Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 December 2020

Thu Dec 24 08:30:44 CAT 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 24 December 2020

ü  Asian markets push higher on hopes of Brexit deal

ü  Alibaba being investigated by China over monopoly tactics

ü  Lufthansa airlifts food to the UK amid lorry chaos

ü  EU to allow post-Brexit UK farm produce exports

ü  Crypto-currency firm Ripple charged by US watchdog

ü  SolarWinds Sunburst: UK data watchdog issues hack alert

ü  Pound gains on hopes a Brexit trade deal is close

ü  Africa: Chemical Industry Targets Kenya for Dumping Plastic, Chemical Waste

ü  Seychelles: New Artisanal Fishing Plan Seeks to Shore Up Stocks Near Seychelles' Main Island

ü  Kenya Railways Adjusts Nairobi-Nanyuki Rail Service Schedule Over High Demand

ü  Mozambique: Sasol Pulling Out of Ressano Garcia Power Station

ü  Ethiopia's Export Hits 1.33 Billion Usd in Five Months

ü  Oil rises on U.S. inventory draw, Brexit deal hopes

Asian markets push higher on hopes of Brexit deal

Asian markets edged higher on Thursday ahead of a possible post-Brexit deal and rallies on key US share indexes.

Japan's Nikkei gained in early trade while markets in Australia, South Korea and Singapore also saw modest rises.

The pound gained 0.2% against the US dollar, rising to $1.353 early in the Asian trading day.

The British currency had surged 0.9% in the previous session to snap a three-day losing streak.

"If a deal does transpire on 24 December, GBP is likely to make further gains toward $1.40," strategist Tim Riddell from Australian bank Westpac said.

The pound was also boosted after France lifted its ban on freight coming from the UK, which it had enacted in response to a more contagious coronavirus variant.

The euro also strengthened 0.1% to $1.22025, adding to a 0.2% gain overnight.

The US dollar also saw some price movement as hopes for a UK-EU agreement would protect some $1tn (£740bn) in annual cross-channel trade from tariffs and quotas.

A deal would end the prospect of the UK and the EU imposing widespread import taxes on each other's goods from 1 January, when the Brexit transition period ends.

Christmas cheer?

But the pre-Christmas Brexit cheer didn't extend to all Asian markets.

Chinese markets were mostly flat, as investors absorbed the news that Chinese regulators have announced a monopoly investigation into technology giant Alibaba.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index along with China's Shenzhen and Shanghai stock markets were all relatively flat in trading.—BBC

Alibaba being investigated by China over monopoly tactics

Chinese tech giant Alibaba is being investigated by regulators over monopolistic practices.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) made the announcement on Thursday.

Regulators have previously warned Alibaba about forcing merchants to sign exclusive deals which prevent them from offering products on rival platforms.

Financial regulators will also meet with Alibaba's financial technology offshoot Ant Group in the coming days.

The investigation into monopolistic behaviour centres on the so-called "choosing one from two" practice.

This requires merchants (sellers) to sign exclusive cooperation pacts, preventing them from offering products on rival platforms

China's tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent are facing increased scrutiny by the Chinese government, who are concerned about their growing size and power.

Regulators are worried about the millions of users they have amassed and the influence they have over daily life in China, including shopping and payments.

Alibaba, founded by the flamboyant Jack Ma, has already felt the wrath of regulators from a coordinated crackdown.

Last month, the Ant Group, which was previously called Alipay, was forced to halt its stock market listing, which would have been the world's biggest launch.

Regulators made the decision to block the IPO just days before the launch, after raising concerns about its micro-lending services.

Since then, tough new antitrust rules have been introduced across the tech sector and have triggered a decline of about $140bn (£103bn), or 17%, in the market value of Mr Ma's Alibaba.

Ant clampdown

The meeting with the Ant Group is to "guide Ant Group to implement financial supervision, fair competition and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers", a statement from the People's Bank of China said.

