Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 August 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 August 2021

 


 

 


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ü  US stock exchange sets diversity rules for listed companies

ü  Virgin Galactic space flight tickets to start at $450,000

ü  US economy adds more jobs than expected in July

ü  Snickers Spain pulls TV advert after homophobia accusations

ü  The activist entrepreneurs running zero-waste shops

ü  Morrisons agrees to raised £6.7bn takeover offer from Fortress

ü  Why artificial intelligence is being used to write adverts

ü  Analysis: Where will yields go? Investors weigh U.S. jobs data against Delta fears

ü  U.S. labor market powers ahead with strong job gains, lower unemployment rate

ü  U.S. markets regulator approves Nasdaq proposal to require corporate board diversity

ü  Wall St Week Ahead Investors wary on Washington, balancing debt ceiling and infrastructure bill

ü  Binance U.S. CEO Brooks resigns just three months into job

ü  China's export slowdown in July may signal more bumps ahead

ü  Russia hands U.S. investor Calvey 5.5-year suspended sentence

ü  Amazon orders all U.S. employees to mask up at work

ü  EXCLUSIVE Top cannabis site Leafly in talks to go public via blank-check merger - sources

ü  JPMorgan mandates masks for employees in U.S. offices - memo

ü  Kenya: Gums and Resins Giving Samburu, Rendille Women a New Lease of Life

ü  Namibia Gets N$682,3m for Green Hydrogen

ü  Tanzania: Wildlife Conservation Set to Attract More Investments

ü  Egypt: Damietta Port Receives 22 Container, Cargo Ships

 


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US stock exchange sets diversity rules for listed companies

America's second largest stock exchange has said it will set binding gender and diversity targets for its listed companies.

 

Firms on the Nasdaq, which include tech giants such as Apple and Tesla, will have to have at least two diverse directors, or explain why they do not.

 

The directors should include one person who identifies as female and another as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+.

 

It follows complaints about the lack of diversity in corporate America.

 

According to a Nasdaq study last year, more than 75% of its listed companies would not have met its proposed targets.

 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates financial markets, approved the plan on Friday, meaning it will be binding.

 

Firms will also be required to release diversity statistics about their boards.

 

"These rules will allow investors to gain a better understanding of Nasdaq-listed companies' approach to board diversity," SEC chair Gary Gensler said.

 

"These rules reflect calls from investors for greater transparency about the people who lead public companies, and a broad cross-section of commenters supported the proposed board diversity disclosure rule," he added.

 

Based in New York City, the Nasdaq index tracks 3,300 stocks and is ranked second on the list of US stock exchanges by market capitalisation of shares traded, behind the New York Stock Exchange.

 

The operator of Nasdaq has received praise from Democrats and some companies - including Goldman Sachs - for its plan.

 

However, Republicans have criticised the initiative, which was first unveiled in December, with Senator Pat Toomey saying it would create a "one-size-fits-all quota".

 

'Market-led solution'

In a statement, a spokesman for Nasdaq said: "We are pleased that the SEC has approved Nasdaq's proposal to enhance board diversity disclosures and encourage the creation of more diverse boards through a market-led solution."

 

Last week the UK's Financial Conduct Authority proposed a similar plan, in which companies would have to issue annual "comply or explain" statements that reveal whether they have reached certain diversity targets.

 

The regulator wants boards to comprise at least 40% women - including those who self-identify as female - with a woman occupying at least one senior board position. It also wants at least one member to come from a non-white ethnic minority background.-BBC

 

 

 

Virgin Galactic space flight tickets to start at $450,000

Virgin Galactic has reopened ticket sales for its space flights at a starting price of $450,000 a seat.

 

It comes after the company, led by billionaire Richard Branson, completed its first fully crewed flight to the edge of space in July.

 

The firm hopes to start commercial flights next year after completing several more test missions.

 

It had previously sold tickets at $250,000 apiece but stopped in 2014 after a fatal accident.

 

In a statement, boss Michael Colglazier said last month's successful test mission had renewed public interest in the firm's offer.

 

"Leveraging the surge in consumer interest following the Unity 22 flight, we are excited to announce the reopening of sales effective today," he said.

 

"As we endeavour to bring the wonder of space to a broad global population, we are delighted to open the door to an entirely new industry and consumer experience."

 

Virgin Galactic is currently vying with Blue Origin, run by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Space X, owned by Tesla's Elon Musk, to develop a space tourism market.

 

Days after the Virgin mission in July, Mr Bezos took part in the first fully crewed test flight of one his own planes into space.

 

He is expected to sell tickets on future Blue Origin flights for between $200,000 and $300,000.

 

Space X meanwhile last year undertook the first crewed test flight of its Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.

 

Under a partnership with Nasa it plans to transport astronauts to the ISS in future. It also plans to send three tourists on a 10-day trip later this year.

 

For its flights, Virgin said it prospective tourists would have the option to buy single seats, friends and family packages, or reserve the whole plane.

 

Those who have already expressed an interest in the flights will get to reserve their seats first. About 600 tickets had been sold before it previously halted sales.

 

The firm's next spaceflight, Unity 23, is expected to take off in late September from Spaceport America in New Mexico.-BBC

 

 

 

US economy adds more jobs than expected in July

The US economy added more jobs than expected in July as employment rose by 943,000.

 

There were gains in sectors including leisure and hospitality, education and professional services.

 

Forecasts for jobs created last month had varied widely from 350,000 to 1.6 million, with a consensus of 870,000.

 

But the figures mainly pre-date the rise of the Delta variant of Covid in the US which has led to a surge in infections.

 

There are also fears new restrictions could be imposed.

 

"It's been a sprint in terms of growth, but we may be moving into more of a marathon," said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West in San Francisco.

 

"Travel season is winding down, and the Delta variant is a big concern."

 

The hiring in July helped lower the unemployment rate by 0.5 percentage points to 5.4%. In all, 8.7 million people remain unemployed, down considerably from the highs seen in April last year.

 

However, that is still well above the pre-pandemic measure of 5.7 million in February 2020.

 

Despite the concerns about Delta, economists said the figures hinted at the underlying strength of the economy's recovery.

 

Richard Flynn, UK director at Charles Schwab, said the numbers were "an encouraging sign for markets that the economic reopening has kicked into a higher gear".

 

"This is a strong report," said Aberdeen Standard Investments deputy chief economist James McCann, adding that it would "cement" the view that the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, was likely to begin slowing the pace of its large-scale asset purchases.

 

"[Fed chair Jay] Powell may well use the meeting of central bank policymakers in Jackson Hole later this month to provide further hints, but he has made clear that these jobs reports are a cornerstone in the Fed's thinking on tightening policy," he said.

 

Variable recovery

In the first three months of the year the US economy rebounded faster than expected after contracting sharply in 2020.

 

But in the second quarter the recovery slowed following a rise in coronavirus cases, growing at an annualised rate of 6.5%, well below forecasts of 8.5%.

 

The country is also grappling with a labour shortage, which has left employers unable to fill a record number of job openings.

