Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 30 December 2021

Thu Dec 30 10:17:43 CAT 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 30 December 2021 

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

ü  Rwanda: 2021 Key Investments Likely to Bolster Local Production

ü  Ethiopia: Harnessing Fishery Sector Alongside Summer Farming

ü  Uganda: Govt Fast-Tracks Completion of Technology Incubation Centre

ü  Kenya: Huawei Taps African Govts to Bridge Gender Gap in Emerging
Technologies

ü  Nigeria: Lagos Assembly Pass N1.758 Trillion 2022 Budget

ü  Asia stocks listless as tough year ticks down

ü  Analysis: U.S. retailers may pay the price for 'extended' holiday return
season

ü  Schneider Electric's Clayton on the power of mentoring

ü  Elon Musk's SpaceX raises over $337 mln in fresh funding

ü  Elon Musk rejects claims that his satellites are hogging space

ü  China ride-hailing giant Didi sees losses deepen after crackdown

ü  Apple puts Indian iPhone factory 'on probation'

ü  New home and car insurance rules mean change in prices

ü  TikTok moderator sues over 'psychological trauma'

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Rwanda: 2021 Key Investments Likely to Bolster Local Production

Despite the disruption by Covid-19 on the national economy, the
Made-in-Rwanda dream continued to gain momentum thanks to major investments
attracted.

The New Times has compiled eight investments that were unveiled in 2021 that
could give a boot to local production.

1. Rwf29 billion tile plant in Nyanza District

Construction works on Nyanza District-based multibillion tiles manufacturing
plant kicked off in April.

The Rwf29 billion plant will be the first of its kind in the country to make
tiles from clay, a locally available raw material for construction.

Construction is expected to be complete in the next 18-months starting from
April.

The move followed an agreement signed between Nyanza District and
Africeramics -- the subsidiary of Milbridge Holdings -- which has
diversified investment interests in construction.

The plant will manufacture 9,000 square metres of floor tiles per day in its
first phase of operation, 18,000 square metres in the second phase and
36,000 square metres in the third phase meaning within three years.

Rwanda's Domestic Market Recapturing Strategy indicates that local
production of ceramic/granite tiles would save over $4 million annually.

2. Rwf5 billion electric cable factory

Construction works on the Rwf5 billion electric cable factory in Nyanza
District, Southern Province was completed in 2021.

The factory was constructed by Mark Cables Company but the district also
owns shares in the factory.

The plant has the capacity to manufacture 5,000 kilometres of cables per
year.

The factory is set to employ between 1,000 and 1,500 people.

Rwanda spends $30 million on cable imports annually, according to available
data.

3. Rwf1.2 billion Integrated Craft Production Centre

Rwf1.2 billion Integrated Craft Production Centre known as Agakiriro that
was also completed in Nyanza district.

The centre will also host a garment factory

4. $3.5m hygiene products factory

Irene Basil, a Rwandan living in the USA launched a project to build a $3.5
million factory to produce hygiene products in Muhanga District of Southern
Province where he hails from.

He said the investment idea emerged following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first phase will employ 150 people and 300 in the second phase,

5. $5 million bamboo processing factory

The first phase of the investment to process bamboo into different products
was completed at the end of the year.

The first factory to produce marine board, plyboard and furniture is located
in Gasabo district in Rusororo sector.

It is expected to produce 10,000 pieces of marine board per day.

$5 million has been earmarked for the value addition of the bamboo plant in
the country.

The second factory, proposed in Kicukiro District, will locally manufacture
various bamboo-based products such as toilet paper and other sanitary
products, toothbrushes, shoe brushes, for sale in local and export markets.

It t will have the capacity to produce 120 tonnes of paper pulp per day.

6. $10 million cooking oil manufacturing plant

Kayonza Distribution Company Ltd, a local retail firm invested $10 million
in a cooking oil manufacturing plant.

The investment will help trim the import bill for cooking oil as well as
improve the country's trade balance.

The plant is expected to produce 100 tonnes of cooking oil every day.

With these new investments, Rwanda hopes to gradually reduce cooking oil
imports, which peaked at 126,002 metric tonnes last year, up from 121,981
metric tonnes in 2019.

In 2020, Rwanda spent a staggering Rwf106 billion on the importation of
cooking oil, which is among the top 10 products that are shipped into the
country.

Rwanda produces at least 80,000 metric tonnes every year and imports an
average of 125,000 metric tonnes, making it a net importer of cooking oil.

7. Tannery Park to be set up in Bugesera

The Ministry of Trade and Industry unveiled plans to have a modern tannery
park in Bugesera District to reduce imports of tanned hides and skins and as
well as reduce the country's trade deficit.

Local manufacturers of leather products such as shoes, belts, sandals, bags
among others have been relying on imported tanned hides and skins because
there is not enough quantity and quality of them on the local market.

MINICOM noted that studies have been carried out and only that remains is a
budget for infrastructure development.

Rwanda imported tanned hides and skins worth $15.6 million in 2019, an
increase from $13 million in 2018 mainly from Kenya, China, and Ethiopia,
UAE and Tanzania and this could stop once Tannery Park is established.

