Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 11 August 2020

Tue Aug 11 08:35:23 CAT 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 11 August 2020

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ü  Kenya's shilling edges down due to demand from importers

ü  Ivory Coast 2019/20 cocoa arrivals reached 2.004 mln t by July 31 -CCC
data

ü  Uganda central bank holds lending rates after two cuts

ü  Algeria's gas exports to fall sharply in 2025 -minister

ü  Botswana diamond exports fall by two thirds on COVID-19

ü  Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation fell to 4.2% in July -
CAPMAS

ü  World Bank approves $114 mln for Nigeria's COVID-19 response

ü  South Africa's Denel tells unions it can't honour court ruling on
salaries

ü  AngloGold Ashanti moots higher dividend as gold price boosts earnings

ü  Apple boss Tim Cook joins the billionaires club

ü  Trump: Tech giants challenge US foreign worker crackdown

ü  Toshiba shuts the lid on laptops after 35 years

ü  Weaker Dollar Will Drive Bitcoin To New Highs

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Kenya's shilling edges down due to demand from importers

NAIROBI - The Kenyan shilling inched down on Monday due to demand for hard
currencies by importers including those from the energy sector, traders
said.

At 0914 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 108.10/108.30 ,
compared with Friday’s close of 107.90/108.10.

Ivory Coast 2019/20 cocoa arrivals reached 2.004 mln t by July 31 -CCC data

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast
reached 2.004 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and July 31, down 6.4% from the
same period last season, data from the cocoa regulator (CCC) showed on
Monday.

Exporters had previously estimated that arrivals from Oct. 1 to August 2
would reach 2.043 million tonnes, compared with 2.160 million the previous
year.

Uganda central bank holds lending rates after two cuts

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda’s central bank left its benchmark lending rate
unchanged at 7% on Monday, pausing after two straight cuts aimed at helping
revive economic growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In line with other central banks around the world, policymakers in the East
African nation embarked on an easing round at the start of the coronavirus
crisis, to try to limit the damage to the economy.

“(The easing stance) provided a foundation for the recovery of economic
activity as the lockdown is relaxed,” the bank said in a statement.

The World Bank expects economic growth in Uganda to fall as low as 0.4% in
2020 from 5.6% last year, as the effects of the virus batter sectors
including tourism, exports and manufacturing.

Policymakers cut a total of 200 basis points during their meetings in April
and June to accelerate the flow of cheap credit to businesses struggling
from the effects of a lockdown the government implemented to curb the spread
of the new coronavirus.

The central bank expects economic growth in the 2020/21 fiscal year in the
range of 3.0-4.0 percent, said its governor, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, in
a statement.

“The economic outlook is extremely uncertain, largely because of the
unpredictable intensity and duration of the pandemic,” he said, adding the
possibility of a widespread and possibly more severe second wave of
COVID-19, is a major risk.

Uganda implemented one of the Africa’s tightest anti-coronavirus lockdowns
that included shuttering all businesses but the most essential, banning all
vehicle movement and public gatherings.

Algeria's gas exports to fall sharply in 2025 -minister

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria’s gas exports will drop to 26 billion to 30
billion cubic metres per year in 2025 from 45 billion in 2020, energy
minister Abdelmadjid Attar told Ennahar TV.

“Exports in the period 2025-2030 will be between 26 to 30 billion cubic
metres per year,” Attar told Ennahar.

The decline is mainly due to stagnant output, a rise in domestic
consumption, and insufficient investment.

Algeria’s gas exports peaked in 2005 at 64 billion cubic metres.

It exported 51.4 billion cubic metres in 2018.

Algeria derives 95% of its foreign revenue from oil and gas sales.

Attar has also said that an international tender for exploration will be
launched in the beginning of 2021, hoping that it will attract foreign
investors.

Algeria has passed an energy law at the end of 2019, but investors are still
awaiting publication of the regulations to decide whether to come to Algeria
or not.

Botswana diamond exports fall by two thirds on COVID-19

GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswana’s rough diamond exports plunged 68% percent in
the second quarter of the year, data published by the central bank showed on
Friday, as the Coronavirus pandemic hit demand while global travel
restrictions hurt trading.

In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Botswana closed its borders in
March, locking out international buyers from centres such as Mumbai, Antwerp
and China who traditionally travel to Gaborone ten times a year to view and
buy diamonds.

