Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 03 February 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 03 February 2021

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


ü  Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon chief executive

ü  Alibaba revenues soar but Ant Group float uncertain

ü  Sergey Brin: Google co-founder sets up family firm in Singapore

ü  Bebo chief reveals plan to take on Facebook and Twitter

ü  Google owner Alphabet sees record growth as ad spend soars

ü  Exxon plunges to first loss in decades as pandemic chokes off demand

ü  Amazon settles claims it pocketed delivery drivers' tips

ü  Pfizer expects $15bn sales of Covid-19 vaccine

ü  GameStop: Real Wolf of Wall Street warns 'you could lose it all'

ü  Microsoft backs Australia's proposed media laws, eyes expansion

ü  Citi's incoming CEO Fraser forms new operating team to build leadership
accountability

ü  Tencent fires 100 employees, blacklists 37 firms in anti-graft campaign

ü  Rwandan Tech Start-Ups Raised Over U.S.$4 Million in Financing in 2020

ü  Nigeria Has U.S.$900 Billion Dead Capital in Real Estate, Agric - PWC

ü  Namibia: Indebted Etunda Farmers Struggle to Feed Nation

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon chief executive

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is to step down as chief executive of the
e-commerce giant that he started in his garage nearly 30 years ago.

 

He will become executive chairman, a move he said would give him "time and
energy" to focus on his other ventures.

 

Mr Bezos, the world's richest man, will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who
currently leads Amazon's cloud computing business.

 

The change will take place in the second half of 2021, the company said.

 

"Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it's consuming. When
you have a responsibility like that, it's hard to put attention on anything
else," Mr Bezos said in an letter to Amazon staff on Tuesday.

 

"As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also
have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth
Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions."

 

"I've never had more energy, and this isn't about retiring. I'm super
passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have," he added.

 

Higher public profile

Mr Bezos, 57, has led Amazon since its start as an online bookshop in 1994.
The firm now employs 1.3 million people globally andhas its hand in
everything from package delivery and streaming video to cloud services and
advertising. He's amassed a fortune of $196.2bn, according to Forbes' list
of billionaires.

 

Itsaw its already explosive growth skyrocket last year, as the pandemic
prompted a surge in online shopping.

 

The firm reported $386bn (£283bn) in sales in 2020, up 38% from 2019.
Profits almost doubled, rising to $21.3bn.

 

In announcing the plans, Mr Bezos said he would continue to focus on new
products and early initiatives.

 

"When you look at our financial results, what you're actually seeing are the
long-run cumulative results of invention," he said. "Right now I see Amazon
at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition."

 

The shake-up comes as Mr Bezos has taken on an increasingly public profile.

 

He has endured a public divorce, become a target for labour and inequality
activists, and poured his wealth into other businesses, such as space
exploration firm Blue Origin and the Washington Post newspaper.

 

'Not leaving'

Amazon also faces increasing scrutiny from regulators, who have questioned
its monopoly power. And its dominance in cloud computing is being
increasingly challenged by other tech firms, such as Microsoft and Alphabet,
parent company of Google and YouTube.

 

Mr Bezos's decision to hand over the day-to-day operation of the company
came as a surprise. But investors appeared unfazed, with little change in
the firm's share price in after-hours trade.

 

In a call with analysts to discuss the firm's financial results, Amazon
chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said: "Jeff is not leaving, he is
getting a new job... The board is super active and important in Amazon's
success story." 

 

 

Mr Jassy, a Harvard graduate, has been with Amazon since 1997 and helped
develop Amazon Web Services, which has long been seen as the profit engine
of the company.

 

"Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long
as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence,"
Mr Bezos said.

 

Sophie Lund-Yates, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said it was "no accident"
that Amazon is tapping the head of the cloud business to lead the company.

 

This is a real surprise. But you have to remember that Jeff Bezos himself is
worth nearly 200 billion dollars.

 

And when you're that rich imagine what you can do. Jeff Bezos has some
pretty lofty ambitions outside of Amazon.

 

His Blue Origin company wants to "build a road to space". He's also sunk
$10bn into Earth Fund, designed to help combat the effects of climate
change.

 

Oh, and he also owns the Washington Post.

 

How will Amazon cope? Well, importantly, he's not leaving. As executive
chair and founder he'll still exercise huge power over the company.

 

However, stepping back will inevitably mean less influence.

 

His replacement - Andy Jassy - had had been running Amazon Web Services,
Amazon's booming cloud business division

 

His rise to the top underscores how important this business has become to
Amazon.

 

2px presentational grey line

Another top executive, Jeff Wilke, who led the firm's consumer business,
announced his retirement last year.

 

Amazon Web Services "continued to shine in the quarter, and now accounts for
a more meaningful chunk of sales. The potential here is huge, and the
scalable benefits that come with it should have ears pricking up," she said.

 

Overall sales at the company rose 44% in the last three months of the year
to $125.6bn, boosted in part by renewed lockdowns in some parts of the world
as well as a later date for the firm's "Prime Day", when the firm tries to
drive sales with a slew of discounts.

