Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 03 February 2025

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Major International Business Headlines Brief:::  03 February 2025 

 


 


 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


 

ü  Trump imposes tariffs but Canada and Mexico hit back

ü  Barclays customers hit by third day of payment issues

ü  How countries respond to Trump's tariffs is what matters next

ü  Tax relief for Indian middle class - but will it boost economy?

ü  Trump's tariffs hit China hard before - this time, it's ready

ü  Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo

ü  Energy minister urges Africans to unite for sustainable energy future

ü  From jewelry to food waste, firms are ‘shaking’ things up with
circular-economy shift

ü  Newmont Ventures Increases Stake in Ariana Resources

ü  DeepSeek Is a Win for China in the A.I. Race. Will the Party Stifle It?

ü  India's carmakers see mild uptick in sales to dealers in January

ü  Shein ramps up charm offensive as London IPO nears

ü  Commerzbank posts 20% hike in annual profit and launches new share
buyback as it wards off UniCredit

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Trump imposes tariffs but Canada and Mexico hit back

US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping new tariffs on all goods
imported from America's three largest trading partners, China, Mexico and
Canada.

 

Trump said the US would impose tariffs beginning on Tuesday of 25% on Canada
and Mexico as well as an additional 10% tax on China. Canadian energy faces
a lower 10% tariff.

 

He had threatened to impose the import taxes if the three countries did not
address his concerns about illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

 

Both Canada and Mexico said they were preparing retaliatory tariffs of their
own.

 

 

Trump has indicated he is ready to escalate the duties if the countries
retaliate.

 

Together, China, Mexico and Canada accounted for more than 40% of imports
into the US last year.

 

"Today's tariff announcement is necessary to hold China, Mexico, and Canada
accountable for their promises to halt the flood of poisonous drugs into the
United States," the White House said in a statement on X on Saturday.

 

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "This was done through the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) because of the major
threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our Citizens, including
fentanyl."

 

 

A tariff is a domestic tax levied on goods as they enter the country,
proportional to the value of the import. They are a central part of Trump's
economic vision.

 

He sees them as a way of growing the US economy, protecting jobs and raising
tax revenue - and in this case, pushing for policy action from allies.

 

The White House, in its announcement, accused Mexico's government of having
"an intolerable alliance" with Mexican drug trafficking organisations.

 

In her response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called allegations that
the Mexican government had alliances with criminal organisations "slander".

 

Sheinbaum called on the US to do more to clamp down on the illegal flow of
guns south to arm the cartels.

 

Her country is willing to work with the US, she said. "Problems are not
resolved by imposing tariffs, but by talking."

 

She has instructed her economy minister to respond with tariff and
non-tariff measures. They are expected to include retaliatory tariffs of 25%
on US goods.

 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country will also respond.

 

"We don't want to be here, we didn't ask for this," he said at a news
conference late on Saturday.

 

"But we will not back down in standing up for Canadians."

 

His government will impose 25% tariffs on $155bn worth of American goods -
$30bn will come into force on Tuesday and another $125bn in 21 days.

 

Targeted items include American beer, wine, bourbon, fruits and fruit
juices, vegetables, perfumes, clothing and shoes, as well as household
appliances, sporting goods and furniture. Lumber and plastics will also face
levies.

 

Non-tariff measures being considered are related to critical minerals and
procurement, although Trudeau did not offer more detail.

 

The Canadian prime minister pushed back on the suggestion the shared border
posed a security concern, saying less than 1% of fentanyl going into the
United States comes from Canada.

 

In a bid to avoid the tariffs altogether, Ottawa had promised to implement
$1.3bn Canadian dollars ($900m; £700m) of new security measures along its US
border.

 

"Tariffs are not the best way we can work together to save lives," Trudeau
said.

 

He also said he had not spoken to Trump since the inauguration, but would
keep lines open with US counterparts.

 

Canada is America's largest foreign supplier of crude oil. According to the
most recent official trade figures, 61% of oil imported into the US between
January and November last year came from Canada.

 

China said in a statement that it was strongly dissatisfied with the levies
and "firmly opposes" them. The 10% tax will be added over and above tariffs
already imposed on China by Trump in his first term and by President Joe
Biden.

 

It added that it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization
against the US for its "wrongful practice" and would take countermeasures to
"safeguard its own rights and interests".

 

China's Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang told the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, last month that his country was looking for a "win-win"
solution to trade tensions and wanted to expand its imports.

 

Canada, Mexico and the US have deeply integrated economies, with an
estimated $2bn (£1.6bn) worth of manufactured goods crossing the borders
daily.

 

Economists say the tariffs and subsequent retaliation could raise prices on
a wide range of products, from cars, lumber, and steel to food like frozen
French fries, avocados, and tomatoes, to alcohol.

 

The auto sector could be especially hard hit. Auto parts cross the three
borders multiple times before a final vehicle is assembled. TD Economics
suggest the average US car price could increase by around $3,000.

 

A January report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics
suggested blanket 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would slow growth and
accelerate inflation in all three countries.

 

On Friday, Trump acknowledged there could be "some temporary, short-term
disruption" from the tariffs.

 

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce released a statement saying tariffs will
have "immediate and direct consequences on Canadian and American
livelihoods" and will "drastically increase the cost of everything for
everyone".

 

 

 

US industry groups have also raised alarm bells.

 

The National Homebuilders Association said the levies could increase housing
costs.

 

The Farmers for Free Trade said, with many US farmers already struggling,
"adding tariffs to the mix would only exacerbate the situation across much
of rural America".

 

The US Retail Industry Leaders Association, which includes big names such as
Home Depot, Target and Walgreens among its more than 200 members, expressed
hope tariffs could still be averted.

 

The White House, explaining on Saturday why it was targeting its top trading
partners, said Mexican cartels were responsible for trafficking fentanyl,
methamphetamine and other drugs.

 

It said tariffs on Canada would remain until it "co-operates with the US
against drug traffickers and on border security".

 

Lastly, it said "China plays the central role in the fentanyl crisis" with
exports of the lethal synthetic painkiller.

 

Both the northern and southern US borders have reported drug seizures,
though amounts at the border with Canada are considerably lower than those
with Mexico, according to official data,

 

US border agents seized 43lbs (19.5kg) of fentanyl at the northern border
between October 2023 and last September, compared to more than 21,000lbs
(9,525.4kg) at the southern border.

 

Still, recent reports from Canadian intelligence agencies suggest a growing
number of transnational organised crime groups are manufacturing drugs in
Canada.

