Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 16 December 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 16 December 2020

 


 

 

	
 


 

 


ü  Clothes and food drive down UK inflation

ü  Facebook to move all UK users onto US agreements

ü  MacKenzie Scott gives away $4.2bn in four months

ü  Struggling Air India could be taken over by workers

ü  UK business 'must wake up' to China's Uighur cotton slaves

ü  Australia launches WTO appeal against China's barley tariff

ü  Hackers used SolarWinds' dominance against it in sprawling spy campaign

ü  Texas hiring two law firms for Google probe team

ü  Russian hacks weigh on private equity's software investments

ü  European tech firms seek to share in U.S. IPO bonanza

ü  Asia stocks climb on vaccine, U.S. stimulus optimism; dollar skids

ü  Amazon urges judge to set aside $10 billion cloud contract award to
Microsoft

ü  Malawi: Chilima Inspects Blantyre City By-Pass Road Project - Calls for
Timely Funding

ü  Nigeria: World Bank Votes $3bn for Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

ü  Nigeria: 'Forex Scarcity Still Hampers Petrol Importation By Marketers'

 


 

 


Clothes and food drive down UK inflation

The UK's inflation rate fell dramatically to 0.3% in November from 0.7% in
October, official figures show.

 

Lower prices for clothing, food and non-alcoholic drinks made the biggest
contribution to the fall, the Office for National Statistics said.

 

However, games, toys and hobbies increased in price, partly offsetting those
declines.

 

The figures reflect the fact that most of the country was in some form of
Covid lockdown during the month.

 

Games, toys and other recreational activities became more expensive as
people tried to amuse themselves while their movements were restricted.

 

Normally, prices for clothes fall each year in summer sales before autumn
ranges come in, then rise before further sales towards the end of the year,
the ONS said.

 

Clothes would usually go up in price in November, the ONS said.

 

However, the coronavirus crisis has changed how prices move.

 

Inflation is the rate at which the prices for goods and services increase.

 

It affects everything from mortgages to the cost of our shopping and the
price of train tickets.

 

It's one of the key measures of financial well-being, because it affects
what consumers can buy for their money. If there is inflation, money doesn't
go as far.

 

The latest inflation figures come amid evidence that shop prices are falling
in the run-up to Christmas, as retailers race to clear stock and deal with a
"deepening" High Street crisis.

 

"With significant restrictions in place across the UK, inflation slowed,
predominantly due to clothing and food prices. Also, after several months of
buoyant growth, second-hand car prices fell back a little," said the ONS
deputy national statistician for economic statistics, Jonathan Athow.

 

Discounts are most common at retailers selling fashion and DIY goods,
according to the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Shop Price Index.

 

Unexpected

The sharp fall in inflation "came as a bit of a surprise", said Ruth
Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics.

 

"What we hadn't anticipated was the slump in food inflation from 0.6% to
-0.6%, which came despite the boost to demand for food in the supermarkets
during the second Covid-19 lockdown."

 

However, she added: "This does not change the big picture that inflation
will start to rise more sharply from April when the temporary VAT cut for
the hospitality sector is reversed and the downward drag from the previous
plunge in fuel prices drops out of the annual comparison.

 

"Together these forces could lift inflation to 2% by the middle of next
year. But given there will still be some spare capacity in the economy,
there seems little danger of inflation rising sustainably above the 2%
target unless there is a no-deal Brexit."-BBC

 

 

 

Facebook to move all UK users onto US agreements

Facebook will shift its UK users onto agreements with the company’s
corporate headquarters in California.

 

The move could put UK users out of reach of Europe's privacy laws.

 

But Facebook said there will be no change to the privacy controls or the
services it offers UK customers.

 

Currently, UK users are governed by agreements with Facebook’s Irish
headquarters, but this legal relationship will change following the UK's
exit from the European Union (EU).

 

“Facebook has had to make changes to respond to Brexit and will be
transferring legal responsibilities and obligations for UK users from
Facebook Ireland to Facebook Inc," the social media giant told Reuters,
which first reported the story.

 

The changes come into effect in 2021, and users will be notified by an
update to Facebook’s terms of service in the first half of the year.

 

A number of other tech companies also have their European headquarters in
Dublin, including Google, Microsoft, AirBnB and Twitter.

 

Facebook’s decision follows a similar move by Google in February.

 

Facebook’s UK users will remain subject to UK privacy law, which will still
largely mirror the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

 

GDPR is among the world’s strictest privacy regimes.

