🔅 Polio Vaccine Sparks Unexpected Outbreak
Plus: China's Travel Alert After 9 Citizens Killed, South African Accountant Investigating Corruption Murdered, Kenya’s Anti-Govt Protests, , And much more... ☕
Photo of the day: Nigeria
Markets:
🔻 Nigerian SE: 54,886.04 (-0.05%)
🔺 Johannesburg SE: 74,271.06 (+2.40%)
— Ghana SE: 2,713.09 (0.00%)
🔺 Nairobi SE: 107.03 (+3.50%)
🔺 US S&P 500: 3,950.22 (+0.86%)
🔻 Shanghai Composite: 3,234.91 (-0.48%)
Banking Merger Fails to Quell Global Financial Panic: In a move that had financial markets across the world holding their breath, UBS Group AG has taken over Credit Suisse Group AG. UBS is paying 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) for the 167-year-old Credit Suisse, but investors are worried that the long-term benefits of the deal won’t be worth the risk. As a result, banking stocks and bonds took a dive, and the European Central Bank vowed to provide loans to banks in need. Things are looking pretty shaky in the banking sector, with concerns about contagion and the fragile state of U.S. regional lenders.
South Africa's Rand Weakens: South African security forces have arrested 87 people in the past 12 hours in preparation for planned protests by the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party. The EFF is calling for a national shutdown to protest crippling power cuts and demand the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa. As a result, the South African rand weakened against the dollar on Monday. Experts think that if the protests have a negative outcome, they could affect sentiment in South African markets.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
HEALTH
Polio Vaccine Sparks Unexpected Outbreak
When you get vaccinated against a disease, you usually hope it’ll be the last time you hear about it. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened in Burundi recently.
Officials have declared a polio outbreak in the East African country, caused by a mutated strain from the vaccine.
Wait, how did that happen?
The virus came from the oral vaccine, which is highly effective but needs four doses. In very rare cases, the weakened virus can mutate into a more dangerous form and spread.
That's especially true in places with poor sanitation and low vaccination levels, where the virus eventually sickened four kids, including one who hadn't been vaccinated.
What's the World Health Organization doing?
They’re helping to ramp up the polio vaccination effort in Burundi, and they’re aiming to protect all children up to age seven.
It's also been detected in a few countries on other continents, including Britain, Israel and the US.
What about other parts of the world?
The disease remains entrenched in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where transmission has never been stopped.
So what does the future hold?
The World Health Organization and its partners announced a new oral vaccine last year, said to be less likely to mutate into a version that can trigger new outbreaks.
But, so far, the vaccine has caused six cases in Congo and the Burundian outbreak. So it’s looking like the battle against polio will have to continue.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇨🇫 China's Travel Alert After Nine Citizens Killed | Nine Chinese nationals were killed in a militant attack on a gold mine outside Central African Republic's capital, Bangui, and the Chinese Embassy has issued a stern warning to citizens to stay away from the area. President Xi Jinping has called for “severe punishment” of the perpetrators and the Chinese Foreign Ministry has raised the security risk level to “very high.” Chinese embassies and consulates are taking measures to protect citizens and Chinese enterprises abroad.
🇿🇦 South African Accountant Investigating Corruption Murdered | The corruption situation in South Africa just got a lot more dangerous. Cloete Murray, an accountant who was looking into high-level corruption cases involving the Gupta brothers, was shot and killed with his son over the weekend. The liquidator for Bosasa, a company implicated in bribery and government contract scandals, was driving home with his 28-year-old son when unknown gunmen opened fire on them. The Gupta brothers have been arrested in the UAE and are currently awaiting extradition. It’s unclear if Murray’s murder is connected to the corruption investigations, but it certainly raises some eyebrows.
🇳🇬 APC Keeps Lagos in Check | Nigeria’s All Progressive Congress (APC) party has managed to hold on to Lagos—Africa’s largest city with a population of more than 20 million people—in state elections with a surprisingly low voter turnout. The incumbent governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu took the win with a tally of over 760,000 votes, twice the amount of his closest rival. However, the opposition candidate has since rejected the outcome and is challenging the results in court. But for now, the APC will be the ones calling the shots in Lagos.
🇰🇪 Kenyan Opposition Members Arrested in Anti-Govt Protest | Kenya's opposition members weren’t playing around when they called for protests against President William Ruto. The police deployed heavily, set up barricades, and fired tear gas to stop the demonstrators from marching to State House. Three legislators have been arrested, so far. This is the opposition’s way of expressing their anger with Ruto’s alleged invalid election and the rising cost of living in the country. But it’s not only the opposition — protesters include those that supported Ruto's presidency, now accusing him of failing to fulfil his election pledges, particularly on the cost of living. Most shops in Nairobi’s central business district closed in fear of looting, but the opposition insisted that they have the constitutional right to demonstrate and that the police’s role is to protect them.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Saying of the Day
“I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.”
— Mandela.