By Jackie Cameron
- South African business confidence has plunged to the lowest level in 45 years, with companies even more pessimistic now than when disinvestment from the country over its apartheid policies started gaining momentum more than three decades ago. Covid-19 has drastically changed the already-weak economic landscape and perhaps, in some cases, permanently,” said Ettienne le Roux, RMB’s chief economist (Source: Bloomberg).
- People with HIV are almost three times more likely to die if they contract the coronavirus than those with no co-morbidities, irrespective of whether they are taking anti-AIDS drugs, an analysis of South African data shows. The finding was made by the Western Cape Department of Health, which oversees medical services in the province with about two thirds of South Africa’s almost 53,000 confirmed coronavirus infections. It considered almost 13,000 cases, including 435 deaths, to produce what it says is the first analysis of the interplay between HIV and Covid-19. About 7.8 million people in South Africa are infected with HIV, which causes AIDS, while about 300,000 have TB (Source: Bloomberg).
- In a two-punch blow, the torrent of claims is coming on top of the destruction to investment portfolios that insurers have amassed in recent years. Lloyd’s estimates that almost half of the industry’s global losses will come from firms’ bonds and real estate assets amid the market wreckage wrought by the pandemic. What’s unique about the pandemic compared with disasters like hurricanes that the industry routinely covers is its sheer breadth. The outbreak isn’t confined to one geographical location and its duration nowhere near as limited as traditional events, according to Peter Zaffino, AIG’s president. “The profound impact and global nature of Covid-19 is something we have never encountered,” Zaffino said May 5 on AIG’s first-quarter earnings call. “There’s no playbook.” The industry will be challenged further in the coming months as a debate over business interruption coverage grows increasingly hostile. Some insurers had specifically excluded losses from viruses, while many argue that coverage requires actual physical damage to spur a payout (Source: Bloomberg).
- The Sasol rollercoaster ride continues: It has plunged from R300/share in 2019 before surging about 700% in recent weeks and landing at around R139/share at the end of the trading session on Wednesday. Africa’s largest pay-TV group MultiChoice reported its first full-year profit as a stand-alone company on Wednesday, says Reuters, in the middle of a range it forecast last week.
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