Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 October 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 October 2020

 


 

 


 <http://www.spidexmedia.com/> 

 


 

 


 

 

ü  Tourism income declined more than 81 pc in August as sector’s struggles
continue  

ü  Covid-19: First UK airport coronavirus testing begins

ü  Brexit: Have EU-UK trade talks reached a dead end?

ü  Visa and Mastercard accused of charging 'excessive' fees

ü  Coronavirus: Shapps aims for new test system for arrivals

ü  Flybe set to fly again after brand is rescued

ü  Geek Retreat: Retailer of 'all things geeky' to open 100 new shops

ü  Nigeria: CBN Rolls Out Financing Framework for Mass Metering Programme

ü  Nigeria: Electricity Must Be Correctly Priced to Attract Investments in
Power Sector - Adesina

ü  Nigeria: NNPC Reduces Debts to IOCs to $1.58bn, Pays Off Mobil

ü  Nigerian Traders Protest Ghana's Delay to Reopen Shops

ü  Namibia: Private Airlines Resume Nam-SA Flights

ü  IBM posts double-digit cloud revenue growth; says customers deferring
some projects

ü  South Korea's SK Hynix to buy Intel's NAND business for $9 billion

ü  Asian stocks dip as U.S. political concerns grow

ü  Stock market boom, new listings mint China billionaires at record pace

ü  Tesla third-quarter registrations in California drop 13% - data

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Tourism income declined more than 81 pc in August as sector’s struggles
continue   

Total income for South Africa’s tourist accommodation industry decreased by
81.2 percent in August 2020 compared with August 2019, Statistics SA
announced on Monday.

 

This is in nominal terms, therefore, at current prices. There was a 79.4
percent decrease in the number of stay unit nights sold and a 14.3% decrease
in the average income per stay unit night sold.

 

In August 2020, all accommodation types recorded large negative year-on-year
growth in income from accommodation. The main contributors to the 82.4
percent year-on-year decrease in income from accommodation were: hotels
(-86.2 percent); and “other” accommodation (-74.9 percent).

 

Income from accommodation decreased by 88.9 percent in the three months
ended August 2020 compared with the three months ended August 2019. The main
contributors to this decrease were: hotels (-90.2 percent); and “other”
accommodation (-85.9 percent).

 

Seasonally adjusted income from accommodation increased by 99.0 percent
month-on-month in August 2020 and increased by 47.2 percent month-on-month
in July.

 

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA),
points out that the month-on-month increases must be seen against the “just
about zero” activity base during harder coronavirus lockdown levels.

 

For him the latest data is indicative that people have started travelling
again. He however only expects a clearer picture will only emerge once data
for September becomes available.

 

“One thing I have observed is that, as much as many people travelled, they
are travelling at heavily discounted prices. This is because the industry
has lowered its prices due to subdued demand. So, even if occupancy levels
might have gone up, it is not the case from an income point of view,”
explains Tshivhengwa.

 

 

“None the less, the little bit of movement there was, is not sufficient and
we hope towards the high season there will be better movement in the
industry, which is experiencing tough times.”

 

Industry feedback he has received, indicates some continued domestic travel
demand in terms of forward bookings. “Compared to the ‘nothing’ we had
during lockdown, it is almost like it is starting to rise from zero activity
to about 15 percent and to 20 percent,” he explains.

 

More importantly for him, is to get international tourists here again. That
would, however, very much depend on how long big source markets for SA like
Germany, the UK, US, France and the Netherlands remain on the current list
of countries from which visitors are banned.

 

The list of countries South Africa considers high risk for the coronavirus –
and from which tourists are banned – dropped from 60 to 22 on Monday.

 

“We must remember that international tourists spend more and keep in mind
that some would want to visit only in February, March and April. We have to
take a futuristic view,” says Tshivhengwa. “Our domestic market still has
more people losing jobs and there is lots of anxiety – so we have to
complement our domestic tourism market with international tourists.”

 

Investec economist Lara Hodes points out that intra-provincial leisure
travel (in an approved lodge or hotel) was permitted by government only from
the end of July, while inter-provincial leisure visits were authorised from
17 August 2020.

 

 

“Accordingly, activity has picked up, supported by pent-up demand. However,
the financial effects of the pandemic on consumers has been unprecedented,
with many losing their jobs or experiencing salary cuts. As such, many
households will likely have had to reduce or eliminate their leisure travel
budgets,” she comments.

 

She too points out that many of the country’s key overseas tourist markets,
especially in Europe are currently deemed high risk according to
government’s risk categorisation model owing to renewed surges in infection
rates and are thus largely preventing them from entering the country.

 

“The tourism sector, which has been one of the biggest casualties of the
pandemic has strong linkages to other sectors and is a key conduit for job
creation,” says Hodes.

 

Dr Kaitano Dube, a lecturer at the Vaal University of Technology, says the
latest accommodation data continues to reflect the after effects of the hard
lock down on the tourism industry.

 

“While we expect the picture to somewhat change for September onwards where
we expect to see more positive results. The decrease in the number of stay
unit nights sold and a 14.3 percent decrease in the average income per stay
unit night sold is not surprise in as much as it mirrors the decline in
consumer confidence in the tourism and hospitality industry and the erosion
of spending power by would be travellers which have a knock on effect on the
tourism market,” he says.

 

“Besides lack of spending power, the majority of people remain sceptical
about the safety of travelling and staying in accommodation establishments
outside of their homes. The future trends are dependent on how best we
manage the pandemic in terms of new infections a spike in new infections
will have a dire impact on the fragile tourism industry as that will
increase the risk perception.”

 

On the other hand, if infections go down which, in his view, is unlikely,
occupancies can rise over Christmas to much better levels than currently
seen as many people would love to take breaks and enjoy the holidays that
are coming.

 

“Most importantly the figures points to the need for support for the
industry and its employees to ensure survival and sustainability of the
industry going forward. The need to adhere to health and safety protocols
can never be over emphasise,” concludes Dube.-news24.com

 

 

 

Covid-19: First UK airport coronavirus testing begins

Passengers flying from Heathrow to Hong Kong and Italy on Tuesday will be
the first to have the option of paying for a rapid Covid test before
checking in.

 

The test will cost £80 and a result can take a mere 20 minutes.

 

The aim is to help people travelling to destinations where proof of a
negative result is required on arrival.

 

A growing number of countries have classified the UK as being "at risk",
meaning travellers from the UK face more restrictions.

 

The authorities in Hong Kong now require people to show they have a negative
test result, taken within 72 hours of a flight from London.

 

The rapid saliva swab, which is now available at Heathrow Terminals 2 and 5,
is known as a Lamp (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) test.

 

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific will now offer it to
customers.

 

A Lamp test is quicker than the PCR test, which is widely used in the NHS,
because the sample does not need to be sent to a laboratory.

 

Collinson, the company behind the initiative at Heathrow, admitted that the
Lamp test is "slightly less sensitive" than the PCR test.

 

However, the Lamp test is considered to be much better than another rapid
option - the antigen test.

 

Collinson's chief executive David Evans told the BBC that "health screening"
was quickly becoming another stage of the airport experience.

 

He said passengers would only have to turn up at the airport an hour
earlier. And he maintained testing would help give people confidence to
travel, because flights would be "covid-secure".

 

"It starts to make travel easier again," he said.

 

Opening routes

Collinson, which partners with Swissport, hopes testing will help open up
routes between the UK and other countries.

 

People arriving in Italy from the UK must now either prove they had a
negative coronavirus test before departure, or take a test on arrival at an
airport in Italy.

 

However, the type of test offered at Heathrow is not sufficient for people
travelling to some destinations, such as Greece, Cyprus, the Bahamas and
Bermuda.

 

All those places currently require proof of a negative PCR test, which
requires analysis in a laboratory.

 

The hope is that more countries will change their rules and allow for other
types of test, which could be administered on the spot at Heathrow.

 

It is important to note that the new testing facility at Heathrow is not for
passengers flying into the airport.

