Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 29 November 2018

Thu Nov 29 09:01:20 CAT 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 29 November 2018

 <http://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

*  Zimbabwe on course to meet budget deficit targets - finmin

*  Eskom says asset sales can't solve problems as flags big loss

*  South African state pension fund raises stake in MTN to 23.6 pct

*  Tanzania central bank suspends five banks from interbank FX market

*  Kenya's foreign exchange rate reflects true value -cenbank governor

*  Gold Fields improves severance terms at South Deep in bid to end strike

*  KPMG South Africa picks outsider as CEO after scandals

*  South African central bank expects volatile rand in 2019

*  Mitsubishi Heavy ordered to compensate forced S Korean war workers

*  Bank warns no-deal could see UK sink into recession

*  Federal Reserve hints at fewer interest rate rises

*  UK and US agree post-Brexit flights deal

*  Huawei: NZ bars Chinese firm on national security fears

*  Brexit will make us poorer, government forecasts warn

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Zimbabwe on course to meet budget deficit targets - finmin

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe is on track to meet a narrower budget deficit of
5 percent of GDP in 2019 from an estimated 11.7 percent this year, Finance
Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Wednesday.

Ncube also said the southern African nation achieved a budget surplus of $29
million in October, its first in as many years.

“We achieved a primary (budget) surplus in October. The budget is as good as
balanced, we are walking the talk,” Ncube told reporters.

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Eskom says asset sales can't solve problems as flags big loss

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African state-run power firm Eskom said on
Wednesday that asset sales could not solve its problems and that a bailout
or debt relief were preferable, as it flagged a loss before tax of more than
11.2 billion rand ($800 million) this financial year.

Eskom, Africa’s largest public utility, is working on a turnaround plan to
reverse a decade of steep decline, in which electricity sales fell while
debt ballooned and the company became embroiled in corruption scandals.

It supplies more than 90 percent of South Africa’s power, making it critical
to the health of the $340 billion economy.

“Eskom is in a state of severe financial difficulty, ... we are locked into
a loss-making position,” Eskom Chairman Jabu Mabuza told a news conference.

“All the assets which we could sell are the ones that no one could buy,”
Mabuza said. “There are other ways, call them what you want. A bailout, an
equity injection by the shareholder ... or some debt relief.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a new board at Eskom early this year, in
one of his first moves since replacing Jacob Zuma as leader of the ruling
African National Congress.

But efforts to turn the company around have been hampered by severe fiscal
constraints, labour unrest and fuel shortages affecting as much as
two-thirds of its coal-fired power stations.

On Wednesday, Eskom reported a 671 million rand profit in the six months to
the end of September but said its performance in the next six months would
be hurt by a wage deal with trade unions and greater maintenance costs.

That compares with a 6.3 billion rand profit in the six months to the end of
September 2017 and a full-year loss of 2.3 billion rand loss for the 2017/18
financial year.

Eskom’s total debt rose to 419 billion rand at the end of September, from
367 billion a year earlier. Its cash levels rose from 8.5 billion rand to
17.3 billion rand over the same period but are expected to come under
pressure in the second half of the 2018/19 financial year.

Eskom’s Mabuza ruled out debt-to-equity swaps as a way to reduce
indebtedness, saying converting debt held by state pension fund the Public
Investment Corporation was a “dangerous route”.

CEO Phakamani Hadebe said options for government support could be a cash
injection or moving some of its debt to the government’s balance sheet. “Our
debt levels have reached certain levels which are no longer sustainable,” he
said.

($1 = 13.9692 rand)

South African state pension fund raises stake in MTN to 23.6 pct

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African state-owned pension fund has raised
its stake in mobile phone operator MTN Group to nearly 24 percent,
regulatory filings showed on Wednesday, a bet on the company in the middle
of $10.1 billion dispute with Nigeria.

The Public Investment Corporation, which has more than 2 trillion rand
($143.22 billion) of South African government civil servants’ pensions under
its custody, had a stake of around 15 percent in the company before the
transaction.