Following notice by regulators, Ant said that it will "seriously study and strictly comply with all regulatory requirements and commit full efforts to fulfil all related work".

The Chinese government has become increasingly concerned with parts of Ant's sprawling empire, particularly its lucrative credit business.--BBC

Lufthansa airlifts food to the UK amid lorry chaos

The airline said it is carrying 80 tonnes of food from Frankfurt to Doncaster Sheffield Airport for grocers including Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Almost 3,000 lorries remain stuck in Kent despite moves to re-start cross-Channel access from Dover.

There are concerns that testing drivers for Covid could delay food supplies.

France shut its border with the UK on Sunday for 48 hours to stop the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus found in the UK.

"Lufthansa Cargo is currently examining whether additional special cargo flights can be offered during the next days. We are also checking if a regular flight might be possible," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

"This could be with a freighter, but we are also examining if we could use passenger aircraft for freight flights only," she added.

Lufthansa said the delivery, sent by freight firm Venus International Transport, was destined for Tesco, Sainbury's, the Co-op and Aldi.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport told the BBC that in January, the "planned increase" in the number of flights of perishable goods had risen from three a week to eight.

The airport will be handling 700 tonnes a week in food freight, up from 300 tonnes a week. However, the airport said the increase was due to companies wanting to mitigate anticipated Brexit congestion, rather than the current issues at Dover.

"We have seen a general increase in freight traffic in the period since the pandemic began in March by around 40% year-on-year," a spokeswoman said.

"We are currently experiencing a large volume of enquiries for flights as a result of border closures and we are handling additional flights, such as today's, where possible. Naturally, this is already a busy period for the air-freight sector as a result of Christmas and Covid."

Some firms have been chartering private aircraft to move goods such as food, textiles and livestock as the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel closed.

French residents and nationals who can prove they have had a negative coronavirus test will be able to travel from Wednesday, and lorry drivers can do so after a rapid lateral flow Covid test.

The food imports will be flown from Frankfurt, a major food distribution centre in Europe that receives goods from food producers all over the continent including Spain, the Netherlands and France.

Backlog

Although France has given the go-ahead for travel from the UK to resume, the International Road Transport Union warned that testing truck drivers will cause significant delays.

"We don't think testing will work. The backlog can't be cleared if the tests take 30 minutes per driver," said Raluca Marian, the union's general delegate to the EU.

Britain imports nearly half of its fresh vegetables and the majority of its fruit, both mainly from the EU.

Fruit and veg graphic

Tesco and Sainsbury's warned earlier this week that if the port chaos continued, the UK could see shortages of lettuce and some citrus fruits - which are typically imported from Spain and Italy.

Tesco has introduced purchasing limits on some products including eggs, rice, soap and toilet roll. Customers are allowed to buy up to three of each item.

On Wednesday, Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said that some shortages could worsen.

"It is essential that lorries get moving across the border as quickly as possible. Until the backlog is cleared and supply chains return to normal, we anticipate issues with the availability of some fresh goods," he said.

In the past, the UK has turned to other means when fresh produce has been under threat.

In 2018, thousands of iceberg lettuces were shipped from Los Angeles to the UK due to a summer heat wave increasing demand for salad, while the hotter weather made it difficult to actually grow lettuces.

Last year, Frankfurt Airport handled 2.09 million tonnes of cargo, according to Airports Council International.

German companies imported €11.1bn (£10bn) of fresh fruit and vegetables - equivalent to 19% of the combined imports of all European countries, latest data from the Netherlands' Center for the Promotion of Imports (CBI) shows.

The airport's cargo terminal has 12,000 sq m of temperature-controlled warehouses, including 2,000 sq m (21,530 sq ft) of cold storage.--BBC

EU to allow post-Brexit UK farm produce exports

The UK government has told the agricultural industry that the EU will allow almost all food and plant exports from Great Britain to continue after Brexit.

As a first step, the UK has to be awarded "third country" listed status to be allowed to export to the EU.

