Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 25 February 2019

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 25 February 2019

 


 

 


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*  Zimbabwe devalues currency as economic crisis deepens

*  BMW and Daimler invest €1bn in new car venture

*  South Africa mining strike to spread to at least 15 firms -Minerals Council

*  Water deal crucial for Kenya oil project might slip into Q3-Tullow

*  S.Africa's FirstRand sees earnings increase from Discovery Card sale

*  Consortium to take minority stake in South Africa's Cell C

*  Morocco’s CPI drops to 0.5 pct yr/yr in January- Planning agency

*  US to delay further tariffs on Chinese goods

*  GCHQ: Chinese tech 'threats' must be understood

*  Kraft Heinz shares fall as appetites wane

*  Ministers spend £100m on Brexit consultant contracts

*  Trans Mountain pipeline gets energy regulator support

 

 


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Zimbabwe devalues currency as economic crisis deepens

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe underwent a de facto devaluation on Friday as its central bank began trading a sharply discounted replacement currency, attempting to ease a cash crunch that has hobbled the economy and plunged millions deep into poverty.

 

The country adopted the dollar in 2009 but, as a chronic hard currency shortage worsened, introduced a parallel system of bond notes pegged at 1:1 to the U.S. currency.

 

Effectively reintroducing a national currency, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said on Wednesday it would carry out a “managed float” of the surrogate, which already fetches far less than a dollar on the black market.

 

On Friday, it exchanged the bond notes’ replacement for dollars at a rate of 2.5.

 

Economists cautiously welcomed the central bank’s intervention, which it hopes will temper demand for black market dollars and ease inflation as the new currency settles.

 

But uppermost in ordinary Zimbabweans’ minds were fears it might trigger a return to the hyperinflation that plagued part of the tenure of former leader Robert Mugabe.

 

The success or failure of the new currency regime will go a long way towards determining whether President Emmerson Mnangagwa regains public trust, further undermined by signs that security forces are reverting to the strongarm tactics they often deployed under Mugabe.

 

Under the new system the bond notes - as well as the electronic dollars locked in individuals’ accounts for months due to a lack of cash - will be merged into a separate currency called RTGS dollars. The name is derived from the real time gross settlement system banks use to transfer money between themselves.

 

The central bank sold U.S. dollars to banks at 2.5 RTGS dollars on Friday morning, Bank Governor John Mangudya told business leaders, effectively a 60 percent devaluation.

 

“ROUND IN CIRCLES”

Commercial banks reopened on Friday after a bank holiday, but with exchange facilities from bond notes to U.S. dollars at the same 2.5 rate limited to individual and corporate holders of foreign currency accounts, queues outside appeared to be no longer than usual.

 

Other members of the public should, in theory, be able to go to banks on Monday and buy U.S. dollars with bond notes or electronic dollars.

 

But it is not clear how many U.S. dollars the central bank, which only has enough foreign exchange for two weeks of imports, has sold to banks.

 

“They have done the right thing but the question is, will they have the discipline to make it work?” said Ashok Chakravati, economist and university lecturer.

 

Belindah Mandizha, a 25-year-old industrial designer, said she saw no material changes in the business environment, “except that the dollar rate on the black market will go up, and then the prices, then wages, until we find ourselves in the hyperinflation situation again.”

 

Inflation hit a 10-year high of 57 percent in January.

 

The bond notes and notional electronic funds have plummeted on Zimbabwe’s black market in recent months to around 4 per dollar.

 

Many foreign traders have stopped accepting bond notes as legal tender, leaving businesses such as millers, brewers and miners hamstrung - and there are concerns that the RTGS dollar will be equally unloved.

 

“For the umpteenth time we have yet another new currency, but this time the madness has just gone a bit too far,” said Collin Chiwanza, a marketing manager.

 

“We are moving round and round in circles and it’s difficult to imagine if the current despotic regime will ever come up with long-term practical solutions that really work.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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South Africa mining strike to spread to at least 15 firms -Minerals Council

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - At least 15 mining firms in South Africa have received notices of strikes to be held next week in support of colleagues at Sibanye-Stillwater who downed tools over wages and job cuts, Minerals Council South Africa said on Friday.

 

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has been on strike at Sibanye’s bullion operations since mid-November and plans to extend the strike to its platinum mines as well as all other mines where the AMCU has members.

 

Firms to be affected include AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Anglo American Platinum and Lonmin, whose shares fell on Thursday after it said it had received a strike notice.