The purchase price was not disclosed but shares in MTN have been battered
since it disclosed two separate disputes with Nigerian authorities.

Nigeria’s central bank on Aug. 29 ordered MTN and its lenders to bring $8.1
billion back into Nigeria that it alleges the company sent abroad in breach
of foreign exchange regulations. In addition, MTN faces a separate $2
billion tax bill from authorities in Nigeria.

The stock had fallen around 20 percent since then. By 1220 GMT the shares
were trading slightly higher at 88.32 rand.

($1 = 13.9641 rand)

Tanzania central bank suspends five banks from interbank FX market

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania’s central bank has suspended five banks
from trading in the interbank foreign exchange market for one month for
breaching regulatory rules, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Barclays Bank Tanzania, Exim Bank, UBA Bank, BancABC and Azania Bank were
all suspended from the market on Nov. 23 for violating the market’s code of
conduct, said Alexander Ng’winamila, the director of financial markets at
the central bank.

    “The suspended banks... either traded at off-market rates and/or did not
submit to the central bank the transactions they made ... contrary to the
requirements of the code of conduct,” Ng’winamila told Reuters.

Barclays Tanzania, a unit of South Africa’s Absa, confirmed the suspension,
adding it was working with the regulator to resolve the issues. The lender
was still continuing to serve its FX clients but it had lost its access to
the liquidity offered by the interbank market, it added.

Exim, UBA and BancABC were not immediately available for comment. Gilbert
Mwandimila, Treasury director at Azania, said technological challenges had
led to the delay in reporting FX deals in the market.

    He said the month-long suspension would adversely impact the lenders’
ability to serve their customers.

    The suspension comes after the regulator conducted surprise inspections
of foreign exchange bureaus in the northern town of Arusha, a tourist and
gemstone trading hub.

There are more than 40 commercial banks operating in the East African
nation.

Kenya's foreign exchange rate reflects true value -cenbank governor

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s central bank governor on Wednesday dismissed a
report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that its national currency
was overvalued and said the fund had used an inappropriate method to assess
the shilling’s worth.

Patrick Njoroge said the foreign exchange rate reflected the shilling’s true
value and the central bank does not seek to control it.

The shilling, which is trading at 102.55 per dollar, sank to its lowest
since February after the IMF report was published last month.

The IMF said Kenya’s real exchange rate was over-valued by 17.5 percent,
citing the current account deficit, which it said was not in step with other
economic fundamentals.

Bank governor Patrick Njoroge said, “our own calculations support the view
that there is no fundamental misalignment reflected in our exchange rate and
we have also retaliated that the Kenya shilling reflects the currency’s true
value.”

“We let the market flexibly drive the price of foreign currency. The only
thing we do is to intervene in order to minimise volatility.”

Njoroge, who took up his post in 2015 from a senior role at the IMF in
Washington, accused the fund of using a new methodology -called EBA Lite-
which is designed for advanced economies, to arrive at its conclusion.

“We are the ones who are being used as a guinea pig in terms of EBA Lite
methodology. That is something that obviously we do not agree with,” he
said. “You need to be careful of all the weaknesses of the methodology.”

IMF officials in Kenya were not immediately available for comment.

The current account deficit narrowed to 5.3 percent of GDP in the year to
the end of September, from 6.3 percent a year earlier, the central bank
said.

It attributed the improvement in the deficit to strong growth in tourist
arrivals, a jump in farm exports like tea and an increase in hard cash sent
home by Kenyans living abroad, amid a decrease in imports.

“It (the current account deficit) is closing as expected and we don’t have
any concerns,” Njoroge said.

Policymakers were however concerned by the impact of a cap on commercial
lending rates, which was stifling the transmission of monetary policy into
the real economy, he said.

Policymakers have cut the benchmark lending rate twice this year, in March
and July, to 9.0 percent.

Njoroge ruled out the use of other tools like cash ratios to stimulate
private sector credit growth, which stood at 4.4 percent in the year to the
end of October, below the bank’s target of 7-8 percent.

