Virus Surge Means Cape Town Home to Half of South African Cases

Virus Surge Means Cape Town Home to Half of South African Cases

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — The coronavirus outbreak in South Africa has hit hardest in the Western Cape, home to the city of Cape Town. The province now has more than half of the 12,074 confirmed cases nationwide and in recent days contributed about 90% of new infections recorded by the Health Ministry. Contrary to initial projections, infections and deaths have increased at a much slower rate in the economic hub of Johannesburg in…

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MTN Cuts Spending to Preserve Cash During Virus Pandemic

MTN Cuts Spending to Preserve Cash During Virus Pandemic

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — MTN Group Ltd. reduced spending plans for the full year to focus on preserving cash and maintaining networks as Africa’s biggest wireless carrier by sales navigates the Covid-19 pandemic. The Johannesburg-based company will invest 21 billion rand ($1.1 billion) to 22 billion rand in 2020, compared with earlier guidance of 28.3 billion rand, it said in a statement on Thursday. The group stuck with a medium-term growth forecast and…

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South Africa Prepares to Gradually Reopen Hobbled Economy

South Africa Prepares to Gradually Reopen Hobbled Economy

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s government announced plans to further ease a nationwide lockdown as the fallout from shuttering much of the economy threatens to outweigh the damage wrought by the coronavirus. Consultations will begin in the coming days about moving most of the country to disease alert level 3 by the end of the month, from level 4, and allow a number of additional industries to resume operations, President Cyril Ramaphosa…

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Nigeria’s Biggest City Mulls New Lockdown With Twitter Poll

Nigeria’s Biggest City Mulls New Lockdown With Twitter Poll

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city, took to Twitter to gauge support for a new lockdown as authorities complain residents aren’t following public-health guidelines. More than 52,000 people had voted in the poll by 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with more than half supporting another lockdown. The poll still has two days to go. The city has 1,999 confirmed infections or 42% of known cases in Africa’s most populous country….

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Boris Johnson’s Toned Down Back-to-Work Plan Has U.K. Confounded

Boris Johnson’s Toned Down Back-to-Work Plan Has U.K. Confounded

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Boris Johnson watered down his plan for rebooting the U.K. economy after employers and labor unions said many workplaces are not yet ready for the return to work he called for on Sunday night. Just 24-hours after telling Britons they “should go to work if you can’t work from home,” the prime minister used a televised press conference on Monday evening to say they “should now think about going…

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Trump Says He Ordered Staff to Wear Masks After Aide Infected

Trump Says He Ordered Staff to Wear Masks After Aide Infected

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — President Donald Trump said Monday he demanded that everyone entering the West Wing to wear a face mask after Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for coronavirus infection last week. The White House made the announcement in a memo addressed to staff on Monday, saying employees didn’t need face coverings while working at their desks. Trump told reporters that he “required” the memo. “We’ve had just…

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Trump Says ‘We Have Prevailed’ in Testing as Deaths Top 80,000

Trump Says ‘We Have Prevailed’ in Testing as Deaths Top 80,000

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — President Donald Trump declared Monday at a White House news conference on the coronavirus outbreak that “we have prevailed,” as U.S. deaths from the disease exceeded 80,000 — a remark he later said pertained only to testing for the infection. “Thanks to the courage of our citizens and our aggressive strategy, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved,” Trump said. “In every generation, through every challenge and…

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