Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 September 2020

Tue Sep 15 07:49:21 CAT 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 September 2020

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ü  Harmony Gold completes purchase of AngloGold Ashanti's South Africa assets

ü  Vodafone says due diligence on Egypt unit stake sale "substantively" completed

ü  Ghana set to follow Ivory Coast with farm gate cocoa price rise -sources

ü  Sudan's annual inflation hikes to 166.83% in August - stats agency

ü  South Africa's rand firmer in early trade, eyes on central banks meetings

ü  World’s gold miners wary of production ramp-up despite price surge

ü  South African economy to shrink by more than government's 7% forecast in 2020 -Mboweni

ü  Uganda, Tanzania sign agreement for construction of crude oil pipeline

ü  Uganda, Total reach agreement bringing crude pipeline construction closer

ü  Congo says it will reimburse VAT to mining companies after audit

ü  Daimler to pay $1.5bn over emissions cheat claims in US

ü  TikTok: YouTube launches rival to be tested in India

ü  Could UK adopt German pay top-up scheme?

ü  Xinjiang: US to block some exports citing China's human rights abuses

ü  TikTok: Oracle confirms being picked by Bytedance to be app's partner

ü  No-deal Brexit and Covid threaten 'double whammy' for car industry

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Harmony Gold completes purchase of AngloGold Ashanti's South Africa assets

(Reuters) - Harmony Gold on Monday said its purchase of AngloGold Ashanti’s South African assets has gone through and the transaction is scheduled to close on September 30, with Harmony taking control of Mponeng and Mine Waste Solutions from October 1.

Harmony agreed in February to buy AngloGold Ashanti’s last remaining assets in the country including Mponeng - the world’s deepest gold mine - for about $300 million. The sale process was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

South Africa’s mines ministry approved the sale on the condition that AngloGold Ashanti does not delist from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Vodafone says due diligence on Egypt unit stake sale "substantively" completed

(Reuters) - Vodafone Group said on Monday due diligence regarding the potential sale of its 55% stake in its Egyptian unit to Saudi Telecom Co (STC) had been “substantively” completed.

The London-listed telecom firm said that despite the expiry of a memorandum of understanding, the company remains in talks with STC to finalise the transaction in the near future.

Ghana set to follow Ivory Coast with farm gate cocoa price rise -sources

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ghana plans to increase the guaranteed farm gate cocoa price paid to farmers by at least 21% to 10,000 cedi ($1,745) per tonne for the next cocoa season starting on Oct. 1, two sources told Reuters on Monday.

The increase is in line with a similar increase in neighbouring top grower Ivory Coast as the two major cocoa producers, who account for over 60% of global cocoa bean production, seek to boost farmers’ income.

In June 2019 Ivory Coast and Ghana established a price floor of $2,600 per tonne and a Living Income Differential (LID) of $400 per tonne, to tackle poverty among farmers.

“Farmers will get at least 10,000 Cedi for a tonne. This has been as a result of the implementation of the LID,” said a source at Ghana’s cocoa sector regulator, the COCOBOD.

Emmanuel Adem Opoku, COCOBOD’s deputy chief executive in charge of operations told Reuters that no decision has been made yet on the increase of the farm gate prices. He added that the official announcement will be made on Oct. 1.

Sources told Reuters on Sept. 10 that Ivory Coast plans to increase the fixed farm gate price paid by more than 21% to 1,000 CFA Francs ($1.84) per kilogram in the 2020/2021 season.

Both countries are seeking to have a greater influence on global cocoa prices, and income for their farmers. They are expected to jointly set the new prices on Oct. 1, the start of the 2020/2021 season.

($1 = 5.7300 Ghanaian cedi)

Sudan's annual inflation hikes to 166.83% in August - stats agency

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan’s annual inflation accelerated by 23.05% in August to 166.83% from 143.78% in July, driven by food and transportation prices, the state statistics office said on Monday.