 

Amazon Web Services saw sales rise 28% to $12.7bn.

 

It remains Day 1 - clearly Besoz is not done making an impact on the future
of the company https://t.co/wBQSONH62R

 

Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies, wrote on Twitter that
the "huge" announcement showed how central cloud services are to Amazon's
business.

 

But she added that she did not think Bezos was "done making an impact on the
future of the company".

 

Critics of the firm reacted to the announcement similarly.

 

"Do not be fooled by Amazon. Jeff Bezos is still in a position of immense
power as Executive Chair," said Public Citizen, a US-based consumer rights
activist group. "This abusive, predatory monopoly still needs a complete
overhaul."--BBC

 

 

 

Alibaba revenues soar but Ant Group float uncertain

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has posted strong results for the last
quarter of 2020.

 

The company founded by Jack Ma saw revenues up 37% against the same quarter
of 2019 to 221bn yuan ($34.2bn, £25bn).

 

But the results come amid continued uncertainty over the company's financial
affiliate Ant Group.

 

Alibaba said it was "unable to complete a fair assessment" of the impact of
Ant's stalled share market launch.

 

Alibaba's chief executive Daniel Zhang attributed the firm's strong results
to China's economic growth.

 

Although the world's second largest economy saw sluggish progress compared
to previous years, it was the only major economy to grow during the Covid-19
pandemic.

 

Strong results for Singles Day, Alibaba's biggest sale of the year, also
helped the company's revenues.

 

"However, many are looking at the business and wondering where the next wave
of growth will come from," said Andy Halliwell, a retail analyst from
technology consultancy Publicis Sapient.

 

Alibaba's cloud computing revenues rose 50% over the same quarter last year,
hitting $2.5bn and posting a profit for the first time.

 

Intense pressure

It's not all good news for Alibaba, as its financial technology (fintech)
affiliate Ant Group remains under intense scrutiny from China's regulators.

 

The planned launch of Ant Group in November was due to become the biggest
ever stock market debut, raising $37bn for the fintech.

 

Mr Zhang said Ant's share market launch remained on hold indefinitely.

 

"Ant Group's business prospects and [Initial Public Offering] plans are
subject to substantial uncertainties," the company said in a statement.

 

Analysts believe this could have a significant effect on the company, along
with an investigation into Alibaba's alleged monopolistic practices which
was announced by regulators in December.

 

"If the Chinese government is looking to crack down on outspoken
entrepreneurs and take a more conservative line with their larger tech
businesses then this will dent investors' confidence in the brand, and may
create an opening for others to exploit," said Mr Halliwell.

 

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

 

The company also has a consumer lending division, which takes fees from
banks to match borrowers with lending services.

 

For Alibaba's chief executive Daniel Zhang, the December 2020 quarter's
earnings call should have been an opportunity to crow about the company's
stellar results.

 

Even a pandemic, it seems, can't keep Alibaba down.

 

Instead, after referencing the 37% surge in revenues, and crediting the
Chinese economy's performance for it, he turned his attention to the one
thing investors still have no clarity about: Ant Group's IPO, which was
dramatically suspended last year.

 

Sounding noticeably more cautious than he has in previous earnings calls, Mr
Zhang appeared to suggest the IPO would be delayed indefinitely - and that
it was subject to "substantial uncertainties" due to a change in regulations
surrounding financial technology in China.

 

He also said the group was "unable to make an assessment on the impact" this
might have on the Alibaba group.

 

The digital payments giant had to suspend its share market launch last year
after Alibaba founder Jack Ma made comments about the lack of innovation in
China's banking sector, which appeared to offend authorities.

 

It is now the focus of an anti monopoly investigation, which Alibaba says it
is cooperating with.--BBC

 

 

 

Sergey Brin: Google co-founder sets up family firm in Singapore

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is setting up a family office in Singapore to
help manage his wealth.

 

Mr Brin is the world's ninth-richest person with a personal fortune of
$86.5bn (£63.2bn).

 

He joins the rush of super-rich families opening up family offices in the
Asian financial hub including British entrepreneur Sir James Dyson.

 

Family offices are private investment companies set up to manage the assets
of wealthy individuals and clans.

 

Mr Brin's family office is called Bayshore Global Management and established
an office in Singapore late last year, according to documents filed with
regulators.

 

The name derives from North Bayshore, the section of Mountain View,
California where Google has its headquarters.

 

Super-rich

Mr Brin is the latest billionaire to take advantage of Singapore's low tax
regime and generous incentives for family offices. Singapore regulators also
offer a number of exemptions for these private investment companies.

 

Singapore is also one of the easiest places in the world to do business,
ranking number two in Asia according to the World Bank.

 

Hedge fund boss Ray Dalio who is worth around $17bn announced in November he
is opening a family office in Singapore while Mr Dyson's Weybourne Group
family office was set up in 2019.

 

Many wealthy families also choose Singapore as they want more exposure to
the investment opportunities in Asia's fast-growing economies.

