Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 February 2021
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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 February 2021
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ü Elon Musk's Tesla buys $1.5bn of Bitcoin causing currency to spike
ü Covid: Travellers to UK set to be tested after arrival
ü Bank Governor Bailey 'angry' at criticism over regulatory role
ü Chinese users flock to Clubhouse amid soaring popularity
ü Oil prices climb back to pre-pandemic levels
ü Boohoo buys Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton but 2,450 jobs lost
ü China’s tech giants face new anti-monopoly rules
ü Zambia Braces for IMF Crunch Talks
ü Uganda: Museveni, Ministers Cling Onto Social Media Despite Ban By His Government
ü Nigeria: Experts Seek Passage of Railway Reform Bills to Boost Devt
ü Nigeria: Why Banning Cryptocurrency Transactions Is Not Right - Moghalu
ü Gambia: Govt Collects Over D48 Million Revenue From Senegambia Bridge
ü Liberia: Ministry of Mines and Energy Inspects Illegal Mining Sites Southeastern Liberia
ü Uganda: New Deal to Enable Post Bank Clients to Transact in 179 Countries
ü SoftBank shares breach Y10,000, scale two-decade high, on record Vision Fund profit
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Elon Musk's Tesla buys $1.5bn of Bitcoin causing currency to spike
Elon Musk's car firm Tesla has said it bought about $1.5bn (£1.1bn) of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in January and expects to start accepting it as payment in future.
The news caused the price of Bitcoin to jump 17% to $44,220, a record high.
Tesla said it was trying to maximise returns on cash that is not being used in day-to-day running of the company.
It comes days after Mr Musk added "#bitcoin" to his Twitter profile page, which drove up the price.
He removed it days later, but has continued talking up Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin, which jumped 50% after his endorsement.
In a stock market filing, Tesla said it "updated its investment policy" in January and now wanted to invest in "reserve assets" such as digital currencies, gold bullion or gold exchange-traded funds.
It said it had already bought $1.5bn of Bitcoin and could "acquire and hold digital assets" in the future.
Bitcoin chart
"Moreover, we expect to begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis," it said.
Mr Musk said a week ago in a tweet that Bitcoin was "on the verge" of being more widely accepted among investors.
Game-changer?
Some analysts said Tesla's investment could be a game-changer for the cryptocurrency.
"I think we will see an acceleration of companies looking to allocate to Bitcoin now that Tesla has made the first move," said Eric Turner, vice-president of market intelligence at cryptocurrency research firm Messari.
"One of the largest companies in the world now owns Bitcoin and by extension, every investor that owns Tesla, or even just an S&P 500 fund, has exposure to it as well."
But Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com, warned that Bitcoin was a "very volatile" cryptocurrency.
"Tesla is now starting to take on big [foreign exchange] risk - this may not worry a lot of investors, but some conservative types might be concerned," he said.
No intrinsic value?
Bitcoin, which has hit record highs in recent months after a rollercoaster ride over the past decade, has also drawn support from major financial institutions this year.
The world's biggest money manager, Blackrock, recently changed a handful of investment mandates to allow some of its funds to invest in the currency.
However, central banks remain sceptical of digital currencies.
In October, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey cautioned over Bitcoin's use as a payment method.
"I have to be honest, it is hard to see that Bitcoin has what we tend to call intrinsic value," he said. "It may have extrinsic value in the sense that people want it."
Mr Bailey added that he was "very nervous" about people using Bitcoin for payments, pointing out that investors should realise its price was extremely volatile.--BBC
Covid: Travellers to UK set to be tested after arrival
Travellers entering the UK are set to be tested for coronavirus a few days after they arrive.
The new, expanded testing regime will be announced shortly.
Enhancing the testing regime "to cover all arrivals while they isolate" would add another level of protection, the Department of Health said.
The move is designed to help to track any new cases which might be brought into the country and make it easier to detect new variants.
It is in addition to the current rules which say travellers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or plane, must show proof of a negative Covid-19 test to be allowed entry.
The test must be taken in the 72 hours before travelling, and anyone arriving without one faces a fine of up to £500, with Border Force officials carrying out spot checks.
All passengers will still be required to quarantine for up to 10 days.
Travellers must provide contact details and their UK address. They can then travel - by public transport if necessary - to the place where they plan to self-isolate.
Meanwhile, from 15 February, UK residents and Irish nationals arriving from certain countries will have to quarantine in hotels.