 

Some experts have blamed the shortfall on a lack of affordable childcare, concerns about catching the virus, and pandemic-related retirements and career changes.

 

Some also believe there are too many low-skilled jobs being advertised, and not enough suitable candidates to fill them.

 

Aaron Anderson, senior vice president of research at Fisher Investments, said: "Job openings are sky high in areas like manufacturing, travel, and leisure, yet employees are hesitant to come back.

 

"It's difficult to say how long workers will remain on the sidelines, but Covid-19 sensitivities should eventually fade, opening the door to greater employment gains."-BBC

 

 

 

Snickers Spain pulls TV advert after homophobia accusations

Snickers in Spain has pulled a controversial TV advert that was heavily criticised for being homophobic.

 

The 20-second commercial shows Spanish influencer Aless Gibaja transform into a bearded man with a low voice after eating a Snickers ice cream.

 

The video went viral this week, with some calling for a boycott of Snickers.

 

The chocolate brand has now apologised for any "misunderstanding that may have been caused" by the film.

 

In it, Mr Gibaja is at a beach bar with a friend where he asks a waiter for a "sexy orange juice with vitamins A, B and C".

 

The waiter, looking confused, offers him the Snickers ice cream. After taking a bite, Mr Gibaja appears to transform into a bearded man.

 

"Better?" the friend asks. "Better," replies the man. A slogan reads: "You're not yourself when you're hungry."

 

The advert unleashed a wave of accusations on social media that the brand was insulting gay men.

 

"It is shameful and regrettable that at this point there are companies that continue to perpetuate stereotypes and promote homophobia," the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals tweeted.

 

Spain's equality minister, Irene Montero, also joined the criticism.

 

"I wonder to whom it might seem like a good idea to use homophobia as a business strategy," she wrote on Twitter.

 

"Our society is diverse and tolerant. Hopefully those who have the power to make decisions about what we see and hear in commercials and TV shows will learn to be too."

 

The left-wing party Podemos noted how the advert had followed a slew of homophobic hate crimes in Spain in recent months.

 

"In the face of a wave of LGBTI-phobia, including attacks and even murders, Snickers can't think of a better idea than to create a trashy commercial that tells you that you are not yourself if you are effeminate," it said on Twitter.

 

In May, five gay men were injured in three attacks during a single weekend in Barcelona.

 

On Thursday, Snickers Spain said it was deleting the advert and apologised for "any misunderstanding" it may have caused.

 

"In this specific campaign, the aim was to convey in a friendly and casual way that hunger can change your character," it said in a statement posted online.

 

"At no time has it been intended to stigmatize or offend any person or group."

 

A spokesperson for parent company Mars Wrigley said the firm wholeheartedly apologised for any harm caused by the advert and recognised that it "got it wrong".

 

"We take equal rights and inclusion seriously, we want a world where everybody is free to be themselves and we believe that as an employer and advertiser we have a role and a responsibility to play our part in creating that world," the firm's spokesperson added.

 

In 2008, a Snickers advert that featured the A-Team's Mr T calling a speed walker a "disgrace to the man race" was pulled after accusations it was offensive to gay people.-BBC

 

 

 

The activist entrepreneurs running zero-waste shops

In 2017, National Trust colleagues Stacey Fordham, 43, and Lidia Rueda Losada, 37, had a casual chat about how they wished everything they bought wasn't packaged in so much plastic.

 

The conversation spurred an idea to open a shop selling food and household items entirely without packaging, and in March 2018 they took the plunge.

 

They opened Zero Green, believed to be the second store in the country and first in Bristol.

 

Zero Green sells more than 1,000 product lines: including pasta, grains and pulses in dispensers; frozen vegan pasties; eco-cleaning products; cosmetics and sustainable non-plastic toiletries.

 

Consumers are encouraged to bring their own containers or use recycled jars and packaging to take their shopping home.

 

"We put in just over £30,000 to start from our own savings," says Ms Fordham, who also previously worked for Sainsbury's.

 

"You have to really believe in what you're doing in order to do this, otherwise it's very hard."

 

The first UK shop was Earth.Food.Love in Totnes, set up by former Manchester United footballer Richard Eckersley and his wife Nicola in 2017.

 

The pioneering couple are credited by the zero-waste community with sharing how they established their business, offering full supplier lists, business plans and pricing lists for free, online.

 

Ms Fordham and Ms Rueda Losada used their tips. But there was a lot of trial and error, they say, plus additional challenges as they were determined to live by their green principles.

 

"It was really important for us to not buy virgin wood or racking off a shelf - everything we used in the shop was upcycled.

 

"We went to electrical companies and got big cable drums, upcycled pallets and salvaged scaffolding boards," says Ms Fordham.

 

They were "really lucky", she adds, as within six months Zero Green had broken even and eventually moved to a retail space four times bigger.

 

"The popularity of it all was more than we expected... demand was so high we physically couldn't fit people into the shop."

 

Before the pandemic, the store was taking in £12,000 a week in sales, but now revenues have fallen by two thirds and they have had to lay off half their staff.

 

Making a difference

The online community of zero-waste shop owners estimates there are now roughly 320 zero-waste shops in the UK, but this also includes community interest companies (CICs) and organic wholefood shops.

 

According to retail expert Kate Hardcastle, it is difficult to collect official data because many shops go bust and fail. However, the community is growing steadily online and free advice is given to new entrepreneurs on a popular Facebook group.

 

Vita Viskackaite, 43, opened the Art of Zero Living store in Greenwich, London, in April.

 

She left a successful career in logistics with restaurant chain Itsu to run the shop, while her partner Justas pays the bills with his earnings. They have invested £55,000 from savings.

 

"Two years ago, I read a book called Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson and it captured me, as it wasn't just about saving the environment - it was also about saving money and improving your life," she says.

 

Inspired, Ms Viskackaite got rid of 30% of everything she owned and began shopping at a zero-waste shop in north London, but she had to take two buses each way to do her weekly shopping.

 

"Then coronavirus came and I was very sad because I didn't have anyone locally to buy from," she says.

 

"So, my husband said to me, 'If you feel so strongly about this, why don't you open your own shop?'"

 

In June, the couple made £10,000 in sales. After paying £9,000 in overheads including stock and rent, they have a £1,000 profit.

 

"I hope that one day, there will be many more people who join the zero-waste lifestyle and avoid buying products using single-use plastic just because it's convenient," stresses Ms Viskackaite.

 

"We were never planning to become rich out of this, we just wanted to have peace of mind."

 

Societal shift

Research from environmental consultancy, Eunomia, shows mean annual turnover for EU zero-waste shops is around €170,000 (£144,000) based on a sample size of 268 packaging-free shops in 10 EU countries. And there is evidence shop turnover has increased over the past three years.

 

"Covid has jolted social consciousness, a retailer told me," says Kate Hardcastle. "In our survey of 140 people, 85% of people said they care more about the environment than they did 12 months ago."