Other instruments would only be used in extreme circumstances, he said.

Gold Fields improves severance terms at South Deep in bid to end strike

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Gold Fields said on Wednesday it had offered union
members striking at its South Deep mine in South Africa an increased
severance package to try to resolve the dispute which has halted production.

Gold Fields, which employs about 3,600 people in South Africa, said in
August it would restructure its South Deep operations and would cut about
1,100 jobs, nearly a third of the

workforce, to save money. In response, the National Union of Mineworkers
(NUM) went on strike at the mine on Nov.2.

South Deep, the company’s last South African asset, has lost money over the
past five years and Goldfields has been working to mechanise operations in
the face of challenging geology 3 kms (2 miles) below the surface.

The company said its offer, which expires on Friday, included increasing
severance payments by four weeks, or a total of as much as 45 million rand
($3 million), funding for skills training and preferential re-employment if
positions become available.

“If the offer is not accepted by Friday then it’s difficult to predict how
long the strike will continue for,” Chief Executive Officer Nick Holland
said.

He also defended the plan to cut jobs after mining minister Gwede Mantashe
on Monday criticised Gold Fields for not acting in good faith in talks with
the government over the layoffs.

“We have really come in here with what we believe is the absolute minimum to
keep the operation sustainable into the future and even then its going to be
a challenge for us to do so,” Holland said.

Sources at the NUM, which represents most the employees at the mine, said
that the national leadership wanted to resolve the strike but the branch
leaders were digging in.

NUM branch leader Kanetso Matabane told Reuters this was not the case and
Gold Fields was not entertaining any of their suggestions.

Gold Fields earlier this month reported third-quarter production falling to
533,000 ounces from 552,000 in the same period last year, with South Deep
producing just 50,000 ounces in that period, against 81,000 ounces a year
earlier.

($1 = 13.9639 rand)

KPMG South Africa picks outsider as CEO after scandals

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - KPMG’s South African unit named an outsider,
Ignatius Sehoole, as chief executive on Wednesday, as the auditing firm
scrabbles to retain clients after being ensnared in political scandals.

Sehoole, the current deputy chief executive PwC’s domestic unit, will take
over from the Nhlamulo Dlomu, who is stepping aside a year after being
brought in to restore the company’s reputation. Sehoole is expected to start
in May.

“While KPMG South Africa has changed substantially over the past year, the
challenges facing both KPMG and the profession have intensified,” Chairman
Wiseman Nkuhlu said in a statement.

“With this in mind, the board felt it was important to appoint an external
candidate to the firm with strong industry credentials,” he said.

KPMG has been losing clients in the last 18 months after its own internal
probe found flaws in the work carried out for the Gupta family, which is
alleged to have used their links to former president Jacob Zuma to mass
wealth.

The Guptas and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing.

KPMG South Africa has previously said it was not involved in and did not
condone any alleged money laundering activities linked to the Gupta-owned
Linkway Trading company.

The company’s woes deepened after it was revealed in April that its auditor
failed to disclose loans from a failed small bank he was auditing, prompting
some its biggest clients such as Absa and the government to ditch it.

KPMG South Africa has said it is cooperating with authorities and addressing
its shortcomings.

South African central bank expects volatile rand in 2019

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand will remain volatile in 2019,
making monetary policy complicated and focused on long-term inflation
factors rather than short-term market shocks, central bank Deputy Governor
Daniel Mminele said on Wednesday.

Mminele said the bank expected the rand to average 14.50 against the dollar
but trade would be volatile, forcing the monetary policy committee to remain
flexible in its responses.

“We will continue to allow the exchange rate to absorb the initial shocks,
and focus our policy actions on addressing second-round price effects,”
Mminele said at a foreign exchange conference after the bank raised lending
rates last week.

“It is important that policy decisions should not be informed by short-run
market developments in either direction.”

The rand has slumped more than 20 percent against the dollar in 2018 since a
sharp sell off of emerging market assets in April triggered by rising U.S.
rates and worries about a trade dispute between the United States and China.