Meanwhile, the ministry said that the establishment of finished leather and
modern shoe factory will drastically reduce imports saying imports of new
footwear increased $15 million in 2016 to $23 million in 2019.

8. Construction of vaccine plant announced

The government of Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding with BioNTech
to initiate the construction of the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant for
mRNA-based vaccines slated for mid-2022.

The facility will be set up in the Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District.

The capacity of the plant will start by producing 50 million vaccines at the
beginning, but production will increase depending on demand.

9. Made in Rwanda production in 2021

In September, The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MINICOM)
announced that the increase of Rwanda's GDP by 20.6 per cent in the second
quarter of 2021 compared to 14.4 per cent in 2020 was thanks to the increase
in production by local industries.

Evalde Mulindankaka, MINICOM's Director General of Industry and
Entrepreneurship, said that the closure of borders due to the Covid-19
epidemic since 2020 prompted Rwandan industries to seek solutions and ways
to increase productivity.

There has been an improvement in agro-processing industries in order to
close the gap caused by import bill especially rice, maize, milk, fruit,
meat products and animal feed processing.

Production of construction materials such as cement, iron and steel, tiles,
electronics also played role in GDP increase.

Industries played a key role in boosting GDP production by 30 per cent due
to home appliances that increased by 111 per cent, medical equipment that
increased by 39 per cent, and machinery and equipment that increased by 47
per cent.

Louis Antoine Muhire, Coordinator of the Made in Rwanda Secretariat at
MINICOM said that the catalogue of Made in Rwanda has grown saying, "Up to
now we have 700 certified products as Made in Rwanda S-Mark products."

"Covid-19 came in, of course, it affected a lot of industries. We are
conducting a survey to see how many died. However what we have observed is
that some have converted themselves into new products instead of totally
shutting down," he said adding the recovery fund has also played in ensuring
that the local industries recover from the effects.

In the past five years, there has been an increase in exports thanks to Made
in Rwanda products, he said.

Rwanda earned over $1,487 million (over Rwf1.4 trillion) from exports during
the 2020-2021 fiscal year, up from over $1,277 million during the previous
year.

Exports Annual Average growth in the last 5 years was 13 percent according
to MINICOM.

Since 2015, consumer goods importations are reducing by an average of 3
percent and largely being replaced by domestically produced goods

Rwanda laid out a five-year plan, since 2016, dubbed the "Domestic Market
Recapturing Strategy," to boost Made-in-Rwanda campaign.

The study indicated that the total foreign exchange savings induced by the
strategy could reach almost $450 million per year.

These include construction materials (cement, iron, steel, aluminum
products, paints and varnishes) which accounts for $206 million, light
manufacturing (textile and garments, pharmaceuticals, soaps and detergents,
reagents, packaging materials), which accounts for $124 million, and
agro-processing (sugar, fertiliser, edible oil, dried fish, maize, rice),
which accounts for $112 million.-New Times.

Ethiopia: Harnessing Fishery Sector Alongside Summer Farming

As a home of different lakes, rivers and other water resources, Ethiopia is
rich in fish resources with over 175 different species. The Fish resource in
Ethiopia is found across the country, though it varies according to the
availability of water resources. Though fishing is common farming across
different parts of Ethiopia, still, farming is on its traditional stage and
is only dependent on natural water resources.

But, nowadays, this farming is getting attention even in towns and cities
practicing as part of urban agriculture with manmade water spots. Recently,
Endale Getachew and Eshetu Molla, residents of Addis Ababa City who are
engaged in urban farming stated that parallel to other farming activities,
they are producing fish using manmade water spots in their gardens.

According to these two individuals investing in urban farming, they are
practicing fishery using the water that uses for the growing of vegetables.
By doing this system, they produce both fish and vegetables by managing
their water resource.

According to them, the fishery can become an optional urban farming
investment within limited resources in addition to modernizing fish farming
in potentially high resource areas. Awareness of fish farming and
modernizing the farming practice across the country can make the sector more
productive and attract investments. The investment in the sector must be not
exploited only the available fish resource but also invest in developing the
resource to make it sustainable.

Considering the available potential resource of the country and to make the
sector one of the viable farming sectors, the Ministry of Agriculture is
starting to provide training for different regional states that are expected
to continue across all states.

Ethiopia is giving due attention to summer farming to replace the wheat
import. With this goal, wheat farming through irrigation is developing in
all parts of the country mainly in the lowland areas of the country, mainly
Afar, Somali and Oromia states. This summer farming in wheat production is
becoming successful and the country is experiencing best practices from this
sector and aiming to expand this practice in other agricultural activities.

In this regard, fish farming can become productive with summer farming by
investing in awareness and mobilizations including giving attention to the
development of the sector. The urban farmers' fish farming in Addis Ababa
indicated that fishing can be developed with manmade water spots with simple
efforts in addition to wise investments in the already fish-rich water
resources.

According to Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, Agriculture and Natural
Resource Bureau argued that fishery can be developed by developing fishpond.
This can help to grow fish in ponds allows feeding, breeding, growing and
harvesting the fish in a well-planned manner, it added.

