Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 March 2019

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 14 March 2019

 


 

 


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*  MTN to list Nigerian unit towards April and May - MTN Nigeria CEO

*  South Africa's debt trajectory too high, no buffers for global crisis -
cenbank

*  African e-commerce firm Jumia pushes ahead with New York listing

*  Italy's Eni makes major oil find in Angola

*  South Africa's rand slips as Brexit chaos weighs on risk demand

*  Kenyan shilling under pressure against the dollar

*  Kenya's Safaricom secures deal to use M-Pesa payments on AliExpress.com

*  African Bank appoints ex-Liberty Holdings CEO as chairman

*  Boeing grounds entire crash aircraft fleet

*  China foreign investment: How doing business will change

*  Facebook suffers the most severe outage in its history

*  Pound jumps to nine-month high

*  Japan Sega game sales halted after cocaine arrest

*  Most imports tariff-free under no-deal plan

 

 


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MTN to list Nigerian unit towards April and May - MTN Nigeria CEO

LAGOS (Reuters) - South African telecoms firm MTN Group Ltd expects its
Nigerian subsidiary to list on the local stock exchange “probably more
towards April and May”, the unit’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

 

The listing should be no later than halfway through the year, Ferdi Moolman,
chief executive of MTN Nigeria told reporters in the commercial capital of
Lagos.

 

MTN last week said it aimed to list its Nigerian unit on the Nigerian Stock
Exchange during the first half of 2019 without raising new money from
investors immediately.

 

MTN Nigeria said it would simplify its capital structure prior to the
listing. The Nigerian company also said its subscriber base grew to 58
million users in 2018, up 6 million.

 

Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, with 52.3 million users in 2017, and
accounts for a third of the company’s annual core profit, but has proven
problematic in recent years.

 

MTN in December agreed to make a $53 million payment to resolve a dispute in
Nigeria. The move ended a four-month multi-billion dollar dividend
repatriation row that has hammered its share price.

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 



South Africa's debt trajectory too high, no buffers for global crisis -
cenbank

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa’s rising debt trajectory will make it
difficult to weather a significant global economic downturn, the central
bank deputy governor said, adding it would take at least a decade to bring
the debt-to-GDP ratio down to the 30 to 40 percent range.

 

Deputy governor Kuben Naidoo also said on Wednesday that growth in Africa’s
most industrialised economy was seen hovering around the 2 percent over the
next few years.

 

 

 

African e-commerce firm Jumia pushes ahead with New York listing

ABUJA (Reuters) - Jumia, the African e-commerce company of German start-up
investor Rocket Internet, has filed for a New York initial public offering,
which could value the firm at $1.6 billion or more.

 

Jumia, founded in 2012 offers online shopping, logistics and payment
services, but is losing money. The company says its business is expanding,
and the continent’s development will make it a better market, with a growing
young population, more infrastructure investments, urbanisation and rapid
economic growth.

 

The New York filing did not say how many shares Jumia would sell, nor at
what price. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Berenberg and RBC Capital Markets are
leading the IPO.

 

In December, Jumia was valued at 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) with
shares at 14.74 euros, according to the filing.

 

Jumia, which now counts Nigeria as its largest market, makes money both
selling its own products, and taking a cut from third-party sales. In 2018,
revenues were 130.6 million euros, up from 94 million euros the previous
year.

 

However, losses also rose, from 165.4 million euros in 2017 to 170.4 million
euros in 2018. By the end of December, accumulated losses were 862 million
euros, the firm said.

 

In the IPO prospectus Jumia said that the value of goods sold on its
platforms is increasing at a more rapid pace than losses - from 507.1
million euros in 2017 to 828.2 million euros in 2018.

 

Jumia’s active users, people who buy something at least once in the past
year, increased to 4 million at the end of last December form 2.7 million a
year earlier.

 

Apart from Rocket Internet, which owned 21.74 percent of Jumia as of the end
of December, MTN Group held 31.28 percent. Other, smaller shareholders
include Millicom International, AXA Africa Holding and Goldman Sachs.