 

In Sussex, Burgess Hill mayor Anne Eves and council leader Robert Eggleston say there is definitely a movement to rejuvenate high streets with green businesses, like zero-waste shops and eco-fashion retailers.

 

Since being elected in 2019, they have negotiated rent reductions with commercial landlords and divided up large empty retail units. Start-ups pay lower rents and some avoid business rates altogether.

 

"We want to nurture these businesses. At some point they will spread their wings and fly, and we want to support them so they have a chance," says Mr Eggleston.

 

Ms Eves, a Green councillor, says sustainability matters a lot to her constituents. She set up a monthly repair cafe to help people fix their electronic gadgets, clothes and bedding that has been very popular, and thinks every High Street should have one.

 

"We are gradually changing things... we'd like to see this town thriving as it was 20 years ago."

 

'Trust in your community'

Architecture graduate Lydia Wilson, 26, started Waste Not Want Not in Bridport, Dorset, three years ago.

 

"I wanted something which enabled people to live waste-free but also [to] start a conversation on a much wider scale on ethics and organic living," she says.

 

Ms Wilson took out £45,000 in personal loans to start her business. She offers more than 700 products and her biggest customer base is in the 35-50s age group.

 

It took 18 months for her to break even. Prior to Covid she took £12,000 a year in salary, but now everything is being ploughed back into the store.

 

She says the journey has been really hard, running the business all by herself, and is thankful that her customers have rallied round.

 

"I know now that I've got a community of people who really want the shop to be here, and would do what they could to make sure the shop stays.

 

"That's something I might call upon - it's a limited company but I want to transition it into a community benefit society or a co-operative."

 

Ms Fordham and Ms Viskackaite both agree that their communities are crucial.

 

"I've learned it's OK to ask for help and be honest and open with your customers and staff," says Ms Fordham.

 

"Coming from the big bad business world you never admitted those things, but it's lovely to get advice and help."

 

However, there are not yet enough such businesses to enable consumers to "shop economically" in the UK and many consumers lack information about them, stresses Ms Hardcastle.

 

Yet she still thinks zero-waste shops have an edge on supermarkets, some of which are now trialling similar ideas.

 

"The community is incredibly important to the success of zero waste shops and difficult to replicate," she says.

 

"Is it a sustainable business model? Yes because interest is beginning to grow but it has to be run by people who are committed to the cause."-BBC

 

 

 

Morrisons agrees to raised £6.7bn takeover offer from Fortress

Supermarket chain Morrisons says it has agreed to a revised takeover offer worth £6.7bn, up from £6.3bn, from a private equity consortium led by Fortress Investment Group.

 

The increased offer, worth 272p a share, comes after some key investors rejected a previous 254p a share offer.

 

Their approval is also needed for this fresh offer.

 

Morrisons, the UK's fourth-largest grocer, has almost 500 shops and more than 110,000 staff.

 

It said in a statement: "Morrisons directors believe that the increased Fortress offer is in the best interests of Morrisons shareholders as a whole, and accordingly unanimously recommend that Morrisons shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions required to implement the increased Fortress offer."

 

The retailer agreed to the takeover early in July after it turned down an offer worth £5.5bn from another firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CDR), saying it significantly undervalued the business.

 

However, there have been reports CDR was planning its own new higher offer.

 

Morrisons' shares were at 269p before news of the offer began circulating. They then rose more than 2% to 278p in lunchtime trading, higher than the new Fortress offer and a sign that some investors think the bidding war might not be over.

 

Under the UK's takeover rules, CDR has until 9 August to table any new offer.

 

Major Morrisons shareholders include Silchester, which has more than 15%, as well as money managers M&G and JO Hambro.

 

All shareholders in Morrisons are due to vote on the Fortress bid on 16 August. It needs at least 75% approval to pass.

 

If shareholders agree, it will be the second major UK supermarket to change ownership this year.

 

In June, regulators approved the takeover of Leeds-based Asda from US retail giant Walmart for £6.8bn by the billionaire Issa Brothers, who were backed by private equity firm TDR Capital.

 

Morrisons started life as a market stall in Bradford in 1899, but it was not until 1961 that the first supermarket store opened under the name.

 

In 2004, the group bought rival grocer Safeway for £3bn, giving it a bigger slice of the market in southern England.-BBC

 

 

Why artificial intelligence is being used to write adverts

What springs to mind when you think of advertising? Don Draper in the TV show Mad Men sipping a cocktail? Or perhaps trendy people swapping catch phrases in a converted warehouse?'

 

Well, more of the creative work these days is not being done by humans at all.

 

When Dixons Carphone wanted to push shoppers towards its Black Friday sale, the company turned to Artificial Intelligence (AI) software and got the winning line "The time is now".

 

Saul Lopes, head of customer marketing at Dixons Carphone, thinks it worked because it didn't have the words Black Friday in it.

 

His human copywriters had produced dozens of potentially successful sentences but they all mentioned Black Friday. It was technology that broke this chain of thought.

 

The software in question is from Phrasee, whose boss is Parry Malm, a Canadian who moved to the UK in 2006. Working in marketing he assumed the technology existed to boost human creativity. He describes himself as "flummoxed" that this wasn't available.

 

Phrasee, the company he set up in 2015, is the product of Mr Malm's perplexed reaction.

 

"Getting the right message had been left to the Mad Men type characters. But I wanted to apply scientific rigour to those messages," he explains.

 

Standard copywriting takes place through a process of editing, argument and approval. Mr Malm says Phrasee does the same thing using a technique called Deep Learning, a vast network of parameters and pre-set limits that guide the programme in the right direction.

 

This allows it to bounce a slogan around, ranking its impact against raw data gleaned from many sources.

 

At Rapp, an agency that packages products and services into messages and videos that appeal to the public, Phrasee absorbs a million emails that have been fired off over the years. Then it reassembles those sentences into new messages while adding guidance from Rapp's own writers, technologists and social media experts.

 

Phrasee builds up models that generate words appropriate to each product and the target audience of consumers. Language that has featured in previous campaigns is poured into the Deep Learning model which applies values based on factors such as the look, feel or taste of a product.

 

Mr Lopes knows that in an age of information overload consumers are becoming harder to reach as online sales patter diminishes their appetite for any message. As Phrasee comes armed with a terrific linguistic arsenal and is divorced from the individual points of view that shape the words of human copywriters he thinks it suits our jaded eyes.

 

Dixons Carphone still employs agencies and copywriters, but they come up with an idea which Phrasee then adapts, finessing the human perspective.

 

For a recent Dixons Carphone campaign Mr Lopes used Phrasee to create variations on messages derived from a decade of sales campaigns. "What surprises me is that we still see wild cards leaping out from the list of messages it generates."

 

That Black Friday message was one such wild card. Working online, Dixons Carphone gets rapid consumer feedback and quickly saw how well "The time is now" was going down with the public.

 

Copywriters shouldn't fear that AI is about to take their job, says Mr Lopes, because they are still needed to get the ball rolling. "But the human brain can't look at thousands of options. Our writing team sets out the strategy for the messages, we haven't replaced them."