A Defra letter says the EU will confirm this legally on Monday, with effect from 1 January.

This will apply irrespective of a post-Brexit deal.

If no deal were struck taxes on imports both ways would apply too, while new red tape such as export heath certificates will be introduced.

"Third country listing" is essential to permit ongoing exports of, for example, Welsh lamb or live chicks.

The National Farmers Union said it was a "critical step forward". While almost all UK plant exports are also listed, there is a delay on some exports of seeds.

And whereas the ongoing export of Ware potatoes for eating is confirmed, seed potatoes will be banned.

The Defra letter says: "Unfortunately the EU have confirmed they will not accept our case for a permanent change to the prohibition on seed potatoes… on the grounds that there is no agreement for GB to be dynamically aligned with EU rules".

This is an industry significantly focussed in Scotland and the north of England.

Exports of seed potatoes will also be barred from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. A continuity trade deal with Egypt will protect the largest market for British exports.

'Disastrous'

Scottish government rural spokesman Fergus Ewing said it would be "disastrous for our world leading industry".

It was a delay to the process of granting third country listed status that led to the Government accusing the EU of threatening to "blockade" Northern Ireland. This news guarantees that access for almost everything.--BBC

Crypto-currency firm Ripple charged by US watchdog

Crypto-currency firm Ripple has been charged with conducting investments without proper licences by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC asserted that Ripple's XRP token is a tradable asset, known as a security, and thus subject to its regulations.

The firm argues that XRP is a currency and therefore does not have to be registered as an investment contract.

The value of XRP fell by more than 30% on the news.

Digital currencies are governed by another US regulator - the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) - which has different rules.

Ripple's chief executive Brad Garlinghouse, and former chief executive Chris Larsen, have both been charged with violating the Securities Act.

"We allege that Ripple and its executives failed over a period of years to satisfy [the SEC's] core investor protection provisions, and as a result, investors lacked information to which they were entitled," said Marc Berger, deputy director of the watchdog's enforcement division.

Mr Garlinghouse subsequently blogged reaction from one of the firm's lawyers, who said: "The SEC is completely wrong on the facts and the law and we are confident we will ultimately prevail before a neutral fact-finder."

Billions of dollars' worth of XRP are traded every day, the lawyer continued, adding that it should be treated as being a virtual currency like Bitcoin.

Mr Garlinghouse also stressed that the crypto-currency was separate from Ripple, the company that provides a payment system for banks around the world.

"Ripple our company has shareholders: if you want to invest in Ripple, you do not buy XRP but rather shares in Ripple."

Later he tweeted: "The SEC should not be able to cherry-pick what innovation looks like. This battle is just the beginning."

XRP, the world's third largest crypto-currency has fared differently to others such as Bitcoin and Ether in part because it works differently.

It was set up by Ripple which developed a payment system used by banks to speed up and modernise how they pay each other. And while Bitcoin is decentralised and "mined" using a sophisticated computer network, spread around the world, XRP is controlled by Ripple, with the firm releasing coins each month.

Bitcoin and Ether have been ruled out of trading exchanges that offer the buying and selling of stocks and bonds.

In 2018, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said both could be traded as commodities, like currencies, oil or cotton.

The case will add to the debate over whether crypto-currencies should be treated like stock and governed by a regulator like the SEC.

Allowing crypto-currency XRP to trade like a stock or a bond would serve as a stamp of approval from a securities regulator and attract higher trading volumes and investment.

But it may also mean that it would have to be delisted from currency exchanges unless they registered as security exchanges.--BBC

SolarWinds Sunburst: UK data watchdog issues hack alert

The UK's data privacy regulator has told organisations under its watch they should "immediately check" if they have been affected by the SolarWinds hack.

The Texas-based company - which provides computer network management tools to a wide variety of clients - recently disclosed one of its leading products had been compromised.

The watchdog reminded those holding data on UK citizens they had 72 hours to report a breach once discovered.

Officials continue to study the impact.