 

That means it will not have any immediate impact on the UK's two-week travel
quarantine for people arriving from "at risk" countries.

 

Collinson set up a separate testing facility in arrivals at Heathrow over
the summer. However, that facility has not been used by passengers, because
the government has not given its backing to testing people on arrival.

 

Ministers have promised that next month, they will give their formal
approval to the idea of people paying for a test after a week of quarantine,
to avoid the full two weeks.

 

On Monday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the government was in
talks with the US Department of Homeland Security about a different type of
system, possibly involving "multiple tests".

 

The government is looking at another system, under which people could take
one test two or three days before they fly into the UK, and then another
test when they arrive.

 

That could make it possible for someone arriving in the UK from an "at risk"
country to avoid quarantine altogether.

 

However, Mr Shapps said he could not say when that type of system would be
up and running, because it required international co-operation.--BBC

 

 

 

 

Brexit: Have EU-UK trade talks reached a dead end?

After months of wrangling and shadow-boxing, posturing and incomprehension
of the bottom-line priorities of the other side - are the negotiations truly
over?

 

Political Twitter is exploding with theories: that Prime Minister Boris
Johnson never really wanted a deal in the first place, that the EU threw
away its chances to make a deal with missteps at last week's summit, or that
the UK is overplaying its hand - expecting the EU to "cave in at 10 to
midnight" in negotiations...

 

Certainly, the last 24 hours have not played out as many a seasoned observer
of this by now very, very, very long Brexit process might have imagined.

 

Unlike Mr Johnson's decision on Friday to walk away from negotiations. That
was half-predicted, following the EU leaders' summit.

 

The prime minister had set the summit as a deadline (the EU regarded it as
an artificial one) by which time a trade deal should be on the table. If
not, Mr Johnson had said, he thought there wouldn't be an EU-UK trade deal
and "we should move on".

 

A slight unease in Brussels

No-one I spoke to in EU circles in the lead-up to the summit took that
ultimatum too seriously.

 

Instead they reeled off examples of promises and deadlines the prime
minister had made and set and ultimately ignored in the past: walking away
from negotiations this June if sufficient progress hadn't been made, dying
in a ditch last year rather than extend Brexit divorce talks and more.

 

But I detected a slight unease in Brussels too.

 

"You never know with Boris Johnson. Might he do something radical? Something
unexpected? I mean just look at the Internal Market Bill!" mused one
Brussels contact on the eve of the summit.

 

The government's Internal Market Bill published last month has provisions
(the cabinet call them a safety net) to override parts of the divorce
agreement pertaining to Northern Ireland - which was agreed and signed off
by the EU and Mr Johnson last year. The EU was taken aback by the bill and
started legal proceedings.

 

Yet on Friday, when the prime minister insisted there was no point carrying
on with negotiations unless the EU fundamentally changed its position, there
was a widespread assumption in Brussels and in parts of the UK that this was
political posturing.

 

Yes, the government had clear frustrations with the EU in its approach to
talks.

 

Yes, the EU was impatient with the UK because of a range of issues that came
up in negotiations.

 

But - the theory went - the end stage of negotiations would naturally be
when both sides would publicly flex their muscles most of all.

 

To show domestic audiences back home that they would fight their corner to
the end... just before they agreed a compromise deal behind closed doors in
the coming weeks.

 

We saw France's Emmanuel Macron sweep into the EU summit last week sounding
intentionally hardline about fish.

 

EU leaders' written summit conclusions pointedly put the onus on the UK to
make the compromises necessary to make a deal. And the prime minister
responded that the EU had effectively ended negotiations, unless it changed
its position.

 

Most commentators assumed talks would resume late this week after some
diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing.

 

Mr Barnier has long been pushing EU coastal member states to allow him to
start discussing compromises on fish

And bang on cue on Monday, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier offered to
intensify talks (a big UK complaint has been that the EU hasn't complied
with a promise to truly speed up talks this autumn).

 

He also spoke about getting to work on "legal texts". Again, this was an
overture to the UK, which has long grumbled that Brussels refused to start
work on a joint legal text, despite the majority of the EU-UK deal already
being agreed.

 

What is the Brexit transition period?

But instead of welcoming these moves - while maybe playing coy or
hard-to-get till the end of the week (as it might have felt it too soon to
"give in" after declaring talks over, such a short time ago) - Number Ten
responded that, although welcome, the EU offer was insufficient.

 

Again came the demand for a "fundamental change of approach from the EU".

 

How fundamental is fundamental?

This is far tougher to come back from than the bilateral fist-waving last
week. The EU has already made its overtures. It's unlikely to go much
further unilaterally.

 

Depending, of course, what the UK means by "fundamental change of approach".

 

If what the government is after is the EU dropping its insistence on agreed
competition rules, or at least common "principles" aka the level playing
field, then Downing Street must know that's not going to happen - and
negotiations are indeed over.

 

The UK says it no longer wants to be tied to "Brussels' rules" but it's not
unusual to agree competition regulations with trade partners. The UK has a
state aid agreement in its post-Brexit trade deal with Japan. It's asking
for level playing field provisions in a future deal with the US.

 

If pushed, the EU may well further water down its demand for what it calls
"fair competition" rules - if, for example, it feels there is a robust
dispute mechanism in place in the trade deal, that allows either side to
take swift legal action, if they believe the other has broken their
agreement.

 

Brussels has already budged on some of its competition demands btw, but it
will never drop the ask altogether.

 

Protecting the single market is more important to the EU (and for German car
manufacturers, as they've told us) than a trade deal with the UK.

 

And the EU does feel it must protect its market and businesses from
potential "unfair competition" from post-Brexit UK.

 

But, if what the government wants is the EU admitting that it, too, must
make compromises to reach a deal, not the UK alone, in order to return to
the negotiating table, then that is certainly doable. German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said as much last week.

 

Back to the table at some point

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who has in
the past also spoken of bilateral compromise, could call Boris Johnson over
the coming days.

 

Mr Barnier has long been pushing coastal member states to allow him to start
discussing compromises on fish. Months ago, he openly admitted that the EU's
demand to keep pretty much the same fishing quotas in UK waters after Brexit
as before was a "maximalist position".

 

The EU's negotiating team was keenly aware that it would be easier for
Downing Street to discuss compromises on competition regulations - which are
far more important to the EU as a whole than fish - after it became clear
Brussels would give way on fishing quotas.

 

But coastal nations like Spain and the Netherlands - and especially France -
insisted that they'd only start talking about quota compromises once the UK
"seriously engaged" in discussions on the level playing field.

 

Most importantly, those countries wanted to be seen by the fishermen and
fisherwomen at home to have been fighting hard for their industry in trade
negotiations with the UK.

 

That they would have to compromise in the end is an open EU secret.

 

Bets are now on amongst Brexit commentators over whether EU-UK talks will
resume, come the end of the week, or next week at the latest, or whether
we're indeed heading for no-deal.

 

In the knowledge that, as economically significant neighbours and trading
partners, the EU and UK will end up back around a negotiating table at some
point, whatever happens next.-BBC

 

 

 

Visa and Mastercard accused of charging 'excessive' fees

Visa and Mastercard have been accused of cashing in during the coronavirus
crisis by charging "excessive fees".

 

British retail groups say the scheme fees charged by payment firms have
almost doubled in the last two years.

 

They warn that retailers will be forced to pass on the extra costs to
consumers, with credit card bills rising by another £40 a year.

 

"It is vital that the government takes action to tackle excessive card
costs," said the BRC's Andrew Cregan.

 

Mr Cregan, head of finance policy at the British Retail Consortium (BRC),
told the BBC: "If a phone or energy company increased their fees by such an
amount there would uproar.

 

"It's an abuse of a dominant market position by these companies. They're two
of the most profitable organisations in the world and they've got merchants
over a barrel."

 

The industry body wants the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to
investigate the card schemes.