 

Ashley Davis, a Republican lobbyist for businesses, who represents major US
companies, including Walmart and Boeing, and has been involved in
discussions about tariffs, told the BBC's World Business Report she thought
Trump would pull back on the tariffs in North America if he could point to
progress on the issues he has raised as complaints – especially immigration.

 

"You have to remember – the border and China are the two biggest issues that
Americans voted him on in the elections in November. Anything he can do to
claim wins on that, I think he's going to do," she said.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Barclays customers hit by third day of payment issues

Barclays customers are entering a third day of issues with payments and
transactions as the bank struggles to fix ongoing technical issues.

 

On Friday when the outage began, customers told the BBC they were having
trouble with mobile and online banking and making essential payments.

 

It is not believed to be a cyber attack and the bank has not yet explained
what caused the problem, nor how many people are affected.

 

Barclays is one of the UK's largest banks, with over 20 million UK retail
customers.

 

 

On Saturday, the website downdetector, which monitors outages, showed nearly
5,000 issues had been reported with Barclays, more than double the number
reported on Friday.

 

On Saturday afternoon, Barclays' website said problems with its app and
online banking were ongoing, and warned customers that they may face issues
making and receiving payments.

 

"Your balance may be incorrect and some payments you made or are expecting
to receive may not show," read the message on the bank's website.

 

The website also told customers that their high street branches may not be
able to assist with all queries "due to issues we're facing".

 

Getty Images Barclays app on a phoneGetty Images

 

Friday, which was pay day for many people in the UK, was the deadline for
self-assessment tax returns.

 

Some Barclays' customers have said they were unable to make their payments
to HMRC.

 

A statement from HMRC said it is working closely with the bank to minimise
the impact on those submitting self-assessments.

 

It confirmed that issues related to the Barclays outage will not result in
late payment penalties as these do not apply until March 1.

 

Barclays has apologised and said it will "ensure that no impacted customer
is left out of pocket".

 

On X, the bank advised customers facing difficulties accessing their money
to seek support from friends and family or to get in touch with food banks.

 

In response to one user who said they were unable to access their account,
the bank posted a link to the Trussell Trust, a charity which runs food
banks nationally.

 

Emily from Exeter told the BBC that she is spending the weekend on a
friend's sofa after being unable to move into her new house.

 

"I'm effectively homeless with my two children and two cats," she said,
adding that her children were staying with family.

 

"My removal van is abandoned with everything I have in it," the 44-year-old
said.

 

"I'm a single mother who has worked incredibly hard for this and to be left
homeless is indescribable."

 

 

Message to customers on Barclays website

In a statement issued on Saturday, a spokesperson for Barclays said the bank
was "extremely sorry" and that it was "working hard to fix the issue".

 

"Some may continue to see an outdated balance, and payments made or received
may not show. Customers should not try to make the payment again", they
said.

 

"Customers can use their cards and withdraw cash, use our app and online
banking, and as soon as these remaining issues are resolved, we'll let our
customers know".

 

It added: "We are keeping our call centres open for longer this weekend and
we will be proactively contacting customers who may be vulnerable".-bbc

 

 

 

 

How countries respond to Trump's tariffs is what matters next

It was not a bluff, the tariffs are here - and this is just the opening
salvo from the Oval Office.

 

The world trading system has not been here before. A slide towards a wider
trade conflict is very much on the cards, as President Trump prepares
similar tariffs firstly against Europe, and then at a lower level
universally.

 

But what matters as much as the actions the US takes, is how the rest of the
world responds.

 

That, in turn, requires a judgement about what the president is actually
trying to achieve.

 

 

Trump regularly changes his rationale for tariffs - either to coerce
diplomatic change, to deal with trade imbalances or to raise significant
revenues.

 

These policy objectives cannot all be achieved simultaneously.

 

For example, learning from the experience of Trump's first term "China
deal", Western diplomats have been scrambling to find lists of US goods they
might buy more of, in order to give the White House some wins.

 

Europe could say it is increasing its purchases of US shipments of liquefied
natural gas, or arms, or specialised magnets for wind farms.

 

It doesn't really matter if these trends were already in train, as long as
the US president can be allowed to chalk up a "win".

 

But is changing trade deficit numbers really the aim here?

 

Officially, the rationale for Trump's move is punishment for the trade in
the synthetic opioid fentanyl, but that is widely seen as a legal pretext
for "emergency" action that would normally require a congressional decision.

 

Canada has signalled it will take a robust approach to Trump, best
articulated by the contender to be the country's next prime minister, Mark
Carney.

 

"We will retaliate 
 dollar for dollar" he told the BBC, ridiculing the
fentanyl rationale and saying Canada would "stand up to a bully".

 

This is significant whether or not Carney succeeds Justin Trudeau and ends
up chairing the G7, which is the group of the world's seven largest
so-called "advanced" economies.

 

As a former governor of the Bank of England, Carney witnessed Trump on the
world stage at G20 and G7 meetings first hand and has clearly concluded that
the US leader only respects strength.

 

He had a coded warning for any nation seeking to stay quiet and not catch
the eye of the president: "Good luck."

 

In recent conversations I have had with European trade negotiators, they
have stressed cooperation and partnership, as well as deals with the US.
When asked, they avoided directly criticising even the extraordinary
suggestion of using tariffs against Nato ally Denmark over the fate of
Greenland.

 

Reuters Tesla chief executive Elon Musk wearing a black top and black
leather jacket, standing next to US President Donald Trump who is wearing a
blue suit, purple tie and red hat with the words make America Great Again in
white letters on the hatReuters

Countries may take action against Donald Trump's close associate Elon Musk

 

The real question here is whether the rest of the world, even tacitly,
coordinates retaliatory tariffs on, for example, high profile political
supporters of President Trump, such as Elon Musk, which is a typical feature
of previous smaller disputes.

 

Tesla, the electric vehicle maker led by Musk, last week warned on the
impact of tit-for-tat tariffs.

 

All of this would be aimed at making the rival courts around the Oval
Office, and interests in Congress, assert their concerns about the impact on
US factories' global exports.

 

This is all before the impact on US domestic prices.

 

This could also come, more circuitously, through the application of a
planned carbon trade tax in various jurisdictions.

 

Exactly how this plays out depends on perceptions of just how powerful the
US remains.

 

Some nations may conclude that these days, there are other options in the
world.

 

With tariffs threats being sprayed in multiple directions every day, the
world is in uncharted territory.-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

Tax relief for Indian middle class - but will it boost economy?

The federal government has announced measures to counter slowing growth

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coalition government has unveiled its
first full-year budget after his party lost an outright majority in
parliament last year.

 

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures to counter slowing
growth, rising prices and flagging consumption among the middle class in
Asia's third-largest economy.

