Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 April 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 April 2021

 


 

 


 <https://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

 


 

 


ü  US blacklists seven Chinese supercomputer groups

ü  Covid: Cost of tests 'is too much for people to travel on holiday'

ü  Amazon holds early lead in historic union election

ü  What will self-driving trucks mean for truck drivers?

ü  Why global tax talks are back on the agenda

ü  Clubhouse: Is the audio app really worth $4bn?

ü  Asia shares set for choppy session after S&P 500 hits record high

ü  Boeing sues, cancels contracts with Air Force One supplier

ü  Toshiba chairman issues cautious statement on CVC's take-private offer

ü  EXCLUSIVE Impossible Foods in talks to list on the stock market -sources

ü  McDonald's to hire 25,000 staff in Texas this month

ü  Japan beermaker Asahi looks to halve debt after buying Australia assets

ü  EXCLUSIVE GameStop’s strong stock performance triggered board director’s exit

ü  Levi Strauss raises sales outlook on vaccine hopes, shares jump

ü  Kenya: Treasury to Unveil New Taxes, Cut Reliefs in IMF Reform Package

ü  Nigeria: Survey - 47% of Financial Services' Organisations Do Not Have Tax Policy

ü  Tanzania: President Ramaphosa Appoints Mohammed Dewji an Advisor On Investment

 

 

 

 

 


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US blacklists seven Chinese supercomputer groups

The US has blacklisted seven Chinese groups it accuses of building supercomputers to help its military.

 

It is the first move by the Biden administration to make it harder for China to obtain US technology

 

On Thursday, three companies and four branches of China's National Supercomputing Center were added to the US blacklist.

 

This bars American companies from exporting technology to the groups without proper approval.

 

The US commerce department said the groups were involved in building supercomputers used by Chinese "military actors" and facilitating programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction.

 

The sanctioned groups are leading China's supercomputing development and are key players in Beijing's plan for chip self-sufficiency.

 

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the Biden administration would use "the full extent of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging US technologies to support these destabilising military modernisation efforts".

 

The Trump administration had also targeted dozens of Chinese companies it suspected of using American technology for military uses, including phonemaker Huawei.

 

Mr Biden's move on Thursday requires the seven Chinese groups to obtain licences to access American technologies, including chip infrastructures designed by Intel and other U.S chipmakers.

 

While the blacklist bars US-based companies from providing services and products to the Chinese firms, it doesn't bar those that are produced in facilities outside of the US.

 

One such company is TSMC, the Taiwan-based company that has become the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturer.

 

What is a supercomputer?

Supercomputers have a considerably higher level of performance compared to a general-purpose computer and can make billions of calculations per second.

 

Supercomputers are made up of thousands of connected processors and are used for functions like forecasting weather and climate trends, simulating nuclear tests and for pharmaceutical research.

 

They are also necessary for the development of advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.

 

"Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many - perhaps almost all - modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons," Ms Raimondo added.

 

'Not waiting around'

The US is worried about China gaining access to American technology that helps its army close the gap with the US military.

 

The Biden administration is currently reviewing dozens of China-related actions that Donald Trump took, including an order that prohibits Americans from investing in Chinese companies believed to be linked to the military.

 

"Do you think China is waiting around to invest in its digital infrastructure or research and development? I promise you, they are not waiting," Mr Biden said in a speech on Wednesday.

 

Mr Biden said China and the rest of the world "are racing ahead of us in the investments they have in the future".--BBC

 

 

 

Covid: Cost of tests 'is too much for people to travel on holiday'

The government has announced plans to safely reopen international travel, but says it cannot yet confirm whether foreign holidays can resume on 17 May.

 

A traffic light system will be used to categorise countries based on risk, and travellers will need to pay for tests when departing and returning to the UK.

 

The plans have been met with widespread frustration by the travel industry.

 

EasyJet says the policy risks rewinding the clock to a time when only wealthy people could afford to travel.

 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has insisted foreign holidays will be able to resume "safely and sustainably" under the new government rules.

 

It will require passengers to take coronavirus tests before they leave and on their return - even when returning from countries on the low-risk "green" list.

 

How the traffic light system will work:

 

Green: Passengers will not need to quarantine on return, but must take a pre-departure test (the type is unspecified), as well as a PCR test on return to the UK

Amber: Travellers will need to quarantine for 10 days, as well as taking a pre-departure test and two PCR tests

Red: Passengers will have to pay for a 10-day stay in a managed quarantine hotel, as well as a pre-departure test and two PCR tests

A "green watch list" will also be created, of countries that could move from green to amber.

 

The government has not yet said which countries will be green, amber or red - but said it would do by early May. On Friday, Pakistan, the Philippines, Kenya and Bangladesh were added to the red list, meaning travel from there is banned except for British and Irish nationals and those with residence rights in the UK.

 

The rules will be reviewed at the end of June to see whether any measures can be rolled back, the government said.

 

At the moment, almost anyone seeking to travel to England must first take a coronavirus test before departure and then two tests when they arrive, bought through a private provider. Children under 11 are exempt.

 

EasyJet's chief executive Johan Lundgren told the BBC that he did not understand why consumers could not take lateral flow tests, which are cheaper and quicker, when these tests are being used in workplaces to help the UK economy reopen.

 

"We have been very much in favour of introducing the traffic light system, but with the category of green - which they themselves have determined as being very low risk - why do you have a two-test mandated system, where one of them is a very expensive PCR test?" he said.

 

"That makes no sense to me and I've asked for the scientific rationale behind that, and I've yet to receive it."

 

Consumer group Which? estimated that each PCR test - which is just one of the tests needed - could cost about £120 per person.

 

"Part of the problem in the UK is the very high cost of private testing," said Which? travel editor Rory Boland.

 

"The overall cost of testing is too much for most people to travel or take a holiday to almost any destination."

 

However, the government said it would work with airlines, travel firms and the test providers to see whether prices can be reduced. That could involve cheaper tests, or the government providing the pre-departure tests.

 

Mr Shapps said: "The framework announced today will help allow us to reopen travel safely and sustainably, ensure we protect our hard-won achievements on the vaccine rollout and offer peace of mind to both passengers and industry as we begin to take trips abroad once again."

 

Today's report is not the grand reopening many in the travel industry wanted.

 

There is real worry, particularly among lower cost carriers, that around £100 per person for a test will dissuade travellers from booking, with many paying more for it than for their flights.

 

But there are suggestions that the government has tried to address some of the concerns too.

