Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 04 December 2020

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 04 December 2020

 


 

 


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ü  Nasa to pay company $1 to collect moon rocks

ü  'China is a hard rock. It won't be beaten by virus'

ü  Call for probe into 'missing' £50bn of UK cash

ü  Boeing 737 Max sees first firm order since crashes

ü  Quarantine rules to be relaxed for business travellers

ü  Facebook sued for 'denying opportunities to US workers'

ü  US pushes ahead with new rules for Chinese firms

ü  How a blow to Australian wine shows tensions with China

ü  The rollercoaster ride of Scotland's first gold mine

ü  Asian shares hit record high as U.S. stimulus seen within reach

ü  Breakingviews - Daimler could be Elon Musk's Time Warner

ü  U.S. expected to report slowest job growth in six months

ü  United States adds China's SMIC and CNOOC to Defense blacklist

ü  Dollar weakening expected to last into 2021 as risky bets remain

ü  Nigeria: What Next for Nigeria As Recession Stages Comeback?

ü  Ethiopia: Telecom Services Resume in Parts of Tigray Region

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


Nasa to pay company $1 to collect moon rocks

Nasa is paying a company $1 (74p) to collect moon rocks after it was accepted as a winning bidder.

 

On Thursday Lunar Outpost was awarded a contract to collect samples for the US space agency.

 

It is one of four contracts awarded by Nasa under its low-cost lunar resource collection programme.

 

The other winning bidders were California-based Masten Space Systems and Tokyo-based ispace, along with its European subsidiary.

 

Nasa will be paying the companies for individual collections of lunar regolith, or moon soil, between 50g and 500g in weight.

 

"The companies will collect the samples and then provide us with visual evidence and other data that they've been collected," a spokesman for Nasa said.

 

"The plan is for the mission to take place in 2023, but we are working with several different lander companies, which could result in an earlier launch date," Lunar Outpost CEO Justin Cyrus told the BBC.

 

Colorado-based Lunar Outpost, a robotics firm, will be paid $1 for collecting moon rocks from the lunar South Pole.

 

But the fee is not the motivation for these companies. There are expected to be many scientific benefits to the mission such as allowing firms to practice extracting resources from the lunar surface.

 

Mr Cyrus called it "a paradigm shift in the way society thinks about space exploration".

 

The company is in talks with Blue Origin and several other companies that are working to fly to the moon.

 

Blue Origin is a space exploration firm set up by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

 

Among the other winning bids, Japan's ispace will be paid $5,000 for its proposed collection in 2022 on the Moon's north-eastern near side.

 

Not about the money

"The nominal amount of even a dollar is an important precedent that Nasa is setting," said Sinead O'Sullivan, a space expert.

 

"The innovation here is not of financial value but of creating business and legal norms of creating a market of buyers and sellers outside of Earth's constraints," she added.

 

The awards for the three companies will be paid in a three-step process. A total of 10% of the funds at the time of the award, 10% when the company launches its collection spacecraft, and 80% when Nasa verifies the company collected the material.

 

"Yes, the $1 will come in three tiny but important instalments of $0.10, $0.10, and $0.80," joked Mr Cyrus.

 

The space agency's announcement on Thursday comes as China conducts its own lunar sample collection mission.

 

The Chinese Chang'e-5 lunar spacecraft is currently on its way back to Earth with samples from the moon.--BBC

 

 

'China is a hard rock. It won't be beaten by virus'

Pan Run Ping is happy to have found work again in a restaurant.

image captionPan Run Ping is happy to have found work again in a restaurant.

A year on from the beginning of the outbreak the Chinese economy has bounced back. It may be a recovery led by debt and the spending of China's rich but nonetheless it's good news for Pan Run Ping.

 

She is back in her tiny Shanghai apartment. She's back at work too, in a bar and restaurant. But she's worried. She's worried about Chinese being targeted abroad.

 

"I don't want to see any harassment towards Chinese abroad," she told me as we talked in her kitchen. "We are normal and healthy. They didn't do anything wrong," she said.

 

Pan is one of a handful of young, working Chinese we spoke to as the country approaches its second year of Covid-19. At 27 much of Pan's trade is selling craft beer.

 

For Zhou Si Yi, who is a year older, much of her trade is crafting leather, in her studio in the corner of her 7th floor apartment. Zhou told me she is very patriotic. Her Mum is a member of the ruling Communist Party.

 

China is "like a hard rock. It won't be beaten by a virus" she said as we chatted at the desk where she makes wallets and handbags. But she thinks China made mistakes by allowing it to spread. "Of course China should feel sorry about it," she added.

 

Zhou Si Yi makes custom-made bags in her apartment.

image captionZhou Si Yi makes custom-made bags in her apartment.

There was much scepticism about China's official virus case numbers early on, but it controlled the virus quickly. Extreme lockdowns in some parts were coupled with sophisticated surveillance and mass testing on an unrivalled scale.

 

Tracking and tracing cases and close contacts was key. All that allowed for a quick economic recovery.

 

That's been really good news for Zhou. People are ordering her custom-made bags. People are buying the cars made in the factory owned by the state-run company where her husband works.

 

She thinks the 'secret' behind this is the way China is governed. "The secret is that we only have one Leader, which is our Party Secretary," she said. "Everyone will listen to the leadership".

 

She feels contrite. China has helped other countries and tried "to make up for our mistakes" she said.

 

The BBC's Robin Brant talking with Pan Rung Ping.

image captionThe BBC's Robin Brant talking with Pan Rung Ping.

Feeling sorry, mistakes made; it's unusual to hear that language from someone here with Party connections. But she doesn't think the leaders, or even President Xi Jinping, can say sorry to the world.

 

"As normal people we felt sorry for it but maybe as leaders of the country they can't say that, due to some reasons".

 

China's economic recovery was quick and, as the official government figures would suggest, a sign of impressive resilience. But it's been lopsided according to some observers.

 

Professor Michael Pettis from Peking University told me: "China has had a very lopsided recovery.

 

Almost all of the recovery has been on the supply side of the economy, the production side of the economy. On the demand side of the economy it's been extremely weak."

 

Very simply put, because China turned first to one of the tactics it knows best to stimulate a recovery - debt fuelled borrowing to finance infrastructure.