Inflation in the country has risen in recent years, driven by food, beverages, fuel and a black market for U.S. dollars, and was a factor in driving out autocrat Omar al-Bashir last year.

Since his ousting, the economy has worsened as a weak transitional government has struggled to start economic reforms and proved unable to halt a fall of the Sudanese pound on the black market.

Sudan declared an economic state of emergency on Thursday after its currency fell sharply in recent weeks, setting up special courts to prosecute what officials called a “systematic operation” to vandalize the economy.

South Africa's rand firmer in early trade, eyes on central banks meetings

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The South African rand firmed against a weaker dollar in early trade on Monday, with this week’s focus firmly on central bank meetings at home as well as in the United States and Britain.

At 0615 GMT, the rand traded at 16.6775 per dollar, 0.43% firmer than its close on Friday.

“It’s a big week ahead as we await interest rate decisions,” said Bianca Botes, executive director at Peregrine Treasury Solutions in Pretoria.

The South African Reserve Bank will hold its three-day policy meeting from Tuesday, with its rates decision due on Thursday.

Following 300 basis points of SARB cuts this year, in a poll taken by Reuters, 15 economists saw the repo rate on hold on Thursday while 10 predicted a modest 25 basis point cut to 3.25%.

Focus was also on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy announcement on Wednesday after the world’s major central bank recently shifted its policy stance to keeping lower rates for longer.

The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England will announce respective policy decisions on Thursday.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark government instrument due in 2030 was flat at 9.36%.

World’s gold miners wary of production ramp-up despite price surge

JOHANNESBURG/BENGALURU (Reuters) - The world’s top gold miners are retrenching after COVID-19 related shutdowns despite record prices for the yellow metal, with cost-conscious executives prioritizing investor returns over production growth.

Gold prices have jumped 30% this year to roughly $2,000 an ounce as central banks dial up stimulus measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

That has fuelled a cash surge for miners, with top- and mid-tier producers holding roughly $5 billion in cash as of June 30, according to Scotiabank estimates.

But interviews with executives, analysts and fund managers show miners are hesitant to spend on pricey projects and tap marginal deposits that require sizeable capital and take years to break even.

Seven out of 10 of the global gold miners, including Newmont, the world’s biggest gold miner, Canada’s Barrick and South Africa’s Gold Fields, have cut planned output for the year by 7%, citing coronavirus-related shutdowns, regulatory filings show.

The caution is a reversal from the 2011 gold price boom, which prompted buyers to overspend on acquisitions and led to billions in impairments when prices crashed in subsequent years.

Companies which have won back investor favor are fearful of making similar mistakes.

“The real trap in the gold industry in the past was chasing volume,” Newmont Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer told Reuters.

Newmont’s budget this year is $1.3 billion, about half levels seen in the previous cycle.

Gold Fields said it wasn’t rushing to change cut-off grades, the minimum grade that can be economically mined, despite the higher price.

“It’s not easy to just turn the ship in a different direction,” Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland told Reuters, referring to boosting output with the higher price.

Barrick’s long-term price assumption remains unchanged at $1,200, underpinning a growing dividend and debt reduction, CEO Mark Bristow said.

“No one made any real money” in the last cycle, he said at the Mines and Money Online Connect virtual conference last week.

GROWTH VS RETURNS

The spot price of gold has climbed more than 500% over the last 20 years, according to Refinitiv data. Global gold output, including from mines and recycling, rose 22%, according to World Gold Council data.

Miners have hiked dividends on the back of those stronger prices, with Barrick raising its quarterly payout 14% last month and Newmont boosting its payout 79% in April. Scotiabank analysts expect the industry’s dividend growth to continue into 2021.

“Companies still need to take a very conservative approach,” said Joe Foster of Van Eck Associates Corp, which holds shares in Barrick and Newmont and expects gold prices to eventually hit $3,000.

Investors have even threatened to dump shares of companies that don’t prioritize payouts.