 

The introduction of a green watch list, to flag any countries potentially about to move from green to amber, is an attempt to avoid some of last year's confusion, as people rushed back to the UK before countries required quarantine.

 

Nothing is guaranteed yet, but the government now says it will confirm whether or not international travel will restart on 17 May early next month.

 

How early is the next question.

 

Boris Johnson initially said 17 May was the earliest possible date for holidaying abroad - although the latest plans do not confirm whether travel can take place from that date.

 

The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have both already argued that 17 May will be too early for foreign holidays to resume.

 

Northern Ireland has not yet announced its plans, but its chief medical officer has said it would be "premature" to book a foreign summer trip.

 

Industry body Airlines UK said that the proposed framework "does not represent a reopening of travel as promised by ministers".

 

"The insistence on expensive and unnecessary PCR testing rather than rapid testing - even for low-risk countries - will pose an unsustainable burden on passengers, making travel unviable and unaffordable for many people," said its chief executive Tim Alderslade.

 

"It is also a further setback for an industry on its knees and the UK's wider economic recovery," he said, adding that "all the evidence suggests" you can reopen travel safely "with more proportionate measures".

 

Labour shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said more detail and clarity about the government's strategy was vital.

 

"This must include the criteria by which the 'traffic lights' will be decided, as well as clear information for travellers and industry, about what test will be required and resulting costs," he said.

 

 

It comes as official figures released on Thursday showed the number of weekly deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales has dropped 92% since the January peak.

 

Meanwhile, the latest government figures also showed a further 53 people had died with coronavirus within 28 days of a positive test, while another 3,030 confirmed cases were reported.

 

The number of people fully vaccinated is now over six million, while 31.8 million have received just one dose.-BBC

 

 

 

Amazon holds early lead in historic union election

Amazon appears likely to be headed to victory over activists hoping to establish the company's first unionised warehouse in the US.

 

Votes against the effort held a more than 2 to 1 lead, in an early tally of almost half the ballots on Thursday.

 

The National Labor Relations Board will continue the count on Friday.

 

The contest is seen as a key test for the e-commerce giant, which has faced global criticism for its treatment of workers during the pandemic.

 

Last month, US President Joe Biden called the vote by workers at the warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama a "vitally important choice".

 

Celebrities and national Democratic politicians have travelled to the state to support the union campaign, which even drew some Republican backing.

 

A total of 3,125 ballots were cast in the election, according to the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which was behind the unionisation effort.

 

That was a higher turnout than organisers had anticipated, representing just over half of the nearly 6,000 people employed at the warehouse.

 

Hundreds of the votes were challenged by Amazon and union representatives, but an incomplete count of uncontested ballots conducted by labour officials on Thursday showed that at least 1,100 workers voted against the union effort, compared to less than 500 votes in favour of unionising.

 

RWDSU leaders had hoped that a victory would set a new standard for the firm's hundreds of thousands of workers across the country.

 

If successful, the union drive would mean Amazon, the second largest employer in the US, would have to negotiate a contract with union officials on issues such as work rules and pay.

 

But analysts had warned that the union faced an uphill battle in the election.

 

Union membership has steadily dwindled in America in recent decades - just 6% of private sector workers belonged to a trade union in 2020.

 

Suspicion of organised labour runs especially deep in conservative states like Alabama.

 

In Bessemer, a city with a population of 27,000 outside Birmingham, the opening of the Amazon plant last year was hailed as a welcome jobs creator, for a town hit hard by the closure of manufacturing plants in the 1980s.

 

Amazon had also fiercely opposed the unionisation drive. At mandatory staff meetings, in text messages and online, the e-commerce giant argued that it offered competitive pay and benefits.

 

It said the union would charge members hundreds of dollars in dues, without being able to make meaningful change.

 

In a statement on Thursday, RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum said the union would call on the labour board "to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behaviour during the campaign".

 

"Our system is broken, Amazon took full advantage of that," he said. "But make no mistake about it - this still represents an important moment for working people and their voices will be heard."

 

In media interviews prior to the vote, pro-union workers had said the company frequently denied staff breaks, changed schedules unexpectedly and intrusively monitored their activities.

 

Union organisers had also tied the fight at the warehouse - where the majority of workers are black - to broader issues of civil rights and racial justice.--BBC

 

 

 

What will self-driving trucks mean for truck drivers?

"Last week, I put 73 hours in. You're not getting home through the week," Craig Hoodless says of his job behind the wheel of a truck.

 

"After a full day's driving you're mentally knackered but physically fine. Being a long-distance driver has to be a job you love. You can't do this job if you don't like it."

 

Mr Hoodless, based in Cumbria in north-west England, is one of the more than 300,000 people employed driving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in the UK, and one of millions who do so around the globe.

 

The job, he says, can be long and exhausting - but rewarding at the same time.

 

"One day is never the same as the next, every day is different," he says of more than two decades behind the wheel of a truck.

 

"It's good money for what you do, but you're away from home all week."

 

The industry, however, may be on the cusp of a seismic change. Nearly a dozen companies around the world are working on developing autonomous trucking - in which a variety of sensors feed data to a computer that controls the vehicle.

 

Many have reported significant progress. California-based self-driving truck firm TuSimple, for example, is already conducting tests in Arizona and New Mexico that include depot-to-depot delivery runs - completely automated but supervised by a human.

 

According to data from Acumen Research and Consulting, the semi and fully autonomous truck market is expected to reach approximately $88bn (£64bn; €74bn) by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% between 2020 and 2027.

 

The technology, experts say, has the potential to revolutionise the $700bn (£500bn; €590bn) a year trucking industry that touches every corner of the global economy - creating new business opportunities and saving companies millions.

 

"It's a huge opportunity. The biggest impact ATs (autonomous trucks) will have is cost savings and efficiency," says Patrick Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University in the US.

 

"The nice thing about ATs is that they'll be able to operate 24 hours a day and drive a consistent mileage rate, making trucks safer and more fuel efficient.

 

"Freight will arrive at a destination faster. A human truck driver usually takes five days to go from New York to Los Angeles. It'll take an AT 48 hours."

 

However, the potential benefits of autonomous trucks have led to concerns about job displacement among millions of truck drivers.

 

In the US alone, the American Trucking Association estimates there are more than 3.5 million truck drivers on the roads, with nearly 8 million people employed across the wider industry. Census Bureau statistics show that trucking is the most common job in 29 US states, ahead of farming, teaching and secretarial positions.

 

Among the companies working to make autonomous trucking a reality is California-based Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet.

