Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 23 April 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 23 April 2018

 


 

 


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*  Egypt aims for $10 bln foreign investment in oil, gas in 2018/19

*  South Africa's rand weaker as rally in U.S. pressures risk currencies

*  Congo Republic says it has met criteria for an IMF deal

*  Higher Algerian energy revenue cuts trade deficit in Q1 - customs

*  DP World should rethink port deals in Somalia - foreign minister

*  Independent board advises Murray & Roberts shareholders to reject ATON
bid

*  Food prices lift Morocco’s annual inflation to 2.5 pct yr/yr in March

*  Steinhoff faces shareholders as it battles to stay afloat

*  MTN appoints investment firms for Nigerian unit's IPO

*  Vodacom Tanzania bets on data and mobile money to stay on top

*  Martin Lewis seeks damages for 'fake' Facebook ads

*  Climate change: Michael Bloomberg pledges $4.5m for Paris deal

*  Capita to raise £700m as losses deepen

*  Jeremy Hunt threatens social media with new child-protection laws

*  No-deal Brexit 'disastrous' for food firms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Egypt aims for $10 bln foreign investment in oil, gas in 2018/19

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt aims for foreign investment in the oil and gas
sector to reach about $10 billion in the 2018/19 fiscal year that begins in
July, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said on Sunday.

 

Molla said he expected foreign investments to total the same amount for the
current fiscal year, marking a 25 percent increase from the previous year.

 

The 25 percent gain comes as a result of foreign companies investing in
major gas projects in the Mediterranean, he said.

 

 

Egypt aims to increase its gas production from newly discovered fields,
which include the mammoth Zohr asset discovered by Italy’s Eni in 2015.

 

Once a gas exporter, Egypt hopes to halt imports by 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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South Africa's rand weaker as rally in U.S. pressures risk currencies

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand weakened early on Monday as a
firming dollar and rising U.S. bond yields lured investors offshore and
there was little locally to firm the currency.

 

At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.21 percent weaker a 12.1175 per dollar compared
to a close of 12.0925 on Friday in New York.

 

The dollar’s index against a basket of six major peers edged up 0.1 percent
to 90.401, while U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touched its highest the highest
since January 2014 in Asian trade. Despite the losses the rand looks set to
carve out gains this week with long term bets still based on global
synchronized growth, a positive scenario for emerging market currencies.

 

“Market positioning, as reflected by the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission indicates a high conviction in the current ‘narrative’ – i.e.
that global synchronized growth will continue,” said Nedbank analysts Mehul
Daya and Walter de Wet in a note.

 

 

* The analysts also said implied volatility across most of the maturity
buckets had fallen, reflecting lower domestic risks.

 

Bonds were also weaker, with the yield don the benchmark paper due in 2026
adding 8.085 percent.

 

The stock market was set to open flat at 0700 GMT, with the Top40 futures
index down only 0.04 percent.

 

 

 

Congo Republic says it has met criteria for an IMF deal

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Congo Republic said on Friday it fulfilled the criteria
for a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and had reached an
agreement on a three-year programme aimed at turning around its
debt-crippled economy.

 

The announcement appeared to contradict an earlier statement by the IMF,
which said a programme would only be proposed to the Fund’s board once Congo
was in compliance with IMF policies. IMF officials were not immediately
available to react to the Congolese statement.

 

Like other Central African oil producing countries, Congo has been hit by
low crude prices. While several neighbours, including Chad and Gabon, have
secured bailouts from the IMF, talks with Congo have dragged on since last
year.

 

The delay is largely due to the IMF’s call for the government to restructure
its debt, which stood at $9.14 billion, or around 110 percent of GDP, by the
end of July - a level the Fund says is unsustainable.

 

“Republic of Congo welcomes the agreement concluded with the International
Monetary Fund to support its reform programme,” the government said in a
statement. “This agreement is supported by other multilateral creditors,
including the World Bank and African Development Bank.”

 

It said the programme, which still required IMF board approval, aimed to
restore sustainable and inclusive economic growth and support a “stable
microeconomic environment compatible with the viability of the public debt”.

 

The statement did not give the expected size of the IMF package, but it said
that conclusion of the programme would unlock an additional 135 million
euros ($166 million) from France.

