Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 13 April 2021

Tue Apr 13 08:14:48 CAT 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 13 April 2021

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

ü  China forces Jack Ma's Ant Group to restructure

ü  Microsoft makes $20bn bet on speech AI firm Nuance

ü  Covid accelerates India's millionaire exodus

ü  France moves to ban short-haul domestic flights

ü  Joe Biden: Could his tax plan affect US investment in Ireland?

ü  Alibaba accepts record China fine and vows to change

ü  SA in mix for EV battery materials factory as Mick Davis signs three-way tech, marketing pact

ü  Anglo says resource conservatism creates incorrect impression about Thungela’s longevity

ü  Anglo is watching you … How the UK group is hoping to contain Covid-19 at work

ü  Asia shares bounce on strong China trade data

ü  As Biden works to fix chips shortage, Intel promises help for automakers

ü  Grab set to announce deal with U.S. SPAC at $40 bln valuation - sources

ü  Oasis Management says CVC's $20 bln offer Toshiba is too low

ü  Nigeria: Increased Borrowing May Trigger Structural Reforms in Nigeria - Report

ü  Africa: AfCFTA Promises to Unlock the Potential for African Women to Move to Macro Businesses

ü  Rwanda: Kagame to Attend Continental Vaccine Manufacturing Conference

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

China forces Jack Ma's Ant Group to restructure

China has forced a sweeping restructure on the Ant Group so the financial technology firm acts more like a bank.

Ant Group's mega $37bn (£27bn) share market launch was derailed by regulators in November over concerns about its finance model.

The latest move is part of a wider crackdown by China to reign in the country's fast-growing tech platforms.

Ant's affiliate company Alibaba was hit with a record fine of $2.8bn on Friday over monopoly concerns.

The overhaul, directed by the People's Bank of China, subjects Ant to tougher regulatory oversight and minimum capital requirements.

Ant Group is China's biggest payments provider, with more than 730 million monthly users on its digital payments service Alipay.

China's central bank said that under a "comprehensive and feasible restructuring plan," Ant would also cut the "improper" linkage between Alipay, and its credit card and consumer loan services.

Its trove of consumer data was widely seen as one of the company's key advantages over its competitors.

Ant has also agreed to set up a personal credit reporting company, which will strengthen the protection of personal information and effectively prevent the abuse of data.

Jack Ma under pressure

The move is the latest in a chain of regulatory moves targeting the business empire of Jack Ma, who was a co-founder of both Ant Group and Alibaba.

Regulators began to show increasing interest in Ant Group in October, after Mr Ma criticised regulators, suggesting they were stifling innovation.

Shortly after the speech, Chinese regulators scuppered the share market launch of Ant Group, which is Alibaba's sister company and China's biggest electronic payments provider.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) also began looking into Mr Ma's e-commerce platform Alibaba, which is China's largest.

After Friday's $2.8bn fine was announced, Alibaba's share price rocketed more than 8% as investors believed this signalled the end of the investigations.

However, Chinese regulators appear poised to take a harder line on tech businesses, after taking a laissez-faire attitude towards the country's tech giants as the industry grew.

Last month, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said it had fined 12 companies over 10 deals that violated anti-monopoly rules.

The companies included Tencent, Baidu and Didi Chuxing - which are among China's largest tech companies.--BBC

Microsoft makes $20bn bet on speech AI firm Nuance

Microsoft Corp plans to buy a tech firm known for helping to develop Apple's Siri speech recognition software in a deal valued at $19.7bn (£13.3bn).

The purchase of Nuance Communications is the second largest in Microsoft's history, after its acquisition of networking site LinkedIn in 2016.

Microsoft said it would bolster its software and artificial intelligence expertise for healthcare companies.

So-called "telehealth" and remote doctor visits have boomed in lockdown.

This growth is forecast to continue after the pandemic.

"Nuance provides the AI layer at the healthcare point of delivery," Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. "AI is technology's most important priority, and healthcare is its most urgent application."

The deal, which includes Nuance debt, is expected to be completed this year.

What is Nuance?

Nuance, based in Massachusetts, was founded in 1992. It employs more than 1,600 people globally and is active in 28 countries.

Known as a speech recognition pioneer, it has more recently focused on providing software to the healthcare industry, such as software that helps to automate radiology reports and makes it easier for doctors to create patient notes by dictation.

Why are they joining forces?

Nearly 80% of US hospitals are already Nuance customers, Mr Nadella said. Purchasing the firm will dramatically expand Microsoft's potential market in the health care industry.

Nuance executives said joining forces with Microsoft would help deepen its cloud-based offerings and allow it to tap into Microsoft's existing global customer base.

The acquisition builds on a partnership the two companies formed in 2019 to automate clinical administrative work such as documentation.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said the deal was "a strategic no brainer in our opinion for [Microsoft] and fits like a glove into its healthcare endeavours at a time in which hospitals and doctors are embracing next generation AI capabilities from thought leaders such as Nuance".

"Clearly, [Microsoft] is on the "offensive" around M&A with the company in a clear position of strength to capitalize on its entrenched position in the cloud going forward," he added, calling Nuance "another feather in its cap".

What are the financial details?

Microsoft is to pay $56 per share to bring the firm under its own roof. That price is about 23% higher than where Nuance shares were trading on Friday.

Shares in Microsoft were flat following the announcement, while Nuance gained more than 16%. The boards of both companies have approved the transaction.—BBC

Covid accelerates India's millionaire exodus

India's wealthy have topped a list of people seeking to relocate abroad through visa programmes that offer citizenship or right of residence in other countries in return for investments.

There was very little Rahul (name changed) didn't have going for him, when he made the tough call to leave India six years ago. He is the second generation scion of a well-heeled Delhi-based family. They have a flourishing exports business with a monopoly in what's typically called a 'sunrise sector'- an industry that has great future prospects.