 

The company - which is already testing autonomous technology in the American Southwest - has also announced a partnership with Mercedes-Benz parent firm Daimler to deploy fully driverless trucks.

 

John Verdon, Waymo's business development and partnerships lead, acknowledges that while changes to the industry and jobs could take place "over time", the technology will also help address some of the industry's current shortcomings.

 

"One of the strains in the industry is a driver shortage. The technology can help narrow the 60,000 shortfall of drivers we have in the US - a gap that's projected to widen to 160,000 within the decade," he says. "We're optimistic that this technology will spawn many new jobs and businesses, some that have yet to be imagined."

 

Raj Venkatesan, a professor of business administration from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, says that the potential for job displacement in the trucking industry is largely misunderstood.

 

For the foreseeable future, he explains, even autonomous trucks will still have "drivers" in the cab as a safety measure, to be on hand in case of mechanical problems or even speak to police in the event of an incident on the highway.

 

"It's not clear at all now whether there will even be displacement," he says. "You need the back-up driver. Within the next five or 10 years, it seems reasonable to expect some movement towards autonomy, but with a co-pilot. In my view, it's like a long-haul flight. The plane can be put on autopilot, but you still have the pilot."

 

For most trucking and logistics businesses, many of which have operated for decades, a more pressing concern may be rethinking their operations to meet the demands of an increasingly high-tech sector.

 

"The industry is challenged with a complete redefinition," says Christian Tang-Jesperson, a partner at venture capital firm ACME Capital, which has made a number of investments in autonomous vehicle technology-focused firms.

 

When autonomous trucks come into use, more investment will be needed to track those trucks and map and optimise their routes, he says.

 

Syracuse University's Prof Penfield says the potential of the autonomous trucking segment is likely to attract the attention of large corporations, which in turn will lead to greater adoption.

 

"How this technology will get adopted faster is when big companies like Amazon, Walmart and Costco start to use it in their operations," he says. "That's when things will start to break loose and you'll start to see the growth."

 

Industry experts warn that these changes won't happen overnight.

 

"It won't be a flip of a switch," Waymo's John Verdon says. "It will be a gradual introduction driven by safety and tech readiness, versus an arbitrary, specific point in time. From our standpoint, it's really about getting to a place where we can repeat that safe, capable, consistent performance at scale."

 

Many drivers, however, remain unconvinced - including Craig Hoodless in the UK, who says that the country's roads mean that a human will always be needed.

 

"I'm not concerned. No, not at all," he says. "I can understand driverless trucks on highways that are long-distance, straight lines. But we don't have that here."

 

"I just delivered to a builder," he adds. "There's no way a driverless truck could be able to manoeuvre in and around pallets, bricks and piles of stuff. I don't see it working."--BBC

 

 

 

Why global tax talks are back on the agenda

International efforts to reform business taxation have been given new impetus by the new US administration.

 

Under President Joe Biden and his Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, the US has moved on two key areas where the negotiations were stuck.

 

One is having a minimum tax rate for corporate profits. The other is some exemptions on digital services taxes that the US had previously sought.

 

The goal of a global accord by mid-2021 now appears more credible.

 

The negotiations, co-ordinated through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), are building on previous work to reform corporate taxation.

 

US pledges: 'America first is not America alone'

The talks, which extend beyond the OECD's own member countries, are organised around what they call two pillars.

 

Both the issues have a bearing on all types of multinational business, but they are particularly acute in relation to some technology businesses.

 

The first is how to allocate profits, or revenue, between countries for taxing them.

 

Digital technologies make it so much more feasible to have a commercial relationship with a country, and make money from it, without any kind of physical presence.

 

So the debate is about ensuring that all types of business pay what a British government consultation paper called "a fair contribution to support our vital public services".

 

Going it alone

In the absence of an agreement in the OECD, some countries, including the UK, have gone ahead with their own digital services taxes.

 

The British one applies a 2% tax to the revenues (provided they exceed certain thresholds) derived from UK users of online marketplaces, social media and internet search engines.

 

The UK and some other countries have promised to discontinue the unilateral tax if there is an "appropriate" international agreement.

 

One of the factors impeding progress towards such a deal was the US's insistence on what was called a "safe harbour" provision. Critics described it as making the tax optional, a characterisation that Trump administration officials rejected.

 

But however it is described, the Biden administration has dropped the idea.

 

In fact, the US is reported by the Financial Times to have actively proposed a system in which multinationals would pay taxes based on their sales in each country - along the same general principles as the British and other unilateral taxes.

 

According to the FT, only very large firms would be subject to these tax arrangements under the US proposals.

 

That said, there are different, and rather complex, ideas under discussions in the negotiations. They would allocate profits beyond a certain baseline level to countries where the multinational company gets its revenue.

 

Profit shifting

The second pillar is a global minimum corporate tax rate. If that were applied widely enough, it would weaken the incentive that multinational companies have to shift their profits to places where the tax rate is lower.

 

The Trump administration opposed this. Now the US is in favour. Ms Yellen has said it would end what she called a race to the bottom, to see who can lower their corporate tax rate further and faster.

 

Why has the US position changed? The Biden administration's plans include a large programme of spending on infrastructure - traditional, such as roads, bridges and ports, and modern, such as broadband and clean energy.

 

The president and his Treasury secretary want to finance it to a large extent with higher rates of corporate tax. An international agreement could forestall efforts that other countries would be tempted to make, to entice American firms to choose them over the US.

 

There is a long history of international agreements on taxation. In the past, the aim tended to be to prevent "double taxation", the same income, personal or business, being taxed in twice in different jurisdictions.

 

More recent negotiations, including those in the OECD, have often had the opposite aim: the prevention of what has been called "double non-taxation".--BBC

 

 

 

Clubhouse: Is the audio app really worth $4bn?

Live-audio app Clubhouse is creating plenty of chatter - about itself.

 

Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Demi Lovato and Mark Zuckerberg are among the celebrities to have popped up on the service. And you can find chats about everything from Bitcoin and Buddhism to relationships and R&B music on it.

 

Even so, the idea that this one-year-old app could be worth $4bn (£2.9bn) is startling.

 

It stems from a Bloomberg report saying the San Francisco-based start-up is seeking fresh funds at this level.

 

But it was only in January that venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz bought a stake valuing the firm at a quarter of the sum.

 

The jump may be justified by a follow-up report that Twitter has discussed buying the app for the higher price - although it declined to confirm this when asked.

 

Clubhouse had about 13.4 million users in late March, according to research firm App Annie, having added about a fifth of that number over the previous four weeks alone.