 

Privacy advocates have expressed concern that the UK might be tempted to
water down its protections in the pursuit of free trade deals as it leaves
the EU.

 

In particular, they are worried about a possible deal with the US, which has
weaker privacy laws.

 

Already, the Cloud Act - a US law passed in 2018 - has made it easier for US
and UK authorities to access data stored by digital service providers stored
in each other’s territory.

 

However, Facebook has been under increasing pressure in the US.

 

In a landmark lawsuit, US regulators have accused Facebook of buying up
rivals in order to stifle competition.

 

Regulators are seeking the sale of Facebook's picture sharing platform
Instagram and its messaging service WhatsApp.--BBC

 

 

MacKenzie Scott gives away $4.2bn in four months

MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated more
than $4bn (£3bn) to food banks and emergency relief funds in four months.

 

In a blog post, Ms Scott said she wanted to help Americans who were
struggling because of the pandemic.

 

Ms Scott is the world's 18th-richest person, having seen her wealth climb
$23.6bn this year to $60.7bn.

 

Much of her fortune comes from Mr Bezos who is the world's richest man and
Amazon's chief executive.

 

"This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already
struggling," she wrote in a blog post on Tuesday, adding that she had picked
more than 380 charities to donate to having considered almost 6,500
organisations.

 

"Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for
people of colour and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has
substantially increased the wealth of billionaires."

 

Ms Scott donated $1.7bn to 116 charities in July saying she wanted to call
attention to "organisations and leaders driving change." This takes her
total donations for the year to almost $6bn.

 

Donations were focused on those "operating in communities facing high
projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local
poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital."

 

Last year she signed the Giving Pledge, promising to give away the majority
of her fortune. The Giving Pledge is a commitment by the world's wealthiest
individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving
back.

 

"I have a disproportionate amount of money to share," she wrote in her
pledge.

 

Charity experts have applauded the amount she has given away and how she has
done it. Ms Scott has worked with a team of advisers to research thousands
of organisations.

 

"We leveraged this collective knowledge base in a collaboration that
included hundreds of emails and phone interviews, and thousands of pages of
data analysis on community needs, programme outcomes, and each non-profit's
capacity to absorb and make effective use of funding," she wrote.

 

Bezos' billions

This year Mr Bezos has also been active with philanthropy, committing $10bn
to issues related to climate change.

 

In November, he announced the first of those grants, handing out nearly
$800m to 16 groups. Mr Bezos has seen his net worth increase $70bn this year
to reach a fortune of $185bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

 

During the pandemic there has been a massive rise in online shopping
benefitting online retailers such as Amazon. Swiss bank UBS said
billionaires had done "extremely well" in the Covid crisis.

 

This year there has been a relatively high number of mega-donations as
celebrities, sports stars and business leaders respond to the Covid-19
pandemic and other causes.

 

Among the most generous was Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey who announced in
April that he was moving $1bn of his assets into a fund to support pandemic
relief efforts and other causes. This represents about a quarter of his
$3.9bn net worth.

 

Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have committed $305m for vaccines, treatment
and diagnostic development through their charitable foundation, while Harry
Potter author JK Rowling donated £1m to help homeless people and those
affected by domestic abuse during the pandemic.

 

On a different theme, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan
donated $300m to "protect American elections". The majority of the money
went to the Centre for Tech and Civic Life, a non-profit organisation to
recruit poll workers and supply them with personal protective equipment, and
to set up drive-through voting.

 

In June, basketball legend Michael Jordan announced he was donating $100m to
Black Lives Matters and social injustice causes over the next decade.--BBC

 

 

Struggling Air India could be taken over by workers

A number of bids have been put forward for India's loss-making national
carrier, including one on behalf of its employees.

 

The Indian government had tried to offload its stake in Air India in 2018
but failed to attract a single bid.

 

One group is representing employees and plans to offer them a controlling
stake in the struggling airline.

 

Another bid is reported to have been put forward by the Tata Group, which
originally founded the airline in 1932.

 

Tata, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, sold its stake to the government in the
1950s.

 

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to sell the government's entire
interest in the airline, which has been kept aloft by a bailout and racked
up billions in debts.

 

The airline has many assets, including prized slots at London's Heathrow
airport, a fleet of more than 100 planes and thousands of trained pilots and
crew.

 

Backbone

One of the bids put in ahead of this week's deadline was from US-based
investment firm, Interups.

