Facebook cancels massive developer conference over fears of spread of coronavirus

- Facebook has announced the cancellation of the 2020 edition of F8 which is its annual developer conference

- The decision was taken in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus

- Facebook explained that it took the decision in order to help ensure the health and safety of all interested parties

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Social media company, Facebook, has canceled its annual developer conference, F8, over fears of spread of the coronavirus.

The company, in a statement, explained that the decision was a tough call to make as F8 is an important event.

It added that there is an urgent need to prioritize the health and safety of people all over the world.

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Per a vice.com F8 is one of the biggest company-specific developer conferences in the world.

It brings together tech enthusiasts and industry players such as Apple's WWDC, Amazon Web Services' re:Invent, and Salesforce's Dreamforce.

It was scheduled to take place from Tuesday, May 5 to Wednesday, May 6, 2020 in San Jose.

To remedy the situation, Facebook intends to replace the conference with "a combo of locally hosted events, videos and live streamed content."

The cancellation of the event comes amid a series of important game developers pulling out of the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in March 2020.

This was after San Francisco , the venue for the event, declared state of emergency over the spread of the coronavirus, even though it is yet to record an infection.

The spread of the coronavirus has led to the cancellation of major tech events around the world such as the Mobile World Congress (MWC).

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In other news, some customers of defunct microfinance and savings and loans companies have raised concerns about the mode of payment by the receiver, Eric Nana Nipah, via the Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG).

Cases of miscommunication and surprises were recorded when some customers, who had received text messages to visit the bank on Thursday, February 27, 2020, were informed that their monies would be paid in bonds.

The customers indicated that they were informed those who had funds beyond GHC70,000 locked up would receive GHC50,000 in cash and the rest in 5-year-bonds.

A retired soldier, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, stated that GHC50,000 out of his GHC602,000 would be invested as a bond.

Per a citinewsroom.com report, the unnamed soldier was given no documentation to that effect, leaving him confused.

His desire to know the interest rate was futile as there was no response in that regard aside the fact that there was no written agreement to that effect.

Another customer expressed worry about his farming business given the fact that he had GHC320,000 locked up with the defunct companies.

He added that he is not aware of the interest rate and is not sure if the bond is tradable, leaving him wondering about the impact of the locked up funds on his livelihood.

Another customer, who wished to remain anonymous, called on the receiver to review the modalities.

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Source: YEN.com.gh