 

He's convinced about this AI future. "Combining creative people with AI is the next step for the agencies. It's not AI versus the human, it generates creative thought."

 

This might come as a relief to Ogilvy, the agency founded by advertising legend David Ogilvy. His name invokes brilliant and witty campaigns that inspired generations of copywriters, and today Ogilvy bills itself as the "teaching hospital of advertising".

 

It boasts a behavioural science practice ran by its vice-chairman and veteran copywriter Rory Sutherland. He's a fan of new thinking, but only if it doesn't dampen the spark of creativity that sets consumers' desires alight.

 

"AI can't hurt if it generates interesting suggestions," Mr Sutherland concedes, "but it's like satnav in a car. Great for directions but you don't allow it to drive the car!"

 

He worries that AI will be steered into agencies by "bean counters" and has railed against an "alliance between technology and finance" that uses innovation as a cost-cutting tool regardless of the opportunities that get lost in the process. "These things tend to be viewed through an efficiency lens."

 

Advertising, Mr Sutherland declares, "is about producing something distinctive. It's not a production line." Programmes like Phrasee can mirror a copywriter's work on an industrial scale. This, a digital factory for ads, is Mr Sutherland's worst nightmare.

 

"My only reservation about using AI is that people will afford it more power and influence than it deserves in an attempt to automate things, to realise the Fordist dream of multiple copies rolling off an assembly line."

 

In support of the creative human element he cites great advertising slogans that have been fine-tuned by critical voices from beyond the copywriter's desk. After 30 years as a copywriter Mr Sutherland is always ready to listen to someone who spots that a word or image may have the wrong connotation in another culture.

 

If AI can be that third party source of constructive criticism it has a home in his world. But he definitely won't allow it a deciding vote. "As a stimulus, suggesting ideas, it has a great future. As a source of judgement it's dubious."

 

Back at Dixons Carphone, Mr Lopes and his team keep trying to outsmart the software. They hold competitions to see who can guess what the winning line from Phrasee will be. "It's an internal game, we do it just before we push every new message out," he says.

 

"And we always lose to the computer!"-BBC

 

 

 

Analysis: Where will yields go? Investors weigh U.S. jobs data against Delta fears

(Reuters) - An unexpectedly strong jobs number for July has bolstered the case for investors who believe Treasury yields will head higher over the rest of the year, potentially weighing on an equity rally that has taken stocks to record highs.

 

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, which move inversely to prices, stood at about 1.3% on Friday, their highest level since July 23, after Labor Department data showed the U.S. economy added 943,000 jobs last month. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast payrolls adding 870,000 jobs. read more

 

Some investors believe the robust jobs numbers could support the view that the Federal Reserve, faced with rising inflation and strong growth, may need to unwind its ultra-easy monetary policies sooner than expected. Such an outcome could push yields higher while denting growth stocks and other areas of the market.

 

That view, however, is complicated by worries over rising COVID-19 cases across the United States that threaten to weigh on growth and the Fed’s insistence that the current surge in inflation is transitory.

 

In any event, the data will likely ramp up investor focus on this month’s central bank symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And if August's job growth proves equally as torrid, the summer hiring spree would raise the stakes for next month’s Fed meeting, at which the central bank may outline its plans for rolling back monthly asset purchases. read more

 

The data “gives markets some sort of direction," said Simon Harvey, senior FX market analyst at Monex Europe. "It makes the upcoming Jackson Hole event and September's Fed event live.”

 

Among the implications of higher yields could be a drag on tech and growth stocks with lofty valuations, as rising interest rates erode the value of the longer-term cash flows that many growth stocks are valued on. Those stocks have rallied since yields began drifting lower in March, helping to lift broader markets. For example, five tech or tech-related names alone - Apple (AAPL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Amazon (AMZN.O), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Facebook (FB.O) - account for over 22% of the weight of the S&P 500.

 

Higher yields could also boost the appeal of so-called value stocks - shares of banks, energy firms and other economically sensitive companies that hurtled higher earlier in the year but have struggled in the last few months.

 

The Russell 1000 growth index (.RLG) has climbed about 18% since late March against a roughly 6% rise for its counterpart value index (.RLV).

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) and S&P 500 (.SPX) posted record closing highs on Friday, rising 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) fell 0.4%.

 

Strong economic data that pushes up yields could pave the way for investors to move from growth companies to more economically-sensitive cyclicals, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.

 

Strong data, though, could make dollar-denominated assets more attractive to yield-seeking investors, potentially boosting the U.S currency. A stronger dollar can be a headwind for U.S. exporters because it makes their products less competitive abroad, while hurting the balance sheets of domestic multinationals that must convert foreign earnings into dollars.

 

The dollar index rose 0.57% late on Friday, on track for its biggest daily gain since mid-July.

 

Goldman Sachs, BofA Global Research and BlackRock are among firms that have said yields will rise to near 2% by year-end -- an outcome that could be hastened if a strong economy pushes the Federal Reserve to begin unwinding its ultra-easy monetary policies sooner than expected. Others, like HSBC, have called for yields below current levels.

 

“We think the recovery in long-dated Treasury yields that has taken place over the past week or so is a sign of things to come,” analysts at Capital Economics said in a note published Friday.

 

“We suspect that growth in the US will be quite strong in the coming quarters, and that the recent surge in inflation there will prove far more persistent than most anticipate,” the firm said.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

U.S. labor market powers ahead with strong job gains, lower unemployment rate

(Reuters) - U.S. employers hired the most workers in nearly a year in July and continued to raise wages, giving the economy a powerful boost as it started the second half of what many economists believe will be the best year for growth in almost four decades.

 

The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday also showed the unemployment rate dropped to a 16-month low of 5.4% and more people waded back into the labor force. The report followed on the heels of news last week that the economy fully recovered in the second quarter the sharp loss in output suffered during the very brief pandemic recession.

 

"We are charting new economic expansion territory in the third quarter," said Brian Bethune, professor of practice at Boston College in Boston. "The overall momentum of the recovery continues to build."

 

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 943,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since August 2020, the survey of establishments showed. Data for May and June were revised to show 119,000 more jobs created than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls would increase by 870,000 jobs.

 

The economy has created 4.3 million jobs this year, leaving employment 5.7 million jobs below its peak in February 2020.

 

President Joe Biden cheered the strong employment report. "More than 4 million jobs created since we took office," Biden wrote on Twitter. "It's historic - and proof our economic plan is working."

 

Reuters Image

Hiring is being fueled by pent-up demand for workers in the labor-intensive services sector. Nearly $6 trillion in pandemic relief money from the government and COVID-19 vaccinations are driving domestic demand.

 

But a resurgence in infections, driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, could discourage some unemployed people from returning to the labor force.

 

July's employment report could bring the Federal Reserve a step closer to announcing plans to start scaling back its monthly bond-buying program. The U.S. central bank last year slashed its benchmark overnight interest rate to near zero and is pumping money into the economy through the bond purchases.