 

Under its plan, Interups will hold 49% of Air India while a controlling
stake of 51% will be held by its employees.

 

"We are giving an open offer to employees of Air India to substantially own
the airline," Interups chairman Laxmi Prasad told the BBC.

 

"Our group will invest the entire monies required for the airline, with no
capital requirement from employees to contribute into the acquisition
effort."

 

Calling them the "backbone to run the airline", Mr Prasad added that the 51%
stake would be "in exchange for the deep intangible contribution you all
would be making for the airline."

 

"No-one knows Air India better than its employees and management."

 

"Any new owners will need to invest heavily in Air India, improving its
technology and customer services operations," said Jitendra Bhargava, former
Executive Director of Air India and author of the book, The Descent of Air
India.

 

"But India is a growing market and offers huge potential. My take is that
Air India is better run as a private company than by bureaucrats."

 

Interups, which specialises in turning companies around, says it has also
targeted another Indian airline, and if successful, will merge it with Air
India. They have not specified which airline that could be.

 

"The combined operations will make Air India a global leader for passenger
traffic to and from India," said Mr Prasad.

 

He described the potential battle with Tata for the airline as David versus
Goliath. "But David mastered the winning, and we are equally confident."

 

The Indian government is expected to notify the qualified bidders in early
January 2021.-BBC

 

 

 

UK business 'must wake up' to China's Uighur cotton slaves

UK businesses must investigate where they get their cotton to avoid buying
material grown by slave labour, according to a member of an influential
parliamentary committee.

 

The call comes in the aftermath of a BBC investigation.

 

Documents show that China is forcing hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and
other minorities into hard labour.

 

"UK businesses must now wake up to these disturbing realities," said MP
Nusrat Ghani.

 

Businesses must "stop denying knowledge of what is taking place, examine
their supply lines rigorously and make sure they are absolutely clear that
they are not profiting from slave labour and abuse of the Uighurs", said Ms
Ghani, who investigated the issue for the Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy (BEIS) Committee.

 

The BBC approached 30 major international brands. Marks and Spencer, Next,
and Tesco said they have policies in place that ensure products sourced from
China do not use raw cotton from Xinjiang, while Burberry said they do not
use any cotton from China at all.

 

Others, including those who don't source direct from Xinjiang, were unable
to guarantee its cotton didn't enter supply chains elsewhere.

 

Nine did not respond.

 

Ms Ghani praised the companies, but said more firms should follow suit.

 

Peter Andrews, head of sustainability at the British Retail Consortium,
said: "Protecting the welfare of people and communities is fundamental to
our members' sourcing practices, and retailers are investigating their
supply from China, particularly from the Xinjiang region, to ensure forced
labour is not used and high standards are being upheld."

 

The UK passed anti-slavery legislation in 2015 under the Modern Slavery
Act.--BBC

 

 

 

Australia launches WTO appeal against China's barley tariff

Australia will challenge China's tariff on its barley exports in an appeal
to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 

It marks the first defensive action from Australia in response to a number
of China's sanctions on a range of goods this year.

 

Beijing has imposed blockages or levies to dairy, meat, wine and others as
political tensions have worsened.

 

This has caused alarm in Australia as China is its biggest trading partner,
accounting for close to 40% of exports.

 

Earlier this week, Chinese state-controlled media reported that Australian
exports of thermal coal - the third biggest export to China - would face
restrictions.

 

Beijing declined to confirm the reports. It has previously accused Australia
of "unfriendly" and "hostile" attitudes towards it.

 

Tensions have grown over China's alleged foreign interference and influence
in Australian affairs.

 

'Taking it to the umpire'

China's 80% tariff on barley - imposed in May - was the first Australian
agricultural export to be sanctioned this year, and came after Chinese trade
officials alleged illegal dumping practices.

 

The Australian government has denied this, and said its repeated requests to
Beijing for dialogue on the trade blows have been ignored.

 

Speaking on Wednesday, Australia's trade minister said it was the
"appropriate next step" for the country to escalate the matter to the global
trade body.

 

"We ask the independent umpire to adjudicate and ultimately help settle
those disputes," said Simon Birmingham.

 

He added that Australia remained opened to solving the dispute outside of
the WTO case "if both parties are willing to come to the table".

 

Last week, he accused China of undermining the two nations' free trade
agreement - a 2015 deal which lowered tariffs and increased access to goods.

 

Analysts estimate that about a quarter of Australia's A$80bn export goods to
China have been affected so far in the political row.

