Features

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,”…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Investors are piling into African assets as if the coronavirus pandemic never happened. Even as questions hang over whether governments in the region will be able to sustainably address the economic and health consequences of the pandemic, stock markets, currencies and bonds have been on a tear since at least the beginning of May. Investors are looking past the risks as an unprecedented stimulus by governments and central banks…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — Donald Trump faced a dwindling set of options to address nationwide unrest, after a backlash erupted over the government’s violent dispersal of peaceful protests outside the White House, plunging the president into more election-year turmoil. For Trump and his conservative backers, his photo op late Monday in front of historic St. John’s Episcopal Church with Bible in hand was a show of strength — a symbolic move meant…