Exports of diamonds from Debswana, a joint venture between Botswana and
diamond mining giant De Beers, a unit of Anglo American, stood at $293
million in the second quarter of 2020, from $916 million in the preceding
period.

No exports were recorded in May, while only $20 million worth of diamonds
were exported in June, the Bank of Botswana’s data showed.

De Beers, which gets about 70% of its supply from Botswana registered a net
loss of $214 million in the first half of the year, as rough sales plunged
by more than half to $1 billion, the company said in its results last week.

The fall in diamond exports is expected to hurt Botswana’s balance of
payments deficit, as diamonds constitute 70 percent of the country’s
exports.

Through the partnership with De Beers, Botswana also gets about 30% of its
fiscal revenues from diamonds. It has so far recorded just 800 COVID-19
cases and only two deaths, but its economy has been severely hit.

($1 = 11.7925 pulas)

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation fell to 4.2% in July - CAPMAS

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation fell to 4.2%
in July from 5.6% in June, the central statistics agency CAPMAS said on
Monday.

Month on month inflation increased to 0.4% in July from 0.1% in June, the
agency said.

World Bank approves $114 mln for Nigeria's COVID-19 response

ABUJA (Reuters) - The World Bank has approved $114 million to help Nigeria
tackle its coronavirus pandemic, the global lender said on Friday.

The money comes in the form of a $100 million loan and a $14 million grant
to be split between Nigeria’s 36 states and federal-level procurement of
medical equipment, tests and medicine.

Africa’s most populous country has recorded more than 45,000 confirmed
coronavirus cases and 930 deaths, but low levels of testing have left a
muddy picture of the outbreak’s severity.

“Nigeria has ramped up its efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, but
more needs to done at the state level, which are at the front line of the
response,” Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank’s director for Nigeria, said in
its statement on Friday.

South Africa's Denel tells unions it can't honour court ruling on salaries

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s struggling state defence firm Denel
told trade unions on Friday that it cannot honour a court ruling that it
should pay outstanding salaries by Friday, a letter from Denel’s lawyers to
the unions’ lawyers seen by Reuters showed.

“Our client requests that your clients grant it an indulgence to enable it
to work on measures to raise funds,” Denel’s lawyers wrote in the letter,
adding that Denel would aim to give an update no later the end of next week.
Denel said in a statement that it remained committed to meeting its
obligations and paying outstanding salaries as soon as possible.

AngloGold Ashanti moots higher dividend as gold price boosts earnings

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - AngloGold Ashanti said on Friday it would consider
paying a higher annual dividend after reporting a more than 200% jump in
first-half earnings, driven by higher gold prices and a weaker local
currency.

AngloGold, which has operations in Australia, Brazil and Tanzania, said its
headline earnings per share for the six months ended June rose 234% to 97
cents against 29 cents a year earlier, despite output disruptions caused by
COVID-19.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
climbed 59%.

“Cash flows are extremely robust, demonstrating the significant operating
leverage we have to this strong gold price,” Chief Executive Kelvin
Dushnisky said.

Dushnisky, who steps down in September, said the company would focus on
cutting costs and capital management as it seeks to widen margins and
increase reserves through exploration and expansions.

Spot gold has roared past $2,000 an ounce for the first time, giving South
African gold miners a lifeline after the disruption caused by the COVID-19
pandemic.

AngloGold, which pays an annual dividend of 10% of its free cash flow before
growth capital, said free cash flow had increased more than four-fold to
$324 million.

“If gold prices stay at these levels, and we continue to manage our margins
well and we continue to generate increasing free cash flow, we will see
increased dividends,” Dushnisky said in an interview.

If prices remained supportive and the company strengthens its balance sheet,
the board could also consider changing its dividend policy, Dushnisky said.

The bullion miner, which is completing the sale of its last South African
assets, said it had lost around 85,000 ounces of output due to COVID-19,
with 63,000 ounces of that from South Africa.

Production during the period was 1.469 million ounces compared to 1.554
million ounces for the first six months of last year.

Dushnisky said the board was considering moving its primary listing from the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange but its current focus was navigating the
pandemic.

Apple boss Tim Cook joins the billionaires club

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has moved into the billionaire club as the
tech firm's share price continues to soar.

Apple's market value has been on the rise following strong results and the
upbeat outlook for tech giants.

Mr Cook owns 847,969 shares directly and took home more than $125m (£96m)
last year as part of his pay package.

Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg saw his personal wealth hit
$100bn (£76bn).