 

On Tuesday, in response to the reports about coal, Beijing's foreign
ministry said "some people from the Australian side claim to be the
so-called victims".

 

Spokesman Wang Wengbin added that Australia had blocked or cancelled the
contracts of Chinese businesses in Australia on unsubstantiated grounds.
Canberra has blocked some deals on the basis of national security
concerns.--BBC

 

 

 

Hackers used SolarWinds' dominance against it in sprawling spy campaign

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On an earnings call two months ago, SolarWinds Chief
Executive Kevin Thompson touted how far the company had gone during his 11
years at the helm.

 

 

There was not a database or an IT deployment model out there to which his
Austin, Texas-based company did not provide some level of monitoring or
management, he told analysts on the Oct. 27 call.

 

“We don’t think anyone else in the market is really even close in terms of
the breadth of coverage we have,” he said. “We manage everyone’s network
gear.”

 

Now that dominance has become a liability - an example of how the workhorse
software that helps glue organizations together can turn toxic when it is
subverted by sophisticated hackers.

 

On Monday, SolarWinds confirmed that Orion - its flagship network management
software - had served as the unwitting conduit for a sprawling international
cyberespionage operation. The hackers inserted malicious code into Orion
software updates pushed out to nearly 18,000 customers.

 

And while the number of affected organizations is thought to be much more
modest, the hackers have already parlayed their access into consequential
breaches at the U.S. Treasury and Department of Commerce.

 

Three people familiar with the investigation have told Reuters that Russia
is a top suspect, although others familiar with the inquiry have said it is
still too early to tell.

 

A SolarWinds representative, Ryan Toohey, said he would not be making
executives available for comment. He did not provide on-the-record answers
to questions sent via email.

 

In a statement issued Sunday, the company said “we strive to implement and
maintain appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards,
security processes, procedures, and standards designed to protect our
customers.”

 

Cybersecurity experts are still struggling to understand the scope of the
damage.

 

The malicious updates - sent between March and June, when America was
hunkering down to weather the first wave of coronavirus infections - was
“perfect timing for a perfect storm,” said Kim Peretti, who co-chairs
Atlanta-based law firm Alston & Bird’s cybersecurity preparedness and
response team.

 

Assessing the damage would be difficult, she said.

 

“We may not know the true impact for many months, if not more – if not
ever,” she said.

 

 

The impact on SolarWinds was more immediate. U.S. officials ordered anyone
running Orion to immediately disconnect it. The company’s stock has tumbled
more than 23% from $23.50 on Friday - before Reuters broke the news of the
breach - to $18.06 on Tuesday.

 

SolarWinds’ security, meanwhile, has come under new scrutiny.

 

In one previously unreported issue, multiple criminals have offered to sell
access to SolarWinds’ computers through underground forums, according to two
researchers who separately had access to those forums.

 

One of those offering claimed access over the Exploit forum in 2017 was
known as “fxmsp” and is wanted by the FBI “for involvement in several
high-profile incidents,” said Mark Arena, chief executive of cybercrime
intelligence firm Intel471. Arena informed his company’s clients, which
include U.S. law enforcement agencies.

 

Security researcher Vinoth Kumar told Reuters that, last year, he alerted
the company that anyone could access SolarWinds’ update server by using the
password “solarwinds123”

 

“This could have been done by any attacker, easily,” Kumar said.

 

Neither the password nor the stolen access is considered the most likely
source of the current intrusion, researchers said.

 

Others - including Kyle Hanslovan, the cofounder of Maryland-based
cybersecurity company Huntress - noticed that, days after SolarWinds
realized their software had been compromised, the malicious updates were
still available for download.

 

The firm has long mooted the idea of spin-off of its managed service
provider business and on Dec. 9 announced that Thompson would be replaced by
Sudhakar Ramakrishna, the former chief executive of Pulse Secure. Three
weeks ago, SolarWinds posted a job ad seeking a new vice president for
security; the position is still listed as open.

 

Thompson and Ramakrishna could not be reached for comment.

 

 

Texas hiring two law firms for Google probe team

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Texas attorney general’s office has named The
Lanier Law Firm and the law firm Keller Lenkner to the litigation team that
would face off against Alphabet’s Google in an expected antitrust lawsuit,
the office said on Tuesday.

 

Texas, backed by other states, has long been expected to follow the Justice
Department’s lawsuit against Google but unrelated allegations against
Attorney General Ken Paxton of bribery and abuse of office led to the
departure of several lawyers who were key to the Google investigation.