“If we get to the point where growth versus returns becomes a decision point, we’ll back the companies paying returns,” said Mark Burridge at Baker Steel Capital Managers, which hold shares in Kirkland Lake Gold, Kinross Gold and others.

South African economy to shrink by more than government's 7% forecast in 2020 -Mboweni

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s economy will likely contract this year by more than the 7% previously forecast by the Treasury, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in an opinion piece published on Sunday.

Gross domestic product shrunk by a record 51% in the second quarter, its fourth quarterly contraction in a row, as a strict lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus saw activity grind to a near-standstill.

“The contraction in growth is larger than anticipated by the National Treasury and the SA Reserve Bank, which raises the risk that the actual GDP outcome for this year could be lower than previously thought by both policymakers and the broader market,” Mboweni wrote in the piece published in the City Press weekly newspaper.

In July the Reserve Bank cut its 2020 forecast for GDP to a 7.3% contraction. In its emergency budget in June, the Treasury pencilled in a 7% decline, but some analysts see a double-digit contraction.

In his article Mboweni, brought back to cabinet by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018 after more than a decade in the private sector, said his office would speed up reforms, by easing regulatory hurdles and allowing more private investment in the public sector, especially in electricity.

State utility Eskom, which provides around 90% of the country’s power, has struggled for years to meet demand, unleashing nationwide blackouts to keep the grid from collapsing.

With debt of around 500 billion rand ($30 billion) and heavily reliant on bailouts from government, Eskom has regularly been cited as the main threat to the economy and fiscal stability.

The government has long been criticised for its slowness in dealing with Eskom. In the article, Mboweni said the government would move with greater speed via “Operation Vulindlela” (open the way), a joint initiative between the Treasury and the presidency announced in his budget speech in June and aimed at accelerating structural reform. He did not give details of the plan.

“It is not another new plan. It involves implementing existing commitments through mechanisms to escalate challenges and fast-track implementation,” Mboweni wrote.

($1 = 16.7350 rand)

Uganda, Tanzania sign agreement for construction of crude oil pipeline

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Tanzania and Uganda signed an agreement on Sunday paving the way for the construction of a crude oil pipeline running from Ugandan oilfields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, a Tanzanian government spokesman said.

Uganda discovered oil reserves in 2006 and needs the planned 1,445-km (900-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline to be in place to start commercial production. The pipeline is estimated to cost $3.5 billion, according to the two governments.

Hassan Abassi, Tanzania government spokesman, said on Twitter that 80% of the pipeline will run through Tanzania.

Tanzania will earn 7.5 trillion shillings ($3.24 billion) and create more than 18,000 jobs over the next 25 years, or more, that the project is in place, Abassi said after the signing ceremony attended by Tanzania’s President John Magufuli and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Chato, northwestern Tanzania.

Uganda has not given a date for when construction of the pipeline will begin but said last year that once construction begins, it would take 2-1/2 to three years to complete.

The agreement on the pipeline construction comes days after French oil company Total said it had reached an agreement with Uganda protecting its rights and obligations in the pipeline’s construction and operation - known as the host government agreement.

Total is the major shareholder in Uganda’s oilfields after agreeing in April to buy Tullow Oil’s entire stake in the jointly held onshore fields in Uganda for $575 million.

Tullow said last week it was confident of finalising the sale in the fourth quarter of this year.

The other partner in the 230,000 barrel-per-day project is China’s CNOOC.

($1 = 2,315.0000 Tanzanian shillings)

Uganda, Total reach agreement bringing crude pipeline construction closer

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda and France’s Total have reached an agreement that will bring the oil firm and its partners closer to starting construction of a crude pipeline to neighbouring Tanzania, the company’s local unit said on Friday.

Uganda discovered crude oil reserves about 14 years ago but commercial production has been delayed partly because of a lack of infrastructure, such as an export pipeline.

The 1,445-km (900-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline, costing $3.5 billion, would pass through neighbouring Tanzania to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga.

Total said it had reached an agreement with Uganda protecting its rights and obligations in the pipeline’s construction and operation - known as the host government agreement.