 

In short, it's growing quickly - despite being "invite only" and limited to Apple's iOS - and appears to have found a gap in the market.

 

"It's at the intersection of several hot trends - audio, live and social," said Joseph Evans from Enders Analysis.

 

"And it's recreating some of the things we can't do normally because of the coronavirus pandemic restrictions, such as attending a talk or having a group conversation."

 

At present the app doesn't make any money. But that's not necessarily important.

 

As Sarah Frier's book No Filter recounts, Mark Zuckerberg insisted Instagram take its time before introducing ads after Facebook bought the photo app in 2012 for a then-groundbreaking $1bn.

 

The reason, he said, was that it was more important to establish "staying power" first.

 

But Instagram only achieved its value because both Facebook and Twitter wanted to buy the business.

 

And that's unlikely to be the case this time round.

 

"A few years ago Facebook would probably have already put an offer on the table [for Clubhouse], said Mr Evans.

 

"But it's not in the market for another social network because of the competition scrutiny that it's under, so Facebook's only option is to compete with it."

 

Indeed, Facebook has just launched a new web-based app of its own called Hotline, which lets hosts chat to their audience via audio and text.

 

What other rivals are out there?

Twitter has already launched Spaces, an audio-streaming feature inside the existing Twitter app.

 

It is being rolled out to select creators first, but the plan is to allow anyone to create a "space" later this month.

 

Chat app Telegram launched a voice chat feature last year, and revamped the feature in March to work like Clubhouse's one-to-many dynamic.

 

And Discord - a sleeping giant in the voice comms space - has just launched Stages, where one speaker "on stage" can speak to many people at once.

 

Business-focused giants Slack and LinkedIn are known to be working on the idea too.

 

Many of these apps have much bigger audiences than Clubhouse ever has had - and are available on more platforms, including Android and PCs.

 

What other challenges does Clubhouse face?

Content moderation is set to be a big issue.

 

Clubhouse has already attracted controversy with reports of it being used by far-right personalities to discuss claims of women fabricating rape accusations, as well as instances of racism, sexism and anti-Semitism.

 

And this isn't a good time to attract this kind of attention.

 

Politicians in the US are threatening to remove legal protections given to social networks under a law known as Section 230, after accusing them of bias and allowing harmful material to run rampant.

 

And in the UK, the proposed Online Safety Bill could soon give regulator Ofcom the power to block apps it judges to have failed to protect users.

 

Policing live audio is a lot harder than using algorithms to detect offensive text-based comments.

 

And while Clubhouse does retain audio recordings of chats if an incident is reported to it in "real-time", it does not do so if a user tries to report a past offence, hindering any follow-up investigation.

 

Another risk is that Clubhouse might not prove "sticky" enough with its users.

 

One early adopter says she has found herself using it less and less because there are podcasts and other media available that do a better job of competing for her attention.

 

"Clubhouse makes it really easy for people to create content, but actually the content itself is surprisingly hard to use," said Sharon O'Dea, an Amsterdam-based digital communications consultant.

 

"You can't share it, you can't record it, you can't quote it, and it often takes speakers ages to get to their key point.

 

"It just feels to me like it's it doesn't respect my time as a consumer."

 

How might Clubhouse become profitable?

The traditional way for social networks to make money is adverts.

 

But an audio-only format makes that difficult.

 

Would users stick around if forced to listen to pre-roll promotions? Would the natural flow of conversations be damaged by hosts having to pause for regular breaks, or worse ads simply playing over parts of discussions, in a similar way to how Twitch interrupts video gameplay?

 

As an alternative, the app's creators have suggested they could take a cut of payments made by listeners to room hosts in order to thank them or access premium "ticketed" content.

 

Patreon, another start-up, has already built a business around this model, and was valued at $4bn in its latest funding round.

 

Clubhouse has just introduced a money transfer tool of its own - but for now has opted to let 100% of payments go to creators rather than taking a commission.--BBC

 

 

 

Asia shares set for choppy session after S&P 500 hits record high

Asian equities are set for a choppy trading session on Friday after technology stocks lifted the S&P 500 to a new record even as investors weighed an unexpected rise in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits.

 

A U.S. jobless claims report showed a second straight weekly increase earlier on Thursday, bucking the streak of strong economic data from payrolls and job vacancies that had buoyed investor confidence in a quick economic rebound.

 

The softer data helped yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note drop to its lowest level since March 26, and spur demand for high growth stocks in the technology sector (.SPLRCT), which was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also closed at a seven-week high on Thursday.

 

"Jobless claims set a tone for the market that perhaps things are not as strong as people think and we're still ways away from a recovery," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.

 

Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.03% in early trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures (.HSI), lost 0.17%. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures was up 0.45%.

 

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled on Thursday the central bank is nowhere near reducing its support for the U.S. economy, saying at an International Monetary Fund event that while the economic reopening could result in a momentary surge in prices, he expects it to be temporary and it will not constitute inflation.

 

Powell's comments reaffirmed the accommodative stance outlined in the minutes of the Fed's policy meeting published on Wednesday.

 

Aided by the further pullback in yields, traders piled into megacap tech stocks such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), which were the main drivers of the S&P 500.

 

"The movement in the market was predicated on rates," said Thomas Hayes, chairman of Great Hill Capital. "As long as rates stay compressed there's a bid for long duration earnings power, which was embodied in the rally in tech."

 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 0.17% to 33,503.57, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 0.42% to 4,097.17 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 1.03% to 13,829.31.

 

U.S. Treasury yields fell on Thursday, pressured by Powell's dovish comments and weaker-than-expected initial weekly jobless claims.

 

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 9/32 in price to yield 1.6244%, from 1.654% late on Wednesday.

 

The U.S. dollar dropped to a two-week low against a basket of currencies, tracking Treasury yields following the surprise rise in U.S. unemployment applications. read more

 

The dollar index fell 0.379%, with the euro up 0.03% to $1.1916

 

The Japanese yen weakened 0.05% versus the greenback at 109.31 per dollar, while the South Korean won was flat versus the greenback at 1,116.18 per dollar.

 

Gold prices jumped, scaling a one-month peak as the Fed's assurances that it will maintain its accommodative policy weighed on Treasury yields and the greenback.

 

Spot gold added 1.1% to $1,756.36 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled up about 1% at $1,758.2.