 

"This is the last employment report Chair (Jerome) Powell sees before Jackson Hole, and we have to imagine that he lays the groundwork for a potential September tapering announcement," said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York. "We think the odds continue to rise that tapering begins before the end of 2021."

 

Stocks on Wall Street rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) and the S&P 500 (.SPX) index hitting record highs. The dollar (.DXY) jumped against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices fell. read more

 

BROAD EMPLOYMENT GAINS

 

Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector increased by 380,000 jobs, accounting for 40% of the job gains, with payrolls at restaurants and bars advancing by 253,000.

 

Government payrolls increased by a whopping 240,000 jobs as employment in local government education rose by 221,000. Education jobs were flattered by a seasonal quirk.

 

Hiring was also strong in the professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, and healthcare industries. Manufacturing payrolls increased by 27,000 jobs, while construction employment rebounded by 11,000 jobs. Retail trade and utilities were the only sectors to shed jobs.

 

Reuters Image

Details of the smaller household survey from which the unemployment rate is derived were also upbeat. Household employment shot up by 1.043 million jobs, leading the unemployment rate to decline half a percentage point to its lowest level since March 2020.

 

The jobless rate, however, continued to be understated by people misclassifying themselves as being "employed but absent from work." Without this misclassification, the unemployment rate would have been 5.7% in July.

 

About 261,000 people entered the labor force, lifting the participation rate to 61.7% from 61.6% in June. The employment-to-population ratio, viewed as a measure of an economy's ability to create employment, rose to 58.4% from 58% in June.

 

Even more encouraging, the number of long-term unemployed dropped to 3.4 million from 4 million in the prior month. They accounted for 39.3% of the 8.7 million officially unemployed people, down from 42.1% in June. The duration of unemployment fell to 15.2 weeks from 19.8 weeks in June.

 

Reuters Image

There was also an improvement in the number of people who have permanently lost their jobs. With economic growth this year expected to be around 7%, which would be the fastest since 1984, further recovery is expected.

 

Faced with a record 9.2 million job openings, employers continued to raise wages to attract workers. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4% last month, with sharp gains in the hospitality industry. That followed a similar rise in June and lifted the year-on-year increase in wages to 4.0% from 3.7%.

 

Reuters Image

Lack of affordable child care and fears of contracting the coronavirus have been blamed for keeping workers, mostly women, at home. There also have been pandemic-related retirements as well as career changes. Republicans and business groups have blamed enhanced unemployment benefits, including a $300 weekly payment from the federal government, for the labor crunch.

 

Half of the nation's states led by Republican governors have ended these federal benefits before their Sept. 6 expiration. Economists are cautiously optimistic that the worker shortage will ease in the fall when schools reopen for in-person learning and sustain the strong pace of hiring.

 

"August should be another big month, and September as well, as there are still millions who need to find work quickly," said Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial in New York.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

U.S. markets regulator approves Nasdaq proposal to require corporate board diversity

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a proposal from stock exchange operator Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) that requires its listed companies to have diverse boards, or explain why they do not.

 

The proposal requires that companies have two diverse directors, including one who identifies as female and another as an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+, or explain why they do not. Companies also have to publicly disclose the diversity of their boards.

 

"These rules will allow investors to gain a better understanding of Nasdaq-listed companies’ approach to board diversity," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a prepared statement.

 

Nasdaq said it is looking "forward to working with our companies to implement this new listing rule and set a new standard for corporate governance.”

 

Women and minorities have been underrepresented in the top ranks of companies, leading to a recent reckoning on racial and gender diversity in Corporate America. According to data from Equilar, boards in the Russell 3000 are halfway to gender parity. In the Russell 1000, 18.4% of directors are under-represented minorities.

 

Investor efforts to scrutinize diversity on boards have also been stymied by a lack of disclosure, with many companies not detailing the gender and race or ethnicity of directors.

 

Republican lawmakers and some companies criticized Nasdaq's proposal and urged the SEC to reject it, saying it would interfere with boards' responsibilities to shareholders and could impose new costs on companies.

 

Advocates for people with disabilities had pushed both Nasdaq and the SEC to include disability in the proposal, but were “rebuffed,” said Ted Kennedy Jr, chairman of the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD), in an interview with Reuters.

 

Nasdaq said in a comment letter that companies could consider and disclose additional diverse attributes such as disability or veteran status. But those attributes would not meet the requirements for a female or person who identifies as an under-represented minority or LGBTQ+.

 

California and Illinois have laws on board diversity for companies headquartered in their states.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Wall St Week Ahead Investors wary on Washington, balancing debt ceiling and infrastructure bill

(Reuters) - The economic boost from an expected $1 trillion infrastructure bill working its way through the U.S. Senate has helped push Wall Street stocks near record levels, but some investors are concerned that the next two months in Washington could be rocky.

 

At issue is not only the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but an expected $3.5 trillion in proposed spending in a Democrat-led reconciliation bill. There is also a showdown coming over the debt ceiling, which could lead to a federal government shutdown if a deal is not reached to increase the borrowing limit by October. read more

 

Few expect the U.S. government will default on its debt and upend the $22 trillion Treasury market. Still, some analysts say a drawn out debt ceiling fight could increase volatility in a U.S. stock market where valuations have become stretched with prices near record highs. Other worries include a looming unwind of the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies and a resurgence of COVID-19 that threatens to dent growth.

 

"When I look at Washington I see a lot of risk," said Steve Chiavarone, a portfolio manager and equity strategist at Federated Hermes.

 

He said he is concerned political posturing around the debt ceiling could escalate ahead of the 2022 Congressional elections, and that the reconciliation bill could boost corporate or individual tax rates, weighing on investor sentiment.

 

As a result, he is holding cash in anticipation of adding to value or cyclical stocks that may fall during a market sell-off, he said.

 

Overall, global fund managers increased their cash positions in July from 3.9% to 4.1% of assets while adding to shares of large technology companies, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. At the same time, options markets indicate that investors see limited gains in the months ahead, according to Barclays.

 

Esty Dwek, head of global market strategy at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions, said that she has also been raising cash to reposition for more volatility in the months ahead.

 

"We now have less visibility into the second half of the year" given the emergence of the Delta variant of the coronavirus and the potential for higher taxes as part of a broad reconciliation bill, she said.

 

The rising sense of concern comes as investors anticipate possible further details on plans to pull back emergency-level supports of the economy from the Federal Reserve at the Jackson Hole annual conference of central bankers.

 

A surprisingly hawkish turn from the Fed in June led to a brief selloff in equities and the fixed income market.

 

Investors will get additional insights into the pace of inflation with the release of the consumer price index reading on Wednesday and the producer price index on Thursday.

 

Ultra-low interest rates, along with the highest percentage of companies in the S&P 500 beating analyst expectations since at least 1994, have pushed the S&P 500 up 17.2% for the year to date. L1N2P90ZH. The S&P 500 now trades at 21.7 times its expected earnings over the next 12 months, down slightly from the 24 times expected earnings at the start of the year yet still well above its historical average.