Last week, a security source told the BBC that the investigators believed only a small number of British organisations had been affected and none were in the public sector.

However, since then it has been reported that the accountants Deloitte, chip-makers Intel and Nvidia, and cloud-computing software maker VMWare are all among those who have used the Orion network monitoring tool that was altered to provide the hackers a backdoor.

There are also indications that the US Treasury and departments of homeland security, state, defence and commerce were also targeted via the breach, which has been dubbed "Sunburst".

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr have both accused Russia of being responsible, as have several cyber-security experts.

However, President Donald Trump has muddied the waters by suggesting China could be behind the attack.

Both the Kremlin and the Chinese government have denied involvement.

SolarWinds published its own guidance to its clients on its website last week, however the whole site now appears to be offline.

Holding to account

SolarWinds has said that it believes "fewer than 18,000" of its customers had installed the compromised Orion updates.

Bruce Schneier, a leading cyber-security researcher, has written in the Guardian that "it's hard to overstate how bad this is".

It will take years to learn which networks the SVR [Russian espionage agency] has penetrated, and where it still has access."

But he noted that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was probably running similar offensive operations of its own on the same scale.

Even so, President-elect Joe Biden has promised the US will respond in turn, and mentioned suspicions that Russia was to blame.

"We can't let this go unanswered. That means making clear and publicly who is responsible for the attack and taking meaningful steps to hold them in account," he said in a speech on Tuesday.

Mr Biden also noted that the Department of Defense had refused to brief him on "many things" including the attack.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has also urged organisations to take steps to protect their networks.

"This is a complex, global cyber-incident," said its director of operations, Paul Chichester.

"But simply having SolarWinds does not automatically make an organisation vulnerable to real-world impact."

To further complicate matters, Microsoft has said its own inquiry into the breach has uncovered a further problem.

"In an interesting turn of events, the investigation of the whole SolarWinds compromise led to the discovery of an additional malware that also affects the SolarWinds Orion product but has been determined to be likely unrelated to this compromise and used by a different threat actor," it said in a blog published on Friday.

It added that that the malicious code provided the perpetrator the means to install and run their own software on a target's machines.

Microsoft did not speculate as to whom this second attacker might be or how they might have exploited the hack.--BBC

Pound gains on hopes a Brexit trade deal is close

The pound surged on Wednesday on hopes that a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU was close.

Sterling climbed more than 1% against the dollar to top $1.35 and 0.75% against the euro to €1.1074.

There were reports that Downing Street sources said a deal could be completed later on Wednesday but that it was "far from certain".

Shares and sterling were up earlier in the day after France overturned its travel ban for some hauliers.

Pound v US dollar

Lorry drivers trying to get back to France from Dover would have to prove they had a negative Covid test.

But the International Road Transport Union warned that testing stranded truck drivers is "going to be an absolute disaster".

"The testing is for truck drivers is ridiculous. They are alone in their cabins, they are not spreaders," warned Raluca Marian, the International Road Transport Union's general delegate to the EU.

She told the BBC's Today programme: "We don't think testing will work. The backlog can't be cleared if the tests take 30 minutes per driver."

Ms Marian said that back in spring during the first wave of the coronavirus, temperature checks were introduced at the Austrian Border.

"The tests took around five to 10 minutes but led to 60km of queues," she said. "But that was a constant flow and we didn't have the backlog that we have in the UK."

She called for a testing corridor to be introduced in France to ease the backlog.

Knock-on effect

The pound had hit a year's high against the dollar of $1.3581 last week before the borders were closed, but fell back at the start of the week on the news.

Darren Jones, chairman of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, warned delays to the food supply chain because of the lorry backlog will have a knock-on effect on expected Brexit-related delays.

The UK will stop trading under EU rules on 31 December and the government is in talks with the bloc over a Brexit deal.

"There's an absolute emergency to get those tests through to drivers and get the backlog cleared," said Mr Jones.