 

After a period of world-beating growth of more than 8%, India is set for its
slowest economic expansion in four years as stagnant wages and high food
prices hit consumer spending and corporate profits.

 

Here are five key takeaways from India's union budget:

 

 

Tax cuts for the middle class

In a major relief to millions of taxpayers, the government has raised income
tax exemption limits, making earnings of up to 1.2m rupees ($13,841;
£11,165) - excluding special rate income like capital gains - entirely tax
free.

 

The finance minister has also announced tweaks to other income tax slabs
which is likely to leave more money in the hands of the middle class.

 

The income tax concessions to the middle class "seems aimed at addressing
the slump in urban consumption", said Nomura's India Economist Aurodeep
Nandi.

 

The impact, however, could be limited since a tiny fraction of Indians pay
direct taxes. In 2023, 1.6% of Indians (22.4 million people) actually paid
income taxes, according to data presented in parliament.

 

The market cheered the announcements with stocks of automobiles, consumer
goods and online grocery companies rallying.

 

Getty Images Indian construction workers work on a high-rise building.
India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, presents the Union Budget 2025-26 in
parliament in Hyderabad, India, on January 30, 2025.Getty Images

The government will continue spending on state-led infrastructure projects

 

State-led infrastructure spending remains on track

State-funded capital expenditure on major road, port and railway projects
has been a key driver of India's growth engine since 2020.

 

Despite an unexpected contraction in actual spending in the first nine
months of this year, the government has modestly increased its
infrastructure expenditure target for this year from 11.1 trillion to 11.2
trillion rupees ($129.18bn; £104.21bn).

 

The government has also proposed offering interest-free loans to states to
enable them to spend more on infrastructure development.

 

Boost for nuclear energy, insurance

The budget has set a goal to generate 100GW of nuclear energy by 2047. As
part of this plan, a Nuclear Energy Mission has been launched with a budget
of 200bn rupees ($2.3bn, £1.86bn). The plan is to deploy five indigenous
reactors by 2033 and amend laws, like the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage
Act, to realise goals and get more private sector participation in the
sector.

 

Meanwhile, foreign direct investment limits for the insurance sector have
been increased from 74% to 100%.

 

"This will aid foreign insurers' interest in investing in the growing Indian
insurance market, where we expect strong premium growth to boost
profitability," said Mohammed Ali Londe, Senior analyst at Moody's Ratings.

 

Small-scale industries and regulatory reform in focus

In order to ease the climate for doing business, which has been a major
concern among investors, a high-level committee has been announced to
undertake regulatory reforms in the non-financial sectors and reduce the
compliance burden on corporations. The panel will make recommendations
within a year.

 

Small and micro industries, that account for 35% of India's manufacturing
and create millions of jobs, also got a boost through fiscal support of 1.5
trillion rupees ($17.31bn; £13.96bn) over the next five years.

 

The government has also raised production-linked subsidies and slashed
import duties for local manufacturing units across sectors like textiles,
mobile telephones and electronics. This could promote private investments,
which have not picked up post the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Getty Images A worker is operating lathes as he is making spare parts of
agricultural machines at a manufacturing unit in Kolkata, India, on July 18,
2024. (Getty Images

Small and micro industries get a boost through fiscal support

Balancing the fiscal math

Even with slightly higher budget outlays for infrastructure creation, India
has had to continue a delicate balancing act between pushing economic growth
and keeping its spending in check.

 

The budget has reiterated a commitment to reducing the government's deficit,
which is the gap between what it earns and spends, to 4.4% by 2026 from 4.8%
this year.

 

Global rating agencies closely watch these numbers, with lower debt figures
leading to potentially better investment ratings in the future and a
reduction in borrowing costs for the country.

 

India's recent slowdown has made the growth versus fiscal prudence trade-off
increasingly challenging.

 

A recent economic survey by the finance ministry expects GDP growth to slow
to between 6.3-6.8% in the financial year ending March 2026, in line with
the Reserve Bank of India's forecasts.

 

With the budget out of the picture, the focus will now shift to the central
bank's monetary policy meeting later this month.

 

The RBI has maintained policy rates at 6.5% since February 2023, but is
likely to begin easing the cost of borrowing as both growth and inflation
have begun to come down.

 

Last week, the central bank announced plans to inject $18bn into the
domestic banking system to ease a cash shortage, a move seen by many as a
precursor to rate cuts.-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

Trump's tariffs hit China hard before - this time, it's ready

A hiss and puff of compressed air shapes the smooth leather, bringing to
life an all-American cowboy boot in a factory on China's eastern coast.

 

Then comes another one as the assembly line continues, the sounds of sewing,
stitching, cutting and soldering echoing off the high ceilings.

 

"We used to sell around a million pairs of boots a year," says the
45-year-old sales manager, Mr Peng, who did not wish to reveal his first
name.

 

That is, until Donald Trump came along.

 

A slew of tariffs in his first presidential term triggered a trade war
between the world's two largest economies. Six years on, Chinese businesses
are bracing themselves for a sequel now that he is back in the White House.

 

"What direction should we take in the future?" Mr Peng asks, uncertain of
what Trump 2.0 means for him, his colleagues - and China.

 

 

A battle looms

For Western markets that are increasingly wary of Beijing's ambitions, trade
has become a powerful bargaining chip - especially as a sluggish Chinese
economy relies ever more on exports. Trump returned on a campaign promise
that included crushing tariffs against Chinese-made goods, and has since
threatened a 10% levy that is expected to take effect on 1 February.

 

He has also ordered a review of US-China trade - which buys Beijing time and
Washington, negotiating room. And for now, harsher rhetoric (and higher
tariffs) seems to be directed against US allies such as Canada and Mexico.

 

Trump may have pressed pause on the looming battle with Beijing. But many
believe it's still coming. It's hard to find an exact figure on how many
businesses are fleeing China, but major firms such as Nike, Adidas and Puma
have already relocated to Vietnam. Chinese businesses too have been moving,
reshaping supply chains, although Beijing remains a key player.

 

Mr Peng says his boss, who owns the factory, has considered moving
production to South East Asia, along with many of their competitors.

 

It would save the firm, but they would lose their workforce. Most of the
staff are from the nearby city of Nantong and have worked here for more than
20 years.

 

Mr Peng, whose wife died when their son was young, says the factory has been
his family: "Our boss is determined not to abandon these employees."

 

Trump to hit Canada, Mexico and China with tariffs on Saturday

Booze, oil and orange juice: How Canada could retaliate

 

He is aware of the geopolitics at play, but he says he and his workers are
just trying to make a living. They are still reeling from the impact of
2019, when a fourth round of Trump tariffs - 15% - hit Chinese-made consumer
goods, such as clothes and shoes.