 

Prof. Pettis, who specialises in finance, thinks it ended up with people making a lot of stuff but not buying a lot of stuff. Those who were buying tended to be buying new cars, or getting on planes.

 

Professor Michael Pettis from Peking University says China's recovery has been lopsided.

image captionProfessor Michael Pettis from Peking University says China's recovery has been lopsided.

The bar worker Pan can attest to that. The people who come to her high-end bar are spending like before, but she is doing the opposite.

 

Instead, she is saving more. "It is really difficult to find a job this year," she said. "Migrant workers like us are really having a hard time".

 

She is more than a thousand miles from her home in the southern province of Yunnan. Pan is one of China's hundreds of millions who left for the big cities and better jobs. But people like her have been hit hard by the economic shutdown and subsequent slump.

 

Some of her friends went back home and haven't returned to Shanghai. They took more stable government jobs or jobs with state-owned companies.

 

"It's very different if I go back home to find a job… I would prefer government-related work which is more secure and leads to a stable life". She's staying in Shanghai though. She wants to run her own bar.

 

China's economic recovery was quick according to official government figures.

image captionChina's economic recovery was quick according to official government figures.

By any mark China is now back to the stability it enjoyed before the virus outbreak. Stable enough for its top leaders to meet in October and agree on its 14th five-year plan; a crucial piece of Communist Party socio-economic strategy. China is on course to be the only major economy in the world to grow in 2020.

 

For some of its people though there is significant uncertainty about the future. Pan is worried about how she and her friends will be treated if they go abroad.

 

Zhou has what she thinks may be the answer to that anxiety - feeling, maybe saying, sorry for what happened.--BBC

 

 

 

Call for probe into 'missing' £50bn of UK cash

The Bank of England should be trying to track down £50bn of "missing" UK currency, a committee of MPs has said.

 

The cash is not used in transactions or held as savings, but may be overseas, tucked away in homes unreported or being used in the "shadow economy".

 

The issue was first identified by the National Audit Office (NAO), which highlighted it in September.

 

Now the Public Accounts Committee has said the Bank should "get a better handle" on the currency.

 

The committee said there were "implications for public policy and the public purse" if a material proportion of that large volume of banknotes was being used for illegal purposes.

 

However, the UK is not the only country to face this problem - and other major global currencies could well be more seriously affected.

 

A Bank of England spokesperson said: "It is the responsibility of the Bank of England to meet public demand for banknotes. The Bank has always met that demand and will continue to do so.

 

"Members of the public do not have to explain to the Bank why they wish to hold banknotes. This means that banknotes are not missing."

 

'Stashed somewhere'

However, the figure of £50bn - which amounts to about three-quarters of all UK banknotes in existence - is not disputed, even if the terminology is.

 

The money "is stashed somewhere, but the Bank of England doesn't know where, who by or what for - and doesn't seem very curious", said Meg Hillier, who chairs the committee.

 

No new 2p or £2 coins to be made for 10 years

"It needs to be more concerned about where the missing £50bn is. Depending where it is and what it's being used for, that amount of money could have material implications for public policy and the public purse.

 

"The Bank needs to get a better handle on the national currency it controls."

 

Demand for banknotes has steadily gone up, although their use is in decline, but the Bank of England does not "appear to have a convincing reason for why the demand for notes keeps increasing", says the committee in a report.

 

Ill-gotten gains

This rising demand is "a trend being seen with other major currencies", as the committee itself admits.

 

It particularly affects the dollar and the euro, which are widely held as reserve currencies around the world.

 

In the case of the dollar, only about 15% of the US currency supply can be accounted for - a significantly lower proportion than for the UK.

 

Both those currencies are more attractive to criminals because they have higher-denomination notes which make it easier to smuggle or stash ill-gotten gains.

 

For instance, there are more $100 bills out there than any other denomination of the greenback, with 80% of them estimated to be held outside the US.

 

As for the euro, the European Central Bank in Frankfurt no longer issues the €500 note because of concerns it could facilitate illegal activities.

 

However, it remains legal tender, while €100 and €200 notes are still in production.

 

By contrast, the highest-value note issued by the Bank of England is a mere £50.--BBC

 

 

 

Boeing 737 Max sees first firm order since crashes

Irish airline Ryanair has placed an order for 75 more Boeing 737 Max aircraft as the plane is set to return to the skies after two fatal crashes.

 

Ryanair had already agreed to buy 135 jets. The extra planes take the list value of the order to $22bn (£16.3bn).

 

The US Federal Aviation Administration recently certified the Boeing 737 Max for a return to service after it had been grounded since March 2019.

 

Ryanair said it would take delivery of the planes early next year.

 

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is yet to give the Boeing 737 Max the go-ahead to return to service.

 

EASA is in charge of re-certification for EU member states, as well as the UK.

 

If Boeing wanted to appoint a new chief salesman, it should just call in Ryanair's Michael O'Leary.

 

The 737 Max, he said, was a wonderful aircraft. A game-changer. More efficient than older planes. More environmentally friendly. Passengers would love it.

 

Except he didn't call it the 737 Max. He repeatedly referred to the "737 8200".

 

A sly rebranding exercise? Not according to Mr O'Leary. The plane was brilliant, and whatever you called it, passengers would want to fly on it.

 

Boeing's more world-weary Dave Calhoun also insisted there was no rebranding going on.

 

And yet... his company was once heartily proud of the Max, and liked to flaunt the new name at every opportunity. Today, he was eager to downplay it as just another run-of-the-mill member of the 737 family.

 

Boeing was forced to take the 737 Max out of service following two crashes within five months of each other, which together killed 346 people.

 

Its clearance to fly again comes after Boeing implemented a series of modifications including updating flight control software, revising crew procedures and rerouting internal wiring.

 

'Modest' discount

At a news conference in Washington to announce the deal, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary described the 737 Max as "a fabulous aircraft".

 

Boeing's chief executive, David Calhoun, said it was "the beginning of the fulfilment of a more robust order book".

 

Neither side disclosed the exact price that Ryanair will pay for the planes, but the airline will benefit from what the firms described as a "modest" discount on the cost.

 

Mr Calhoun said Boeing did not expect to have to slash prices to bring back customers.

