Coronavirus (COVID-19)
World: The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved EUR12.6-billion of new financing for projects across Europe and around the world. New financing includes more than EUR3.1-billion of COVID-19-related investment to improve public health, strengthen public services and back investment by companies in sectors hit by the pandemic. The EIB Board also backed investment in agriculture, water, housing, telecommunications and urban development across Europe, as well as in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Source: EIB
Africa: The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a specialised healthcare agency of the African Union Commission, said in its periodic report issued on Wednesday, 23 September that some 17 African countries and regions are still under “full border closure” while closure of country-wide educational institutions has been activated across 33 African countries in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus. It noted that 9 African countries are practicing mandatory COVID-19 testing at borders.
Source: Xinhua
Africa: There is an urgent need for financing to reenergize Africa’s trade in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest trade finance report released jointly by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Export-Import Bank. According to the report, titled ‘Trade Finance in Africa: Trends Over the Past Decade and Opportunities Ahead’, only 40% of Africa’s trade is bank-intermediated – a far lower share than the global average of 80%. The trade finance gap also remains unacceptably high at USD81-billion in 2019. The report found that these are some of the structural challenges that hinder banks’ ability to effectively intermediate Africa’s trade with the world. It also highlighted the critical role of development finance institutions in supporting the industry. The study also found that unintended regulatory bottlenecks were one of the key constraints driving these patterns.
Source: AfDB
Angola: The reduction in drilling activity, whose financial losses are yet to be quantified, is one of the consequences of the impact of COVID-19 on the oil sector in Angola. This was announced in Luanda by the spokesman for the Association of Exploration and Production Companies of Angola (ACEPA), Andre Kostelnik, at the end of a meeting with the President of the Republic, João Lourenço. The director general of Exxon Mobil in Angola also noted that “the situation had prevented other investment opportunities,” reiterating that at this time the impact of the pandemic on the […]
