Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 06 June 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 06 June 2018

 


 

 


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*  Ethiopia opens up telecoms, airline to private, foreign investors

*  South Africa's economy shrinks in Q1, dampening 'Ramaphoria'

*  South Africa's Harmony raises $82 mln via share sale

*  Egypt to begin importing rice after slashing its own cultivation

*  Rwanda says mineral export earnings rose to $373 mln last year

*  Nigeria stocks rise second day as banks, consumer goods rally

*  Ivory Coast banks struggle with fallout from 2016/17 cocoa crisis

*  Facebook confirms data-sharing agreements with Chinese firms

*  Trump tariffs: Mexico retaliates against US products

*  Elon Musk fends off challenge to Tesla control

*  Microsoft sinks data centre off Orkney

*  Billionaire Koch brothers take on Trump over tariffs

*  Heathrow Airport: Cabinet approves new runway plan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Ethiopia opens up telecoms, airline to private, foreign investors

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Tuesday it would open its state-run
telecoms monopoly and state-owned Ethiopian Airlines to private domestic and
foreign investment, a major policy shift that will loosen the state’s grip
on the economy.

 

The East African nation of 100 million people has one of the most closed and
controlled economies in Africa. The ruling EPRDF coalition, in power since
1991, has long supported deep state involvement in the economy.

 

But the EPRDF said on Tuesday that Ethiopia needed economic reforms to
sustain rapid growth and boost its exports.

 

“While majority stakes will be held by the state, shares in Ethio Telecom,
Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopian Power, and the Maritime Transport and
Logistics Corporation will be sold to both domestic and foreign investors,”
it said in a statement.

 

It was referring to the state monopolies in the electricity, telecoms and
logistics sectors, as well as the highly profitable national flag carrier.

 

The announcement was the first clear signal that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed,
who came to power in April promising a “new political beginning”, would
implement real economic reforms.

 

The 41-year-old former army officer was appointed by the EPRDF after his
predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn, resigned in February after three years of
unrest in which hundreds of people were killed by security forces.

 

Observers say Abiy is under pressure to meet high public expectations. In
the past two months he has travelled around Ethiopia, promising to address
grievances and to strengthen a range of political and civil rights.

 

Earlier on Tuesday parliament approved the government’s decision to lift a
six-month state of emergency two months earlier than planned. [L5N1T71ON]

 

UNEMPLOYMENT

One challenge is appealing to disaffected youth, which will require the
creation of many more jobs. Anger over high unemployment fuelled violence
that led to Hailemariam’s resignation.

 

Around 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15, the United
Nations says. Up to three million people enter the labour market every year
but most do not find jobs, local economists say.

 

Massive state-led infrastructure projects that are expanding road and rail
networks have driven economic growth of nearly 10 percent for the past
decade.

 

But the heavy spending has drained capital from heavily regulated state
banks and left little for local businesses and the few foreign investors
allowed into a handful of sectors.

 

Local and foreign investors have long said that opening up new sectors could
ease a shortage of foreign exchange.

 

Ethiopia’s foreign reserves amounted to only $3.2 billion by the end of the
2016-17 fiscal year - the equivalent of less than two months worth of
imports.

 

The move to liberalise sectors of the economy which have always been off
limits to foreign investors came as a surprise after the new premier had
signalled to local businessmen that the government would remain involved in
infrastructure, banking and telecoms.

 

The EPRDF statement did not mention banking sector changes.

 

The coalition said “corporations under government hands - railway, sugar,
industry parks, hotels and various manufacturing firms” would also be either
partially or fully privatised.

 

Ethiopia is one of few African countries to still have a state monopoly in
telecoms.

 

Last month Ethio Telecom said it would allow some local firms to provide
internet services through its infrastructure, which could spur competition
and expand the data market.

 

PEACE WITH ERITREA

In another huge policy shift announced on Tuesday, the EPRDF said Ethiopia
would “fully accept and implement” a peace agreement with Eritrea that was
signed in 2000 and a subsequent international boundary ruling that handed a
flashpoint border town to Asmara.

 

The Horn of Africa neighbours have remained at odds since a 1998-2000 war
over a disputed town that a boundary commission subsequently handed to
Eritrea but which Ethiopia rejected.

 

The EPRDF said it had taken the decision to accept and implement the peace
deal with Eritrea “in order to benefit the peoples of both countries who are
linked by blood”.