 

($1 = 0.8857 euros)

 

 

 

Italy's Eni makes major oil find in Angola

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian company Eni said on Wednesday it had made a major
oil discovery in Angola that would boost its credentials as one of the most
successful foreign oil producers in Africa in recent years.

 

The find is Angola’s largest offshore discovery in years and may help
Africa’s second-biggest crude producer avoid a steep decline in output due
to the ageing of its other fields.

 

Oil accounts for 95 percent of exports and around 70 percent of revenues,
and the government has recently offered better fiscal terms and more
collaboration to international energy firms in an effort to help its mostly
impoverished population.

 

Eni said its new Agogo prospect in Angola’s deep waters contained between
450 million and 650 million barrels of light oil with potential for further
upside.

 

Data from the exploration well pointed to a production capacity of more than
20,000 barrels of oil per day, it said.

 

“This is a valuable find of light, sweet oil which they will be able to
fast-track to meet increasing demand in 2020-2021,” Santander oil analyst
Jason Kenney said.

 

Eni, which has been in Angola since 1980, will be operator at the field with
a stake of 36.8 percent, the same as Angola’s state-owned Sonangol. SSI
Fifteen Ltd has 26.3 percent.

 

Angola, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,
is a key location for the Italian state-controlled major. The company
currently produces around 155,000 barrels of equity oil equivalent per day
in the African nation.

 

Eni, which in 2018 produced 1.85 million barrels per day, was struggling to
replace reserves a decade ago and lost credibility over its management of
the huge Kashagan oilfield in Kazakhstan.

 

But giant gas finds at Mamba in Mozambique and Zohr in Egypt have since
given it the strongest discovery record in the industry.

 

The major, which produces more than half its oil and gas in Africa, has made
a move to diversify away from the continent by clinching a series of deals
in the Gulf region.

 

It is set to uncover its new strategy plan to 2022 on Friday.

 

 

 

South Africa's rand slips as Brexit chaos weighs on risk demand

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand weakened early on Wednesday as
the ongoing crisis in Britain over its exit from the European Union soured
global risk appetite.

 

At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.24 percent weaker at 14.3800 per dollar compared
its overnight close in New York. The currency was volatile, rallying to a
three-day high of 14.2250 before retreating after British lawmakers again
rejected a deal to quit the E.U.

 

Uncertainty over Brexit as well as caution over the prospects of a trade
agreement between the United States and China has seen risk demand ebb, with
investors increasingly opting for safe-haven assets like the dollar,
Japanese yen and gold.

 

Gold rose to a near two-week peak after reclaiming the key $1,300 level in
the previous session, and was up 0.2 percent in early trade.

 

With the local data calendar light except for fourth quarter business
confidence at 0900 GMT, the rand is set to continue tracking offshore
events.

 

Bonds also weakened, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 up 4
basis points to 8.715 percent.

 

In equities, food producer Libstar reported a 16.1 percent fall in full-year
normalised earnings, weighed down by the impairment in the niche beverages
category.

 

 

Kenyan shilling under pressure against the dollar

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling edged down against the dollar on
Wednesday due to dollar demand from the manufacturing and energy sector
outweighing inflows from diaspora remittances, traders said.

 

At 0800 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 100.05/25 per dollar,
compared with 99.85/100.05 at Tuesday’s close.

 

 

 

Kenya's Safaricom secures deal to use M-Pesa payments on AliExpress.com

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s Safaricom said on Tuesday it had secured a deal
to use its M-Pesa mobile payment service for online shopping on one of
Alibaba’s platforms, part of a move to expand its most profitable product
beyond Kenya.

 

AliExpress.com, run by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (BABA.N), will
allow Kenyan shoppers to buy goods on the site using M-Pesa in a matter of
weeks.

 

M-Pesa was launched more than a decade ago to offer Kenyans without bank
accounts a network to transfer cash via mobile phones. It now offers a range
of payment services, loans and savings to more than 21 million people in
Kenya and has been copied abroad.