 

 

“Republic of Congo congratulates itself for having met all of the criteria
to be eligible for financing of its economic and financial programme by the
IMF and its international partners,” it said.

 

At the end of its most recent visit to Congo, the IMF said on Thursday that
the two parties it had come to “broad understandings on policies that could
be supported by the IMF under a financial arrangement”.

 

However, the mission did not say it had reached a staff-level agreement -
the provisional deal between the IMF and the government that could then be
submitted the Fund’s executive board.

 

Instead, it said it expected Congo to continue implementing its strategy to
restore debt sustainability and would propose a programme to the board “once
compliance with all relevant IMF policies has been established.”

 

Congolese authorities are in talks with creditors, including trading houses
Trafigura and Glencore from whom it borrowing $2 billion.

 

The bulk of its external debt, however, is owed to Chinese entities.

 

($1 = 0.8129 euros)

 

 

 

Higher Algerian energy revenue cuts trade deficit in Q1 - customs

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria’s energy earnings rose 19.6 percent in the first
three months of this year from the same period in 2017, cutting the trade
deficit by 83.6 percent, official figures showed on Sunday.

 

Oil and gas exports, which accounted for 93.6 percent of total sales abroad,
reached $10.03 billion, up from $8.38 billion in the first three months of
2017.

 

The overall value of exports stood at $10.71 billion, against $8.93 billion
in the fisrt quarter of 2017, while imports declined 6 percent to $11.2
billion.

 

Fuel was among the main products imported in the first quarter of 2018, with
the bill going up by 31.4 percent to $481 million.

 

Algeria has imposed imports restrictions for some goods in a bid cut
spending on purchases after a fall in energy earnings after 2014.

 

 

DP World should rethink port deals in Somalia - foreign minister

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia’s foreign minister said on Friday that Dubai
state-owned port operator DP World should reconsider its contract with the
breakaway region of Somaliland and work with federal authorities so
Somalia’s sovereignty is not violated.

 

“We are asking DP World to reconsider these agreements,particularly the one
in Berbera port since Somaliland is claiming to be a state independent from
Somalia,” Ahmed Isse Awad, Somalia’s foreign minister, told Reuters in an
interview.

 

He said DP World’s agreement to develop an economic zone and port in
Somaliland’s Berbera “bypassed the legitimate authority” of Somalia,
triggering “misunderstanding and disagreement” that remained unresolved.

 

Somaliland’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said the deal was
not up for discussion.

 

“The government of Somalia has nothing to do with this agreement,”
Ambassador Bashe Awil Omar told Reuters by phone.

 

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 and has acted as a de-facto state
since then but is not internationally recognised. The UAE’s Dubai government
owns DP World.

 

A DP World spokesman told Reuters that construction in Somaliland and
Puntland, another semi-autonomous region of Somalia where a Dubai
state-owned company has a separate deal to manage a port, was on schedule
and that work would start soon.

 

“Both Puntland and Somaliland have urged DP World to expedite construction,”
the spokesman said. Puntland officials could not be immediately reached for
comment.

 

The comments come amid a diplomatic row between the volatile Horn of Africa
nation and the UAE.

 

Somalia and the UAE have separately said a UAE military training programme
in Somalia has ended following the seizure of millions of dollars from a UAE
plane at Mogadishu airport earlier this month.

 

The spat is related to the port issue but has escalated amid an increasingly
troubled relationship between Gulf states - divided by their own disputes -
and fractured Somalia, whose coastline sits close to key shipping routes and
across the water from Yemen.

 

 

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have strong trading links with and influence in
Somalia, but that is offset by the sway of Qatar and its ally Turkey, one of
Somalia’s biggest foreign investors.

 

Analysts have said the dispute in the Gulf that erupted last year between
Qatar and Turkey on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the other
risks exacerbating an already explosive security situation on both sides of
the Gulf of Aden.

 

Against this backdrop, Somalia’s parliament unanimously passed a resolution
last month saying DP World’s contract with Somaliland was null and void
because it was agreed with authorities in the breakaway region, not with the
federal government.

 

Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has said the vote will have no impact on
the DP World deal which includes the government of Ethiopia.

 

Its small port of Berbera exports camels to the Middle East and imports food
and other items. But DP World’s deal to expand the port is one of many
investments the UAE government has made in Somaliland, from agreeing to
train police and military to establishing a military base.