 

Orders have since dwindled and staff numbers, once more than 500, have
dropped to just over 200. The evidence is in the empty work stations, as Mr
Peng shows us around.

 

All around him, workers are cutting the leather into the right shape to hand
it to the machinist. They have to be precise because mistakes will ruin the
expensive leather, most of which has been imported from the US.

 

The factory is trying to keep costs low as some of their American buyers are
already considering moving business away from China and the threat of
tariffs.

 

But that would mean losing skilled workers: it can take up to a week to make
one pair of boots, from flattening the leather to giving the finished boots
a final polish and packing them for export.

 

This is what turned China into the world's top manufacturer -
labour-intensive production which is also cheap when it's scaled up and
supported by an unrivalled supply chain. And this has been years in the
making.

 

"It was once a constant cycle of inspecting goods and shipping them out - I
felt fulfilled," says Mr Peng, who has worked here since 2015. "But orders
have decreased, which makes me feel quite lost and anxious."

 

Once crafted to conquer the Wild West, these cowboy boots have been made
here for more than a decade. And this is a familiar story in the south of
Jiangsu province, a manufacturing hub along the Yangtze River that produces
just about everything, from textiles to electric vehicles.

 

 

... and employ double the number of workers it currently has

These are among the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods that
China ships to the United States every year - a number that steadily
ballooned as Washington became its biggest trading partner.

 

That status slipped under Trump. But it was not restored under his successor
Joe Biden, who kept most Trump-era tariffs in place, as ties with Beijing
frayed.

 

In fact, the European Union too has imposed tariffs on electric vehicle
imports, accusing China of making too much, often with the support of state
subsidies. Trump has echoed this - that China's "unfair" trade practices
disadvantage foreign comeptitors.

 

Beijing sees such rhetoric as Western attempts to stifle its growth, and it
has repeatedly warned Washington that there will be no winners in a trade
war. But it has also said it's ready to talk and "properly handle
differences".

 

And President Trump, who has described tariffs as his "one big power" over
China, certainly wants to talk.

 

It's unclear as yet what he might want in return. During Trump's honeymoon
period with China in his first term he came to Beijing to ask for Xi's help
in meeting North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. This time it is believed he
might need Xi's support to make a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin
to end the war in Ukraine. He recently said that China had "a great deal of
power over that situation".

 

The threat of a 10% tariff is driven by the belief that China is "sending
fentanyl to Mexico and Canada". So he could demand that it do more to end
that flow.

 

Or, given he welcomed a bidding war over TikTok, he may want to negotiate
its ownership - or the prized technology that powers the app - because
Beijing would need to agree to any such sale.

 

 

Whatever the deal may be, it could help reset US-China ties. However, the
absence of one could abruptly end the chance of a second honeymoon, setting
up Trump and Xi for a far more confrontational relationship.

 

Already business sentiment is nervous: an annual survey by the American
Chamber of Commerce in China showed just over half of them were concerned
about the US-China relationship deteriorating further.

 

Trump's seemingly softer stance on China offers some relief. But his hope is
still that the threat of tariffs will help drive buyers away from China and
move manufacturing back to the US.

 

Some Chinese businesses are indeed on the move - but not to America.

 

 

Moving shop

An hour outside Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, businessman Huang Zhaodong
has built a new factory to cater to a flood of orders from US giants Walmart
and Costco.

 

This is his second factory in Cambodia, and together they produce half a
million garments a month, from shirts to underwear. Hangers carrying cotton
trousers roll past us on an automated line, moving from one station to the
next as the elastic waist is inserted and hemlines are finished.

 

Xiqing Wang/ BBC An aerial shot of a factory. The room is largely grey, with
brightly-lit white work benches. People sit at each work bench. There is
yellow and black warning tape on the floor.Xiqing Wang/ BBC

Many businesses have relocated out of China to avoid the increased costs

 

Now, when prospective US customers lob the first question, which he has come
to expect - where is he based - Mr Huang has the right answer. Not in China.

 

"In the case of some Chinese firms, their customers have told them: 'If you
don't move production overseas, I'll cancel your orders'."

 

The tariffs raise tough choices for suppliers and retailers, but it's not
always clear who will bear the brunt of the cost. Sometimes it will be the
customer, Mr Huang says.

 

"Take Walmart as an example. I sell them clothes at $5, but they usually
mark it up 3.5 times. If the cost increases due to higher tariffs, the price
I sell to them might rise to $6. If they mark it up by 3.5 times, the retail
price would increase."

 

But usually, he says, it is the supplier. If his production line was in
China, he estimates an extra 10% tariff could take an extra $800,000
(£644,000) from his earnings.

 

"That's more than what I make as profit. It's huge and we can't afford it.
If you're making clothes in China under such tariff conditions, it's
unsustainable," he says.

 

Current US tariffs on Chinese goods vary from 100% on electric vehicles to
25% on steel and aluminium. Until now, several top-selling items have been
exempt, including electronics, such as TVs and iPhones.

 

But the 10% blanket tariff Trump is proposing could affect the price of
everything that is made in China and exported to the US. That applies to a
lot of things - from toys and tea cups to laptops.

 

Xiqing Wang/ BBC A woman walks down a road in front of the glass walls and
doors of a business, with red writing in Cambodian, Chinese and Western
scripts. Inside two men appear to work at a wooden desk while fridges with
food and drink sit at the back of the storeXiqing Wang/ BBC

In Cambodia, Chinese signs have appeared on shop fronts

 

Mr Huang says this would encourage more factories to move elsewhere. Several
new workshops have sprung up around him and Chinese companies from textile
production heartlands such as Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong are
moving in to make winter jackets and woollen clothing.

 

Around 90% of clothing factories in Cambodia are now Chinese-run or
Chinese-owned, according to a report by insight and analysis group Research
and Markets.

 

Half of the country's foreign investment flows from China. Seventy percent
of roads and bridges were built using loans Beijing dispensed, according to
Chinese state media.

 

Many of the signs on restaurants and shops are in Chinese as well as Khmer,
the local language. There's even a ring road named Xi Jinping Boulevard in
honour of the Chinese president.

 

Cambodia is not a lone recipient. China has invested heavily in different
parts of the world under President Xi's Belt and Road Initiative - a trade
and infrastructure project that also increases Beijing's influence.

 

That means China has choices.

 

Chinese state media claims that more than half of China's imports and
exports now come from Belt and Road countries, most of them in South East
Asia.