 

"We believe strongly in the recovery and therefore we will stay patient," Mr Calhoun said. "We don't feel a need to discount our way into the marketplace."

 

News of the deal was greeted with dismay by Naoise Ryan, of Cork in Ireland, whose husband Mick Ryan died when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 - a 737 Max - crashed in March 2019.

 

"Ryanair's purchase of the Max is an endorsement of Boeing's disregard of safety and human life. Like Boeing, they are prepared to gamble with people's lives in order to sell cheap flights on 'bargain-binned' planes," she said.

 

"It is horrific that Boeing can once again profit from this dangerous plane while still hiding documents and have not been held to account for the deaths of 346 people. Boeing's attitude and dismissiveness should give everyone pause before ever boarding a Max."--BBC

 

 

 

Quarantine rules to be relaxed for business travellers

Quarantine rules are set to be eased for business travellers in England.

 

The rules will be relaxed for top bosses of foreign multinational firms visiting English branches and bosses at firms planning to invest.

 

Returning executives will also be exempt from quarantine.

 

In each case, the business trips must result in a deal which creates or preserves 50 jobs or leads to a £100,000 investment or order, according to the Department for Transport.

 

The new rule will allow business people to travel to England from countries that are not on the UK's list of travel corridors without having to isolate for 14 days on arrival.

 

The move was announced in a tweet by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

 

 

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

 

Travellers will have to demonstrate in an exemption letter that they are delivering these business benefits to the UK.

 

This letter will be checked by police or Border Force.

 

When in England, the government said, executives will be exempt from the normal quarantine rules only in the course of a "specific business activity" that will benefit the UK economy.

 

"And [they] will only be able to meet with others as required by that specific activity," it said.

 

Performing arts workers, TV production staff, journalists and recently signed sports professionals will also be exempt, the government said.

 

Currently, people arriving in the UK from most countries - including British nationals - must self-isolate for 14 days or face fines of up to £1,000. But that can increase to £10,000 for repeat offenders.

 

No risk

Exceptions are made for people coming from the Common Travel Area - the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man - or countries in travel corridors with England.

 

The government said that Public Health England did not expect the new rules for business travellers to increase the risk of coronavirus transmission in the UK.

 

Nevertheless, it said the measures would remain under review.--BBC

 

 

Facebook sued for 'denying opportunities to US workers'

The US Department of Justice has accused Facebook of discriminating against American workers by giving hiring preferences to immigrants.

 

A lawsuit alleges the social media firm refused to recruit, consider or hire qualified and available Americans for more than 2,600 positions.

 

Those jobs instead went to foreigners on temporary visas, the lawsuit says.

 

Facebook disputed the allegations, but said it was co-operating with the department.

 

The lawsuit concerns Facebook's use of temporary H-1B visas, which are often used by tech companies to bring highly skilled foreign workers to the US.

 

In its lawsuit, filed on Thursday, the department alleged that Facebook "intentionally created a hiring system" that favoured H-1B visa holders and other temporary workers over Americans.

 

The department said it filed the lawsuit after a two-year investigation into Facebook's hiring practices.

 

The lawsuit seeks "back pay on behalf of US workers denied employment at Facebook" among other remedies.

 

"Our message to workers is clear: If companies deny employment opportunities by illegally preferring temporary visa holders, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable," said Eric S Dreiband, the assistant attorney general for the department's civil rights division.

 

"Our message to all employers - including those in the technology sector - is clear: You cannot illegally prefer to recruit, consider or hire temporary visa holders over US workers."

 

US President Donald Trump may not have publicly accepted the outcome of the election, but it has not stopped his administration from trying to secure his legacy before he leaves the White House in January.

 

They have been drafting new rules and policy changes that support his agenda of the last four years, and make it more difficult for the incoming Biden administration to reverse.

 

Throughout his tenure, the president has tried to make it more difficult for companies to hire foreign workers using the H1-B visa programme. Silicon Valley is particularly dependent on these work permits but Mr Trump has long argued they are used to the detriment of American workers.

 

This particular lawsuit against Facebook is more of the same, a way to restrict foreign workers being hired by US companies. It's a last ditch effort by a lame duck president.

 

Presentational grey line

The Trump administration has had a strained relationship with tech firms in recent years. Big companies such as Facebook have faced criticism for allowing disinformation to be spread on their platforms and data to be misused.

 

Complaints of anti-competitive practices have also been levelled at the largest tech companies in the US by Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

 

In October, the Justice Department sued Google, accusing it of illegally maintaining its monopoly power in search and search advertising. Google denied the allegations, calling the litigation deeply flawed.

 

 

media captionTwitter's Jack Dorsey: "Like anything else, these tools can be addictive"

A few weeks before that, the House Judiciary Committee recommended taking action to break up the big-tech platforms, including Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google.

 

Facebook has previously said it is not a monopoly and consumers can choose how to connect with friends online.-BBC

 

 

 

US pushes ahead with new rules for Chinese firms

The US House of Representatives has passed a law to kick Chinese companies off US stock exchanges if they do not comply with its auditing rules.

 

The act would also require companies to disclose whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government.

 

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act still needs the US president’s approval.

 

The move coincides with a wider push to ramp up pressure on China in the final months of the Trump presidency.

 

In addition to the act, the US government on Wednesday moved to ban cotton imports from a company it says uses the forced labour of detained Uighur Muslims.

 

The US also took action against Chinese-manufactured twist ties last week, taking the rare step of imposing tariffs to counter the effects of what the US claims is Chinese currency manipulation.

 

China too has increased pressure, introducing export control laws earlier this week.

 

This was widely seen as a response to US export controls on microchips that many Chinese tech companies rely on.

 

‘Toxic status quo’

The act will have little effect over the short term, as foreign companies are only banned if they fail to comply with audits for three years in a row.

 

The American Securities Association welcomed the bill’s passage, but urged the government to act more swiftly by delisting non-compliant companies by the middle of next year.

 

The legislation applies to publicly-listed companies from any country, but its sponsors intended for it to target Chinese companies.

 

“US policy is letting China flout rules that American companies play by, and it’s dangerous. Today, the House joined the Senate in rejecting a toxic status quo,” said Republican Senator John Kennedy, who is one of the bill’s authors.

 

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission - which was created by Congress to track possible security threats from China - said that as of October there were 217 Chinese companies listed on these US exchanges.

