Lungu revealed the growth projection when he was meeting diplomats, and commented on the fiscal deficit which was expected to shrink from 6.5 per cent in 2019 to 5.5 per cent in 2020, while inflation would remain within the range of 6 to 8 per cent.

However, in October 2019, Bloomberg reported that Zambia’s inflation rate remained at a three year high in October and economic growth slowed, complicating the central bank’s task.

Further, annual consumer inflation accelerated to 10.7 per cent from 10.5 per cent in September 2019, whereby Zambia Statistics Agency noted to be the fastest rate of price growth since October 2016.

The economy of Africa’s second-biggest …

Barrick Gold Corporation is back to business with Tanzania, after signing an agreement with the government of Tanzania earlier today in the commercial city, Dar es Salaam.

According to a statement from Barrick, the agreement formalizes the establishment of a joint venture between Barrick and the government and showcasing the government full visibility of and participation in operating decisions made for and by the North Mara, Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines.

Barrick finds the latter a rather pioneering move that would take its policy of partnership with its host countries to a new level.

Further, the agreement has ratified the creation of Twiga Minerals Corporation (of which initial establishment began last year), the management company jointly owned by the government and Barrick, overseeing the miner’s local operations.

The corporation is now owned 84 per cent by Barrick and 16 per cent by the government. Also, the deal provides for a 50/50 …

Africa’s e-commerce giant, Jumia is taking bold steps to revitalize its profits after experiencing a hard turn in 2019, e-commerce giant co-founder, Jeremy Hodara revealed to Reuters.

According to Hodara, Jumia (which is listed at New Stock Exchange) current focus is on capitalizing its payments and infrastructure network and boost revenue from services for third-party sellers on its online marketplace.

The company managed to attain a $ 4 billion peak value, before plummeting in shares by almost 70 per cent since its initial public offering (IPO) in April 2019.

“We’re going to be extremely disciplined and very focused on our path to profitability,” Hodara told Reuters on Tuesday.

READ:More people in East Africa are embracing Ecommerce

In November 2019, Jumia pulled out in Cameroon and Tanzania, as well as holding its food delivery in Rwanda, thus—still Jumia’s chief has not revealed if the company plans to shrink its market …