But he left it all behind and moved to Dubai in 2015, to look after the company's overseas expansion. He also got a citizenship by investment in one of the Caribbean nations. Harassment by tax authorities in India's Enforcement Directorate was a key reason, he says.

"I could see it becoming a problem for someone who had businesses spread across the world," he told the BBC. "With a foreign passport, the red-tape has reduced substantially. I am less worried about being slapped with a random tax demand."

'Tax terror' has been a routine gripe among Indian corporate tycoons. When the founder and owner of India's largest coffee chain, Cafe Coffee Day died in 2019, he accused a former director general of the income tax department of harassing him. But the government has continued to tighten its noose around business owners in recent years.

According to one report, tax searches by India's income tax department have more than trebled in the last few years.

The government has argued this is being done to eradicate "black money - illegal cash, hidden from the tax authorities - and improve tax compliance. But critics say the overreach is also often on account of pressure on bureaucrats to meet revenue targets.

But hounding by the taxman was just one reason for his move, says Rahul. His decision was also prompted by a growing trend of "divide and rule politics" in India, he told us. He didn't want his kids to grow up in India's increasingly polarised environment.

Many others in his circle of wealthy friends were also renouncing their citizenship or resident status, he added.

These claims are borne out by figures from the wall-street investment bank Morgan Stanley. A 2018 bank report found that 23,000 Indian millionaires had left the country since 2014.

More recently, a Global Wealth Migration Review report revealed that nearly 5,000 millionaires, or 2% of the total number of high net-worth individuals in India left the country in 2020 alone. And Indians topped a list compiled by the London-headquartered global citizenship and residence advisory Henley & Partners (H&P), of those seeking citizenship or residency in other countries in return for monetary investments.

Covid-19 has been a big driver of what was an ongoing trend of wealthy Indians seeking to "globalise their lives and assets" according to H&P. So much so that the firm set up its office in India in the middle of the lockdown last year to cater to growing demand.

"I think they [clients] are realising they don't want to wait for the second or third wave of the pandemic. They want to have their papers now that they are sitting at home. We refer to this as the insurance policy or Plan B," Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private at Henley & Partners told the BBC on a video call from Dubai.

According to Mr Volek, the pandemic could be a game changer, because it is making the wealthy think about migration in a more holistic fashion. It is no longer just about visa-free travel, or ease of access to global markets, but about wealth diversification, better healthcare and education, to protect against the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic.

Countries like Portugal, which runs a 'golden visa' programme as well as countries like Malta and Cyprus are preferred destinations for India's well heeled, according to H&P.

This exodus of big money is not necessarily permanent in nature - people merely invest money in another country as a fall-back option rather than take out all their money from their home country and cut business ties. But it doesn't bode well for a developing nation like India, say experts.

"When this happens, they remove themselves, their entrepreneurial ability and their income and wealth from the tax base. This is likely to be detrimental in the long run. Their exit sends a poor signal about the 'doing business climate' in India," says Rupa Subramanya, Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth, a Johannesburg-based wealth intelligence group, told the Business Standard newspaper: "It can be a sign of bad things to come as high-net-worth individuals are often the first people to leave - they have the means to leave unlike middle-class citizens."--BBC

France moves to ban short-haul domestic flights

French lawmakers have moved to ban short-haul internal flights where train alternatives exist, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.

Over the weekend, lawmakers voted in favour of a bill to end routes where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours.

Connecting flights will not be affected, however.

The planned measures will face a further vote in the Senate before becoming law.

Airlines around the world have been severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with website Flightradar24 reporting that the number of flights last year were down almost 42% from 2019.

The measures could affect travel between Paris and cities including Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux.

The French government had faced calls to introduce even stricter rules.

France's Citizens' Convention on Climate, which was created by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 and included 150 members of the public, had proposed scrapping plane journeys where train journeys of under four hours existed.

But this was reduced to two-and-a-half hours after objections from some regions, and the airline Air France-KLM.

Francois Pupponi, a member of the French National Assembly, also told Reuters news agency that the plan was "not the right one".

"The environmental choice must take precedence, but let's not abandon the social and economic choices around industry and around airports - the two are complementary," he said.

But French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir called on lawmakers to retain the four-hour limit.

"On average, the plane emits 77 times more CO2 per passenger than the train on these routes, even though the train is cheaper and the time lost is limited to 40 minutes," it said.

It also called for "safeguards that [French national railway] SNCF will not seize the opportunity to artificially inflate its prices or degrade the quality of rail service".

Saturday's vote came days after the French government more than doubled its stake in Air France. The government had previously offered €7bn ($8.3bn, £6bn) in loans to help the airline weather the pandemic, although France's economy minister said at the time the funding was dependent on the airline scrapping some of its domestic flights.--BBC

Joe Biden: Could his tax plan affect US investment in Ireland?

Wander around Dublin's Grand Canal Quay and you get a sense of how successful the Republic of Ireland has been in attracting US technology companies.

Google has its international headquarters across a campus of offices and will soon have more space nearby at the Boland's Mill development.

Just across the canal, Facebook has its international HQ with Tripadvisor and AirBnB close by.

Stripe, the United States-based payments firm, could soon be in the area.

Last month its Irish founders said they're planning about 1,000 new jobs in Ireland.

The head of the country's inward investment agency, Martin Shanahan, described the Stripe investment as a "phenomenal signal from Ireland and about Ireland".

But there's now a risk that the pipeline of investment from the US could dry up if President Joe Biden can lead a major change to global tax rules.

Irish tax advantage under threat

In among those tech company HQs in Dublin's docklands, you will also find the offices of the lawyers and accountants who help US firms use Ireland's tax system to reduce their global tax bills.