The bureau noted that the pond established for the fish production purpose
can be easily dug manually with labour force using minimum support of
machinery. A project is drafted in the regional state to produce fish using
fish ponds which are planned to be laid in five hectares of land, comprising
a series of small ponds with two meters depth.

"Tilapia fish species will be grown in the pond with the stocking of up to
29,000 fish per hectare. The number of fish can be increased up to 50,000
depending on the extent of fertilizing the pond and the amount and type of
supplementary feed provided to the fish," the bureau stated.

According to the bureau, with this fishing mechanism, producing fish for
market purposes and household consumption is becoming productive adding the
fish is expected to grow fast and reach marketable size within six months
with intensive management and continuous monitoring.

According to the bureau "under intensive management and regular harvesting,
it is expected that 6 to 10 tons of fish per hectare will be obtained. Fresh
fish will be sold in the local market and the processed fish/ smoked, salted
and or dried fish) will be sold in faraway markets and can even be exported
to countries where there is demand for processed freshwater fish."

Such kinds of project interventions and investments can boost both the
development of fish farming and at the same time to exploit the potential of
the country to make it an optional farming investment. In addition, further
investments can make the price of fish affordable food in the market which
can also attract more consumers.

To develop fish farming and its productivity, the Ministry of Agriculture
(MoA) organized training on fish farming in Somali and Gambella Regional
States. These two regions are among the potential regions for the fishery in
Ethiopia.

According to MoA, over 26 different fish species are available in the
Gambella region in the four great rivers of Barro, Akobo, Al- Weero and
Gillo. These rivers are potentially fish-rich naturally and only needs
additional efforts to exploit the available potential and to develop fishery
farming in the region.

The ministry gives capacity building training to regional and woreda experts
in the region to utilize and properly use the ample fish resource in
Gambella. The training, according to the ministry, is supported with
practical work in addition to theory with advanced technologies and new
skills directly to fishermen and experts in the field.

The training includes the process from fishing to consumption stage and
helps how to use fish properly and benefit the society. In addition, it
focuses on the economic benefit of fish at a national level.

The capacity building training by the ministry has also been given in the
Somali region focusing on the effective use of fish potential resources in
the region. Shebele River, which crosses four woredas of the Somali region,
is one of the fish-rich rivers with more than 15 fish species.

During the training, Fisheries Resource and Development Director at the
Ministry of Agriculture, Hussein Abegaz, stated that fish is both a food and
a job opportunity. Adding residents of the Somali region have been
benefiting from using fish as food and also as a job opportunity for jobless
youth and women.

Field visiting programs, practical exercising on how to catch fish and
experience sharing are parts of the training in both regional states. These
efforts can provide additional skills and knowledge in the fishery sector
and can attract additional small and medium scale investments in fishery
farming.

With continued efforts and modernizing activities, fishery farming during
the summer season can become a productive and alternative income-generating
sector for both urban and rural youth. In addition, developing the culture
of the fishery can help households to produce fish for their home
consumption easily.-Ethiopian Herald.

Uganda: Govt Fast-Tracks Completion of Technology Incubation Centre

As one of the ways to implement the national science, technology and
innovation skills enhancement project, the Uganda National Council for
Science and Technology (UNCST) is fast-tracking the establishment of a
Technology Innovation and Business Incubation Centre (TIBIC) at the Kampala
Industrial Business Park in Namanve.

The facility, whose construction started in February this year and expected
to be completed by May, 2022, will comprise of administrative block which
will have offices, flexible workspaces and a smart conference room.

Other features include multimedia facilities, a cafeteria and a separate
maintenance centre meant to support innovators in the automobile industry
with a capability of accommodating up to 200 people.

According to Anthony Okimat, the project coordinator, the centre will act as
a platform for technology development through the process industry learning
factory model, including common user facilities and shared workspaces for
scientists and innovators to help them further develop their technologies
and business models.

Okimat said this during a tour of the facility recently and added that among
the expected outcomes of the centre will be the enhancement of the emergency
of technology oriented start-ups, increased competitiveness of the micro,
small and medium enterprises sector through import substitution and export
diversification as well as spurring locally-manufactured tool designs.

"This facility is meant to nurture scientists and innovators who are engaged
in technology based star ups initiatives to ensure that they become viable
businesses that can create employment and be able to provide import
substitution and export promotion that we are aspiring as a country," Okimat
said.

"The scientists who have developed prototypes that can be viable enterprises
will be coming to this centre and given business mentorship, financial
advisory services and specialized technical services provided in specific
areas of engineering."

The facility will also be able to provide services like finished leather
processing technologies, textile design technologies, state of the art
testing units, training centres for multiple disciplines, quality up
gradation, specialized research and development facilities, technical and
business assistance services and specialized technological services.

Okimat noted that they will be outsourcing technology experts, science
economists and business coaches who will impart skills and mentor innovators
and further revealed that UNCST has already signed Memorandums of
Understanding with the National Enterprise Corporation and Directorate of
Industrial Training and partnership with the Private Sector Foundation to
provide the training.