 

Crude oil prices were little changed as Wall Street's rally and the soft dollar offset concerns over a big jump in U.S. gasoline stocks. read more

 

U.S. crude fell 0.28% to settle at $59.60 per barrel, while Brent settled at $63.20 per barrel, up 0.06% on the day.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Boeing sues, cancels contracts with Air Force One supplier

Boeing Co (BA.N) said Thursday it had filed a suit against and canceled contracts with a Texas-based supplier for Air Force One, the aircraft that carriers the U.S. president, over delays in completing interior work on the two heavily modified 747-8 planes.

 

The U.S. planemaker said in a statement it had canceled contracts "with GDC Technics ... due to their insolvency and failure to meet contractual obligations." GDC Technics did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Boeing said in its suit filed in Texas state court on Wednesday the delays "have resulted in millions of dollars in damages to Boeing and threaten to jeopardize work that is of critical importance to the (U.S. Air Force) and the president of the United States."

 

The Air Force referred questions to Boeing.

 

In July 2018, Boeing received a $3.9 billion contract to build two 747-8 aircraft for use as Air Force One, due to be delivered by December 2024. A Boeing spokeswoman said the planemaker still planned to meet the Air Force's delivery schedule.

 

GDC, which "agreed to design and build the interior" of the two Air Force One planes, is "roughly one year behind schedule in meeting its contractual obligations," Boeing said in its suit first reported by Dallas NBC affiliate KXAS-TV.

 

The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House, able to fly in worst-case security scenarios such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.

 

In 2018, then President Donald Trump said the new model Air Force One would have upgraded interiors and a different color scheme from the white and two shades of blue that has been used since President John F. Kennedy's administration.

 

In January, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden "has not spent a moment thinking about the color scheme of Air Force One."-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Toshiba chairman issues cautious statement on CVC's take-private offer

The chairman of Toshiba Corp's (6502.T) board on Friday issued a statement on CVC Capital Partners' recent offer to take the company private, saying it was unsolicited and that a deal would require various antitrust approvals and financing.

 

"This initial proposal by CVC was completely unsolicited and not initiated by Toshiba," board chairman Osamu Nagayama said.

 

 

Toshiba is considering a $20 billion offer from the private equity firm. A deal would help shield Toshiba and Chief Executive Nobuaki Kurumatani, who joined the company from CVC, amid increasing pressure from activist shareholders. read more

 

But analysts have also warned of tough regulatory reviews, as Toshiba's business includes building nuclear reactors and lithium-ion batteries used in military submarines.

 

Nagayama said that CVC's proposal was contingent on financing assistance from co-investors and financial institutions.

 

"We expect that such financing process would require a substantial amount of time and involve complexity for consideration," he said, adding that the board would carefully review the proposal.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE Impossible Foods in talks to list on the stock market -sources

Impossible Foods Inc is preparing for a public listing which could value the U.S. plant-based burger maker at around $10 billion or more, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

This would be substantially more than the $4 billion the company was worth in a private funding round in 2020. It would highlight growing demand for plant-based meat products, driven by environmental and ethical concerns among consumers.

 

Impossible Foods is exploring going public through an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 12 months or a merger with a so-called special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), the sources said.

 

The Redwood City, California-based company has worked with a financial adviser to help manage discussions with SPACs after receiving offers at a lucrative valuation, the sources said. Going public through a SPAC could dilute existing Impossible Foods shareholders, however, by a greater extent than an IPO, the sources added.

 

A SPAC is a shell company that raises funds in an IPO with the aim of acquiring a private company. For the company being acquired, the merger is an alternative way to go public over an IPO.

 

Merging with a SPAC has emerged as a popular IPO alternative for companies seeking to go public with less regulatory scrutiny and more certainty over the valuation that will be attained and funds that will be raised.

 

 

The sources, who requested because the discussions are private, cautioned that the deliberations are subject to market conditions and the company may opt to pursue another private fundraising round.

 

A spokeswoman for Impossible Foods declined to comment.

 

Impossible Foods, whose backers include venture capital investors Khosla Ventures and Horizons Ventures, as well as celebrities like tennis star Serena Williams and rapper Jay-Z, has so far raised $1.5 billion in the private market, according to PitchBook data.

 

In 2020, U.S. plant-based retail sales hit $7 billion, up 27% year on year, according to a report by the Good Food Institute and the Plant-Based Foods Association (PBFA).

 

Founded in 2011, Impossible Foods sells its meat-free burgers and sausages in grocery stores and also has partnerships with the likes of Burger King and Disney (DIS.N).

 

The number of locations where Impossible Foods' burgers are sold has increased in the past year to more than 20,000 from 150 stores, the company has said.

 

Shares of rival Beyond Meat Inc (BYND.O) are trading more than 400% above its IPO price from 2019.

 

Impossible Foods Chief Financial Officer David Lee stepped down earlier this year to join indoor farm builder AppHarvest (APPH.O), with David Borecky currently serving as the company's interim CFO.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

McDonald's to hire 25,000 staff in Texas this month

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) said on Thursday it would hire 25,000 people in its restaurants across Texas, United States in April.

 

The burger chain said it will hire for crew and management positions in a three-day event from April 13-15.

 

Last year, McDonald's hired around 260,000 restaurant staff in the United States when stores reopened for diners after serving them through delivery, drive-thru and takeaway for weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

McDonald's, which owns about 14,000 restaurants in the United States, hires thousands of restaurant employees every summer across the country, drawing several high-school and college students for the job.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Japan beermaker Asahi looks to halve debt after buying Australia assets

Japan's Asahi Group Holdings (2502.T) said it will aim to halve its debt and forego overseas investments after spending $11 billion to buy the Australian operations of Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR).

 

"Basically, we are not considering any large-scale acquisitions," said Atsushi Katsuki, who became Asahi's new chief executive in March.

 

The owner of brands including Asahi Super Dry, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell will aim to reduce its debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to three times from six at the end of December.

 

Asahi won regulatory approval last year to buy the Australian brands Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) after agreeing to sell other assets in the country. Katsuki previously led Asahi's operations in Australia and Oceania before becoming its chief financial officer in 2019.

 

In mature markets like Japan and Europe, Katsuki told Reuters he wanted to "premiumize" products: selling drinks at higher prices as shrinking populations mean that high volume sales may no longer be possible.

 

In Japan, Asahi has been hit harder than rivals by the COVID-19 pandemic due to its dependence on keg sales to restaurants and bars - many of which have struggled amid the prolonged crisis. Even so, the company in February forecast its full-year operating profit will exceed levels seen in 2019.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE GameStop’s strong stock performance triggered board director’s exit

Hestia Capital Partners LP managing director Kurt Wolf joined GameStop Corp’s (GME.N) board to make the U.S. video game retailer more valuable. Then it became too valuable for him to stay on.