“We have today reached major milestones which pave the way to the Final Investment Decision in the coming months,” Pierre Jessua, Managing Director of Total E&P Uganda, said in a statement.

“We now look forward to concluding a similar HGA (host government agreement) with the Government of Tanzania and to completing the tendering process for all major engineering,

procurement and construction contracts.”

Total said a meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and its Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanné also agreed to conditions allowing Uganda National Oil Company to join the project.

Total is the major shareholder in Uganda’s oil fields after agreeing in April to buy Tullow Oil’s entire stake in jointly-held onshore fields in Uganda for $575 million.

Tullow said this week it was confident of finalising the sale in fourth quarter of this year.

The other partner in the 230,000 barrel-per-day project is China’s CNOOC.

The government said last year once pipeline construction begins, it would take 2-1/2 to three years to complete.

Uganda discovered crude oil reserves estimated at 6 billion barrels in the Albertine rift basin near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.

Congo says it will reimburse VAT to mining companies after audit

(Reuters) - Congo said on Saturday it will reimburse value-added tax payments to mining companies operating in the country following an audit to determine how much it owes them, after a backlash over an earlier decision to stop payments.

Africa’s top copper producer has suspended the VAT on mining imports since July 2016 to help operators during a commodity price downturn, and to pay down hundreds of millions of dollars in VAT reimbursements owed to the companies.

In August, the cash-strapped government said it was suspending the tax exemption in an effort to bolster government coffers dented by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Following a backlash by mining operators, the government said it would conduct a joint commission with the miners to determine the value of the debt and the terms of its reimbursement, Budget Minister Jean-Baudouin Mayo told a cabinet meeting on Friday, according to official minutes.

“The government is committed to refunding VAT credits to miners after a joint audit of the actual amount of VAT stock to be refunded,” Mayo said, according to official minutes.

It is not clear how much the government currently owes companies operating in Congo which include Glencore, China Molybdenum and Barrick. The debt stood at about $700 million in 2016.

Congo is the world’s leading miner of cobalt, which is used in electric car batteries.

Its economy, hit by the coronavirus crisis that has hammered demand for copper and other commodities, is forecast to contract by 1.7% this year, according to the central bank.

Daimler to pay $1.5bn over emissions cheat claims in US

German carmaker Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, has agreed to pay $1.5bn (£1.2bn) to resolve US government claims that it designed its diesel vehicles to cheat air pollution tests.

The firm was investigated for installing software to evade emissions laws in 250,000 Mercedes cars and vans.

US officials said they hoped the fine would deter future misbehaviour.

Daimler called the deal an "important step" towards resolving diesel proceedings but denied the claims.

"By resolving these proceedings, Daimler avoids lengthy court actions with respective legal and financial risks," the company said.

In addition to the $1.5bn settlement with US authorities, Daimler said it had agreed to pay $700m to settle a class action lawsuit brought by owners.

It also disclosed "further expenses of a mid three-digit-million EUR amount to fulfil requirements of the settlements."

Clean Air Act

The deals, which Daimler had said it was nearing last month, conclude an investigation that the US started in 2016, after "defeat devices" were discovered through testing.

Officials said that an $875m fine included in the $1.5bn settlement with authorities is the second-largest civil penalty the US has ever imposed under its Clear Air Act and the largest if measured on a per-vehicle basis.

Daimler has also agreed to fix the affected cars, which were sold between 2009 and 2016, at no cost to their owners. US officials said that commitment was worth about $400m.

At a press conference on Monday, Andrew Wheeler, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, said: "The message we are sending today is clear: We will enforce the law.

"If you try to cheat the system and mislead the public, you will be caught. Those who violate public trust in pursuit of profits will forfeit both."

Bigger emissions scandal

The penalties are the latest in a wide-ranging scandal that has cast a cloud over the motor industry since 2015, when Volkswagen admitted to installing secret software on vehicles sold in the US.

The system allowed the cars to emit up to 40 times legally permitted emissions and evade detection during tests.

