Features

DAR ES SALAM (Capital Markets in Africa) — Tanzania’s maverick President John Magufuli has used his strong personality to cow corrupt civil servants and force foreign mining companies to pay millions of dollars in outstanding tax. The coronavirus may be less responsive. Last week, he became the first African leader to declare victory over the virus, even though health data haven’t been released for more than a month. He’s criticized the national laboratory for exaggerating…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson will talk his cabinet through his plans for easing the U.K.’s lockdown on Tuesday after officials reported the lowest number of daily deaths since restrictions were imposed. The prime minister said last month that non-essential retailers would be able to reopen on June 15 if the threat of the virus continued to recede, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday’s positive data means the government can press…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The campaign to lead the World Trade Organization during the most turbulent period of its 25-year existence has officially begun. Playing out against the backdrop of a pandemic, a worldwide recession, the U.S.-China battle for trade supremacy and the American presidential election, there couldn’t be more at stake. But Brazilian Director-General Roberto Azevedo’s decision to step down at the end of August, a year before his term ends, also…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Africa’s biggest program to halt the coronavirus is being thwarted by a global shortage of tests and a lack of capacity to process those that have been administered. South Africa in March unveiled plans to test 30,000 people a day, only weeks after the first infection was diagnosed. Today, with more than 940,000 tests completed and 12 million people screened, its program is by far the most comprehensive on…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.K. is pressing ahead with a two-week quarantine on international arrivals, a move British Airways and other carriers say will devastate tourism and wreck any chance the summer holiday season could spark a recovery from a virus-induced slump. BA, along with EasyJet Plc and Ryanair Holdings Plc, has threatened to sue the government over the policy, which takes effect Monday, saying the restrictions will be ineffective at curtailing…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Boris Johnson is finalizing plans to ease the U.K.’s lockdown and rebuild the economy as he seeks to stop the hemorrhaging of support for his government’s response to the coronavirus crisis. The prime minister will brief cabinet ministers Tuesday on the next stage of lifting restrictions and use a speech later this month to accelerate increased spending on roads, hospitals, and research, his office said. Three opinion polls at…

New York (Capital Markets in Africa) — Colin Powell on Sunday became the latest notable Republican or former military leader to express concern about President Donald Trump, saying he’ll vote for Joe Biden in November instead. The former secretary of State said that by threatening last week to use active-duty U.S. troops against protesters, Trump showed he has “drifted away” from the U.S. Constitution. “He is now the candidate, and I’ll be voting for him,”…