 

Sibanye-Stillwater last week said it could cut nearly 6,000 jobs at its gold mining operations, where AMCU has been on strike since mid-November over a wage dispute.

 

Job cuts are politically sensitive in South Africa, where the jobless rate is more than 27 percent.

 

The council, which represents the mining firms, said it was “deeply concerned” about the potential consequences of the strike particularly in the gold and platinum sectors.

 

“It is unfathomable that AMCU would willingly call for secondary strikes in an industry that is already in jeopardy,” Minerals Council Chief Executive Roger Baxter said in a statement.

 

“Employees and their families, and indeed the country as a whole, stand to lose so much should the secondary strikes occur.”

 

The strikes add to challenges facing President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose efforts to revive an anaemic economy ahead of national elections in May have been complicated by a financial crisis at state power utility Eskom.

 

South Africa is home to the world’s biggest platinum group metals deposits and accounts for just over 90 percent of global production.

 

The mining firms were considering the notices and vowed to “everything in their power” to prevent a strike, including legal action, the council said in the statement.

 

 

 

Water deal crucial for Kenya oil project might slip into Q3-Tullow

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A deal with local Kenyan authorities that would allow Tullow Oil to pump water to pressurise oil wells, crucial for a final green light for the country’s only oil project, may be delayed to the third quarter, a Tullow executive said on Friday.

 

Tullow, with partners Total and Africa Oil, is working towards a final investment decision (FID) by year-end and had hoped the water deal would be reached by mid-year, Tullow’s Kenya Managing Director Martin Mbogo said.

 

“I would probably realistically put it more for Q3 in terms of landing that agreement,” Mbogo told Reuters, referring to the deal organising the way Tullow can tap a body of water straddling two counties in northwestern Kenya.

 

“(It’s) one of those things we absolutely need before we can get to FID.”

 

Tullow estimates that Kenya’s onshore fields in Turkana province hold 560 million barrels of oil and expects them to produce up to 100,000 barrels per day from 2022.

 

Another milestone to pass is land acquisition for infrastructure around the oil fields and the 820 km pipeline to the Indian Ocean for which it plans to send out construction tenders within weeks.

 

The government recently gazetted land it wants to buy in order to lease it to the oil partners.

 

Having clarity on land acquisition and pipeline tariffs is crucial to reach a final investment decision on the $2.9 billion project which Tullow wants to make money at $50 a barrel.

 

“There is good but slower than expected progress on the land issue,” Mbogo said.

 

This week, the Kenyan government together with Tullow approached potential buyers of Kenya’s low-sulphur crude, including Asian refiners like India’s Reliance, independent oil groups and majors such as Royal Dutch Shell.

 

There will be further such meetings during International Petroleum week in London next week to see whether buyers are willing to pay a premium to Brent crude for Kenyan oil.

 

The government has an option to buy up to 20 percent in both the fields and the pipeline, which Tullow expects it to exercise at least in part before the final investment decision.

 

Kenya has mooted floating its national oil company as holder of such a stake on the Nairobi and London bourses. The oil ministry was not immediately available for comment on this.

 

 

S.Africa's FirstRand sees earnings increase from Discovery Card sale

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - FirstRand, one of South Africa’s largest lenders, said on Friday it expects basic earnings per share for the first half of its financial year to increase between 22 percent and 24 percent.

 

The increase will largely be due to a windfall of around 2.3 billion rand ($164.12 million) from the purchase of a credit card book by insurer Discovery, a joint venture between the two firms.

 

FirstRand said the funds from the transaction would not be included in its headline earnings per share - the key profit measure in South Africa - nor its normalised earnings, due to its one-off nature.

 

($1 = 14.0144 rand)

 

 

 

Consortium to take minority stake in South Africa's Cell C

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Blue Label Telecoms said on Friday a consortium had agreed to take a minority stake in South Africa’s third largest mobile carrier Cell C, of which it owns 45 percent.

 

Blue Label, which has been trying to dig Cell C out of debt since it purchased its stake in the carrier for 5.5 billion rand ($392.28 million) in October 2016, said the deal would help the struggling company.

 

It named the investor as The Buffet Consortium, but did not say who that included and Reuters was not immediately able to establish its members. Blue Label Telecoms also did not disclose the size of the stake or how much it would raise.

 

“With Buffet support the Cell C balance sheet will be bolstered,” it said in a statement.

 

A further detailed announcement would be made at a later stage, it said, adding the transaction remained subject to certain conditions.