Volkswagen later admitted the devices affected more than 11 million vehicles globally. The company more than $20bn to resolve claims in the US alone.

But investigations soon widened to other companies, including Ford, Mitsubishi, and Nissan.

In 2018, Daimler recalled more than 700,000 vehicles in Europe that had "defeat devices" installed. BMW and Porsche have also recalled cars over the issue.

Fiat Chrysler in Europe were raided this summer over the matter. The firm agreed to an estimated $800m settlement to resolve civil claims in the US in January.

Daimler said the US settlement concerned vehicles that were not sold in the same configurations in Europe.-bbc

TikTok: YouTube launches rival to be tested in India

YouTube has announced it will test a beta version of its new TiktTok rival in India.

YouTube Shorts will limit videos to 15 seconds, and the platform will feature creator tools that are similar to Chinese-owned TikTok's.

India banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in June as border tensions rose between the two countries.

At the time, India was TikTok's biggest foreign market, with an estimated 120 million users.

YouTube will also be in competition with a number of local competitors who have rushed in to fill the void after TikTok's ban in India.

How did TikTok grow to 800 million users?

In a blog post, YouTube's vice president of product management Chris Jaffe said Shorts is "for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones".

The new platform features a multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together, speed controls, and a timer and countdown to record hands-free.

Shorts also gives users the option to record using music as well as access to a library of songs.

TikTok: Oracle confirms being picked by Bytedance to be app's partner

Why does Oracle's billionaire founder want TikTok?

Mr Jaffe said Shorts would be expanded to other markets as the product becomes more refined and new features were added.

YouTube's latest product release comes as the US tech firm Oracle confirmed that TikTok's owner ByteDance had formally proposed becoming a "trusted technology partner" in the US.

The aim of the deal is to avoid President Donald Trump's threat to shut down the app in the US over national security concerns.

Mr Trump has suggested users' data could be accessed by the Chinese government under current arrangements.

India's government cited similar concerns when it banned the app in June.

India's ban was announced following clashes at the Galwan Valley on the India-China border in the Himalayas.-bbc

Could UK adopt German pay top-up scheme?

Unlike the UK, the Germans didn't have to invent a job support programme from scratch when the pandemic struck: they already had one oven-ready.

While British companies were getting to grips with the novelty of furloughing workers at the government's expense, their German counterparts simply fell back on a tried and tested scheme.

Now, while UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak is insisting that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will not continue past October, Germany is extending its Kurzarbeit job subsidy measures until the end of 2021.

At the same time, France is following Germany's example and expects to be doing so for a couple of years.

In the UK, influential figures including former prime minister Gordon Brown are urging the government to bring in a German or French-style system after October.

So what are the German and French schemes and how do they work?

Germany's Kurzarbeit

"I'm very glad we have this system," says Dr Volker Verch, director of the Central Westphalian employers' federation.

"We would have lost many more jobs, in my region and across the country, if we didn't have this Kurzarbeit," he told the BBC.

"Obviously it all has to be paid for, but it's worth it in terms of social harmony."

When the British scheme began, it was based on paying workers to stay at home and do nothing. It was not until July that furloughed employees were able to go back to work part-time.

However, the German system was always about short-time working - allowing employers to reduce employees' hours while keeping them in a job. The government pays workers a percentage of the money they would have got for working those lost hours.

According to the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research, at the height of the pandemic, half of all German firms had at least some of their staff on the scheme.

That includes Rolls-Royce Power Systems, a German engineering company owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings and specialising in power generation and propulsion systems. It employs 9,000 people worldwide, 5,500 of them in Germany.

Chief executive Andreas Schell told the BBC that the company came relatively late to the Kurzarbeit scheme.

"When the crisis came, we were sitting on a good order book," he says. "But we anticipated a reduction in orders, and we had less to do in the third quarter, so we had to adjust our capacity."

In June, the firm put 1,000 of its German employees on "short-time working". That rose to 1,800 in July, before falling back in August and September as workers went on holiday instead.