The South African Reserve Bank raised lending rates for the first time in
nearly three years last Thursday, by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent, saying
it could not risk waiting for risks to inflation to materialise before
acting.

The bank targets inflation of between 3 and 6 percent, but has emphasised
that it is more comfortable with consumer price growth closer to 4.5
percent, the mid-point of the range. Inflation came in at 5.1 percent in
October.

Mitsubishi Heavy ordered to compensate forced S Korean war workers

South Korea's top court has ordered a Japanese firm to compensate Koreans it
used as forced labour in World War Two.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited has been ordered to pay up to 150m won
($133,000; £104,000) to 28 South Korean victims or their families.

The court's ruling upholds two separate damages suits against the firm.

About 150,000 Koreans were conscripted to work in factories and mines in
Japan in the war, and issues from the era continue to sour diplomatic
relations.

The latest move follows a landmark case in October that found in favour of
Koreans seeking compensation from Japan's Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal
Corp for wartime forced labour.

Mitsubishi Heavy said the court's ruling was "deeply regrettable", and that
it would take appropriate measures, Reuters reported.

'Regrettable and unacceptable'

Japan argues that all financial or other reparation issues related to their
1910 to 1945 rule of Korea should be regarded as settled by a treaty signed
between South Korea and Japan in 1965.

But the court ruled that the treaty "does not cover the right of the victims
of forced labour to compensation for crimes against humanity committed by a
Japanese company in direct connection with the Japanese government's illegal
colonial rule and war of aggression against the Korean peninsula".

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the ruling was "very regrettable and
unacceptable".

He said it was in violation of international law and warned that Japan would
consider options including an international law suit unless Seoul took
appropriate action to address the issue.

What will Mitsubishi pay?

The plaintiffs had sued Mitsubishi in Japan, but in 2008 Japan's top court
found in favour of the firm.

Thursday's ruling ordered the company to pay up to 150m won ($106,896;
£83,305) each to four women, and one family member, who said they had been
forced to work without pay at a Mitsubishi aircraft plant in Nagoya in 1944.

The second case initially involved six victims, but just two are still
alive. Mitsubishi must now pay 80m won to the living victims and the same to
be divided among the families of the deceased.--bbc

Bank warns no-deal could see UK sink into recession

A no-deal Brexit could send the pound plunging and trigger a worse recession
than the financial crisis, the Bank of England has warned.

It said the UK economy could shrink by 8% in the immediate aftermath if
there was no transition period, while house prices could fall by almost a
third.

The Bank of England also warned the pound could fall by a quarter.

The Bank's analysis comes after the Treasury said the UK would be worse off
under any form of Brexit.

This Bank's scenario is not what it expects to happen, but represents a
worst-case scenario, based on a so called "disorderly Brexit".

The scenario looks at the five-year period after the UK leaves the EU.

But by the end of 2023, the economy is expected to resume growing.

What did we learn from the Bank of England?

Brexit will make UK worse off, government warns

"These are scenarios not forecasts. They illustrate what could happen not
necessarily what is most likely to happen.

"Taken together the scenarios highlight that the impact of Brexit will
depend on the direction, magnitude and speed of the effect of reduced
openness of the UK economy," Bank of England governor Mark Carney said.

What is a 'disorderly Brexit'?

The Bank of England has made a number of assumptions - not forecasts - about
what would cause a disorderly Brexit.

The UK reverts to World Trade Organization rules

No new trade deals are implemented by 2022

The UK loses all access to existing trade agreements between the EU and
third countries

Severe disruption at borders because of customs checks

Migration reverses from 150,000 a year to falling by 100,000 a year

The Bank of England does not give a probability of this happening.

What happens during this disorderly scenario?

Scenarios drawn up by the Bank of England show that GDP would fall by 8% in
2019 against its current forecast.

Growth would quickly resume and the economy would expand again by the end of
2023 but be smaller than where it was before.