 

Blue Label said last August that Cell C, which has struggled to compete with bigger rivals MTN and Vodacom needed another 2.8 billion rand in funding.

 

It has had to defend its investment to shareholders concerned about the cost of keeping the carrier going, prompting an almost 65 percent fall in Blue Label’s share price since the start of last year.

 

($1 = 14.0206 rand)

 

 

 

Morocco’s CPI drops to 0.5 pct yr/yr in January- Planning agency

RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco’s annual consumer price inflation dropped to 0.5 percent in January from 1.9 percent in December, the high commission for planning said on Friday.

 

Annual food inflation rose to 2.3 percent in January compared with 1.3 percent in December, while non-food inflation slipped to 0.8 percent in January from 1.8 percent a month earlier.

 

On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index dropped to 0.3 percent, from a 0.7 percent in December.

 

 

 

US to delay further tariffs on Chinese goods

President Donald Trump has announced that the US will delay imposing further trade tariffs on Chinese goods.

 

The rise in import duties on Chinese goods from 10% to 25% was meant to come into effect on 1 March.

 

Mr Trump told reporters that the US and China had made "substantial progress" in trade talks over the weekend.

 

He added that he was planning a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida to cement the trade deal if more progress was made.

 

A report from China's official news agency Xinhua also noted "substantial progress" on specific issues such as technology transfer, intellectual property protection and agriculture.

 

Mr Trump's decision to delay tariff hikes on $200bn (£153bn) worth of Chinese goods was seen as a sign that the two sides are making progress on settling their damaging trade war.

 

A quick guide to the US-China trade war

Three things the US and China will never agree on

What is a trade war?

Stocks in China, which have been sensitive to the dispute, jumped more than 3% on Monday.

 

Last week, Mr Trump noted progress in the latest round of negotiations in Washington, including an agreement on currency manipulation, though no details were disclosed.

 

Sources told CNBC on Friday that China had committed to buying up to $1.2tn in US goods, but there had been no progress on the intellectual property issues.

 

The US accuses China of stealing intellectual property from American firms, forcing them to transfer technology to China.

 

The trade war between the two countries has disrupted businesses and stoked fears about the impact on the global economy.--bbc

 

 

 

GCHQ: Chinese tech 'threats' must be understood

The UK's cyber-security agency is warning that Britain must understand the potential "opportunities and threats" of using Chinese technology.

 

GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming will give a rare speech on Monday emphasising the need for better cyber-security practices in the telecoms industry.

 

"It's a hugely complex strategic challenge," he will say.

 

The US is pressuring its allies to not use Chinese firm Huawei's technology to build new 5G networks.

 

Its officials are concerned that China could be using Huawei products to spy on other countries.

 

'Naive'

Most of the UK's mobile companies - Vodafone, EE and Three - have been working with Huawei on 5G, but they are awaiting the results of a government review, due in March or April, that will decide whether or not they'll be allowed to go ahead.

 

In December, MI6 chief Alex Younger raised questions over China's role in the UK tech sector, and a recent report from the Royal United Services Institute said it would be "naive" and "irresponsible" to allow Huawei access.

 

However, the National Cyber Security Centre - part of GCHQ - said last week said any risk posed by the company could be managed.

 

Should we worry about Huawei?

Why Huawei matters in five charts

What is 5G?

In his speech at an event in Singapore, Mr Fleming will emphasise that the government is concerned about balancing the supply chain and ensuring that there is diversity in the telecommunications equipment supplier market.

 

"We have to understand the opportunities and threats from China's technological offer - understand the global nature of supply chains and service provision irrespective of the flag of the supplier," he will say.

 

"Take a clear view on the implications of China's technological acquisition strategy in the West, and help our governments decide which parts of this expansion can be embraced, which need risk management, and which will always need a sovereign, or allied, solution."

 

Could Huawei threaten the Five Eyes?

He will add: "How we deal with it will be crucial for prosperity and security way beyond 5G contracts."

 

Stressing the need for stronger cyber-security across the telecoms sector, Mr Fleming will say: "Vulnerabilities can and will be exploited. But networks should be designed in a way that cauterises the damage."

 

According to Gartner senior research director Sylvain Fabre, 5G is important to the UK government in order to ensure that Britain remains competitive as a country.

 

"They are reviewing the situation, in a way that hasn't been done in the past, but it sounds like all options are still on the table," he told the BBC.

 

Looking historically at the way that mobile operators tender contracts for new network infrastructure, Mr Fabre said that typically telcos select at least three large vendors, as well as a few smaller suppliers, rather than just one vendor.