Passengers will have to stay in their rooms for 10 nights, with security guards accompanying if they go outside.
The rules will apply to UK nationals and residents arriving from 33 "red list" Covid-19 hotspots - mostly in South America and Africa - where it's feared Covid variants may have already spread. Passengers will be expected to pay for the cost of the accommodation.
Non-UK travellers who have been in these countries in the 10 days before travelling are banned from entry.
Another layer on top of an already layered travel policy.
Regardless of where travellers arrive from outside of the UK and Ireland, they will be required to take at least one test during their time in quarantine. That's in addition to the test passengers already need to take in the 72 hours before they travel to the U.K.
The type and number of tests that will be required has not been confirmed by the government, although there's speculation that arrivals will need to take one test on the 2nd day of quarantine and another on the 8th day.
There are questions about when and how this policy will be enforced, as well as who will pay for the tests.
The aviation industry has expressed concern that if more layers are added to the policy, it will take longer for business to return.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Throughout the pandemic, the government has put in place proportionate measures, informed by the advice of scientists, that has led to some of the toughest border regimes in the world.
"It is important the government continues to take the necessary steps to protect people and save lives.
"Enhancing our testing regime to cover all arrivals while they isolate will provide a further level of protection and enable us to better track any new cases which might be brought into the country, and give us even more opportunities to detect new variants.
"Further details of our mandatory quarantine and enhanced testing regime will be set out soon."—BBC
Bank Governor Bailey 'angry' at criticism over regulatory role
The governor of the Bank of England has angrily rejected criticism that he was slow to make changes in his previous role overseeing City regulation.
Andrew Bailey was head of the Financial Conduct Authority when a high-risk bond scheme collapsed two years ago.
Nearly 12,000 people invested £236m in London Capital & Finance before it went under.
A report last year said the regulator had failed to effectively supervise the firm.
The author of the report, former Court of Appeal judge Elizabeth Gloster, told Parliament last week that the slow pace of internal reforms at the FCA was not an excuse for what had happened to investors in LC&F.
Mr Bailey told a Parliamentary committee on Monday that he strongly disagreed with her view.
In particular he rejected a suggestion he had been among executives, asking not to be named in the report's conclusions, saying: "I am probably sounding quite angry now, and I am."
Mr Bailey said Lady Justice Gloster had described the regulator as a "broken machine".
"She sort of suggested to you that if only we had told the staff to pull their socks up, the problem would have gone away," Mr Bailey told the Treasury Committee.
"She even at one point in the report suggested that maybe it was a mistake to do the programmes of change, which I just fundamentally disagree with," he said.
He said that the regulator at the time had no way of collating concerns raised by investors from the 200,000 calls a year it receives from the public.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) said last year that the majority of people who invested in LC&F would not be eligible for compensation.--BBC
Chinese users flock to Clubhouse amid soaring popularity
Audio-only social network iPhone app Clubhouse has seen an explosion of new users in the last week, including Chinese people discussing politics.
According to mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower, the app was downloaded 2.3 million times by 31 January.
The free app is currently invite-only and restricted to owners of iPhones.
Chinese users are paying up to $77 (£56) for invitations from e-commerce sites and bypassing China's censors, according to the FT.
Clubhouse was launched in May and valued at almost $100m. The app allows users to join and participate in pop-up public or private audio chatrooms.
Conversations are not recorded, which theoretically ensures privacy, although some interviews of celebrities and influencers have been secretly recorded and uploaded to YouTube.
Early adopters were mostly Silicon Valley technophiles and investors, but the app's invite-only nature has created an exclusivity appeal that has seen a raft of US celebrities join, including Oprah Winfrey, Ashton Kutcher, Drake, Azealia Banks, Jared Leto and Tiffany Haddish.
But the app's downloads more than doubled in the last two weeks due to popular tech moguls like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg joining Clubhouse to participate in interviews and talk shows.
After Mr Musk tweeted that he would be speaking live on the app, shares in an unrelated company called Clubhouse Media shares soared. The actual app is privately owned, meaning its shares can't be bought by the public.
Freedom to discuss controversial topics
At the moment, Clubhouse is only available on the iPhone and can be accessed in mainland China without the use of a virtual private network (VPN) to bypass China's Great Firewall.
While many of the chatrooms are either private or have been deleted, over the weekend thousands of Chinese users joined chatrooms on Clubhouse in order to freely discuss topics that are considered to be taboo in China, from the Hong Kong protests and the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, to heightening tensions between China and Taiwan.