 

Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel told Reuters he had not
seen the Ethiopian government’s statement so could not immediately comment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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South Africa's economy shrinks in Q1, dampening 'Ramaphoria'

PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa suffered its worst quarterly contraction
in nine years, data showed on Tuesday, in a reminder to investors of the
huge challenge President Cyril Ramaphosa faces to deliver long term economic
growth.

 

After Jacob Zuma was forced out as leader by the ruling party in February,
Ramaphosa pledged to clean up governance, deal with high unemployment and
improve basic services, igniting a wave of optimism dubbed “Ramaphoria”.

 

South Africa’s economy has barely grown in the past decade with fiscal
missteps and corruption contributing to weak business and consumer
confidence.

 

However, the poor gross domestic output (GDP) in the first three months of
2018 will erode some of the enthusiasm in Africa’s most industrialised
economy. The rand weakened by more than one percent against the dollar in
response.

 

GDP contracted by 2.2 percent in the first quarter, led by a slowdown in
agriculture and mining, after expanding 3.1 percent in the final quarter of
last year, Statistics South Africa said.

 

This was the largest quarter-on-quarter decline since the first quarter of
2009, when the economy contracted 6.1 percent, the agency said.

 

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a quarter-on-quarter GDP
contraction of 0.5 percent.

 

“Today’s downbeat figure will dampen some of the enthusiasm surrounding
President Cyril Ramaphosa,” Capital Economics senior emerging markets
economist John Ashbourne said.

 

“South Africans themselves were also optimistic; consumer confidence jumped
to an all-time high in first quarter. But this ‘Ramaphoria’ does not seem to
have translated into stronger spending,” he said, adding a swift turn-around
was unlikely.

 

The real gross domestic product expenditure fell by 2.5 percent in first
quarter after expanding by 3.1 percent in the third quarter, the statistics
agency said.

 

The agriculture sector shrank 24.2 percent in the quarter due to poor
horticulture output, followed by mining which fell 9.9 percent and
manufacturing which fell 6.4 percent.

 

GDP rose 0.8 percent on an unadjusted year-on-year basis in the first
quarter, compared with a 1.5 percent expansion in the previous three months,
the agency said.

 

Adding to evidence that economic growth remained fragile, a survey showed
South African private-sector activity was at a standstill in May, with an
increase in new orders and rising employment offset by a contraction in
output.

 

 

 

South Africa's Harmony raises $82 mln via share sale

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African gold miner Harmony Gold raised just
over 1.05 billion rand ($82 million) via the issue of new shares, it said on
Wednesday, raking in cash to pay down debt used for an acquisition.

 

Harmony took out loans to partly fund the $300 million acquisition of the
Moab Khotsong mine earlier this year in a deal that the company said would
significantly boost its operational cash flow.

 

The company, which competes with AngloGold , Gold Fields and
Sibanye-Stillwater at home, sold 55 million new shares, or 15 percent stake,
at 19.12 rand each, an 11.7 percent discount to the closing price on
Tuesday.

 

UBS, JP Morgan, Absa and Nedbank arranged the so-called accelerated
bookbuild, a share sale done with little to no marketing.

 

($1 = 12.7129 rand)

 

 

 

Egypt to begin importing rice after slashing its own cultivation

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will begin importing rice, a crop it has typically
had in surplus, to increase stocks and “control the market,” Prime Minister
Sherif Ismail said on Tuesday, months after a campaign to cut local
production.

 

Egypt slashed cultivation of rice, a water-intensive crop, this year to
conserve vital Nile river resources as Ethiopia prepares to fill the
reservoir behind a colossal $4 billion dam it is building upstream and which
Cairo worries could threaten its water stocks.

 

“Necessary steps will be taken to increase the rice on offer in order to
control the market and prevent any bottlenecks in the coming period,” Ismail
told reporters after a ministerial meeting, referring to shortages in the
local market caused by what grain traders say is hoarding of the grain.

 

He did not specify the quantity or timing of the expected imports, but his
comments are the first suggesting Egypt would begin an import programme
since sharply reducing its own production.

 

Cairo earlier this year increased fines for illegal rice cultivation and
decreed that just 724,000 feddans (750,000 acres) can be planted, a sharp
drop from the officially allotted 1.1 million feddans last year and the 1.8
million feddans grains traders believe were actually grown.

 

Rice traders have said that the new policies would push Egypt to import up
to 1 million tonnes of the grain next year after decades of being an
exporter of a medium grain variety prized in Arab markets.

 

Ashraf el Attal, CEO of Dubai-based commodities trader Fortuna, said imports
were needed now to make up for higher demand during the holy month of
Ramadan and recent hoarding, which has seen prices shoot up at local
outlets.