 

Mr Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, said in a statement that he
has had excellent relationships in Singapore and China for the last three
decades.

 

"He likes and admires both and he is excited by what is happening in the
region," the statement said.

 

Mr Brin reportedly visited Singapore along with fellow Google co-founder
Larry Page in 2016 to learn about its development.

 

Having founded the search giant in 1998 both founders have stepped away from
active management of the company.

 

Sundar Pichai has been Google's chief executive since 2015, and became boss
of its parent company Alphabet in 2019.

 

There are about 200 single-family offices in Singapore managing assets worth
about $20bn, according to figures from Bloomberg.

 

Singapore has a global reputation for being a relatively stable political
and economic landscape, and as a rival Asian hub to Hong Kong which faces
political tensions.

 

Billionaire Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin moved to Singapore in 2009
to live and work.--BBC

 

 

 

Bebo chief reveals plan to take on Facebook and Twitter

Bebo's co-founder plans to relaunch the social network with a focus on
profiles and "real-time" interactions between friends rather the news feeds
at the core of Twitter and Facebook.

 

Michael Birch says his aim is to provide a "refreshing break" from the
misinformation spread elsewhere.

 

In an exclusive interview, he told the BBC he was coding the effort himself.

 

And while he has high hopes, he acknowledges the odds are stacked against
him.

 

Bebo - an acronym for "blog early, blog often" - was once the most popular
network in the UK, as well as being big in Ireland, Australia and New
Zealand. At its peak it had more than 40 million members.

 

In, 2008 Mr Birch and his wife Xochi sold the site to AOL for $850m (£623m).

 

They later bought it back for $1m and tried to revamp it in several ways,
most recently as an e-sports streaming service, before finally selling the
business on to Amazon's Twitch in 2019 for $25m.

 

However, the couple retained the rights to the brand.

 

And with time on his hands during the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Birch began
thinking about what what kind of gap there might be in the market.

 

"We're calling it live social networking - when you're logged into Bebo, you
are aware of which other friends are online," he says, explaining his plan
from his home in the British Virgin Islands.

 

"You can interact with them in real-time. You can comment on their photo on
their profile. They'll get notified, they'll come to the photo, and they may
even have a conversation under the photo.

 

"It's an experiment, we'll see how it how it actually does. But we think
it's a more exciting way of actually connecting."

 

Even before he had announced plans for a relaunch, Mr Birch said Bebo's web
address was attracting about one visit every three seconds despite the
service being offline.

 

He hopes a mix of nostalgia and curiosity will attract enough early adopters
to let people find friends on the regenerated site to interact with.

 

However, some of those familiar with the original Bebo are sceptical about
its prospects.

 

"It's probably brave to launch a new social network in this climate when
there are concerns about potential harms from misinformation spread on
social media, so I hope Bebo will take its responsibilities to look after
its members and their data seriously," says Kate Bevan, computing editor at
Which?.

 

"But there's also something delightfully optimistic about this plan."

 

Mr Birch is not yet willing to share screenshots of the new Bebo, and for
now its only online presence is a "coming soon" page advising prospective
users that they will not be able to access their old accounts, and a promise
that Donald Trump will be banned.

 

But the entrepreneur says he is spending about 100 hours a week coding the
platform, and plans to let the first invite-only members start trying it out
before the month's end.

 

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity:

 

How will Bebo distinguish itself?

 

Now is a good time to launch another social network. Covid has had a lot of
detrimental effects, but I think it sort of opened people's eyes to new
things in new ways. And people are craving interaction.

 

We're going to do some nods to the past, but you're not going to log in and
see the original Bebo as it was. But what we want to do is go back a little
bit to this idea of a profile. That you have an identity you sort of take
pride in. That you can visit a profile and see things that aren't just the
latest news articles being shared.

 

On Facebook, if someone posts something to their news feed, they may have
done it one minute ago - but you don't feel you're online, in this
experience with that person. And that's what we're trying to achieve.

 

In its heyday, Bebo was the UK's biggest social network. Are you aiming for
that kind of scale again?

 

At the moment, I'm the only one coding it. This started as a fun lockdown
project to give me something to do. It certainly didn't start out as can it
become as big as we used to be.

 

But you know, in the back of my mind is that a possibility? Of course it is.
And it's a fun thing to contemplate. Do I realistically think that's going
to happen? No, I don't. But it is more fun trying a thing sometimes than
necessarily achieving it.

 

Social media is in a very different place than when Bebo was first about.
There's been privacy and hate speech scandals. There's lots of talk of
regulation. If this takes off, do you really want to have to deal with those
kinds of headaches?

 

That does not look like fun. Do I want to do that part of it? No. But do I
have to do that part of it? Yes.

 

When we first did Bebo, I spent 95% of my media time talking to journalists
about privacy and bullying. And those issues are still obviously as relevant
today. But I think one of the most damaging things has been the spread of
misinformation and people sharing things similar to what their friends
believe, which self-reinforces and doesn't allow for different perspectives
to be put in front of people.

