Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 16 April 2021

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 16 April 2021

 


 

 


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ü  China's economy grows 18.3% in post-Covid comeback

ü  Citigroup to exit consumer banking in 13 markets

ü  Amazon's Bezos: Union defeat does not bring 'comfort'

ü  Asia shares look to China data as global economic recovery hopes underpin
world shares

ü  ARK buys $110 mln Coinbase shares, adding to positions

ü  U.S. House committee approves blueprint for Big Tech crackdown

ü  Australia finds Google misled customers over data collection - regulator

ü  Dollar set for back-to-back weekly losses as Treasury yields retreat

ü  Canadian lawmakers call for action from U.S., Canadian leaders in
pipeline dispute

ü  U.S. China hawks seek to cut sales of chip-making tools to Beijing

ü  Nigeria: CBN Moves to Place Sugar, Wheat On Forex Restriction List

ü  Sudan: Hamdok Calls for Prime Ministers to Hold Talks Over Nile Dam

ü  Malawi: Farmers Body Endorses Govt Fixed Commodity Prices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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China's economy grows 18.3% in post-Covid comeback

China's economy grew a record 18.3% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to
the same quarter last year.

 

It's the biggest jump in gross domestic product (GDP) since China started
keeping quarterly records in 1992.

 

However, Friday's figures are below expectations, with a Reuters poll of
economists predicting 19% growth.

 

They are also heavily skewed, and less indicative of strong growth, as they
are compared to last year's huge economic contraction.

 

As a baseline, they use the first quarter of 2020, when China's economy
shrank 6.8% due to nationwide lockdowns at the peak of its Covid-19
outbreak.

 

Other key figures released by China's statistics department also point to a
continuing rebound, but are also unusually strong because they are compared
against extremely weak numbers from last year.

 

Industrial output for March rose 14.1% over a year ago, while retail sales
grew 34.2%.

 

"Promisingly, the monthly indicators suggest that industrial production,
consumption and investment all gained pace in March on a sequential basis,
following the weakness in the first two months," said Lousi Kuijs from
Oxford economics.

 

It's not all good news for China's economy, with analysts predicting some
sectors will slow as the government's fiscal and monetary stimulus measures
are reduced.

 

Yue Su, from the Economist Intelligence Unit, said that while the latest
figures show that China's economic recovery is broad-based, some production
and export activity could have been "front-loaded" into the first quarter,
suggesting slower growth ahead.

 

"Trade performance and domestic industrial activities for the rest of year
might not be able to maintain such strong momentum, due to lack of measures
to stimulate domestic economy," she said.

 

The figures nevertheless suggest China has continued to gain economic
momentum, after posting 6.5% economic growth in the last quarter of 2020.

 

Helped by strict virus containment measures and emergency relief for
businesses, the economy has recovered steadily since the pandemic hit.

 

Despite a calamitous start to the year, China was the only major economy to
register growth in 2020.

 

Nevertheless, the world's second largest economy only managed 2.3% growth,
its weakest result in decades.

 

China has set an economic growth target of 6% for 2021, after scrapping its
target last year.

 

Despite its rebound, the Covid is still casting a shadow over China's
economy.--BBC

 

 

 

Citigroup to exit consumer banking in 13 markets

Citigroup is closing its consumer banking operations in 13 markets across
Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

 

The US banking group will instead run these operations from four hubs in
Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London.

 

It will continue to offer products to larger clients and institutions in
these markets.

 

Its chief executive Jane Fraser said it "does not have the scale" to compete
in these 13 markets.

 

Citigroup will shut down consumer banking operations in Australia, Bahrain,
China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland,
Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

 

"As a result of the ongoing refresh of our strategy, we have decided that we
are going to double down on wealth. We will operate our consumer banking
franchise in Asia and EMEA solely from four wealth centres, Singapore, Hong
Kong, UAE and London," Ms Fraser said in a statement.

 

Ms Fraser took over Citi in September last year - the first woman to become
chief executive of a Wall Street bank.

 

"While the other 13 markets have excellent businesses, we don't have the
scale we need to compete," she added. "We believe our capital, investment
dollars and other resources are better deployed against higher returning
opportunities in wealth management and our institutional businesses in
Asia."