"If the Covid-related backlog is not cleared quickly it will have a cumulative impact on the expected delays around Brexit, even if we are able to secure a deal.

"That will lead to shortages of certain foods on our shelves and disruption to supply."

Mr Jones said the backlog of lorries was "in many ways was a dress rehearsal for the expected delays on Brexit".

"The operations were in place, the lorry parks were in place, the systems were supposed to be in place, but they haven't been stepped up to be ready in time.

This dress rehearsal shows we have a bumpy few weeks ahead."

Backlog

The British Retail Consortium also warned there may be shortages of fresh goods until the backlog of lorries waiting to cross the Channel is cleared.

Andrew Opie, the industry group's director of food and sustainability, said: "It is good news for consumers as the French borders have now reopened, however it is essential that lorries get moving across the border as quickly as possible.

"Until the backlog is cleared and supply chains return to normal, we anticipate issues with the availability of some fresh goods."--BBC

Africa: Chemical Industry Targets Kenya for Dumping Plastic, Chemical Waste

Kenya has been a beacon for global efforts to reduce plastics. The country’s 2017 plastic bag ban reduced environmental degradation that comes from plastic waste and demonstrated decisive government action against plastic pollution. Now, Kenya finds itself again in the spotlight as the primary line of defense to protect Africans from an unprecedented explosion of toxic plastic waste across the continent. New research exposing that toxic chemicals from plastics are poisoning Africa’s food chain, covered in The East African, should strengthen governmental resolve to protect the collective health of Kenyans and all Africans.

When China closed its door  to imports of the world’s plastic waste in 2017, the world’s biggest plastic waste producers began dumping plastic waste in countries with developing economies and weaker environmental infrastructures, predominantly in South East Asia. The recycling game had been disrupted , but the world pushed back .

In 2020, Kenya joined 183 other countries in giving developing countries a simple tool to resist the dumping of waste from the global north. Kenya signed the sensible Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendment , which requires importers to declare the contents of their shipments and secure prior informed contest from importing countries before shipping plastic waste.

Governments and advocates have joined forces and worked to repatriate unwanted waste from the Philippines , Indonesia , Malaysia , and Thailand .  Interpol documented  a dramatic upswing in criminal plastic waste dumping, further underscoring that plastic waste is a burden that no one wants.

Yet despite the growing global movement against plastic pollution, the chemical industry is moving to create MORE plastics, aiming to triple the supply by 2030 . Why? Over 99% of plastic is made from chemicals sourced from oil and gas. As prices drop for fossil fuel energy, the industry is increasing plastic production.  Skyrocketing plastic production means an even larger colossus of plastic waste, waste that is riven with toxic chemicals that are hazardous to human health and the environment.

What will the world do with its unwanted mountains of toxic plastic waste?

Kenya is the target of a scheme  by the America Chemistry Council, the lobbying arm of the chemical industry that represents the world’s biggest fossil fuel and chemical companies, to be made the new global destination for plastic and plastic waste.  A letter from the American Chemistry Council to US trade negotiators exposes that the industry is working hard to influence US trade policy with Kenya that will result in a surge of plastic and chemical waste dumping in Kenya and throughout Africa.

New research demonstrates that plastics contain hazardous chemicals that lead to toxic exposures. An important report  from UN chemicals conventions and chemical experts demonstrates that toxic chemical additives are widespread in plastics creating dangerous contamination at every stage of production, use, disposal (including landfill, incineration, open dumping), and recycling of plastic. The report reveals that “chemicals of concern” are omnipresent in children’s toys, food packaging, textiles, and electronics.

The plastic industry  continues to deny the dangers intrinsic to their products and insists their products are safe. But new research has upended that claim. Cancers, birth defects, immune system suppression, impaired intellectual function, developmental delays, are some of the health impacts associated with exposures to the known chemicals in plastics.

Moreover, research shows that there are no safe methods to dispose of plastics that do not create toxic exposures.