 

“Currently there is importation as local prices have moved up,” said Attal.

 

Ismail said necessary quantities of rice of the same quality as Egyptian
white rice would be imported to prevent any bottlenecks in the coming
period.

 

 

 

Rwanda says mineral export earnings rose to $373 mln last year

KIGALI (Reuters) - Earnings from Rwanda’s mineral exports more than doubled
to $373 million last year from the previous 12 months, supported by a
rebound in global prices of commodities, a top official said.

 

After meeting sector players in the capital Kigali on Tuesday, Francis
Gatare, chief executive at Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB), told
journalists last year’s earnings were “fantastic”.

 

Mining is Rwanda’s second largest foreign exchange earner after tourism and
the East African country took in $166 million from exports of the
commodities in 2016.

 

 

The growth was “driven by very strong commodity prices on global market ...
good prices of new commodities particularly gold and gemstone,” Gatare said.

 

He said Rwanda planned to install two smelters to help add value to some of
its minerals such as tin and coltan and that earnings were seen climbing to
$600 million in 2019.

 

The country has been trying to draw foreign investment into new sectors like
auto making and textiles to boost an economy still shadowed by the 1994
genocide in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died.

 

 

Nigeria stocks rise second day as banks, consumer goods rally

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian stocks gained for the second day on Tuesday,
climbing 2.46 percent, after shares of banking and consumer goods firms
rallied.

 

Nigeria’s stock market rose 16 percent in the first quarter, helped by
rising oil prices, but it has seen a sell-off and is down 3.4 percent on the
year as rising U.S. interest rates hit emerging markets.

 

Stocks fell to six-month lows on Friday.

 

But bargain hunters moved in on Monday, ending the decline, and continued to
snap up low valuations on Tuesday.

 

 

The index of Nigeria’s top 10 lenders rose 3.2 percent and consumer stocks
gained 2.7 percent.

 

The main index rose 2.46 percent to 37,854 points.

 

Oando rose 9.8 percent, followed by International Breweries up 7.69 percent
and Dangote Sugar 6.3 percent.

 

Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, Skye Bank, Unity Bank, FBN Holdings, FCMB, Fidelity
Bank and Diamond Bank, each gained more than 4 percent.

 

 

Ivory Coast banks struggle with fallout from 2016/17 cocoa crisis

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Banks in Ivory Coast are struggling to secure repayment
on up to 200 billion CFA francs ($348 million) in outstanding loans made to
cocoa exporters during the country’s crisis-hit 2016/17 season, bank
officials said.

 

The banks have already restricted the flow of financing to some cocoa firms
this season as a result, and the loans, if not repaid, could cause problems
for the West African country’s banking sector, they said.

 

“No matter the scenario, the losses will affect our bottom line and our
activities because this is a lot of money that’s going up in smoke,” said
one bank director.

 

He asked not to be named, as did other executives from four other banks
interviewed by Reuters. They said it was difficult to estimate accurately
the total amount of the loans, but their estimates ranged from 100 to 200
billion CFA francs.

 

Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, sells forward the bulk of
its anticipated harvest so it can set a minimum price for farmers at the
start of its October-September growing season.

 

But world market prices fell 40 percent over the course of the 2016/17
season and exporters were unable to honour their commitments to suppliers,
forcing Ivory Coast’s cocoa marketing board, the Coffee and Cocoa Council
(CCC), to resell their contracts at a loss.

 

The sharp drop in world cocoa prices caused a number of domestic exporters,
who had failed to hedge, to walk away from their export contracts rather
than execute them at a loss. But many of those exporters had used revolving
credit arrangements with the banks to purchase cocoa beans.

 

Bank executives said up to 12 banks were involved, including the local units
of Societe Generale, Ecobank, Attijariwafa’s SIB, BNP Paribas’s BICICI as
well as NSIA Bank and BGFI.

 

 

These banks either did not respond to Reuters’ requests to comment or said
they did not want to speak about the subject. The CCC also did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Another banker said that many of the purchases paid for with bank financing
were cocoa beans that were not exported and remained in warehouses or were
sold at a loss.

 

Accounting firm KPMG carried out an audit for the CCC following the 2016/17
season and this highlighted the financing problems.

 

“The defaults ... combined with the decline in quality of stocks risk
weighing on the balance sheets of certain exporters who won’t be able to pay
back banks not only for credit from the harvest but also for other loans,”
KPMG’s report, seen by Reuters, stated.

 

Exporters will need financing from the banks to make new cocoa purchases
during the current season.