For the last 20 years Ireland has had a simple message: invest here and you will pay just 12.5% tax on your Irish profits.

That compares favourably to headline corporation tax rates of 19% in the UK, 30% in Germany and 26.5% in Canada.

It is an article of faith in Irish politics that the 12.5% rate has been vital to attracting US investment.

But that tax advantage could be seriously undermined if President Biden gets his way.

The most striking of his proposals - and the one of most consequence for Ireland - is for a global minimum corporate tax rate.

The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has suggested a 21% minimum rate.

"We are working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom," she said in a speech last week.

"Together we can use a global minimum tax to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations."

What would it mean for Ireland's economy?

Essentially that would mean if a company paid tax at the lower Irish rate, then the US (or other countries) could top up that company's tax in their jurisdiction to get it to the global minimum.

So if a US company had a presence in Ireland primarily for the tax advantage, that advantage would disappear.

This is a matter of urgency for the Biden administration because it is planning to raise corporate taxes at home and would prefer not to see more tax revenues leaking to other countries.

Peter Vale, tax partner with accounting firm Grant Thornton in Dublin, thinks a global minimum rate is now an inevitability.

"If you'd asked me six months ago I'd have been quite sceptical, there was a lot of opposition," he said.

"But it's now moving by the day and, with the US behind it with its plans, I think we're going to arrive at some sort of global consensus."

He said the key issue for Ireland becomes the level at which the rate is set.

"I don't think 21% is where it will land, I suspect it will be somewhere in the teens."

Other details will be important too: "Exactly how will you work out what the rate is a company is paying in Ireland and what does that mean in terms of any top up? The detail becomes pretty critical."

The Biden proposals have reinvigorated work which is being led by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), an intergovernmental economic organisation.

It began a project known as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) in 2013, which aims to mitigate tax loopholes which currently allow companies to shift profits from higher tax countries to lower tax countries like Ireland.

'Intention to target Ireland'

Perhaps ironically Ireland appears to have been a major beneficiary of some of the early outcomes of the BEPS project.

The country's corporation tax receipts have soared from about €4bn (£3.5bn) in 2013 to around €12bn (£10.5bn) in 2020.

Seamus Coffey, an expert in Irish corporation tax, told the At the Margin podcast that this was because of the focus on what is known as "substance".

That is the principle that companies should declare their profits in the location where they have real operations or activities.

"Countries like Ireland have been a huge winner from BEPS mark one," he said.

"The objective was to align profit with substance and we actually are one of the countries where these companies have substance, whether it be pharmaceuticals, computer chips, medical devices and the ICT companies.

"I think when countries in the G7 looked at this they thought 'that's not quite what we wanted' - maybe the intention was to target countries like Ireland, not benefit them."

When could we see an impact?

In the next round of BEPS, with the US on board, those other rich countries are more likely to get what they want at Ireland's expense.

But even if President Biden can agree the reforms at home and abroad, how quickly would that have an impact in Ireland?

Mr Coffey thinks any negative effects would not be instant because tax is not everything.

"Are the ICT companies likely to head off around the world, scattering their headquarters to various different cities?" he said.

"There are benefits to being co-located. At least in the medium term we are not likely to see a huge shock."

That is echoed by the IDA (Industrial Development Authority), the inward investment agency, which points to Ireland's workforce and significant clusters of specialisation in areas like medical technology and pharmaceuticals.

The IDA also sees the Brexit angle, pointing out that Ireland, unlike its UK neighbour, is part of the EU's single market.

In a statement, it said: "Ireland is at the heart of Europe. Ireland's continued commitment to the EU is a core part of Ireland's value proposition to foreign investors, offering a base to access the European Single Market and to grow their business.

"Ireland also benefits from free movement of people within the EU, giving businesses located in Ireland access to a European labour market."

The Irish government has been engaged in the BEPS process, though in a speech last year the Finance Minister, Pascal Donohoe, said he remained to be convinced of the need for minimum taxation, beyond the specific challenges relating to the digital economy.

This week a government spokesman said: "Ireland is aware of the US proposals.

"We are constructively engaging in these discussions, and will consider any proposals carefully noting that political level discussions on these issues have not yet taken place with the 139 countries involved in this process."--BBC

Alibaba accepts record China fine and vows to change

Chinese tech giant Alibaba said on Monday that it accepted a record penalty imposed by the country's anti-monopoly regulator.

Regulators slapped a $2.8bn fine after a probe determined that it had abused its market position for years.

The fine amounts to about 4% of the company's 2019 domestic revenue.

Alibaba Group's executive vice chairman Joe Tsai indicated that regulators have taken an interest in platforms like Alibaba as they grow in importance.

"We're happy to get the matter behind us, but the tendency is that regulators will be keen to look at some of the areas where you might have unfair competition," he told an investor call on Monday.

The company added that it was not aware of any further anti-monopoly investigations by Chinese regulators, though it signalled that Alibaba and its competitors would remain under review in China over mergers and acquisitions.

The main issue for regulators was that Alibaba restricted merchants from doing business or running promotions on rival platforms.

The company said it would introduce measures to lower entry barriers and business costs faced by merchants on e-commerce platforms.

"With this penalty decision we've received good guidance on some of the specific issues under the anti-monopoly law," Mr Tsai said.

The group does not expect any material impact on its business from the change of exclusivity arrangements imposed by regulators.

The message from Alibaba today in its investor call was: we may be the biggest and the first Chinese tech firm to attract regulators' attention - but we are by no means the last.

Alibaba executives sought to reassure investors that they are playing ball with the regulators. They're going to make it cheaper for businesses to sell on their platform, and not force them to pick and choose between platforms - a practice seen by some in the industry as a case of "it's my way or the highway".

So far, Alibaba says, the discussions with regulators have been amicable, and the statement from the firm on accepting the penalty is markedly contrite.