 

We're not focusing on new sharing. But were we to go down that road and
explore that, I think we'd have to think long and hard about how to avoid
some of the pitfalls. For now, people may think it's a refreshing break for
Bebo not to be another news feed of misinformation.

 

Do you think social media has done more harm than good?

 

I think it's possibly true. Yeah, I do.

 

I think social media companies are in a difficult position. Could they have
handled things better? Probably. Are things easy for them to handle, and are
they entirely responsible? Probably not. Some of the repercussions of social
media were not obvious at the beginning.

 

You sold Bebo for $850 million. But Mark Zuckerberg had proposed you sell it
to Facebook for stock options. Do you ever regret not having taken him up on
that offer and maybe becoming one of Facebook's senior executives?

 

I wouldn't want to be working at Facebook. Not that it's not a great place
to work. But that would be quite a stressful job.

 

I've been very happy with the path that we followed. Would it have been
worth more money? Almost certainly. But I've enjoyed the freedom of being
able to start new things on my own and having my own path.

 

I'm excited to be have the opportunity to do Bebo again. It's very rare that
you get to start something with a blank sheet of paper and rethink it from
the ground up. You normally have so much legacy. In many ways it's harder to
reboot a company than it is to start over.

 

But because such a long period of time has lapsed, we're sort of getting
closer to a start-over than a reboot.--BBC

 

 

 

Google owner Alphabet sees record growth as ad spend soars

Google parent Alphabet saw record revenues for the second straight quarter
despite the pandemic as advertisers unleashed spending during the holidays.

 

Cutbacks by travel and entertainment advertisers were more than offset by
new spending from online retail clients and others during lockdown.

 

Google's advertising business, including YouTube, accounted for 81% of
Alphabet's $56.9bn in fourth-quarter sales, up 23% compared with a year ago.

 

The Cloud unit also saw strong growth.

 

Google Cloud sales were $3.83bn, or $13.1bn for the full year, up 46% from
2019. In a new disclosure, Alphabet said Google Cloud posted an operating
loss of $1.24bn in the fourth quarter and $5.6bn for 2020, a 21% wider loss
than in 2019.

 

Google, which generates more revenue from internet advertising than any
company globally, has long faced questions over whether it can spin the cash
from its advertising business into a newly profitable venture. The new
financial details suggest that goal still may be years away.

 

Alphabet's quarterly profit rose 43% to $15.2bn, sending shares up 6% to
$2,036 in after-hours trading on Wall Street. The stock has risen by 9.5% so
far this year.

 

'Resilience'

Christopher Rossbach, of asset management company J. Stern & Co, said:
"Alphabet's results show that there is still a massive shift to online
advertising.

 

"Both Alphabet and Facebook have reported strong online advertising growth
this quarter as advertisers are drawn to the better targeting, measurement,
reach and ultimately return during the pandemic."

 

He added that "the results are evidence of the strength of Google's business
model and its resilience in a time of crisis... The company is well on its
way to a $2tn market cap".

 

Even so, Google's lead over the global internet advertising market is
shrinking as Amazon.com becomes a bigger threat and China-focused vendors
such as Alibaba enjoy a faster rebound from the pandemic.

 

Last week, research company eMarketer estimated Google will capture 30% of
the market in 2021.--BBC

 

 

 

Exxon plunges to first loss in decades as pandemic chokes off demand

Oil giant Exxon Mobil suffered its first annual loss in decades last year as
the pandemic prompted energy use to plunge.

 

The firm lost $22.4bn (£16.4bn) as energy prices dropped - at one point
falling below zero.

 

The downturn forced the company to make drastic cuts to its workforce and
investment plans.

 

Under pressure from activists, Exxon has also said it will expand its focus
to more climate-friendly technology.

 

It said it was starting a new business focused on reducing pollution by
using carbon emissions capture, a strategy the firm already makes wide use
of in its own operations.

 

The firm also said it planned to invest $3bn in "lower emissions solutions"
over the next four years.

 

"Last year clearly was an unprecedented event - something that forced
dramatic action in the industry and within our company," Exxon chief
executive Darren Woods said. "We changed a lot of things."

 

Oil crisis

Exxon, which ranked as America's most valuable public company as recently as
2013, reported a full-year profit of more than $14bn in 2019.

 

But last year's collapse in energy demand and prices caused by the Covid-19
crisis saw the firm's revenue drop by more than 30% to $181.5bn.

 

The firm wrote down the value of its shale business by roughly $20bn, took
on billions of dollars in debt and slashed spending by roughly $8bn. By
2023, it said additional cuts, including to staff, would reduce costs by an
estimated $6bn a year.

 

'Poor long-term planning'

Exxon's financial strains are not unique. Rivals BP and Chevron also posted
annual losses.

 

But Exxon, which has seen its share price slide in recent years, is seen as
lagging behind other oil and gas firms in adapting to the pressures caused
by climate change.

 

It is the target of environmentalists and activist investors, who have
called for an overhaul of its management and changes to strategy.