 

A number of US-listed Chinese firms, including Alibaba and KFC China operator Yum China, have recently carried out secondary listings in Hong Kong.

 

The Trump administration also banned cotton imports from a Chinese state-owned enterprise it said has used the forced labour of detained Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

 

The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) is a quasi-military organisation that reportedly accounts for nearly a fifth of Xinjiang’s GDP.

 

It is also one of China’s largest cotton producers.

 

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel have been ordered to detain shipments containing cotton and cotton products originating from XPCC.

 

“China’s systemic abuse of forced labour in the Xinjiang Region should disturb every American business and consumer,” said CBP Acting Commissioner Mark A. Morgan in a statement.

 

Beijing has faced international condemnation for its network of detention centres in Xinjiang which mostly house Muslim minorities.

 

China has rejected the criticism, saying its aim is to tackle poverty and religious extremism in Xinjiang.--BBC

 

 

 

How a blow to Australian wine shows tensions with China

Imagine, just for a second, the Australian wine industry as a bottle shop. For decades it had loyal customers overseas - old friends from the UK and the US partial to an antipodean drop.

 

Then a few years ago, a new customer walked in who began eyeing up the reds. Soon, not only were they spending double the other customers, but they were buying the high-end stuff, preferring the premium vintages.

 

China - this top customer - has bought close to 40% of Australia's wine exports in the past few years.

 

In 2019, China bought more bottled wine from Australia than it did from France. After an intense few years of marketing and trade deals, this love affair with Australian winegrowers was fizzing along nicely.

 

Then last week it was corked in the neck. China slapped over 200% tariffs on bottled Australian wine, in a trade hit linked to deteriorating political relations. The one swift blow exposed again Australia's economic dependence on Beijing.

 

'Buy wine for democracy'

Wine is just the latest Australian export this year to be collateral damage in the wider political battle. Since May, a string of goods - barley, beef, copper, sugar, lobsters, timber, coal - have been halted or otherwise sanctioned by China's Ministry of Commerce.

 

Australia and China's new battleground: social media

While Beijing cites trade reasons for the blockages - accusing Australia of illegal dumping practices for its wine - analysts say it's become increasingly clear that the real motivation is political.

 

That has spurred politicians around the world this week to release a video urging people buy Australian wine "to stand up to China's bullying".

 

The #SolidarityWithAustralia campaign came from the recently formed Inter-Parliamentary Alliance of China - a group of 200 MPs from 19 countries known for their hawkish stance on China.

 

The Australian senator in the video, Kimberley Kitching, argues that China has cancelled Australia's exports because of criticism on human rights.

 

"This isn't just an attack on Australia. This is an attack on free countries everywhere," she says.

 

Collateral hit

For local wine-growers, the overnight closure of their biggest and richest market is a devastating blow.

 

The tariffs at minimum will triple the cost of an Australian bottle for Chinese buyers. What was once a $100 shiraz might now cost at least $300.

 

"Obviously people aren't rushing out to buy that," said Chester Osborne, a fourth-generation winemaker at the family-owned D'Arenberg Wines in South Australia's McLaren Vale.

 

He is a mid-sized producer. The loss of China means a 20-30% cut to sales; staff cuts; and grape and bottle price reductions as product bound for China is returned home likely flooding the market.

 

For other wine businesses - such as the 800 exporters dedicated almost exclusively to shipping Australian drops over to China - it means almost certain business closure.

 

At a recent wine-growers meeting, Mr Osborne told the BBC, the talk was all about international politics. Most Australian exporters right now- not just wine-growers - are closely watching the diplomatic play between Canberra and Beijing.

 

"It's clear as day that that's where we need to be working: how to mend the relationship [with China]," Mr Osborne said.

 

He contends poor diplomacy on Australia's part has led to these punishments from China.

 

"The word 'sorry' would be good. I don't think it's going to come out. But saying sorry would be a very, very useful way to change the direction."

 

China's grievances

Beijing's problems with Australia this year would appear to be articulated in a list circulated by its embassy in Canberra last month.

 

It listed 14 areas where it said Canberra had aggravated relations. These included a 2018 decision to ban Huawei from its 5G tender, not recognising China's claim in contested South China Sea, and supposed "wanton interference in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan".

 

But foreign policy experts have pointed out that these have been longstanding policies of Australia's. And many - such as criticism of China's harsh new security law in Hong Kong, or the treatment of its Uighur minority - merely reflect its values as a liberal democracy.

 

"For a long time, Australia complained about human rights issues in China, but the trade was not affected," says Prof James Laurenceson from the Australia -China Relations Institute.

 

Australia's 10 biggest trading partners. 2018-2019 . Bar chart shows Australia's top 10 trading partners and the value of that relationship. Shows China to be the biggest trading partner by far. .

Political tensions began in late 2016, but the two-way trade had continued to grow. "It's only this year the difference in values has been dragged into the trade arena."

 

So what's changed this year? As China's power has grown in the region, analysts say Beijing is seeing Australia as too openly lining itself up against it.

 

For over a decade, Australia had appeared to straddle a strategic middle ground in the Asia Pacific - benefiting off the region's competing superpowers. It found security in the US-led strategic alliance, while at the same time hitching its economic growth to exports to China.

 

Foreign ministers from India, Japan, Australia and the US sit around a table at security talks this week

 

Asia-Pacific allies known as "The Quad": India, Japan, Australia and the US met in October and have strengthened their mutual security commitments this year

But increasingly that neutral middle ground has shrunk. Actions this year - such as Australia's call, echoing US sentiments, for a global inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic focused on China- have angered Beijing. China has also responded sharply to Australia's investigations into alleged CCP interference - claiming national security investigations are fuelled by paranoia and bias.

 

Beijing has repeatedly accused Australia of being "hostile" and "unfriendly", and targeting it unfairly with its security laws.

 

Chinese media accuse Australia of raiding reporters

Australian reporters leave China 'amid standoff'

"China has fundamentally lost trust that Australia is resisting aligning itself with the United States," says Mr Laurenceson.

 

"We were dealing with an accumulation of issues but that's the one really fundamental one that has been elevated this year."

 

Mixed messaging

What has made the situation worse, analysts say, is poor diplomacy that at times has perhaps reflected Australia's uncertainty on where it stands.