 

AliExpress.com is an online shopping portal for businesses and retail
customers.

 

“As our customers get more digital, they want to shop in a more digital kind
of a format, that’s why we are seeing e-commerce growing,” said Safaricom’s
chief customer officer, Sylvia Mulinge.

 

Under the deal, Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba that runs the
portal’s payment services, will offer M-Pesa as one of the payment options
with transactions denominated in Kenyan shillings, Safaricom said.

 

“The move especially targets microtraders in the country who source goods
and other supplies from manufacturers in China,” Safaricom said in a
statement.

 

Safaricom, Kenya’s largest operator that is partly owned by South Africa’s
Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone , said the deal was part of an effort to
transform M-Pesa into a global payments platform. M-Pesa has become a major
profit driver for Safaricom.

 

In November the company agreed a deal with Western Union to allow M-Pesa
users to send money around the world using their mobile phones.

 

The partnership with Ant Financial will allow M-Pesa users to shop on
AliExpress without a credit card, Mulinge said.

 

Safaricom is the market leader in Kenya with 65 percent of mobile phone
users, or 30 million subscribers.

 

In Kenya, it competes with the local unit of India’s Bharti Airtel, which
had 22.3 percent of the market as of September, and Telkom, which accounts
for 9 percent. Last month the two companies said they will merge.

 

 

 

African Bank appoints ex-Liberty Holdings CEO as chairman

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - African Bank, a small South African lender which is
trying to rebuild after nearly collapsing under the weight of bad debts,
said it has appointed Thabo Dloti, former CEO of insurer Liberty Holdings,
as its chairman.

 

Dloti, who is also an ex-CEO of Old Mutual Investment Group and Liberty
Holdings’ asset management subsidiary Stanlib, will be a permanent
replacement for Louis von Zeuner, who left African Bank last July.

 

“We are pleased to welcome Mr. Dloti as chairperson and look forward to his
leadership and contribution in furthering the development and delivery of
the African bank strategy,” African Bank’s CEO Basani Maluleke said in a
statement.

 

African Bank was bailed out with a 10 billion rand ($700 million) capital
injection from a consortium of lenders in 2014, when the South African
Reserve Bank stepped in to arrange a rescue after the lender said it would
need to raise $800 million to cover bad loans.

 

The central bank still owns a 50 percent stake in African Bank.

 

The lender said Dloti had a record of driving strategy and transformation
within blue chip companies. He spearheaded an acquisition-fuelled expansion
drive at Liberty but left abruptly two years ago after a clash over that
strategy.

 

Liberty Holdings is owned by big four lender Standard Bank.

 

($1 = 14.2800 rand)

 

 

 

Boeing grounds entire crash aircraft fleet

Boeing has grounded its entire global fleet of 737 Max aircraft after
investigators uncovered new evidence at the scene of the fatal Ethiopian
Airlines crash.

 

The US plane-maker said it would suspend all 371 of the aircraft.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration said fresh evidence as well as newly
refined satellite data prompted the decision to temporarily ban the jets.

 

The FAA had previously held out while many countries banned the aircraft.

 

The crash on Sunday in Addis Ababa killed 157 people.

 

It was the second fatal Max 8 disaster in five months after one crashed over
Indonesia in October, claiming 189 lives.

 

What has the FAA discovered?

The FAA has a team investigating the disaster at the Ethiopian Airlines
crash site working with the National Transportation Safety Board.

 

Dan Elwell, acting administrator at the FAA, said on Wednesday: "It became
clear to all parties that the track of the Ethiopian Airlines [flight] was
very close and behaved very similarly to the Lion Air flight."

 

He added that "the evidence we found on the ground made it even more likely
the flight path was very close to Lion Air's".

 

President Donald Trump initially announced that the FAA would be making an
emergency order following "new information and physical evidence that we've
received from the site and from other locations and through a couple of
other complaints".