Multiple Chinese users who witnessed the audio conversations in the app's chatrooms took to Twitter to discuss what they were seeing.
It is unlikely that the Chinese government will continue to permit access to Clubhouse for long, however.
Monetising Clubhouse
Although Clubhouse is currently invite-only, it is already offering a wide range of audio-based activities, including live DJ sets, celebrity talk shows and even speed dating.
While none of this is yet monetised, Clubhouse has plans to turn popular users into influencers, according to the New York Times.
More than 40 Clubhouse influencers have been invited to a "Creator Pilot Program" where they will attend regular meetings with the app's founders and be given special access to new tools.
But the app has also been criticised for a lack of moderation.
A December article by Vulture declared that Clubhouse was "dangerously close" to becoming a "new Internet wasteland", because conversations can easily veer off-topic from their intended subject matter and debates can turn into attacks - even against celebrities - if the moderators of the chatrooms are not careful.
"It remains to be seen whether opening to the public will upend the precarious balance between chaos and chill that the young app currently enjoys; [or] whether the many celebrity regulars will stick when the exclusivity wears off and anyone can log in and call them out for takes that aren't necessarily very deeply considered," wrote Craig Jenkins.
"Most important, [it remains to be seen] whether or not we're only interested in an audio app that is, on a certain level, replicating the experience of meeting strangers on '90s chat lines primarily because we're all stranded at home and lonely."--BBC
Oil prices climb back to pre-pandemic levels
The price of oil has recovered to its pre-pandemic levels having hit an all-time low last year.
While demand for oil is still lower than normal, there are hopes of a speedier than expected economic recovery as vaccines are rolled out.
Oil prices are often seen as a barometer for economic activity, still struggling with the virus downturn.
"Black gold" has now reached $60 a barrel having risen more than 50% in the last few months.
Brent crude, the major benchmark for oil, has seen strong growth recently. Futures contracts, which are based on the price of future delivery, have jumped 59% since November.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US oil, last week rose above $55 a barrel for the first time in over a year.
"The biggest driver for the latest surge in prices seen through last week was a sharp upturn in expectations for economic and oil demand recovery on signs that the coronavirus may finally be in retreat," Vandana Hari, founder of Singapore-based oil markets data firm Vanda Insights told the BBC.
Demand has been rising in parts of the world, particularly Asia. "We are quite optimistic about what it is that we are seeing in China," Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said last week.
Other factors have also played their part to push up prices such as efforts by oil-producing nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, to limit output.
Since agreeing to the cut in production last April, producers have held back a cumulative 2.1 billion barrels of oil, leading to decreasing stockpiles.
The coronavirus crisis has been devastating for the petroleum industry, and last year prices slumped below zero with more than one billion surplus barrels.
Demand for fuel from airlines has seen the most dramatic fall as travel curbs remain in place. Air passenger traffic is 70% below year-ago levels, according to the International Air Transport Association.
But demand has picked up in other areas, thanks in part to the shift to working and consuming more from home.
As consumers are buying more online, this has spurred demand for fuel to power delivery trucks and vans, along with cargo ships and and freight trains.
The e-commerce boom has also caused a spike for plastic packaging, which is made using oil products.
However, oil demand is still lower than pre-pandemic levels and a slow economic recovery would delay a full rebound in world energy demand for years to come, the International Energy Agency warned last month.
"There could be more setbacks in the spread of the virus or the vaccinations, causing a pullback in prices, though short of another crisis," added Ms Hari.--BBC
Boohoo buys Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton but 2,450 jobs lost
Online fashion retailer Boohoo has bought the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands from failed retail group Arcadia for £25.2m
The deal includes the brands and online businesses, but not the 214 shops nor 2,450 workers employed in them.
It completes the sell-off of Sir Philip Green's once mighty Arcadia group which fell into administration last year.
Last week, rival Asos bought Arcadia's other leading brands, Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT.
The Arcadia businesses employed 13,000, a fraction of which will carry on into employment with the new owners.
Administrators Deloitte, which has been conducting the sales, said around 2,450 staff would lose their jobs as a result of the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton sale, and the stores would permanently close.
Deloitte said staff had been emailed on Monday and would informed over the course of the day.
Arcadia
Approximately 260 jobs will be moving with the brands to Boohoo, mainly head office functions such as brand design, buying and merchandising, and the digital part of the business.