 

Xiqing Wang/BBC A female worker in a brightly lit factory sits behind a
sewing machine. Behind her, more sewing machines can be seen. Xiqing
Wang/BBC

It is thought 90% of Cambodia's factories are Chinese-run or owned

This has not happened overnight, says Kenny Yao from AlixPartners, who
advises Chinese firms on how to deal with tariffs.

 

During Trump's first term, many Chinese firms doubted his tariff threat, he
told the BBC. Now they ask if he will follow the supply chain and slap
tariffs on other countries.

 

Just in case he does, Mr Yao says, it would be wise for Chinese businesses
to look further afield: "For example, Africa or Latin America. This is more
difficult, but it is good to look at areas you have not explored before."

 

As America pledges to look after itself first, Beijing is doing its best to
appear a stable business partner, and there is some evidence it is working.

 

China has edged past the US to become the prevailing choice for countries in
South East Asia, according to a survey by the Iseas Yusof-Ishak think tank
in Singapore.

 

Even though production has moved abroad, money still flows to China - 60% of
the materials being made into clothes at Mr Huang's factories in Phnom Penh
come from China.

 

And exports are thriving, with Beijing investing more heavily in high-end
manufacturing, from solar panels to artificial intelligence. Last year's
trade surplus with the world - on the back of a nearly 6% year-on-year jump
in exports - was a record $992bn.

 

Still, Chinese businesses - in Jiangsu and Phnom Penh - are preparing
themselves for an uncertain spell, if not a turbulent one.

 

Mr Peng hopes the US and China can have an "amicable and calm" discussion to
keep the tariffs "within a reasonable range" and avoid a trade war.

 

"Americans still need to purchase these products," he said, before driving
off to meet new customers.-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo

There is a good chance that inside your mobile phone is a miniscule amount
of a metal that started its journey buried in the earth of eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo, where a war is currently raging.

 

It may even be directly connected to the M23 rebel group that made global
headlines this week.

 

The tantalum within your device weighs less than half of the average garden
pea but is essential for the efficient functioning of a smartphone, and
almost all other sophisticated electronic devices.

 

The unique properties of this rare, blue-grey, lustrous metal – including
being able to hold a high charge compared to its size, while operating in a
range of temperatures - make it an ideal material for tiny capacitors, which
temporarily store energy.

 

It is also mined in Rwanda, Brazil and Nigeria but at least 40% - and maybe
more – of the element's global supply comes from DR Congo and some of the
key mining areas are now under the control of the M23.

 

The current wave of fighting has been going on for months, but the rebels
grabbed attention with Sunday's assault on the vital trading and transport
hub of Goma. The city, bordering Rwanda, is a regional centre for the mining
business

 

What's the fighting in DR Congo all about?

Over the past year, the M23 has made rapid advances across the mineral-rich
east of DR Congo, taking areas where coltan – the ore from which tantalum is
extracted – is mined.

 

Like scores of other armed groups operating in the area, the M23 began as an
outfit defending the rights of an ethnic group perceived to be under threat.
But as its territory has expanded, mining has become a crucial source of
income, paying for fighters and weapons.

 

Last April, it seized Rubaya, the town at the heart of the country's coltan
industry.

 

Mineral extraction in this region is not in the hands of multinational
conglomerates - instead thousands of individuals toil in open pits that
honeycomb the landscape, or underground, in extremely unsafe and unhealthy
conditions.

 

This aerial shot from Rubaya taken in 2014 shows how the coltan operation
worked at one mine

They are part of a complex, and yet informal, network that sees the rocks
removed from the ground using shovels, brought to the surface, crushed,
washed, taxed, sold and then exported to be further purified and eventually
smelted.

 

Once the M23 moved into Rubaya, the rebels established what a UN group of
experts described as a "state-like administration", issuing permits to the
diggers and traders and demanding an annual fee of $25 (£20) and $250
respectively. The M23 doubled the diggers' wages to ensure they would carry
on working.

 

It runs the area as a monopoly making sure – through the threat of arrest
and detention – that only its authorised traders are able to do business.

 

The M23 also charges a levy of $7 on each kilogramme of coltan. The UN group
of experts estimated that as a result the M23 earns about $800,000 a month
from coltan taxation in Rubaya. That money is almost certainly then used to
fund the rebellion.

 

There is a question mark hanging over how the ore extracted from
M23-controlled areas gets into the global supply chain.

 

Neighbouring Rwanda, which is seen as backing the M23, is at the centre of
the answer, the UN experts say.

 

Theoretically, a certification scheme - known as the Innovative Tin Supply
Chain Initiative (Itsci) - should mean that what goes into a phone handset
and other electronics does not come from areas of conflict where it could be
used to fund armed groups responsible for carrying out atrocities.

 

 

EPA A member of the M23 in a balaclava and with an automatic weapons stands
in front of a crowd of civilians.EPA

The M23 is suspected of using the money raised in controlling the coltan
mines to pay for its fighters and weapons

The US' Dodd-Frank Act passed in 2010, and a similar piece of EU
legislation, is aimed at ensuring that companies purchasing tin, tantalum,
tungsten and gold – so-called "conflict minerals" – are not inadvertently
funding violence.

 

But Itsci has come under some criticism.

 

Ken Matthysen, a security and resource management expert with independent
research group Ipis, highlights that the dispersed nature of a lot of
small-scale mines make it difficult for the local authorities to monitor
exactly what is going on everywhere.

 

Itsci tags should be put on bags at the mine itself, to prove the origin of
the minerals inside, but often they get transported to a collection point
where it becomes harder to trace where the ore actually came from, Mr
Matthysen said.

 

He added that there is also a possible issue with corruption.

 

"There is even an accusation of the state agents selling tags to traders,
because they don't make a good living. So the traders then go around eastern
DR Congo and they tag the bags themselves."

 

Itsci did not respond to a BBC request for comment, but has in the past
defended its record saying that the scheme has been subjected to a rigorous
independent audit. It has also been praised for bringing "prosperity for
hundreds of thousands of small-scale miners".

 

The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo

In the case of Rubaya, Itsci suspended its operations there soon after the
M23 entered the town.

 

Nevertheless, the group has managed to continue exporting coltan.

 

The UN experts map a circuitous route showing how it is transported to close
to the Rwandan border. It is then transferred to "heavy-duty trucks" that
needed the road to be widened in order to accommodate them.

 

Rwanda has its own coltan mines but the experts say that the uncertified
coltan is mixed with Rwandan production leading to a "significant
contamination of supply chains".

 

The M23 was already involved in the coltan business before the capture of
Rubaya - setting up roadblocks and charging fees to cross them, according to
Mr Matthysen.