 

“We have a choice. Either invest another 150 to 200 billion (CFA francs) to
make the stocks exportable ... or shut it all down and lose 100 billion,”
said another bank executive.

 

The immediate impact will be a further reduction in the financing available
to smaller, domestic exporters, the bank officials said.

 

($1 = 575.5000 CFA francs)

 

 

Facebook confirms data-sharing agreements with Chinese firms

Facebook has confirmed it has a data-sharing partnership with Chinese firms
including Huawei, a company US intelligence previously flagged as a security
threat.

 

The agreements gave the Chinese firms some access to users' data to help
them build Facebook "experiences" on their own platforms.

 

Facebook said all the data collected remained on users' phones not servers.

 

The company is already under scrutiny over how it uses members' information.

 

Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009 but the company has been
trying to find other ways to access the massive potential market.

 

'Legitimate concerns'

The New York Times reported earlier this week that Facebook had given at
least 60 device-makers access to users' data - and that of their Facebook
friends - without obtaining explicit consent and that in some cases the
details were stored on the firms' own servers.

 

Facebook rejected claims that this had been a breach of privacy pledges that
it had made to its members and a US regulator.

 

Senator Mark Warner, who sits on the US Senate Intelligence Committee, said
news that Huawei was among the companies getting the privileged access to
the Facebook data raised "legitimate concerns".

 

On Tuesday, Facebook responded by saying it "along with many other US tech
companies have worked with them [Huawei] and other Chinese manufacturers to
integrate their services onto these phones".

 

Kim Dotcom calls for Facebook replacement

Cambridge Analytica: The story so far

Francisco Varela, vice-president of mobile partnerships for Facebook, said
the integrations with Huawei, Lenovo, OPPO and TCL were "controlled from the
get go" and that "we approved the Facebook experiences these companies
built".

 

"Given the interest from Congress, we wanted to make clear that all the
information from these integrations with Huawei was stored on the device,
not on Huawei's servers," he added.

 

In 2012, the US House Intelligence Committee warned US companies against
dealing with Huawei and another Chinese telecoms firm, ZTE.

 

A report by the committee asked whether the firms were too close to China's
Communist Party and its military. It also suggested their products and
services could pose a long-term security threat to the US.

 

Facebook had already come under fire over its involvement in a scandal
involving consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

 

The firms were at the centre of a dispute over the harvesting and use of
personal data - and whether it was used to influence the outcome of the US
2016 presidential election or the UK's referendum on leaving the EU.

 

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in May apologised to EU lawmakers for the
company's role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and for allowing fake news
to proliferate on its platform.--BBC

 

 

Trump tariffs: Mexico retaliates against US products

Mexico has announced new tariffs on US products in response to Donald
Trump's decision to impose steep duties on imports of steel and aluminium.

 

The list includes whisky, cheese, steel, bourbon, and pork.

 

Analysts say the tariffs are designed to hit US Republican strongholds ahead
of mid-term elections in November.

 

Mr Trump last week levied tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from
Mexico, Canada and the European Union, riling key US allies.

 

Billionaire Koch brothers take on Trump

May tells Trump US tariffs unjustified

The move has also dismayed some domestic businesses, including pork
producers, who now face a 20% tariff on exporting leg and shoulder to
Mexico.

 

Mexico is the largest market for US pork exporters.

 

Other products affected by the new tariffs include apples and potatoes.
Certain cheeses and bourbon will be hit with 20% to 25% duties.

 

Mexico - a net importer of US steel - is also putting 25% duties on a range
of American steel products.

 

Political dimension?

The potential economic effect on US exporters could damage Republican
support ahead of November's midterms.

 

In Iowa, the top pork-producing state in the US, with Mexico as its largest
market, Republican Congressman Rod Blum is seen as vulnerable.

 

"We need trade and one of the things we're concerned about is long-term
implications that these trade issues will have on our partnerships with
Mexico and Canada and other markets," Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike
Naig, a Republican, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

 

"If our customers around the world start going to other parts of the world
for their supplies, that is a serious problem," he said.

 

The renewed trade dispute between US and Mexico comes amid fraught attempts
to renegotiate the trillion-dollar North American Free Trade Agreement
(Nafta).

 

The agreement governs trade between the US, Canada and Mexico.

 

President Trump's economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, on Tuesday revived a
possibility that the president would attempt to replace Nafta with bilateral
deals with Canada and Mexico - a move both nations oppose.

 

US-Mexico trade is worth about $600bn annually and about 16% of US goods go
to its southern neighbour. Mexico sells about 80% of its exports to the US.