Recycling is more of a myth  than a solution. Only a fraction of all the world’s plastic waste has been recycled — 9% to be exact — because most plastics are not recyclable. The industry argues that it will make more plastic that can be recycled. But recycling plastics with toxic chemicals cause further toxic exposures. Some toxic additives in plastics are so dangerous they have been banned, yet research demonstrates they are still recycled and re-circulated in children's toys . A peer-reviewed study  from July proved, for example, that children’s toys made from black recycled plastics, which are sourced primarily from e-waste, are toxic to human cells.

What happens to the staggering amounts of plastic waste that does not go into the recycling stream? It ends up in landfills  that can leach toxic plastic additives into surrounding soils and groundwater, in incinerators that release toxic chemicals in the air and produce massive amounts of highly toxic dioxin laden ash ; or into the environment through open lots, canyons, waterways, and oceans .

Chemicals in plastics and e-waste can poison local food chains

Recent studies conducted in Ghana, Indonesia, and new data from Tanzania and Kenya, reveal shocking evidence of the hidden hazards of plastic waste. Free-range chicken eggs sampled in communities where plastic waste and e-waste are dumped in Ghana  and Indonesia  were found to contain dangerously high levels of dioxin and flame retardants. The eggs in Ghana  had over 200 times the European Food Standard limit for dioxin. Some of the eggs sampled in Indonesia  contained levels of dioxin that were comparable to sites contaminated by Agent Orange  in Vietnam.

Significant levels of very hazardous chemicals, many of which are globally regulated under the UN Stockholm Convention, were measured in free-range chicken eggs sampled from the community around the municipal waste dump of Pugu Kinyamwezi in Tanzania, including dioxins, the industrial chemical SCCPs, and globally banned PCBs. In Nairobi, sampling near a school that uses plastic waste to fuel a community cooker, found high levels of dioxin, at five times the daily EU tolerable limit, and high levels of the globally banned flame retardant HCBD in the eggs.

These dramatic findings should set off alarm bells for Kenya’s policymakers.

In addition, governments must be wary of the plastics industry’s claims that “waste to energy” incinerators are an environmentally friendly solution to eliminate waste while simultaneously creating energy.  Dow Chemical, for example, has gone so far as to re-caste plastic waste incineration, a process that creates massive amounts of some of the most toxic substances on the planet as well as greenhouse gases, as a green energy source with a campaign to brand plastic trash bags as energy bags . Research demonstrates that incinerator technologies do not eliminate waste but leave large amounts of highly toxic residual ash that become a dangerous source of contamination and dashes hopes for a clean circular economy.

It is widely agreed that countries creating nuclear waste are “ethically and legally” responsible for managing that radioactive waste. The harms are so well understood, that virtually no one would argue that developing countries should accept shipments of hazardous nuclear waste. It is time to establish similar global safeguards acknowledging that plastic waste is hazardous waste .

As long as plastics are toxic, any circular economy can only be a toxic economy. We hope that Kenya will continue to be a world leader for health and the environment and hold the line against the incursion of toxic plastics in Africa.

Griffins Ochieng is the Director of CEJAD, Kenya, and a Steering Committee member of IPEN (International Pollutants Elimination Network). Yuyun Ismawati is a winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, a co-founder of Nexus3 Foundation, Indonesia, and an Advisor to IPEN.

Seychelles: New Artisanal Fishing Plan Seeks to Shore Up Stocks Near Seychelles' Main Island

A new artisanal fishery management plan seeks long-term sustainability to avoid depletion of the wild fish stocks in Seychelles.

The 'Mahe Plateau Trap and Line Fishery Co-Management Plan' is the first step in regulating artisanal fishing in the seas surrounding the main island of Mahe.

The plan which will be implemented and enforced by the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) was endorsed by the cabinet of ministers last week. The chief fisheries officer at SFA, Vincent Lucas, told a press conference on Tuesday that the plan will introduce soft measures to tackle overfishing and overcapacity on the Mahe Plateau.