 

With the new hires, the Texas lawsuit could come as early as this month,
according to a source familiar with the office’s planning.

 

Paxton’s office said in a statement that it had notified members of the
state legislature that the attorney general’s office intended to enter into
contracts with the two law firms “to aid the State of Texas should it seek
to file an antitrust claim against Google.”

 

The Lanier Law firm, including founder Mark Lanier, is based in Houston, Los
Angeles and New York and its practice areas include product liability and
business litigation, according to its website.

 

The law firm Keller Lenkner’s website touts its work in complex litigation.

 

The federal lawsuit filed in October argued that Google built a great search
engine but then fended off competition through exclusive deals with Apple
and others. It also alleged that Google abused its dominance in search
advertising. Texas signed on to that lawsuit.

 

Colorado, New York and another group of states are also expected to file a
lawsuit against Google. Those state attorneys general hope to consolidate
their complaint with the federal lawsuit, they said in a statement in
October.

 

The Texas led group has been focusing on Google’s ad-tech dominance prompted
by complaints by publishers and other businesses whose publications rely on
advertising revenue to survive.

 

 

 

Russian hacks weigh on private equity's software investments

(Reuters) - Some of the world’s biggest private equity firms, including
Blackstone Group Inc, Silver Lake Partners LP and Thoma Bravo LP, own major
stakes in the software firms whose shares dived on news that they were
breached by suspected Russian hackers.

 

Shares in SolarWinds Corp, which is controlled by Silver Lake and Thoma
Bravo, were down more than 5% on Tuesday, after the information technology
services provider said on Sunday that cyber spies hid malicious code in the
body of legitimate software updates. SolarWind’s stock has slid 20.8% from
last week’s close.

 

Reuters reported that Russian hackers hijacked the SolarWinds software
updates to break into multiple U.S. government agencies. Moscow denied
having any connection to the attacks.

 

Following the plunge in the shares, Silver Lake’s nearly 40% stake in
SolarWinds is worth $2.3 billion, while Thoma Bravo’s 33% stake is valued at
$1.9 billion. They are still in the black, as each had invested $1.2 billion
in the $4.5 billion leveraged buyout of SolarWinds in 2016. Silver Lake and
Thoma Bravo have also earned $194.6 million and $234.67 million,
respectively, from secondary stock sales since they took SolarWinds public
in 2018.

 

Silver Lake declined to comment. Thoma Bravo did not respond to a request
for comment.

 

In November, Blackstone led a $400 million investment in cybersecurity firm
FireEye Inc, with ClearSky, a cyber security-focused investment firm,
joining as co-investor.

 

FireEye shares dropped more than 11% earlier this month after the company
said hackers stole an arsenal of internal hacking tools used to privately
test the cyber defenses of its clients. FireEye has contracts across the
U.S. national security sector and other allied countries.

 

Following the breach, FireEye agreed to amend the deal to make it more
favorable to Blackstone and ClearSky, according to regulatory filings. The
FireEye preferred shares they stood to receive, paying a 4.5% dividend,
would be converted into common stock at $17.25, not $18 as previously
agreed. FireEye shares were trading on Tuesday afternoon around $13.58.

 

Blackstone declined to comment.

 

 

 

European tech firms seek to share in U.S. IPO bonanza

LONDON (Reuters) - Some of Europe’s tech companies are preparing to speed up
listing plans early next year to grab some of the billions of dollars of
investor cash that has already fuelled a record-breaking run of tech IPOs in
the United States this year.

 

Tech sector valuations, already red hot prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, have
hit eye-popping levels as investors bet that trends such as online shopping
and food delivery will outlast the crisis.

 

The United States has attracted most of the listing action, with a record
$81 billion of initial public offering (IPO) proceeds this year so far,
based on Refinitiv data.

 

Shares in food delivery startup DoorDash Inc and home rental firm AirBnB
surged between 70% and 115% on their first day of trading in New York last
week.

 

In contrast, European IPOs have raised just $19 billion this year, the
lowest in at least a decade, partly because there are more attractive
alternatives on offer such as private equity deals.

 

But one equity capital markets banker said his team had around 50 mandates
from companies across Europe to look into listings, more than 60% of which
were tech or tech-related.

 

“There is a significant number of late stage private companies in the sector
for whom an IPO is a realistic prospect in the short to medium term,” said
Claire Keast-Butler, a partner with law firm Cooley.