 

Awad said the federal government wanted DP World to engage with Mogadishu,
instead of Somaliland authorities.

 

“After that, Somalia welcomes any investment in any  part of Somalia
including Berbera,” he said.

 

He added this policy applied to any deals by foreign countries or
government’s with Somalia’s federal member states, which include Puntland.

 

The minister denied claims by UAE authorities that they had signed the
Berbera port deal with a previous Somali government, saying no evidence had
been produced.

 

He said he thought relations with the Gulf state would normalize, without
giving details, and said Mogadishu wanted to enter “serious, open and
friendly” discussion to resolve misunderstandings.

 

 

Independent board advises Murray & Roberts shareholders to reject ATON bid

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa construction company Murray & Roberts
(M&R) said on Friday that an independent board had recommended that its
shareholders reject a takeover bid by Germany’s ATON, the latest rebuff to
the acquisition attempt.

 

M&R reported interim profits that more than doubled, in part due to higher
earnings from its underground mining activities, a sign of an upswing in the
commodities sector which has made it an attractive target.

 

“It was clear to the Independent Board upfront that ATON’s approach was
opportunistic and timed to coincide with unprecedented weakness in the
company’s share price,” M&R said in a statement.

 

“The Independent Board, having taken the advice of (an) independent expert,
communicated to shareholders its view that the ATON offer materially
undervalued the strategic platforms and business prospects of Murray &
Roberts,” it said.

 

M&R’s biggest shareholder German investor Lutz Helmig’s ATON, which owns
more than a third of the South African group, made a buyout offer of 15 rand
($1.25) per share for M&R last month valuing the company at close to $600
million.

 

M&R rejected the bid saying it undervalued the company and its second
biggest shareholder, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, has also
snubbed the overture. An independent report has shown that a fair offer for
the company would be as much as 22 rand per share.

 

The company’s share price closed at 15.20 rand on Thursday, almost double
its 2018 low of 8.70 rand hit on March 22. When the planned buyout was
announced on March 26, Murray & Roberts’ share price was close to a two-year
low, according to Thomson Reuters’ data.

 

($1 = 11.9847 rand)

 

 

Food prices lift Morocco’s annual inflation to 2.5 pct yr/yr in March

RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco’s annual consumer price inflation rose to 2.5
percent in March, up from 1.8 percent in February, mainly due to higher food
prices, the High Planning Authority said on Friday.

 

Annual food inflation rose to 3.3 percent up from 1.7 percent in the 12
months through March. Non-food price inflation slightly slowed to 1.4
percent from 1.5 percent year on year.

 

On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index rose to 0.1 percent in
March compared to 0.5 percent in February, as food price inflation eased to
0.2 percent down from 1.2 percent.

 

 

Steinhoff faces shareholders as it battles to stay afloat

AMSTERDAM/CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African retailer Steinhoff remains in
a “tough position” and is talking to creditors about restructuring debt, the
company said on Friday at its first shareholder meeting since an accounting
scandal was uncovered in December.

 

Steinhoff, which runs chains such as Britain’s Poundland, Mattress Firm in
the U.S. and Conforama in France, is fighting for its survival after
discovering holes in its accounts. The company’s shares have lost more than
90 percent of their stock market value and assets have had to be sold to
raise cash.

 

“The group has been engaging with its creditors across the debt clusters to
create a window of stability and to develop a restructuring plan,” the
company said in a website presentation as it began a shareholder meeting in
Amsterdam, where the firm is registered.

 

Steinhoff’s total borrowings stand at 10.4 billion euros ($12.7 billion),
racked up in an acquisition spree over the last decade.

 

Newly appointed finance head Philip Dieperink said the company had
sufficient cash to meet its immediate needs but had technically breached
some debt agreements and remains in a “tough position”.

 

Steinhoff is trying to renegotiate its debt and will likely sell more assets
as part of any restructuring plan, Dieperink said.

 

Shares in Steinhoff were up 1.9 percent at 2.61 rand in Johannesburg,
valuing it at roughly 11 billion rand. Just four months ago, it was worth
more than 200 billion rand ($16.5 billion).