The three components of the National Science, Technology, Engineering and
Innovation Skills Enhancement Project are the National Science, Technology,
Engineering and Innovation Centre in Rwebitete, Kiruhura, the Technology
Innovation Business and Incubation Centre at Namanve and the Technical
Service Company.

The whole project is being funded by the government of Uganda and a loan
from china through Exim Bank at a tune of $84.73 million (Shs 365 billion)
over a five year period with the government of Uganda providing counterpart
funding of catering for the local costs at an estimate of Shs 114
billion.-Observer.

Kenya: Huawei Taps African Govts to Bridge Gender Gap in Emerging
Technologies

Nairobi — Huawei Technologies is ramping up the process of increasing the
population of women working in the ICT industry by ensuring more are getting
an ICT education for specialized technologies of the future.

The program, known as Seeds for the Future, has this year received the
support of 14 Sub-Saharan Africa governments including Kenya, Uganda, Ghana,
Mauritius, Madagascar and Malawi among others with the aim of training at
least 200 women out of a total of 600 professionals.

Seen as a major milestone, the program is focused on increasing the number
of girls participating in emerging technologies such as 5G, cloud computing
and Artificial Intelligence to help them get job-ready for the digital
economy era amid Africa's rapid expansion of the sector.

In Kenya, Huawei has trained 120 Kenyans in partnership with the ICT
Authority since 2014 as part of an overall plan to build a stronger national
ICT ecosystem that has better knowledge sharing deepens peoples'
understanding of and interest in ICT.

"The journey towards the attainment of the smart cities in Africa requires a
strong partnership between the public and private sector and companies such
as Huawei will play a major role in building this capacity from different
dimensions", said Malawi's President, Lazarus Chakwera.

Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun, added that programs such as
Huawei's are critical in building the requisite national ICT talent team and
strengthening youth employment capabilities while Uganda's Prime Minister,
Robinah Nabbanja acknowledged the importance of introducing cutting-edge
technologies and skills training for women.

Despite the growing demand for ICT skills, owing to a population
increasingly doing business and communicating virtually, the number of women
in this space remains low.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) notes that women only make up 17.5 per cent of the tech workforce
globally and hold five per cent of leadership positions.

Specific data on Africa is scanty but industry experts believe it mirrors
the situation in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) countries where only 0.5 per cent of girls wish to become ICT
professionals, compared to 5 percent of boys at the age of 15.-Capital FM.

Nigeria: Lagos Assembly Pass N1.758 Trillion 2022 Budget

While the recurrent expenditure is N591,280,803,486bn, the Capital
expenditure is N1.166,915,843,358trn.

The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Wednesday evening, passed the 2022
budget estimate with a slight increase of the grand total from the initial
N1.38 trillion to N1.758 trillion.

The budget was passed at a sitting presided over by the Speaker of the
House, Mudashiru Obasa, after a presentation of the report by Gbolahan
Yishawu, chairman of the Committee on Economic Planning and Budget.

Mr Yishawu, after the plenary, explained that the total budget size passed
has the addition of leftovers from the previous allocations in the 2021
budget.

He said the leftover was rolled into a 'contingency fund' in the Year 2022
budget.

He also put the Capital and Recurrent Expenditure ratio at 66:34.

While the recurrent expenditure is N591,280,803,486bn, the Capital
expenditure is N1.166,915,843,358trn, which brings the budget total size to
N1,758,196,44,844trn.

According to him the loans, bonds and ISPO funds are captured in the budget
that was passed.

Speaking after the passage of the budget, Mr Obasa thanked his colleagues
for working assiduously to ensure that the appropriation bill was passed.

While wishing them a happy New Year celebration, Mr Obasa prayed that God
would continue to keep Lagos safe.

He urged them to also remain conscious of their safety as well as the safety
of their neighbours.-Premium Times.

Asia stocks listless as tough year ticks down

(Reuters) - Asian share markets got off to a listless start on Thursday as
the spread of Omicron clouded what is the last trading day of the year for
many exchanges around the globe, while oil was close to finishing 2021 with
gains of more than 50%.

With coronavirus cases hitting record highs, many countries are trying to
limit the economic damage by relaxing rules on isolation rather than
resorting to lockdowns. 

There was some positive economic data from South Korea where a 5.1% surge in
November industrial output could signal an easing in global supply
bottlenecks. read more

Still, 2021 has been tough for much of the region and MSCI's broadest index
of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was flat on the day and
down 6% on the year.

Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) have also lost 6% led by big falls in techs as
Beijing tightened restrictions on the sector.

Japan's Nikkei (.N225) slipped 0.7% on Thursday, which left it with a modest
gain of 4.6% for the year and some way from a three-decade top reached in
September. Tokyo is shut on Friday.

Taiwan (.TWII) was an outperformer with a rise of 24% thanks to red-hot
demand for computer chips amid limited supply.

BofA analyst Ajay Kapur sees some upside for Asian markets in the near term
but is neutral from the second quarter onward given that is when global
liquidity is likely to peak as the Federal Reserve stops buying assets.

He is also bearish on China on expectations the economy will continue to
slow and company earnings disappoint.

S&P 500 futures eased 0.2% in early trade, while Nasdaq futures lost 0.3%.

