Banks to remain open during lockdown, IMF to give Ghana $500 million and more

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IMF to give Ghana $500 million at 0% interest to battle coronavirus:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced a $500 concessionary emergency fund for Ghana to help it deal with the outbreak of the coronavirus and its effect on the economy.

According to the IMF Resident Representative in Ghana, Dr. Albert Touna-Mama, no interest would be charged on the fund and a moratorium and repayment will start after five-and-a-half years.

He added that there is an ongoing process to evaluate Ghana’s request for financial support but a general guide makes provision for about $500 million for the country.

READ ALSO: Survey shows the spread of coronavirus has increased the use of WhatsApp by 40%

Coronavirus: Facebook fights fake information on Messenger with new Community Hub:

Facebook has introduced a Community Hub to provide a platform to deal with rumours about the coronavirus which has spread all over the world.

The Hub, which is available on Facebook Messenger, provides tips, official information and useful resources to inform and educate over 2.7 billion users about the outbreak.

The move comes after Facebook launched a similar hub for users on WhatsApp, its other messaging service.

Fresh details show conferencing app Zoom shares user information with Facebook:

Video conferencing app, Zoom, shares the user’s data with Facebook, even without the use of a Facebook account.

Zoom has gained popularity as more people opt to work from home and an analysis of the app has shown that Facebook receives notifications anytime the user logs on.

Information available shows that the iOS version of the app shares data analytics with the social media platform.

Rand Refinery Ltd: Africa’s only gold refinery to operate at reduced capacity due to COVID-19:

The Rand Refinery Limited, located in South Africa, is on record as Africa’s only refiner of gold and one of the oldest in the world.

The global spread of the coronavirus has, however, negatively affected operations at the refinery, causing it to operate at a limited capacity.

The limit in operations has become necessary as it attempts to curb the spread of the virus in the wake of a national lockdown.

OVER THE WEEKEND:

A new FDA-authorized COVID-19 test doesn’t need a lab and can produce results in just 5 minutes:

There’s a new COVID-19 test from healthcare technology maker Abbott that looks to be the fastest yet in terms of producing results, and that can do so on the spot right at point-of-care, without requiring a round trip to a lab.

This test for the novel coronavirus causing the current global pandemic has received emergency clearance for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and will begin production next week, with an output of 50,000 per day possible starting next week.

Banks and other financial institutions will remain open during partial lock-down – BoG:

The Bank of Ghana has clarified that all banks and financial institutions will remain open to the public during the two-week partial lock-down of parts of Accra and Kumasi from Monday, March 30, 2020.

This follows the announcement by President Nana Akufo- Addo indicating that some essential service providers such as banks and other financial institutions will not be affected by the partial lock-down.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Afreximbank to create $3 billion credit facility for African countries

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Source: YEN.com.gh