 

The US and Brazil became the latest countries to suspend the Boeing 737 Max
from flying after nations including the UK, China, India and Australia all
grounded the aircraft.

 

Up until Wednesday, the FAA position was that a review had showed "no
systemic performance issues" and that there was no basis for grounding the
aircraft.

 

Earlier in the day, Canada grounded the planes after its transport minister
Marc Garneau said he had received new evidence about the crash.

 

He said that satellite data showed possible similarities between flight
patterns of Boeing 737 Max planes operating in Canada and the Ethiopian
Airlines plane that crashed.

 

What has Boeing said?

Boeing, the US plane manufacturer, said that it "continues to have full
confidence in the safety of the 737 Max".

 

However, it added that after consultation with the FAA and the National
Transportation Safety Board it had decided to ground the flights "out of an
abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the
aircraft's safety".

 

Dennis Muilenburg, president, chief executive and chairman of Boeing, said:
"We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in
partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help
ensure this does not happen again."

 

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said:
"Lives must come first always. But a brand is at stake as well. And that
brand is not just Boeing. It's America. What America means in international
aviation and by extension in the larger world more generally—that we set the
standard for safety, competence, and honesty in governance of aviation.

 

Shares in Boeing ticked higher to $377 each following the announcement.

 

However, the company's market value has dropped by nearly $26bn since the
crash in Ethiopia at the weekend.

 

What will happen to airline customers?

Southwest Airlines said it had immediately removed all 34 of the planes from
scheduled service.

 

Although it has the biggest fleet of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes in the world,
Southwest Airlines said they account "for less than 5% of our daily
flights".

 

It said it is offering "flexible rebooking policies" which means that any
customer booked on a cancelled Max 8 flight can rebook on alternate flights
"without any additional fees or fare differences within 14 days of their
original date of travel".

 

American Airlines said 24 of its aircraft would be affected by the
suspension, adding: "Our teams will be working to rebook customers as
quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience."

 

United Airlines said that its Max aircraft account for roughly 40 flights a
day.

 

It said: "Through a combination of spare aircraft and rebooking customers,
we do not anticipate a significant operational impact as a result of this
order."

 

Analysis: Theo Leggett, BBC international business correspondent

 

With other aviation authorities around the world deciding to ground the 737
Max, the FAA - which provides the safety certification for the new aircraft
- was under intense pressure to fall into line.

 

What's interesting here, though, is what the FAA has actually said.

 

While the UK's Civil Aviation Authority, for example, said its actions were
simply precautionary, the FAA has gone further.

 

The US regulator, which is actually involved in the investigation, says it
has made its decision as a result of new evidence collected at the site and
analysed today - as well as satellite data.

 

That will have set alarm bells ringing at Boeing's headquarters in Chicago.

 

Since the accident, analysts have focused on similarities between Sunday's
tragedy, and another crash involving a 737 Max off Indonesia last October.

 

Has the FAA found evidence that suggests those similarities were more than
just superficial?

 

And does that mean Boeing's MCAS anti-stall system, already implicated in
the Indonesia crash, may also have played a role in the latest disaster?

 

What have pilots said about the 737 Max 8?

Pilots in the US had complained late last year about problems controlling
the Boeing 737 Max 8 during take-off.

 

They reported difficulties similar to those that contributed to the fatal
Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October.

 

The Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes into its flight.

 

Flightradar24, an air traffic monitor, said the plane's "vertical speed was
unstable after take-off".

 

Documents reveal that pilots flying last November reported engaging
autopilot only for the aircraft's nose to pitch lower, prompting the warning
system to exclaim: "Don't sink! Don't sink!"

 

Two US pilots reported separate incidents involving the 737 Max's automatic
anti-stalling system in November.

 

The feature, which was new to the 737 Max family, is designed to keep the
plane from stalling.

 

The system prevents the aircraft from pointing upwards at too high an angle,
where it could lose its lift.