Wall Street has had a stellar year thanks to upbeat corporate earnings and
extraordinary helpings of policy stimulus. The S&P 500 (.SPX) is up a hefty
28% and looking at its strongest three-year performance since 1999.

The Nasdaq (.IXIC) is ahead by 22% on the year, though much of that is due
to stratospheric increases in the value of just seven tech groups - Apple
alone makes up 11% of the index.

Bond markets have been stressed by the persistence of U.S. inflation and a
resulting hawkish turn by the Fed, with investors now pricing a first rate
hike as early as March or May.

Two-year yields have shot up 55 basis points since September to stand at
0.75%, near the highest since March last year.

Longer-term bonds have suffered relatively less and the yield curve has
flattened markedly, suggesting investors are wagering a more aggressive Fed
now will mean slower inflation and growth in the future and a lower peak for
rates.

On Thursday, 10-year yields were up 6 basis points for the week at 1.55% but
well below the 1.776% peak hit in April.

The Fed outlook has combined with safe-haven flows to underpin the U.S.
dollar, though it ran into some profit taking overnight as the euro bounced
to $1.1351 and away from a November trough of $1.1184.

Much of the action came in the yen, which has run into broad year-end
selling over the past week or so. The euro reached its highest since
mid-November at 130.53 yen , as did the dollar at 115.04 yen .

In commodity markets, gold was steady at $1,804 an ounce , though that left
it 5% lower for the year.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, after government data showed U.S. crude
inventories fell last week, offsetting concerns that rising coronavirus
cases might reduce demand.

That set the seal on a spectacular year for oil as Brent climbed more than
50% amid limited supplies, adding considerably to the global inflation
pulse.

On Thursday, U.S. crude was off 9 cents at $76.47 per barrel, while Brent
had yet to trade at $79.23.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Analysis: U.S. retailers may pay the price for 'extended' holiday return
season

(Reuters) - Major U.S. retailers' longer return policies, launched during
the pandemic this year to lure consumers, could leave them facing much
higher costs if shoppers bring back a record-setting $112 billion in gifts
bought during the extended holiday shopping season.

Retailers entered the 2021 holiday season facing a supply-chain logjam, with
inventories at lows unseen since 1992.

Many began Christmas promotions as early as September, to spread out the
impact caused by shipping- and labor-related shortages over more months than
the traditional peak shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Retailers also lured shoppers with "extended" return policies. Apple Inc
(AAPL.O), Saks Fifth Avenue (12720001.CSX) and Nike are among chains
allowing shoppers to return holiday purchases after 60 or 90 days, rather
than the industry standard of 30 days.

But this extended return process, which can include shipping costs, cleaning
fees and repackaging, can drive higher costs for retailers and weigh heavily
on profit margins.

With global supply-chain snarls not expected to ease until at least 2023,
the "returns" problem is not expected to go away soon.

"The returns problem is likely to be a big focus area in the coming two
years, since the costs associated with the activity are bound to impact
earnings ... significantly," RSR Research analyst Brian Kilcourse said in an
email.

U.S. shoppers are expected to return a record $112 billion to $114 billion
worth of merchandise in coming weeks, representing a 24% to 27% increase
over 2019 post-holiday returns, according to B-Stock Solutions, which
manages online liquidation sites for retailers including Walmart Inc
(WMT.N), Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) and Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) .

Of that, between $43 billion and $45 billion in returns are likely to be
merchandise purchased online, B-Stock said.

According to the National Retail Federation, a trade group, consumers
returned an estimated 10.6% of goods purchased at U.S. retail in 2020. That
percentage is estimated to have risen 13.3% during the holiday season,
costing retailers $101 billion.

Optoro, which works with retailers and manufacturers to manage and resell
returned merchandise, said it expects shoppers to return $120 billion in
goods between Thanksgiving and Jan. 31.

While longer return windows may not directly add to retailers' expenses, it
does impact their ability to use working capital for other things, said
Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at retail research firm RSR Research.
"It's an unknown payable."

Retailers do not usually break out return rates or related expenses, but
signs are emerging that the wave of returns started much before Christmas
this year as consumers started shopping sooner, leading to higher costs
because of the longer grace period, according to some retailers.

Over the past six weeks, privately owned office supplies retailer Staples
has seen a 30% increase in drop-offs and returns, said Craig Grayson, vice
president of general merchandise management.

UK-based online fashion retailer Boohoo (BOOH.L) said UK return rates its
quarter ending Nov. 30 were already 12.5 percentage points higher than the
same period last year and 7 percentage points higher than pre-pandemic
levels. Those higher rates and related logistic costs led it to cut its
annual margins forecast twice in the past four months.

'LIVING IN A RATS' NEST'

Consider a sweater priced at $100. Most retailers' margin on the sweater
could be $33 if a shopper purchased it in-store, but only $17 if bought
online and shipped to the customer's home from a store, according to an
AlixPartners report from May 2020.

If a customer returns the sweater to the store and it is not resold, the
retailer loses $25 in margin. The lost margin spikes to $31 if it had to
collect the online purchase and return it from a customer's home to a
distribution center, according to the report that reviewed returns policies
of retailers including Walmart, Amazon.com , Macy's, Aldi and Kroger (KR.N).