Unemployment would rise to 7.5%, house prices fall by 30% and commercial
property prices collapse by 48%.

Interest rates would reach 4%.

What other scenarios did the Bank of England consider?

The Bank looked at three other scenarios.

a "disruptive" Brexit - one where the UK retained access to some trade
agreements

what might happen if trading arrangements were agreed to give the UK a
"close" relationship

what might happen if trading arrangements were agreed to give the UK a "less
close" relationship

A close relationship is one with no customs checks, no regulatory barriers
and a partial deal agreed on financial services.

A less close relationship is one where customs checks start after 2021 and
other regulatory checks are put in place.

What happens in these scenarios?

If Brexit is disruptive rather than disorderly, GDP falls 3% over the five
years to 2022, house prices slide 14%, and unemployment reaches 5.75%

If a close trading relationship is agreed, the economy could still be 1%
smaller than if the UK had remained in the EU but 1.5% higher than the
bank's most recent estimate.

If it is less close, the economy's growth could be 3.75% less than if the UK
had remained in the EU and 0.75% less than forecast over the last inflation
report.

These figures cover the period to 2023.

What does this mean for Theresa May?

By political reporter Brian Wheeler

Theresa May will not have told the Bank's economists what to say in their
report but it is definitely helpful to her. The timing is significant too.

A leaked copy of Downing Street's media grid had today down as "economy".
Tomorrow is "security".

So expect a steady drumbeat of official warnings about the dangers of a
no-deal Brexit in the run up to 11 December's vote.

Downing Street's hope is that however much they hate her deal (and they do)
MPs will come to view it as the only safe option.

The problem is that these kind of warnings, however well-grounded in facts
and figures, are too easily written off as "project fear". The more scary
they sound, the easier they are to dismiss.

What has been the political reaction?

Conservative MP and Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused Mark Carney of
talking down the pound - saying the Bank of England's warnings tonight "lack
all credibility".

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Rees-Mogg said "project fear" had become "project
hysteria".

And the pro-Brexit former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said: "The
bottom line of both sets of reports is that project fear like Frankenstein's
monster has been resuscitated and is stalking the land."

However, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: "The Bank has confirmed what
other independent reports this week have been telling us: a no-deal Brexit
could be even worse than the financial crisis of 10 years ago, and the
country would be much worse under Theresa May's deal," he said.

What else did the Bank say?

Mr Carney said the Bank was monitoring markets and indicated that it was
ready to lend to UK banks if necessary.

He also indicated that banks might be allowed to hold less capital if risks
became too great.

But he warned there was little the Bank could do.

"There is little monetary policy can do to offset the potentially
significant hits to productivity and supply that Brexit could entail... the
future potential of this economy and its implications of jobs, real wages
and wealth are not in the gift of central bankers," he said.

What does it mean for the banking sector?

The Bank of England has exposed seven major lenders to a stress test which
it said was two and half times more severe than the Brexit scenarios.

All seven lenders - Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, Standard
Chartered, Santander and Nationwide Building Society - passed the test.--bbc

Federal Reserve hints at fewer interest rate rises

Wall Street shares have risen sharply after the US central bank indicated
there may not be as many future interest rate rises.

In a speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rates are
"just below" a neutral level that neither hastens nor slows growth.

Last month, he had said the bank had a "long way" to go before reaching that
level.

His remarks come after repeated attacks by President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump blames the Fed's recent rate rises for recent stock market declines
and has described future rate increases as the biggest risk to the US
economy.

The president, who selected Mr Powell to lead the bank last year, has also
said he is not happy with his pick.

Mr Powell, who was speaking at the Economic Club in New York, did not
address the criticism directly.

But he appeared to soften his tone about future rate rises while continuing
to defend the Fed's plans for gradual increases.

"Interest rates are still low by historical standards, and they remain just
below the broad range of estimates of the level that would be neutral for
the economy - that is, neither speeding up nor slowing down growth," he
said.

He added: "There is no preset policy path. We will be paying very close
attention to what incoming economic and financial data are telling us."