 

However, according to filings with the US Aviation Safety Reporting System,
which pilots use to disclose information anonymously, it appeared to force
the nose down.

 

In both cases, pilots were forced to intervene to stop the plane from
descending.

 

After the Lion Air crash, Boeing issued a bulletin on what to do regarding
erroneous readings from the sensor, which sends out information about what
angle a plane is flying at.--BBC

 

 

 

 

China foreign investment: How doing business will change

China is rushing through a foreign investment law in an apparent attempt to
placate Washington as negotiators try to dig the world's two largest
economic powers out of an ongoing trade war. But will it work?

 

The 3,000 or so delegates to China's annual National People's Congress (NPC)
will endorse the new law on Friday. They don't oppose legislation. That's
not how it is done here.

 

When a vote is taken there are normally only a handful who vote against.
Some of them potentially for show, because 100% "yes" votes one after
another would look ridiculous.

 

China unveils tax cuts to spur growth

A quick guide to the US-China trade war

China banks on lending to ease slowdown

How worrying is China's slowdown?

If there is pushback against a draft bill and amendments made, this happens
well before the NPC sits, at a series of standing committee meetings behind
closed doors. The process can take years.

 

This time it took three months.

 

The Chinese government appears to have rushed through the investment law as
an olive branch to the US amid trade war negotiations.

 

However, many in the business community here in China see this law as a kind
of sweeping set of intentions rather than a specific, enforceable set of
rules. They fear it could be open to different and changing forms of
interpretation.

 

The big-ticket items it is said to address, in terms of the concerns of
foreign companies, include intellectual property theft, the requirement for
international firms to partner up with a local entity, and unfair subsidies
to Chinese companies.

 

It will also address the preferential treatment in awarding contracts to
Chinese companies, and forcing foreign firms to hand over their
technological secrets as the price of entry to the massive Chinese market.

 

But this law isn't going to help everyone.

 

There is a "black list" of 48 sectors that will not be open to foreign
investment or, in some cases, not open without conditions or special
permission.

 

For example, there is a complete ban on investing in fishing, gene research,
religious education, news media, and television broadcasting.

 

Partial investment is allowed in oil and gas exploitation, nuclear power,
airlines, airport operation, and public health, amongst others sectors.

 

Non-renewable energy automobile production will require partnerships for a
few years but then be phased out.

 

For industries not on the list, the principle is that foreign companies will
receive the same treatment as their Chinese counterparts.

 

While China is opening up more to foreign investment, many sectors remain
out of bounds

But should foreign companies also be wary?

 

One of the provisions will include a requirement for the local subsidiaries
of international firms to report various details of their operation to
Chinese officials.

 

This could include performance indicators relating to labour relations,
overall staffing numbers, pollution records and the like.

 

That sounds fine except that foreign companies have asked for - and not
received - legal guarantees that this data will not be passed on to their
Chinese competitors.

 

Then there is the promised complaints procedure should you seek redress
following any perceived violations of the new law.

 

If this system is run through the normal Chinese courts, which routinely
guarantee results favourable to the Communist Party, then to many this would
not seem like a satisfactory enforcement mechanism.

 

One part of the law specifies that there is to be a ban on "illegal
government interference" in the activities of foreign business.

 

The further you go up the government ladder the more implausible it would be
to win in such a dispute.

 

Over the years we have reported on many cases of foreign businesspeople,
especially ethnic Chinese, who have been sent to prison on highly
questionable charges following a commercial dispute with a local business
person who enjoys the backing of low-level Communist Party cadres.

 

Those here with long memories know this and are approaching the new law with
an understandable level of caution.--BBC

 

 

 

Facebook suffers the most severe outage in its history

Facebook is suffering the most severe outage in its history, with key
services rendered unusable for users globally for much of Wednesday.

 

The last time Facebook had a disruption of this magnitude was in 2008, when
the site had 150m users - compared to around 2.3bn monthly users today.

 

Facebook's main product, its two messaging apps and image-sharing site
Instagram were all affected.