 

Senators could vote on the infrastructure bill in the next few days, lawmakers told Reuters. L1N2PB2FV

 

While passage of the upcoming infrastructure and reconciliation bills will likely bolster the economy over the next several years, short-term concerns over rising taxes and the debt ceiling could weigh on the S&P 500 in the months ahead, said Jon Adams, senior investment strategist for BMO Global Asset Management.

 

"There's going to be a lot of details that need to be ironed out that will be closely watched by the markets," he said. "We expect to see a lot of volatility and posturing here over the next few months and we think that it will last until October."

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Binance U.S. CEO Brooks resigns just three months into job

(Reuters) - Brian Brooks, chief executive of the U.S. arm of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said on Friday he had resigned just three months aftertaking up the role.

 

The former U.S. banking regulator and crypto enthusiast is resigning at a time when regulators in Hong Kong, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy and Thailand have cracked down on Binance due to worries over investor protection. Watchdogs globally also fret that the boom in cryptocurrencies is aiding money laundering and increasing systemic risks.

 

"Letting you all know that I have resigned as CEO of ⁦⁦@BinanceUS," Brooks wrote on Twitter. "Despite differences over strategic direction, I wish my former colleagues much success. Exciting new things to come!"

 

Headed by Canadian Changpeng Zhao, Binance offers a wide range of services globally, from crypto spot and derivatives trading to tokenised versions of stocks, as well as its own cryptocurrency, Binance Coin.

 

"Brian's work for Binance.US has been invaluable and we hope he will continue to be an integral part of the crypto industry’s growth, advocating for regulations that move our industry forward," Zhao Tweeted on Friday.

 

Brooks did not respond to requests for further comment. A spokesperson for Binance declined to comment.

 

Britain's financial watchdog has barred Binance from carrying out regulated activities in the country. Japan's regulator has said Binance was operating there illegally and Germany's watchdog has warned it risked fines for offering tokens connected to stocks.

 

In the United States, Binance is also being probed by the Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and tax authorities, Bloomberg News has reported.

 

Responding to regulatory pressure, Binance has curbed some services on cryptocurrency bets, highly leveraged positions and trading with tokens linked to shares, and has pledged to beef up its compliance staffing. read more

 

Brooks, who was acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency from May 2020 to January 2021, joined Binance U.S. as chief executive officer at the beginning of May. Prior to joining the regulator, Brooks had been Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase Global. During his time as acting Comptroller, Brooks led efforts to provide regulatory clarity for stablecoins and digital asset custody.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

China's export slowdown in July may signal more bumps ahead

(Reuters) - China's export growth unexpectedly slowed in July following outbreaks of COVID-19 cases, while imports also lost momentum, pointing to a slowdown in the country's industrial sector in the second half even as easing global lockdowns boost commerce.

 

The world's biggest exporter has staged an impressive economic rebound from a coronavirus-induced slump in the first few months of last year after quickly containing the pandemic, and its rapid vaccination rollout has helped drive confidence.

 

But new infections in July, mainly caused by the highly transmissible Delta strain have spread to tens of Chinese cities, prompting local authorities to lock down affected communities, order millions to be tested and temporarily suspend operations of some businesses, including factories.

 

Seasonal floods and bad weather last month also affected industrial production in some areas such as central China. read more

 

Exports in July rose 19.3% from a year earlier, compared with a 32.2% gain in June. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a gain of 20.8%.

 

"China's exports remained strong in June. The pandemic worsened in other Asian developing countries, which may have led to a relocation of trade toward China. But leading indicators suggest exports may weaken in coming months," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

 

Outbreaks of COVID-19 cases in eastern and southern Chinese provinces, the country's main export hubs, had crimped factory output.

 

Aside from the drag from efforts to counter the spread of the Delta variant, Chinese exporters also struggled with an ongoing global semiconductor shortage, logistics bottlenecks, and higher raw material and freight costs.

 

"Although orders are recovering, there are too many uncertainties in the second half of the year, like how the domestic epidemic develops and the cost of raw materials. And at the same time, foreign production capacity is slowly picking up," said an exports sales manager based in Suzhou surnamed Ye.

 

Imports in July rose a slower 28.1% from a year earlier, lagging a 33% increase forecast in the Reuters poll, and 36.7% growth the previous month. Demand has dropped in recent months for iron ore, a key ingredient in steelmaking.

 

China's factory activity expanded at a slower pace in July due to higher raw material costs, equipment maintenance and extreme weather.

 

The slower Chinese shipments also reflected the moderation in U.S. business in July amid supply constraints, suggesting a cooling in the world's biggest economy after what was expected to have been a robust second quarter. read more

 

China posted a trade surplus of $56.58 billion in July, compared with the poll's forecast for a $51.54 billion surplus and $51.53 billion surplus in June.

 

Its trade surplus with the United States rose to $35.4 billion, Reuters calculations based on customs data showed, up from $32.58 billion in June.

 

The economy is on track to grow more than 8% this year but analysts say pent-up coronavirus demand has peaked and forecast that growth rates are starting to moderate.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Russia hands U.S. investor Calvey 5.5-year suspended sentence

(Reuters) - A Russian court on Friday handed U.S. investor Michael Calvey a 5.5-year suspended sentence for embezzlement, a day after finding him guilty, in a case that has rattled Russia's business community.

 

Calvey, the founder of Russia-focused private equity group Baring Vostok, was detained along with other executives in early 2019 on charges of embezzlement linked to mid-sized lender Vostochny. He and the executives deny the charges.

 

"The court, unfortunately, didn't or couldn't understand substance of the case with no victim, no damage and no beneficiary," Calvey told reporters outside the court after the more than 12-hour-long sitting was over.

 

Calvey will not be allowed to change his permanent place of residence in the next five years without informing Russian prison authorities, the verdict said.

 

"Compared to most cases receiving a suspended sentence is already almost a victory but, on the other hand, it is simply outrageous to be convicted of a crime that never happened," Calvey said.

 

The court handed French national Philippe Delpal, a partner at the fund, a suspended sentence of 4.5 years.

 

"Our colleagues are innocent, and both the criminal case and the verdict handed down by the court are groundless", Baring Vostok said about the verdict in a statement.

 

The case prompted several prominent officials and businessmen to voice concerns about the way the state deals with commercial disputes and executives caught up in them.

 

Calvey last month told a court that an innocent verdict in his case would trigger billions of dollars in foreign investment and help create thousands of new jobs. read more

 

The state prosecutor asked for the six-year suspended sentence over a 2.5 billion rouble ($34.04 million) embezzlement charge.

 

Initially placed in pre-trial detention and then house arrest, Calvey and his colleagues saw their restrictions ease in November, a move hailed at the time by the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund as an important signal to all the investment community.

 

Sovcombank, Russia's third biggest private bank and among the country's top 10 by assets agreed to buy Vostochny Bank, the small lender at the heart of the dispute, in March, but did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

 

The corporate dispute between Vostochny's top shareholders - Baring Vostok and businessman Artem Avetisyan's Finvision - was settled in October.