 

The hedge fund manager resigned his directorship this week because his investors fretted the bet on the company, which scored a paper gain of 3,500%, had become too large and risky, three people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

 

 

Giving up the board seat allows Wolf to sell GameStop shares for his investors without restrictions to meet redemption requests, the sources said.

 

Hestia currently owns 318,600 GameStop shares valued at roughly $53.8 million. It oversaw $75.6 million in assets as of the end of March, with GameStop being its single largest investment.

 

Hestia has a mandate to invest in "deep value" assets that are unloved and undervalued. GameStop's shares have been on a wild rally since January as amateur traders organized on social media platforms such as Reddit to snap them up, making them unsuitable for the kind of investing Hestia's clients hired the fund for, the sources said.

 

Hestia returned 223.7% in the first three months of 2021 after gaining 162% last year, and Wolf now plans to unload the GameStop shares, the sources said.

 

 

Wolf did not respond to emails seeking comment. GameStop said in a filing on Thursday that Wolf's resignation "is not the result of any disagreement with the company or the board." It declined to comment further.

 

Hestia originally invested in GameStop in 2019 spending an average $5 a share. A year later, when GameStop was valued at roughly $250 million, Wolf criticized the board for poor strategic planning and capital allocation and asked for a board seat for himself. GameStop shares now trade around $169 and the company is valued at roughly $12.5 billion.

 

Emergent Capital Advisors, a hedge fund-of-funds that invests with roughly a dozen small firms like Hestia, was Hestia's biggest investor and asked for its capital back. It had invested with Hestia through a separately managed account and asked Wolf to return control of the portfolio at the end of March. In January, Wolf had already sold roughly $20 million worth of GameStop shares on behalf of Emergent when the stock price was around $20 a share, the sources said.

 

A spokesman for Emergent Capital declined to comment.

 

 

Wolf joined GameStop's board in June 2020. Within months, Ryan Cohen, the co-founder and former CEO of online pet food retailer Chewy Inc, joined Wolf on the board. He has since been spearheading its pivot from brick-and-mortar stores to e-commerce. GameStop said on Thursday Cohen would become chairman of its board later this year. -The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Levi Strauss raises sales outlook on vaccine hopes, shares jump

Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI.N) on Thursday raised its half-year revenue growth forecast, banking on COVID-19 vaccine rollouts to spur a return to normalcy, after the denim maker beat estimates for quarterly results on a pandemic-led e-commerce boost.

 

Shares in the company rose 5% in extended trading, as it also raised its quarterly dividend to 6 cents per share from 4 cents.

 

Many apparel sellers, including Nike Inc (NKE.N) and Kohl's Corp (KSS.N), have also expressed similar optimism about store traffic rebounding to normal levels, even as online sales have boomed amid the health crisis in recent months.

 

"As the vaccine rollout continues and consumer excitement returns, I am more confident than ever that we will emerge from the pandemic a stronger business," Levi Chief Executive Officer Chip Bergh said.

 

Levi said more than 40% of its European stores were closed as of Thursday, with the rest operating on reduced hours due to lockdown restrictions.

 

The jeans maker said it expected its revenue to increase 24% to 25%, up from a prior range of 18% to 20%, for the first half of its fiscal 2021.

 

Levi also said it expected adjusted per-share profit for the period to be 41 cents to 42 cents. Analysts on average expect a profit of 30 cents per share for the first and second quarter, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

 

Net revenue fell about 13% to $1.31 billion for the first quarter ended Feb. 28, but came in above analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion.

 

Digital revenue, which includes sales from Levi's wholesale partners, rose about 41% and more than made up for a drop in physical store visits due to pandemic.

 

On an adjusted basis, Levi earned 34 cents per share, above analysts' estimates of 25 cents.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Kenya: Treasury to Unveil New Taxes, Cut Reliefs in IMF Reform Package

The government plans to introduce new taxes and cut back on existing tax exemptions as part of a reforms package funded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 

To get the latest Sh257 billion loan from the IMF, the National Treasury has also promised to control the government wage bill, in what signals tough days ahead for government employees.

 

Loans from the Breton Woods institution are relatively cheap, but come with tough conditions on financial discipline on the part of the borrower.

 

This has seen the National Treasury sign on a raft of tax reforms to boost the revenue base at a time the country is dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen many Kenyans lose their livelihoods.

 

"A key pillar of the strategy is to bring the tax-to-GDP ratio back to levels achieved in recent years (from 12.9 per cent of GDP in FY20/21 to 15.6 per cent in FY23/24), so as to generate resources to meet Kenya's development needs.

"This objective is supported by measures already taken as well as a commitment to undertake further tax policy measures of 0.8-0.9 per cent of GDP per year in FY22/23," the document explaining the IMF Kenya deal reads in part.

 

Treasury notes the country will continue to make Kenya's tax system more efficient by streamlining exemptions.

 

"Our own analyses and IMF TA have identified substantial tax expenditures associated with a long list of tax exemptions and incentives," Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani said in a joint letter to the IMF with Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge.

 

Mr Yatani says the proliferation of tax expenditures in past years has made Kenya's tax system less efficient, contributed to a decline in the revenue-to-GDP ratio and has generally not had desired effects such as price reductions for consumers or expansion of production.

"IMF TA has identified potential revenue gain of 2.6 per cent of GDP within the VAT from further removal of exemptions outside agriculture and limiting of zero-rating. IMF TA has also identified revenue potential of 0.8 per cent of GDP from more equitable taxation of capital income as well as substantial potential for further revenue from excise taxes," the document says.

 

"The new minimum alternative tax is a valuable tool in an equitable approach to taxation that has the potential for further enhancements. We will act within these areas to reach the programmed revenue targets, closely coordinating with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to ensure administability and timely implementation of tax policy change," the document adds.

 

Treasury is also counting on the recent reversal of tax reliefs to collect an additional Sh124 billion. This excludes inflation adjustments to excise taxes introduced in October 2020, which had an estimated revenue yield of Sh6 billion in FY2020/21.

In the joint submissions with CBK, Treasury says to help protect high-priority social and development spending in the context of limited fiscal space, Kenya intends to gradually reduce the ratio of the government wage bill to GDP by about 0.5 percentage points by the financial year 2023/24.

 

"This will be accomplished through continued restraint in hiring and wage awards (including in the four-year wage agreement that will come into effect in FY2021/22) and by improved wage-bill management," the submissions to IMF read in part.