 

The cause of the interruption has not yet been made public.

 

"We're aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing the
Facebook family of apps," Facebook said in a statement.

 

"We're working to resolve the issue as soon as possible."

 

In response to rumours posted on other social networks, the company said the
outages were not a result of a Distributed Denial of Service attack, known
as DDoS - a type of cyber-attack that involves flooding a target service
with extremely high volumes of traffic.

 

How widespread is the problem?

Estimates suggest the issue began around 16:00 GMT on Wednesday.

 

While Facebook's main service appeared to load, users reported not being
able to post.

 

Those on Instagram were not able to refresh feeds or post new material.
Facebook Messenger's desktop version did not load - but the mobile app
appeared to allow the sending of some messages; however, users reported
glitches with other kinds of content, such as images. WhatsApp, Facebook's
other messaging app, had similar problems.

 

A third-party outage map suggested the problem was global - DownDetector
monitors posts on other social networks for users mentioning a loss of
service elsewhere.

 

The issue also affected Facebook Workplace, the service used by businesses
to communicate internally.

 

Buenos Aires-based designer Rebecca Brooker told the BBC the interruption
was having a significant impact on their work.

 

"Facebook for personal use is fine - but what happens when we rely on large
companies such as this to provide business services?" she said.

 

"I'm trying to communicate with my team in New York. Facebook Workplace is
our only channel for [communication] with the exception of email."

 

In the UK, an NHS paediatric consultant told the BBC how staff were upset
not to be kept updated on a party being held for a beloved nurse who was
retiring after 20 years.

 

"Being a working day most consultants could not make it," said Dr Nikhil
Ganjoo. "So I represented them - but was unable to share the retirement
party pics with them as it happened."

 

The outage is occurring against a political backdrop of legislators in the
US and beyond considering whether large technology firms - not just Facebook
- should be broken up.

 

Elizabeth Warren, who is hoping to be the Democratic candidate in the next
US presidential election, told the New York Times: "We need to stop this
generation of big tech companies from throwing around their political power
to shape the rules in their favour and throwing around their economic power
to snuff out or buy up every potential competitor."

 

On Wednesday's issue, Ms Brooker added on Twitter: "Look at what happens
when we let one company control everything.

 

"I figured this could happen eventually but it's extremely crippling to be
part of this monopoly."

 

What's the reaction been?

While Facebook and Instagram have been down, many have turned to Twitter to
make jokes about the outage.

 

The hashtags #FacebookDown and #InstagramDown have been used more than
150,000 times so far.

 

Some Twitter users who work in "Facebook-centric" jobs, expressed their
panic and distress at being unable to use the platform.--BBC

 

 

 

Pound jumps to nine-month high

The pound has jumped to highs last seen in June 2018 after Parliament
rejected a no-deal Brexit.

 

Investors saw less risk of a disorderly exit from the European Union.

 

MPS rejected leaving the EU without a deal in any scenario, paving the way
for a vote on whether to try and delay Brexit.

 

Business leaders welcomed the outcome of the vote in the Commons but urged
the government to take action.

 

The pound traded as high as $1.3380, levels last seen in June 2018 and up
from a low of $1.3064 on Wednesday.

 

The euro was at around 84.725 pence, its lowest since mid-2017.

 

Currency: Pound vs dollar

 

City of London Corporation policy chairwoman Catherine McGuinness said MPs
have "voted in the interests of businesses and households".

 

The move to rule out leaving the European Union without a deal is a "victory
for common sense", she said.

 

Ms McGuinness added: "Crashing out of the European Union without a deal
would be an unprecedented act of self-sabotage.

 

Brexit: What could happen next?

 

A really simple guide

 

How could Brexit be delayed?

 

"But in order to stave off this costly economic own goal, Parliament now
needs to act swiftly to make today's rejection of no-deal a reality by
voting to extend Article 50 and give breathing room for a solution to be
found."

 

Dr Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC),
warned that a "messy and disorderly exit" from the EU is still a "clear and
present danger".