 

Engine No 1, the activist firm leading the current campaign, said Exxon
remained stuck with plans that "position it to succeed only in the absence
of a material long-term energy demand shift" and dismissed its focus on
carbon capture as "poor long-term planning".

 

"Today's patchwork of announcements do not materially alter ExxonMobil's
long-term trajectory nor do they position it to succeed in a changing
world," the firm said.

 

Exxon leaders defended their plans to analysts on Tuesday, saying they have
considered a range of investment strategies depending on whether oil prices
- now hovering above $50 a barrel - drop back.

 

They also said they saw Exxon's experience with carbon capture and storage -
which reduces greenhouse gases by taking carbon emissions and depositing
them underground - as a business opportunity, as governments around the
world redouble efforts to fight global warming.

 

"We recognise that carbon capture storage is critical to achieving the
ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement and we're beginning to see broader
recognition of the importance of that," Mr Woods said.

 

"We felt like... now is the time to bring a more concerted effort in this
space."--BBC

 

 

 

 

Amazon settles claims it pocketed delivery drivers' tips

Amazon has agreed to settle allegations it cheated some drivers out of tips
from customers for more than two years.

 

Under a deal with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the e-commerce
giant, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, will pay out $61,7m.

 

The issue concerned drivers working as part of Amazon's Flex programme, an
Uber-like on-demand delivery service.

 

Amazon said it disagreed with some findings but was happy to put the matter
behind it.

 

The FTC said the money will be used to compensate drivers.

 

Flex drivers, who use personal vehicles to deliver for Amazon, had received
hourly rates between $18-$25 and were promised 100% of tips.

 

But in late 2016 Amazon "secretly reduced its own contribution to drivers'
pay," according to the FTC. "Amazon used the customer tips to make up the
difference between the new lower hourly rate and the promised rate."

 

The commission said Amazon dropped the controversial payment model in August
2019 only after it opened an investigation.

 

Amazon said it disagreed with claims that the way it was paying drivers was
unclear. "We added additional clarity in 2019, [but] we are pleased to put
this matter behind us," an Amazon spokeswoman said.

 

However, the FTC said Amazon also misled customers by telling them that
drivers received 100% of any tip.

 

When drivers noticed that tips appeared to be missing, Amazon simply
responded that it gave drivers "100% of customer tips," the FTC said in its
complaint.

 

"In total, Amazon stole nearly one-third of drivers' tips to pad its own
bottom line," Commissioner Rohit Chopra, a Democrat, said in a
statement.--BBC

 

 

 

Pfizer expects $15bn sales of Covid-19 vaccine

Drugs giant Pfizer has said it expects $15bn (£11bn) of sales this year of
the coronavirus vaccine it developed with German firm BioNTech.

 

The vaccine was one of the first to be authorised for use by countries
including the UK and the US.

 

The vaccine sales represent a quarter of its expected revenue for this year.

 

Many countries around the world have been scrambling to vaccinate their
populations in a bid to save lives and aid economic recovery.

 

Pfizer is trying to deliver two billion doses of the vaccine in 2021 as
quickly as possible as countries rush to sign supply deals.

 

In the fourth quarter of last year, the vaccine brought in sales of $154m
for Pfizer.

 

Out of the firms rushing to bring vaccines to market, analysts expect at
least Pfizer and rival American biotech company Moderna to make billions of
dollars this year.

 

There have been concerns that global wrangling over supplies could disrupt
delivery schedules.

 

Over the weekend, the European Union backtracked on a decision to trigger an
emergency provision in the Brexit deal that could have prevented shipments
entering the UK.

 

The plans had been part of the EU's new export controls on vaccines to try
combat delivery shortfalls.

 

Pfizer has committed to delivering 40 million doses to the UK by the end of
the year.

 

On Tuesday, Japan said it would get all of the vaccine doses it had bought
from Pfizer and BioNTech after concerns that the EU export controls could
have delayed Japan's inoculation programme.

 

Japan is trailing most major economies in starting vaccinations, because of
its reliance on overseas drugs firms and an insistence that vaccines go
through domestic trials.

 

The country plans to start its campaign in mid-February with the
Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

 

Pfizer and BioNTech have increased manufacturing capacity to more than two
billion doses a year from 1.3 billion to meet demand, BioNTech chief
executive Ugur Sahin said on Tuesday.

 

"Therefore we are confident that we will deliver the doses that we have
promised to Japan," he said.

 

Supply of the vaccine had faced delays in parts of Europe due to changes in
manufacturing processes to boost production.

 

But BioNTech said on Monday the firms were back on track to meet their
European timeline.

 

To achieve its global goal, Pfizer will have to deliver an average of around
10 million doses per week.--BBC

 

 

 

GameStop: Real Wolf of Wall Street warns 'you could lose it all'

Amateur investors swept up in the trading frenzy surrounding US retailer
GameStop "could lose everything", the former stock broker who inspired the
Wolf of Wall Street film has warned.