It may also be heaving a sigh of relief. The 4% of 2019 revenue penalty is a record fine, but for Alibaba, which has a huge war chest, it's a drop in the ocean.

But there will be more oversight and scrutiny of it and other firms.

The e-commerce giant indicated that while for now Alibaba is in the clear in terms of future investigations, the same could not be said for other firms in this sector.

Chinese tech firms are a powerful force in the country, and Beijing is keen to regulate them. Alibaba's experience is a sign of more of the same to come.

The penalty is the latest in a chain of events targeting the company that kicked off last October, after its co-founder Jack Ma criticised regulators, suggesting they were stifling innovation.

Shortly after the speech, Chinese regulators scuppered the share market launch of Ant Group, which is Alibaba's sister company and China's biggest electronic payments provider.

However, some commentators noted that regulators had legitimate concerns about Ant Group's consumer finance arm.

Ant Group was expected to be last year's biggest share market launch on the Hong Kong exchange.

But Alibaba isn't the only Chinese company to come under scrutiny by China's increasingly assertive regulators.

Last month, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said it had fined 12 companies over 10 deals that violated anti-monopoly rules.

The companies included Tencent, Baidu and Didi Chuxing - which are among China's largest tech companies.--BBC

SA in mix for EV battery materials factory as Mick Davis signs three-way tech, marketing pact

SOUTH Africa is one of the jurisdictions being considered for the construction of a factory producing battery materials used by electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers such as Tesla.

NextSource, a company in which South African mining entrepreneur Mick Davis is invested, said it had signed a binding agreement between a Japanese offtake partner and its Chinese partner to build a facility producing battery anodes (BAF).

The BAF will produce spheronized and purified graphite (SPG) required in lithium-ion batteries for EV and hybrid vehicle applications (HEV). The BAF is a replica of facilities that Tesla, the US electric vehicle maker, uses in its supply chain, said NextSource.

Davis, who is chairman of NextSource, took a $29.5m stake in the company through his Vision Blue Resources (VBR), established by him to invest in the electrification of the drive-train. NextSource controls the Molo Project in southern Madagascar. The project is billed as “… one of the largest known and highest quality deposits” of flake graphite globally.

In addition to South Africa, the BAF could also be built at a site in Europe or North America with commissioning expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“This collaboration is part of NextSource’s downstream growth plan and partners the company with prominent and established processors and suppliers of graphite anode material to the Tesla supply chain and other global automotive OEMs [original equipment manufacturers,” said Davis in a statement on Monday evening.

The Japanese partner, which is unnamed, is described as “… a prominent Japanese trading company” that supplies SPG for anode material in lithium-ion batteries for EV, and HEV applications. It will open up access it has to OEMs and act as a marketing and sales agent to NextSource.

The Chinese partner – which has long worked with the Japanese company – will be the technical partner. It will take a 3% licensing fee based on the total annual sales value of anode material sold whilst the Japanese partner will receive a 5% sales commission based on the total annual sales value of anode material sold.

Said Davis: “NextSource is well-positioned to be a significant strategic supplier of high-quality flake graphite to major battery anode customers globally”. The partnership would also give NextSource “an immediate foothold” in the EV market,” he said.

Davis said in February that demand for battery metals would “… dwarf anything the mining industry has ever seen before, including the commodity impact of China’s industrialisation in the last 20 years”.-miningmx

Anglo says resource conservatism creates incorrect impression about Thungela’s longevity

ANGLO American conservatism with regard to mineral resources had created the incorrect impression Thungela Resources had a limited life of mine, the group said.

Thungela Resources will be created from the demerger of Anglo’s South African thermal coal assets from Anglo Coal. The company, which will start trading in Johannesburg and London on July 7, will have July Ndlovu as CEO. Ndlovu is the current CEO of Anglo Coal.

“The Anglo American conservatism in reserves versus the resource is part of the equation, so July and the team have inherited a good reserve and they can see the potential in converting those resources to additional reserves,” said Mark Cutifani, CEO of Anglo in an interview on April 8.

“I think that an important point to make is against some of the players who are a little more cavalier on the resources side,” Cutifani added without naming thermal coal rivals where this may be the case. “July has got lots of good ideas that he’s going to drive through,” he said.

Cutifani was commenting after the group announced it would seek shareholder approval for the proposed demerger on May 5 in which Anglo shareholders are to receive one Thungela share for every 10 Anglo American shares held.

Thungela will have production of about 16 million tons of thermal coal annually, but with a life of mine of about 12.5 years compared to an average life of mine in the Anglo group of about 25 years. This has raised questions about its ability to extend its mines.

Thungela said it would seek out short payback, low capital intensity growth projects once it had bedded itself down as an independent company – taking a period of about three years.

In addition to having “significantly more resource and reserves than we currently project”, Thungela had established infrastructure and access to export and domestic markets through a marketing arrangement with Anglo American, said Ndlovu. “As we educate the market about how we think about the life of our assets that concern will become less.

“What they are judged against is our proud history in Anglo in that it operates long-life resources. If they have not got that, then they are wrong given our history. But I am absolutely confident we have got the resource base to support mines,” said Ndlovu.

METALLURGICAL COAL

The demerger is part of Anglo American’s plans to be carbon neutral by 2040. It also intended to sell its one third stake in Colombia’s Cerrejon mine which it holds with BHP and Glencore. Glencore may potentially become a buyer.

About a quarter of the group’s Scope 3 emissions were from thermal coal production compared to 13% of Scope 3 emissions in metallurgical coal (met coal) – a mineral that Cutifani said Anglo had no intention of selling.

“Met coal is an absolute necessity in producing steel as it stands today and anybody who says they should be getting out of met coal needs to have their heads read,” he said.