 

‘BURNING BUILDING’

Steinhoff has hired auditors PwC to investigate its problems and the
accounting firm has gathered millions of records.

 

Steinhoff said initial findings from the probe, expected to be completed by
the end of the year, have revealed that a pattern of transactions over “a
number of years” led to a “material overstatement of income and asset
values.”

 

South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, which manages around 1
trillion rand in government employee pensions and was Steinhoff’s
second-largest shareholder, said it was worried about the time it would take
to complete the investigation.

 

“The information was useful but we are worried about the process, it seems
to be taking very long and before the PWC process is concluded we won’t get
audited financial statements and it seems that will only be by the end of
the year,” he told reporters in Cape Town after the meeting was streamed to
an exhibition and trade show centre there.

 

There were dozens of protesters in Cape Town, led by civil servants union
Public Service Union.

 

Shareholder rights group VEB is suing Steinhoff along with banks that
prepared its stock market flotation in Frankfurt in 2015.

 

“Where was the governance? ... Where was the supervisory board?,” said
Armand Kersten of the VEB.

 

Steinhoff’s chairwoman Heather Sonn said no current or proposed board
members were implicated in the accounting irregularities, which date back to
at least its 2015 accounts.

 

The company has reported its former chief executive Markus Jooste to the
South African police over suspected corruption. Jooste was an instrumental
figure in the company’s rapid growth into a multinational vying with the
likes of IKEA.

 

Former chairman and biggest shareholder, Christo Wiese, who is not accused
of any wrongdoing, resigned shortly after the scandal broke.

 

“Typically when in a burning building you run out. Some stayed. We are happy
some stayed in the burning building to help,” Sonn told investors at the
meeting.

 

“We want to uncover the truth, show the world what has happened, prosecute
any wrongdoing and reinstate trust in the company.”

 

($1 = 12.0875 rand)

 

 

MTN appoints investment firms for Nigerian unit's IPO

LAGOS (Reuters) - South African telecoms firm MTN has appointed Nigerian
investment firm Chapel Hill Denham as lead issuing house for the initial
public offering of its Nigerian business in Lagos later this year, two
sources told Reuters on Friday.

 

South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank, Renaissance Capital and Vetiva Capital
were picked as joint issuers. The telecoms firm also appointed seven
placement agents that would help market the offering, the sources said.

 

 

Vodacom Tanzania bets on data and mobile money to stay on top

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Vodacom Tanzania is focusing on growing its data
business, mobile payments system and cloud services to stay on top of the
East African nation’s competitive telecoms market, the head of the company
said on Friday.

 

Investment in these areas will ensure the company retains first mover
advantage, managing director Ian Ferrao told Reuters.

 

Vodacom controls 32 percent of the country’s 40 million mobile subscribers,
ahead of companies including Tigo Tanzania, a subsidiary of Sweden’s
Millicom, and a local unit of India’s Bharti Airtel.

 

In 2016 Vodacom launched a payments system enabling its 8 million mobile
money subscribers to make payments to more than 10,000 merchants, from small
shops to restaurants.

 

“I’d like to see this get to 100,000 merchants in the next couple of years,
so that everywhere you go you can pay using M-Pesa,” Ferrao said.

 

A little more than half of Tanzania’s total mobile subscribers have mobile
money accounts, national regulator data shows, suggesting room for growth.

 

“If you just look at China, where 90 percent of payments today are made
through a mobile phone using various apps, it has completely transformed the
Chinese economy,” Ferrao said.

 

“I think Tanzania can be the leading country across Africa driving this
mobile payments strategy.”

 

Another growth area is data, he said. More than 50 percent of the country’s
mobile phone users are accessing the internet using their phones, according
to the regulator.

 

Vodacom allocated about three quarters of the 600 billion Tanzanian
shillings ($263.4 million) it spent on network infrastructure over the past
three years on expanding mobile broadband services, he said.

 

It is subsidising devices on its network so that consumers can buy cheaper
smartphones, he said, because the issue keeping many people from accessing
the internet is the cost of smartphones.

 

The government could help to address this issue by reducing the tax on
imported phones, he added.

 

Regulatory uncertainty and taxes on mobile operators that Ferrao said are
among the highest in Africa are creating barriers to more investment, he
said. Close to 40 percent of the company’s revenue goes on taxes, directly
or indirectly.