 

Trade sanctions: The basics

What is a trade war? It's when countries attack each other's trade with
taxes and quotas. One will raise tariffs, a type of tax, causing the other
to respond, in a tit-for-tat escalation. This can hurt economies and lead to
rising political tensions.

What are tariffs? Taxes on products made abroad. In theory, taxing items
coming into the country (imports) makes people less likely to buy them as
they become more expensive. They're likely to buy cheaper local products
instead, boosting your country's economy.

What's a trade deficit? The difference between how much your country buys
from another country, compared with how much you sell to that country. The
US has a massive trade deficit with China. Last year, it stood at about
$375bn.--BBC

 

 

Elon Musk fends off challenge to Tesla control

Elon Musk has survived a bid to strip him of a key role at Tesla as
shareholders re-elected three directors to the electric car maker's board.

 

One investor wanted to strip the Tesla founder and chief executive of his
other role as chairman.

 

The two positions are often held by the same person in US companies, unlike
in UK firms.

 

That proposal was voted down at Tesla's annual meeting in Mountain View,
California, on Tuesday.

 

The company used the meeting to reveal that its newest "gigafactory" would
be built in Shanghai, with an announcement about the Chinese factory coming
"really soon", Mr Musk said.

 

The bid to strip him of the chairmanship was the strongest challenge yet to
Mr Musk's control of Tesla, in which he holds a 20% stake.

 

Some investors have been unnerved by the company's struggle to speed up
production of its more affordable Model 3 car, which is crucial to the
company's long-term profitability.

 

Is Tesla heading for trouble?

 

Musk: No 'bonehead' questions please

 

Mr Musk said that reaching its goal of building 5,000 Model 3 cars a week by
the end of this month was "quite likely" as its production lines were now
producing 3,500 vehicles a week.

 

"This is the most excruciating hellish several months I've ever had... but I
think we're getting there," he told investors.

 

"At Tesla we build our cars with love," Mr Musk said, visibly moved. "At a
lot of other companies, they're built by marketing or the finance department
and there's no soul. We're not perfect, but we pour our heart and soul into
it and we really care."

 

Activist investor CtW Investment Group had called on shareholders to reject
three Tesla directors it said lacked qualifications or independence:

 

CtW, along with proxy firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder
Services (ISS), had backed the proposal to separate the chairman and chief
executive roles and mostly opposed re-electing the three directors.

 

Tesla had recommended investors allow Mr Musk to keep both roles and argued
that the directors were qualified.

 

He came under fire last month for refusing to answer questions from analysts
about the company's finances, saying "boring bonehead questions are not
cool".

 

Instead Mr Musk allowed a YouTube vlogger and journalist, Galileo Russell,
to ask 10 questions on the results call.

 

The electric car maker posted a record quarterly loss of almost $710m
(£523m) for the three months to March - more than double the same period
last year.

 

Shares in Tesla have proved volatile in recent months and fell to about $252
in April. The stock closed on Tuesday at just over $291, but had been as
high as $389 in September.

 

The company is still valued at almost $50bn - nearly $5bn more than car
maker Ford is worth.--BBC

 

 

Microsoft sinks data centre off Orkney

Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea off Orkney to investigate
whether it can boost energy efficiency.

 

The data centre, a white cylinder containing computers, could sit on the sea
floor for up to five years.

 

An undersea cable brings the data centre power and takes its data to the
shore and the wider internet - but if the computers onboard break, they
cannot be repaired.

 

Orkney was chosen because it is a major centre for renewable energy
research.

 

The theory is that the cost of cooling the computers will be cut by placing
them underwater.

 

"We think we actually get much better cooling underwater than on land," says
Ben Cutler, who is in charge of what Microsoft has dubbed Project Natick.

 

"Additionally because there are no people, we can take all the oxygen and
most of the water vapour out of the atmosphere which reduces corrosion,
which is a significant problem in data centres."

 

It will not be possible to repair the computers if they fail, but the hope
is that there will be a lower failure rate than on land.

 

This is a tiny data centre compared with the giant sheds that now store so
much of the world's information, just 12 racks of servers but with enough
room to store five million movies.

 

Microsoft's first experimental underwater data centre, sunk for five months
in 2015, was dubbed Leona Philpot after a character in an XBox game.

 

If Project Natick proves a success, Microsoft envisages sinking groups of
five of these cylinders and being able to deploy a data centre offshore in
90 days, whereas it could take years on land.

 

The operation to sink the Orkney data centre has been an expensive
multinational affair.

