Markets on edge about new Covid variant - a podcast by BBC World Service

Stock markets around the world have declined as news of a new Covid-19 variant emerged. With the UK and others banning flights from the affected southern African countries, travel and tourism shares have fallen most sharply, and we assess the potential impact on the sector with Helen Tustin, founder of Wellbeing Travel. Also in the programme, on the shopping festival Black Friday, we get a sense of how toymakers are affected by global supply chain problems from Steve Finch, founding owner of toy company Bopster. And we get wider context from Andy Mulcahy, head of strategy at the UK e-commerce association IMRG. As the World Chess Championship gets under way in Dubai, we hear about the financial side of the game from Ilya Merenzon, chief executive of World Chess. Plus, amid concern that the conflict in Ethiopia could be about to escalate, we examine how the country's economy has been affected by the ongoing dispute between Tigray state in the north and the national government. Samuel Getachew is a business journalist in Addis Ababa, and tells us how before the fighting began, Ethiopia had become something of an economic miracle. The US is threatening to kick the country out of the AGOA preferential trade programme, and Rohit Nair, vice-president of garment maker Epic Apparel explains such a step could mean the closure of his business. And we also get the perspective of Zemedeneh Negatu, global chairman of the Fairfax Africa Fund, which invests in and owns companies across Africa.

Today's edition is presented by Fergus Nicoll, and produced by Joshua Thorpe and Faarea Masud.

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