 

"A lot of the trade of these minerals went through M23-controlled area
towards Rwanda. So even then, Rwanda was profiting from the instability in
eastern DR Congo and we saw the export volumes to Rwanda were already
increasing," he told the BBC.

 

 

 

AFP Dust swirls as miners sit atop a mining site shovels in hand.AFP

The M23 increased the pay for the diggers in Rubaya but made sure they had a
monopoly in the coltan trade (file photo)

Figures from the US Geological Survey show that Rwanda's coltan exports rose
by 50% between 2022 and 2023. Mr Matthysen said this could not have all come
from Rwanda.

 

In a robust defence of Rwanda's position, government spokesperson Yolande
Makolo reiterated to the BBC that there were minerals and refining capacity
in her own country.

 

"It's very cynical to take an issue like what's happening in eastern DRC,
where a persecuted community is fighting for its rights... and turning [it]
into an issue of material benefit," she added.

 

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has also dismissed the UN experts' reports,
pouring scorn on their "expertise".

 

Much of the east of DR Congo has been blighted by conflict for many years,
raising questions about who has been benefitting and whether armed groups
are profiting from what is dug out of the ground there.

 

In order to highlight the issue and its connection to the smartphone
industry, the Congolese government filed criminal complaints in France and
Belgium at the end of last year against subsidiaries of the tech giant
Apple, accusing it of using "conflict minerals".

 

Apple has disputed the allegation and pointed out that since early 2024,
because of the escalating conflict and the difficulties of certification, it
stopped sourcing tantalum, among other metals, from both DR Congo and
Rwanda.

 

Other companies have not been so clear, which means that as the M23 seizes
more territory those small bits of tantalum from the mines that they control
could still make their way into the devices that we have come to rely
on.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Experts identify key energy development trends in Africa at international
conference

Addis Ababa, February 1, 2025 (TV BRICS) – The international “Regional to
Global” conference organised by the Global Energy Association was held in
Port Louis, the capital of the Republic of Mauritius. TV BRICS served as the
event’s information partner.

 

At the meeting, leading experts from developing countries discussed Africa’s
energy supply prospects and ways to integrate new technologies into
traditional energy systems.

 

Among the conference participants were the President of the Global Energy
Association, Sergey Brilev; the Director of HySA Infrastructure Centre of
Competence under the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation of
South Africa, Dmitry Bessarabov; the Director General of the Association of
Power Utilities of Africa, Abel Didier Tella; the Agriculture Manager of the
Mauritius Central Electricity Board, Ismaël Adam Essackjee; and others.
Additionally, Mahasha Rampedi, Editor-in-Chief and international
correspondent of the South African publication African Times, a partner of
TV BRICS, moderated the second session of the conference on “New Energy
Technologies as the Foundation for Economic and Social Development.”

 

Abel Didier Tella highlighted significant progress in electricity provision
for countries south of the Sahara.

 

“In the last ten years alone, the installed capacity of renewable energy
facilities in Africa has almost doubled (from 33 GW in 2015 to 62 GW in
2023). Angola has become a major producer of hydropower; Kenya is now one of
the world leaders in geothermal energy; and Ethiopia has brought on stream
the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the most powerful hydroelectric
power plant in Africa,” he noted.

 

Brilev, in turn, emphasised that the experience of hydropower projects in
Ethiopia confirms the vast potential of the African continent in this
sector, and new technologies open even more opportunities. According to him,
the primary goal is to provide accessible and reliable energy for all, in
line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

 

During the discussions, participants concluded that Africa has significant
potential not only to enhance the reliability of its energy supply but also
to strengthen its position in global fossil fuel markets.

 

Beyond the business programme, the event also featured an exhibition of
paintings by the artist Vasily Polenov. According to organisers, this
cultural addition further highlighted the deep connection between science,
art, and sustainable development.fanabc

 

 

 

Energy minister urges Africans to unite for sustainable energy future

The Minister of Energy, John Jinapor, has called on African leaders to
embrace greater unity and purpose across the continent to achieve a
sustainable and reliable energy future.

 

He made the call while setting the context for a panel discussion under the
theme, "Delivering Affordable, Accessible, and Sustainable Energy Solutions
for Africa" during APD 2025 Day 2 at the Accra International Conference
Centre on Friday, January 31, 2025.

 

Jinapor stressed the critical role of cooperation among African nations in
overcoming the continent's energy challenges and ensuring universal access
to electricity.

 

According to him, it is crucial to address Africa’s energy deficit, because
"over 600 million people on the continent still lack access to electricity."

 

This shortage, he explained, was a significant barrier to economic growth
and poverty reduction, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where energy
access is most limited.

 

"In order to achieve a sustainable energy future, Africa must work together.
It is only through collaboration that we can unlock the continent’s full
potential, overcome the energy crisis, and drive inclusive development,"
Jinapor added.

 

The energy minister emphasized that Ghana had made strides in improving its
energy infrastructure, ensuring that more of the population had access to
electricity than many other nations in the region.

 

AM/KA

 

 

 

 

>From jewelry to food waste, firms are ‘shaking’ things up with
circular-economy shift

>From jewelry and clothes to food waste, a growing number of sectors are
focusing on operating as part of a “circular economy,” aiming to waste less
— and reap the financial benefits in the process.

 

The rising cost of raw materials and a move to reduce carbon emissions could
mean working in this way becomes “critical,” according to Goldman Sachs,
which said the global economy could benefit to the tune of up to $4.5
trillion by 2030.

 

What is the circular economy?

In simple terms, the circular economy refers to the process of reusing,
repairing or recycling products while keeping waste to a minimum. It
represents a move away from the linear model of “take-make-waste,” according
to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity that researches and promotes
the circular economy.

 

“The circular economy is not about making small, incremental changes to our
current system — it’s about completely transforming the way the entire
system works,” said the foundation’s Executive Lead Reniera O’Donnell, in an
email to CNBC.

 

“A circular economy follows three principles all driven by design —
eliminate waste and pollution; circulate products and materials at their
highest value, and regenerate nature,” she added.

 

For example, Chinese company Deartree buys and refurbishes used office
furniture and then sells or rents it to companies such as Microsoft, Tencent
and Starbucks. Dutch company De Clique, meanwhile, collects food waste such
as coffee grounds and sells them to companies who make them into new
products.

 

Even cities are aiming to become “fully circular,” with Glasgow pledging to
do so by 2045 and Amsterdam by 2050.

 

Working in this way can mean a shift in mindset. U.S. jewelry company
Sonalore says it is “shaking up” the industry by operating an unusual
business model: it will buy its pieces back from customers when they no
longer want them, guaranteeing to pay the market price for gold minus a 15%
fee.

