Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 17 July 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 17 July 2020

 


 

 


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ü  Public, private lending mash-up offers lifeline to virus-hit African
firms

ü  Nigeria hopes gold mining reforms can bring in $500 mln a year

ü  Anglo sticks to 2020 output goals after COVID-induced Q2 slump

ü  Amplats platinum output fell 41% in second quarter

ü  South Africa commits to mobilise funds for SAA rescue

ü  South Africa's foreign direct investment inflows rise to $1.7 bln in Q1

ü  Coronavirus: Sheep wool 'barely worth selling any more'

ü  UK sees spike in IT job advertisements as lockdown eases

ü  Netflix warns of slowdown after subscriber surge

ü  What sort of future does the conference industry have?

ü  British Gas workers told to agree new contracts or risk jobs

ü  Coronavirus: UK payrolls shrink by 649,000 jobs in lockdown

ü  EU-US Privacy Shield for data struck down by court

ü  Coronavirus: Chinese economy bounces back into growth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


Public, private lending mash-up offers lifeline to virus-hit African firms

LONDON (Reuters) - Blended finance, a mix of public and private capital, is
set to boom in Africa to meet funding demand from businesses cash-strapped
in the wake of COVID-19 and as investors seek safeguards against financial
risks.

 

Africa has been hit hard by the pandemic, pushing it into its first
recession in 25 years and likely to drag 27 million people in the
sub-Saharan region alone into extreme poverty.

 

Businesses across the continent have struggled as banks and other financiers
have slashed lending at a time when companies facing plummeting revenues
need cash to pay suppliers.

 

Blended finance, which gained traction in recent years to help governments
respond to long-term challenges such as climate change and food security, is
helping fill the void.

 

Proponents such as the World Bank’s private sector investment arm IFC and
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have in the past helped mobilise up to
$50 billion for Africa, more than a third of the global market.

 

But with the continent facing an estimated $44 billion fiscal gap, such
funding is being used to help fix short-term challenges, like trade finance
for medical supplies or working capital to keep businesses afloat.

 

For example, the IFC says it is allocating twice as much funding to blended
finance as in recent years.

 

“What we’re seeing is a tremendous amount of demand from distributors for
some sort of working finance to help their customers,” said John Simon,
founding partner of U.S.-based TOTAL Impact Capital, which aims to invest
for social good.

 

TOTAL Impact Capital and another firm, Cardano Development, aim to harness
blended finance in countries including Kenya to help buy thousands of
pharmaceutical sales invoices where goods have already been delivered.

 

By advancing only a portion of the invoice value, with the balance paid at
collection, the investment ensures returns for investors, while alleviating
cash flows for the companies by shortening payment cycles, said Nico de Nijs
CEO of IMFact, a company set up by the pair.

 

Demand has surged in the pandemic’s aftermath, said Ladé Araba, Africa
managing director for Convergence, a global network for blended finance,
noting more interest from institutional investors such as pension funds and
insurance companies.

 

Comparing the demand in 2020 to spikes after the 2008-9 financial crisis and
in 2015, she said many of the deals involved loans which offered more
generous and flexible terms than those from a bank or institutional
investor.

 

Calculating returns for blended finance can be tricky.

 

As they involve a “concessional funder”, returns for private investors were
often limited by the need to avoid the perception of subsidising private
profits, said Simon.

 

Araba said such funding attracted private investment by either transferring
risks to soft loan providers or providing an additional risk premium - and a
more attractive upside - for investors.

 

SHRINKING PIPELINE

International banks are striving to play a role, either through lending or
by pulling in private investors.

 

Japan’s MUFG was one of several banks involved this month in a loan, backed
by a 359 million euro ($409.5 million) guarantee by MIGA, part of the World
Bank Group, to help the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development
Bank offer trade and project finance to its 22 member states.

 

JPMorgan in January launched a unit through which it aims to finance more
than $100 billion annually in development activities from investment banking
deals, with extra contributions from its markets businesses.

 

IFC is using blended finance to support cash-strapped companies it deems
have a sustainable future with a focus on International Development
Association (IDA) countries, many of whom are in Africa, said Martin Spicer,
IFC’s director of blended finance.

 

“We’ve had a shrinking of the immediate pipeline of projects, but an
increase in the COVID funds part of the business,” said Spicer, adding that
the timeline was uncertain for the delayed projects.

 

Before the coronavirus outbreak, about 50% of blended finance investment
targeted energy and financial services, said Araba.

 

This was partly because much of the focus had been on helping governments
meet global targets to improve education, infrastructure, food security,
climate change and health by 2030, requiring $5 trillion to $7 trillion per
year.

 

($1 = 0.8766 euros)

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Nigeria hopes gold mining reforms can bring in $500 mln a year

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria hopes changes it has made to gold mining
regulation will earn the government $500 million a year in royalties and
taxes and create 250,000 jobs, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday.

 

The reforms have made artisanal mining legal and will create gold buying
centres and tax trade of the precious metal, Buhari said in a statement.

 

“These operations will help in diversifying our revenue base,” said Buhari.

 

Nigerian authorities have said illegal mining, prominent in the northwest,
has fuelled widespread violence they attribute to “bandits”. Thousands of
people have been killed in the region in recent years and swathes of the
region are inaccessible. The military is deployed to tackle the insecurity
but the conflict shows little sign of ending.