 

This strategy ensures that the mobile operator is able to get a range of innovative technologies at competitive prices, which is also good for the market.

 

National interests

The US is pursuing criminal charges against Huawei and its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

 

The company's founder, Ren Zhengfei, told the BBC in an exclusive interview last week that the US makes up only a fraction of its overall business and could not "crush" it.

 

He said Huawei would "continue to invest in the UK", adding: "We still trust in the UK, and we hope that the UK will trust us even more."

 

Speaking at a roundtable at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday, Huawei's rotating chairman Guo Ping once again strongly denied allegations that the company's equipment was being used for spying.

 

"Huawei needs to abide by Chinese laws and also by the laws outside China if we operate in those countries. Huawei will never, and dare not, and cannot violate any rules and regulations in the countries where we operate," Mr Guo said, according to AFP.

 

He said he hoped countries would make 5G decisions based on national interests, and not just listen to "someone else's order".--BBC

 

 

 

BMW and Daimler invest €1bn in new car venture

BMW and Daimler have unveiled a joint venture covering new-generation services such as driverless vehicles, ride-hailing, and pay-per-use cars.

 

Normally fierce rivals, the firms are investing €1bn (£880m) in the project, which will also help drivers find parking and electric charge points.

 

It comes as carmakers face competition from mobility services providers such as Uber and other technology firms.

 

The two German firms said they were open to buying tech start-ups.

 

Established ride-hailing firms have been expanding. China's Didi Chuxing aims to expand its business in Latin America and Uber is growing rapidly in the US market.

 

"Further co-operation with other providers, including stakes in start-ups and established players, are also a possible option," Daimler's chief executive Dieter Zetsche said.

 

Both companies have been working to develop autonomous car technology. Many analysts have argued that to survive against the tech giants, traditional car manufacturers must develop services based on usage rather than sales.

 

Daimler's Car2Go car-sharing brand will be combined with BMW's DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses, with both carmakers holding a 50% stake in the venture.

 

The new joint venture has five strands:

 

Reach Now: a smartphone-based route management and booking service

Charge Now: expanding electric car charging

Free Now: for taxi ride-hailing

Park Now: dedicated to offering parking services

Share Now: for car-sharing.

Harald Krüger, chairman of BMW's management board, said: "These five services will merge ever more closely to form a single mobility service portfolio with an all-electric, self-driving fleet of vehicles that charge and park autonomously,"

 

The venture would be "a key cornerstone in our strategy as a mobility provider," he said, adding: "The co-operation is the perfect way for us to maximize our chances in a growing market, while sharing the investments."

 

Analysis: Theo Leggett, business correspondent

The car industry is changing rapidly. BMW and Daimler have concluded that for them, there's safety in numbers.

 

As cities become more congested, and efforts to contain pollution are stepped up, their inhabitants are going to come under more pressure to give up their cars for alternative forms of transport. Owning your own set of wheels in town may one day be seen as terribly 20th Century.

 

At the same time technology is developing at a breakneck pace. As both Daimler and BMW have admitted, it's likely that cars in cities will eventually be shared-use electric machines that drive themselves and can be summoned at the touch of a smartphone.

 

Old-fashioned carmakers that fail to adapt risk being driven out of business - as car sales fall, and the tech industry upstarts move in.

 

The deal between the big German brands should help them cement their stake in this brave new world where car companies give way to "mobility providers".

 

The amount of shared investment isn't huge - a mere €1bn, and the initial focus on fairly mundane offerings such as car sharing, ride hailing and parking.

 

But the big question is, where it could lead?--BBC

 

 

 

Kraft Heinz shares fall as appetites wane

Kraft Heinz's share price has plunged to a record low amid signs that customer appetite for the company's processed foods is weakening.

 

The US food giant's stock dropped 27% after it reported flat 2018 sales and said it would write down the value of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands by $15.4bn (£11.8bn).

 

The firm also said its accounting practices were under investigation.

 

But said it did not expect that inquiry to be "material" to financial results.

 

Kraft Heinz is one of the world's biggest food companies, with brands that include its eponymous ketchup, Jello-O, Amoy and Wattie's.

 

Created in 2015 by the merger of Kraft Foods and HJ Heinz, it is controlled by Berkshire Hathaway and the 3G Capital investment firm, which is known for its cost-cutting approach to its businesses.

 

At Kraft Heinz, that strategy has delivered mixed results.

 

The firm reported a $10.2bn loss for 2018, driven by flat sales of $26.2bn and the write-down on the brands.