 

“That (high) taxation just brings a barrier to unlocking the levels of
investments that are required to be growing next-generation networks.”

 

Ferrao is leaving Vodacom in June after leading the company through a a $213
million initial public offering last year.

 

Vodacom’s IPO was in compliance with a government directive for mobile
companies to list a minimum 25 percent stake on the local stock exchange. It
is the only company to have complied.

 

Vodacom has also begun offering cloud technology to businesses.

 

 

Martin Lewis seeks damages for 'fake' Facebook ads

Consumer campaigner Martin Lewis is to launch UK High Court proceedings in a
bid to sue Facebook for defamation.

 

The MoneySavingExpert founder says at least 50 fake ads bearing his name
have appeared on the social media platform, causing reputational damage to
him.

 

Many of the adverts show his face alongside endorsements that he has not
actually made, and often link to articles carrying false information.

 

Facebook says misleading ads are not allowed and any reported are removed.

 

On Monday, Mr Lewis is due to lodge court papers at the High Court for a
defamation case against Facebook.

 

He is seeking damages but has pledged that any money he receives will go to
anti-scam charities.

 

Several of the adverts tout schemes with titles such as Bitcoin code and
Cloud Trader which, according to Mr Lewis, are fronts for binary trading
firms outside the EU.

 

Binary trading is a form of financial transaction which the Financial
Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned consumers against.

 

Mr Lewis is a high profile campaigner who has used his own prime-time show
on ITV to take on banks and utility companies among others.

 

His legal action is significant not only because of the high degree of
public attention it is likely to win, but because it shows him turning his
sights against big technology firms.

 

The Advertising Standards Authority has previously upheld Mr Lewis'
complaints against adverts saying the promotions made it falsely appear as
if the expert had endorsed the advertised services.

 

When I spoke to Mr Lewis last week, he made clear his belief that this is a
widespread phenomenon on Facebook, where celebrity endorsements are often
seen on adverts, even though the celebrities have not consented.

 

Facebook denies that, saying: "We do not allow adverts which are misleading
or false on Facebook and have explained to Martin Lewis that he should
report any adverts that infringe his rights, and they will be removed."

 

The company adds: "We are in direct contact with his team, offering to help
and promptly investigating their requests, and only last week confirmed that
several adverts and accounts that violated our advertising policies had been
taken down."

 

That's not how Mr Lewis sees it.

 

He says that the company's response has been consistently ineffective, and
that he is only taking legal action after repeated demands for more to be
done.

 

Legally, there are several issues at stake here. One is the perennial issue
of whether Facebook has legal responsibility for the content that appears
under its banner - whether it is a publisher or a platform.

 

Another question concerns the legal jurisdiction in which Facebook operates.

 

Mark Lewis, the campaigner's solicitor, says: "Facebook is not above the law
- it cannot hide outside the UK and think that it is untouchable."

 

Doubtless Martin Lewis, who was awarded an OBE for his remarkably effective
campaigning, calculates that the publicity around his case will alert some
Facebook users to the fact that these false adverts are rife on the social
network.

 

It's been a difficult few months for Facebook. Now Martin Lewis is about to
give them another big headache.--BBC

 

 

Climate change: Michael Bloomberg pledges $4.5m for Paris deal

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will pay $4.5m (£3.2m)
to cover some of the lapsed US commitment to the Paris climate accord.

 

He said he had a responsibility to help improve the environment because of
President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the deal.

 

The withdrawal was announced last June and sparked international
condemnation.

 

It will make the US in effect the only country not to be part of the Paris
accord.

 

The Paris agreement commits the US and 187 other countries to keeping rising
global temperatures "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels.

 

The Paris climate deal explained

Will US cities tackle climate change?

What is climate change?

As part of the agreement, the US had pledged $3bn to the Green Climate Fund,
set up by the UN to help countries deal with the effects of global warming.

 

The money promised by Mr Bloomberg does not aim to cover this, but the US
contribution to the UN's climate change secretariat.

 

"America made a commitment and, as an American, if the government's not
going to do it then we all have a responsibility," Mr Bloomberg said on CBS.

 

"I'm able to do it. So, yes, I'm going to send them a cheque for the monies
that America had promised to the organisation as though they got it from the
federal government."