 

The extra revenues from gold could be a lifeline as the coronavirus pandemic
and resulting global oil price crash cut off much of the state’s income.

 

Buhari said the country has lost a total of $3 billion from 2012 to 2018
because of illegal gold mining.

 

In February, Nigeria licensed two gold refineries mainly to produce gold for
the central bank to hold in its reserves but also for export. The bank
received its first locally-produced gold bar on Thursday.

 

Nigeria has largely untapped deposits of 44 minerals including gold, iron
ore, coal, tin and zinc, in more than 500 locations, but mining makes up
just 0.3% of the economy.

 

 

 

Anglo sticks to 2020 output goals after COVID-induced Q2 slump

LONDON (Reuters) - Global miner Anglo American is ramping up metals and
diamond production to hit full-year targets it set in spring, it said on
Thursday, as it reported a sharp slump in second quarter output caused by
the coronavirus.

 

The firm said the targets were dependent on the course taken by the
pandemic, which is spreading fast in South Africa where it make around half
of its profits, while a drought in Chile affecting its largest copper mine
shows little sign of ending.

 

In the three months to June, overall production fell 18%, with diamonds,
platinum, palladium, iron ore, coal and manganese all falling, while copper
and nickel rose.

 

Anglo said it was ramping up production and operating at about 90% total
capacity by the end of June from around 60% in April, and maintained its
2020 outlook for all products apart from coal.

 

It had cut capital expenditure and trimmed many of its full year output
targets in April.

 

Anglo said government lockdowns in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa hit
second quarter output of diamonds, platinum group metals, iron ore and coal.

 

Activity has since picked up in South Africa, where the government exempted
mines during the quarter from curbs implemented to contain an outbreak that
crossed the threshold of 300,000 cases on Wednesday.

 

In addition to coronavirus-related shutdowns, Anglo American Platinum was
hurt by repairs and ramp-up of a converter plant.

 

Second quarter copper output rose 5% to 167,000 tonnes year on year, driven
by a 38% rise at the Collahuasi mine in Chile.

 

But output at Anglo’s largest mine in Chile, Los Bronces, fell 12% and
continues to be impacted by severe drought.

 

A gas explosion at the Grosvenor metallurgical coal mine in Australia hit
coal output, Anglo said. Australia launched an inquiry into the blast, which
injured five workers.

 

“With expectations relatively low heading into the quarter, this result will
likely be taken relatively positively,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst
Tyler Broda.

 

Anglo’s shares were down 1% at 1130 GMT, compared to a 0.3% fall of an index
of its mining peers

 

 

 

Amplats platinum output fell 41% in second quarter

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) production of
platinum group metal (PGM) fell by 41% or 521,600 ounces in the second
quarter because of shutdowns in South Africa and Zimbabwe due to coronavirus
crisis, it said on Thursday.

 

Total PGM production for the quarter was 665,100 ounces, Amplats said.

 

 

 

 

South Africa commits to mobilise funds for SAA rescue

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s government has committed to secure
funds for the overhaul of struggling state-owned South African Airways
(SAA), the public enterprises and finance ministries said in a letter to the
airline’s administrators seen by Reuters.

 

The administrators, who took over SAA in December after almost a decade of
financial losses, said they needed a letter of support from the government
with a funding commitment for their restructuring plan to work.

 

On Tuesday creditors approved the plan, which requires at least 10 billion
rand ($600 million) of new funds, on the understanding the government would
find the necessary cash. [nL5N2EL3JV]

 

In the letter, signed by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, the ministers said they acknowledged the
funding requirements set out in the restructuring plan and were committed to
mobilising funds for a viable and sustainable national airline.

 

The commitment was for the airline’s short, medium and long-term
requirements, but they did not say where the money would come from.

 

These would be in addition to more than 16 billion rand the finance ministry
set aside in its February budget to repay SAA’s guaranteed debt and
debt-service costs.

 

The plan envisages scaling back the airline’s fleet and shedding jobs before
gradually ramping up operations as the disruption caused by COVID-19 eases.
[nL8N2DT678]

 

The public enterprises ministry has previously said that it is talking to
private investors and potential partners for SAA, in order to alleviate
pressure on strained public finances. [nL8N2EH3SA]

 

($1 = 16.6607 rand)

 

 

 

South Africa's foreign direct investment inflows rise to $1.7 bln in Q1

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s foreign direct investment (FDI)
inflows rose in the first quarter of 2020, to 29.0 billion rand ($1.74
billion) compared to inflows of 10.5 billion rand in the final quarter of
last year, the central bank said on Thursday.

 

“South Africa’s direct investment liabilities increased ... mainly as a
result of the foreign acquisition of a domestic manufacturer and distributor
of food and beverage products,” the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said
in its quarterly bulletin.

 

Local competition authorities approved United States food giant PepsiCo’s
$1.7 billion takeover of food and drinks producer Pioneer Food Group in
February.

 

At the same time, portfolio investments, reflecting a record of buying and
selling of securities such as bonds and shares, showed a sharp outflow, of
97.6 billion rand in the first quarter compared to inflows of 9.3 billion
rand in fourth quarter of 2019.

 

Non-residents sold bonds worth 74.4 billion in the first quarter, while
selling 23.1 billion rand in equities, the bank said in the analytical
release.

 

South Africa saw aggressive selling of government bonds in March and April
as the novel coronavirus struck, forcing the central bank to enforce
emergency liquidity measures and launch a quantitative easing style purchase
of bonds in the secondary market.