Last month, Boohoo bought the Debenhams brand and website for £55m.
Boohoo said the brands it had bought from Arcadia had two million active customers last year, and added that the deal would give it a significant opportunity to boost its share of the market across a broader group of customers.
It also said that buying Burton would improve its range of menswear.
"Acquiring these well-known brands in British fashion out of administration ensures their heritage is sustained, while our investment aims to transform them into brands that are fit for the current market environment," said chief executive John Lyttle.
"We have a successful track record of integrating British heritage fashion brands onto our proven multi-brand platform, and we are looking forward to bringing these brands on board."
The debate around the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has shifted subtly in recent weeks from the size and speed of the bounce back to its nature. What parts of pre-pandemic life will return, and which, given the virus is mutating quickly and may turn out to be a long-lasting threat, are gone forever?
The debate is already closed in one part of retail, clothing sales. The pandemic has accounted for several big High Street names, and this morning Boohoo bought three more stalwarts - Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Wallis.
The names will live on online, but their 214 UK shops will close, with about 2,450 staff losing their jobs. Hundreds more stores that were under the other Arcadia brands - notably Topshop - will also close after the brands were bought by another online player Asos. And Boohoo has already bought the Debenhams name, meaning 125 of its stores will close from next month.
This leaves a big hole on British high streets, one that will take a long time to be filled. Councils must now think how they can revitalise their high streets. Should they stick to Plan A and try and lure more retailers to fill the vacant shops, or be more radical, and use this sudden shift in the market as a catalyst for wholesale reinvention?
In Stockton-on-Tees a 1970s shopping centre will be bulldozed next year to make way for a park. It may not be the last one to bite the dust.
2px presentational grey line
Boohoo has bought a number of other leading High Street names in the past two years, buying the online businesses of Oasis and Warehouse for £5.25m last year.
That added to its portfolio, which included the Karen Millen and Coast brands, which it bought from administrators in 2019.
Susannah Streeter, markets analyst at stockbrokers Hargreaves Lansdown, said the sale of the final assets of the former Arcadia empire gave Boohoo the parts with which to build its own: "This purchase is part of a grand master plan by Boohoo to become the UK's largest retail marketplace and propel its international expansion.
"As Boohoo expands, the final bricks of Sir Philip Green's retail empire have been dislodged. Boohoo and Asos, dismissed as digital upstarts a decade ago are now the great disruptors in fashion, reaching the top branches of the retail tree.''--BBC
China’s tech giants face new anti-monopoly rules
New anti-monopoly rules for China's tech giants were introduced on Sunday.
The guidelines, which formalise draft laws released in November, come as regulators try to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour.
The rules are aimed at stopping China’s e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com from abusing their dominant market position.
Specifically, the rules stop e-commerce platforms from forcing vendors to deal exclusively with them.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) wants to stop price-fixing, predatory pricing and unreasonable trading conditions.
There are also rules against restricting technologies and using data and algorithms to manipulate the market.
The guidelines will also apply to financial technology and payments companies such as Tencent’s WeChat Pay and Ant Group, Alibaba’s payments affiliate.
SAMR said reports of anti-competitive behaviour had been increasing, and that it was facing challenges regulating the industry.
“The behaviour is more concealed, the use of data, algorithms, platform rules and so on make it more difficult to discover and determine what are monopoly agreements,” SAMR said.
Tougher approach
The new rules come into effect as China takes a firmer line against alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
On Monday, SAMR announced it had fined online discount retailer Vipshop nearly $500,000 (£364,000) for unfair competition.
Between August and December last year, the retailer had developed a system to obtain information on brands it and competitors sold, which gave it an advantage.
The regulator said Vipshop used its system to influence user choices and transaction opportunities and to block sales of particular brands.
SAMR is also currently carrying out an antitrust investigation into Alibaba, which it first announced in December.
The investigation followed Ant Group’s decision to drop a planned $37bn share market launch after regulators intervened.--BBC
Zambia Braces for IMF Crunch Talks
Zambia has been gearing up for talks with the IMF after becoming the first African nation to default on debt since the COVID-19 pandemic started. But analysts say an IMF loan is unlikely until after August elections.
Zambia is getting ready to hold virtual talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from Thursday in the hope of securing a bailout loan. This latest round of negotiations will run until March 3.