 

The cylinder was built in France by a shipbuilding company, Naval, loaded
with its servers and then sailed from Brittany to Stromness in Orkney.
There, another partner, the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), provided
help including the undersea cable linking the centre to the shore.

 

The presence of EMEC, with its expertise in renewable energy and its
knowledge of the seas around Orkney, was one factor behind Microsoft's
decision to choose this location.

 

"We've got so much renewable energy here," says EMEC managing director Neil
Kermode.

 

"We've produced more than we need since 2012."

 

The Orkney Islands were early adopters of wind energy. And EMEC has been
experimenting with tidal and wave energy for 14 years, with one of its test
sites on the beach where the Project Natick cable comes ashore.

 

There has been growing concern that the rapid expansion of the data centre
industry could mean an explosion in energy use.

 

But Emma Fryer, who represents the sector at Tech UK, says that fear has
been exaggerated.

 

"What's happened is we've had the benefit of Moore's Law," she says.

 

The continued advances in processing power have made doom-laden predictions
look foolish, Ms Fryer says.

 

"We've been able to deal with explosions of data with only a small increase
in the energy used."

 

Nevertheless, she accepts there is a challenge as the industry continues to
expand and she welcomes experiments such as Microsoft's.

 

"It's really exciting that they are thinking this radically," she says.

 

Ms Fryer also thinks situating data centres near to or under the sea is a
good idea.

 

She says: "50% of the world's population live near the coast."

 

Another expert is not so sure.

 

Prof Ian Bitterlin, a data centre consultant for nearly 30 years, is
sceptical about the environmental impact of going underwater.

 

"You just end up with a warmer sea and bigger fish," he says.

 

And 90% of Europe's data centres are in big cities such as London and Madrid
because that is where they are needed.

 

Microsoft's Ben Cutler insists the warming effect will be minimal - "the
water just metres downstream would get a few thousandths of a degree warmer
at most" - and the overall environmental impact of the Orkney data centre
will be positive.

 

As we bobbed about on a boat just above the site where the data centre was
to be sunk the following day, I put it to him that many people might think
the whole venture was a bit crazy.

 

"This is a crazy experiment that I hope will turn into reality" he said.
"But this is a research project right now - and one reason we do different
types of research into data centres is to learn what makes sense before we
decide to take it to a larger scale."

 

Now, the Project Natick team will monitor the data centre for the next five
years. It could turn out to be a signpost to the future - or maybe just a
tourist attraction for passing fish.--BBC

 

 

 

Billionaire Koch brothers take on Trump over tariffs

Powerful US billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch are funding a
multi-million dollar campaign against President Donald Trump's trade
tariffs.

 

Three political groups backed by the brothers say they will use advertising,
lobbying and grassroots campaigns to push the benefits of free trade.

 

The duo run Koch Industries, one of the world's largest privately owned
firms.

 

The move comes just days after Mr Trump imposed tariffs on steel and
aluminium imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico.

 

On Tuesday, the company was told that David Koch, 78, was stepping down
because of his deteriorating health.

 

In a letter, Charles Koch, 82, told employees he was "deeply saddened" about
his brother's departure, adding that "David has always been a fighter and is
dealing with this challenge in the same way".

 

The three Koch-backed groups launching the campaign against Mr Trump's
tariffs: Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Prosperity and
the LIBRE Initiative, are urging the president to lift the recent tariffs on
aluminium and steel imports as well as the proposed tariffs on other imports
from China.

 

Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips said the tariffs would
"hamstring our full economic potential".

 

"There are better ways to negotiate trade deals than by punishing American
consumers and businesses with higher costs," he added.

 

The campaign indicates the level of concern among business groups, typically
Republican supporters, about the impact of the tariffs.

 

Leaders from the EU, Canada and Mexico have criticised the move and
threatened retaliation, sparking fears of a trade war.

 

On Tuesday, Mexico imposed a wide range of new tariffs on US goods,
including steel, pork, and bourbon.

 

Donald Trump has said the steel tariffs will protect US steelmakers, which
he says are vital to national security.

 

The Koch network of political organisations has been a reliable cash machine
for Republicans for more than a decade. When Donald Trump became the party's
nominee, the spigot to conservative candidates continued to flow - although
the primary focus of the conservative brothers were congressional candidates
and not the top of the ticket.

 

Since Mr Trump's surprise victory, Charles and David Koch have sought common
ground with the president, particularly on tax reform, but they continue to
be far from ideological soul mates. Now, as the president bangs the drums of
a trade war, the relations between the libertarian-leaning billionaires and
the populist-nationalist president are becoming increasingly frayed.