 

($1 = 16.6576 rand)

 

 

 

Coronavirus: Sheep wool 'barely worth selling any more'

"I started my company because my dad received approximately 3p per fleece
for his Hebridean wool and I thought, 'We must be able to do better than
that,'" says shepherd's daughter Rachel Atkinson.

 

Rachel manufactures woollen products, but her firm is struggling.

 

Wool's popularity has been in decline since the 1950s - and this year,
coronavirus has added problems that businesses can ill afford.

 

The global wool market closed in February. This has led to vast volumes of
wool lying unsold in depots and has pushed prices down.

 

 

Most farmers sell their fleeces through British Wool, formerly the British
Wool Marketing Board. Some 14 million kg of wool are waiting to be shifted
from its stores, while the average price per kg has nearly halved: it is now
32p, compared with 60p the previous year.

 

Rachel, who is based in Banbury in Oxfordshire, says: "Farmers used to be
able to pay a year's rent from the price of wool, but it's barely worth
selling anymore."

 

Some producers are even chucking it away.

 

"I'm wishing I had more space and more money to buy from the shepherds, who
are really suffering with this," she says.

 

Thrown out

Gerallt Hughes runs a farm on Anglesey. He has put nearly 600 fleeces on the
compost heap.

 

Each farmer's costs are different, but in Gerallt's case, it doesn't make
financial sense selling the wool this year.

 

"I'm not going to spend 30p on packing [a fleece] to get 24p back," he said.

 

 

He is critical of British Wool and says he thinks the organisation has been
over-reliant on the Chinese market.

 

"What the Wool Board should have been doing is looking for alternative
markets for the last 20 years," he says.

 

British Wool chief executive Joe Farren says the organisation is "big enough
and ugly enough" to take criticism, but that a new strategy to market and
sell the product is under way.

 

Wool produced in the UK is used in products such as carpets, knitwear, soft
furnishings and bedding.

 

"We are a convenient outlet for farmers' wool," he says.

 

"[But] if a farmer wants to put a supply chain together and develop their
wool and bring their own product to market, they're open to do that."

 

 

Andrea Meanwell, a shepherdess in the Howgill Fells, an area that straddles
the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, says she is storing her sheep's
wool, hoping that next year demand will pick up.

 

Like Gerallt Hughes, she says the costs of selling the wool this year
outweigh the benefits, particularly for remote farms, where transportation
costs are higher.

 

"Lots of people that I know are burning or composting, or just leaving the
wool to rot," she says.

 

"It's quite time-consuming to innovate a product yourself. Most farmers just
don't have the time to do that."

 

Mr Farren says British Wool is now working "with branded manufacturers to
create new consumer demand for the products".

 

"We're working hard to address the structural issues in the supply chain,"
he says.

 

 

Mr Farren is calling on farmers to continue working with British Wool during
a "terrible year".

 

"Please send the wool, let us collect it. If it's not brought in, it will
fall out of use," he said.

 

He told the BBC that British Wool had been turned down for the government's
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme "on a technicality", but that
it needed financial support "to pay our producers this year for next year's
wool".

 

The reasons for the decline in the price for wool - while exacerbated by
Covid-19 - are many. Industry insiders point to the growth in synthetic
fibres, fewer players in the industry supply chain, Brexit uncertainty and
the US-China trade war.

 

 

But before the pandemic, Rachel Atkinson had been optimistic.

 

"It's incredibly sad, as the British wool industry had been steadily gaining
in value over the past few years," she says.

 

Andrea Meanwell says she hopes wool will become popular again with
consumers.

 

"We're hearing so much now about micro-plastics damaging the environment,"
she says, "so farmers have been hoping for a while that there'll be a return
to people using wool.

 

"But at the moment, it doesn't seem to have happened."--BBC

 

 

 

UK sees spike in IT job advertisements as lockdown eases

The number of active job postings in the UK topped a million this week,
according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).

 

In particular, there has been a significant surge over the last month in job
ads for IT professionals.

 

Demand for web designers and developers skyrocketed 15.5%, compared to June.

 

"We've seen two years of digital transformation happening in the space of
two weeks," TechUK's deputy chief executive Anthony Walker told the BBC.

 

"A lot of business leaders we've been talking to, and survey data, shows
that digital will be more important to their business, as a result of the
coronavirus pandemic."

 

The industry group says that British firms, both large and small, are now
realising that digital skills are crucial to all parts of the business -
including setting up e-commerce websites to sell goods online, improving
international marketing efforts and optimising production processes.

 

The number of workers on UK company payrolls fell by 649,000 between March
and June, while unemployment rose by 34,000 in April to reach 1.3 million,
according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

 

But according to the REC, in the week of 6-12 July, there were 106,000 new
job adverts posted - 14,000 more postings than the week of 22-28 June.

 

However, millions are still looking for work, and companies say they're
being "flooded" with applications.

 

Alison Walford, 57, a freelance digital and IT project manager, says she's
had to completely transform her approach to finding work.

 

Ms Walford caught the coronavirus in March and spent 14 days recovering from
the disease at Swindon Great Western Hospital.

 

Shortly after she returned home, she discovered that she had lost the
majority of her paid work.

 

"I've been looking at job adverts, but I'm finding that for every job
advertised, there are many more applicants than there otherwise would have
been," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

 

"I'm in my late 50s, and I wasn't really expecting to have to re-skill or
develop new skills in order to make sure I can find enough work."