 

On Thursday, Citi reported net income of $7.9bn (£5.7bn) for the first three
months of 2021, beating analysts' expectations.

 

While the banking group may be exiting key markets in Asia, rivals are
expanding in the region.

 

HSBC has a new venture to seek out wealthy customers in China and is
employing 3,000 bankers over the next five years

 

US firms Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have also said they are expanding
operations in China.--BBC

 

 

 

Amazon's Bezos: Union defeat does not bring 'comfort'

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has said the company's recent victory in defeating a
high-profile unionisation drive in the US did not bring him "comfort".

 

In his final letter to shareholders as the company's chief executive, he
addressed concerns about the firm's treatment of its workers.

 

The comments follow a year of blistering global criticism of Amazon's work
practices during the pandemic.

 

But Amazon decisively beat back the union effort, despite those complaints.

 

"Does your chair take comfort in the outcome of the recent union vote in
Bessemer? No, he doesn't," wrote Mr Bezos, referring to the city in Alabama
where the union drive occurred.

 

"I think we need to do a better job for our employees."

 

In the letter, Mr Bezos said he was proud of the work environment at Amazon,
which employs 1.3 million people globally and hired 500,000 people in 2020
alone.

 

He said the company had led the way by setting $15-an-hour minimum wage,
defended the firm's productivity targets for workers and disputed reports
that staff feel so pressured to meet those expectations that they cannot
take breaks.

 

"Despite what we've accomplished, it's clear to me that we need a better
vision for our employees' success," said Mr Bezos, who is set to become
executive chairman of the firm and relinquish the chief executive job.

 

In his new role, Mr Bezos said, he would devote some of his attention to
initiatives aimed at making Amazon "earth's best employer" and "earth's
safest place to work", such as a programme that rotates staff to new jobs to
avoid injuries caused by repeatedly doing the same physical task.

 

In a statement, Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union (RWDSU), which led the unionisation drive in
Bessemer, said the comments showed the campaign had had a "devastating"
impact on the firm's reputation, "regardless of the vote result".

 

"We have initiated a global debate about the way Amazon treats its
employees. Bezos's admission today demonstrates that what we have been
saying about workplace conditions is correct. But his admission won't change
anything, workers need a union - not just another Amazon public relations
effort in damage control," he said.

 

Amazon is not the only company under pressure to improve conditions for its
staff.

 

Walmart, America's largest employer, on Wednesday said it would shift more
of its US employees to full-time roles.

 

The move followed years of criticism of the firm's reliance on part-time
retail workers. As a result, some staff have faced unpredictable schedules
and lack benefits, such as health insurance.--BBC

 

 

Asia shares look to China data as global economic recovery hopes underpin
world shares

Asian shares were little changed on Friday ahead of a raft of Chinese
economic data, while world stocks on the whole flew at a record level,
fuelled by strong U.S. economic data that may herald a solid recovery ahead.

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS)
were little changed while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) ticked up 0.2%.

 

China will release a series of economic data later in the day, including its
first-quarter GDP.

 

MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks (.MIWD00000PUS) stood flat after 0.89
percent gains the previous day to a record high.

 

"U.S. economic data released yesterday was all strong, confirming the U.S.
economy is firmly on a recovery track," said Norihiro Fujito, chief
investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

 

Retail sales rebounded 9.8% in March, the largest increase since May 2020,
in a gain that pushed the level of sales 17.1% above its pre-pandemic level
to a record high. read more

 

The brightening economic prospects were underscored by other data, including
first-time claims for unemployment benefits tumbling last week to the lowest
level since March 2020.

 

Despite strong data, U.S. bond yields dropped, in part driven by Japanese
buying, as they have began a new financial year this month.

 

The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield dropped to 1.529%, a five-week low, on
Thursday and last stood at 1.566% , off its 14-month high of 1.776% set at
the end of March.