 

It's not full political warfare yet, however. The advertising and advocacy
campaign proposed by the Koch groups tilts in the direction of "friendly
advice" for the president, not hostile criticism. When paired with
congressional efforts to curtail the president's ability to enact new
tariffs, however, and the stakes increase.

 

The Republican party has long been a welcoming home to free trade advocates,
who point to the economic benefits of globalism and international
competition. Mr Trump is trying to change that - but he's picking a fight
with some very deep-pocketed adversaries.

 

Who are the Koch brothers?

Charles and David Koch's company - the second largest privately owned
business in the US - has interests ranging from pipelines to paper towels.

 

According to Forbes Magazine, each of the men are worth about $60bn (£45bn),
and are tied for eighth richest man in the US.

 

According to the Koch Industries website, they have more than 120,000
employees between all their businesses and subsidiaries.

 

They have previously put money into groups denying climate change and
attacking unions and workers' rights.

 

But they have also pushed for criminal justice reform and made large
donations to the American Civil Liberties Union.

 

Last November, the brothers helped fund Meredith Corporation's deal to buy
US magazine publisher Time Inc.

 

But to many Americans, they are known more for their political activism than
their corporate brands.

 

The brothers are political mega-donors who have spent millions of dollars on
supporting conservative policies, particularly causes that seek to roll back
regulations.

 

In 1980, David Koch ran as a vice-presidential candidate of the Libertarian
Party.--BBC

 

 

 

Heathrow Airport: Cabinet approves new runway plan

Ministers have described their backing for a new runway at Heathrow Airport
as an "historic moment" for the UK.

 

The cabinet signed off the plans after they were approved by the
government's economic sub-committee, which is chaired by Prime Minister
Theresa May.

 

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced £2.6bn in compensation for
residents and noise abatement measures.

 

Environmental groups oppose the plan, which Mr Grayling says will only
happen if air quality commitments are met.

 

Heathrow runway to 'change lives forever'

How do you build a runway over a motorway?

The chequered history of UK airport expansion

"The time for action is now," Mr Grayling told MPs, who will be asked to
vote on the expansion plan by 11 July.

 

He insisted the decision was being taken in the national interest and would
benefit the whole of the UK - with 15% of new landing slots at the airport
"facilitating" regional connectivity.

 

He said the £14bn runway, which could be completed by 2026, would be funded
entirely privately - but MPs warned that taxpayers would end up footing the
bill for billions in road improvements and other upgrades and warned that
the UK's carbon emission targets would be threatened by the increase in
traffic around the enlarged airport.

 

A decision - finally?

 

The debate on expanding Heathrow has been going on for nearly 20 years.

 

The last Labour government backed the idea, and won a vote on it in 2009,
but that plan was scrapped - and the idea of expansion put on hold for five
years - by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition formed after the 2010
election.

 

But the idea of expansion was resurrected and has been subsequently backed
by the Conservatives.

 

Ministers approved a draft national airports policy statement in October but
Parliament has yet to give its approval for detailed planning to begin.

 

Opponents have threatened a legal challenge while Foreign Secretary Boris
Johnson, who is MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London, has vowed
to "lie down in front of bulldozers" to prevent it.

 

The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said ministers whose
constituencies would be directly affected might be given a "get out of a
jail card" - by being allowed to miss the vote or even vote against.

 

No 10 said Mrs May has written to ministers to say those with long-standing
objections to a third runway will be permitted to restate their views at a
local level, but not to campaign actively against the decision.

 

Campaigners argue that a new runway will breach the UK's legal limits on air
pollution and increase noise pollution with an extra 700 planes a day.

 

It will result in huge disruption to residents of nearby villages, such as
Longford, Harmondsworth and Sipson, with hundreds of homes likely to be
knocked down.

 

Robert Barnstone, from the No 3rd Runway Coalition, told the BBC it was a
"disappointing" day and the government was "failing people and failing the
environment as well".

 

Former Transport Secretary Justine Greening, who backs expanding Gatwick
instead, suggested the idea of Heathrow as a national hub airport was
outdated and the focus should be on improving regional capacity.

 

"We are now moving to point-to-point travel," she told BBC Radio 4's Today.
"Why should people who are living in Newcastle spend hours travelling down
to London, then fly out somewhere else?

 

"There is nothing national about this national policy statement. It is just
a runway in Heathrow."

 

And Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, who resigned his Richmond Park seat in 2016 over
the issue and subsequently lost a by-election, said for many people "this
doesn't just look like a blank cheque being given by this government to a
foreign-owned multinational, it looks like a whole book of cheques signed by
our constituents".