 

Unfortunately, she is not earning enough to live on at the moment, and is
having to draw on her pension to make ends meet.

 

Difficulties filling new roles

Roina Hadi, Head of Talent at health tech company iPLATO, said that people
hunting for work are casting their net further than they would normally, in
the hopes of finding employment.

 

"We are receiving a huge amount of applications when jobs are posted," she
said.

 

"But unfortunately we are finding 60% [of applicants] are not suitable
candidates and are seemingly applying for any role."

 

She says the flood of applications has made it harder and more time
consuming for already strained businesses to find appropriate candidates to
fill new roles.

 

The UK already has a serious skill shortage when it comes to IT - latest
data from the Open University shows half of employers struggle to attract
talent with the right IT skills.

 

Large tech firms IBM and SAP previously predicted that by 2020, there would
be one million unfilled jobs in the IT sector, because people aren't being
trained with the skills to take on these jobs.

 

The problem is such a big one that businesses themselves are now trying to
narrow the skills gap, rather than relying on colleges and universities.

 

"Many companies are making online training courses available to people who
are interested in working in these kinds of roles, to help them get to the
point where they can be useful and employable," said Mr Walker.

 

And in April, the Department for Education launched the online platform "The
Skills Toolkit", offering people access to free, high-quality digital and
numeracy courses to help build up their skills, progress in work and boost
their job prospects.

 

However, not enough people know that these free online courses are
available, so TechUK is working with the government and various
organisations including the Institute of Coding to see how best to inform
the general public and give people the confidence to give digital skills
training a try.

 

"It matters for the businesses...it matters for individuals who want good
jobs and good prospects, and it matters for the economy as a whole, because
this kind of digital investment and digital adoption by businesses is going
to drive economic growth and recovery post coronavirus crisis," stressed Mr
Walker.

 

"There's more to do to help raise awareness that digital skills are really
valuable in the labour market. Better signposting is needed to help people
know where to start."--BBC

 

 

 

Netflix warns of slowdown after subscriber surge

Netflix has seen a surge in sign-ups due to the coronavirus lockdown, but
has warned investors that subscriber growth will slow.

 

The streaming giant added more than 10 million subscribers in the three
months to July, bringing the total of new subscribers to 26 million in 2020.

 

In contrast, Netflix saw 28 million new subscribers for the whole of 2019.

 

"Growth is slowing as consumers get through the initial shock of coronavirus
and social restrictions."

 

Netflix shares dropped in after-hours trading as investors digested the
firm's quarterly update.

 

The streaming service's revenue increased almost 25% to $6.1bn (£4.9bn),
while profits rose to $720m in the quarter, up from $271m a year go.

 

The subscriber additions were far higher than analysts had expected.

 

While, some people might still end up quitting the service, "the pandemic
has clearly shown that Netflix is an indispensable part of viewers lives,"
said Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight.

 

Sophie Lund Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the streaming
service will have to continue to spend heavily on new shows and movies to
keep its audience.

 

"While Netflix is still the biggest fish in the tank, if it wants to keep it
that way, there is work to be done," she said, adding that it should focus
on markets outside the US where there is more growth potential.

 

Netflix also announced it was promoting chief content officer Ted Sarandos
to co-chief executive.

 

"This change makes formal what was already informal - that Ted and I share
the leadership of Netflix," chief executive Reed Hastings told
investors.--BBC

 

 

 

What sort of future does the conference industry have?

Virtual reality is likely to play a bigger role in future conferences

"I'm devastated," says Mike Walker, managing director of MGN Events.

 

The company went from generating millions of pounds in revenue to near zero
in just weeks, because of lockdowns.

 

"Over 10 years of hard work building the company up from nothing,
reinvesting each year for growth, taken away cruelly in the space of a
couple of weeks, with no clarity on when the industry can resume," Mr Walker
says.

 

Thousands of others in the events industry will be facing the same
uncertainty. The pandemic has completely shattered a huge sector, and many
businesses are struggling to survive. According to a 2018 report, business
events alone are a $1.5 trillion (£1.2tn) industry globally.

 

That's without considering the huge number of consumer events, exhibitions,
experiences and weddings.

 

All of these events rely on people turning up in person, and that is not
currently possible with some venues closed or at a reduced capacity, and
with travel restrictions in place - not to mention various other safety
precautions required at the venue itself.

 

"Even if you hold an event in a larger venue, if you have delegates flying
in and staying in the hotel, and one person tests positive for Covid-19,
then you're going to get a call from the hotel telling you they're going to
have to give the venue a deep clean and shut it down," says Steve Parrott,
co-founder of Alternative Events.

 

 

That kind of scenario is why companies are being forced to look at
technology as the alternative, with virtual events becoming the norm
throughout lockdown.

 

Most businesses have turned to technology that has become familiar for many
people - video conferencing software from Zoom or MS Teams.

 

However, these technologies were around before the pandemic, and while they
offer an alternative, they do not provide the same level of engagement as
physical events.

 

"Most of the platforms for virtual conferences are built by third-party
providers that don't organise events," says Paddy Cosgrave, co-founder of
Web Summit, one of the biggest tech conferences in the world.

 

As video conferencing tools have been built for the mass market, rather than
for specific industries, event organisers and sponsors are scrambling around
for an alternative.

 

One option, taken up by The Moodie Davitt Report and retail marketing and
design company FILTR, has been to bring together existing products into one
system.

