Latest on COVID-19

There have been 1.7 million confirmed cases of coronavirus globally, with over 100,000 deaths. The majority of countries around the world still have strict lockdowns in place, and the virus is still spreading rapidly.

Opec secures record global oil cuts deal under US pressure

Saudi Arabia and Russia ended their oil price war by finalising a deal to make the biggest oil production cuts in history, following pressure from US President Donald Trump to support an energy sector ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Opec said it would cut 9.7m barrels a day in oil production in May and June, equivalent to almost 10% of global supply, and continue with lower reductions until April 2022. Read more →

WTO forecasts up to 32% slump in global trade volumes due to COVID-19

Significantly worse than the 2008 financial crisis: In their latest release, the World Trade Organisation announced they expect World Trade to fall by significant numbers – possibly exceeding that of the 2008 financial crisis – and also shed light on how long it may be before the World economy recovers from Covid-19. Read more →

ITC launches COVID-19 dashboard

The International Trade Centre has launched a new dashboard to monitor temporary trade measures adopted by governments responding to the global COVID-19 pandemic. ITC has also announced that it would offer free access to its trade statistics and company data to support companies during the crisis. Read more →

Airlines digging deep to manage cashflows

As the airlines have ground to a halt, their revenues have plummeted. IATA, the airline industry’s trade body has warned that airlines are facing an “enormous cash problem”, forecasting them to burn through $61bn of their cash reserves during the second quarter of this year. Even the most successful airlines with solid balance sheets only have a few months of liquidity to meet their needs. Read more →

Afreximbank passes $1 billion income mark

Bank President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, expressed satisfaction with the results, noting that the performance exceeded strategic plan targets despite a global operating environment characterized by economic uncertainties. Addressing concerns about COVID-19, he said that Afreximbank was taking necessary steps to manage the impact on the loans and advances from customers. Read more →

ICC produces COVID-19 business continuity guide

International Chamber of Commerce has released a high-level guide to business continuity to assist businesses in weathering COVID-19, based around four key principles: Plan, Adapt, Monitor and Assess (PAMA). Preparedness is a critical factor in determining the likelihood your business will remain afloat. If you have not done so already, it is imperative that you put a plan in place to maintain business continuity. Read more →

ITFC provides $850 million for COVID-19 emergency interventions OIC member countries

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) is moving quickly to consolidate efforts to mitigate the socio-economic risks that the virus poses to all their stakeholders in member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Their COVID-19 ‘Rapid Response Initiative’ (RRI) has made US$ 300 million immediately available. Read more →