 

He added: "The reality is that without action, businesses still face an
uncontrolled exit that they neither want nor are ready for.

 

"Extending Article 50 is now a necessity but it's no silver bullet for
businesses, many of whom fear endless uncertainty.

 

"A deadline that is continuously pushed back isn't a deadline, it's an
invitation to cancel investment, stop hiring or move UK operations somewhere
else."--BBC

 

 

 

Japan Sega game sales halted after cocaine arrest

Games firm Sega is to stop sales of its video game Judgment in Japan, after
actor Pierre Taki, who appears in it, was arrested for alleged drug use.

 

Mr Taki, who plays a gangster in the game, was arrested on Tuesday night on
suspicion of using cocaine.

 

Judgment had been on sale in Japan since December 2018, and is due to be
published worldwide later this year.

 

As well as halting shipments and digital sales, Sega has said it will delete
tweets relating to the game.

 

The 51-year-old actor, whose real name is Masanori Taki, is reported to have
admitted using a small quantity of cocaine in Tokyo, according to the Japan
Times.

 

This followed a search by authorities of Mr Taki's car and home, and a
subsequent arrest after traces of cocaine were found in a urine test.

 

Japan has strict drug laws, and possession of cocaine can carry a sentence
of up to seven years.

 

Yakuza boss arrested in Thailand after tattoos go viral

Gamers suggest ways to combat addiction

Kingdom Hearts 3 game released 'without an ending'

The actor is a member of the pop group Denki Groove. He is also the voice of
the snowman Olaf in the Japanese version of Disney's Frozen.

 

But it is his role in a video game that is attracting the most controversy.
Judgment, which is called Judge Eyes: Shinigami no Yuigon in Japan, features
the voice and likeness of Mr Taki - who plays a Yakuza gangster called
Kyohei Hamura.

 

"Sega has received the arrest reports and are currently confirming the
facts, but for the time being, we will voluntarily refrain from shipments
and digital sales of [Judgment], as well as from things like posting the
product's homepage," the company said in a statement, as translated by the
games website Gematsu.

 

On Twitter, Sega said it would also be deleting marketing tweets about the
game.

 

Yakuza games

Judgment is due to be released in the UK and other countries in June. Sega
did not immediately respond to a BBC question about whether the controversy
would affect the UK version of the game.

 

This is not the first time that Sega has changed the course of a game
because of an actor's conduct.

 

When the company re-released Yakuza 4 for the PlayStation 4 in Japan, one of
the game's main protagonists was recast to be played by a different actor,
Toshiki Masuda.

 

This was because the original actor Hiroki Narimiya had retired in 2016,
following allegations of cocaine abuse.

 

"This game Judgment is a spin-off from the Yakuza games series, so now there
have been two actors involved with this game series allegedly involved with
cocaine," said Jake Adelstein, an investigative journalist based in Tokyo.

 

"In Japan, that's not a publicity plus.

 

"The arrest of Taki by Japan's equivalent of the Drug Enforcement Agency is
an embarrassment to Sega. In Japan, getting caught using drugs is a career
ender."

 

Even if Mr Taki is recast, it may be hard for Sega to erase him entirely
from the virtual world of Judgment. "Video game fans are nothing if not
diligent, and bootleg translations of foreign games crop up fairly
frequently," says games journalist Elliot Gardner.

 

"With a final product already in circulation in Japan, I cannot believe Sega
will keep the game hidden away from sight for long."-=-BBC

 

 

 

Most imports tariff-free under no-deal plan

The government has announced that most imports into the UK would not attract
a tariff in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

 

Under a temporary scheme 87% of imports by value would be eligible for
zero-tariff access.

 

At the moment 80% of imports are tariff free.

 

Tariffs would be maintained to protect some industries, including
agriculture. Beef, lamb, poultry and some dairy products would receive
protection.

 

What are tariffs and how do they work?