 

"We looked at the software that exists in the industry and we didn't think
any of them would be sufficient to attract the brands we needed to attract,"
says Martin Moodie, founder of The Moodie Davitt Report, a publication that
focuses on travel retailing.

 

Using existing software it creates a virtual version of a physical event -
enabling people to walk around and view the different stands and communicate
with brands by speaking to people in a chat format, all from their laptop.

 

The company integrates this with web-conferencing capabilities and meeting
scheduling software.

 

But for some of the larger conferences, even integrating these products
isn't necessarily enough. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which
welcomes 170,000 delegates to Las Vegas every year, is going ahead with its
2021 event in January.

 

Jean Foster, senior vice president of marketing and communications at the
Consumer Trade Association, which runs the event, says that the organisation
is creating its own digital platform for CES as it expects that turnout will
be lower as a result of the virus, and it is therefore switching to a hybrid
offering.

 

"We're working on what that platform is going to look like... there's
nothing off-the-shelf of the scale and capabilities we need," Ms Foster
says.

 

Web Summit has also created a platform from scratch. Mr Cosgrave says that
for most business events, networking is the key reason that people attend.
It is also critical to the success of an event, as sponsors can communicate
directly with their target audience.

 

Mr Cosgrave's team had already worked on trying to engineer serendipity into
the physical Web Summit event, by seating people next to others who may have
mutual interests. Now that the event, held in Lisbon in December, will be at
least partly online, his team have been working on allowing that serendipity
to also flow into an online environment.

 

The company takes information, with consent, from social media and
delegates' phone books to create an algorithm that matches people with
others that they would likely find interesting or want to talk to.

 

"Delegates will see the people that are recommended to them, while other
people are seeing them in a very personalised way," he says.

 

"On the platform, they can do one-to-one video calls with one another, they
could do group calls with each other, or you could start a group video chat
and invite people, or join Q&As with speakers, for example."

 

Some technology companies see a gap in the market to help enable attendees
to have more control during an event.

 

Box Bear Digital supplies virtual reality (VR) headsets to clients who can
then distribute them among delegates. The headsets have to be returned after
the conference is finished.

 

During the VR conference, attendees are represented by their own real-life
avatars. Users can take notes on slides, get certain quotes transcribed and
sent to email, zoom in, change their viewpoint, and interact with virtual
elements.

 

"The key difference is being fully immersed and engaged, there's no escape
as soon as you put the headset on," says Graham Addison, global marketing
director of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which has tested out the
technology.

 

The added value provided to the organisers, according to Box Bear Digital,
is that they have a better idea of what the audience is doing, as the
technology can track whether the person is shaking their head, or raising
their hand to ask a question.

 

Generally, event organisers don't stand to make the same amount of revenue
in a virtual alternative. However, there are numerous benefits to holding
virtual events.

 

Virtual events are far cheaper to run, and at a time when companies are more
conscious about the environment, they offer a sustainable alternative to
flying people in from across the world. In addition, they give the
organisers the ability to get viewers from across the world, on different
timezones, to tune in, and potentially attract better speakers for the event
too, as they don't need to travel.

 

There is also more scope to measure outcomes.

 

"We can constantly tell those people putting on the event how many people
were engaged, how many visitors they had, how many people downloaded their
content - you can't measure this in the same way for a physical event," says
Mr Walker.

 

Despite this, many event organisers can only see the use of these virtual
events as a stop gap, or as part of an overall hybrid event in the future.
Perhaps this is why the likes of Microsoft and Zoom haven't moved quickly to
provide new features for their platforms.

 

"Four months into lockdown, why is there nothing new on the market? Perhaps
digital [events] aren't worth investing in because although they will be a
part of the mix, they won't be the main part of the event, because people
think we'll be returning to normal soon," says Mr Parrott.--BBC

 

 

 

Vodafone calls for 5G auction to be scrapped

Vodafone wants the government to cancel an auction in which mobile operators
bid for "space" on the 5G spectrum.

 

It follows the decision to strip Huawei kit from mobile networks and
economic uncertainty from the Covid-19 crisis.

 

And Vodafone says radio frequencies for 5G mobile services should instead be
evenly distributed for a set price.

 

The auction had been scheduled to start in the spring but was delayed
because of the coronavirus. It is now expected at some point in the next
year.

 

'New way'

But the process has been fraught with delays, with EE and Three launching
legal challenges in an earlier auction over Ofcom's decision to impose a 37%
limit on how much each individual operator could bid for, and O2 challenging
the forthcoming auction of 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands.

 

And this week, the government ruled Huawei's 5G kit must be removed from the
mobile networks by 2027, noting this could delay the UK's 5G rollout by
several years and cost up to £2bn.

 

Ofcom rejected Vodafone's suggestion in April.

 

But on Thursday, Vodafone chief executive Nick Jeffery told BBC News: "Now
is the time to consider a new way to manage these auctions.

 

"Return on investment in telecoms in the UK is amongst the lowest in the
world.

 

"With additional money being taken out of the mobile industry from
yesterday's decision on Huawei, now is the time to focus on ensuring
operators can still afford to invest in the network this country deserves.

 

"There is little point in operators owning spectrum if we don't have the
money to use it.

 

"History teaches us that from the 3G auctions."

 

The 3G auction cost operators £20bn.