“Steel is key in the decarbonisation of the world’s economy, and until we have new technical solutions met coal is critical.  Over time that will obviously change, but certainly through to mid-2030s, and probably to 2040, it remains important.”

“If we were to run our assets through to that time that’s probably a good place to be. Sophisticated investors understand the differences between the two and I think most of our investors are sophisticated.”-miningmx

Anglo is watching you … How the UK group is hoping to contain Covid-19 at work

FORMER BHP CEO, Marius Kloppers, gained notoriety for once dissuading employees in the Australian firm’s head office from eating at their desks. The aroma of last night’s reheated coq au vin, for instance, was not conducive to the business Kloppers – a committed vegetarian – was trying to create.

Today, employees think quite differently about congregating anywhere – never mind the corporate canteen – owing to Covid-19.

The disease has also changed attitudes towards work-from-home, most likely broadening its adoption. Business travel and virtual meetings, especially as a way of including different, previously unheard voices, are other potential changes.

The disease has also inspired other technological advances in the workplace such as the social distancing and contact tracing software developed by Anglo American. It is hoping the technology will live long after the pandemic is dead.

In essence, the group has developed in partnership with South Korea’s electronics conglomerate, Samsung, bespoke fitness watches for its 54,000-strong miners, primarily as a track-and-trace mechanism for Covid-19 disease outbreaks.

Rohan Davidson, Anglo’s chief information officer, says that each fitness watch has the capability to log up to 8,000 contact events daily, and enable the group to trace each contact over the prior 48 hour period. Information is stored as a server would a computer IP address because employee privacy is critical; yet, at the same time, you can’t get on-site without a watch, just as you can’t gain access without a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

The watches work as any fitness watch would so employees would – it is hoped – will monitor other aspects of their health and safety. The aspiration, therefore, is that a watch is a small thing with a large life of consequence, long after the pandemic is dead. By way of reminder, it’s worth noting the prevalence of tuberculosis and AIDS in South Africa’s mines.

The watches also alert the wearer when social distancing rules are breached. Clearly, this has limited appeal on a mine, says Davidson, so the function can be disabled. When all’s said and done, mining is a cooperative, contact kind of a job. That’s not quite the case in the office environment, however – as BHP’s Kloppers may yet concur.

For the pencil-pushers and bean counters, Anglo has developed blue-toothed enabled badges that (Davidson acknowledges) sounds off a fairly irritating alarm when the 1.5 metre social distance rule between individuals is breached. The lesser incursion of stepping within two metres of one another provokes the more moderate warning of a light change on the badge from green to yellow.

Mark Cutifani, CEO of Anglo American, claims not yet to wear a watch. “I’m too old so nobody cares,” he quips. Firstly, he’s not actually old; secondly, it’s those of advancing years who stand most to benefit from Anglo’s approach, Orwellian as it may sound at first.-miningmx

Asia shares bounce on strong China trade data

Asian stocks markets were broadly positive Tuesday after China's exports grew at a strong pace during March and imports rebounded giving investors heart that domestic demand is improving as part of the recovery from the pandemic.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was trading up 0.4% Tuesday after opening up less than 0.1% higher.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 (.XJO) bucked the regional trend and was flat while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) rose 1.1% in the afternoon session.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI) added nearly 1% while the mainland bluechip index CSI300 (.CSI300) edged up 0.5% and ground after the March trade figures were published.

South Korea's KOSPI 200 Index (.KS200) doubled its early gains to be up 1%.

China's exports in dollar terms rose by 30.6% in March from one year earlier while imports jumped 38.1% compared to the same time last year, figures published Tuesday showed.

Imports grew at the fastest pace in four years which analysts said indicated a post-pandemic recovery in Chinese domestic demand. read more

"China is benefitting because of its surging 'first in first out' recovery but the global economy is also accelerating and picking up and that will diminish some of China's export performance in the quarters ahead," said John Woods, Credit Suisse's Asia Pacific chief investment officer.

The trade data helped turn around a weaker tone that was evident earlier in Asia following declines on Wall Street overnight.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 55.2 points, or 0.16%, to 33,745.4, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.81 points, or 0.02%, to 4,127.99 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 50.19 points, or 0.36%, to 13,850.00.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said Monday the U.S. economy could see a significant rebound this year due to looser money and fiscal policy but the country's job market still faced weakness.

He said with inflation still below the central bank's 2% target rate the current "highly accommodative" monetary policy stance remained appropriate.

U.S. inflation data for March is due to be published later in the global day.

The dollar rose from near a three-week low against major rivals on Tuesday, buoyed by a bump in Treasury yields, as traders awaited the highly anticipated inflation data. read more

Sat Duhra, Singapore-based portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, said he expected blips in inflation to be temporary and for there to be a long period of steady growth and low inflation, after a swift rebound from the pandemic. He also expects the rotation from the growth and momentum stocks into value-based ones to persist.

"The spread between equity yield and bond yields is still respectable and very interesting," Duhra said.

"The gap in valuations between growth and value stocks is so large, that there is still a way for this to continue. It's not rotation just for the sake of it."

The benchmark 10-year yield was at 1.6943% in the Asian session, holding below a 14-month high of 1.776% reached on March 30.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

As Biden works to fix chips shortage, Intel promises help for automakers

U.S. President Joe Biden met with executives from major companies on Monday to discuss the global chip shortage that has hit automakers and spurred Intel Corp (INTC.O) to announce it plans to make chips for car plants at its factories in the next six to nine months.

During the meeting, Biden said he had bipartisan support for legislation to fund the semiconductor industry. He previously announced plans to invest $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research as part of his drive to rebuild U.S. manufacturing under a $2 trillion infrastructure plan.

The global chip shortage stems from a confluence of factors as carmakers, which shut plants during the COVID-19 pandemic last year, compete against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies. That industry has seen a boom as people spend more time at home.