 

'Right for UK PLC'

 

Heathrow's owners, which include Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial, say
the airport is virtually full and a new runway would increase its capacity
from 85.5 million to 130 million passengers.

 

The expansion is estimated to create about 60,000 new jobs and generate
about £70bn in total economic benefits by the 2050s.

 

Mr Grayling said it would provide a "vital legacy" for the British economy
and said he had accepted 24 out of the 25 recommendations made by the
Transport Select Committee to improve the plans.

 

Residents whose houses are knocked down will get compensation worth 125% of
their value - as well as legal fees and stamp duty costs paid for - while
£700m would be available to fund noise insulation measures for those who
decide to stay.

 

He said a ban on night flights was an "absolute requirement" and
non-negotiable while he said landing charges paid by airlines must stay at
current levels.

 

"This runway cannot be built if it does not meet air quality rules," he
added.

 

Sir Howard Davies, whose 2015 review recommended a new runway as long as
environmental and community impacts were addressed, said "significant"
concessions had been made on reducing early morning flights and minimising
the impact on residents on the proposed flight path.

 

Yes, the decades-long debate about airports in Britain is returning (it's
never gone for long) just at a time when the government is embroiled in rows
it will struggle to win. As one cabinet minister joked, "it's the gift that
keeps on giving".

 

However, with only Boris Johnson having big doubts around the cabinet table,
the real rumpus will be in the Parliamentary Tory Party.

 

Plenty of Tory MPs have long held objections to Heathrow and they will be
made loudly on the backbenches in the weeks to come. The government doesn't
have a majority and remember, it wants to get this plan through the Commons
by the end of the month.

 

If they can, it will be a demonstration of "look, we are getting on with
things, it's not just Brexit!"

 

There will be howls, and the process even after this likely vote is a very
long one. But the government can expect to get the vote through. Even if
Labour opposes it, which it may well do on environmental grounds, the party
is also split on the merits of the project so might not all vote together.

 

Read the rest of the blog

 

Labour and the SNP save the day?

 

Labour has said expanded capacity is vital to the UK economy but its support
is conditional on tests being met on capacity, climate change, noise and air
quality, as well as the wider economic benefits.

 

But there is also a split in opinion when it comes to individual MPs, with
shadow chancellor John McDonnell - whose Hayes and Harlington constituency
could see homes demolished - says he is "implacably opposed".

 

Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald said his party would "follow the
evidence" and not simply rely on assurances from Mr Grayling: "If the
correct balance is not found then the courts will rightly intervene," he
said.

 

Leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Yes, there is a demand for increased airport
capacity across the south east, two of the south east airports are working
somewhat under capacity, Stansted and Luton. Gatwick and Heathrow are
working at pretty well max capacity, let's look at it in that context."

 

The SNP's Alan Brown said the new runway had the support of the Scottish
government, most Scottish airports and Scottish firms who recognised the
"business benefits".

 

But Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said the plans were an "expensive folly"
and his party's 12 MPs would work with others to "put an end to this project
once and for all".

 

And The Green Party's MP Caroline Lucas said it was a "disastrous decision"
which "flew in the face of common sense and climate science".

 

The carbon question

 

As one would expect, there have been contrasting reactions from business and
environmental groups.

 

The Institute of Directors said the end of arguments over Heathrow's future
was within "touching distance".

 

"While the new runway is being built, we also need to make better use of
capacity at existing airports in the South East, and indeed the rest of the
country," said its director general Stephen Martin.

 

But Friends of The Earth said a new runway was not compatible with building
a low-carbon economy.

 

"Heathrow expansion would be bad news for our climate and will bring more
noise, air pollution and misery to local residents," said the organisation's
Jenny Bates.--BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


Edgars

AGM

Edgars Training Auditorium, 1st Floor, LAPF House, 8th Ave/Jason Moyo St,
Bulawayo

07/06/2018 9am

 


Turnall

AGM

Jacaranda Room, Rainbow Towers

07/06/2018 9am

 


FMHL

AGM

Royal Harare Golf Club

11/06/2018 2:30pm

 


 

 

 

 

 


RioZim

AGM

Head Office, 1 Kenilworth Road, Highlands

21/06/2018 10:30am

 


 

 

 

 

 


Zimbabwe

Heroes’ Day

Zimbabwe

13/08/2018

 


Zimbabwe

Defence Forces Day

Zimbabwe

14/08/2018

 


The Harare Agricultural Show

The Harare Agricultural Show

The Harare Agricultural Show

August 27- September 1

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <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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