 

Telecoms analyst Mathew Howett, from Assembly Research, said: "There is very
clearly a cost to the industry in terms of replacing Huawei earlier than
operators might have done naturally.

 

"Government can't expect the industry to speed up deployment of networks if
they pile on additional cost and slow down that rollout."

 

But he added: "The last time the government directed Ofcom with regards to
spectrum - the liberalisation of bands for 4G and associated annual licence
fees - legal challenges went on for a decade."

 

'Cost burden'

Any changes to the way spectrum was distributed would also need the
agreement of all four operators.

 

But, according to Vodafone, others are "keen".

 

BT, which owns EE, told BBC News it was "less concerned about the mechanism
to allocate new spectrum, be it auction or administrative decision, than the
importance of awarding spectrum quickly and fairly... to avoid the UK's 5G
ambitions being slowed down or even put in reverse".

 

And it was talking to Ofcom and the government about "ways to reduce the
industry's cost burden".

 

Three and O2 have not responded to requests for comment.--BBC

 

 

 

British Gas workers told to agree new contracts or risk jobs

British Gas-owner Centrica will tell thousands of staff to accept new
working conditions, including no extra overtime pay, or risk their jobs.

 

The firm said if employees don't sign the contract, there will be a fresh
wave of redundancies, although it insists that is a "last resort".

 

Centrica has already outlined 5,000 job cuts as customer numbers tumble.

 

The firm said it had "been open about the changes" needed to win back
customers.

 

The proposals are all subject to a consultation period with unions, the
company stressed.

 

"Our employees' base pay and pensions will be protected, but simplifying and
modernising their terms is essential if we're to become more flexible and
price competitive," said Centrica.

 

"We have over 80 different employee contracts with 7,000 variations of
terms, many of which are outdated and stop us delivering for customers."

 

Unions and workers said they were concerned about the move and criticised
the timing amid lockdown.

 

"They are using this as an excuse because they know we can't even have
discussions and meetings," said one British Gas engineer, who has worked for
the firm for more than 15 years and spoke to the BBC on condition of
anonymity.

 

"This really is a divide-and-conquer moment."

 

The company says it must become more competitive to protect jobs in the long
term.

 

Centrica proposes to fix overtime pay at the same rate as regular hours,
according to a presentation seen by the BBC.

 

Previously, overtime could attract double the hourly rate, depending on a
worker's contract.

 

Engineers who might previously have been asked to work shifts between 08:00
and 20:00 in the busier winter period could be allocated hours any time
between 06:00 and 23:00.

 

Centrica follows British Airways in combining proposed layoffs with new
contracts which unions describe as unfavourable. Both companies insist the
deal offered is fair.

 

'Huge slap in the face'

"What is really painful is that when this coronavirus kicked off, we all
rose to the challenge," said the engineer.

 

He and other British Gas workers volunteered to deliver meals for vulnerable
people for the Trussell Trust.

 

This gave him and his colleagues a sense of purpose, he said, together with
continuing to repair broken heating systems during lockdown.

 

"We were going into houses. We were feeling proud, as we were key workers,"
he said. "It's a huge slap in the face."

 

Centrica said a so-called Section 188 notice, which employers are obliged to
give to workers' representatives if they are considering large-scale
redundancies, was a last resort if workers did not agree the new terms.

 

"We've been open about the changes we need to make to win back customers,
grow our company and protect jobs in the long run," the company said in a
statement.

 

Winter deadline

The GMB union said it had started talks with the company on planned changes,
as Centrica has set a deadline of agreeing a deal with employees before
winter.

 

Assistant general secretary Christina McAnea of the Unison union branded the
move "disgraceful behaviour".

 

"Employees have worked hard throughout the past few months to ensure
customers are well-served, despite the pandemic," she said. "This is no way
for company directors to repay them."

 

 

The company is scrambling to stem the flow of customers from its energy
supply business.

 

Last month, it began trialling a cheaper, digital-only brand under the name
British Gas X.

 

It also already plans job cuts at its head office.

 

New boss Chris O'Shea said most of the cuts would fall in the UK as the
energy giant seeks to slim down its business.

 

About half of the jobs to go will be among the company's leadership,
management and corporate staff. This will include half of the senior
leadership team of 40, who will leave by the end of August.

 

Centrica has about 27,000 employees, with 20,000 of these based in the
UK.--BBC

 

 

 

Coronavirus: UK payrolls shrink by 649,000 jobs in lockdown

The number of workers on UK company payrolls fell by 649,000 between March
and June, official figures indicate.

 

The overall jobless rate was unchanged but there are 47,000 more young
people unemployed than there were a year ago.

 

Unemployment has not surged, as many feared, because large numbers of firms
have put employees on the government-backed furlough scheme.

 

But economists say the full effect on employment will not be felt until the
scheme ends in October.

 

How can we get a clearer picture of what's going on?

The headline unemployment rate hasn't budged since the lockdown was
introduced. It stayed at 3.9% between March and May, unchanged on the
previous three months.

 

The number of people claiming work-related benefits last month - including
the unemployed - is also marginally lower at 2.6 million.

 

Why is the jobless rate not rising?

But because of the effect of the furlough scheme on the employment market,
analysts say the number of hours worked per week is currently a truer
reflection of the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that since the start of the
pandemic, total weekly hours worked in the UK had fallen by a record 175.3
million, or 16.7%, to 877.1 million hours.

 

"This was the largest annual decrease since estimates began in 1971, with
total hours dropping to its lowest level since May to July 1997," the ONS
added.