 

On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison launched his strongest criticism yet of Beijing - demanding an apology after a Chinese government official tweeted a fake image portraying an Australian soldier killing a child.

 

However, in the same statement he appealed to China for a relationship re-set. For two years now, Beijing has declined to answer the calls of Australian ministers in a complete breakdown of top-level diplomacy.

 

"Despite this terribly offensive post today, I would ask again and call on China to re-engage in that dialogue," Mr Morrison said on Monday. The request was later ignored by Beijing, who defended the tweet.

 

For wine-growers like Mr Osborne, they're bunking down for the long term and hoping for a decisive, clear line to emerge soon.

 

"We need to decide what our rhetoric is, and how we move forward as a nation. What battles we want to pick," he said.

 

"A lot of people in China love Australian wine. I remain hopeful that this isn't going to be something that is permanent."--BBC

 

 

 

The rollercoaster ride of Scotland's first gold mine

After 35 years of highs and lows, production is finally under way at Scotland's first commercial gold mine. The journey has been fraught with difficulty for prospectors - but it looks like their investment may be about to pay off.

 

Extracting gold from Cononish, near Tyndrum, in the west of Scotland was never going to be an easy proposition.

 

The technical challenges - and costs - of accessing the precious metal from halfway up a mountain were a daunting prospect for those willing to try.

 

But try they did.

 

Early attempts from the mid-1980s saw prospectors come and go, as they struggled - and failed - to raise sufficient cash for what was always going to be a capital-intensive project.

 

Their efforts to attract backers were also undermined by the volatility of the precious metals market, which often saw gold prices slump.

 

By 2006, the mine had changed hands several times and was up for sale once more.

 

That seemed to spell the end of Cononish and Scotland's hopes of producing its own gold for the first time.

 

However, in 2007, Australian-listed firm Scotgold Resources entered the scene and revived the mine.

 

It has been a rollercoaster ride ever since.

 

By 2013, Scotgold had obtained planning permission and put a funding plan in place, only for the gold price to collapse, making the project less palatable for potential investors.

 

Costs were also spiralling, as the mine had fallen by that point within the boundaries of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, which meant much more stringent planning and environmental conditions. An earlier application had been turned down due to conservation concerns.

 

The problems were compounded by the fact that Scotgold couldn't raise money from traditional banking sources, given its small-scale nature.

 

That seemed to be that - until Edinburgh-born businessman Nat le Roux arrived on the scene and recapitalised the company in 2014.

 

Since then, he has pumped in millions of pounds of his own money to keep the project alive.

 

Mr le Roux, who is a former independent director of the London Metal Exchange, said there was "a certain romance" about the idea of a Scottish gold mine.

 

"But when the mine was brought to my attention seven years ago, it seemed to me to have interesting investment potential.

 

"When I came into it, the problem was one of finance.

 

"By world standards, this is a very small mine. At full production, we will be producing about 2,000 ounces of gold a month.

 

"At the same time, the amounts of money needed to finance the operation have been quite substantial."

 

Scotgold anticipates that over the expected nine-year life of the mine it will cost about £25m in capital expenditure and a further £81m in operating costs.

 

That's a whopping sum - but the owners still stand to make millions if all goes according to plan.

 

Gold prices have soared from as low as £700 an ounce in 2015 to more than £1,300 today.

 

Scotgold believes it can recover 175,000 ounces in total from Cononish, worth £236m at current prices.

 

Repeated feasibility studies have also shown gold deposits at Cononish to be high-grade - and its rarity as "authentic Scottish gold" has already attracted a premium from buyers.

 

In 2016, the company auctioned off 10 limited edition 1oz fine Scottish gold rounds formed from initial extractions from the mine.

 

They raised an average of more than £4,550 per ounce - a premium of 378% over the then spot price of about £950.

 

Scotgold chief executive Richard Gray has steered the company through turbulent times in recent years, but describes the team working on the project as "inherent optimists".

 

"There are always issues and problems to overcome but we have this belief that we will overcome them and the mine will be very profitable," he says.

 

"I have always been confident in the merits of the project.

 

"However, without the support of Scotgold's shareholders to stay the course, there was always a risk in the worst case scenario that the company would be forced to sell the asset to someone who would develop it and subsequently reap the rewards."

 

There are still challenges ahead.

 

These include the impact of Covid-19, which forced Scotgold to delay production of first gold earlier this year.

 

The company is looking to increase its workforce from 25 to 70 as production ramps up, but finding the people to handle the highly technical aspects of gold extraction has also proven a problem.

 

Mr Gray explains: "Expertise is needed and you obviously can't find all the people already existing in the area. Some people will have to come from further afield and hopefully settle nearer by."

 

Scotgold expects to produce 10,000oz of gold next year before ramping up production to an average of 23,500oz a year for the rest of the mine's life.

 

Cononish may yet prove to be the start of a golden era for prospectors in Scotland.

 

Scotgold remains optimistic that it will discover extensions to Cononish, which would lengthen the life of the mine.

 

And it has identified potentially significant gold deposits in other areas of Scotland where it holds option agreements with Crown Estates Scotland.

 

Mr le Roux says: "It is not like Cononish is one fortuitous discovery in the middle of an otherwise barren landscape.

 

"My view, and that of others, is that we will end up with a number of gold mines in the west of Scotland, either on the same scale as Cononish or perhaps a little bit bigger, assuming the gold price holds up."--BBC

 

 

 

Asian shares hit record high as U.S. stimulus seen within reach

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares scaled a record high on Friday on the growing prospect of a large U.S. economic package, while hopes that vaccine rollouts will boost the global economy underpinned investor sentiment.

 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6%, surpassing its Nov. 25 peak, while Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.4% on profit-taking.

 

In New York, the S&P 500 fell 0.06% on Thursday, erasing earlier gains after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer had slashed the target for the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine due to supply chain obstacles.

 

Yet, the damage did not last long, with S&P500 futures gaining 0.3% in early Friday trade.

 

A bipartisan, $908 billion coronavirus aid plan gained momentum in the U.S. Congress on Thursday as conservative lawmakers expressed their support and Senate and House of Representatives leaders huddled.