 

"The market has already fully priced in an U.S. economic recovery in the
near term. And if the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold for
the next two to three years, no doubt the carry of U.S. bonds would be very
attractive compared with Japanese or euro zone bonds," said Chotaro Morita,
chief fixed income strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

 

The fall in long-term bond yields benefited stocks, and particularly tech
shares, given the idea that their historically expensive valuations can be
justified because investors would have no choice but to buy shares to make
up for low returns from bonds.

 

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 (.SPX) advanced 1.11% while the tech-heavy
Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 1.31%, nearing its record peak set in
February.

 

In the currency market, lower U.S. yields were a drag on the U.S. dollar.

 

The euro stood at $1.1965 , having hit a six-week high of $1.19935 overnight
while the U.S. currency slipped to a three-week low of 108.61 yen .

 

Oil prices held firm after hitting a four-week highs on Thursday following
positive U.S. economic data and higher demand forecasts from the
International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC.

 

Brent futures stood flat at $66.93 per barrel, while U.S. crude was also
little changed at $63.42 per barrel, both on course for their first
substantial weekly gains in six.

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

ARK buys $110 mln Coinbase shares, adding to positions

Celebrity stockpicker Cathie Woods' ARK funds bought more shares of Coinbase
(COIN.O) worth $110 million a day after the cryptocurrency exchange's Nasdaq
debut, according to the firm's daily trade summary on Thursday.

 

ARK, which gained prominence last year among retail investors, on Thursday
bought a total of 341,186 shares across three funds, valued at $110 million
at Thursday's $322.75 close.

 

That added to 749,205 purchased according to its Wednesday alert, or $245.9
million at Wednesday's $328.28 close.

 

The funds added to were its flagship ARK Innovation fund Ark Innovation ETF
(ARKK.P), its Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW.P) and Fintech Innovation
ETF (ARKF.P).

 

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

U.S. House committee approves blueprint for Big Tech crackdown

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee formally approved a
report accusing Big Tech companies of buying or crushing smaller firms,
Representative David Cicilline’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

 

With the approval during a marathon, partisan hearing, the more than
400-page staff report will become an official committee report, and the
blueprint for legislation to rein in the market power of the likes of
Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google, Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O)
and Facebook Inc (FB.O).

 

The report was approved by a 24-17 vote that split along party lines. The
companies have denied any wrongdoing.

 

The report first released in October - the first such congressional review
of the tech industry - suggested extensive changes to antitrust law and
described dozens of instances where it said the companies had misused their
power.

 

"Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook each hold monopoly power over
significant sectors of our economy. This monopoly moment must end,"
Cicilline said in a statement. "I look forward to crafting legislation that
addresses the significant concerns we have raised."

 

The first bill has already been introduced. A bipartisan group of U.S.
lawmakers led by Cicilline and Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced legislation
in March aimed at making it easier for news organizations to negotiate
collectively with platforms like Google and Facebook.

 

Also in the Senate, Klobuchar introduced a broader bill in February to
strengthen antitrust enforcers’ ability to stop mergers by lowering the bar
for stopping deals and giving them more money for legal fights.

 

The Cicilline report, whose origins were bipartisan, contained a menu of
potential changes in antitrust law.

 

Republicans have criticized Big Tech companies for allegedly censoring
conservative speech, pointing to Facebook's and Twitter's freezing or
banning former President Donald Trump's access to the platforms.

 

Despite their ire, most Republicans have not backed the report's proposed
changes in antitrust law but instead discussed stripping social media
companies of legal protections they are accorded under Section 230 of the
Communications Decency Act. The law gives companies immunity over content
posted on their sites by users.

 

Suggested legislation in the report ranged from the aggressive, such as
potentially barring companies like Amazon.com from operating the markets in
which they also compete, to the less controversial, like increasing the
budgets of the agencies that enforce antitrust law - the Justice
Department's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission.

 

The report also urged Congress to allow antitrust enforcers more leeway in
stopping companies from purchasing potential rivals, something that is now
difficult.

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Australia finds Google misled customers over data collection - regulator

Australia's federal court found Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google misled
consumers about personal location data collected through Android mobile
devices, the country's competition regulator said on Friday.