Technology companies including Apple, Facebook and Amazon have seen their
profits grow during the coronavirus pandemic as more people went online.

Silicon-Valley based Apple is now closing in on the milestone of being the
first company to be valued at $2tn. Two years ago it become the first
company to be valued at $1tn.

Mr Cook took over from Apple founder Steve Jobs nine years ago. His
billionaire status is based on the shares he owns and the compensation he
has been paid at Apple, and calculated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In 2015, he said he planned to give most of his fortune away and has already
donated million of dollars worth of Apple shares.

Facebook's Zuckerberg has made a similar pledge to give away the majority of
his shares.

Mr Zuckerberg, along with Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Tesla's Elon Musk, accrued
their wealth from the huge stakes in the companies they founded.

In comparison, Mr Cook's stake in Apple is miniscule at about 0.02%.

Based on US federal and state taxes for California, Mr Cook would face a tax
rate of just over 50%, as a top-bracket earner.

Watches and music

While Apple has not revealed any new products as groundbreaking as its
iPhone, the company has still thrived since Mr Cook took over the reins.

He has overseen the development of devices such as the iPhone X and Apple
Watch, along with new services like Apple Music.--BBC

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Trump: Tech giants challenge US foreign worker crackdown

Some of America's biggest tech firms on Monday backed a challenge to
President Donald Trump's restrictions on foreign workers.

Amazon, Apple and Facebook are among the companies arguing that the
temporary visa bans will damage US firms.

Mr Trump imposed restrictions on some foreign workers to safeguard jobs for
Americans during the virus pandemic.

Many of those affected by the measures are technology workers from India.

Microsoft, Netflix, Twitter and other big technology companies also backed
the lawsuit, which was filed last month by major US business associations.

Those industry groups included the National Association of Manufacturers,
which represents 14,000 firms, and America's biggest business association,
the US Chamber of Commerce.

The brief argued that the visa restrictions, which were announced in June,
will hurt US businesses.

The companies said Mr Trump’s proclamation was based on a “false assumption”
that it would protect American jobs as it would mean they may now have to
employ people in other countries.

The brief said: “Global competitors in Canada, China, and India, among
others, are pouncing at the opportunity to attract well-trained, innovative
individuals.

“And American businesses are scrambling to adjust, hiring needed talent to
work in locations outside our nation’s borders,” it continued.

They also contended that it could do irreparable damage to American
businesses, workers and further hurt the already struggling US economy.

Mr Trump's proclamation suspended the entry of a range of foreign workers
until the end of this year.

Silicon Valley reaction

Shortly after the announcement in June some of America's biggest technology
companies condemned the move.

Facebook said the order "uses the Covid-19 pandemic as justification for
limiting immigration" and warned: "In reality, the move to keep highly
skilled talent out of the US will make our country's recovery even more
difficult".

Apple boss Tim Cook wrote on Twitter that he was "deeply disappointed" by
the new proclamation, while Sundar Pichai, head of Alphabet - the parent
company of Google and YouTube - said immigration was critical to the success
of his company and the country.

Amazon, which received more than 3,000 H-1B visas last year - more than any
other firm - called the order "short-sighted".

Who is affected?

The Trump administration said the freeze would impact about 525,000 people.

That included an estimated 170,000 people blocked by the decision to extend
a ban on some new green cards - which grants permanent residence to
foreigners.

The White House first announced it was halting those visas in April.
Existing visa holders are not expected to be affected under the new
restrictions.

The order also applies to H-1B visas, many of which are granted to Indian
technology workers.

Critics say those visas have allowed Silicon Valley companies to outsource
American jobs to lower-paid foreign employees.

Last year, there were about 225,000 applications competing for 85,000 spots
available through the H1-B visa programme.--BBC

Toshiba shuts the lid on laptops after 35 years

The Japanese giant Toshiba has sold its final stake in the personal computer
maker Dynabook.

It means the firm no longer has a connection with making PCs or laptops.

Sharp bought 80% of Toshiba's personal computing arm in 2018 for $36m
(£27m), and has now bought the remaining shares, Toshiba said in a
statement.

Toshiba's first laptop, the T1100, launched in 1985. It weighed 4kg (8.8
pounds) and worked with 3.5 inch (8.8cm) floppy disks.

It was launched at first only in Europe with an annual sales target of
10,000 units, according to the Toshiba Science Museum website.

In 2011 Toshiba sold more than 17m PCs but by 2017 this had fallen to 1.9m,
reported Reuters at the time.