 

A Visa spokesperson responded: "Visa enables millions of merchants
throughout the UK to access the benefits of digital payments, giving them
the ability to reach billions of potential customers both in their local
communities and across the globe. Visa has delivered to UK consumers some of
the most secure and innovative payments solutions available anywhere in the
world."

 

A Mastercard spokesperson said: "Card-based payments continue to grow in
popularity with consumers as they offer unrivalled convenience, security and
protection.

 

"More shops and businesses are also adopting them either for the first time
or in new contactless or digital formats, as they too benefit from faster,
more efficient and secure payments, which in turn generates significant
value for their businesses."

 

'Excessive fees'

Retail and hospitality trade bodies have come together to call for action to
tackle card fees, as more of them have been forced to accept only card
payments due to the pandemic and social distancing rules.

 

Many retailers now only accept card payments, but they feel penalised by
payment processers

In its latest Payments Survey, the BRC said that card schemes were clearly
the "least competitive layer of the card payments ecosystem", with a duopoly
controlling 98% of the UK market.

 

"Complex billing structures have become a powerful tool to bamboozle
political, regulatory or legal attempts to rein in increasing abuses of the
schemes' dominant market positions," said the industry body.

 

BRC said the increases in scheme fees - 39% in 2017 and 56% in 2018,
measured as a percentage of turnover - were "clear demonstrations of an
abuse of market dominance".

 

The BRC said the average cost of a cash transaction to retailers was just
1.42p. Accepting payment by debit cards costs retailers 5.88p, while credit
cards cost them 18.4p.

 

"The events of the last few months have accelerated a move towards the use
of card payments across hospitality, with many now not accepting cash on
safety grounds," pointed out David Sheen, public affairs director at UK
Hospitality.

 

"The sector needs to be protected from excessive fees for doing the right
thing."

 

Jeff Moody, commercial director, British Independent Retailers Association,
said that local shops are being penalised as they are not able to negotiate
better fees with payment firms.

 

"The contracts available to large national chains are often not available to
individual smaller independent retailers," he said.

 

"With card transactions now the majority of their payment transactions,
these costs are therefore being felt by consumers."

 

"The costs that accompany acceptance of card payments represent yet another
overhead for embattled small retailers," added Martin McTague, national
policy and advocacy vice chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses
(FSB).--BBC

 

 

 

Coronavirus: Shapps aims for new test system for arrivals

The Transport Secretary says he is "very hopeful" a new testing regime for
travellers to the UK can be in place by 1 December, reducing the amount of
time people need to spend in quarantine.

 

Grant Shapps said it could happen as long as there was enough testing
capacity to support the plan.

 

The government has been consulting on a system where passengers would be
tested after just a week of isolation.

 

But BA's new boss wants testing before departure, not quarantine on arrival.

 

Addressing an online aviation conference, Mr Shapps said the government was
looking at introducing a virus test alongside a shortened quarantine period
by early December.

 

"My ministerial colleagues and I have agreed a regime, based on a single
test provided by the private sector and at the cost to the passenger, after
a period of self-isolation," he said.

 

"It will mean a single test for international arrivals, a week after
arrival."

 

'Hundreds of thousands' of airline jobs at risk

Virgin Atlantic to cut 1,150 more jobs

The government's travel taskforce, which is working on the plans, will put
its recommendations before the prime minister in November, Mr Shapps said.

 

The idea is to reduce the amount of time travellers coming into the UK have
to spend self-isolating - currently 14 days for those arriving from areas
not included on the government's list of "travel corridors".

 

The government's approach may be designed to protect public health, but is
unlikely to win it many friends in the aviation industry.

 

Just before Grant Shapps spoke, and at the same event, British Airways' new
boss Sean Doyle used his first major public appearance since his appointment
to argue for a "fundamental rethink" of the UK's approach to flying during
the pandemic.

 

It was time, he said, to replace the current quarantine regime with a
"reliable and affordable" test taken before flying.

 

People within the sector blame the current restrictions for killing off
hopes of a strong revival in the sector, after the lockdown earlier this
year.

 

The prospect of spending two weeks in isolation, they say, is simply
deterring people from travelling. Ryanair plans to operate at 40% of its
normal capacity this winter, while Easyjet will have just 25% capacity.

 

Mr Doyle suggested that even a reduction in the quarantine period to seven
days would not be enough to change matters.

 

But Mr Shapps made it clear the government will press on with its own plans.

 

Speaking at the same conference, British Airways' new boss Sean Doyle
emphasised his objections to the current system.

 

"We need to get the economy moving again and this just isn't possible when
you're asking people to quarantine for 14 days," said Mr Doyle, a week after
he replaced Alex Cruz as chief executive of the airline.

 

However, he said that even if quarantine was reduced to seven days, demand
for travel would remain low, and called for tests before departure.

 

"People won't travel here and the UK will get left behind," Mr Doyle said.

 

Mr Shapps said the government was in talks with the US about trialling
pre-departure tests, but no agreement has been reached yet.

 

British Airways is currently slashing thousands of jobs amid a slump in
demand for air travel - a pattern seen at other carriers.

 

Some warn there could be hundreds of thousands more cuts unless the sector
gets additional government support.

 

The International Air Transport Association has downgraded its 2020 traffic
forecasts, after "a dismal end to the summer travel season".

 

The association, which represents 290 airlines, estimates that it will be at
least 2024 before air traffic reaches pre-pandemic levels.--BBC

 

 

 

 

Flybe set to fly again after brand is rescued

Collapsed regional airline Flybe could restart operations as soon as next
year, after a former shareholder stepped in to buy its remaining assets.

 

The airline plans to "start off smaller than before", its new owner Thyme
Opco said, without giving further details.

 

Before its collapse in March, Flybe carried eight million passengers a year
and ran 40% of regional UK flights.

 

However, there are questions over whether the airline still has a valid
operating licence.

 

And the BBC understands that if the deal is approved by regulators then
Flybe will be significantly smaller than it was before.

 

Flybe was a central carrier for many of the UK's smaller airports, operating
80% or more flights from Southampton, Exeter and Belfast City airports.

 

When it collapsed, it employed about 2,200 people, many in the Exeter area.

 

But while other carriers have stepped in to replace some routes, many
flights it operated have not been saved, creating concern for those in the
areas affected.

 

After it went into administration in March, Flybe owned no aircraft. Its new
owners have principally agreed to purchase the airline's brand and web
address.

 

The big question mark surrounding this deal is whether Flybe's airline
operating licence is still valid.

 

The licence contains access to slots at major airports such as Heathrow and
Manchester which before the pandemic were worth their weight in gold.
Control of some slots did, temporarily at least, pass to other airlines.

 

Regulators at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) initially revoked the
airline's licence when the company went into administration.

 

The CAA now needs to make a judgement call on the licence and there might
need to be a legal hearing.

 

One source said the process was at a "very premature stage".

 

Thyme Opco, which is controlled by hedge fund executive Lucien Farrell, will
buy the airline's brand, intellectual property, stock and equipment.

 

A spokesman said: "The airline is not only a well-known UK brand, it was
also the largest regional air carrier in the EU, so while we plan to start
off smaller than before, we expect to create valuable airline industry jobs,
restore essential regional connectivity in the UK, and contribute to the
recovery of a vital part of the country's economy."

 

The news was welcomed by pilots' union Balpa.

 

"I hope this signals the start of a relaunch of Flybe and I've written to
all the parties involved to discuss this with them," said the union's
general secretary, Brian Strutton.

 

Flights operated by Flybe before its collapse

Flybe was a vital provider of air links to more remote parts of the UK,
operating around 2,300 flights a week from 43 different local hubs.

 

For the holiday resort of Newquay, for instance, it provided a much faster
connection to London than its rail link, and for the Isle of Man, it had a
contract to fly NHS patients for medical treatment.

 

Mr Farrell runs New York hedge fund Cyrus Capital's operations in Europe.
Cyrus was a shareholder of Flybe, along with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin
Atlantic, before its collapse.