The Dow and the Nasdaq indexes both jumped more than 2% after the comments,
while the S&P 500 gained 1.7%.

Balancing two risks

The US economy has enjoyed a healthy expansion this year, spurred in part by
increased government spending and a major tax cut.

Job creation has been strong and gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an
annualised rate of 3.5% in the most recent quarter.

However, many economists expect that pace to slow next year as the effects
of the stimulus fade.

In his speech, Mr Powell said he viewed gradual increases as the best way to
balance the risks of causing problems by raising rates too fast or too
slowly.

"Our path of gradual increases has been designed to balance these two risks,
both of which we must take seriously," he said.

Mr Powell said the overall risks to financial stability remain "moderate",
but he flagged rising levels of corporate debt as one area of concern.

He also said disruption caused by events such as Brexit might trigger
economic distress.--bbc

UK and US agree post-Brexit flights deal

The UK and US have agreed an "open skies" deal for post-Brexit flights,
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said.

The arrangement means airlines would continue to fly from the UK to the US
after Brexit, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

Flights between the countries operate under the US-EU open skies treaty.

The deal with the US is one of nine bilateral air services arrangements
secured by the UK to replace it.

The others are with Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro,
Morocco and Switzerland.

Discussions with Canada are at "an advanced stage", according to the DfT.

Brexit: A really simple guide

Brexit: Your guide to EU jargon

Mr Grayling said transatlantic flights have helped bring the UK and US "even
closer together, strengthening our ties and boosting our economies".

The Brexit campaigner went on: "This new arrangement and those concluded
with eight other countries around the world are proof that the UK will
continue to be a major player on the world stage after we leave the EU."

'Positive development'

Under the deal, EU majority-owned airlines that are currently operating
between the UK and US will be able to continue to fly existing routes as
long as they remain owned and controlled by EU/EEA nationals or UK
nationals.

But any airline wanting to establish a route between the UK and US in the
future that is not owned and controlled by UK nationals will need to seek a
waiver from the US government.

British Airways' parent company IAG is registered in Spain and has
shareholders from around the world.

IAG chief executive of British Airways' parent company IAG, described the
aviation agreement with the US as "a significant positive development which
we welcome".

He said it "facilitates strong competition and is clearly pro-consumer".

Aviation consultant John Strickland said: "It's positive news for UK
airlines operating to the US market that this agreement has been reached.

"It appears that enough flexibility has been negotiated to allow for
different scenarios of either UK or EU majority ownership, a point of
importance for IAG, and for Virgin, which is in the process of becoming
non-UK majority owned as Air France takes a stake."

Sir Richard Branson is in the process of reducing his stake in Virgin
Atlantic to 20% by selling 31% of the business to Air France-KLM.

Theresa May's Brexit agreement with Brussels says that the UK and EU have
agreed to negotiate a "comprehensive air transport agreement" for UK-EU
flights during the planned transition period but it would not apply if the
UK left the EU without a deal.

In September the government warned a no-deal Brexit could cause disruption
to air travel between the UK and European Union countries.--bbc

Huawei: NZ bars Chinese firm on national security fears

New Zealand has become the latest country to block a proposal to use
telecoms equipment made by China's Huawei because of national security
concerns.

Spark New Zealand wanted to use Huawei equipment in its 5G mobile network.

However, a NZ government security agency said the deal would bring
significant risks to national security.

The move is part of a growing push against the involvement of Chinese
technology firms on security grounds.

5G networks are being built in several countries and will form the next
significant wave of mobile infrastructure.

Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, has faced
resistance from foreign governments over the risk that its technology could
be used for espionage.

Telecoms firm Spark New Zealand planned to use equipment from the Chinese
firm in its 5G network.

The head of NZ's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) told Spark
the proposal "would , if implemented, raise significant national security
risks", the company said.

Intelligence services minister Andrew Little said Spark could work with the
agency to reduce that risk.

"As the GCSB has noted, this is an ongoing process. We will actively address
any concerns and work together to find a way forward," Huawei said.