 

The tech giant has been embroiled in legal action in the country in recent
months as the government mulled and later passed a law to make Google and
Facebook (FB.O) pay media companies for content on their platforms. read
more

 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the court
found Google wrongly claimed it could only collect information from the
location history setting on user devices between January 2017 and December
2018. (https://bit.ly/3ge5RjX)

 

A setting to control web and application activity, when turned on, also
enabled Google to collect, store and use the data and was turned on by
default on the devices, according to the ACCC.

 

Users were also not informed that turning off location history but leaving
the "Web & App Activity" setting on would allow Google to continue to
collect data, the court found.

 

The regulator said it would seek penalties, but did not specify the amount.

 

A Google spokesman said that while the court had rejected many of ACCC's
claims, the company disagreed with the remaining findings and was reviewing
its options, including a possible appeal.

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Dollar set for back-to-back weekly losses as Treasury yields retreat

The dollar headed for its worst back-to-back weekly drop this year amid a
continued retreat in Treasury yields from more-than-one-year highs as
investors increasingly bought into the Federal Reserve's insistence of
continued monetary support.

 

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dipped to a one-month low of 1.528%
overnight, from as high as 1.776% at the end of last month, even in the face
of Thursday's stronger-than-expected retail sales and employment data.

 

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said the same day that the U.S.
economy is still far from making "substantial progress" toward the central
bank's goals of 2% inflation and full employment, the bar the Fed has set
for beginning to consider reducing its support for the economy.

 

The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against six major peers,
dipped to an almost-one-month low of 91.487 overnight before recovering
somewhat to 91.678 early in the Asian session.

 

It's set for a 0.6% decline for the week, extending the 0.9% slide from the
previous week.

 

The gauge, also known as the DXY, surged with Treasury yields to an
almost-five-month high at 93.439 on the final day of March, on bets that
massive fiscal spending coupled with continued monetary easing will spur
faster U.S. economic growth and higher inflation.

 

But bond and foreign-exchange markets now seem willing to give the Fed the
benefit of the doubt that inflation pressure will be transitory and monetary
stimulus will remain in place for years to come.

 

The dollar is "still struggling to find its feet in April, even though the
U.S. macro outperformance narrative could not be more propitious," Westpac
strategists wrote in a research note.

 

"The DXY is trading like its topping out now, sooner than (we) expected."

 

Retail sales increased 9.8% last month, beating economists' expectations for
a 5.9% increase, while first-time claims for unemployment benefits tumbled
last week to the lowest level in more than a year, separate reports showed
Thursday. read more

 

The dollar traded at 108.68 yen , heading for a 0.9% loss for the week,
about the same as the previous week.

 

The euro changed hands at $1.1964, set for a 0.5% weekly advance, adding to
the previous period's 1.3% surge.

 

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin stood around $63,478, near the record high of
$64,895 reached on Wednesday, when cryptocurrency platform Coinbase COIN.O
made its debut in Nasdaq in a direct listing. read more

 

The Russian rouble tumbled on Thursday, at one point losing 2% to the dollar
in volatile trade and hitting a more than five-month low versus the euro as
the White House announced new sanctions targeting Russia's sovereign debt.

 

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday authorized the move to punish Moscow
for interfering in the 2020 U.S. election, allegations Russia denies. 

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Canadian lawmakers call for action from U.S., Canadian leaders in pipeline
dispute

Canadian lawmakers on Thursday urged the leaders of the United States and
Canada to take further steps to resolve a dispute between Enbridge Inc
(ENB.TO) and the state of Michigan over the cross-border Line 5 oil
pipeline.

 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered Calgary-based Enbridge to
shut down a 4-mile (6.44 km) section of the 540,000 barrel-per-day pipeline
that runs underneath the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes by May 12,
because of concerns it could leak.

 

Enbridge is challenging Whitmer's order in U.S. courts.

 

Following weeks of hearings from ministers, unions and industry
associations, a multi-party committee of Canadian parliamentarians released
their recommendations in a report that said shutting down Line 5 could lead
to fuel shortages and job losses on both sides of the border.

 

"The Special Committee feels that continued engagement between the
Governments of Canada and the United States is critically important to the
continued operation of Line 5," the report said.