And with online shopping growing, retailers have boosted orders to account
for items not available because they are in transit or sitting unsold in
stores, Rosenblum said. But further exacerbating the problem is the risk of
all that excess inventory also going unsold.

"We are living in a rats' nest at the moment, and it’s really hard to
untangle what’s going to happen," she said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters the impact of supply-chain disruptions would
be worse this holiday season as persistent shortages of software chips were
affecting "most of its products," leading the iPhone maker to fall short of
demand by more than $6 billion.

Apple introduced a policy this year allowing customers up to 68 days to
return a product, instead of 30 days.

Similarly, Nordstrom Inc's (JWN.N) Nordstrom Rack has extended its return
policies on many products to 45 days, Nike to 60 days and Macy's, Walmart
and Saks Fifth Avenue to as much as 90 days.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Schneider Electric's Clayton on the power of mentoring

(Reuters) - Annette Clayton is well aware of how few women there are in the
energy industry. She is using her power as one of the most senior females in
the field to change it.

“I'm a huge believer in mentoring,” says Clayton, who is CEO and president
of the North America Operations of Schneider Electric, which is
headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, France.

Clayton, whose operations are based in Andover, Massachusetts, oversees
30,000 employees. She notes that mentoring has been key to the success of
“non-obvious candidates” in her field.

“You find yourself mentoring people that need the skills that you have,”
Clayton said. “And it’s really democratized the process of open roles and
promotions.”

Clayton spoke to Reuters about the power of mentoring. Edited excerpts are
below.

Q. Tell us about your first job. How did it shape you?

A. I grew up on a small farm. My family all worked on that farm with
livestock, gardening and crops.

But my first job was actually outside our farm. I worked on a neighbor’s
farm, and I planted and then subsequently picked strawberries.

I learned the value of hard work, picking strawberries for 25 cents a quart.
I learned to be early in order to be on time.

Q. You are a leader in an industry that does not have very many women in it.
You are an engineer and have been one of the few female CEOs in the energy
industry. Can you talk about that experience?

A. I’m in the third chapter of my career. I started in the automotive
industry, then technology with Dell (where she was vice president in charge
of Dell Americas Operations), then energy management.

All technical companies are full of engineers and all do not have that many
women. But there are some amazing women leaders--Patty (Patricia) Poppe at
PG&E, Mary Barra at GM.

We are still the exceptions, but when I think about Patty Poppe and Mary and
myself, we were all colleagues at General Motors during an era where there
were active programs within the company to identify women and help them. We
really benefited from that early in our careers: we had mentoring, we had
opportunities, and we had a leadership team that was really developing us.

We're doing the same at Schneider: creating an inclusive workplace where
everyone has a chance to succeed.

Q. How did the pandemic change things for women in the workforce?

A. The pandemic has caused a large number of women to leave the workforce
and to make choices about educating their children or taking care of family.

The more ways we can create new ways of working that allow our women and our
men to have more flexibility at work, this is what will keep them engaged in
the workforce.

Flexibility and agility will make us more productive. We’ve created
part-time options and other forms of employment, like job-sharing or
sabbaticals of varying lengths of time, when we thought we were going to
lose women.

Q. What defines your leadership style?

A. I believe in the power of high-performing teams, and I spend a
significant amount of time on alignment - really aligning the team to the
operational and transformational goals.

I like to share leadership with my team. I operate more like a neural
network. It's highly aligned and loosely coupled. The reason I like to
describe it that way is that this provides the focus but also autonomy and
empowerment at the same time.

I also believe my leadership style is being hard on the problems and easy on
the people. It’s a particular way of leading through challenging times while
still driving operational excellence.

Many times the result of that is not only good performance, but it’s also
great talent.

Q. What is the best work advice you have received?

A. It came from an African-American woman early in my career - she said,
“Annette, when you get a piece of feedback, you have to assume that you need
it. Don’t assume you're getting it because you're a woman or because you're
young. And don’t lose the opportunity to onboard it. Don’t carry bias into
it.”

That’s served me well.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Elon Musk's SpaceX raises over $337 mln in fresh funding

(Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has raised $337.4 million in
equity financing, the rocket company disclosed in a regulatory filing on
Wednesday.

SpaceX, which counts Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Fidelity Investments among
its investors, hit $100 billion in valuation following a secondary share
sale in October, according to CNBC. It had raised about $1.16 billion in
equity financing in April.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters request for more details on
the latest funding round.

The company competes with former Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos's
space venture Blue Origin and billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic
(SPCE.N) in the burgeoning constellation of commercial rocket ventures.

All three rocket companies have successfully launched civilians into space.

According to Morgan Stanley, the space economy could be worth $1 trillion by
2040.

Musk, who also leads several futuristic companies including Tesla Inc
(TSLA.O), Neuralink and Boring Co, said earlier this year that SpaceX will
be landing its Starship rockets on Mars well before 2030.

SpaceX has already launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the
International Space Station for the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA).

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Elon Musk rejects claims that his satellites are hogging space

Elon Musk has rejected claims that his Starlink satellite internet project
is taking up too much room in space.