 

The number of Britons on payrolls - which means people employed by a company
and does not include the self-employed - fell by 2.2% in June compared with
March.

 

How are young people faring?

Young people are being especially badly hit.

 

"The estimated number of people unemployed aged 16 to 24 years increased by
47,000 on the year, while other age groups remained steady," the ONS said.

 

Many young people are employed in the hospitality industry, which was
largely shut down from 23 March. The retail sector, another source of jobs
for younger people, has also been hard hit by the lockdown.

 

A fifth of all of those claiming out-of-work benefits, 514,770, are aged
between 18 and 24.

 

The number of young new claimants who have signed on between March and June
is 276,000 - more than doubling over three months.

 

BBC analysis has found there are now constituencies with nearly 20% of their
young population on Universal Credit or Jobseeker's Allowance - including
Walton in Liverpool and south Blackpool.

 

Even affluent areas such as south-west Surrey, Henley and Windsor have seen
a quadrupling in the number of young claimants under lockdown, though many
of these are likely to have become eligible to claim as a result of being
furloughed.

 

According to the Resolution Foundation, one-third of 18 to 24-year-old
employees have lost jobs or been furloughed during the pandemic, compared to
one in six adults above that age.

 

Are there any jobs out there at all right now?

There are not many jobs around for anyone.

 

Vacancies in the UK in April to June 2020 are at the lowest level since the
survey began in April to June 2001, at an estimated 333,000.

 

"This is 23% lower than the previous record low in April to June 2009," the
ONS said.

 

The ONS added that a larger than usual number of those losing their jobs
were not currently searching for another one and were therefore economically
inactive rather than unemployed, while some longer-term unemployed people
had stopped looking for work.

 

A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce said 29% of businesses expected
to cut jobs in the next three months. It called for a reduction in
employers' National Insurance contributions to protect businesses and jobs.

 

The government's spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility,
has warned that in the worst-case scenario, unemployment could rise to four
million.

 

'I felt heartbroken'

Danielle Skinner, 23, of Hollinwood, Oldham. was made redundant from her
first job at the start of this month.

 

She had been in full-time work since November last year at a digital
marketing firm, having been kept on after doing an apprenticeship.

 

At first, she was put on furlough. "But then, as things progressed and
businesses started to make people redundant, it did give me an inkling that
this was something possibly that was going to happen to me," she told the
BBC.

 

"I felt heartbroken personally, because I'd just started to get my career
going and I felt like everything was just falling to pieces.

 

Despite her distress, Danielle says she doesn't blame the company: "The
business has to survive and if they didn't take immediate action, then the
business could have gone into administration and then there would be no
jobs."

 

She has already applied for 50 or so jobs and has only had one or two
responses, which she finds very disheartening.

 

"It does get me down, I am struggling to find a job, but nevertheless I do
try and remain positive and optimistic, thinking, 'I am employable and
someone one day will employ me and I'll enjoy the job so much.'"

 

There's a storm coming: the government's official number-crunchers - the
Office for Budget Responsibility - have warned that unemployment could hit
four million this year.

 

But the bulk of that is yet to hit the numbers. The normal counts of
employment have been propped up by support schemes: more than 11 million
private sector workers are still on the government payroll. Those plans have
been very effective in staving off a greater crisis as lockdown hit.

 

The looming turmoil and hardship is clear however, with average real pay -
that's after inflation - 1.3% lower than a year ago in May and the number of
job vacancies at a record low.

 

The number of people counting as self-employed has fallen a record 178,000.

 

As employers now look towards the winding down of support schemes, the
announcements of layoffs are now multiplying. Despite the chancellor's new
plan, a big rise in joblessness still seems inevitable.

 

The challenge is to getting people back into work - particularly younger
ones, the group most likely to have been furloughed. Lengthy unemployment,
especially at the start of a career, can blight livelihoods and prospects
for decades.

 

And while the economy is opening up, the uncertain outlook may make
employers reluctant to do the same with hiring.

 

What's the political reaction?

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said he had "enormous sympathy" for people
who found themselves out of work.

 

"I know it's going to be very, very difficult for lots of people as a result
of this. The best thing we can do is continue to open up the economy in a
phased manner and a cautious manner and get businesses up and running
again," he told the BBC.

 

He said the cost of inaction would have been "far greater" than the action
the government had taken.

 

Bridget Phillipson, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said every lost
job was "a personal tragedy now and a hammer blow to public finances in the
long run".

 

She accused the chancellor of taking a "blanket approach" rather than
targeting the sectors worst affected by the crisis.--BBC

 

 

 

EU-US Privacy Shield for data struck down by court

A major agreement governing the transfer of EU citizens' data to the United
States has been struck down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

 

The EU-US Privacy Shield let companies sign up to higher privacy standards,
before transferring data to the US.

 

But a privacy advocate challenged the agreement, arguing that US national
security laws did not protect EU citizens from government snooping.

 

Max Schrems, the Austrian behind the case, called it a win for privacy.

 

"It is clear that the US will have to seriously change their surveillance
laws, if US companies want to continue to play a role in the EU market," he
said.

 

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said his department was "deeply
disappointed" by the decision.

 

He said he hoped to "limit the negative consequences" to transatlantic trade
worth $7.1 trillion (£5.6tn).

 

What happens next?