 

Thyme Opco is 51%-owned by Mr Farrell, giving him overall control of the
carrier, according to filings at Companies House.

 

Cyrus Capital manages $4bn (£3.1bn) of investors' money and owns a stake in
the Co-operative Bank in the UK.

 

The value of the Flybe sale was not disclosed. The deal must pass regulatory
hurdles before being completed.--BBC

 

 

 

Geek Retreat: Retailer of 'all things geeky' to open 100 new shops

>From online fashion to grocery, only a handful of sectors have bucked the
coronavirus downturn, and now it seems comics and gaming have joined the
list.

 

Geek Retreat - which specialises in "all things geeky" including comics,
memorabilia and table top games - says it will open another 100 stores over
the next two years, at a time when the UK High Street is under pressure.

 

The Scottish firm currently has 14 UK sites, which combine retail space with
cafes and areas to play games and hold events.

 

It said its Covid-safe plan would create around 600 new jobs.

 

"During the pandemic, while our gaming events have had to stop and the
hospitality side of our business is more difficult, our stores still have
loyal communities who support our retail side," Geek Retreat boss Peter
Dobson told the BBC.

 

"We have made sure all of our stores are welcoming and accessible to gamers
whatever their interests, providing a place for our loyal customers to get
out of the house and play safely post-lockdown."

 

Countless High Street businesses had to close temporarily during lockdown,
and many remain under pressure as shoppers minimise social contact.

 

However, Mr Dobson said Geek Retreat was benefitting from the growth of the
wider games and hobby sector which is valued at £8bn a year in the UK and
predicted to expand by 3% in 2020.

 

Earlier this year, miniature wargames manufacturer Games Workshop - which is
best known for its Warhammer products -announced record sales and profits,
and its shares were promoted to London's FTSE 250 index.

 

Geek Retreat - founded in Glasgow in 2017 - stocks merchandise such as
comics, posters, clothing, figures and memorabilia as well as games and
trading cards.

 

It also specialises in various cult brands such as Dungeons & Dragons, Star
Wars and Harry Potter, while selling graphic novels and gaming accessories
such as dice.

 

The retailer said it expected to open sites in Bournemouth, Northampton and
Liverpool in coming months, followed by Southampton, Dumfries, Cardiff and
Sutton in London.

 

The chain, which operates as a franchise, aims to open five stores per month
from the beginning of 2021, but points out that with the Covid-19 virus
those plans are subject to change.

 

Mr Dobson said all his outlets were Covid secure, with only limited numbers
allowed in at one time. Customers also have to book events in advance,
submit their details for track and trace and follow social distancing
rules.--BBC

 

 

 

Nigeria: CBN Rolls Out Financing Framework for Mass Metering Programme

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday released guidelines for
accessing funding for the mass metering programme recently announced by the
federal government in a bid to close the 10 million metering gap in the
country.

 

The apex bank, however, barred the importation of fully assembled meters and
prohibited bringing infrastructure from outside the country that already
exists within.

 

The federal government has also stated that it planned to completely
deregulate Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), akin to what is
happening in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry, where it has
fully removed subsidy.

 

 

According to the apex bank, the aim of the scheme is to increase Nigeria's
metering rate, eliminate arbitrary estimated billing and strengthen the
local meter value chain by increasing local meter manufacturing, assembly
and deployment capacity.

 

Other objectives of the programme, the bank said, is to support Nigeria's
economic recovery by creating jobs in the local meter value chain, reducing
collection losses and increasing financial flows to achieve 100 per cent
market remittance obligations of the Distribution Companies (Discos).

 

The CBN said the move would improve network monitoring capability and
availability of data for market administration and investment decision
making.

 

It added that the introduction of the service-based tariff (SBT) in NESI
effective from September 1, 2020, emphasised the need to close the metering
gap in the NESI.

 

 

The CBN explained that closing of the gap will enhance the efficiency of
revenue collection by Discos and thereby facilitate meeting their
obligations to other upstream market participants.

 

However, the bank barred the importation of fully-assembled meters and
prohibited bringing infrastructure from outside the country that already
exists within.

 

It said: "Procurement of fully assembled meters from overseas is prohibited
except meters imported by Meter Asset Providers (MAP) already in the country
as at September 30, 2020, and verified by NERC.

 

"And importation of related metering infrastructure that is currently being
produced in the country is also prohibited."

 

However, the apex bank explained that the framework only outlines the
operational modalities of the CBN financing support to the Disco and local
meter manufacturers and restricted to the procurement and deployment of
meters and the associated infrastructure (software and hardware) to support
the metering network.

 

 

It stated that the bank facility will only be used for procurement of
NERC-approved meters, payments for installation and deployment of meters,
procurement of other metering infrastructure-related production and service
provision as may be prescribed by NERC in relevant orders or by prevailing
rules and regulations.

 

The bank also listed the procurement of backend metering platform and data
management systems as well as customer enumeration services as some of the
areas the facility should be invested.

 

According to the bank, the facility shall have a maximum tenor of 10 years
but not exceeding 2030, adding that there will be a moratorium on the
principal amount for a period not exceeding 24 months from date of loan
disbursement.

 

As for interest rates to be paid, CBN stated that the facility shall be
administered at an "all-in" interest rate of not more than nine per cent per
annum or any other rate as may be specified by the bank.

 

"As part of the bank's COVID-19 relief package, the interest rate to be
charged up to 28th February 2021 shall not exceed 5 per cent per annum.
Interest shall be payable by the loan beneficiaries in accordance with the
approved repayment schedule outlined in the transaction documents.

 

"The "all-in" interest rate of nine per cent to be shared as follows:
Participating Financial Institution (PFIs) - six per cent while sponsor
(CBN) will pay- three per cent.

 

"PFIs are to remit the interest due to the CBN on a quarterly basis not
later than 10 days after the end of the quarter," it stated.

 

It added that the amount to be accessed would be determined based on the
volume and type of meters to be procured by the Disco for the contracted MAP
as well as the prices at which meters are bought during the bulk
procurement.

 

The bank added that the eligible obligors should demonstrate verifiable
evidence of technical capacity, track record of experience in manufacturing
of key meter components, bankable business plans acceptable to the PFIs and
financial capacity.

 

FG Plans Full Deregulation of Power Sector

 

The federal government yesterday stated that it planned to completely
deregulate the NESI just like it did the downstream sector of the oil and
gas industry, where it has fully removed subsidy.

 

Minister of Power, Mr. Sale Mamman, who spoke during a virtual event
organised by Siemens Energy, Germany, also noted that by 2030, 30 per cent
of the whole energy mix in the country will be based on renewable.

 

The forum also had in attendance Minister of Energy, Benin Republic, Mr Dona
Jean-Claude Houssou; Undersecretary, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure,
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mr Sharif Al Olama and Minister of Electricity,
Iraq, Mr Majid El Emara, among others.

 

Mamman, who was represented by the Minister of State, Power, Mr Goddy
Jedy-Agba, said with the strategy put in place by the federal government,
the era of full government funding of power supply and right state control
was over.

 

He said: "In the past, the power system was state-controlled, leading to low
participation. But with market restructuring, that is changing and that is
with less rigid control by the government.

 

"The central strategy in the power sector due to the severe inadequacy of
infrastructure is thus a significant development, which is hinged on harmony
and active participation of various public and private stakeholders in the
industry.

 

"Further down the line, the market will still evolve towards complete
deregulation and more commercially focused partnerships, further emphasising
this harmony between the public and private sector and sustainability of the
industry."

 

He said the partnership with Siemens will improve Nigeria's electricity
supply, adding that the federal government recently set up initiatives to
bring about better energy supply to the people through vision 3030.

 

"This is targeted at delivering 30,000,000 watts of electricity with a 30
per cent renewable energy mix by 2030.

 

This is a key focus of our strategy to avail Nigeria of reliable power
supply," he stated.