"Tens of billions" of satellites can be accommodated in orbits close to
Earth, he told the Financial Times.

His comments come after a claim by the head of the European Space Agency
(ESA) that Mr Musk was "making the rules" for the emerging commercial space
industry.

This week, China complained that its space station was forced to avoid
collisions with Starlink satellites.

"Space is just extremely enormous, and satellites are very tiny," Mr Musk
said in the interview.

Mr Musk pushed back at suggestions that his Starlink Internet Services
project was effectively obstructing the entry of competitors to the
satellite industry, saying that there is ample room in the Earth's orbit for
satellites.

"This is not some situation where we're effectively blocking others in any
way. We've not blocked anyone from doing anything, nor do we expect to," he
said.

"A couple of thousand satellites is nothing. It's like, hey, here's a couple
of thousand of cars on Earth, it's nothing," he added.

This month, Josef Aschbacher, the director general of ESA, warned that the
thousands of communications satellites launched by Starlink would result in
there being far less space for competitors.

Other experts have said that much larger distances are needed between
spacecraft to avoid collisions than Mr Musk has suggested.

Scientists have also previously voiced concerns about the risks of
collisions in space and called on world governments to share information
about the estimated 30,000 satellites and other space debris that are
orbiting Earth.

Mr Musk made headlines this week as he faced a social media backlash after
China complained that its space station was forced to avoid collisions with
satellites launched by his Starlink project.

The country's space station had two "close encounters" with Starlink
satellites this year, Beijing claimed.

The incidents occurred on 1 July and 21 October, according to a document
submitted by China this month to the United Nations Office for Outer Space
Affairs.

"For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive
collision avoidance control," Beijing said in the document published on the
agency's website.

The incidents behind the complaints, lodged with the UN's space agency, have
not yet been independently verified.

China also accused the US of putting astronauts in danger by ignoring
obligations under outer space treaties.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China was urging the US to act
responsibly.

SpaceX has already launched almost 1,900 satellites as part of the Starlink
network, and plans to deploy thousands more.-BBc

China ride-hailing giant Didi sees losses deepen after crackdown

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has seen its losses deepen after
Beijing ordered online stores not to offer the company's app.

The firm reported an operating loss of $6.3bn (£4.7bn) for the first nine
months of year as revenues in China fell by 5% in the third quarter.

The Chinese crackdown came just days after Didi made its New York stock
market debut at the end of June.

This month, it said it will move its share listing to Hong Kong from the US.

In recent months, Didi has become one of the most high profile targets of
Beijing's clampdown on the country's technology industry.

The restrictions placed on it by authorities in China have hit its share
price in the US hard.

The company's value on the New York Stock Exchange has fallen by 65% since
its debut less than six months ago.

In its latest report to investors the firm also said that its board had
authorised it to pursue a listing of its shares on the main board of the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

"The company is executing above plans and will update investors in due
course," Didi said.

Didi's announcement early in December that it planned to leave the US stock
market came on the same day that the US Securities and Exchange Commission
said it had finalised rules that would mean US-listed foreign companies can
be delisted if their auditors do not comply with requests for information
from regulators.

"Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on
the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong
Kong," the company said at the time.

Didi also said in Thursday's announcement that Daniel Zhang, the chief
executive of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who had served as a director
on its board since 2018, has resigned from the role.

As well as coming under intense scrutiny from Chinese regulators, Didi now
faces tough competition in its home market from ride-hailing services
launched by car makers Geely and SAIC Motor.-BBC

Apple puts Indian iPhone factory 'on probation'

Apple has placed an iPhone factory in southern India "on probation"
following protests over food poisoning and living conditions.

An audit by Apple found that remote dining rooms and dormitories used by
workers did not meet requirements.

Around 250 women who worked at the Foxconn plant were affected by food
poisoning, with more than 150 ending up in hospital, local media reported.

Foxconn apologised and said it was investigating the situation.

"We are very sorry for the issue our employees experienced and are taking
immediate steps to enhance the facilities and services we provide," the
Taiwanese firm said in a statement.

The factory has been closed since 18 December, when the protests began.

Apple has not specified what being on probation means but in the past it has
declined to award new business to facilities on probation until problems are
resolved.

An Apple spokesman said: "Following recent concerns about food safety and
accommodation conditions at Foxconn Sriperumbudur, we dispatched independent
auditors.

"We found that some of the remote dormitory accommodations and dining rooms
being used for employees do not meet our requirements, and we are working
with the supplier to ensure a comprehensive set of corrective actions are
rapidly implemented."

The iPhone factory, which is about 25 miles (40km) from Chennai, employs
17,000 people.

The food-poisoning cases and subsequent protests also led the Tamil Nadu
state government to ask Foxconn to review its worker facilities.

Last year, Apple had to place another iPhone manufacturing partner on
probation after worker riots broke out over unpaid wages at the partner's
factory near Bangalore.-BBC

New home and car insurance rules mean change in prices

Prices paid for home and motor insurance are changing due to new rules
coming into effect on 1 January to protect loyal and vulnerable consumers.