Biden and his top advisers view the semiconductor shortage as a "top and immediate priority," the White House said after the meeting.

Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger, who attended the meeting virtually, told Reuters the company wanted to start producing chips at its factories within six to nine months to address the shortage, which has idled assembly lines at some U.S. automotive plants.

The supply crunch could lead to a potential 1.3 million shortfall in U.S. car and light-duty truck production this year.

"We're hoping that some of these things can be alleviated, not requiring a three- or four-year factory build, but maybe six months of new products being certified on some of our existing processes," Gelsinger said. "We've begun those engagements already with some of the key components suppliers."

Intel last month announced plans to vastly scale up chips manufacturing for outsiders as it builds new factories in the United States and Europe. Its talks with automotive suppliers disclosed on Monday represent an acceleration of those plans.

The White House meeting included executives from 19 major companies, including General Motors (GM.N) Chief Executive Mary Barra, Ford Motor (F.N) CEO Jim Farley and Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV (STLA.MI) CEO Carlos Tavares. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also took part.

"Today I received a letter from 23 senators, bipartisan and 42 House members, Republican and Democrat, supporting the chips for America program," Biden said at the top of the session.

Executives from companies such as GlobalFoundries, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW), AT&T (T.N), Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) and Google-parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) also were in attendance.

Participants emphasized the importance of increasing transparency in the semiconductor supply chain to help mitigate current shortages, and improving demand forecasting to help stave off future challenges, the White House said in a statement.

They also discussed "the importance of encouraging additional semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the United States to make sure we never again face shortages," it added.

Participants discussed short and long-term approaches to address the chips shortage, but no immediate decision or announcement was likely to come from the meeting, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

Broadband internet, cellphone and cable TV companies also face delays in receiving "network switches, routers, and servers," according to an industry group.

Later this week, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold its first hearing on a bipartisan measure to bolster technology research and development efforts in a bid to address Chinese competition.

“Trying to address supply chains on a crisis-by-crisis basis creates critical national security vulnerabilities,” national security adviser Sullivan said in a statement.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Grab set to announce deal with U.S. SPAC at $40 bln valuation - sources

Southeast Asia's largest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab Holdings is set to announce later on Tuesday a merger with U.S.-based Altimeter that is set to value Grab at nearly $40 billion and lead to a public listing, three people told Reuters.

The merger will make it the biggest blank-check company deal ever.

Grab's agreement with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Altimeter Capital includes a $4 billion private investment in public equity (PIPE) from a group of Asian and global investors including Fidelity International and Janus Henderson.

The deal for Singapore-based Grab, which sources have previously said was valued at just over $16 billion last year, is a big win for its early backers such as Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) and China's Didi Chuxing.

A U.S. listing will give Grab extra firepower in its main market, Indonesia, where local rival Gojek is close to sealing a merger with the country's leading e-commerce business Tokopedia.

Grab declined to comment. There was no response from Silicon Valley-based Altimeter to an emailed request for comment.

The two fund managers also did not respond to an emailed query. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The nearly $40 billion valuation is based on a proforma equity value, two of the sources said.

With operations in eight countries and 398 cities, Grab is already Southeast Asia's most valuable start-up.

Leveraging its ride-hailing business started in 2012, the firm has expanded into offering food and grocery deliveries, courier services, digital payments, and is now making a big push into insurance and lending in a region of 650 million people.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oasis Management says CVC's $20 bln offer Toshiba is too low

Hong Kong-based activist fund Oasis Management said on Tuesday CVC Capital's $20 billion proposal to take Toshiba Corp (6502.T) private was "far below fair value" and urged the Japanese conglomerate to seek other offers.

The fund, an investor in Toshiba since 2016, said a price of more than 6,200 yen ($56.54) per share for Toshiba would be appropriate instead of a reported offer of 5,000 yen.

"We understand that the bid was unsolicited and not initiated by Toshiba’s board. However we believe that the company should seriously consider the offer, for the benefit of all shareholders," Oasis said in a letter to Osamu Nagayama, chairman of the board.

Oasis joined U.S. hedge fund Farallon Capital Management, a leading shareholder, in asking Toshiba to seek multiple offers. read more

Oasis also urged Toshiba to set up a special committee to discuss the proposal as soon as possible. It was "highly important" that Chief Executive Nobuaki Kurumatani, a former senior CVC executive, and Yoshiaki Fujimori, a senior adviser for CVC, were excluded from the process, it added.

($1 = 109.6600 yen)-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Nigeria: Increased Borrowing May Trigger Structural Reforms in Nigeria - Report

As Nigeria is projected to raise $3 billion this year meet its infrastructure needs, which is expected to increase its public debts, the situation will force the country's policy makers to implement structural reforms, the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), Mr. Bismarck Rewane has stated.

He stated this in his latest Lagos Business School's executive breakfast meeting presentation, a copy of which was obtained at the weekend.

The April 2021 edition of the monthly report, entitled "Oil Illusion and Financial Delusion," was a review of the economic performance of the country in the just ended first quarter of 2021 and a peep into the second quarter performance.

He said the depth of recession experienced in 2020, would leave a large fiscal and debt hangover for most African countries and would reduce the scope for policy makers to respond with stimulatory measures, citing Zambia as the first country in the region to default in its Eurobond repayment.

The report notedd that several African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa were planning to borrow from the international capital markets. Ghana recently successfully issued $3 billion Eurobond.

"Nigeria will raise $3 billion in 2021. Increased borrowing to meet infrastructure need will force Nigerian policy makers to implement structural reforms," Rewane wrote in the report.

For Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the FDC CEO said pro-business policies and structural reforms would help bolster economic activity over the longer term, stressing that policy initiatives to address lagging productivity, skills and infrastructure would progress slowly.