The administration of President Edgar Lungu has accumulated massive debts in recent years, much of it for large-scale infrastructure projects.
The level of debt has now blown out to around $12 billion (€9.97 billion), half of which comes from private creditors.
Zambia failed to honor a $42.5 million (€35.3 million) payment on a $750 million Eurobond in November, becoming the first Africa country to default on its international debt payments since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. It has since missed a second bond payment of $56.1 million on January 30.
Difficult relationship
Zambia's government formally asked the IMF for a financing arrangement in December, according to Reuters news agency. The exact details of the request have not been revealed.
An IMF deal could include affordable financing, in the form of a zero- or low-interest loan, as well as technical support for economic reform.
Zambia under President Lungu has had a rocky relationship with the IMF.
His administration first requested a $1.6 billion aid package from the international fund back in 2016 -- an request the IMF never agreed to because of concerns over Zambia's commitment to economic reform.
But after Zambia hosted high-level discussions with the IMF in December 2020, Zambian economist Grieve Chelwa sees the relationship as improving.
"I think this is the first time that the talks have been fruitful enough to begin to think about an IMF program," said Chelwa, a postdoctoral fellow in economics at New York's New School.
He doubts, however, that the IMF will do an about-turn and agree to a new deal before presidential and parliamentary elections in August, when President Lungu and his Patriotic Front party will seek to stay in power.
Elections could delay any IMF deal
Lungu's administration presented an economic recovery plan in December, said Chelwa, but "even if you have a plan that says you are not going to spend frivolously or exorbitantly, what happens in an election year?"
"Budgeting goes out the window. You throw money at this thing. You want to splurge because if you want to return your seats and retain your power, you have to spend."
Because of this, Chelwa rated the chances of the IMF agreeing to a major program in the run-up to the election as "quite low."
International business consultant Trevor Simumba, who has written widely on Zambia's debt crisis, also believes the IMF will be "reluctant" to agree to a full program of support before elections.
He points to the "panicked, preelection" decision of Zambia's state mining company, ZCCM-IH, to buy Glencore's stake in the country's Mopani copper mine, which employs 15,000 people.
The Mopani takeover, announced in January, will see Zambia taking on an additional $1.5 billion in debt in what Simumba called a "terrible deal" with "no real economic value to the country apart from delaying the pain of the high cost of mining in Zambia."
But, Simumba said in a phone interview from Lusaka, the IMF may agree to emergency aid to soften the economic impact of COVID-19 on the condition that this flows to the underfunded health and education sectors.
Zambia's finance minister, Bwalya Ng'andu, told the financial news agency Bloomberg last week that the government wanted a deal before the August poll.
"There is absolutely no desire on our part that we delay things to election time, and we are hopeful that we'll be able to reach some agreement with the IMF," Bloomberg quoted Ng'andu as saying.
Zambia criticized for unsustainable debt
Zambia's government has taken out massive loans for infrastructure projects in the past decade.
According to Zambian economist Chelwa, the country's external debt has ballooned by 1,000% since 2011, when the ruling Patriotic Front came to power under Lungu's predecessor, Michael Sata.
Some of the loans were spent on practical infrastructure, like hospital and school upgrades, improved telecommunications and roads. But many projects have been criticized for costing more than was necessary.
"[The Patriotic Front] have certainly transformed the country in many parts in terms of infrastructure, but there is also the mismanagement, theft and pilferage that comes with these large-scale infrastructure projects," said economist Chelwa in a phone interview.
"I think we we've gotten less bang for the buck, but we've gotten something."
Before the coronavirus outbreak, Zambia's debt had already reached dangerous levels, with Zambian and international economists warning that Zambia had borrowed more than it could afford to pay back.
The pandemic triggered a worldwide slump in the demand for raw materials, slashing Zambia's resources revenues last year, particularly from copper, which is the country's biggest foreign exchange earner.
To make matter worse, Zambia's economy contracted by 4% because of the global COVID-19 downturn.
Zambia has little left over to help
Zambia's debt crisis coupled with the coronavirus pandemic is proving a double blow for the country's 17 million people.
Zambians have been hard hit by rising food prices and job losses during the pandemic. And the nation's debt crisis means the government has limited resources to help.
They are facing a sharp rise in prices for items such as bread, cereals, fish, dried foods and vegetables with annual inflation rising by 25%.
At the same time, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is still disrupting supplies and slowing consumer demand, leaving many traders and businesses in the southern African country struggling.
