Coronavirus causes stir on world market; wipes $6 trillion off stocks in one week
- The continuous spread and risks attached to the coronavirus has led to a $6 trillion fall in stocks all over the world
- This has led market analysts to conclude there is a possibility of the occurrence of the worst weekly fall since the 2008 global financial crisis
- The WHO has meanwhile announced that the virus could become an epidemic in the wake of outbreaks in developed countries such as Germany and France
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The increase in the spread and effects of the coronavirus has led to a $6 trillion fall in the value of world stocks.
This has set in motion the possibility for the worst weekly fall since the 2008 global financial crisis.
YEN.com.gh understands that current trends show a continuous slowdown in value as the main markets in Europe experience a 3% to 5% slump.
Source: UGC
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Reuters reports that hopes of the coronavirus being a thing of the past in a few months have been shattered.
This was hinged on a belief that economic activities would quickly return to normal but an increase in global cases has affected plans.
United States of America (USA)’s Federal Reserves are expected to cut interest rates soon and other major central banks are expected to follow suit.
The uncertainty surrounding present events have dampened hopes of the world’s economy that is already reeling from the effects of the USA-China trade war fallout.
On Thursday, February 27, 2020, Wall Street shares plunged 4.4% and this has been the largest fall since August 2011.
In the past 24 hours, about 10 countries have reported first cases of the coronavirus and the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has revealed that the virus could become an epidemic in the wake of outbreaks in developed countries such as Germany and France.
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In other news, in the year 2019, the internet in Africa experienced continuous and longer shutdowns, a new report has suggested.
YEN.com.gh understands that some African leaders capitalized on the situation to manage or control information in their countries.
Compared to the previous year, incidents of internet shutdowns across Africa increased by 32%, qz.com reports.
The tactic, used in some countries was revealed by AccesNow, an internet access advocacy group. Information available shows that out of the number of African countries that shut down internet access in 2019, at least seven of them had one time in their past shut it down or did same in either 2017 and 2018.
It has also been confirmed that 35 incidents of internet shutdowns lasted longer than seven days in 2019.
19 countries including Chad, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Eritrea, Mauritania, Sudan and Zimbabwe experienced cases of total or partial shutdown for more than seven days.
Chad, however, experienced the worst case, with aspects of its social media blocked for a record 16 months.
In the run-up to the February 22, 2020, presidential elections in Togo, there were reports of social media blocks of apps such as Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