 

'Overly optimistic'

Kraft Heinz blamed the 2018 shortfall on higher manufacturing and logistics costs.

 

"We were overly optimistic on delivering savings that did not materialize by year-end." Kraft-Heinz chief executive Bernardo Hees said.

 

Kraft Heinz said the write down reflected expectations of lower profits going forward.

 

Results were also affected by the decision to cut prices in the US in an effort to boost shopper demand.

 

Mr Hees said he was encouraged by revived appetite for brands such as Philadelphia creamed cheese. The firm also plans to increase prices this spring.

 

But executives warned that profit growth would not return until 2020, as the firm's results are hit by a weaker first quarter, currency fluctuations and sales of parts of its businesses.

 

Increased competition

Kraft Heinz, like others in the industry, is facing increased competition from less expensive, retailer brands, as well as growing consumer preference for non-processed food.

 

"Our industry has been and is likely to remain challenged," Mr Hees said.

 

The firm's shares, which have been sliding for about two years, fell below $35 Friday.

 

The struggles also affected shares in rival food makers including General Mills, Conagra Brands, Unilever and Nestle SA.

 

Kraft Heinz also recorded $25m in extra costs in the fourth quarter following an internal review triggered by an inquiry by the US Securities and Exchange Commission into accounting practices within its procurement division.

 

"The company continues to cooperate fully with the US Securities and Exchange Commission," it said.

 

"At this time, the company does not expect the matters subject to the investigation to be material to its current period or any prior period financial statements."--BBC

 

 

 

Ministers spend £100m on Brexit consultant contracts

The government has agreed contracts worth £104m for outside help on Brexit, according to analysis for the BBC.

 

Since the EU referendum, Whitehall has hired companies to do consultancy work to prepare for the UK's EU exit.

 

Companies with the most valuable Brexit contracts include Boston Consulting Group, PWC and Deloitte, according to analysis firm Tussell.

 

Departments drawing on the advice of external specialists was "standard", a government spokesman said.

 

Six companies each received a contract worth £10m for "Cabinet Office Consultancy Support for EU Exit".

 

These contracts for "strategic programme management" run for a year until 1 May 2019, and give government the option of extending them for another year at the same price, according to letters from the Crown Commercial Service to the suppliers.

 

The US-based Boston Consulting Group has received five contracts, worth £14.2m, to work with the Cabinet Office, Departments for Environment, Exiting the European Union and Business.

 

'Expertise'

Defra awarded 13 contracts for research services.

 

Gus Tugendhat, the founder of Tussell, a data provider on UK government contracts, told the BBC: "Even in the best of circumstances, the civil service alone would never have had sufficient capacity to pull off a project like Brexit in the time available".

 

"Due to the sheer breadth of issues the government is having to grapple with, it was pragmatic to engage the expertise of consultants - even if it is has led to extra cost for the public sector and a windfall for consulting firms," he said.

 

The final amount of money handed to suppliers may be lower than the value of the published contracts.

 

It is possible this analysis has not included Brexit-related contracts where the title or description do not reference it explicitly.

 

'Rushed timescales'

"It's no surprise they have let a lot of contracts," said Jill Rutter from the Institute for Government.

 

"But for the public to be confident about what they have let, it's important that, despite the rushed timescales, [the contracts] have been let through a proper process and government should be transparent about whom they have contracts with and what they are getting for them."

 

Two of the research contracts are to monitor news and social media reports about Brexit for the Department for Exiting the European Union.

 

One stipulates it wants "accurate media monitoring data from across the 27 EU countries".

 

IT contracts valued at £10.2m were awarded by government departments, led by the Home Office, which inked four deals, all relating to EU citizens currently living and working in the UK.

 

These include an agreement with Worldreach for facial recognition software for the EU Settlement Scheme app and Fujitsu for ID document scanning work.

 

'Eye watering figure'

The lowest value contract made public, worth £12,500, was between the Department for Education and a law firm for "legal analysis on the status of EU national children in the UK and British national children in the EU".

 

Others covered more specialist areas.

 

Defra agreed a £15,000 deal on research to assess "the impact of Brexit on the milling wheat and malting barley supply chain".

 

"The whole of government is preparing for the UK to make an orderly and successful exit from the European Union, and we are equipping ourselves with the right people and the right skills across government to make this happen," the spokesman said.

 

Tamzen Isacsson, the chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association, said: "Brexit has created an unprecedented workload for the UK government with the need to set up and plan new systems to cover border control, trade, agricultural policy and immigration as well as many other complex policy areas."