Government sets out plans for Irish border in a no-deal Brexit

No-deal NI plan disastrous, say businesses

A tariff is a tax applied to goods that are traded on international markets.

 

In the great majority of cases, tariffs are applied to imported goods by the
country importing them. But there can also be tariffs on exported goods.

 

How would the new system work?

The new tariff regime would mark a shift in favour of products from non-EU
countries.

 

It would mean 82% of imports from the EU would be tariff-free, down from
100% now.

 

92% percent of imports from the rest of the world would pay no border duty,
up from 56%.

 

Under the plan, the UK car industry will receive some protection, with some
imported cars attracting tariffs.

 

But car parts from the EU would be tariff free, which will help car plants
in the UK.

 

Also, the ceramics industry would receive some protection from cheap
imports.

 

Industry bodies and businesses are still poring over the 1,477-page document
which outlines the new plan.

 

Imports of cars from the EU will have a tariff of 10% applied, which would
add £1,500 to a typical family car.

 

Volkswagen has already said the cost would be passed on to the buyer.

 

Car parts such as engines would have no new tax applied to avoid disruption
to the movement of components.

 

A spokesman for Ford UK warned that the tariffs would "deal a devastating
blow to much of the complex and integrated automotive industry, and would
damage the competitiveness of Ford's engine manufacturing in the UK".

 

While some tariffs will protect farmers producing meat, other sectors of
farming will have low or no tarrifs.

 

The National Farmers' Union President, Minette Batters, said that eggs,
cereals, fruit and vegetables would not receive any protection under the
plans.

 

The plans would see the current tariff rate on oranges cut from 16% to 0%,
the rate for onions down from 9.6% to 0% and the tariff on imported
televisions down from 14% to 0%.

 

Goods to have their tariff rates cut to zero

Product        Current tariff rate  Temporary tariff rate

Jams, jellies and marmalades    24%  0%

Oranges      16%  0%

Televisions   14%  0%

Onions         9.6% 0%

Spoons        8.5% 0%

Peas   8%    0%

Carpets        8%    0%

Batteries      4.7% 0%

Source: UK Government

What has been the reaction?

Unite assistant general secretary for manufacturing Steve Turner described
the potential no-deal as "economic vandalism which is threatening jobs and
livelihoods" and called for tariffs to be dropped on EU imports.

 

Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI described the changes as a
"sledgehammer to our economy" as companies spend more on stockpiling.

 

She said: "These are being imposed on this country with no consultation with
business with no time to prepare."

 

Trade minister Liam Fox will speak to business leaders at 15:00 GMT to
discuss the tariffs, Reuters reported.

 

 

Trade Policy Minister George Hollingbery said: "Our priority is securing a
deal with the EU as this will avoid disruption to our global trading
relationships. However, we must prepare for all eventualities."

 

He said: "This balanced approach will help to support British jobs and avoid
potential price spikes that would hit the poorest households the hardest."

 

"The new tariff seems a reasonable compromise between protecting vulnerable
(and politically important) sectors and keeping prices down for consumers,"
said Prof Alan Winters, director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the
University of Sussex.

 

"For producers, there will be relief in some sectors and nasty surprises for
others," he said.

 

How will the Irish border system work?

The government also announced that it will not introduce any new checks or
controls, or require customs declarations for nearly all goods moving from
across the border from Ireland to Northern Ireland in the event the UK
leaves the EU without a deal.

 

The move, to avoid friction at the UK's land border with the EU, will be
temporary while a long solution is found.

 

The government said tariffs will be payable on goods moving from the EU into
the rest of the UK via Northern Ireland.

 

It insisted that this would create no border down the Irish sea because
there would be no checks on goods moved between Northern Ireland and
Britain.

 

But Prof Winters said it "almost certainly" violates World Trade
Organisation (WTO) rules that demand equal treatment for all trading
partners, he said.

 

"Leaving the Irish border open also opens up the possibility of some EU
goods being shipped to the UK via Ireland and so avoiding UK tariffs."--BBC

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2019

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


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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