"It's a really good programme of support by the German government," says Mr Schell. "Otherwise we would have suffered economically. But it also helps to mitigate the economic consequences for our employees. It offers flexibility to us as a company and that's a good thing."

Kurzarbeit has a long pedigree, going back to the early 20th Century. However, it came to prominence during the global financial crisis of 2008-09, when it is thought to have saved up to half a million jobs.

Even in normal times, it can be used by companies undergoing restructuring or suffering from seasonal fluctuations in their business.

But normally it lasts for only six months. During the pandemic, that has been increased to a maximum of 21 months, while the criteria have been changed to include more firms and workers.

The percentage of lost wages paid by the government will also go up in stages, from the usual 60% to 80% after the first six months.

In comparison with the UK's furlough scheme, the cost of Kurzarbeit seems relatively modest, perhaps reflecting its more limited scope.

Berlin ploughed €23.5bn into bolstering the scheme at the start of the pandemic, then expanded it again in August, at an estimated cost of €10bn more, to run for all of next year.

By contrast, the Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that the UK's furlough scheme will have cost £60bn, about twice as much as the Germans are spending, by the time it ends in October.

France's 'chômage partiel'

The French scheme, known as "partial unemployment" or "partial activity", also pre-dates the coronavirus pandemic.

It too is designed to subsidise the jobs of people on reduced working hours - and it's also intended for the long haul.

Under the French scheme, firms are allowed to cut employees' hours by up to 40% for up to three years. Employees still receive nearly all their normal salary, with the government paying a percentage of the cost.

The scheme is subject to all kinds of French bureaucracy, requiring firms to come to an agreement with unions and offer formal guarantees of job security, but the principle is the same as in Germany.

Olivier Six is chief executive of two very different firms, both based in the Grenoble area.

The bigger of the two, CIC Orio, is a metallurgy company that employs 150 people making industrial boilers and other specialised equipment. The other, G-Tech Guidetti, specialises in making hiking accessories.

"When the crisis began, there was a loss of confidence," he told the BBC. "Firms were sitting on their funds, nobody was paying anybody."

G-Tech Guidetti, as a consumer-facing firm, was immediately hit by the lockdown, because all its stockists had to close, so all its 15 employees went on the partial activity scheme.

"But after confinement ended, there was a pick-up in consumption and the recovery was very strong," he says.

CIC Orio, however, is still making use of the scheme. Its employees are currently working four days out of five, with the government compensating them for the lost day's earnings.

"It's fortunate that we have this scheme, because we're afraid that the crisis will come back again," he says. "This will last a long time. There will probably be another year of very weak economic activity."

The French government describes its scheme as a "bouclier anti-licenciements" - that is, an anti-redundancy shield.

For now, it appears to be working. But with cases of coronavirus on the rise again in France, it's anyone's guess how long it might be needed.-bbc

Xinjiang: US to block some exports citing China's human rights abuses

The US will block some exports from China's Xinjiang region, over alleged human rights abuses against the mostly Muslim Uighur minority.

It says "forced labour" was used to make the products, including at a "vocational" centre it called a "concentration camp".

The export ban includes garments, cotton, computer parts and hair products from five entities in Xinjiang as well as nearby Anhui province.

It stops short of a wider regional ban.

"These extraordinary human rights violations demand an extraordinary response," Kenneth Cuccinelli, the Department of Homeland Security's acting secretary told reporters.

"This is modern-day slavery."

The move is the latest by the Trump administration to put pressure on China over the situation in Xinjiang.

Beijing is believed to have detained more than one million people from Xinjiang in recent years, citing security risks.

China maintains the internment sites provide job training and education and are necessary to combat terrorist and separatist threats.

Thousands of children have been separated from their parents and, recent research shows, women have been forcibly subjected to methods of birth control.

The orders on Monday "send a clear message to the international community that we will not tolerate the illicit, inhumane, and exploitative practices of forced labour in US supply chains," Mark A. Morgan, acting commissioner of US Customers and Border Protection agency, said.