Lucas explained that work on the management plan and its regulations started in 2009 after the authority noticed that fish stock around the Mahe plateau was depleting.

"With discussions, we did with fishers, they were telling us that they had to spend more time at sea, they were incurring more costs as they have to sail further away to fish and it was difficult for them economically," said Lucas.

According to Lucas this triggered a series of discussions, where for the first time the authority started consultations with the fisher community.

"We have adopted the co-management approach. We did our researches and presented that facts to them," explained Lucas, adding that together they had to propose measures to ensure the sustainability of the wild stock on the Mahe plateau.

The chief fisheries officer explained that the same species are being caught around the plateau. That is the job, grouper and bourgeois, compared to catches made on outer islands, where there are a wider variety and diversity of species, including a different variety of groupers and different sizes as well.

The Mahe plateau covers an area around the Mahe, the main island of the 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. The size of the area is 44,000 square kilometres.

Yannick Roucou, the legal adviser from the SFA, told journalists that there are several measures that the authority is proposing. "There is the minimum size for the bourgeois and the brown job, which is 32 cm. All artisanal fish traps should be registered and are licensed. People buying fishes including those from restaurants, they should ensure that they buy from registered fisher," said Roucou.

Roucou added that the violations of these conditions will result in a sanction of up to $944. SFA hopes that together with the Attorney General office to finalize regulations for the plan in the first three months of next year. The authority said that they will be counting on the fisher community for enforcement and collection of information.

"We will be doing a lot of education," said Lucas adding that education and awareness-raising is a priority and should be across all generations. The authority said that everyone needs to understand why the stock should remain healthy, and why the stock should be allowed to replenish itself.-Seychelles News Agency.

Kenya Railways Adjusts Nairobi-Nanyuki Rail Service Schedule Over High Demand

Nairobi — Kenya Railways has adjusted the Nairobi to Nanyuki Rail service schedule to accommodate increased demand by passengers traveling during the festive season.

The Corporation said for the Christmas and New Year's festivities, the train will operate on December 24 to Nanyuki and return to Nairobi on December 27.

The New Year train will operate on December 31st to Nanyuki and return to Nairobi on January 2.

Both trains will depart Nairobi and Nanyuki at 9am respectively.

Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga said fares vary from destination to destination with a complete trip going for Sh200 for the Economy class and Sh1000 for Business Class.

"The train makes stops at the Intermediate stations along the route which are Thika, Miubiri, Makuyu, Maragua, Murang'a Sagana, Kiganjo and Naromoru," he said.

Kenya Railways has also increased the number of the Business and Economy coaches to accommodate increased demand.

The Nairobi - Nanyuki Rail Passenger Service began operations on December 11, making a round trip weekly. It departs on Fridays and returns on Sundays.

Last weekend the service ferried 640 passengers.-Capital FM.

Mozambique: Sasol Pulling Out of Ressano Garcia Power Station

Maputo — The South African petrochemical giant Sasol has announced that it is selling its share of the gas-fired Ressano Garcia Thermal Power Station (CTRG), in the far south of Mozambique to the Nigerian company, Azura Power Limited, for 145 million US dollars.

Sasol has a 49 per cent holding in CTRG. The other 51 per cent is owned by the Mozambican public electricity company, EDM. CTRG has an installed capacity than can produce 175 megawatts of power.

Sasol, which is facing a financial crisis, had announced in June its intention to sell its CTRG holding. It has now signed a Sale Securities Purchase Agreement with Azura Power.

A Sasol release said "This transaction is part of the Company´s ongoing, strategy aligned, asset divestment programme", but added that "Sasol remains fully committed to upstream operations in Mozambique, which continue to be integral to Sasol´s strategy".

The deal is not yet complete, the Sasol release said "The transaction is subject to a number of conditions precedent, which include regulatory approval and the waiver of pre-emption rights held by EDM".

Sasol's main interest in Mozambique lies in the onshore natural gas fields at Pande and Temane in the southern province of Inhambane, and the gas pipeline carrying the gas to the Sasol chemical plants in the South African city of Secunda.