In 2016, it had ceased making consumer laptops for the European market,
focusing only on hardware for businesses.

Recent years have been difficult for the conglomerate: in 2015, the firm
posted a full-year loss of $318m.

That same year its president and vice-president resigned after an
independent panel found the company had overstated its profits for the
previous six years.

In 2019, it wound up its nuclear business NuGen in the UK after failing to
find a buyer for it.

Consumer demand for laptops has soared in the last few months because of the
Coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns, but overall, the market for
personal computers has been tough for quite a while, said analyst Marina
Koytcheva from the firm CCS Insight.

"Only those who have managed to sustain scale and price (like Lenovo), or
have a premium brand (like Apple) have succeeded in the unforgiving PC
market, where volumes have been falling for years," she said.--BBC

Weaker Dollar Will Drive Bitcoin To New Highs

Last week, bitcoin was seemingly driven by one factor, the US dollar. This
dynamic is easily seen when blotting the USD index (DXY) against bitcoin.

Dollar weakness has been a boon for bitcoin.

Furthermore, Digital Assets research firm, Delphi Digital notes “Gold bugs
have been rejoicing in recent weeks...dollar weakness coupled with deeply
negative real yields has created a perfect storm for gold and precious
metals.” Additionally, Delphi Digital states “Gold’s latest surge puts it
among this year’s best performing assets, outpacing global equities by 34
percentage points. Its 35% gain year-to-date through August 6th is also its
best since the early 1970s.”

Gold is having the best year to date returns in recent history.

Gold’s impressive returns are only outmatched by bitcoin in 2020, i.e. 34%
and 72%, respectively. Bitcoin’s superior performance suggests investors are
beginning to truly see it as a store of value asset, and that it might be a
2:1 leveraged beta play on Gold given the current weak dollar environment.

The Delphi Digital team is not the only high profile analysts that share
this weak dollar view. Recently, Qiao Wang, made a strong declaration on
Twitter, telling traders to differentiate between normal and non-normal
environments.

This notion flies in the face of previous statements made by the famous
Macro Investor Raoul Pal, who has been vocally long USD since early 2020
believing a global shortage will lead to a dollar squeeze, thus price
appreciation.

Qiao Wang says “Raoul has been wrong on the USD thus far.” Noting, “time
frame matters, e.g. the dollar can get stronger next week or handful of
months, but over the next 2-5 years, the probability of it decreasing in
value is quite high.”

If the inverse correlation between bitcoin and the dollar is as pervasive as
analysts suggest, then the technical analysis charts should corroborate as
well.

Charts produced by the anonymous trader on Twitter, Rekt Capital, seemingly
validate the aforementioned analysts. Rekt Capital notes “Bitcoin has
breached a multi-year resistance level. Any retraces are unlikely to dip
below the multi-year trend line, i.e. the low to mid-$8000s...That being
said, I'm looking for targets rather than retrace opportunities as this
rally hasn't yet fully overextended.”

Bitcoin has broken out of a multi-year descending trend line.

Additionally, Rekt Capital says “Bitcoin has also managed to Weekly Close
above a key historical area of supply ($11,400-$11,600) after consolidating
within a classic continuation structure. The last time bitcoin managed a
Weekly Close above this level was back in early December 2017, which could
lead to a breach of $12,000 and an attempt towards $13,000.”

Bitcoin seems set to break above $12k and onto $13k

The future is unknowable, but massive global indebtedness, anemic economic
growth, and exploding Central Bank balance sheets, seem likely to lead to a
sustained period of dollar weakness, which has been reflected in store of
value asset prices like bitcoin and Gold.

This dollar weakness coupled with a growing number of Millennials and Gen Z
retail investors seriously allocating to digital assets like bitcoin, could
be the perfect concoction for a multi-year bull market, which the technical
analysis charts appear to suggest at the moment.

Disclosure: The author owns bitcoin and ethereum.

For educational purposes only, not investment advice.-forbes.com

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Zimbabwe

Defence Forces’ Day

Zimbabwe

11  August 2020

Old Mutual Zimbabwe

AGM

virtual

12  August 2020 | 3pm

CBZ

AGM

Virtual

14  August 2020 | 6pm

Lafarge

AGM

Virtual

18 August 2020  | 12pm

Companies under Cautionary

Bindura Nickel Corporation

Padenga Holdings

Delta Corporation

Meikles Limited

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