"Forced labour is an atrocious human rights abuse that is completely against the values that we all share."

"The Trump administration will not stand idly by and allow foreign companies to subject vulnerable workers to forced labour while harming American businesses that respect human rights and the rule of law," Mr Morgan said.

Media captionThe video an inmate filmed inside Xinjiang's detention system

The orders announced on Monday target four companies and one manufacturing site.

They fall short of the region-wide ban that it had considered. Officials said, however, they were still exploring that possibility.

"Because of its unique nature, being, applying to a region as opposed to a company or a facility, we are giving that more legal analysis," Mr Cuccinelli explained.

"We want to make sure that once we proceed that it will stick, so to speak."

China produces about 20% of the world's cotton with most of it coming from Xinjiang. The region is also a major source of petrochemicals and other goods that feed into Chinese factories.

This month, US entertainment giant Disney came under fire for shooting parts of its new Mulan film in Xinjiang.

Other firms have faced calls for consumer boycotts due to alleged ties to the region.-bbc

TikTok: Oracle confirms being picked by Bytedance to be app's partner

US tech firm Oracle has confirmed that TikTok's owner has formally proposed it become a "trusted technology partner" to the video-sharing app.

Full details of the tie-up have yet to be disclosed, but the aim is to avoid President Trump's threat to shut down the Chinese-owned service in the US.

Mr Trump has cited national security concerns, suggesting users' data could be accessed by Beijing under current arrangements.

Current owner Bytedance denies this.

It says it has taken "extraordinary measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok's US user data", which is stored in the States and Singapore.

Oracle is a database specialist without experience of running a social media app targeted at the general public.

Earlier in the day, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the Trump administration had been contacted by the American firm to discuss plans to make TikTok a US-headquartered company. He said the White House intended to review the idea this week.

Microsoft had also attempted to buy the platform, but revealed it had been rejected on Sunday.

TikTok has released a statement that does not make direct reference to Oracle.

"We can confirm that we've submitted a proposal to the Treasury Department which we believe would resolve the administration's security concerns," it said.

"This proposal would enable us to continue supporting our community of 100 million people in the US who love TikTok for connection and entertainment, as well as the hundreds of thousands of small business owners and creators who rely upon TikTok to grow their livelihoods and build meaningful careers."

Oracle's shares were trading about 5% higher in lunchtime trade in New York.

"While I can see the upside for Oracle from a cloud perspective, it is hard not to think how much of this deal rests on politics rather than tech," commented Carolina Milanesi from the Silicon Valley-based research firm Creative Strategies.

Oracle's chairman, the billionaire Larry Ellison, is a supporter of Mr Trump and in February held a fundraiser at his California home to aid the Republican leader's re-election campaign.

The White House is also taking a harsh line against other Chinese tech companies - including Huawei, Tencent and a number of artificial intelligence start-ups - restricting what business they can do with US counterparts without the administration's approval.

President Trump had given TikTok's owner Bytedance until this week to secure a deal.

What is Oracle and why does it want TikTok?

TikTok rejects Microsoft bid at eleventh hour

Chinese chip giant 'in shock' after US trade ban threat

Failure to do so would have seen US companies prevented from doing business with it from Sunday, and Bytedance being forced to give up TikTok's US operations one way or another by 12 November.

The app's US team sued the US government last month in an effort to challenge the moves.

Presentational grey line

Analysis box by James Clayton, North America technology reporter

Oracle was not the favourite to buy or otherwise link up to TikTok's US arm - Microsoft was the early frontrunner.

But as time wore on, Microsoft became increasingly concerned about what it would be acquiring.

It became clear that China might attempt to block the sale of the technology behind the app's powerful algorithm.

Privately there were concerns too that Microsoft was about to create a rod for its own back by becoming involved with a mass market, youth-focused social network - it already owns LinkedIn, but that caters for a very different audience.