 

It recommended Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers pursue
"frequent and direct dialogue" about Line 5 with U.S. President Joe Biden
and his administration, to help resolve the dispute diplomatically as soon
as possible.

 

Failing that, Canada may take legal action or intervene in the federal court
case between Enbridge and Michigan, the committee said, although it
emphasized a negotiated settlement between the two parties would be best.

 

The report comes a day before Enbridge and Michigan begin mediation, as
ordered by a judge.

 

"We concur fully with the findings of the report, most importantly on the
need to resolve the current dispute through executive action and
state-to-state negotiation," said Vern Yu, Enbridge's executive vice
president of liquids pipelines.

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

U.S. China hawks seek to cut sales of chip-making tools to Beijing

Congressional China hawks are urging the Biden administration to restrict
sales of chip-making tools to Chinese companies, similar to an action taken
against telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL).

 

In a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Representative Michael
McCaul and Senator Tom Cotton said the rule that requires U.S. licenses to
sell semiconductors made abroad with U.S. technology to Huawei should apply
to any Chinese company designing more advanced chips at 14-nanometers or
below.

 

The letter, which is dated April 13 and was made public on Thursday, seeks
licenses for the sale of electronic design automation (EDA) software, among
other curbs on chip-related sales to Chinese companies.

 

The actions would "ensure U.S. companies as well as those from partner and
allied countries are not permitted to sell the communists the rope they will
use to hang us all," the letter said.

 

A representative of the Commerce Department, acknowledging receipt of the
letter, noted that seven Chinese supercomputing entities were placed on a
trade blacklist last week.

 

The agency is "continually reviewing circumstances to determine whether
additional actions are warranted," the person said.

 

The United States last year issued a rule requiring licenses for sales of
semiconductors to Huawei made overseas with U.S. chip-making equipment,
expanding its reach to halt exports to the company.

 

Huawei was added to the Commerce Department's "entity list" in 2019 over
national security and foreign policy concerns.

 

The blacklisting restricted sales to Huawei from U.S. suppliers, but did not
crack down on commercially available chips made abroad. In response, the
United States expanded the Foreign Direct Product Rule, which subjects
foreign-made goods based on U.S. technology or software to U.S. regulations,
for Huawei.

 

This week's letter was sent after Tianjin Phytium Information Technology and
six other Chinese supercomputing entities were placed on the entity list for
supporting military modernization efforts.

 

Cotton and McCaul want to not only restrict U.S. sales to Phytium, but to
require a license for any company that uses American tools to make a
Phytium-designed semiconductor chip.

 

Anything short, they said, "would be a half measure masquerading as a
forceful action."

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Nigeria: CBN Moves to Place Sugar, Wheat On Forex Restriction List

Abuja — Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele has said
the bank will soon commence the restriction of forex allocation for
importation of sugar and wheat into the country.

 

Emefiele who said Nigeria spends between $600million to $1billion on
importation of sugar, said the apex bank will gradually begin to restrict
foreign exchange to those who want to import sugar until Nigeria achieve
self-sufgiciency in sugar and wheat production.

 

"Let me state this, we are looking at sugar and wheat. We started a
programme on milk about two years ago. Eventually, these products will go
into our FX restriction list. We just want to see to what extent we see the
traction that is coming from those who are currently importing these items,"
the CBN governor said yesterday at the inspection of a sugar production
factory by Dangote Group of Industries. "We are putting their feet on fire
to say that we must all work together to produce these goods in Nigeria
rather than import them," he stated.

The $500million sugar factory is being built on a 60,000 hectares of land
here in at Awe local government area of Nasarawa State, with a prospect of
growing up to one third of Nigeria's Sugar consumption, which is almost half
a million tonnes.

 

The factory would commence operation in two years time from now, according
to president/CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, who also told journalists
that the company is making a first investment of about N480-N500 million
with a production target of 250 million metric tonnes of sugar for a start.
He said the company has a potential capacity of creating 150,000 direct and
indirect jobs for Nigerians, including those from the host communities.

 

"It has quite a lot of potential. We will also do power generation and
ethanol from sugar. To the state, if this place is up and running, I do not
think there will be shortage of power in Nasarawa State. We will be having
excess of 90mw of power. It's quite substantial," Dangote said while
fielding questions from our correspondent.