 

According to him, the federal government is currently embarking on grid
modernisation and expansion plan which will add 25,000MW of operational
capacity to the bulk power system within the next six years, which will be
further supported by five million solar home systems and mini-grids for
underserved Nigerians.

 

In his comments, the Executive Vice President, Generation, Siemens Energy,
Mr Karim Amin, stated that the company was set to remove all the bottlenecks
in the generation and distribution of power in Nigeria.

 

"Nigeria has a generation capacity of 13,000mw, but only a small portion of
this reaches the consumers. So, Siemens energy and the Nigerian government
are working together right now on a critical project aimed at removing the
roadblocks in the transmission and distribution systems.

 

"The eventual goal is to develop a system that can deliver 25,000 MW of
electricity across the country," Amin said.

 

Managing Director, Siemens Nigeria, Onyeche Tifase, who anchored the
session, said it was unacceptable that over 850 million people do not have
access to electricity and most of them reside in Africa, noting that Siemens
is set to rectify the problem.-This Day

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Electricity Must Be Correctly Priced to Attract Investments in
Power Sector - Adesina

The Group Managing Director of Sahara Power Group and Chairman of Ikeja
Electric Plc, Mr. Kola Adesina in this interview, sheds light on the
investments and other efforts being made by the group to deliver sustainable
electricity to Nigerians. Adesina also said the ongoing review of the
service-reflective tariff must produce correctly priced electricity to
attract more investments in power sector, amongst other issues. Peter Uzoho
presents the excerpts:

 

What is Ikeja Electric doing as regards mitigating the risks created by the
inconsistency in electricity pricing in the country?

 

The answer to that is very straight forward because in Sahara - our power
entities, Egbin, IE (Ikeja Electric) and First Independent Power Limited
(FIPL), always conduct scenario planning and scenario planning simply means
that we anticipate all likely possibilities and put in place a programme,
process and strategy to deal with such eventuality. Thankfully, we are not
caught napping. We are quite aware that this might happen, and it has
happened. So we are absolutely prepared to continue to steer the
organisation in the right path to achieve service excellence, enhanced
productivity and sustainability. For us, it is not just being in existence
that matters, it is being able to deliver the promise that we have made. For
us, we believe our role in the electricity value chain is akin to having
signed a service contract with all our customers to ensure that they have
electricity and that we will ensure that we do. We are investing massively
as we speak today in network expansion and ensuring that the lines that need
to be upgraded are strengthened. We have equally given additional contract
to partners involved in handling production of meters for us. We signed
about N11.4billion for the purpose of metering our customers using
intelligent tools. And if you equally pay attention to some of the things we
are doing with regards to the premium bilateral power initiative, which we
started in Magodo, Ikeja GRA, Ogudu and other locations, it is an initiative
that is receiving endless commendation. The service-based tariff regime of
this administration is a product of our own experimentation in Ikeja
Electric, and that is why you see that they have now isolated and segmented
customers along the line of those who have the capacity to pay and then
ensuring that they are paying.

 

 

You spoke about investment, apart from the investment you are making in
metering, can you tell us the total investment you are making in your
network?

 

 

As I said, we are investing in metering. Before then, you remember we had
done $44million of investment in advanced metering infrastructure, which
primarily is to integrate technology and innovation into our own way of
doing business. So, we are doing network optimisation, we are doing more of
operation upgrade as well, and most importantly, we are equally teaching our
staff the new ways of doing things. If you use the old model of doing
things, you definitely will not get the type of result you expect to see.
So, part of what we are doing presently is to ensure that the capacity to
deliver is equally a training process that we have inaugurated. Now, there
is something you can't teach, and that's passion. The passion of our staff
lately, of which we measure regularly, is quite impressive. They
deliberately and intentionally want to make things better, because
ultimately, if there is electricity, that is when they can truly go to bed
and rest. But today, we don't have enough.

 

 

Talking of the back and forth, particularly on service reflective tariff,
and the extension of the suspension by one week, where do you see the
ongoing discussion heading? And do you think the outcome is something that
will at the end of the day favour the investment you plan to make in the
power sector?

 

Well, undoubtedly, where we are headed is that electricity will be correctly
priced. When it is correctly priced, that will be an incentive for
investment by those who desire to invest. As we speak today, we (the Sahara
Power group) made our own investment based on patriotism, based on
nationalism, based on the fact that we are Nigerians, based on the fact that
we believe that we have the capacity to deliver on the promise of bringing
energy to life in Africa. So that is at the premise upon which we made our
investment. However, the commercial principle of the sector has to change
and we thankfully appreciate the fact that government has come to that
realisation that the resources available to state is not sufficient enough
to meet all the needs of state. So, invariably, some of these commodities
need to be economically priced. So, pricing electricity economically is a
commonsensical thing any administration will naturally want to support.
Nigeria is doing about 5000megawatts. That's really shameful, if you ask me,
for 200million people. Like I said at a forum yesterday (last Monday),
Nigeria should be doing about 50,000megawatts of electricity every day. So,
what will make that happen? What will make that happen is first, for you the
people (journalists) that communicate with the people, to agree with us that
that is the right thing to do - supporting us by ensuring that the narrative
for positive development in the electricity space is supported
whole-heartedly. We, on our part, ensuring that the framework to deliver
that power is available and ultimately, for the consumers to pay the right
price.

 

By November this year, power sector privatisation will be five years
according to the legal document signed by the parties. What is your
assessment of the sector after five years. Will you say the agreements
signed between the government and the investors have been met?

 

Most people look at the lenses of development in Nigeria from the negative
perspective, most especially electricity, and I will say without any doubt,
we have actually made improvements. The kind of improvement we have made is
not one that we are happy about, it's not one we want to celebrate. But
let's call a spade a spade: we have made a significant improvement. We were
doing about 3,000megawatts in 2013, today we are doing 5, 700megawatts
averagely. At Egbin here, we took over this power plant doing about
400megawatts. Today, we can do 1,100megawatts and ultimately, we will be
able to do the installed capacity that we met on ground. Quite a number of
the other generating and distribution assets were actually well behind, now
they are moving ahead. But we are not moving as fast as we should move. We
should actually do more of leapfrog achievement than this incremental
achievement that we are making, and the reason why that is so, is simply
put, that the economic analysis of electricity is not done using the
economic principle that it requires. The people staying now in Magodo, Ikeja
GRA, Ogudu, the story is different. If you ask anybody living in those
neighbourhood, the number of hours of electricity they are enjoying, they
will tell you they are doing incredibly very well. Some of our customers in
those locations today want to retire their generators. That's the aspiration
we had, where generators will become a thing of the past. So, I can say
without a doubt that we have moved the needle, but we have not moved it to
where we want it to be.

 

What steps are you taking at Ikeja Electric to enhance your employees'
knowledge on technical operations as you seek to improve service delivery?

 

Human Capital Development is ongoing for us at Ikeja Electric and we have a
full-fledged Academy in place for continuous learning and development. Ikeja
Electric Academy is an initiative borne out of the need to elevate the
technical competence of our staff to deliver more value to our customers and
improve turn-around-time in complaints or faults resolution. The Academy is
designed to re-equip staff with in-depth knowledge of various aspects of
technical operations and spectrum of services provided to Maximum Demand
(MD) and Non-Maximum Demand (Non-MD) customers within its franchise network.
Of course we are driven by the fact that whilst it is essential for us to
ramp up metering across our network, the training academy reinforces Ikeja
Electric's commitment to our customers We are ramping up capabilities and
expertise in the technicality of metering, project execution, maintenance of
installations, monitoring and management of assets, to ensure all our
deliverables are met. The IE Academy will operate virtual training sessions
which will include classes facilitated by subject matter experts.
Essentially, the virtual training will be complemented with field practical
for participants, while on the job project will be carried out over agreed
periods to enable hands-on application of knowledge. We also expect that the
academy will develop the competence and capabilities of participants to
enhance their knowledge in load assessment, use of metering reading app,
meter recertification, troubleshooting, energy theft detection, proper
customer classification, electrical energy meters operations and
functionalities, installation of single and three phase meter among others.