 

But Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA, the professional association for civil servants, said: "The eye watering figure of over £100m being spent on consultants will come as no surprise to civil servants who have been asked to prepare for Brexit following almost a decade of austerity that has seen the civil service shrink by almost a quarter."

 

"Britain's exit of the EU, on whatever terms, will require new skills and greater resources for the civil service for decades to come," he added.

 

PWC and Deloitte said they do not comment on client work.

 

Shower of deals

Across the public sector, 23 different contracting authorities have awarded Brexit deals - 85 of them, worth a combined £107.3m.

 

Many smaller bodies, including Visit Britain, the BFI, and local authorities awarded Brexit-related work.

 

The Arts Council commissioned research "to quantify the extent of European and international working relationships by arts and cultural organisations in England".

 

The BFI asked for research to, in part, "establish lines of work for future research topics to ensure that the economic and cultural value of the UK's screen sectors is preserved and continues to grow over the coming years".

 

In December, the Treasury said it had provided more than £4.2bn for Brexit preparations since 2016.

 

At the time, the Chancellor Philip Hammond said, "A responsible government prepares for all contingencies and that is why we're stepping up no-deal planning".--BBC

 

 

 

Trans Mountain pipeline gets energy regulator support

Canada's national energy regulator has recommended the Trans Mountain pipeline project receive federal approval.

 

The National Energy Board (NEB) says the project is in the public interest despite posing "significant" harm to the local killer whale population.

 

It said the oil project is justified based on its economic benefits.

 

The regulator was asked last year to revisit its recommendations of the controversial project after a federal court quashed an earlier approval.

 

The NEB issued 156 binding modified conditions and 16 non-binding recommendations it says could mitigate the harmful environmental impacts to the region's endangered killer whales and the Salish Sea, a busy inland network of waterways ranging from just north of Vancouver to Puget Sound in Washington.

 

The recommendations include offsetting underwater noise, oil spill response, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from increased shipping.

 

Critics of the pipeline project on Friday called the NEB report "a rubber stamp" and vowed continued opposition.

 

A new round of consultations with the 117 indigenous groups affected by the project is ongoing and it still needs to received approval from the federal government.

 

What is the Trans Mountain project?

The expansion project would triple the existing pipeline's capacity, increasing its capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 per day from Alberta, the heart of Canada's oil industry, to Burnaby, British Columbia (BC).

 

The billion-dollar pipeline Canada can't build

It would increase oil tanker traffic on BC's coast from five to up to 34 tankers a month, tankers that would carry the oil along from Pacific coast refineries to world markets.

 

Canada bought the existing pipeline in May for C$4.5bn ($3.4bn; £2.6bn) from energy infrastructure firm Kinder Morgan.

 

The company walked away from the project over concerns about delays.

 

The project faces fierce opposition from the government of British Columbia (BC), environmental campaigners and some First Nations along the route.

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that the pipeline expansion is in the national economic interest, and it has support from business groups, oil industry workers and the province of Alberta.

 

In August a federal appellate court decision quashed Canada's 2016 approval of the project, saying regulators failed to adequately consult First Nations along the pipeline route and to fully account for the project's impact on the region's endangered killer whales.--BBC

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2019

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


ART

AGM

202 Seke Road, Graniteside

27 Feb 2019 2:30pm

 


Cafca

AGM

Boardroom, Head Office, 54 Lytton Road, Workington

28 Feb 2019 12pm

 


Powerspeed

AGM

Boardroom, Gate 1, Powerspeed Complex, Graniteside

28 Feb 2019 - 11am

 


Willdale

AGM

Boardroom, Willdale Adminstration Block, Teneriffe Factory, 19.5km peg Lomagundi Road, Mt Hampden

07 March 2019 11am

 


Mash

AGM

Boardroom, ZB Life Towers, 77 Jason Moyo Avenue

18 March 2019 12pm

 


Zimbabwe 

Independence Day

Zimbabwe

18 Apr 2019 

 


 

Good Friday

 

19 Apr 2019

 


 

Easter Saturday

 

20 Apr 2019

 


 

Easter Sunday

 

21 Apr 2019

 


 

Easter Monday

 

22 Apr 2019

 


 

Workers Day

 

01 May  2019

 


 

Africa Day

 

25 May 2019

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <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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Alt. Email:       <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

Website:         <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw 

Blog:            <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:         @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:       Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:      <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimbabwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA> www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

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