Ethiopia's Export Hits 1.33 Billion Usd in Five Months

ADDIS ABABA - The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) announced that within the past five months, it gained a total of 1.33 Billion USD from the agriculture, mining, industry and other sectors.

Briefing journalists yesterday, Minister Melaku Alebel said that industries has played an important role in creating sustainable jobs and increasing productivity. Small and Medium Enterprises had greater contribution in this regard, he added.

As to him, the Ministry, setting goal to obtain 1.4 Billion USD from the sectors, it has gained 1.33 Billion USD. Of which, the agriculture sector covers 62 percent while, mining and industry contribute 23 and 12 percent respectively.

The amount when compared with the preceding similar period, it has shown a 20 percent increase.

The significant role played by small and medium enterprises in the production of affordable goods plus technology transfer is critical. They are also important for the creation of competent citizen.

What is more, they will make substantial contribution to maintain balanced income and expenditure. Thus, the expansion of these industries is vital.

However, these enterprises have been facing various challenges in their work. The Ministry along with stakeholders has been working to solve the problems.

According to him, the main challenges associated with limited capacity to provide coordinated and tangible support, provision of land, electricity, poor infrastructure, shortage of finance and foreign exchange, skilled manpower, and more.

"We have been working extensively with states and other relevant institutions to ensure that the limitations are addressed well."

In this regard with the financial lease loan service reached between National Bank of Ethiopia and World Bank, the loan service is arranged in foreign currency to import raw materials and machinery. The money is expected to reach more than 1990 industries in various ways.

As a result, 230 new industrialists, 1,460 the existing ones and 300 new projects will receive loans.

Efforts are being made with the concerned parties to put an end to the debt consolidation process.

Furthermore, discussion is held with various local institutions and regional governments how the enterprises can stand on their own two feet- to produce quality products, create jobs and be competitive in locally and internationally, he remarked.

To this end, states' administrations will hold discussions with relevant institutions in their respective states. In this way, it helps to solve the problems in each State and to provide support.

Hereafter, the issues that are expected of these industries is that to utilize the provided loans for the intended purpose, repay the loans on time and deliver them to the next borrowers, produce quality products, create more jobs are few among others, he remarked.-Ethiopian Herald.

Oil rises on U.S. inventory draw, Brexit deal hopes

TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil extended gains on Thursday as a drawdown in U.S. stockpiles of crude and gasoline lifted demand hopes, while investors also cheered a potential Brexit trade deal.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $48.30 a barrel by 0124 GMT, while Brent crude futures climbed 20 cents, or 0.4%, to $51.40.

Both contracts gained more than 2% on Wednesday.

“Oil markets are quiet as all investors are in a holiday mode,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities.

“Lower U.S. inventories of crude and fuels as well as signs of a potential Brexit deal which led to weaker U.S. dollar were good news, but lingering worries over a new variant of the novel coronavirus capped gains,” he said.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 562,000 barrels in the week to Dec. 18 to 499.5 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Gasoline stocks fell by a surprise 1.1 million barrels to 237.8 million barrels, the EIA said, while distillate stockpiles fell by a more-than-expected 2.3 million barrels to 148.9 million barrels.

Oil prices also drew support from news than Britain and the European Union were on the cusp of striking a narrow trade deal on Thursday, swerving away from a chaotic finale to the Brexit split.

The potential deal boosted sterling, which was up 0.13% against the dollar after closing up 0.9%. A softer dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback more affordable for holders of other currencies.

Still, investors remain jittery about the recovery of oil demand as a more contagious variant of the coronavirus that is quickly spreading across Britain prompts countries to shut their borders to the UK.

Americans were also warned again not to travel for Christmas as the latest surge in cases overwhelmed hospitals.

Raising concerns over a supply glut, U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a fifth week in a row.

The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose 2 to 348 in the week to Dec. 23, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said.

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

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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