 

“A deal before the year-end looked almost impossible a while back but now a package of around $1 trillion seems within reach,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

 

On top of fiscal support, investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to tweak its guidance of its asset purchase scheme later this month while the European Central Bank looks certain to increase its bond buying next week.

 

Progress in developing COVID-19 vaccines also led investors to bet a recovery in corporate earnings will accelerate next year, overriding any concerns about the current dire conditions of the pandemic.

 

The United States topped 14 million known COVID-19 infections with over 100,000 patients hospitalized for the first time. California imposed stay-at-home orders to take effect when intensive care units approach capacity in the coming days.

 

“Stock markets are behaving as if the world has already overcome the disease. In reality it will take time before vaccines will reach every corner of the world and infections start to decline,” said Mitsubishi UFJ’s Fujito.

 

“Given the rapid pace of gains in stock prices over the past month, there will be some profit-taking. Nevertheless, I don’t think the market is peaking just yet.”

 

The upbeat mood saw the U.S. dollar lose ground to other major currencies as well as riskier, less liquid ones.

 

The euro rose to $1.2142, its highest levels since April 2018 while the yen stood at 103.85 per dollar, holding on to its 0.5% gains made the previous day.

 

The British pound changed hands at $1.3453, having hit a three-month high on Thursday with traders clinging to hopes of a trade deal between the European Union and Britain.

 

As talks continued to secure a Brexit deal, an EU official said an agreement was closer than ever but a UK government source warned chances for a breakthrough were receding.

 

The MSCI’s emerging market currency index stood at 2 1/2-year high, having gained more than 10% from its March trough.

 

In commodities, oil prices got an additional lift after OPEC and Russia agreed to slightly ease their deep oil output cuts from January by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) even as they failed to find a compromise on a broader and longer term policy.

 

The increase means the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia, a group known as OPEC+, would move to cutting production by 7.2 million bpd, or 7% of global demand from January, compared with current cuts of 7.7 million bpd.

 

Brent crude rose to as high as $49.92 per barrel, its highest price since early March and last stood at $49.59.

 

 

 

Breakingviews - Daimler could be Elon Musk's Time Warner

LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Electric-car maker Tesla is worth an eye-popping $540 billion despite a puny 0.8% global market share. It’s an opportunity for boss Elon Musk to use the company’s hyped-up stock to merge with an old-line business, just as AOL did with media titan Time Warner 20 years ago amid the dot-com bubble. Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler is the best fit.

 

Analysts’ earnings projections for Tesla in 2021 have fallen by nearly one-fifth since their peak in August 2018, according to JPMorgan. Yet the company’s shares have surged almost sevenfold this year alone, most recently boosted by its coming addition to the S&P 500 Index. Musk’s company is worth more than the next four most valuable global automakers combined, led by Toyota Motor, while producing only around 500,000 vehicles annually against more than 10 million in 2019 at Toyota and Volkswagen.

 

Speaking at a conference on Tuesday, Musk himself seemed open to the idea of a deal with another carmaker. Tesla’s existing aspirational customer base might best suit a luxury marque. And one with a low-voltage electric-vehicle strategy could allow Musk to add most value.

 

U.S. rivals Ford Motor and General Motors hardly fit the former criterion. Europe’s VW, meanwhile, is all-in on EVs. BMW might be Tesla’s most obvious fossil-fuelled counterpart, but family ownership probably rules out a takeover.

 

History shows the difficulty of buying any big Japanese company, while a supercar producer like Lamborghini, which VW may soon offload, would be too niche. One name remaining is $74 billion Daimler, the world’s biggest-selling luxury carmaker, whose shares have trailed the benchmark STOXX Europe 600 Auto index over the past 5 years.

 

Tacking on a largely combustion-engine business would dilute Tesla’s pure-play EV credentials. And Musk would have to grapple with the constraints of a German governance structure. But adding Daimler could increase Tesla’s global car output around fourfold. And the German group’s deep foundations in Europe and China, the two biggest battery-vehicle markets, would reinforce Musk’s electric offensive. Daimler even had a small stake in Tesla for a time.

 

There’s a kicker, too. Under U.S. stock-exchange rules, Tesla would only need shareholder approval if it increased its outstanding shares by 20%. At Tesla’s current equity value, Musk could theoretically snap up a target worth $100 billion or more. With a luxurious 40% premium, he could buy the Benz empire without even asking permission.

 

 

U.S. expected to report slowest job growth in six months

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers likely hired the fewest workers in six months in November, hindered by a resurgence in new COVID-19 cases that, together with a lack of more government relief money, threatens to reverse the recovery from the pandemic recession.

 

The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday will only cover the first two weeks of November, when the current wave of coronavirus infections started. Infections, hospitalizations and death rates have sky-rocketed, leading some economists to anticipate a drop in employment in December or January as more jurisdictions impose restrictions on businesses and consumers shun crowded places like restaurants.

 

“The November employment report may be the last ‘strong’ employment report for a while until a vaccine is widely available,” said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The labor market is showing increased signs of stress, which could manifest itself into smaller monthly hiring gains over the winter months.”

 

Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 469,000 jobs last month after rising by 638,000 in October, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would be the smallest gain since the jobs recovery started in May and a fifth straight monthly deceleration in job gains, leaving employment 9.621 million jobs below its February peak.

 

It would be in line with reports on consumer spending, manufacturing and services industries that have suggested a slowdown in the recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression. Hiring peaked 4.781 million in June.

 

The United States is in the midst of a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections. Nearly 200,000 new cases were reported on Wednesday and hospitalizations approached a record 100,000 patients, according to a Reuters tally of official data.

 

Republicans in Congress struck a more upbeat tone on Thursday during coronavirus aid talks as they pushed for a slim $500 billion measure that previously was rejected by Democrats who say more money is needed.

 

More than $3 trillion in government COVID-19 relief helped millions of unemployed Americans cover daily expenses and companies keep workers on payrolls, leading to record economic growth in the third quarter. The uncontrolled pandemic and lack of additional fiscal stimulus could result in the economy contracting in the first quarter of 2021.

 

“We are going to see another dip in employment sometime this winter and followed by a decline in GDP in the first quarter,” said Sung Won Sohn, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. “Unlike the first wave, there is no massive government stimulus on the horizon to cushion the economy. Interest rates are already zero.”