 

Jordan Belfort, who was jailed for market manipulation in 1999, said such
investments could be "great on the way up, but painful on the way down".

 

GameStop shares surged 700% last week as amateurs, inspired by tips shared
on social media, piled into the stock.

 

But they have dropped sharply since.

 

Shares fell 63% on Tuesday to $81 - a far cry from last week's record of
almost $350.

 

Mr Belfort said he sympathised with the small-time traders drawn to
GameStop, many of whom wanted to turn the tables on big Wall Street firms.

 

But he told the BBC: "You must be so careful because eventually these stocks
are going to come crashing back down to earth.

 

"If you are looking at this as a way to make your living, you'll have to
catch a falling knife on the way down. I would urge people to take their
chips off the table."

 

The trading frenzy began in late January, when small-time investors began
buying up shares in GameStop, a loss-making video games retailer.

 

Many Wall Street hedge funds - known as "short sellers" - had bet against
the firm, meaning they stood to make money if its stock fell, but lose
heavily if it rose.

 

short selling graphic

But amateurs, inspired by posts on Reddit and Youtube, realised they could
drive up the price if they bought en masse, inflicting losses on the big
players and making gains for themselves.

 

The excitement also encompassed other stocks such as AMC and Nokia, while
the price of silver has seen intense speculation.

 

'Real danger'

Mr Belfort said the trading had taken on a political tone, with investors
seeking "justice" against Wall Street firms they perceived had behaved
unethically.

 

He added: "All of a sudden there is a way for people to communicate on
message boards like Reddit, there's a way for them to trade instantly on
platforms like Robinhood.

 

"You put those two things together with the power of social media and bam -
just like that the little guy got the best of the big institutions."

 

However, he said there was a risk of people getting swept away in the
excitement, noting that those with little understanding of stocks were now
buying GameStop shares.

 

"Be aware of being the last person on the bandwagon, that is really the
danger here."

 

Mr Belfort, who is now an author and motivational speaker, defrauded
investors of $200m in the 1980s and 90s and is still paying restitution to
his victims.

 

His memoir was the inspiration for Martin Scorsese's Wolf of Wall Street
film in 2013, but he sued the film's producers for fraud and breach of
contract last year claiming $300m in compensation.

 

Mr Belfort alleged Red Granite Productions - whose co-founder Riza Aziz was
arrested on suspicion of money laundering last year - lied about being
"legitimately funded" when he sold the rights to his story.

 

The company's lawyer described the lawsuit as "desperate and supremely
ironic".--BBC

 

 

 

Microsoft backs Australia's proposed media laws, eyes expansion

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it fully supported proposed new
laws in Australia that would force internet giants Google and Facebook Inc
to pay domestic media outlets for their content.

 

“While Microsoft is not subject to the legislation currently pending, we’d
be willing to live by these rules if the government designates us,” the
software firm said in a statement.

 

“The code reasonably attempts to address the bargaining power imbalance
between digital platforms and Australian news businesses.”

 

Both Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook have called the laws unworkable and
said last month they would withdraw some key services from Australia if the
regulations went ahead.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday Microsoft was ready to step in
and expand its search product Bing in Australia if Google pulls its search
engine, after he spoke with Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella last
week.

 

Google’s search engine has 94% of the country’s search market, according to
industry data.

 

Microsoft in its statement said it will offer small firms a chance to
transfer advertising business to Bing with no costs and that it would invest
further in the product to ensure it is competitive.

 

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

 

 

Citi's incoming CEO Fraser forms new operating team to build leadership
accountability

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc’s incoming chief executive officer Jane Fraser
said on Tuesday she has decided to form a new global operating team to build
accountability among its top leaders.

 

“A key element of our Transformation work is to hold our business leaders
accountable not only for the performance of their own teams, but for how we
collectively operate our firm and deliver the outcomes for which we are
responsible,” Fraser said in a memo.

 

The team will consist of Fraser’s executive management team, the group’s
treasurer and leaders of Citigroup’s various units, including its
investment-banking unit, Global Wealth operations and U.S. consumer unit.

 

Fraser added that Sunil Garg, global head of Citi Commercial Bank, will
become the next CEO of Citibank, upon current Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat’s
retirement.

 

“Sunil also will chair the Risk and Controls project group of our
Transformation effort,” the memo said.

 

Citi will conduct a search for Garg’s successor as the CEO of its commercial
bank.

 

Citigroup has asked Zdenek Turek, who was the Chief Risk Officer on an
interim basis, to take on the role permanently, according to the memo.

 

Fraser also named Margo Pilic as her chief of staff, moving her from her
current role of Finance Lead for Citi’s institutional clients group in Latin
America.

 

Last year, Citi named current president Jane Fraser as its next chief
executive making her the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. She
will take the reins from CEO Michael Corbat on March 1 when he retires.

 

 

 

Tencent fires 100 employees, blacklists 37 firms in anti-graft campaign

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings Ltd on Wednesday named 37 companies it
had blacklisted from future contracts and said it has fired more than 100
staff over embezzlement and bribery incidents.