On the kind of recovery expected in SSA, he forecasted an inverted V-shaped recovery, noting that recoveries were diverging across and within countries.

He projected that SSA economy would expand by 3.4 per cent in 2021 and four per cent in 2022, while Inverted V-shaped recovery was expected to occur in Nigeria and South Africa.

However, the FDC boss said the informal sector was going to spur the projected recovery, predicting that unemployment in the formal economy would decline slowly.

He added that while jobs in the informal sector will rebound faster as restrictions eased, inflation was projected to average 8.1 per cent in 2021, before edging down to eight per cent in 2022.

"From our perspective, we can say that Nigeria will experience an inverted V-shaped recovery while battling persistent inflation.

"Institutional and domestic investors are jittery as they attempt to make sense of ambiguous pronouncements and conflicting data," he stated in the report.

Noting that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, at their spring meetings in Washington, expressed optimism about Nigeria's economic recovery, he argued that the upward review of their projections on the West African country, rests heavily on optimal vaccine rollouts and stronger oil prices.

The IMF last week revised its 2021 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projection for Nigeria to 2.5 per cent from one per cent, this, Rewane said was "a confidence boost for the much needed investment inflows."

He warned, however, that the snares of insecurity, hyperinflation and policy uncertainty in the country could force investors to take their funds elsewhere.

On exchange rate policy, the FDC boss argued that the nuanced interpretation of flexible or floating exchange rates by policy makers, made investors wary and was seen as a missed opportunity to embark on a unified exchange rate system.

He added that exchange rate convergence remains the sole objective of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He, however, said the forex rationing has continued and that the I&E window was still controlled, pointing out that limited forex supply has forced manufacturers to source over 90 per cent of forex from the parallel market.

FDC stated that forex intervention in the I&E window fell throughout March to an average of $66.63 million, indicating a preference for reserves accretion at the expense of exchange rate alignment, adding "So it is neither a yay nor nay situation... we take it as it is and hope for the best".

"In all of this, the Nigerian consumer remains financially embattled. Disposable income is flat but discretionary income is sharply lower due to rising food prices, transport costs and electricity bills. Many state governments owe salary arrears and labour is on a warpath."-This Day.

Africa: AfCFTA Promises to Unlock the Potential for African Women to Move to Macro Businesses

For decades, African women have been trapped in poverty cycles due to several underlying factors including unequal access to education, factors of production, and trade facilities; inequitable labour saving technologies; underpaid or unpaid labour; harmful cultural practices; and limited legal protection from gender inequality practices entrenched in society.

To break the cycle of poverty and inequalities, the African Union continues to advocate for the development and implementation of policies and legal; frameworks that will create a wider array of opportunities for women, and which will lead to their economic empowerment at the national and regional levels, and ensuring that the development envisaged for Africa is inclusive and sustainable.

With the launch of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021, the expectations are high as relates to the expanded business prospects for women-led businesses, which will unlock the potential for African women to grow their businesses from micro to macro enterprises.

The Agreement establishing the AfCFTA recognises the need to build and improve the export capacity of both formal and informal service suppliers, with particular attention to micro, small and medium size enterprises in which women and youth actively participate.

Furthermore, the AfCFTA Protocols on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Policy, provide clear guidelines to ensure emerging enterprises and infant industries are protected thus adding impetus to the Agenda 2063 goals of gender equality, women empowerment and youth development.

Through the AfCFTA, informal and micro and small enterprises will be integrated into the continental markets breaking the barriers these businesses constantly encounter as they try to penetrate more advanced regional and overseas markets.

Women, estimated to account for 70 per cent of informal cross-border trade in Africa, will be well positioned to tap into regional export destinations and use regional markets as stepping stones for expanding into overseas markets.

By reducing tariffs and with simplified trading regimes for small traders, AfCFTA makes it more affordable for informal traders to operate through formal channels, which offer more protection by addressing the vulnerabilities women in cross-border trade often encounter such as, harassment, violence, confiscation of goods and even imprisonment.

Through deliberate efforts to integrate informal businesses into the larger continental trade structure, the challenges related to accurate data will also be addressed, to adequately capture and reflect women's trading activities in national accounting systems and regional statistical databases.

"The prospective shift from micro to macro business opportunities for women will not be spontaneous and the expected benefits for women should be tempered with realism and commitment to address existing challenges women often face."

The AfCFTA is expected to enhance competitiveness, promote industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development, and foster sustainable socio-economic development and structural transformation.

Small and medium-sized enterprises will benefit from easier means to supply inputs to larger regional companies, who then export to overseas markets. For instance, women can benefit from initiatives to connect female agricultural workers to export food markets.

Regionally, there have been practical examples such as the preferential Southern African Customs Union trading regime where before exporting cars overseas, large automobile manufacturers in South Africa source inputs, including leather for seats from Botswana and fabrics from Lesotho, enhancing the concept of value addition and boosting local manufacturing and industrialization. Replicated at the continental level, the AfCFTA will then scale up opportunities for women to benefit from Intra-African trade.

Combined with the African Union's parallel efforts to increase skills in science and technology, the blue economy, infrastructure, manufacturing and high growth, Africa is well on its way to actualise Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 which calls for "An Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children."

Further, Aspiration 6, underpins African women's economic empowerment, where women are fully empowered in all spheres and where women will have the rights to own and manage businesses; therefore, contributing significantly to innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives within the continent.

In addition, the African Union Strategy for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (GEWE), underscores the need for women's economic empowerment as stated under Pillar I, "maximizing economic outcomes and opportunities (outcome 1.2), where women are challenged to push for their economic freedom thereby re-affirming the Africa Agenda 2063 - The Africa We Want."

Trade experts and gender equality advocates have however cautioned that the prospective shift from micro to macro business opportunities for women will not be spontaneous and the expected benefits for women should be tempered with realism and commitment to address some of the existing challenges women often face.