 

Bankers say online food delivery business Deliveroo, cyber-security firm
Darktrace, e-commerce website musicMagpie, e-retailer Moonpig and reviews
site Trustpilot in the UK are among those looking to go public next year.

 

In Germany, digital used-car trading platform Auto1 and online e-commerce
About You are planning Frankfurt listings. In France, several “unicorns”,
which have talked about listing in the past, may accelerate their plans.

 

Factbox: Europe's tech companies accelerate IPO plans

Deliveroo, Darktrace, Trustpilot, Auto1 and About You declined to comment.

 

“After a sustained period of strong performance, musicMagpie is reviewing a
number of attractive alternatives to best support our continuing rapid
growth,” it said in a statement.

 

“As a high growth company we constantly evaluate our funding options, and
regularly meet with advisers on this subject,” a Moonpig spokesperson said.

 

HOME OR AWAY?

But Europe’s stock exchanges are not assured of bagging all the potential
IPO candidates. Some may choose European exchanges for their market debut
but others are considering listing in the United States, which has a more
tech-savvier investor base and more relaxed listing rules.

 

Others may be snapped up by one of the 100-plus SPACs (special purpose
acquisition companies) that have listed this year. These are shell companies
that use the proceeds from going public to buy another company, not yet
identified at time of listing.

 

“The factor that’s most likely to hit European IPO volumes are IPO
alternatives, such as SPACs and private equity,” said Darrell Uden, global
co-head ECM Europe at RBC Capital Markets.

 

Michiel Kotting, a partner at venture capital firm Northzone, which has
stakes in many European tech firms, said that some European exchanges will
still attract companies that have a regional appeal.

 

He cited Kahoot, a Norwegian educational gaming company listed on the Oslo
exchange in which Northzone was an early investor, as an example of a
company that listed locally but still attracted global institutional money.

 

“Of course, most companies in this sector will look at the SPAC option as
well,” he added.

 

Some European stock exchanges are looking at making their listing rules more
attractive by adjusting share class structures or reducing their free float
requirement.

 

Britain is reviewing London’s listing rules to make it more appealing for
tech companies.

 

Companies aiming to list in London currently must have a minimum of 25% of
shares available for trading, which makes it more difficult for owners to
maintain control.

 

Tech companies are typically founder-led, mid-cap startups that want to keep
enhanced voting power.

 

“A separate share class, or a lower free float requirement at IPO, will
allow founding and early shareholders to retain upside exposure, but still
allow access to a range of financing alternatives to help continue to fuel
and accelerate that growth,” Uden said.

 

Other European exchanges such as Amsterdam have eased rules to allow the
listing of dual-class shares, making London look slightly out of step with
other jurisdictions, Keast-Butler said.

 

 

 

Asia stocks climb on vaccine, U.S. stimulus optimism; dollar skids

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian stocks were buoyant on Wednesday and the dollar
eased as hopes of effective coronavirus vaccines and the growing prospect of
more U.S. fiscal stimulus cheered investors ahead of the Christmas holiday
season.

 

In a sign the positive momentum was set to extend, Eurostoxx 50 futures and
Germany’s Dax futures edged 0.1% higher, while futures for London’s FTSE
firmed 0.3%.

 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan rose 0.8%
after two straight days of losses.

 

The index, hovering near record highs, is up 3.8% so far in December and is
on track for its best yearly performance since 2017 thanks to generous
government and central bank stimulus around the world.

 

Australian shares rose 0.8% while South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.4% and
Japan’s Nikkei added 0.2%.

 

China’s blue-chip CSI 300 index added 0.15% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index
climbed 0.86%.

 

“We expect many emerging market economies to continue to show positive
momentum in 2021 led by Asia,” TD Securities wrote in a note, adding that,
on aggregate, they would recover lost output from 2020.

 

“China is likely to see a more rapid convergence to pre-COVID GDP levels.”

 

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.05%.

 

Overnight, U.S. and European stocks, gold and oil were upbeat. The Dow rose
1.1% while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed 1.3% each. [.N]

 

Optimism over a $1.4 trillion U.S. spending package increased after House of
Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited other top congressional leaders
to meet late on Tuesday to hammer out a deal to be enacted this week.

 

Progress on the roll-out of vaccines continued after Moderna Inc’s COVID-19
vaccine appeared set for regulatory authorization this week.