 

His charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies, offered $15m to cover a separate
climate change shortfall last year.

 

It said the money would go to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).

 

In January, President Trump said the US could "conceivably" return to the
deal if it treated America more fairly.

 

"It's an agreement that I have no problem with but I had a problem with the
agreement that they (the Obama administration) signed," he told reporters.

 

Mr Bloomberg said he hoped that by next year Mr Trump will have reconsidered
his position on the deal.

 

"He's been known to change his mind, that is true," he said. "America is a
big part of the solution and we should go in and help the world stop a
potential disaster."

 

What is in the Paris climate agreement?

The deal unites all the world's nations in a single agreement on tackling
climate change for the first time in history.

 

Coming to a consensus among nearly 200 countries on the need to cut
greenhouse gas emissions is regarded by many observers as an achievement in
itself and has been hailed as "historic".

 

As well as the limit on global temperatures, it includes a limit on the
amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity and a requirement for
rich countries to help poorer nations by providing "climate finance".--BBC

 

 

 

Capita to raise £700m as losses deepen

Capita has reported a £513.1m annual loss as the outsourcing firm set out
plans to revive its indebted business.

 

Capita's profit was wiped out by £850.7m of one-off costs, mainly from
writing down the value of acquisitions made under its previous management.

 

The company said it would raise £701m through a rights issue to fund a
reorganisation of the business.

 

Capita operates the London congestion charge and runs an electronic tagging
service for the Ministry of Justice,

 

The loss compares with a £89.8m deficit in 2016, while revenues last year
fell by 4% to £4.2bn

 

However, new chief executive Jonathan Lewis dismissed any comparison to
Carillion, the services and outsourcing group that went bust earlier this
year.

 

"I get frustrated with that comparison - we are a completely different
business," Mr Lewis told the Press Association.

 

He said: "We have £1bn in liquidity, strong cash flow and a new strategy
with investor support. We are not in PFI contracts and have nothing like the
risk profile."

 

Mr Lewis has announced a major overhaul of the company which currently has
£1.7bn in debt. The rights issue will reduce borrowings as well as funding
investment in the business.

 

'Fundamentally strong'

Under its new strategy, Capita plans to raise around £300m disposals this
year and is targeting cost savings of £175m by the end of 2020.

 

Capita's share price jumped by 12.7% to 180.1p in early trade.

 

The company collects the licence fee on behalf of the BBC and recently won a
five-year extension to provide audience services to the broadcaster.

 

Commenting on Capita's future, Mr Lewis said the business was "fundamentally
strong".

 

"However, the business needs to evolve," he said.

 

"We need to simplify Capita by focusing on growth markets and to improve our
cost competitiveness. We need to strengthen Capita and plan to invest up to
£500m in our infrastructure, technology and people over the next three
years."--BBC

 

 

 

Jeremy Hunt threatens social media with new child-protection laws

Social media firms are being threatened with new laws if they don't do more
to protect children online.

 

In a letter to companies including Facebook and Google, Health Secretary
Jeremy Hunt accuses them of "turning a blind eye" to their impact on
children.

 

He gives them until the end of April to outline action on cutting underage
use, preventing cyber bullying, and promoting healthy screen time.

 

Google and Facebook say they share Mr Hunt's commitment to safety.

 

The age requirement to sign up to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat
is 13. To use WhatsApp or to have a YouTube account, you must also be at
least 13.

 

In his letter to the internet firms, Mr Hunt said: "I am concerned that your
companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your
own terms and conditions on the minimum user age.

 

"I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation
of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social
media prematurely.

 

"This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair to parents who are faced with
the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too
young to access or excluding them from social interaction that often the
majority of their peers are engaging in."

 

'Phone jailer'

Conservative MP Liz Truss said she had resorted to physically locking her
12-year-old daughter's phone away.

 

"I have a box which I lock up and put my daughter's mobile phone in and I'm
known as the phone jailer in our household," she told Pienaar's Politics on
Radio 5 Live.

 

"It's not just the internet, it's screen time over all. It's part of being a
good parent. I think social media companies can play a part and help parents
in that job."

 

Mr Hunt met social media companies six months ago to discuss how to improve
the mental health of young people who use the technology.