 

Tencent, China’s biggest social media and video games company, said in a
social media post that it had reported 40 employees to authorities since it
started an anti-graft campaign in the fourth quarter of 2019.

 

In one case, an employee in its game publishing division sought benefits for
outside parties and obtained kickbacks from them, Tencent said in the name
and shame post.

 

Chinese tech companies have doubled down on corruption investigations in
recent years, as their valuations and profiles have soared following a tech
boom in the country.

 

The arrest of a senior Alibaba Group Holding Ltd executive in 2018 indicated
that a years-long anti-graft drive spearheaded by President Xi Jinping would
not spare the country’s web titans. Yang Weidong, the president of Alibaba’s
video streaming service Youkou, stepped down before he was given a
seven-year jail sentence.

 

China’s tech companies have since provided regular updates on their
anti-corruption measures.

 

Tencent said on Wednesday it would stick to a “zero tolerance” policy
towards unethical behaviour.

 

 

 

 

Rwandan Tech Start-Ups Raised Over U.S.$4 Million in Financing in 2020

Rwandan start-ups raised an estimated $4 million (Rwf3.9 billion) in
financing in 2020 in comparison to about $1,150,000 raised in 2019, the
latest Africa Tech Startups Funding Report has shown.

 

The funding report by Disrupt Africa, a tech analysis platform, was
developed from a record of funding rounds over the year, including those
that were disclosed publicly as well as the ones that were not announced.

 

While financing to Rwandan firms was $4 million, African start-ups totaling
397 raised $701,460,565, a major leap from $185,785,500 that was raised by
125 start-ups in 2015.

The report noted that the $4 million in Rwanda was raised by two startups;
Kasha Rwanda and GET IT.

 

Despite only two firms getting financing, the capital raised in Rwanda was
up 248 per cent from $1,150,000 raised in 2019.

 

The two firms are in e-commerce and logistics.

 

Kasha Rwanda, an e-commerce platform involved in hygiene and self-care
products raised $3m from Finnfund, United States International Development
Finance Corporation and Swedfund to make it the most financed local
start-up.

 

GET IT, a commercial food distribution service company raised funds from a
Chicago-based impact investor VestedWorld as well as Chandaria Capital, a
professional early-stage investment arm of the Chandaria Group of companies.

 

In 2020, the number of investors in start-ups on the African continent was
found to have gone up to at least 370 active investors; marking 42.8 per
cent growth on the previous year.

"The number of active investors on the continent continues to grow
exponentially, at all stages, and with funding spreading across more
geographies and an increasing number of verticals, the future looks very
bright indeed," the report read in part.

 

Financial Technology remains the most attractive to investors on the
continent with the combined amount raised by fintech companies over the
course of the year at $160,319,065, about 49 per cent of the investment.

 

Other sectors that seemed investors' favourites include entertainment,
e-health, e-commerce and Human Resources.

 

"With a large range of institutional investors, VC firms, family offices and
angels active in Africa, there is clearly an increasing confidence and
interest in backing startups on the continent across all stages of the
startup lifecycle. While the 370 investors tracked in 2020 already displays
impressive growth on previous years, the figure is in reality likely to be
much higher, given the host of deals where investors - angels in particular
- chose to remain anonymous or were not announced by the startup in
question," the report's authors noted.

The investments that stood out by value were; Egyptian e-health venture
Vezeeta (US$40,000,000), Nigerian fintech Flutterwave ($35,000,000), South
African retail-tech startup Skynamo (US$30,000,000), Kenyan agri-tech
company Twiga Foods (US$29,400,000), and Kenyan conservation tech solution
Komaza (US$28,000,000).

 

Four countries remain dominant in investor preference; Nigeria, Kenya, South
Africa and Egypt with a total of 307 startups from the 4 countries
accounting for 77.3 per cent of funded ventures on the continent.

 

Rwanda is looking to attract alternative financing for early stage ventures
with the new law relating to investment promotion and facilitation.

 

Louise Kanyonga, the Chief Strategy and Compliance Officer at Rwanda
Development Board (RDB) recently told The New Times that this is aimed at
bridging the existing gap currently in terms of the right financing options
for early stage firms.

 

The push to provide incentives to angel investors is based on the fact that
conventional sources of financing for startups such as commercial banks are
not working currently.

 

Among the incentives include that angel investors investing a maximum of
$500,000 in a start-up will be eligible for exemption from capital gains tax
upon the sale of shares, provided the shares were initially purchased as a
primary equity issuance by the start-up.

 

Angel investors will also be eligible for exemption from withholding tax
applicable to dividends paid for five dividend issuances by the
start-up.-New Times.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria Has U.S.$900 Billion Dead Capital in Real Estate, Agric - PWC

Nigeria holds as much as $900 billion worth of dead capital locked up in
residential real estate and agricultural land, including federal
government's abandoned properties estimated at N230 billion, said PWC
Nigeria.

 

Dead capital refers to unregistered real property, and is considered lost
value because the landholder is unable to transfer or leverage the property
to borrow or access capital.