The "Futures Report on making the AfCFTA work for women and youth", identifies these challenges to evolve around the limited property rights for women farmers', which leads to low levels of investment and limits the full potential of export-led growth. Similarly, women and youth may be limited from gains in agriculture due to barriers in accessing finance, productive resources and other assets.

This, in addition to foreign direct investment (FDI) flows towards high productivity and better established exporting operations to capture scale economies, may enlarge the gender income gap. Without complementary national policies, the gender wage gap may be used to drive competitiveness in exports and keep women in low-productive activities and sectors that may also be at risk of automation.

The report therefore recommends the critical need to promote women as 'achievers' in, rather than 'sources' of, trade competitive advantage. These issues could well be addressed and articulated in the proposed Protocol on Women in Trade to ensure African women on the continent and those in the diaspora, are at the centre stage of the AfCFTA.

"The AfCFTA is also a catalyst for women following the Declaration 2020 to 2030 as the new Decade of Women's Financial and Economic Inclusion. African leaders recommitted to scale up actions for the progressive gender inclusion towards sustainable development."

As country negotiations on AfCFTA continue, it is expected that pertinent issues to ensure seamless trading will be addressed such as the e-commerce negotiations specific to operational aspects of e-commerce and utilisation of digital tools, which include: data protection, portability, security and privacy; cross-border data flows and data localisation provisions; coordinated cybercrime laws; and harmonisation of laws for the taxation of cross-border e-commerce.

Whilst the AfCFTA is a continental agreement, the implementation will take place primarily at the national level. Therefore, the agreement must be translated to and contextualised in domestic realities. Those domestic realties are expected to involve the needs to women and to have women leading the negotiations, as part of the fulfilment to gender equality and inclusion.

The AfCFTA is also a catalyst for women following the Declaration of the years 2020 to 2030 as the new Decade of Women's Financial and Economic Inclusion. In the Declaration, African leaders recommitted to scale up actions for the progressive gender inclusion towards sustainable development at the national, regional and continental levels.

The exponential potential on the continent will not be realized in a vacuum but through purposed gender sensitive economic policies, a sound business environment and political commitment focused on gender mainstreaming in AfCFTA National Strategies.

The aspect of financial inclusion will ensure women, who are commonly excluded from the formal financial sector either because of their income level and volatility, location, type of activity, or level of financial literacy, benefit from strengthened financial services and capacity building. This will be especially useful for women living in rural areas and urban-informal settlements, to gain access to technology and to use it to increase productivity in all industrious sectors and benefit from tailor-made financial products such as the use of mobile money applications as a tool for expanding access to banking and finance that respond to the need for formal and reliable means to save, access and borrow money.

Correlated, the African Union Fund for African Women (FAW) is being converted into a Trust Fund for African Women (TFAW) and it will be part of the concrete solutions that will be made available for women to realize economic justice and financial inclusion.

In doing this, the efforts will be aligned to the African Union strategy for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (GEWE) and the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, which push for the inclusion of women in Africa's development agenda and which recognise that that gender equality is a fundamental human right and an integral part of regional integration, economic growth and social development.

This article is provided by the African Union Commission Women, Gender and Youth Directorate. The Directorate is responsible for leading, guiding, defending and coordinating the AU's efforts on gender equality and development and promoting women and youth empowerment. The Directorate designs programmes and projects based on the policies and frameworks adopted by AU Member States. It also oversees the development and harmonization of gender policies; defines strategies for gender mainstreaming within the Commission, AU organs and Member States; and supports capacity building by providing training on gender policies and instruments.-East African.

Rwanda: Kagame to Attend Continental Vaccine Manufacturing Conference

President Paul Kagame is expected to be among African leaders who will this afternoon meet to discuss the continent's vaccine manufacturing roadmap.

The leaders will be discussing Africa's vaccine manufacturing to achieve a new public health order for its health and economic security.

The 2-day high-level conference is organised by the African Union (AU) in partnership with the Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC).

Kagame will be joined by various heads of state including President Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo, Cyril Ramaphosa of South African and Macky Sall of Senegal.

Also expected is Moussa Faki Mahamat, the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayat, the CEO of African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD).

"A critical lesson that Africa has learned from the pandemic is the need to invest in and build its own capacity and capabilities for manufacturing of vaccines," reads part of the statement published by CDC. "The continent's low manufacturing capability exposes Africans to supply chain risks such as the one experienced with the current Covid-19 vaccine challenges."

AFRICA'S VACCINE MANFACTURING VIRTUAL CONFERENCE | APRIL 12, 2021 https://t.co/HfTlzk1k1M

- Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) April 12, 2021

According to experts, expanding African manufacturing will clearly have a significant public health impact and economic benefit for the continent.

Consequently, the meeting is expected to inform the AU in charting a vision and roadmap to accelerating African vaccine manufacturing.

AU initiated its own Covid-19 vaccines distribution agenda -African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) aimed at increasing the continent's ability to disseminate millions of vaccines to African states which have depended on the UN-led Covax facility to vaccinate the first group of the 1.3 billion African citizens since March 2021.

>From the initiative, the government of Rwanda said it had secured 2.6 million doses.

The country's composition of 2.6 million doses is made up of about 500,000 from Pfizer, about 1 Million doses from Johnson & Johnson and about 1 million AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses expected to cover about 1.8 million Rwandans.

Available statistics indicate that over 250,000 Rwandans have received their first doses of vaccine, with some receiving their second doses in the ongoing exercise, putting the country among the nations that have vaccinated the highest number in Africa.

At the conference, other key speakers include Tedros A. Ghebreyesus, Dr. Ngonzi Okonjo-Iweala- the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organisation Director Generals respectively.-New Times.

Invest Wisely!

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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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