 

He told the Sunday Times, there had been "warm words" and "a few welcome
moves" since then, but the overall response had been "extremely limited" -
leading him to conclude that a voluntary, joint approach would not be good
enough.

 

"None are easy issues to solve I realise, but an industry that boasts some
of the brightest minds and biggest budgets should have been able to rise to
the challenge," said Mr Hunt.

 

What can parents do?

Understand the risks that your children may be exposed to - including
cyberbullying, grooming, illegal or unsuitable content

Make use of parental controls that give you the ability to filter the type
of content your children can see when they are online. With younger
children, have access to passwords to regularly check content

Show them how to use privacy settings and the report and block functions on
sites and apps

Talk regularly to them about what they do online, what posts they have made
that day, who they are friends with and how it is affecting their mood

Keep an eye on how much time children spend online. Consider bans on devices
at mealtimes and take them away an hour before bedtime. Do not let children
charge devices in their rooms

Source: Internet Matters - more advice here for keeping your kids safe
online

The National Bullying Helpline, a charity which deals with online bullying,
said the government needed to introduce legislation to govern the social
media companies.

 

"Asking Facebook and other social media giants to regulate themselves is
like asking the press to regulate themselves. It won't happen," it added.

 

Mr Hunt said the government would not rule out introducing new legislation
to tackle the issue when it publishes its response to the Internet Safety
Strategy consultation in May.

 

 

He has also asked the chief medical officer to launch a review into the
impact of technology on the mental health of children and young people.

 

Katie O'Donovan, public policy manager at Google UK, said the company had
shown its commitment to protecting children by developing its resources -
such as an online safety course which has been taught to 40,000
schoolchildren.

 

Facebook said it welcomed Mr Hunt's "continued engagement on this important
issue" and shared his ambition to create a safe and supportive environment
for young people online.

 

"We continue to invest heavily in developing tools for parents and
age-appropriate products to meet this challenge and we look forward to
continuing to work with our child safety partners and government to make
progress in this area," said Karim Palant from Facebook .--BBC

 

 

 

No-deal Brexit 'disastrous' for food firms

A free trade deal with the EU after Brexit is "crucial" for the UK food and
drink industry and failure to secure one would be "disastrous", a committee
of MPs has warned.

 

A no-deal outcome would have a "seismic impact", said the Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy committee.

 

An EU free trade deal should be the number one priority, the MPs said.

 

The £28.8bn industry is the UK's largest manufacturing sector, employing
400,000 people.

 

Rachel Reeves, who chairs the committee, said: "The success of the industry
has been highly dependent on participating in the [EU] single market and
customs union.

 

"To ensure the continued success of our food and drinks industry, the
government must provide clarity and certainty on our future relationship
with the EU and seek continued regulatory, standards, and trading alignment
with the EU in the processed food and drink sector."

 

'Less choice'

Without access to EU markets after December 2020, when the post-Brexit
transition period is due to end, UK exports of processed foods such as
chocolate, cheese, beef, pork and soft drinks would suffer, the committee
said.

 

At the same time UK consumers would see less choice on supermarket shelves
and have to pay higher prices, it added.

 

Defaulting to World Trade Organization tariffs "would not be an acceptable
outcome for the sector and would seriously jeopardise the competitiveness of
UK exports", the committee said.

 

"The government should also seek to replicate all existing EU trade deals
with third countries, as they constitute our biggest export destinations."

 

The committee also pointed out that the UK's food and drink industry was
heavily reliant on EU workers and called on the government to ensure that
the sector could "continue to have immediate access to the skills it needs".

 

Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, described the
committee's report as "an extremely valuable contribution to the debate
about the UK's future trading relationship with the EU".

 

He added: "We echo the committee's call to government for increased customs
capacity and support for businesses of all sizes to navigate the changes
ahead. The proposed transition length is briefer than we believe would be
optimum and government must review how 'readiness' is progressing."--BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


Zimbabwe

Independence Day

Zimbabwe

18/04/2018

 


 

Workers’ Day

 

01/05/2018

 


 

Africa Day

 

25/05/2018

 


Zimbabwe

Heroes’ Day

Zimbabwe

13/08/2018

 


Zimbabwe

Defence Forces Day

Zimbabwe

14/08/2018

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
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 sourced from third parties.

 


 

 


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