Economy
Despite the Infections, Africa Without Monkeypox Vaccines
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared monkeypox a new global health emergency after 20,000 cases were reported in 77 countries. Some 75 people have died in the 11 African countries where the disease was recorded, according to the latest reports in late July. It said monkeypox is an “extraordinary” situation that qualifies as a global health emergency.
Despite these few deaths last month and signs that it would spread further, Africa is fighting monkeypox without vaccine the same as it has been with Covid-19. A surge in monkeypox infections has particularly been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
The vast majority of deaths due to monkeypox have been registered on the African continent. Africa remains the only part of the world with no doses of the vaccine, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Let us get vaccines onto the continent,” acting head of the African Centre for Disease Control, ACDC, Ahmed Ogwell, said in a weekly media briefing pointing to another instance of 1.3 billion people on the continent without access to a vaccine, as in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reports said that monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, but it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.
Ogwell said the Africa CDC has engaged with international partners in attempts to obtain vaccines, and while he said “good news” is expected in the coming days, “we cannot be able to give you a timeline.”
Even doses of the smallpox vaccine, which has shown effectiveness against monkeypox, are not available in Africa, Ogwell said. “The solutions need to be global in nature,” he said, in a warning to the international community. “If we’re not safe, the rest of the world is not safe.”
The Covid-19 pandemic and the global hoarding of vaccine doses were a jolt to African leaders, who quickly joined together in an unprecedented effort to obtain doses and establish the production of more vaccines on the continent.
WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were about 16 million doses of approved vaccine available, but only in bulk, so it would take several months to get them into vials. His organization is currently urging countries with stockpiles to share vaccines while supply is constrained. It, however, estimates that between 5 million and 10 million doses of vaccine will be needed to protect all high-risk groups.
It has said it is creating a vaccine-sharing mechanism for protection against monkeypox, but the organization has released few details, so there’s no guarantee that African countries will get priority. No countries have yet agreed to share any vaccines with the health organization.
WHO, however, warned against discrimination. “A failure to act will have grave consequences for global health,” Lawrence Gostin, the director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, said on Twitter.
Health officials have emphasized that monkeypox can infect anyone in close contact with a patient or their contaminated clothing or bedsheets. Researchers are still exploring how it spreads but believe it’s mainly through close, skin-to-skin contact and through contact with bedding and clothing that touched an infected person’s rash or body fluids.
Another report also pointed to the fact that monkeypox has been a globally neglected public health problem in parts of Africa for decades, but cases began to be reported outside countries where it is endemic in May. It generally causes mild to moderate symptoms, including fever, fatigue and painful skin lesions that resolve within a few weeks.
In Africa, monkeypox mainly spreads to people by infected wild animals like rodents in limited outbreaks that typically have not crossed borders. In Europe, North America and elsewhere, however, monkeypox is spreading among people with no links to animals or recent travel to Africa. In the U.S. and Europe, the vast majority of infections have happened in men who have sex with men, though health officials have stressed that anyone can contract the virus.
By Dipo Olowookere
About $197.71 million has been injected into the foreign exchange (FX) market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to boost liquidity.
This intervention by the apex bank is expected to strengthen the Naira in the different segments of the forex market after coming under pressure in the past few days as a result of the new import tariffs imposed on countries, including Nigeria, by the President of the United States, Mr Donald Trump.
Business Post reports that on Friday, the Naira depreciated against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 1.45 per cent or N22.49 to settle at N1,573.23/$1 versus Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,550.74/$1, and in the parallel market, it lost N10 to sell for N1,570/$1 compared with the N1,560/$1 it was transacted a day earlier.
To ease the pressure on the domestic currency, the central bank sold fresh $197.71 million to authorised FX traders between Thursday and Friday.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has noted recent movements in the foreign exchange market between April 3 and 4, 2025, reflecting broader global macroeconomic shifts currently affecting several emerging markets and developing economies.
“These developments were as a result of the recent announcement of new import tariffs by the United States government on imports from several economies, which has triggered a period of adjustment across global markets.
“Crude oil prices have also weakened – declining by over 12% to approximately $65.50 per barrel – presenting new dynamics for oil-exporting countries such as Nigeria.
“In line with its commitment to ensuring adequate liquidity and supporting orderly market functioning, the CBN facilitated market activity on Friday, April 4, 2025, with the provision of $197.71 million through sales to authorised dealers.
