Impact of Ebola

Ebola: Rapidly spreading in West Africa – What is the impact? The Ebola outbreak, which began in Feb in Guinea, has since spread across the West African nations to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The virus has claimed over 900 lives so far, and the death toll will climb as the number of infected continue to rise. It is suspected that Ebola has even reached Saudi Arabia, following the death of a businessman who showed symptoms shortly after returning from Sierra Leone. According to USA Today, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued its highest-level alert for a response to the crisis. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has convened a two-day emergency meeting to deliberate whether to declare a global health emergency. Amid escalating fears of a deeper crisis, the airlines and commodities sectors are likely to be negatively impacted, while medical supply makers may benefit. Amongst the international airlines, British Airways has stopped all flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia, while Emirates has suspended service to Guinea. SIA ($9.81, -0.5%) may deliberate whether to follow suit, particularly as travel demand to West Africa stalls. Noble ($1.35, -2.9%) and Olam ($2.47, +1.2%) may be affected as portions of their agri supply chain networks are located in the affected countries. GMG Global ($0.081, +0%) has extensive rubber plantations in Ivory Coast, which shares borders with Guinea and Liberia, while Wilmar ($3.24, +0%) has been investing in palm oil plantations in Ghana. On the flipside, glove makers like Riverstone ($0.925, -1.1%) may be beneficiaries if the healthcare organisations in key cities simultaneously beef up their inventory of medical supplies in preparatory response to Ebola, as they did during the previous SARS and H1N1 episodes.