 

 

For Nidhi Singhvi, the company’s co-founder and CEO, this kind of model
works best for high-value products — think luxury watches or cars.
“Successful business models in a circular economy depend on three
components: valuable underlying assets, transparent pricing or [a] fair
price set by demand and supply forces, and efficient mechanisms for resale,”
she told CNBC by email.

 

Singhvi, who lives in California, said young people there “care deeply about
sustainability.” “They dig deeper and ask questions about sourcing and
supply chain, and weigh the environmental impact of what they buy,” she
said.

 

Added to this, millennials are less wealthy than their parents and therefore
think “more like investors” when shopping, considering the resale value of
clothes and accessories, Singhvi said. Indeed, the market for secondhand
apparel is set to reach $350 billion globally by 2028, up from $264 billion
this year and growing three times faster than the clothing market overall,
according to a report by fashion resale website ThredUp.

 

Investing in the circular economy

Finding companies to invest in that are operating in this new way can be
tricky because of a lack of disclosures related to the circular economy,
according to Goldman Sachs. The bank published an expanded list of “Adopters
and Enables of Circular Economy solutions” in 2024, adding around 150 global
companies to the list which now totals 875, due to a “notable increase” in
such disclosures.

 

Its “Top Circular Enablers” — companies that align circular business models
with revenue — outperformed the wider MSCI ACWI Index of large and mid-sized
companies between 2021 and July 2024, the bank said.

 

Singapore-based manufacturer SMC Corporation

, which makes industrial equipment and focuses on products that reduce
emissions and raw materials, is on Goldman’s list of buy-rated “High
Quality” circular economy companies. Also on the list is Chinese firm
Lenovo, while its “Top Scoring overall Circular Enablers” included U.S. firm
Waste Management

and French company Veolia

.

 

“A Circular Economy is critical to solving for a Low Carbon economy and
Biodiversity loss, which is increasingly being recognised by investors,
corporates, and politicians,” Goldman’s analysts stated.

 

Indeed, several European Union regulations mandate that circularity is
included in product design and the EU has action plans targeting things like
plastics, textiles and food waste.

 

Tackling food waste

Food waste is a “market failure” and an “environmental failure,” according
to the U.N. Environment Programme’s 2024 Food Waste Index Report, with 1
billion meals wasted globally each day. Meanwhile, more than 700 million
people were impacted by hunger every day, according to the U.N.’s report.

 

Mother and son preparing fruit and vegetables in the kitchen. They are
peeling and cutting apples, oranges and carrot. The boy is throwing
leftovers to the organic compost container.

 

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Big Food Redesign Challenge aims to tackle
this issue. The group is set to announce details of food products that have
been made in line with circular economy principles, taking things like
biodiversity and water usage into account in their production.

 

“Currently, the way our food is designed means we bend nature to produce
food but we can make different design decisions so that food can be designed
for nature to thrive,” O’Donnell said.

 

It’s a topic that has been close to food security specialist Matthew Tan’s
heart for more than two decades. “If you’ve seen what the poor earth has
undergone, okay, over the last 100 years, you will agree with me that if we
don’t start looking into that circularity of economy and the way we do the
farming, it’s not going to look really, really bright,” Tan told CNBC by
video call.

 

Tan is involved in several Singapore-based agriculture technology companies
aiming to produce food sustainably, including KosmodeHealth, which extracts
protein from spent barley grains to make noodles.

 

In Singapore, the government is expanding its requirements for
sustainability disclosures, with the Singapore Stock Exchange mandating that
the financial, agriculture and energy industries report on their climate
policies and targets from 2024. This year, the construction and
transportation sectors are also included.

 

Tan said investors are asking more questions about climate disclosures,
adding that he expects a “shift” in the money market towards sustainability.

 

“The value of bonds, especially those relating to sustainability, they’re
going to take front stage. It’s going to become more and more important,”
Tan said.

 

For jewelry entrepreneur Singhvi, circular models can be applied to multiple
industries. “Here is what excites me as a founder: we already know these
models work. The real challenge and opportunity is bringing this thinking to
traditionally opaque industries through technology and transparency,” she
said.-cnbc

 

 

 

Newmont Ventures Increases Stake in Ariana Resources

Ariana Resources, a non-UK issuer, has announced an increase in its voting
rights held by Newmont Ventures Limited. The voting rights have risen from
2.52% to 4.03%, which signifies a significant acquisition of shares by
Newmont Ventures Limited, potentially affecting Ariana Resources’
shareholder structure and control dynamics.

 

 

 

DeepSeek Is a Win for China in the A.I. Race. Will the Party Stifle It?

In 2017, China watched in awe — and shock — as AlphaGo, an artificial
intelligence program backed by Google, defeated a Chinese prodigy at a
complex board game, Go. The decisive loss to a foreign computer program,
which had similarly trounced a South Korean player, was a sort of Sputnik
moment for China.

 

That year, Chinese officials laid out a bold plan to lead the world in A.I.
by 2030, pledging billions to companies and researchers focused on the
technology. From this fervor emerged DeepSeek, the largely unknown Chinese
start-up that upended the technology landscape by creating a powerful A.I.
model with far less money than experts had thought possible.

 

DeepSeek is private, with no apparent state backing, but its success
embodies the ambitions of China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, who has exhorted
his country to “occupy the commanding heights” of technology. Mr. Xi wants
the Chinese economy to be powered not by old growth engines like debt-fueled
real estate and cheap exports, but by the most advanced technologies like
A.I., supercomputing and green energy.

 

Image

A screen shows a board with many circular game discs, some black and others
white. A man looks down at the board.

A screen displays the match featuring the Chinese Go player Ke Jie against
Google’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo in 2017 in Wuzhen,
China.Credit...Wu Hong/European Pressphoto Agency

For Mr. Xi, this moment helps dent the aura of superiority the United States
has held in A.I., a critical field in a fierce superpower rivalry. China has
cast itself as a benevolent global partner to developing countries, willing
to share its know-how, with Mr. Xi saying that A.I. should not be a “game of
rich countries and the wealthy.”

 

 

 

 

 

India's carmakers see mild uptick in sales to dealers in January

(Reuters) - India's overall car sales to dealers saw a slight increase in
January, data released by automakers on Saturday showed, as inflation-wary
customers continued to delay purchases.