 

Corporate social responsibility is viewed as a barometer of sorts for
measuring how business impacts its stakeholders. How is this playing out at
Ikeja Electric?

 

Good Corporate citizenship is at the very core of our existence as Sahara
Group. This is evident in our unwavering commitment to promoting sustainable
development across our locations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle
East, reaching over 2,000,000 beneficiaries. In the same vein, at Ikeja
Electric we are always delighted to be involved in the well-being of our
host communities and customers through robust interventions in the areas of
Health, Environment, Education and Empowerment. The Personal Corporate
Social Responsibility (PCSR) platform is the vehicle with which we carry out
these interventions ranging from Medical Outreaches, to donations to
hospitals in the communities within our network, We also carry out constant
environmental management activities such as market sanitation exercise, and
we consistently partners with Corporate entities, NGO groups and communities
to support the cleaner Lagos project. In recognition of the critical role of
the younger generation towards building a vibrant socio-economic future for
the Nation, IE remains committed to empowering and enhancing their capacity
for improved learning by having various campaigns in public schools which
includes "Safety starts with me", "Light Up the Future", "Back to School"
and "IE Book Donation" programs. These initiatives have provided positive
learning support, especially to underserved communities. In addition, IE has
created an annual Youth Empowerment Program. The platform is designed to
empower youths with entrepreneurial skill and create opportunities for them
to achieve their aspirations. This is in line with our drive to impact
society and improve Nigeria youth through our various CSR initiatives, in a
bid to improve their independence and assist to reduce the level of
unemployment across the country. As a responsible corporate citizen, we take
advantage of specific UN International days like International day of
Charity, World Malaria Day, Global Hand Washing Day, Children's Day and a
host of others, to educate, enlighten and engage our publics on topical
issues.

 

How is Ikeja Electric leveraging technology driven innovations to improve
its service delivery?

 

I believe the world has not witnessed the level of disruption technology
continues to bring to the business space. This is a positive development
that Ikeja Electric keys into as innovation plays a critical role in driving
our quest for excellent service delivery and driving growth across our
platforms. For example, leveraging our mobile applications we pool data from
our distribution assets and systems updating our customers with status of
their supply, planned maintenances and information on network upgrades. Our
customers can also access their energy management and usage information via
our web applications and programmes. Through these platforms they have the
power to manage the energy costs in line with their budgets and contribute
to energy efficiency initiatives in the electricity sector. We have also
leveraged on mobile and the internet to fast track metering activities
across the network ensuring that our customers can benefit from the comfort
of digitally aided end to end registration processes from application to
procurement and all the way to actual metering. As a pioneer and leader in
electricity cash-less payment services our payment channels rely on world
class channel systems and aggregators making payment for electricity bills
easy and seamless from any part of the world. Data and analysis is at the
heart of our tech innovation drive and we believe that by relying on it
responsibly, we can harness the power of programming, data science, and
algorithms to build machine learning abilities across our systems.
Ultimately, this positions us strategically to continue to build solutions
that improve our customer experience and service delivery. The prevalent
culture at Ikeja Electric challenges every employee to embrace and deploy
future thinking in all our operations and processes. We are driven by a
mindset that is constantly assessing the strategies of today and ensuring we
have the right foundation, alignment, and preparedness to adapt in the
future. Building for the future starts by setting a road map that is clearly
understood by everyone and innovating as we progress to achieve continuous
transformation of Ikeja Electric for powering lives and businesses in
Nigeria and beyond.

 

How does Ikeja Electric manage its safety machinery to ensure increased
protection for its employees, customers, and the public?

 

At Ikeja Electric, we are acutely aware of the risks inherent to our
industry with respect to quality, health, safety & Environment (QHSE) and
that is why we apply strong technical, operational, and organizational
Initiatives to pioneer new ways of approaching health and safety so that we
leave a legacy that will help and contribute to a safer and environmentally
sustainable energy industry. Post the privatization exercise, we carried out
a GAP Analysis on the health & safety management system which was not in
existence, retrieved very few data through survey, past accident reports,
Regulators' report and annual HSE Performance reports during the PHCN period
and analyzed the data to chart a QHSE course that aligns with global
standards. We introduced Harm to Zero (H2O) Strategy which entails
modification of traditional safety practices and deployed innovative
structures with the aim of reducing accidents, establishing and sustaining a
safety culture and improving business performance thereby enhancing
operational excellence and business sustainability. Our innovative approach
towards Occupational Health and Safety Management has won several local and
international accolades and recognitions for excellent safety culture and
pace setting initiatives in the Power Industry. We are delighted that our
QHSE strategy continues to inspire a growing safety culture in the sector.
In fact, Ikeja Electric is now an internationally registered VISION ZERO
Company and continues to set the pace in the power sector, especially with
the certification of our management systems to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 45001:2018
and ISO 14001:2015, making us the first organization in the power sector to
attain this commendable achievement.-This Day

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: NNPC Reduces Debts to IOCs to $1.58bn, Pays Off Mobil

Out of about $4.6 billion negotiated joint venture (JV) oil production debt
Nigeria was owing international oil companies (IOCs), about $3.02 billion
has been paid by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), leaving
about $1.58 billion as the outstanding, a report by the corporation has
disclosed.

 

The NNPC in its October 2020 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)
report, explained that it has continued to pay the debt to the IOCs since a
discount was negotiated by former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources,
Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in December 2016, from about $5.1 billion to $4.6 billion.

 

 

Within the period, the corporation stated it has paid a total of $3.02
billion to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Exploration and
Production Nigeria (TEPNG), Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), Chevron Nigeria
Limited (CNL) and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

 

It stated that SPDC which was owed a negotiated debt of about $1.4 billion
has been paid about $455 million so far, TEPNG which is owed $610 got $307
million, NAOC which is also owed $774 million has been paid $389 million
while CNL which is owed $1.097 billion has been paid just $$1.042 billion.

 

Out of the five IOCs, the corporation said that only MPN which the country
owed $833 million has been fully paid, thereby relieving it of any debt to
the oil company. With this, the NNPC explained that all incremental barrels
of oil from its JV operations with MPN has reverted back to base.

 

In this regard, the corporation noted that Nigeria's debt burdens to SPDC,
TEPNG, NAOC and CNL as at August 2020 were $917 million, $303 million, $384
million and $55.4 million respectively.

 

 

Kachikwu, in 2016 negotiated with the IOCs and secured a discount of 25 per
cent with each of them on the pre-2016 cash call arrears; this resulted in a
final settlement of $5.1 billion payable from incremental production from
the JV assets over a five-year tenor without any interest charges during the
repayment period.

 

The discount was according to the terms of the negotiation not qualified for
tax deduction. It was equally expected then that from the negotiation and
repayments, a sustainable funding of the JVs production will lead to an
increase in national oil production from 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd)
which it was then to 2.5mbpd by 2019.

 

Kachikwu also disclosed in 2017 that the government followed its
negotiations with the IOCs by paying the first tranche of $400 million to
them.-This Day

 

 

 

 

Nigerian Traders Protest Ghana's Delay to Reopen Shops

Abuja — The Nigeria Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG) embarked
on a protest at the weekend over Ghanaian authorities' delay to reopen shops
owned by Nigerians in that country.

 

The President of NUTAG, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nnaji, who led the protest told the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that Ghanaian
authorities refused to reopen their shops since 2019.

 

He noted that the Ghanaian authorities' refusal to open the traders' shops
was despite meetings between top officials of both governments of Nigeria
and Ghana.

 

He said the protest was to press the Ghanaian authorities to reopen their
shops, to enable them to tackle economic challenges amid COVID-19.

 

According to him, the shops locked for over one year should be reopened to
enable the traders to return to normal businesses.

 

He urged the Nigerian government to evacuate willing traders to Nigeria.