 

Treasury has also committed to regular cleaning of the payroll to eliminate ghost workers and review and rationalise the number of allowances earned by civil servants. Treasury also says the government will improve functionality of its payroll management systems to cut down government expenditure.

 

In the implementation, Treasury says by June 2021, it will have harmonised and rationalised the categories, rates and rules for allowances. Treasury will also issue a decision to implement across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), counties, and semiautonomous government agencies (SAGAs) a common payroll system linked to the Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) by end of June this year.

 

"Payrolls would prior to being transferred to the new common system be cleaned and audited. By December 2022, complete the automation of personnel expenditure using the new payroll system in at least 50 per cent (by value) of MDAs, counties and SAGAs," the document adds.

 

The reform package will also rope in nine parastatals among them Kenya Airways, Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and Kenya Power.

 

Structural reform agenda

 

The IMF document also lists the Kenya Electricity Generating Company, Kenya Ports Authority and the three largest institutions of higher learning - Nairobi, Kenyatta and Moi universities - among those to be reformed.

 

"The structural reform agenda during the first phase of the programme will address urgent policy needs. In the near term, key priorities will be addressing challenges in SOEs (state-owned enterprises) and governance," the document reads in part.

 

Kenya has also refreshed its commitment to make public procurement information available as part of the conditions for the loan.

 

The document says the Kenyan government plans to ensure comprehensive information on public tenders, including beneficial ownership information of the awarded entities, are publicly available on the government procurement information portal, and that bidders are subject to dissuasive sanctions for non-compliance.

 

This is not the first time the government has committed to make information on public tenders available, only to drop the ball once it has received funding. President Uhuru Kenyatta has also issued directives on the matter in the past, but state entities still choose what to make public and what not to.

 

"Work on the State Procurement Portal is being expedited to be completed by end of April 2021. This will be complemented by reforms to strengthen public procurement," the document notes.

 

To sweeten the deal, Kenya has also committed to finally operationalise the Access to Information Act, which was enacted in 2016.

 

"This critical piece of legislation is overdue, and next steps to fully implement it - through the enactment of the regulations and introducing proactive disclosure across ministries - are key to enhancing transparency and accountability," the document notes.

 

The structural reforms are part of the commitments Kenya made before the IMF approved a fresh Sh257 billion loan for Kenya through a 38-month programme, at a time the country is struggling to repay its mountain of debt.

 

External financing gaps

 

In their joint letter of intent to the IMF, Mr Yatani and Dr Njoroge asked the lender to have the loan disbursed as budget support.

 

"Along with support from development partners and other financing sources, including from our participation in the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, the proposed arrangements will fill our fiscal and external financing gaps as we embark on a multi-year consolidation effort," the letter said.

 

The National Treasury says the first disbursement of Sh33.7 billion will happen immediately, while a second tranche of Sh44.2 billion will be released by June 30, 2021.

 

"The balance will be disbursed following subsequent programme reviews conducted approximately every six months," Treasury said.

 

The IMF document notes that state-owned enterprises have emerged as an important source of fiscal risk.

 

It says profits of public entities outside the central government declined by a third in FY19/20, to Sh62.5 billion (0.6 per cent of GDP), as many SOEs saw reduced profits and a handful showed huge losses.

 

"While the deteriorating income position of the SOE sector reduces its contribution to the budget, additional fiscal pressures could arise from SOE debt on-lent or guaranteed by the government," the document notes.

 

For several SOEs, the Covid-19 shock exacerbated pre-existing underlying financial weaknesses.

 

For example, public universities have been registering persistent losses for an extended period. Kenya Power has over the past five years experienced declining financial performance driven by increasing costs, below-expectation demand growth and tariff approval delays.

 

Accumulating losses

 

Despite rising revenues, Kenya Railways saw a significant worsening in profitability in FY19/20 as it started to service on-lent loans contracted by the national government for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway.

 

Kenya Airways, which like other airlines was hard hit by the travel restrictions introduced in early last year, had been accumulating losses since 2015.

 

"A staged approach is envisaged to evaluate the extent of fiscal risks from the SOE sector and begin addressing them," the document adds.

 

The reforms will see the government conduct a financial evaluation of the nine parastatals with largest fiscal risks to the FY2020/21 budget. This will be completed by end of March 2021 (prior action).

 

"The evaluation will cover Kenya Airways, Kenya Airports Authority, Kenya Railways Corporation, Kenya Power, Kenya Electricity Generating Company, Kenya Ports Authority and the three largest public universities," the document notes.

 

It adds that the evaluation will serve as a basis for extraordinary SOE support to these SOEs in FY20/21, which should be limited to exigent needs (the supplementary budget provides for 0.3 per cent of GDP).

 

By end of May 2021, the National Treasury will also be required to prepare an in-depth forward-looking financial evaluation of the top 15-20 SOEs representing the largest fiscal risks as well as a strategy for addressing financial pressures in the SOE sector.

 

This will include a framework for deciding on interventions and reforms while taking into account the limited fiscal space and the programme's fiscal targets (structural benchmark).

 

The IMF says reforms to improve the oversight, monitoring and governance of SOEs will aim to enhance their resilience. Concrete measures will include completing a draft blueprint that will identify necessary actions and legal reforms to enhance governance. This will be done by July 2021.

 

Deep-rooted corruption

 

The government will also be required to develop an integrated monitoring and reporting system by September 2021 and establish a performance management monitoring and evaluation framework as well as initiate a review of institutional structures.

 

There will also be a component of transparency. The document says transparency of fiscal risk reporting will be improved.

 

"By end of September 2021, an expanded fiscal risk analysis that quantifies contingent liabilities from high-risk SOEs and PPPs will be included in the annual Budget Review and Outlook paper (structural benchmark)," the document notes.

 

Kenya has also committed to scale up resources at the Treasury's Government Investment and Public Enterprises (GIPE) Department, while expressing interest in continued IMF technical assistance in the areas of fiscal risk analysis and legal reforms.

 

The government has also committed to fight deep-rooted corruption in these parastatals as part of the package.

 

"The authorities' governance reform agenda reflects priorities to enhance the anticorruption framework," the report notes.

 

Kenya will also need to review the current legal framework for asset declarations of senior public officials and conflict of interest rules; and, given that corruption is inextricably intertwined with the need to launder its proceeds, an effective implementation of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terror (AML/CFT) measures.-Nation.