Domestic sales of India's top four carmakers - which form 80% of the
country's car market - rose 1.8% from a year ago, helped by sales of market
leader Maruti Suzuki's (MRTI.NS), opens new tab small cars and Mahindra &
Mahindra's (MAHM.NS), opens new tab sports utility vehicles.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

 

Peers Hyundai India (HYUN.NS), opens new tab and Tata Motors (TAMO.NS),
opens new tab saw sales declining 5.5% and 10%, respectively, hurt by
increased competition.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Car sales in India, the world's third-largest car market, have slowed after
two years of rapid growth as higher inflation has squeezed buyers' pockets.

Higher raw material costs have forced carmakers to raise prices even as they
offer discounts to perk up demand.

The government's proposal to slash personal income tax rates in its annual
budget on Saturday has raised hopes of a consumption boost in the world's
fifth-largest economy, which could possibly entice more people to buy cars.

  The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

 

Shein ramps up charm offensive as London IPO nears

Shein is ramping up its charm offensive again as the fast-fashion giant eyes
a public listing in London as soon as this year. 

 

The retailer issued a press release on Friday detailing the steps it’s
taking to keep the items it sells safe. The announcement came about a week
after its first product safety recall in the U.S. since 2021. 

 

Shein said it conducted more than 2 million product safety tests last year
using industry-leading labs such as Bureau Veritas and Intertek, adding that
its vendors are required to submit documentation for items like toys, baby
products, medical devices and electronics. 

 

Shein made the announcement, which included details on its sustainability
initiatives and a new nonprofit foundation it set up, as the company looks
to win over lawmakers in the U.K. and ease concerns that it’s selling unsafe
products that are made with forced labor. 

 

Last week, Shein recalled more than 300 hair dryer brushes because they
posed an electrocution or shock hazard to consumers. The Teckwe Hair Dryer
Brush appeared to be a so-called dupe of a similar product sold by Dyson. No
injuries were reported and Shein is offering a refund to impacted customers.


 

A spokesperson for Shein told CNBC the company conducted safety tests on
products it sells itself and did “risk-based, randomized testing” on items
sold by third-party vendors on its marketplace before their listing.

 

Product safety testing is common for items that a retailer sells, even if
they’re online only, because they could be held liable for defects under
consumer protection laws in the U.S. On the other hand, a retailer’s
liability is less clear for third-party sellers on an online marketplace,
which makes product testing prior to an item’s listing unusual.

 

Shein’s decision to conduct product safety tests on items sold by
third-party sellers makes it stand out in an industry that has been rife
with safety concerns. Typically, online marketplaces just require sellers to
conduct their own testing and provide documentation to support it.

 

Shein added in its press release that it terminated more than 260 sellers on
its marketplace over the last year for not meeting compliance requirements. 

 

Shein faces U.K. scrutiny

Shein’s campaign to show it takes product safety and sustainability
seriously comes as it prepares to go public in the U.K. — and follows a
similar charm offensive in the U.S. before its doomed initial public
offering bid there.

 

Earlier this month, U.K. lawmakers criticized attorneys for Shein when they
appeared before a British parliamentary hearing and evaded questions about
the company’s supply chain and whether it sells products made with cotton
from China, The Associated Press reported. 

 

Shein’s general counsel in Europe, Yinan Zhu, repeatedly declined to say
whether the company’s products contain cotton from Xinjiang and whether the
company prohibits suppliers from sourcing raw materials in the region, which
has become notorious for its Uyghur detention camps. 

 

When asked whether the company believes there is forced labor in Xinjiang,
Zhu said it wasn’t the company’s place to have a “geopolitical debate” and
repeated a line Shein often uses when grilled on its supply chain, “We
comply with the laws and regulations in the countries that we operate in.”

 

Committee Chairman Liam Byrne said Zhu’s refusal to answer questions left
lawmakers “horrified” and gave them “zero confidence” in the integrity of
Shein’s supply chain.  

 

“The reluctance to answer basic questions has frankly bordered on contempt,”
Byrne said.

 

Throughout 2023, when Shein was still hoping for a U.S. IPO, it commonly
spoke publicly about its cotton supply chain and the tests it had conducted
to ensure it wasn’t sourcing from banned regions. It even told CNBC it had
stopped sourcing cotton from China altogether. 

 

Shein did not make similar statements in the parliamentary hearing.cnbc

 

 

 

 

Commerzbank posts 20% hike in annual profit and launches new share buyback
as it wards off UniCredit

The bank said it achieved a 20% increase in net profit to 2.68 billion euros
($2.78 billion) in 2024. This compares with a $2.47 billion net profit
forecast for the period, according to a consensus estimate cited by Reuters.

 

The group laid out intentions to repurchase 400 million euros of shares and
proposed to lift its dividend payout to 0.65 euros per share, compared with
0.35 euros per share in the previous year.

 

Shares in the lender ended the day 1.7% higher.

 

Other annual highlights included net income of 8.33 billion euros in 2024,
versus 8.37 billion euros in the previous year, with the bank noting it
benefitted from foreign exchange valuation effects in the fourth quarter.
Its return on tangible equity — a measure of profit performance — picked up
to 9.2% in 2024 from 7.7% in 2023, exceeding the group’s target of hitting
at least 8%.

 

The group had originally listed plans to publish its fourth-quarter and
annual earnings on Feb. 13, when it also intends to deliver its annual
strategy update and outlook. The early release falls in step with German
legal requirements when the amount of capital return significantly surpasses
the expectations of capital markets.

 

The results come as Commerzbank has been making a case to stand alone, after
a surprise stake build from Italy’s second-largest lender UniCredit stoked
market speculation of interest in a potential takeover. UniCredit now owns a
direct 9.5% stake and a 18.5% stake via derivatives in Commerzbank, after
first building its stake in September, then subsequently increasing its
position.

 

The move has been met with resistance from the German government, whose
Finance Minister Jörg Kukies criticized UniCredit’s “very aggressive, very
opaque” bid in a CNBC interview last week.

 

“We have exceeded our capital return promise to our shareholders,” said
Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp in a statement accompanying the results,
citing cost management and growth initiatives as driving the profit
increase.

 

“Thanks to increasing profitability and new growth initiatives, we will
further enhance capital return in the coming years. Commerzbank is and
remains an attractive investment,” she noted.

 

Since its September overture, UniCredit has also launched a takeover bid for
domestic Italian peer Banco BPM

, raising questions on whether it will press ahead with a domestic or German
venture.-cnbc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


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INVESTORS DIARY 2025

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


CBZH

GetBucks

EcoCash

 


Padenga

Econet

RTG

 


Fidelity

TSL

FMHL

 


 

 

 

 


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report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and d from third parties.

 


 

 


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<mailto:bulls at bullszimbabwe.com> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com Tel: +27 79 993
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