 

 

Nnaji said: "I am in talks in with my leader, Mr. Ken Okoha, National
President of Nigerian Traders, and he has assured us that he will take our
case up to the highest level in Nigeria.

 

"In fact, plans are on for him to move to institutions that are related to
trade; I have known him for five years now and I know what he is able to do.

 

"I am rest assured that the leadership of Nigerian traders are working
towards achieving this goal; some of you, who still have funds, should also
continue to help other traders.

 

"Be law-abiding citizens, COVID-19 is still on and lots of businesses are
affected; many of us are living from hand to mouth due to the downturn.

 

"If you do not have anything to do, stay at home; rest assured that at the
end of October, if we are not evacuated, we will keep ourselves at the
border."

 

 

Receiving the traders, Charge de Affair of Nigeria High Commission in Ghana,
Mrs. Easter Arewa, said that the government would remain committed to
protecting Nigeria citizens.

 

According to her, the letter by Nigerian traders has been received and their
message will be conveyed to the highest authority.

 

She said: "Government is not resting on your case; it is because of you Femi
Gbajabiamila, Speaker of House of Representatives, came to Ghana.

 

"Likewise, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was here. In spite of his busy
schedule, he came here and met with the leadership of NUTAG. He promised to
continue with the cause on his return to Abuja.

 

"He has not failed; very soon, your situation will be addressed because a
hungry man is an angry man. It is not nice to hear that in a brotherly
country like Ghana, you are being treated like this.

 

"We have Ghanaians in Nigeria too and they are treated as brothers, so do
not worry. It is a government-to-government dialogue".-This Day

 

 

 

 

Namibia: Private Airlines Resume Nam-SA Flights

NAMIBIA'S private airline FlyWestair along with South Africa's Airlink last
week connected Namibia to South Africa following the opening of borders for
travelling between the neighbouring countries.

 

FlyWestair announced on Thursday that the airline will restart flights on
the route between Windhoek and Cape Town from Hosea Kutako International
Airport on 23 October, with two flights per week, on Mondays and Fridays.

 

The airline also plans to make history next month, when it will become the
first privately owned Namibian airline to operate scheduled passenger
flights between Hosea Kutako International Airport and Johannesburg's OR
Tambo International Airport.

 

FlyWestair's flights on that route are scheduled to start on 3 November,
with two flights per week - on Tuesdays and Thursdays - designed to connect
with various international airlines' flights through Johannesburg.

 

The Namibia Airports Company also announced that SA Airlink on Wednesday
resumed flights on its Johannesburg to Walvis Bay International Airport
route. The privately owned SA Airlink serves that route with flights on
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

 

The airline restarted flights on its Windhoek-Cape Town route on Monday (12
October) as well, with that route to be served on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays.

 

"These resumptions of routes are key and encouraging for airport operations.
We are getting back to normal operations which can only bode well for
revenue as we continue to facilitate economic recovery for our country. It
has been slow, but we have been confident that we are ready for the numbers
to pick up as we adapt to the new normal during the Covid-19 pandemic," said
NAC chief executive officer Bisey /Uirab.-Namibian.

 

 

 

IBM posts double-digit cloud revenue growth; says customers deferring some
projects

(Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp IBM.N edged past Wall
Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Monday, bolstered by higher demand
for its cloud services, a business it is staking its future on as it
prepares to spin off one of its legacy units.

 

IBM shares, however, fell 3% after the company stayed away from issuing a
forecast for the current quarter, citing uncertainty around a global
economic recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“Clients’ near-term priorities continue to include operational stability,
flexibility and cash preservation, which tends to favor (operating expenses)
over (capital expenses),” Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said.

 

“This is resulting in some project delays and purchase deferrals.”

 

Revenue from the cloud business, previously headed by Chief Executive
Officer Arvind Krishna, rose 19% to $6 billion in the third quarter,
offsetting weakness in much of its other businesses.

 

The boost from the cloud business further underscores IBM’s move to focus on
its high-margin open hybrid cloud and AI solutions, which together account
for more than half of its recurring revenue, by spinning off its IT
infrastructure services unit.

 

“Clients continue to balance short-term challenges and opportunities for
transformation ... More of my conversations with CEOs are around how they
become digital businesses,” Krishna said on a post-earnings call.

 

IBM’s total revenue fell 2.6% to $17.56 billion in the reported quarter, but
was slightly above analysts’ estimates of $17.54 billion, according to IBES
data from Refinitiv.

 

Excluding the impact from currency and business divestitures, sales declined
3.1%.

 

The global technology services segment, IBM’s biggest unit that caters to
some of the world’s largest data centers, reported a 4% drop in revenue to
$6.5 billion.

 

Excluding items, the company earned $2.58 per share, which was in line with
analysts’ estimates.

 

 

 

South Korea's SK Hynix to buy Intel's NAND business for $9 billion

SEOUL/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp INTC.O has agreed to sell its
NAND memory chip business to SK Hynix Inc 000660.KS for $9 billion in an
all-cash deal that would propel the South Korean chipmaker to second in the
global rankings.

 

The move marks the latest effort by the U.S. chip giant to divest its
non-core businesses, move away from the volatile commodity NAND chip
industry and focus on its remaining Optane memory business, which is smaller
but more lucrative because it taps more advanced technology.

 

It is the biggest acquisition to date for SK Hynix and follows its $3.7
billion investment in Japanese rival Kioxia in 2017, as the Korean firm
tries to boost its capacity to build NAND chips - used to store data in
smartphones and data centre servers - and beef up its pricing power.

 

The deal will help SK Hynix overtake Kioxia 6600.T in the NAND memory market
while narrowing the gap with market leader Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
005930.KS.

 

SK Hynix shares jumped immediately after the news before valuation concerns
saw them reverse gear to fall 2%, while the wider market .KS11 was down
0.7%. Samsung Electronics gained 1%.

 

“Shareholders are negative about the deal because they believe the price is
too expensive. It’s good news for other memory chipmakers, because the move
would lead to industry consolidation,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at
Eugene Investment & Securities.

 

SK Hynix said Intel would sell all of its NAND business including its
solid-state drive business, NAND component and wafer operation, and its
factory in Dalian, China.

 

Intel would keep its advanced Optane memory technology, developed in
partnership with Micron Technology Inc MU.O, which makes the Optane chips
for Intel under a supply agreement.

 

The Intel division which includes its NAND and Optane businesses posted a
fourth consecutive annual loss in 2019, although it swung to a profit in the
first half of this year. SK Hynix has also posted losses in its NAND
business.

 

TRADE WAR

Analysts said U.S-China tensions may have influenced Intel’s decision to
sell its NAND flash memory factory in China. The moves comes a month after
Kioxia cancelled a planned initial public offering amid market uncertainty.

 

 

Intel’s Dalian factory makes chips that compete in the cut-throat commodity
memory business where prices cycle through booms and bust that can eat
profits.

 

“This transaction will allow us to further prioritise our investments in
differentiated technology,” Intel CEO Bob Swan said in a statement.

 

Swan has told investors he plans to divest non-core businesses. The company
earlier sold its 5G modem business to Apple Inc AAPL.O.

 

SK Hynix said the companies aimed to obtain government approvals in late
2021, and close the deal in March 2025.

 

PANDEMIC-DRIVEN DEMAND

The Nand Flash industry grew in the April-to-June quarter thanks to robust
demand for PCs and servers as the COVID-19 pandemic forces millions of
people to work from home, according to market researcher Trendforce.

 

SK Hynix, which counts Apple and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] as
customers, is a distant fourth in the NAND memory chip market, although it
ranks second after Samsung Electronics in DRAM memory sales.

 

Samsung is the leader in the NAND flash market with a 31.4% share, followed
by Kioxia with 17.2%, SK Hynix with 11.7%, and Intel and Micron MU.O with
11.5% each.

 

With the acquisition, SK Hynix, part of South Korean conglomerate SK Group,
will have a market share of 23.2%.