The EU-US Privacy Shield system "underpins transatlantic digital trade" for
more than 5,300 companies. About 65% of them are small-medium enterprises
(SMEs) or start-ups, according to University College London's European
Institute.

 

Affected companies will now have to sign "standard contractual clauses":
non-negotiable legal contracts drawn up by Europe, which are used in other
countries besides the US.

 

They are already used by many big players. Microsoft, for example, has
issued a statement saying it already uses them and is unaffected.

 

The last time a major deal like this was struck down in 2015 - also from a
case involving Max Schrems - a grace period was brought in as companies
figured out what to do.

 

Mr Schrems had also challenged the validity of the SCCs, but the ECJ chose
not to abolish them.

 

But it did warn that those contracts should be suspended by data protection
watchdogs, if the guarantees in them are not upheld.

 

Surveillance laws

Mr Schrems' case was partly prompted by leaks from ex-CIA contractor Edward
Snowden which revealed the extent of US surveillance.

 

European data protection law says data can only be transferred out of the EU
- to the United States or elsewhere - if appropriate safeguards are in
place.

 

But the ECJ said US "surveillance programmes... are not limited to what is
strictly necessary".

 

"The requirements of US national security, public interest and law
enforcement have primacy, thus condoning interference with the fundamental
rights of persons whose data are transferred," it said.

 

"The limitations on the protection of personal data arising from the
domestic law of the United States... are not circumscribed in a way that
satisfies requirements."

 

'Bold move'

"This is a bold move by Europe," Jonathan Kewley, co-head of technology at
law firm Clifford Chance, said.

 

"What we are seeing here looks suspiciously like a privacy trade war, where
Europe is saying their data standards can be trusted but those in the US
cannot."

 

He also warned that standard contractual clauses (SCCs) will be much more
closely scrutinised from now on.

 

Data protection expert Tim Turner agreed, saying the ECJ's warning over the
standard clauses could spell further trouble for US companies.

 

"If the law in the relevant country - let's say the USA - could override
what the contract says, they don't work," he said.

 

"I don't know how much appetite they have to do this, but it's hard to
imagine that any European regulator would say that SCCs work for the US, and
the pressure will pile on for them to make the assessment.

 

"I don't think SCCs escaped the court's judgement - for some key countries,
it's probably just a stay of execution."--BBC

 

 

 

Coronavirus: Chinese economy bounces back into growth

China's economy grew 3.2% in the second quarter following a record slump.

 

The world's second biggest economy saw a sharp decline in the first three
months of the year during coronavirus lockdowns.

 

But figures released on Wednesday show China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
returned to growth during April to June.

 

The numbers are being closely watched around the world as China restarts its
economy.

 

The figure is higher than experts were predicting and points towards a
V-shaped recovery - that is, a sharp fall followed by a quick recovery.

 

It also means China avoids going into a technical recession - signified as
two consecutive periods of negative growth.

 

The bounce-back follows a steep 6.8% slump in the first quarter of the year,
which was the biggest contraction since quarterly GDP records began.

 

The country's factories and businesses were shutdown for most of this period
as China introduced strict measures to curb the spread of the virus

 

The government has been rolling out a raft of measures to help boost the
economy, including tax breaks.

 

 

The Chinese economy managed to grow more strongly than expected as it
emerged from the lockdown.

 

All the stimulus measures announced by the authorities seem to be working -
with factories getting busier, evident in growth in the industrial
production data.

 

But one sector that hasn't recovered as quickly as they had hoped is retail
sales.

 

They still fell in the second quarter - and getting people spending again
will remain a challenge.

 

And just as the economy starts to recover, tensions with the US are flaring
up - especially over Hong Kong.

 

That is why some economists are reluctant to call it a V-shaped recovery
just yet.

 

A research note from Deutsche Bank said the "V-shaped recovery" was "largely
completed".

 

"Consumer spending is still below its pre-Covid path, but the remaining gap
is largely concentrated in a few sectors - travel, dining, leisure
services-- where rapid recovery is unlikely," it added.

 

In May, China announced it would not set an economic growth goal for 2020 as
it dealt with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

 

It is the first time Beijing has not had a gross domestic product (GDP)
target since 1990 when records began.

 

For the first six months of the year, China's economy fell 1.6%, its
National Bureau of Statistics said.--BBC

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


Masimba

AGM

Virtual

21 July 2020 | 12pm

 


Proplastics

AGM

Virtual

23 July 2020 | 10am

 


NMB

AGM

Virtual

28 July 2020 | 10am

 


FMP

AGM

Ground Floor, First Mutual Park, 100 Borrowdale Road, Borrowdale

29 July 2020 | 9:30am

 


FML

AGM

Ground Floor, First Mutual Park, 100 Borrowdale Road, Borrowdale

29 July 2020 | 11:30am

 


ZBFH

AGM

Board Room, 21 Natal Road, Avondale

30 July 2020 | 10:30am

 


OK Zimbabwe

AGM

Virtual

30 July 2020 | 3pm

 


ZHL

AGM

virtual

31 July 2020 |

 


Delta

AGM

Virtual, Head Office, Northridge Close, Borrowdale

31 July 2020 | 12:30pm

 


Zimbabwe

National Heroes Day

Zimbabwe

10  August 2020

 


Zimbabwe

Defence Forces’ Day

Zimbabwe

11  August 2020

 


CBZ

AGM

Virtual

14  August 2020 | 6pm

 


 

 

 

 

 


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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