 

He said the focus is not just to make money from the sugar refinery, but
boost the Nigerian economy.

 

We're targeting about half a million tonnes but right now, we're talking
about 250 million tonnes and that is worth about N450 billion.

 

The CBN Governor doesn't only want to support the naira but ensuring jobs
are created.

 

On how much the CBN was committing to the project, Emefiele said "we've not
made up our mind on how much we'll put but of course as you heard from
Dangote, the project is worth about $500 million. If you convert that to
naira, you know how much that is. I know he's going to commit some equities
to it. From there, we will determine what is the shortfall and we will come
in through intervention through the banks for whatever loan that is required
for this.

 

"Of course, foreign currency will be provided as long as it is for the
importation of equipment for the project through the banks for whatever
loans that is required for this as long as it is for importation of
equipment for the project.

 

Nasarawa state governor Abdullahi Sule expressed optimism that the project
will empower some of the people of the state. He praised the CBN governor
and the federal government for their backward integration programme, which
he said would help in the diversification of the economy.- Leadership.

 

 

 

Sudan: Hamdok Calls for Prime Ministers to Hold Talks Over Nile Dam

Following a stalemate in the Nile dam talks in Kinshasa, Sudanese Prime
Minister Abdalla Hamdok has suggested that further talks be held at heads of
state level.

 

In a letter written on April 13 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and
Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Kamal Madbouly, Dr Hamdok says that
negotiations over the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd)
have reached an impasse and the three countries should now revoke Article 5
of the Declaration of Principles signed in March 2015.

 

The article says that "if the parties are unable to resolve the dispute
through consultations or negotiations, they may jointly request for
conciliation, mediation of referring the matter for consideration of the
Heads of State or Government".

 

Dr Hamdok says negotiations have dragged on for 10 years and additional
intervention by the US and the World Bank have note borne any fruit yet Gerd
has reached critical stages, therefore, the three countries urgently need to
reach an agreement.

 

 

"Furthermore, recent facilitation efforts by the African Union since June
2020 were equally not successful including the recent concluded Ministerial
Meetings in Kinshasa, DRC, which failed to reach an agreement on an
effective framework to conduct negotiations," Dr Hamdok said in the letter.

 

He suggested a virtual summit between Dr Abiy, Dr Madbouly and himself
within the next 10 days.

 

The latest round of talks between the three countries in the Democratic
republic of Congo ended earlier this month with no progress made.

 

Sudan and Egypt were aligned on a proposal to include the European Union,
the US, and the UN in the negotiations, in addition to the current African
Union mediators. But Ethiopia rejected the proposal during the meeting, and
also rejected suggestions to restart negotiations.

 

Following the failure of the Kinshasa talks, Egypt addressed the UN Security
Council and the General Assembly on April 13, seeking international support
on the dispute over the dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile.

 

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry earlier warned that Ethiopia's
insistence to continue with the second phase of filling the dam's reservoir
in July before reaching a binding agreement, could affect "regional security
and stability".

 

Ethiopia began constructing the 1.8-kilometre-long dam in 2011 as a key to
its economic development and power generation. Egypt says the dam will
disrupt its supplies of the Nile waters, while Sudan is concerned about the
dam's safety and water flows through its own dams and water stations.- East
African.

 

 

 

Malawi: Farmers Body Endorses Govt Fixed Commodity Prices

The Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) has endorsed the government fixed
commodity prices after earlier criticizing it.

 

Officials from FUM say the change of stance on the government-fixed farm
gate prices follows a recent meeting with agriculture authorities.

 

A fortnight ago, agriculture authorities published minimum prices meant to
guide ADMARC and private traders when buying produce from farmers.

 

In its initial reaction to the set price of K150 per kilogramme of maize,
which is down from K200 that was being offered last year, FUM accused the
government of disregarding cost of production.

 

FUM President Frighton Njolomole confirmed acceptance of the farm gate
prices after engaging the authorities on the matter.-Nyasa Times.

 

 

 


 


 


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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.

 


 

 


(c) 2021 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77
344 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

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