“This measured step aligns with the Bank’s broader objective of fostering a stable, transparent, and efficient foreign exchange market.
“The CBN continues to monitor global and domestic market conditions and remains confident in the resilience of Nigeria’s foreign exchange framework, which is designed to adjust appropriately to evolving fundamentals.
“All authorised dealers are reminded to adhere strictly to the principles outlined in the Nigeria FX Market Code and to uphold the highest standards in their dealings with clients and market counterparties,” a notice from the Director of Financial Markets Department at the CBN, Ms Omolara Omotunde Duke, said.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that the total public debt stock of Nigeria increased by 48.58 per cent or N47.32 trillion to N144.67 trillion ($94.23 billion) as of December 31, 2024, from N97.34 trillion ($108.23 billion) in the preceding year.
In a report released on Friday, the agency disclosed that the rise in the domestic and foreign debts was due to the borrowing of funds by the government in the period under review.
Business Post reports that external debt of the total debt accounted for 48.59 per cent at N70.29 trillion ($45.78 billion), while the domestic component was 51.41 per cent at N74.38 trillion ($48.45 billion).
A breakdown showed that for the total foreign borrowings, the federal government accounted for 43.49 per cent at N62.92 trillion ($40.98 billion), while the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) accounted for 5.10 per cent at N7.37 trillion ($4.80 billion).
As for the domestic debt, the federal government contributed 48.67 per cent at (N70.41 trillion ($45.86 billion) and the states and the FCT contributed 2.74 per cent at N3.97 trillion ($2.59 billion).
Analysis showed that in 2023, the external debt was N38.22 trillion ($42.50 billion) before rising in one year by 83.89 per cent to N70.29 trillion ($45.78 billion) in December 2024, while the local debt stood at N59.12 trillion ($65.73 billion) as of December 2023 before jumping by 25.77 per cent in 12 months to N74.38 trillion ($48.44 billion).
Since the current administration of Mr Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, it has sourced funds from local and external sources through treasury bills, Naira-denominated and Dollar-denominated bonds to finance its budget deficits.
However, much has been done to cut down Nigeria’s revenue-to-debt service ratio to 65 per cent from 97 per cent, according to Mr Tinubu in November 2024.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended Friday’s trading session lower with a marginal decline of 0.01 per cent as a result of continued market volatility.
Customs Street was down during the last trading session of the week despite bargain-hunting activities in the banking and industrial goods sectors, which closed higher by 0.51 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that profit-taking in the other sectors contributed to the downfall of the local bourse yesterday, with the insurance index weakening by 3.21 per cent.
Further, the energy counter went down by 0.50 per cent, and the consumer goods space depreciated by 0.24 per cent, while the commodity industry closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 13.37 points to 105,511.89 points from 105,525.26 points and the market capitalisation declined by N8 billion to settle at N66.147 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N66.155 trillion.
A total of 348.3 million shares worth N8.1 billion exchanged hands in 11,444 deals on Friday compared with the 397.1 million shares valued at N8.7 billion traded in 13,667 deals a day earlier, implying a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 12.29 per cent, 6.90 per cent, and 16.27 per cent, respectively.
The activity log was led by UBA with the sale of 26.3 million stocks for N972.3 million, United Capital traded 25.6 million shares valued at N391.5 million, FCMB exchanged 24.2 million equities worth N211.2 million, Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million shares valued at N1.1 billion, and Fidelity Bank traded 22.6 million stocks worth N441.7 million.
Investor sentiment remained bearish yesterday after the NGX finished with 19 price gainers and 29 price losers, showing a negative market breadth index.
Lasaco Assurance and AXA Mansard were the worst-performing equities with a decline of 10.00 per cent each to sell for N2.34, and N8.64 apiece, May and Baker decreased by 8.72 per cent to N7.85, Guinea Insurance crashed by 8.70 per cent to 63 Kobo, and FTN Cocoa lost 6.43 per cent to end at N1.60.
However, Learn Africa and Livestock Feeds closed as the best-performing stocks after they gained 10.00 per cent each to quote at N3.30, and N7.92, respectively, VFD Group soared by 9.83 per cent to N57.00, Union Dicon expanded by 9.43 per cent to N5.80, and NGX Group rose by 8.17 per cent to N32.45.
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