 

Baring Vostok has invested more than $2.8 billion in projects in Russia since 1994, including in internet giant Yandex (YNDX.O), online bank Tinkoff (TCSq.L) and e-commerce firm Ozon (OZON.O), which enjoyed a successful Nasdaq debut late last year.

 

($1 = 73.4358 roubles)

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Amazon orders all U.S. employees to mask up at work

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has ordered all U.S. employees to wear a mask at work regardless of their vaccination status, as the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 sweeps the country.

 

Companies across the United States have tightened their defenses against the virus, after the Delta variant forced the U.S. public health agency to reverse course and insist on even fully vaccinated individuals wearing masks.

 

"We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

 

Last month, big techs including Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Facebook Inc (FB.O) asked U.S. employees to get vaccinated to step into offices, while Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) said it was shutting its reopened offices in the country. read more

 

Amazon also extended its work-from-home dates for U.S. employees till Jan. 3. read more

 

Earlier this week, coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 200 million while U.S. cases stood at 35.62 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally.

 

Bloomberg News first reported Amazon's change in masking policy on Friday.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE Top cannabis site Leafly in talks to go public via blank-check merger - sources

(Reuters) - Top cannabis-focused website Leafly is in talks to merge with blank-check company Merida Merger Corp I in a deal that would value the combined company at more than $530 million, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

 

The blank-check firm is owned by Merida Capital Holdings, one of the biggest backers of Leafly, whose site visits have seen a meteoric rise thanks to easing regulations in the United States and rising weed use.

 

A deal could be announced as soon as next week, the source said, cautioning that talks could still fall apart.

 

Following the merger, Merida will take at least one seat on the combined company's board, while Leafly's team will continue to be led by Chief Executive Yoko Miyashita, the sources said, declining to be named as talks were still confidential.

 

Leafly and Merida did not immediately respond to a comment.

 

The company plans use the proceeds from the deal partly to invest more into its east coast business, the sources said.

 

Founded in 2010, Leafly was owned by cannabis-focused private equity group Privateer Holdings between 2012 and 2019.

 

The company offers consumers ways to find weed stores to buy the cannabis strains they want, runs a pickup and delivery service and posts reviews on different cannabis products.

 

More than half of all North American cannabis dispensaries use Leafly's platform for e-commerce, advertising and other services.

 

Prospects of federal legalization and pandemic-led lockdowns have pushed up Leafly's site visits to more than 220 million last year, up 12% from 2019, making it the world's most visited website on weeds.

 

The deal, if completed, would be the latest in a nascent sector that has caught the blank-check frenzy. Rival Weedmaps' parent company struck a blank-check deal in December to list on the Nasdaq.

 

Leafly intends to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol 'LFLY', one of the people said.

 

Blank-check firms are publicly traded companies that use the funds from their initial public offerings to buy private firms, taking them public in the process.

 

Billionaire William "Beau" Wrigley Jr's Parallel and Jay-Z backed Californian pot producer TPCO Holdings have also struck similar deals to list their shares.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

JPMorgan mandates masks for employees in U.S. offices - memo

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) employees in the United States will be required to wear masks in public indoor settings and in common areas within its offices regardless of their vaccination status, the bank told staff in a memo on Friday.

 

The resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the United States due to the Delta variant and new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that requires fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks, have led companies to change their plans on vaccinations and masking. read more

 

"Given that the CDC has stated more than 80% of counties across the U.S. have substantial or high community transmission rates, we will follow this guidance nationally for the time being," JPMorgan said in the memo seen by Reuters.

 

Only fully vaccinated employees are allowed to attend large indoor employee events with 25 people or more.

 

Unvaccinated staff will be required to complete routine rapid COVID-19 testing at least twice a week, according to the memo.

 

Many of Wall Street's biggest banks are sticking by their decision to make employees return to the office in the coming weeks, even as public health officials' warnings about the aggressive Delta variant are prompting some firms to rethink their plans. read more

 

JPMorgan has brought back employees in the United States to the office on a rotational basis from July.

 

The bank did not indicate any changes to work from office plans in the memo.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Kenya: Gums and Resins Giving Samburu, Rendille Women a New Lease of Life

On the foothills of Ndikir Mountains in Laisamis, Marsabit County, societal and gender roles are being redefined.

 

For a society considered predominantly patriarchal, women in the Samburu and Rendille communities in Laisamis, Marsabit County were not allowed to hold any influential roles.

 

This meant matters that affected their livelihoods were left to men. Traditionally, culture and the men at the hierarchical helm led their communities on the path of nomadic pastoralism as a way of life.

 

Women took a back seat, leaving crucial decisions to the men, some which have been rendered either illegal or obsolete by modernisation.

Today, women in the rural and quiet villages of Ndikir and Lontolio hold the key to the posterity of their people and possibly Kenya's next big entry into global trade.

 

A key practice among the Samburu and Rendille people that is fast losing viability is nomadic pastoralism. In nomadism, women would be left behind in manyattas as the men went hunting for the next home near water and pasture sources.

 

Women's role would traditionally be reduced to raising children, a handful of goats and getting a daily meal.

 

"Women were not allowed to make decisions on land matters and whenever we try to do so, some feel we are stealing their land from them," Rose Lepasele, a resident of Ndikir says.

 

Ms Lepasele is the chairperson of Bidii Women's Group, which is spearheading not just a switch to alternative sources of livelihood, but also mind-sets. With the support of Integrated Management of Natural Resources for Resilience in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (Imara), a consortium under World Vision, women here are converting an arid wasteland into a goldmine.

The group has adopted apiculture and farming of gums and resins. It all begins with environmental restoration and conservation. Geographically, Laisamis is an arid land incapable of naturally supporting much vegetation except acacia trees and shrubs.

 

However, the women have adopted a regeneration technique, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) that helps the trees thrive optimally.

 

The technique entails caring for and regrowth of existing trees. Select trees are identified and competition around them reduced by pruning excessive branches. Weak trees are supported to ensure straight and steady growth.

 

This reduces competition for water and nutrients for the selected shoot, giving it optimal conditions to grow into a healthy tree.

To the untrained eye, the acacia tree is useless, but to the people of Laisamis, it holds the pathway out of poverty.

 

"We did not know we were sitting on treasure until Imara came in and trained us on the benefits of the acacia trees," Ms Lepasele says.

 

Over the last three years, Bidii Women's Group has managed to grow a forest of acacia trees, the lifeline of their newly found business ventures.

 

Apiculture is one of the major projects they have adopted, setting up hives around manyattas in the area. The flowers from the acacia trees provide nectar for the bees, while the women keep a constant supply of water to keep bee colonies in the area.

 

Since the inception of the bee keeping project, the group has harvested more than a tonne of honey. A kilogram of the honey retails at Sh800. It also serves as an alternative food source for the communities.

 

While the honey business is financially appealing, it is the gums and resins venture that sweetens the deal. Trade in gums and resins is a multi-billion dollar venture with potential to not only uplift these communities, but also introduce Kenya to the next big step in global trade. They are in high demand among global firms that manufacture soft drinks, paints and cosmetics.