But nearly half of Zambia's revenue currently goes towards paying off, or servicing, its loans. A large chunk -- some 40% -- is also earmarked to pay civil servant wages.
This means only 10% of the annual budget is available for all other services, such as agriculture, social protection, health and education.
"This debt crisis essentially revealed how fragile our current fiscal system is ... because it leaves the government with very little resources to provide service delivery, especially now that we are currently in the COVID-19 pandemic," said Kangwa Muyunda, a program officer at the consumer organization, CUTS International.
"We have cases of people [with COVID-19] dying because of lack of oxygen to support these patients because of the government's lack of resources to deal with this pandemic."
Zambia's schools reopened last week under a loosening of lockdown restrictions, she added.
"But you wonder if the government can even supply face masks and food for these children to actually go to school in this pandemic," Muyunda said.
Uganda: Museveni, Ministers Cling Onto Social Media Despite Ban By His Government
President Museveni and half of his 28-member Cabinet have remained active on social media despite the government's official ban on the micro-blogging sites.
Only 10 of them had neither tweeted nor posted anything on Facebook by 4pm yesterday, 27 days after the government shut down the Internet and social media on January 11, 2021.
Five full ministers - Attorney General William Byaruhanga, Adolf Mwesige (Defence), John Byabagambi (Karamoja Affairs), Raphael Magyezi (Local Government) and Hilary Onek (Refugees) - could not be found on either Twitter or Facebook.
It was unclear if they use different names or never subscribed to the platforms.
The government through the communications sector regulator, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), blocked social media citing security reasons while President Museveni accused Facebook of being undemocratic.
This followed Facebook's decision in early January 2021 to take down the accounts of more than 50 pro-Uganda government campaigners it accused of "Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour".
Two days before the January 14 poll, UCC executive director Irene Sewankambo ordered telecom companies and Internet service providers to "immediately suspend any access, use, direct or otherwise, of all social media platforms and online messaging applications over your network until further notice".
The telecoms and Internet service providers acted promptly, blocking access to Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube, and other social media sites.
But when the government restored Internet services on January 18, two days after President Museveni was declared winner of the presidential elections, many Ugandans began accessing social media through virtual private network (VPN).
UCC itself, without reversing or revising the ban, resurfaced on social media under the cover of darkness and at 9.48pm on January 20 tweeted that "content development support programme - supporting the audio-visual industry in Uganda" in apparent reference to a new programme.
A one @stephentugu in a rejoinder noted: "It's insane how someone violates their own deeds." Another person, using the handle @rogersKalemera, tweeted that "social media is still off as per the government [ban] other than those that are using VPN. But how is UCC accessing Twitter?"
The communications regulator did not respond or explain its access to the site.
Our examination of the accounts of Cabinet ministers, three key government entities and that of government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo shows that these users combined had tweeted and retweeted 823 times.
They also posted a total of 119 messages on Facebook between January 11, when social media was blocked, to 4pm yesterday.
Nearly half of the tweets (359) were by the Ministry of Health, the Government of Uganda and Uganda Media Centre (UMC), a government communication-clearing house.
Of the 464 tweets by Cabinet ministers and other senior government official, 358 were by UMC executive director Mr Ofwono Opondo alone.
He did not receive or return our repeated calls last evening.
The most active minister on twitter during the still obtaining social media ban is Frank Tumwebaze of Gender, Labour and Social Development followed by his Works counterpart, Gen Katumba Wamala and newcomer twitter user Elly Tumwine (Security) while ICT Minister Judith Nabakooba, who doubles as the government spokesperson, ranks fourth.
Gen Tumwine joined twitter during the ban, on January 20, 2021, and has since tweeted and retweeted 19 times on security and other political matters.
We picked on the ministers because they are responsible for the country's policy direction and would be expected to lead by example and comply with government ban on social media.
Asked why Cabinet ministers including herself were active on micro-blogging sites in defiance of official ban, and whether they were navigating their way through VPN, Ms Nabakooba said:
"I am not there [on social media].
Somebody else is managing it (my account). I can only access the Internet when I reach the office."
The shutdown of social media has significantly affected Ugandans by denying advertising platforms for small business, deprivation of cheaper social and family networking as well as international communication.
Ms Joan Nabuma, a kiosk owner in Kansanga, a Kampala suburb, said: "it is ironic that our leaders in government block us from using things they are using. You wonder how they even expect us to receive the messages they post on their social media accounts when we have been barred from accessing them."