 

DOWNSIDE BIAS

Job growth last month was likely held back by further departures of temporary workers hired for the 2020 Census. States and local governments are also expected to have shed more workers, leaving overall government payrolls to decline for a second straight month.

 

Retailers typically embark on seasonal hiring in November, a practice that has been upended by the pandemic. Economists expect this disruption could throw off the model that the government uses to strip seasonal fluctuations from the data.

 

Payrolls could surprise on the downside. The Institute for Supply Management reported this week its measure of factory employment contracted in November. The Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” report showed employment rising in all districts on or before Nov. 20, but the U.S. central bank noted “for most, the pace was slow, at best.”

 

The unemployment rate is forecast dipping to 6.8% from 6.9% in October. It, however, has been biased down by people misclassifying themselves as being “employed but absent from work.” That will keep the focus on long-term unemployment and people working part-time for economic reasons.

 

Economists will also keep an eye on the share of women in the labor force. Industries that tend to employ women have been hard hit by the recession. Many women have also quit jobs to look after children as schools have moved to online learning.

 

The number of people out of work for more than six months surged by 1.2 million in October. There were 6.7 million part-time workers. The share of those permanently unemployed increased to 40.9% in October from 35.6% in the prior month.

 

“Long-term unemployment always rises in a downturn, but the increase in the share of long-term unemployed has been extraordinarily rapid in the pandemic recession,” said Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “This matters because people who have been unemployed for more than six months generally have a harder time being reemployed.”

 

Labor market slack is expected to have left wages barely rising in November. Average hourly earnings are forecast nudging up 0.1%, matching October’s gain. The average workweek is seen steady at 34.8 hours. Slower job and wage growth would lead to weakness in a proxy for take-home pay.

 

“The slowing in income along with the lack of another fiscal stimulus package will constrain household income and spending going forward,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief U.S. financial economist at Oxford Economics in New York.

 

 

 

United States adds China's SMIC and CNOOC to Defense blacklist

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Thursday added China’s top chipmaker, SMIC, and oil giant CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, a move likely to escalate tensions with Beijing before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

 

The Department of Defense designated a total of four additional companies as owned or controlled by the Chinese military, also including China Construction Technology Co Ltd and China International Engineering Consulting Corp.

 

The move, first reported by Reuters on Sunday, brings the total number of companies blacklisted to 35. While the list did not initially trigger any penalties, a recent executive order issued by Republican President Donald Trump will prevent U.S. investors from buying securities of the blacklisted firms starting late next year.

 

The Chinese Embassy in Washington referred Reuters to prior remarks made by its Foreign Ministry spokesperson that “China firmly opposes the politicization of the relevant Chinese companies.”

 

China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

 

SMIC said in a stock market statement that it strongly opposes the decision of United States Department of Defense, which reflects a fundamental misunderstanding by the U.S.administration regarding the end-uses of its business and technology.

 

The company also said there is no major impact of its addition to the list. SMIC’s Hong Kong shares will resume trading in the afternoon after it was suspended earlier on Friday.

 

Shares of CNOOC’s listed unit CNOOC Ltd had fallen by nearly 14% percent following the Sunday report.

 

SMIC, which relies heavily on equipment from U.S. suppliers, was already in Washington’s crosshairs. In September, the U.S. Commerce Department informed some firms they needed to obtain a license before supplying goods and services to SMIC after concluding there was an “unacceptable risk” that equipment supplied to it could be used for military purposes.

 

The expanded blacklist is seen as part of a bid to cement Trump’s tough-on-China legacy and to box Biden, the Democratic president-elect who takes office on Jan. 20, into hardline positions on Beijing amid bipartisan anti-China sentiment in Congress.

 

The measure is also part of a broader effort by Washington to target what it sees as Beijing’s efforts to enlist corporations to harness emerging civilian technologies for military purposes.

 

The list of “Communist Chinese Military Companies” was mandated by a 1999 law requiring the Pentagon to compile a catalog of companies “owned or controlled” by the People’s Liberation Army, but the DOD only complied it in 2020. Giants like Hikvision, China Telecom and China Mobile were added earlier this year.

 

In November, the White House published an executive order, first reported by Reuters, that sought to give teeth to the list by prohibiting U.S. investors from buying securities of the blacklisted companies from November 2021.

 

Top U.S. asset managers Vanguard Group and BlackRock Inc each own about 1% of shares of CNOOC’s listed unit CNOOC Ltd, and together own roughly 4% of outstanding shares of SMIC, disclosures show.

 

Congress and the Trump administration have sought increasingly to curb the U.S. market access of Chinese companies that do not comply with rules faced by American rivals, even if that means antagonizing Wall Street.

 

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a law to kick Chinese companies off U.S. stock exchanges if they do not fully comply with the country’s auditing rules, giving Trump one more tool to threaten Beijing with before leaving office.

 

 

 

Dollar weakening expected to last into 2021 as risky bets remain

BENGALURU (Reuters) - The dollar’s weakening is likely to last at least another six months as investors continue to shift to risky assets and higher returns, a Reuters poll of currency strategists found.

 

Following a stocks rally in November, the dollar - which thrives in a risk-off environment - weakened around 3.0% last month and is down almost 6% this year, putting the currency en route for its worst yearly performance since 2017.

 

Despite around 14 million people infected in the U.S. by the coronavirus, hopes for fresh fiscal stimulus and a vaccine will keep global stocks well bid and the dollar weak over the medium term.

 

The Federal Reserve is expected to give markets a better steer soon on how long it will continue to buy bonds to provide support to the U.S. economy, which could hurt the dollar.

 

Over two-thirds of analysts - 51 of 72 - who answered a separate question expected the downward dollar trend to last at least until mid-2021. The remaining 21 said it would reverse before that.

 

Those results match findings from a November global stocks poll where a majority of analysts said the current equity bull run would continue for six months or more.

 

“You can’t have such an over-valued dollar, it’s as simple as that. The dollar had become and still is significantly over-valued on pretty much any measure that I can think of as a result of monetary policy divergence, and convergence takes away all reasons for that,” said Kit Juckes, head of FX strategy at Societe Generale.

 

“The market reacting to that monetary policy adjustment is accelerating because that seems to bring reasons to look for better investment opportunities abroad.”