Political bias, child safety issues and right-wing militias are just some of the problems TikTok has had to deal with in the last few months.

Even so, TikTok's hundreds of millions of users make it an attractive proposition in a sector where size is everything: if all your friends are on a platform, you too are more likely to join.

Oracle has decided it's worth the risk.

The big questions now are what exactly is Oracle's involvement, and will the tie-up be approved by the US and Chinese authorities.

March 2012: Bytedance is established in China and launches Neihan Duanzi - an app to help Chinese users share memes

September 2016: Bytedance launches the short-form video app Douyin in China

August 2017: An international version of Douyin is launched under the brand TikTok in some parts of the world, but not the US at this time

November 2017: Bytedance buys lip-synch music app Musical.ly

May 2018: TikTok declared world's most downloaded non-game iOS app over first three months of the year, by market research firm Sensor Tower

August 2018: Bytedance announces it is shutting down Musical.ly and is moving users over to TikTok

February 2019: TikTok fined in US over Musical.ly's handling of under-13s' data

October 2019: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg publicly criticises TikTok, accusing it of censoring protests

November 2019: The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Cfius) opens national security investigation into TikTok

May 2020: TikTok hires Disney executive Kevin Meyer to become the division's chief executive and chief operating officer of Bytedance

June 2020: India bans TikTok among dozens of other Chinese apps

July 2020: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and then President Trump, say TikTok might be banned

August 2020: Microsoft and Oracle make rival approaches to acquire or otherwise operate TikTok in the US and three other markets. Mr Meyer announces he is leaving the company because the "political environment has sharply changed"

September 2020: TikTok says it has more than 100 million active users in Europe. It recently said it had a similar number in the US, and has been estimated to have more than 800 million engaged members worldwide-bbc

No-deal Brexit and Covid threaten 'double whammy' for car industry

UK and European car makers have warned a no-deal Brexit could put a £100bn dent in the region's car industry in the next five years, adding to heavy losses already caused by Covid-19.

A letter signed by 23 trade groups across Europe urges the government to make a deal rather than default to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

It says without one there will be a "catastrophic" rise in tariffs.

A government spokesperson said it is "working hard" to reach an agreement.

The industry has already taken a £90bn hit this year due to Covid-19, the SMMT added.

The UK left the European Union on 31 January but will enjoy tariff-free trade with the bloc until the end of the year as part of the transition period.

But fears are growing that both sides will be unable to strike a longer-term trade deal by then.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), which penned the letter, said that securing a trade agreement by January was an absolute "must" for firms on both sides of the Channel.

"Otherwise our sector - already reeling from the Covid crisis - will be hit hard by a double whammy," said director general Eric-Mark Huitema.

'Bleak'

Mike Hawes, head of the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said a trade deal was crucial because the UK and EU industries were so integrated.

"These figures paint a bleak picture of the devastation that would follow a 'no deal' Brexit," he said.

"The shock of tariffs and other trade barriers would compound the damage already dealt by a global pandemic and recession, putting businesses and livelihoods at risk."

Industry associations on the continent, including from Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Portugal and Eastern Europe also say they fear job losses in their own countries.

Under WTO terms, cars exports would face a 10% tariff, rising to 22% for vans and trucks.

This would hit car makers' margins and tariff increases would be passed on to consumers, impacting demand. Automotive suppliers and their products would be affected too.

The SMMT said it could lead to £49bn of lost business for UK car plants and £52bn for those across the EU by 2025.

It called for a free trade deal that would also apply to alternatively fuelled vehicles and car components and "involve zero tariffs or quotas".

A government spokesperson said: "We want to reach a free trade agreement with the EU that is based on precedent and recognises the fundamentals of our position as an independent, sovereign country.

"We remain committed to working hard to reach an agreement by the middle of October, and we look forward to continuing discussions this week.

"At the same time, we are engaging extensively with the automotive industry about how they can prepare for changes to trade at the end of the transition period when we leave the single market and customs union."-bbc

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

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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