 

“Although the competitive environment surrounding us is not easy, we have
made a bold decision to pave the way for our leap toward securing a firm
position in the NAND business as in DRAM,” SK Hynix President and CEO Lee
Seok-hee said in a statement.

 

 

 

 

Asian stocks dip as U.S. political concerns grow

SYDNEY/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday as investors
adjusted risk exposure heading into the U.S. election and ahead of a
deadline for Washington to pass an economic stimulus bill, while Europe
reported record daily coronavirus infections.

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was
0.18% lower after U.S. stocks fell over 1% in the previous session, while
Australian .AXJO and Japanese .N225 markets dipped.

 

European futures were also weaker, with Europe's Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1
trading down 0.68% and London's FTSE futures also 0.45% lower.

 

With little economic news in the region, the U.S. election and the economic
impact of a rise in coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe was
driving sentiment in Asian markets, investors said.

 

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS was 0.11% lower.

 

Chris Weston, the head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone, said
while there were worries about the U.S. stimulus package, recent declines
were likely due to positioning ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

 

“Do you really want to hold those exposures into what could be a volatility
event?” Weston said. “We’re getting into the Wild West territory where it
becomes more whippy.”

 

Caution among investors globally was also driven by rising concerns about
the risk of a disputed U.S. election outcome.

 

“Such an event would very likely upset global markets considerably until the
U.S. reaches an accepted resolution,” said American Century co-CIO Keith
Creveling.

 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index .HSI was 0.26% lower, Japan's Nikkei .N225
slipped 0.55%.

 

Philippine stocks .PSI bucked the trend, rising 1.7% to their highest level
in over two months after the country eased some restrictions, including
shortening curfew hours in Manila.

 

Investors await key earnings results later in the week for companies
including Netflix Inc NFLX.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O.

 

They were also waiting to see if the final debate between U.S. President
Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Thursday shifts the
trajectory of the election.

 

The number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States last week rose 13% to
more than 393,000, approaching levels last seen during a summer peak,
according to a Reuters analysis.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each
fell over 1% on Monday, and European stocks also closed lower as surging
COVID-19 cases raised investor concerns. Parts of the UK were put into
lockdown and France imposed curfews.

 

“Earnings season should drive the market in coming days,” Talaria Capital
CIO Chad Padowitz said. “There’s a bit of caution on economic-sensitive
stocks, but there’s also exuberance on companies that might be somewhat
immune [to the health crisis] and are able to grow.”

 

In contrast to equity markets, currency markets were less pessimistic about
the prospect of a stimulus breakthrough with the safe-haven dollar edging
slightly lower amid expectations that U.S. lawmakers might still agree on a
fiscal stimulus package at the 11th hour.

 

“In the context of strengthened market expectations of a blue wave in the
U.S. elections, overall sentiment is unlikely to be materially impacted by
the timing of this stimulus but it is causing short-term jitters
nonetheless,” Citigroup said.

 

“In the near term, bullish fast money positioning seems to have risen
rapidly and may be susceptible to unwind ahead of the U.S. election.”

 

Greenback moves, however, were modest with the dollar index =USD 0.039%
lower on Tuesday. The dollar rose 0.14% against the yen to 105.52 JPY= while
the euro EUR= was up 0.09% to $1.1776.

 

The Australian dollar AUD=D4 fell 0.4% versus the greenback at $0.7043, hurt
by expectations that the central bank would soon cut rates and expand its
massive bond buying campaign to lower borrowing costs.

 

In oil markets, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell
0.6% to $40.57 a barrel while Brent crude LCOc1 futures dipped 0.8% to
$42.26 a barrel.

 

 

 

Stock market boom, new listings mint China billionaires at record pace

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is minting new billionaires at a record pace
despite an economy bruised by the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to booming
share prices and a spate of new stock listings, according to a list released
on Tuesday.

 

The Hurun China Rich List 2020 also highlights China’s accelerated shift
away from traditional sectors like manufacturing and real estate, towards
e-commerce, fintech and other new economy industries.

 

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba 9988.HK, retained the top spot for the third
year in a row, with his personal wealth jumping 45% to $58.8 billion partly
due to the impending mega-listing of fintech giant Ant Group.

 

Ant is expected to create more mega-rich through what is likely to be the
world’s biggest IPO, as it plans to raise an estimated $35 billion through a
dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

The combined wealth of those on the Hurun China list - with an individual
wealth cut-off of 2 billion yuan ($299.14 million) - totaled $4 trillion,
more than the annual gross domestic product (GDP) of Germany, according to
Rupert Hoogewerf, the Hurun Report’s chairman.

 

More wealth was created this year than in the previous five years combined,
with China’s rich-listers adding $1.5 trillion, roughly half the size of
Britain’s GDP.

 

Booming stock markets and a flurry of new listings have created five new
dollar billionaires in China a week for the past year, Hoogewerf said in a
statement.

 

“The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year. China’s
entrepreneurs have done much better than expected. Despite Covid-19 they
have risen to record levels.”

 

According to a separate estimate by PwC and UBS, only billionaires in the
United States possessed greater combined wealth than those in mainland
China.

 

China has accelerated capital market reforms to aid a virus-hit economy,
accelerate economic restructuring and fund a “tech war” with the United
States.

 

To expedite initial public offerings (IPOs), regulators launched a
U.S.-style IPO system on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market and Shenzhen’s
ChiNext. Chinese corporate listings in Hong Kong and Nasdaq have also
turbocharged the fortunes of company founders.

 

Zhong Shanshan, who recently listed his bottled water maker Nongfu Spring Co
9633.HK in Hong Kong, shot straight into the top 3 with $53.7 billion,
trailing Tencent 0700.HK founder Pony Ma.

 

The wealth of He Xiaopeng surged 80% to $6.6 billion after the listing of
his electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors XPEV.N in New York during the
summer.

 

 

 

Tesla third-quarter registrations in California drop 13% - data

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc's TSLA.O vehicle registrations in the U.S. state of
California dropped 13% in the third quarter compared with last year,
according to data from Cross-Sell, a research firm that collates title and
registration data.

 

The report released on Monday showed registrations in California, a
bellwether for the electric-car maker and its largest U.S. market, recovered
from a second-quarter low of roughly 9,800 vehicles to around 16,200
vehicles in the three months ended September. But third-quarter numbers
lagged some 13% behind last year’s due to a large drop in Model 3
registrations.

 

California registration for Tesla’s Model 3 mass-market sedan, which in the
past accounted for more than half of total registrations, fell 60% on a
yearly basis to 6,500.

 

At nearly 7,300, registrations in the state for Tesla’s Model Y compact
crossover utility vehicle surpassed those for the Model 3.

 

Earlier this month, Tesla said it delivered 139,300 vehicles in the third
quarter, an all-time record, yet shares fell as some analysts doubted if the
world’s most valuable carmaker could hit its ambitious year-end target of
half a million deliveries.

 

Total third-quarter vehicle registrations in the 23 states where data was
collected and which Cross-Sell said account for 65% of the U.S. market,
remained roughly equal to last year at around 32,800 vehicles.

 

Registration figures might not accurately reflect the number of vehicle
deliveries during the quarter as registrations in the United States
typically take about 30 days from the time of sale.

 

Tesla, whose shares have surged more than five-fold this year, is expected
to report third-quarter results after market close on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:       <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

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Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Falgold

EGM

1st Floor, KPMG Building, 133 Josiah Tongogara Avenue, Bulawayo

29/10/2020 | 10:00 am

 


Afdis

AGM

virtual

13/11/2020 | 12:20pm

 


Zimbabwe

National Unity Day

Zimbabwe

22/12/2020

 


 

Christmas Day

 

25/12/2020

 


 

Boxing Day

 

26/12/2020

 


 

New Year’s Day

 

01/01/2021

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


Bindura Nickel Corporation

 

 

 


Padenga Holdings

 

 

 


Delta Corporation

 

 

 


Meikles Limited

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

 


 

 


(c) 2020 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77
344 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

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