 

The U.S. also expanded its rollout of the newly approved vaccine developed
by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.

 

“Despite COVID still raging in Europe and the United States, markets are
looking through the near-term risks to economic growth and focusing on the
likely better times in 2021,” Betashares chief economist David Bassanese
wrote in a note.

 

“Central banks are promising to keep rates low for 1 to 2 years, which is
supporting the economy and financial markets and also provides a ramp for
equity price,” he added.

 

Markets will now look to the U.S. Federal Reserve for new projections on
whether the economy will suffer a double-dip recession or is on the cusp of
a vaccine-inspired boom.

 

The central bank is to release a statement later in the day, with analysts
expecting some guidance on when and how the Fed might change its bond
purchases.

 

Optimism for a trade deal on Brexit also boosted stocks, while contributing
to a weaker dollar against the British pound and the euro.

 

The dollar made a fresh 1-1/2 month low of 103.40 against the Japanese yen
as progress toward a spending bill and COVID-19 relief measures sapped
demand for safe assets. It is down 4.7% this year so far.

 

Against the euro, the greenback languished near 2 1/2-year lows and was last
at $1.2160 after two straight days of losses while it was flat at $1.3459 on
sterling.

 

In commodities, gold prices rose 0.1% to $1,855.17 an ounce.

 

Gold, regarded as a hedge against inflation and currency debasement, has
risen over 22% so far this year amid unprecedented government stimulus
globally.

 

Brent crude slipped 8 cents to $50.68 a barrel and U.S. crude fell 6 cents
each to $47.56.

 

 

 

Amazon urges judge to set aside $10 billion cloud contract award to
Microsoft

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amazon.com urged a U.S. judge to toss out the
Pentagon’s $10 billion JEDI cloud computing contract award after the Defense
Department said in September a court-ordered re-evaluation had determined
Microsoft Corp’s proposal still represented the best value for the
government.

 

The company’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit said in a redacted Oct. 23
court filing unsealed on Tuesday that the award to Microsoft must “be
invalidated because it is the product of systematic bias, bad faith, and
undue influence exerted by President Trump to steer the award away from” the
company. It called it a “flawed and politically corrupted decision.”

 

The White House declined to comment, referring questions to the Justice
Department. The Pentagon did not immediately comment.

 

Microsoft said in a statement Tuesday “career procurement officials at the
DoD decided that given the superior technical advantages and overall value,
we continued to offer the best solution.”

 

It added “it is time we moved on and got this technology in the hands of
those who urgently need it: the women and men who protect our nation.”

 

AWS said in a statement Tuesday that as a result of the Pentagon revision in
September “the pricing differential swung substantially, with AWS now the
lowest-priced bid by tens of millions of dollars.”

 

A judge in February granted Amazon’s request to temporarily halt the deal
from moving forward; that remains in place.

 

The court is considering motions to dismiss Amazon’s amended complaint that
have been filed by the government and Microsoft. The motions have not been
made public and it is not clear when the judge might rule.

 

Amazon, which had been seen as a front-runner to win the contract, filed a
lawsuit in November 2019 after the contract was awarded to Microsoft. Trump
has publicly derided Amazon head Jeff Bezos and repeatedly criticized the
company.

 

Amazon’s new filing said Trump and his administration “intensified a
campaign of interference and retribution against those in DoD perceived as
disloyal to the president or capable of reaching conclusions at odds with
his personal interests.”

 

The company argued the latest Pentagon review was “riddled with errors even
more egregious than those that plagued the initial award,” and that the
Pentagon “manipulated its evaluations to a degree that belies any facade of
rationality.”

 

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud (JEDI) contract could
reach as much as $10 billion and is part of a broader digital modernization
of the Pentagon.

 

Then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the Pentagon made its choice fairly.
Trump fired Esper last month.

 

 

 

Malawi: Chilima Inspects Blantyre City By-Pass Road Project - Calls for
Timely Funding

Vice-President Saulos Chilima has said government is losing a lot of money
when road projects are not well funded or delayed.

 

Chilima made the remarks on Tuesday when he visited the 97-kilometer
Blantyre City By-pass Road to evaluate the progress made so far.

 

He said it was sad to see that people get compensated when government wants
to start a road project but when they see no activity, the same people will
start encroaching the land and demand more compensation.

 

Chilima said projects like the by-pass road are part of national development
as such, he meant to appreciate the progress made.