Anyone renewing their policy will pay no more than they would as a new
customer, under regulations set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

That means prices for those who switch regularly will go up, while
long-standing customers will pay less.

The FCA said the move would save loyal customers £4.2bn over 10 years.

Brian Brown, consumer finance expert at market analysts Defaqto, said there
was no sign of insurers leaving the market as a result, meaning customers
still had plenty of choice of products.

The policy is designed to end cases of "price walking", which is when a
customer is charged more year after year, by staying with the same insurance
company - even though their risk is no greater.

When announcing its plans, the FCA pointed to an example in which a new
customer for home insurance typically paid £130 for a year's cover.

But for the same policy, having stayed with the same insurer for five years,
that annual premium rose to £238.

For motor insurance, new customers paid £285 while people who have been with
their provider for more than five years paid £370, according to the FCA's
example.

line

The new rules are being brought in by the FCA in the New Year following a
super-complaint from Citizens Advice about the loyalty penalty.

Those who switched have received the best deals as new customers. Those who
stayed loyal were charged more.

Around 10 million policies across home and motor insurance are held by
people who have been with their provider for five years or more.

Matthew Upton, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said: "Rip-off renewal
prices have seen consumers paying over the odds for far too long. No longer
can you be exploited just for staying loyal."

He added that people tended to be at a disadvantage if they were older, on
lower incomes, or unable to access the internet.

"We welcome the FCA's bold new rules on home and motor insurance. We now
need to see urgent action to protect consumers in the other markets," he
said.

How insurance premiums are set

People can still shop around for the best deals, and will need to consider
whether the policy matches their requirements.

However, premiums charged to all renewing home and private motor insurance
customers by their insurance provider cannot be greater than the price they
would charge to an equivalent new customer for the equivalent policy.

Individual premiums can still be set at different levels depending on
factors such as a customer's age, type of vehicle, driving record and
history of claims.

James Dalton, from the Association of British Insurers, said: "While the FCA
recognises that these changes could lead to price rises for some who shop
around regularly, all customers should get fairer outcomes in the UK's
competitive home and motor insurance markets."

In October, the FCA introduced new rules requiring insurers to look more
closely at how they offer fair value for consumers.

It should also be made easier for consumers to cancel automatic policy
renewals, and home and motor insurance firms must report more data to the
regulator.-BBC

TikTok moderator sues over 'psychological trauma'

A former TikTok moderator is suing the company, claiming it failed to
protect her mental health after "constant" exposure to traumatic video
content.

Candie Frazier says she reviewed videos that featured "extreme and graphic
violence" for up to 12 hours a day.

She says she suffers from "significant psychological trauma", including
anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

TikTok says it strives to promote "a caring working environment".

In September TikTok announced 1 billion people were using the app each
month. It now has more hits than Google, according to Cloudflare, an IT
security company.

To protect its users, the video-sharing platform uses thousands of in-house
and contract content moderators to filter out videos and accounts that break
its rules.

Ms Frazier is suing both TikTok and its parent company, Chinese tech-giant
Bytedance.

She claims that in her role as a moderator she watched graphic content,
including videos of sexual assault, cannibalism, genocide, mass shootings,
child sexual abuse, and the mutilation of animals.

Ms Frazier, who worked for a third-party contractor, Telus International,
says she was required to review hundreds of videos a day.

According to the lawsuit filed with a federal court in California last week,
Ms Frazier suffered "significant psychological trauma, including anxiety,
depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder" because of the material she
was required to review.

The lawsuit claims that while she was not a TikTok employee, the
social-media giant "controlled the means and manner in which content
moderation occurred".

Ms Frazier alleges that in order to handle the volume of content, she was
expected to review, she had to watch as many as 10 videos simultaneously.

In the lawsuit it is claimed that during a 12-hour shift moderators were
permitted a 15-minute break after the first four hours of work, and then a
15-minute break every subsequent two hours. In addition there was a one-hour
lunch break.

It alleges that TikTok failed to meet industry standards designed to reduce
the impact of content moderation, and that the firm violated California
labour law by not providing a safe work environment.

Mental support

TikTok would not comment on the "on-going" case, but the firm did say it
strived to "promote a caring working environment for our employees and
contractors".

The company added: "Our safety team partners with third-party firms on the
critical work of helping to protect the TikTok platform and community, and
we continue to expand on a range of wellness services so that moderators
feel supported mentally and emotionally."

TikTok believes its measures to protect moderators are in line with industry
best practice.

Last year, TikTok was among a coalition of social-media giants that created
guidelines to safeguard employees who have to filter out child sex-abuse
imagery.

Telus International, which is not a defendant in the case, said it had
robust mental-health programmes in place and told the Washington Post, its
employees could raise concerns through "several internal channels" -
something it claimed Ms Frazier had not done.

The firm told the paper Ms Frazier's allegations were "entirely inconsistent
with our policies and practices".

The BBC has approached Telus International for comment.

In 2020, another social-media goliath, Facebook, agreed to pay out $52m
(£39m) in compensation to moderators who had developed PTSD as a result of
their job.-BBC

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2021

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Companies under Cautionary

ART

PPC

Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

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