 

They are also an important component in the making of pharmaceutical drugs.

 

The products of immense value both in the international and local markets, are fetching more money for locals than major export products such as tea and coffee. These products are basically dried sap from the acacia trees and are usually collected by making small cuts on the trees.

 

Even though women initially took the frontline in this venture, the men have also joined in owing to its lucrative appeal.

 

Still, women play the key role of collecting and sorting them into marketable qualities.

 

In Lontolio village, Meyagari Women's Group has also adopted cultivation of pasture alongside acacia trees.

 

Using the shade of the trees to their advantage, they plant grass on the forest floors to be fed to livestock during dry seasons.

 

"When the pasture runs out in the grazing fields, we have some in storage, which we feed to our animals and sell others to locals," Nturupwa Lemowanapi, the group's chairlady says.

 

A bale of the grass can go for up to Sh400 each, on dry days.

 

Over the last three years, these projects have transformed the arid area and the men in these traditionally patriarchal communities are beginning to notice.

 

"At first our men did not support the ideas but now they are even asking to join us. Our lives are changing because we are much more stable now," Ms Lepasele says.

 

Moreover, the communities are beginning to adopt a more stable way of life.

 

"Communities that were quite nomadic are settling more. That means children are more settled and can access healthcare, food and education because their families are not constantly on the move," World Vision Kenya National Director Lillian Dodzo says.

 

The international community is also beginning to notice the potential and strength of the women here.

 

The Swedish government, which funded the training of the projects has pledged future support for the women owing to the already evident potential.-Nation.

 

 

 

Namibia Gets N$682,3m for Green Hydrogen

NAMIBIA is set to receive over N$682,3 million from the German government to assist with research on venturing into green hydrogen.

 

The funding, equivalent to about 40 million euros, was announced on Tuesday at the launch of the green hydrogen request for proposals (RFP) and handover of the second Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPPII) first quarter report.

 

The national planning commissioner, Obeth Kandjoze, said in addition to examining the feasibility of Namibia getting into exploiting green hydrogen, the money will also be used to set up the Green Hydrogen Council of Namibia.

Kandjoze added that Namibia is partnering with countries willing to help it push through its agenda to develop and improve its economic performance.

 

"Preliminary estimates of this potential [project] estimate Namibia's annual production of green ammonia in excess of 2,5 million tonnes, and thus will attract more than US$6 billion in foreign direct investment, while generating annual revenue in excess of US$800 million. Our presence here today is about testing those estimates," Kandjoze noted.

 

He said the introduction of green hydrogen in Namibia will help push the country to the forefront of such development in the southern African region, as well as tap into the available financial resources from the investments.

 

"We are not alone in this endeavour. Germany is heavily investing in the green hydrogen industry in Namibia. Our two governments are about to conclude an agreement that will see them invest up to 40 million euros, which, given today's exchange rate, translates to just over N$680 million," he said.

The University of Namibia will spearhead the research for setting up a vibrant green hydrogen industry, with support from other stakeholders from Namibia and Germany.

 

Speaking at the same event, economic adviser in the Presidency James Mnyupe said the invitation for proposals calls developers around the world to converge around Namibia's //Karas region to design and conceive a bright future for the people of that region and the country at large.

 

"This RFP is the culmination of a Herculean effort by government officials from various offices, ministries and agencies," he said.

 

An eight-member council was established along with a 15-member technical committee to support the development of the green hydrogen project, which falls under HPPII.

 

"The funding will support the development of a green hydrogen industry, as highlighted in the economic advancement pillar. Preliminary uses of the funding include green hydrogen bursaries, feasibility studies and development of pilot plants," the report stated.

 

President Hage Geingob, during the launch, invited the international community, starting with Africans, to submit their proposals. "So that we can address development and poverty while avoiding using petrol, but clean energy," he said.-Namibian.

 

 

Tanzania: Wildlife Conservation Set to Attract More Investments

THE government has begun issuing certificates to investors wishing to invest in wildlife conservation, a move which is expected to motivate investments and enhance local content in the country's wildlife conservation.

 

Yesterday the government handed over the certificate to Bushman Hunting Safaris Limited to invest in Special Wildlife Investment Concession Areas (SWICA).

 

In the same vein, the government has issued 60-day ultimatum to hunting blocks that didn't curb poaching and livestock grazing in conservation areas.

Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources, Dr Damian Ndumbaro said SWICA arrangement was a new area of investment, but through the government negotiation team, the exercise was successful.

 

"The Tanzanian company will invest in Maswa North hunting block as per SWICA new Regulations of 2021," he said.

 

He added, "There was a philosophy that SWICA is only for foreign investors but through this historic step we hope that other local investors will be encouraged because we have set friendly rules for local investors,"

 

Elaborating, Dr Ndumbaro said as per new regulations a minimum investment capital must be 20 million US dollars (about 46bn/-) for joint-venture companies but for a company that is fully owned by Tanzanians the minimum investment capital shall be 10 million US dollars (about 23bn/-).

 

He said for a foreign company the minimum investment capital is pegged at 50 million US dollars (about 116bn/-).

According to the Minister, Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA) is a smaller institution than the other 17 institutions under the ministry but has set an example by drafting SWICA regulations and implementing them.

 

He called on Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA), Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) to learn from them to increase government revenue.

 

About hunting blocks, he said, there were 127 blocks in Tanzania, directing relevant authorities to give names of companies that have failed to conserve them.

 

"We will revoke licences of those who didn't conserve the hunting blocks as per regulations," he noted.

 

On his part TAWA Conservation Commissioner, Mabula Misungwi, said SWICA programme was more focused on high-end customers so the process of finding an investor was conducted under its regulations which allowed the conservation commissioner to form a government negotiation team between the government and the investor.

He said TAWA has continued to receive applications from investors in the SWICA programme in solicited and unsolicited areas wherein the 14 months from 17 April 2020 to 30 June this year 10 applications were received and processed under regulations of 2020 and its amendments of 2021.

 

"Of the 10 applicants, only one of whom we have given a certificate today met all the criteria to be given the SWICA area of Maswa North, two applicants withdrew for various reasons, two did not meet the criteria and two of their applications are awaiting completion of tax procedures and various government claims to proceed with other procedures," said the Commissioner.

 

Bushman Hunting Safaris Managing Director, Mr Talal Abood said their company submitted the application after seeing the SWICA process as good and giving them the opportunity to come up with a long-term investment plan that will help both parties benefit.-Daily News.

 

 

Egypt: Damietta Port Receives 22 Container, Cargo Ships

Twenty-two container and cargo ships arrived at Damietta Port over the past 24 hours.

 

In a statement on Friday, the Damietta Port Authority said the total trade volume of exported goods handled at the port reached 28,754 tons.

 

The total trade volume of imported goods handled at the port stood at 16,020 tons.

 

Wheat reserves in private sector warehouses reached around 28,750 tons, the statement said. -Egypt Online.

 

 

 


 


 


 

 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


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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