What other countries have concerns?

The move follows a decision by Australia to block Huaewi and Chinese firm
ZTE from providing 5G technology for the country's wireless networks on
national security grounds.

The US and UK have raised concerns with Huawei, and the firm has been
scrutinised in Germany, Japan and Korea.

Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government has been
trying to persuade wireless providers to avoid using equipment from Huawei.

In the UK, a security committee report in July warned that it had "only
limited assurance" that Huawei's telecoms gear posed no threat to national
security.

One country is standing by Huawei: Papua New Guinea said this week it would
go ahead with an agreement for Huawei to build its internet infrastructure.

The Pacific nation has seen a surge in investment from China over the past
decade.

What China wants from the Pacific

China's ZTE 'poses risk to UK security'

Staying ahead of the cyber spies

What are the fears?

Experts say foreign governments are increasingly worried about the risk of
espionage by China, given the close ties between companies and the state.

Tom Uren, visiting fellow in the International Cyber Policy Centre at
Australia's Strategic Policy Institute, said the Chinese government had
"clearly demonstrated intent over many years to steal information".

"The Chinese state has engaged in a lot of cyber and other espionage and
intellectual property theft," he said.

'China spy attack hits Apple and Amazon'

Links between firms and the government have fuelled concerns that China may
attempt to "leverage state-linked companies to be able to enable their
espionage operations", Mr Uren said.

Those concerns were exacerbated by new laws introduced last year that
required Chinese organisations assist in national intelligence efforts.

The laws enable the Chinese state to compel people and possibly companies to
assist if they needed it, Mr Uren said.

The combination of new rules and a history of espionage have increased the
perceived danger of using companies like Huawei and ZTE in critical national
infrastructure.

"It's hard to argue that they don't represent an elevated risk," Mr Uren
added.--bbc

Brexit will make us poorer, government forecasts warn

It's official: Brexit will make us poorer than we would be staying in the
European Union.

That is the conclusion of a cross-departmental government 15-year forecast.

How much poorer depends on which Brexit route the UK takes, but the most
likely outcomes would mean a hit to the economy of £60bn and £100bn with a
no-deal scenario costing nearly £200bn.

The 82-page report looks at four main scenarios.

They are: the government's preferred outcome with frictionless trade; a
standard free trade agreement, which means some friction at the border; a
Norway-type arrangement, which would mean freedom of movement and ongoing
rule taking; and finally, no deal.

On the first three it also looks at two immigration scenarios: the status
quo - which is clearly not government policy - and zero net inflow from the
EU.

Reality Check: Can forecasts get it wrong?

May visits Scotland to defend Brexit deal

A guide to where we are with Brexit

UK ports face 'major disruption'

The government's white paper, with a change in immigration rules, leads to a
hit of between 2.5% and 3.9% of GDP.

Crucially, the government has chosen not to model the impact of triggering
the backstop arrangements to keep the Irish border open, which would see the
UK stay in the customs union indefinitely.

There are also some heroic assumptions on the striking of new trade deals
with the US, China and others. But together they would add only 0.2% to the
economy, according to this analysis.

Theresa May is trying sell a vision of the UK, which sees it up to £100bn
poorer. A pretty hard sell - unless you think the alternative is more than
twice as bad.

MPs are due to vote on Mrs May's Brexit deal, which she insists is the only
option, on 11 December.--bbc

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Econet

AGM

Econet Park, Msasa

29/11/2018  (9am )

Econet

EGM

Econet Park, Msasa

29/11/2018  (10am )

GetBucks

AGM

Conference Room 1, Monomotapa Hotel

04/12/2018 (10am )

Innscor

AGM

Royal Harare Golf Club

05/12/2018 (8:15am)

Truworths

AGM

Boardroom, Prospect Park, 808 Seke Road

06/12/2018 (9am)

TSL

EGM

Head Office, 28 Simon Mazorodze Road, Southerton

07/11/2018 (10am )

Cassava shares list on the ZSE

11/12/2018

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

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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
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