The executive director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, told this newspaper last week that the Internet and social media shutdown affected testing for, and transmission of, Covid-19 results.
Whereas the East African Affairs Minister Kahinda Otafire is quiet on Twitter, he has within the social media ban period posted messages on Facebook at 22 times.
Most of the messages shared by the ministers and government agencies relate to their official work or retweets of work initiated by counterparts, which appears calculated to expand the reach of information from the government to the citizens, most of whom without access to VPN remail in information blackhole.
The government has also blocked regular access to VPN and Youtube, meaning users in Uganda are currently unable to install the former on their mobile phone handsets or access the latter.
Ministers and government spokespersons have lately shared information about the latest acquisition of the second Airbus A330neo last week and post-election security.
President Museveni, in reply to Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli's congratulatory messaging, tweeted at 4.48pm on January 18, 2021 responded to thank Mr Magufuli and Tanzanians, promising continued cooperation on business and politics.
Mr Museveni or his courtier also announced his last Thursday's address, in which he proclaimed return of semi-candidate classes to school on March 1, on his Twitter handle, suggesting social media use has become unavoidable for government and its executives.
Mr Julius Mucunguzi, the head of communication at the Office of the Prime Minister, declined to explain how the social media accounts of Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda have remained active despite the ban, referring further inquiries to the ICT minister.
State ICT Minister Peter Ogwang, who is also using social media, on January 21 threatened action against individuals circumventing the blockade using VPN in a manner suggesting government official are having an exemption under a catch-all policy.
The ban also affects law-abiding citizens who paid Over-The-Top (OTT) tax, introduced in May 2018, to enjoy social media service while tax avoiders can access the micro-blogging sites as long as they have Internet connection.
Ministers were contacted declined to say whether they are using VPN or not and whether they are playing by a rule different from that for citizens.
Mr Robert Kirenga, the executive director of the National Coalition of Rights Defenders-Uganda (NCHRD), said the government's reason of internet shutdown and refusal to restore social media access was not justified.
"In whatever justification they gave, whether it was national security, there was a mechanism they would (have) used to ensure (peace), after all they had deployed troops all over... even if I were to incite (people) using internet to go the street, which streets would they go to when government had deployed hundreds of foot soldiers?" he said.
Facebook ban
On January 7, Facebook shut a slew of accounts belonging to Ugandan government officials accused of seeking to manipulate public debate ahead of elections.
"This month, we removed a network of accounts and pages in Uganda that engaged in CIB (Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour) to target public debate ahead of the election," Facebook's head of communication for sub-Saharan Africa, Kezia Anim-Addo, said in an email.-Monitor.
Nigeria: Experts Seek Passage of Railway Reform Bills to Boost Devt
Abuja — The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and railway experts have called for an urgent passage of various railway bills before the National Assembly to open up the sector for private sector participation.
The stakeholders made the plea at the transport sector webinar series with the theme: "Assessing Railway Development in Nigeria," which was organised by the chamber.
The participants said the existing legal framework for the railway constituted an impediment to the rapid development of the sector.
They also criticised the outdated laws regulating the railway sector and pushed for a new legal and regulatory structures.
The president of ACCI, Alhaji Abubakar Al-Mujtaba, who moderated the meeting, appealed for new legislative framework to allow private sector to construct and run railways.
He also sought constitutional amendment to move railway from exclusive to concurrent list in the constitution.
Al-Mujtaba, also called for the diversification of railway financing by the federal government, calling deliberate support for the development of Nigerian local railway industry and value chains.
In a statement issued by ACCI Media Officer, Latifat Opoola, he was quoted to have said: "We seek enhanced localisation in the implementation of the various railway projects. This will deepen local capacity development."
However, the minister who sent in his address, further sought the passage of the new railway bills known as, "the Nigerian Railway Authority and National Transport Commission Bills" to provide legal framework that will facilitate the participation of private sectors and to sustain the rehabilitated and modernised railway networks in the country.
He said this would reduce the financial burden on the government towards railway development.
Amaechi, while listing progress already made in the revitalisation of the railway sector, said, "the administration is focusing at bringing about a functional and industrial transportation backbone that would aid economic growth, leading to the high capital investment and social economic impact associated with railways."
He added: "It is my considered opinion that Nigerians should be aware of this development and how the outcome of government's effort would positively impact on their livelihood."