 

Meanwhile the company has listed ten priority areas for policy makers and
businesses necessary to accelerate the country's economic growth.

 

Partner and Chief Economist, PwC Nigeria, Andrew Nevin disclosed this while
speaking at an executive roundtable on the Finance Act 2020 and Economic
Outlook for 2021.

Nevin gave the figure while highlighting ten priority areas policy makers
and businesses in Nigeria need to consider in 2021 which include: unlocking
Nigeria's vast dead assets to stimulate growth; harnessing the power of the
diaspora; driving export growth through services; the need for growth to be
spread across the country, and not just in a few urban centres; improving on
the country's low investment and gross capital formation; moving its
thriving informal sector to the formal sector; improving on the business
environment, and ease of doing business; addressing Nigeria's big three
distortions (exchange rate, power, and subsidies); shifting focus from the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) lens to sustainable development goals and
finally, prioritising climate change.

 

He stressed finding the political will to act and unlock Nigeria's dead real
estate assets will have a transformative impact on the lives of Nigerians.

 

He said: "Out of the 10 themes, another important theme to consider is
Nigeria's gross fixed capital formation, which in 2019, stood at less than
20 percent. And PwC estimates that Nigeria would need an investment rate of
at least 26 percent to 28 percent of GDP to achieve seven percent growth.

 

"Nigeria's economy is distorted by the exchange rate; fuel subsidy regime;
and the power sector. Addressing these three big distortions will be taking
the giant step to restructure the country's economy holistically; achieve
the seven percent GDP growth, and improve the lives of the average
Nigerian."

 

Also speaking at the roundtable, Taiwo Oyedele, Fiscal Policy Partner and
West Africa Tax Leader, PwC Nigeria, presented highlights of a survey
conducted by the company on the Finance Act 2020.

 

According to him, a breakdown of the survey on Finance Act 2020 showed an
overwhelming 92 percent public support for the Finance Act 2020.

 

On the changes made to existing laws from the Finance Act, the majority of
respondents were most excited about the reduction of minimum tax from 0.5
percent to 0.25 percent of turnover. Furthermore, businesses considered
technology and tax intelligence as the most efficient for the government to
catch tax evaders and raise revenue.

 

Most respondents however disagree with provision of the Finance Act that
mandates transfer of unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances to a
Trust fund.

 

Vanguard News Nigeria

 

 

 

Namibia: Indebted Etunda Farmers Struggle to Feed Nation

Etunda — Vast tracts of land zoned for agricultural use by small-scale
farmers at the Etunda irrigation scheme in the Omusati region remain
underutilised as producers struggle to make ends meet.

 

According to Berfine Antindi, the acting managing director of Agribusdev,
which is the government entity running the green scheme, the underproduction
was as a result of farmers not honouring their revolving loans with
Agribank.

 

The loans offered by Agribank are funded through the ministry of
agriculture. As a result of the default in payments, the farmers have no
further money to fully utilise their three hectares and therefore only work
on a small portion of their crop fields.

"Agribusdev has no role in the money. Ours is to provide services such as
ploughing and harvesting, but we don't give money," said Antindi in an
interview with New Era.

 

Antindi said only two small-scale farmers have serviced their loans, adding
they were doing well thus far.

 

According to Antindi, some of the unproductive farmers have already been
issued with eviction orders, but they are refusing to leave the green
scheme.

 

Speaking on behalf of the farmers, Ferdinand Vakola said he has only worked
on half of his three-hectare land, as he does not have the financial means
to utilise the entire field.

 

He said little income has been coming in since 2013, causing a lot of
underproduction on his allocated land.

 

He said many farmers are not able to work on all three hectares, while
others have stopped with production completely.

Vakola said with a lack of market, their produce sometimes get rotten and
thereby do not make a profit.

 

He equally charged the money they make yearly is only enough to pay for the
revolving loan and their basic services.

 

"For as long as there is no market, we will continue to farm to put food on
the table and not necessarily to become financially independent," said
Vakola. The farmers further claimed it is disheartening that produce from
the project continues to be rejected in government institutions such as
schools and hospitals. They alleged that those catering in government
institutions continue to source for products beyond the red line even for
facilities in the Omusati region. Vakola said the only time that their
product is considered is when the big farms have run out of produce. "And
that is like selling 10 bags which does not make much of a difference.

 

But how should we feel if our own children are eating from elsewhere whilst
we are producing the same food," said Vakola. The farmers are thus pleading
with the ministry of agriculture to look into issues of the market. In 2019,
then finance minister Calle Schlettwein issued an economy-wide procurement
directive on the reservation of procurement of goods, services and works to
local suppliers in terms of Section 73 of the Public Procurement Act. The
measure by Schlettwein, who is now heading the agriculture portfolio,
directed public entities to source specific categories of goods, services
and works produced or manufactured locally and to the extent such goods,
services and works are available locally, before procuring these from
somewhere else.-New Era.

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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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.

 


 

 


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