 

 

Nigeria: Survey - 47% of Financial Services' Organisations Do Not Have Tax Policy

A recent PwC Nigeria survey has revealed that 47 per cent of tax functions in Nigeria's financial services (FS) sector, either do not have a tax strategy or they are not aware of one.

 

The respondents to the survey were senior level executives from various sub-sectors in Nigeria's financial services industry.

 

The survey polled the major industry players in financial services, including banking, insurance, and pension fund custodians.

 

It showed that Executive Directors and Chief Finance Officers combined, made up 60 per cent of the respondents; while other respondents which included Tax Managers and Financial Controllers were 33 per cent and seven per cent respectively.

While speaking to the insights from the survey, the Partner, Tax Reporting & Strategy, PwC Nigeria, Kenneth Erikume, noted that: "Organisations are currently operating in highly dynamic local and global tax environments. Locally, we are seeing an aggressive drive from tax authorities to shore-up state and federal government's revenue generation goals.

 

"This places greater responsibility on the tax function, like never before. It also constrains the tax function, often reducing it to a compliance-focused unit, rather than a potential strategic partner helping to achieve corporate vision, and to execute business strategy."

 

The majority of organisations surveyed, especially in the banking sector, either had a fully-fledged tax function, or were in the process of creating one to be staffed with a minimum of 5 employees.

 

The report advised organisations going through the journey of creating a fully-fledged tax function to consider how they could be optimised. This will involve identifying possible processes that could be outsourced or insourced. Reorganising the tax function around tasks that refocus the energy of employees towards more strategic processes, would define a successful tax function. Tax as a function should have a documented strategy that aligns with the overall business strategy.

According to Erikume, it isn't unusual that transaction taxes such as Withholding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) are high up the list of taxes with a greater probability of leading to additional tax liabilities, or significant exposure to tax audits.

 

This, he said is because Nigeria's financial services industry is characterised by high volume of transactions, multiple locations, and is prone to tax risks with manual tax processes.

 

Another notable finding is that there is low technology adoption for tax compliance in Nigeria's financial services industry. In spite of widespread technology adoption in managing several aspects of operations in the industry, technology is yet to be leveraged in managing taxes. Only in managing payroll, has technology been widely adopted for tax compliance.

The Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Muhammad Nami, recently said the adoption of electronic taxation (e-Tax) will help minimise revenue leakages, limit tax evasion and significantly improve fiscal position of state governments amidst the current economic challenges.

 

Nami, who is also the chairman of the JTB, said a lot of people are presently making monies privately without remitting appropriate taxes.

 

He said the adoption of technology will harness the various taxes by individuals and plug leakages especially for state governments who are presently in dire fiscal challenge.

 

Noting that gone were the days of brick and mortar tax administration, he said eTax could be a game changer in resource mobilisation going forward.

 

Nami said: "Your wife could be at home, in the kitchen and with just a telephone and a computer or just an electronic gadget, your wife or a member of your family would be rendering service to a customer right in the kitchen or the comfort of the bedroom, pay for those services, receive money for those services, and spend them without leaving the house.

 

"So when you carry guns and the police or law enforcement agencies to go and enforce such business entity, how would you get it done? So that's the need for technology.

 

"People continue to make money every day... .we are not able to generate commensurable taxes from those revenues and until we are able to do something otherwise, those that we serve would continue to borrow money to fund their budgetary requirements."

 

He had added: "People do business and we no longer see them physically and so in order for them (revenue agencies) to generate revenue that would be used by their respective governments to fund their budgetary requirements, there is the need for them to deploy technology to exchange and data and to be able to raise assessment that they can enforce for purpose of revenue generation for their respective states."- This Day.




Tanzania: President Ramaphosa Appoints Mohammed Dewji an Advisor On Investment

Dar es Salaam — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Tanzanian business magnet, Mohammed Dewji as one of his advisors on investment issues.

 

Mr Dewji, popularly known by his admirers as Mo and who is chief executive officer for Mohammmed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL), will sit on President Ramaphosa's investment advisory council, for a period a three years.

 

A statement, released yesterday by MeTL, said Mo and his colleagues on President Ramaphosa's investment advisory council, will be responsible for the development and implementation of strategies and programs to attract and retain domestic and foreign direct investment to the Republic of South Africa.

 

"The appointment takes into consideration the role that Mo Dewji has played through his investments in a number of countries in Africa where his companies have created a lot of jobs," reads the statement in part.

It states that through his letter to Mo, the South African leader believes the Tanzanian tycoon will help his country (South Africa) in its endeavour to attract investors who will put the country's economy on the right footing.

 

The statement says President Ramaphosa says in the letter that Mo's presence in the council will be a boost to South Africa's efforts in marketing the country's investment potentials across the world, a development that will have a profound impact on growth of Africa's second largest economy.

 

"The council will specifically be entrusted with the duty of analysing views and bottlenecks that prevent investors from flocking into the rainbow nation and propose best ways to strengthen relationships between the public and private sectors, development partners and investment agents. The utmost aim will be to boost the pace of economic and technological development in South Africa," the statement reads.

The appointment means Mo will be sitting in various meetings that will be organised in and out of South Africa which will involve members of the business community and government officials where he will have a chance to share his insights into investment, challenges and their possible solutions.

 

Mo's MeTL has invested massively in agriculture, manufacturing and in transport logistics in a number of African countries, creating over 100,000 jobs in the process.

 

In 2019, President Ramaphosa announced the appointment of an 18-member presidential economic advisory council, in line with his pronouncements in the state-of-the-nation address in February.

 

During that time, he appointed a Tanzanian, the late Prof Benno Ndulu as a member of his 18-member Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

 

In October 2019, President Ramaphosa used the first sitting of his presidential economic advisory council to announce that he would be appointing two more councils - one on investment and another on state-owned entities.

 

He did not detail what the function of the investment advisory and SOE councils would be.

 

However, South Africa is not the only country in the world with an investment advisory council. In the United States, this group "advises the Secretary of Commerce on the development and implementation of strategies and programs to attract and retain foreign direct investment.

 

The gist of it all is that the council solicits advice from the private sector and other key stakeholders on the promotion and retention of foreign direct investment.- Citizen.

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

Independence Day

 

18/04/21

 


 

Public Holiday in lieu of Independence Day falling on a Sunday

 

19/04/21

 


 

Workers Day

 

01/05/21

 


FCB

AGM 

virtual

06/05/21 : 3pm

 


 

Africa Day

 

25/05/21

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


ART

PPC

Dairibord

 


Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

 


Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

 


 

 

 

 


 <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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URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20210409/74fe9efe/attachment-0001.obj>