 

Despite the dim outlook, the dollar’s role in the global payments system will limit the currency from slipping too much. Most currencies that strengthened significantly against the dollar in 2020 were not expected to repeat their performances next year.

 

The euro, which has risen over 8% this year, is forecast to give up some of its gains and trade around $1.20 over the next three months. The currency was trading around $1.21 on Thursday.

 

“There’s a lot of good news in the price right now. Markets, with respect to the vaccine news, have behaved as if we’re already there, but the reality is that we’ve got a quarter or two of really nasty economic news before we get there,” said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank.

 

“With so much good news in the price, I think perhaps there is the possibility we will see a little bit of a retrenchment. I’m not looking for the euro to totally fade away but I do think there is a possibility we have some sort of pullback in the euro in the next few months.”

 

The euro was forecast to gain nearly 2% in a year to trade at $1.23, the highest 12-month prediction in nearly two and a half years.

 

Emerging-market currencies have taken a beating this year, but saw a turnaround in November as foreign investors returned, a trend expected to help those currencies post some gains against the dollar over the next 12 months.

 

“We knew all the issues of dollar weakness, we just didn’t see any currencies that looked attractive. But right now, with the rebound in China and the pick-up in commodity prices, all of a sudden there are places to put your money,” said Steve Englander, head of global G10 FX research at Standard Chartered.

 

 

 

Nigeria: What Next for Nigeria As Recession Stages Comeback?

If the Nigerian economy needs more proof that it is wise to diversify away from a heavy dependence on the Oil industry, the latest recession and threat to government revenues ought to do the job.

 

The country's ongoing battle to reach healthy growth is under threat thanks to an unprecedented Oil price crash triggered by the coronavirus pandemic back in March 2020. Africa's largest economy has sunk into its second recession within five years, shrinking by 3.6 percent in the third quarter versus a 6.1 percent contraction in the second quarter. Oil production fell to 1.67 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.81 million bpd in the previous quarter. The ominous signs are reminiscent of the third quarter of 2016 when the economy contracted for over a year.

The biggest vulnerability is the outsized contribution that the oil industry makes to the state coffers. In times of strong Oil prices, the industry accounts for around 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings and a handsome 50 percent of government revenues. The plunge in oil prices - which reached sub-zero levels in the wake of the pandemic - dragged on the economy's recovery from the contraction in 2016.

 

Government coffers face the prospect of cash flow drying up and the accompanying, unwelcome consequences. These include the prospect of austerity measures, job and salary cuts in the state sector, a reduction in development projects and social protection subsidies along with a heavier reliance on bail-out funds from the IMF and other international lenders.

 

The IMF projects a 4.3 percent contraction in Nigeria's GDP this year, the biggest drop in nearly four decades. For the man on the street, this means the threat of unemployment, inflation and soaring food prices. Already, more than half of Nigerians are unemployed in this dire economic scenario. On top of that, a Dollar shortage negatively impacts the private sector's imports of raw materials and equipment.

Additional vulnerabilities are apparent in the banking sector, which had a N19.54 trillion credit exposure to the weakened real economy in the third quarter, up by N290.13 billion in comparison to the end of August. When added to the state sector's woes, the results are the triple threats of sovereign debt defaults, bank credit defaults and the state's reduced capacity to bail out the banking sector.

 

There's a chance it's not too late to avert the worst consequences. On the brighter side, earlier this year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) took some necessary steps to unify its exchange rates and devalued the Naira by 20 percent, satisfying the World Bank and IMF and opening the door to credit lifelines from international lenders.

 

Equally important, several international pharmaceutical companies are poised to release their COVID-19 vaccines as early as the end of 2020. While it will take several more months for the vaccinations to progress and short-term uncertainty is expected to prevail, the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel has finally appeared.

 

Nigeria's first quarter 2021 outlook is likely to remain influenced by the same themes of pandemic pressures, suppressed Oil prices, shaky demand for Oil, and economic weaknesses. The country is expected to exit the recession by the end of Q1, according to Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed.

 

While these are promising signs, the major question is whether the 2021 state budget can revive Africa's largest economy and get it back on track towards healthy growth. At N13.08 trillion, the budget is over 20 percent higher than the revised 2020 budget. Nigeria plans to borrow N5.2 trillion and the Finance Ministry takes the relatively bullish position that GDP will grow by three percent. Benchmark oil prices are seen at $40 per barrel and the Oil production estimate is 1.6 million bpd. Inflation is expected to close at 11.95 percent.

 

In closing, Nigeria's short-term ability to defeat the recession by the end of first quarter depends on two key factors: how quickly the COVID-19 vaccination reaches the population and how fast demand for oil rises. In the long term, the importance of diversification cannot be underestimated for the economy to be balanced and more resilient against shocks.-This Day.

 

 

Ethiopia: Telecom Services Resume in Parts of Tigray Region

Addis Ababa — Ethio Telecom announced that it has resumed telecom services in some parts of Tigray Regional State.

 

According to the company, there has been telecom services interruption in Tigray Region for the last three weeks due to the law enforcement operation carried out in the region.

 

In a press release it issued yesterday, Ethio Telecom disclosed that it has resumed telecom service using alternative power solutions after conducting the necessary maintenance and rehabilitation works on damaged telecom infrastructures.

 

Telecom service has accordingly been partially resumed in Dansha, Turkan, Humera, Shiraro, Maytsebri, and Maikadra, while fully service was resumed in Alamata

 

The company further revealed that it is working hard to restore telecom services in all areas of the region within a short period.

 

It noted, "To this end, we are working on maintenance and rehabilitation of damaged telecom infrastructures and working with Ethiopian Electric Power to ensure commercial power availability, in addition to considering alternative power solution."-ENA.

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


Axia Corporation

AGM

virtual https://escrowagm.com/eagmZim/login.aspx

24/11/2020 | 8:14am

 


Zimbabwe

National Unity Day

Zimbabwe

22/12/2020

 


 

Christmas Day

 

25/12/2020

 


 

Boxing Day

 

26/12/2020

 


 

New Year’s Day

 

01/01/2021

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


Bindura Nickel Corporation

 

 

 


Padenga Holdings

 

 

 


Delta Corporation

 

 

 


Meikles Limited

 

 

 


 <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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