 

He also to appreciate challenges being faced by the Roads Authority,
Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and
Treasury so that they could sit down and find a solution on how they can
fund the project.

The Vice-President also said although the initial works have been done, the
main challenge is funding.

 

"The initial works have been done but the main challenge is funding and it
is a 97-kilometre stretch of road for which in the current budget
(2020/2021), we provided resources to the extent of K1.2 billion.

 

"If we continue to fund these projects at that rate, it will take us more
than 30 years to finish this road," he added.

 

Chilima said it is only fair for a project to last 3 or 4 years so that the
citizens can enjoy the fruits of their tax.

 

He added that he was impressed with the design though, saying if done
properly, the road would be of great value.

 

The Blantyre City By-pass Road initial works started in 2019. It starts from
Matindi to Njuli and will have a 7.4m wide carriageway and 2.1m wide
shoulders on each of its sides.

 

The project is funded by Malawi Government and being constructed by the
China Civil Engineering Construction Group (CCECG).-Nyasa Times.

 

 

 

Nigeria: World Bank Votes $3bn for Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

The World Bank Group has announced a new five-year Country Partnership
Framework (CPF) from 2021 to 2024 and approved a $1.5-billion package to
help build a resilient recovery post- COVID-19.

 

In addition to that, the Bank also announced that it has approved $1.5
billion for two projects, which include: Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery
and Economic Stimulus - Programme for Results (Nigeria CARES).

 

The Bank in a statement yesterday said the fund is approved for social
protection and strengthened state-level COVID-19 response.

 

"Nigeria is at a critical juncture," the bank said in the statement. The
bank said government revenues could fall by more than $15 billion this year,
and the crisis will push an additional five million Nigerians into poverty
in 2020.

World Bank Country director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri says the
partnership framework is designed to guide the bank's engagement for "the
next five years in supporting the government of Nigeria's strategic
priorities by taking a phased and adaptive approach.

 

"To realise its long-term potential, the country has to make tangible
progress on key challenges and pursue some bold reforms. Our engagement will
focus on supporting Nigeria's efforts to reduce poverty and promote
sustained private sector-led growth," Chaudhuri said yesterday.

 

The two projects to be supported by the Bank is to help increase access to
social transfers and basic services, as well as provide grants to poor and
vulnerable households. It will also strengthen food supply chains for poor
households while facilitating recovery and enhancing capabilities of MSMEs.
It would be financed through an International Development Association (IDA)
credit of $750 million.-Leadership.

 

 

 

Nigeria: 'Forex Scarcity Still Hampers Petrol Importation By Marketers'

Marketers of petroleum products have said they are yet to go back to the
importation business due to their inability to access foreign exchange.

 

According to them, sourcing dollars at the official market rate remains a
challenge to them due to its scarcity, adding that they could not go to the
black market in search of forex because of the cost implication.

 

This is happening months after the federal government said it had removed
petrol subsidy, deregulated the downstream petroleum industry and had given
private marketers permission to resume importation of petroleum products

The petroleum marketers including the Major Oil Marketers Association of
Nigeria (MOMAN), the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria
(IPMAN) and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of
Nigeria (DAPPMAN) have continued to depend on the Petroleum Products
Marketing Company (PPMC), the petrol importing arm of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the supply of products.

 

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, had sometime in
September, assured the marketers that concrete steps had been taken to
address their main concerns, especially the issue of availability of forex,
stressing that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had already taken the first
step of merging all forex windows to have a unified exchange rate.

 

However, three months since the assurance was made, marketers said nothing
has changed and that they are still encountering the same challenge posed by
difficulty in accessing Forex.

The situation has left the NNPC to continue playing as the sole importer of
petrol as only it can access forex at the current official rate of about
N380 or there about, to a dollar.

 

"Nothing has changed. The forex issue is still like that. And as you can
see, the government has also extended that DSDP (the exchange of crude for
refined petroleum products) arrangement.

 

"That's a signal to you that foreign exchange may not be there for us to
access," The Chairman of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN),
Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, told THISDAY.

 

The Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company, Mr. Bismarck Rewane,
had said aside petrol pricing, one other element of petroleum marketing that
had not been fully deregulated was access to foreign exchange.

 

He explained that private importers of petroleum products did not have
access to foreign exchange, leading to the continuous monopoly by the NNPC
in the country's petrol importation.-This Day.

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


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

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


ART

Seed co Int.

Dairibord

 


Starafrica

Medtech

Turnall

 


Seed co

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <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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<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77
344 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

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