The minister, however, assured that the ministry has fully embraced Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as well as reform of legal, regulatory and institutional framework of the railway sector.-This Day.
Nigeria: Why Banning Cryptocurrency Transactions Is Not Right - Moghalu
"This is livelihoods for Nigerians, so why would you take actions that look as if you are taking away opportunities from Nigerians especially in a depressed economy."
A former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, has urged the apex bank to look at ways of managing the risks of cryptocurrencies rather than impose an outright ban.
He said this on Sunday, during Channels TV's Politics Today show, while reacting to the CBN directive that all Nigerian banks should close all cryptocurrency-related accounts.
Mr Moghalu, who served as a deputy governor of CBN between 2009 and 2014, and was the presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party during the 2019 election, said he would not have taken such a decision if he had the opportunity.
As a former deputy governor in charge of financial system stability, Mr Moghalu said he would have been aware or conscious of the risks of cryptocurrencies.
The regulator had on Friday ordered Nigerian banks to close all cryptocurrency-related accounts. It has also barred financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency payments in the country.
In the letter, the CBN referenced a circular it issued on January 12, 2017, which cautioned Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), and other financial institutions (OFIs) as well as members of the public on the risks associated with such transactions.
Also, in a statement issued on Sunday, the apex bank explained why it banned cryptocurrency-related transactions in the country, claiming the digital currency is used for money laundering and terrorism.
The decision has sparked outrage from mostly young people in a country that is the world's second-biggest user of virtual currencies like Bitcoins.
The former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, in a statement issued on Saturday had called on the CBN to reverse its policy directing Nigerian banks to close all cryptocurrency‐related accounts and stop such transactions in the country.
He said the first challenge facing Nigeria is youth unemployment and that it is an emergency that needs urgent attention.
Mr Moghalu in his response said there is a reality in the world today that a lot of the world is going digital, and that cryptocurrencies are part of it.
"So my attitude would be how can we best manage the risks of cryptocurrencies to ensure that they do not affect the stability of the financial systems. That's what I would have done," he said.
The former CBN official said, "I would not recommend banning it (cryptocurrencies) outright in exchanges because also, $500 million worth of Bitcoins have been traded in Nigeria within the last five years."
He said, "This is livelihoods for Nigerians, so why would you take actions that look as if you are taking away opportunities from Nigerians especially in a depressed economy."
Mr Moghalu explained that one of the things that attract Nigerians a lot to cryptocurrencies is because a lot of the policies that have come out from the CBN in recent years are a bit ad-hoc as a result of the day-to-day changes and policies that concern remittances and forex exchanges.
"But trading in cryptocurrencies protects them from fluctuations in the value of the Naira because every currency in the world depreciates in value over time because of inflation and this is one of the reasons why a lot of people go for cryptocurrencies," he explained.
They are risky, he said, but they don't have the problem of depreciation because of inflation.
"In fact, in 2018 the value of a Bitcoin was about $3000, today about two and half years it's $38,000 for one BTC. So this gives you a sense of whats going on. Now does that mean it is sustainable? No!" he said.-Premium Times.
Gambia: Govt Collects Over D48 Million Revenue From Senegambia Bridge
The managing director of the National Roads Authority (NRA), Momodou Senghore, has disclosed that The Gambia has collected a total of D48,651,770 in 2019.
He made this disclosure during GRA's activity report's and financial statement's presentations before the legislators of the Public Enterprise Committee (PEC).
According to him, the mission of NRA is to develop, maintain and manage the national road network in an efficient and sustainable manner and also to ensure maximum safety on the roads.
He added that the mandate of the NRA as per the 2003 Road Authority Act is for administration, control, construct and maintenance all roads and also initiate and prepare professional designs and contract documents for all civil engineering, coastal engineering and architectural works.
He disclosed that the two joint border posts construction work was delayed as a result of a disagreement between The Gambia and Senegal over positioning facilities but with the recent change of government, the agreement has been reached on the matter and design work has begun.
Director Senghore said the construction component of the bridge includes construction of one market on the either banks of the bridge whereby both markets will each comprise 75 stalls with priority to accommodate the displaced vendors at the Senegambia Bridge.
He further explained that there is limited capacity, scarcity of materials old and inappropriate equipment, inherited magnitude of road maintenance backlog, uncontrolled encroachment of road sights of way and the total implementation of the NRA Act regarding source of funding are some of the constraints that the authority is encountering.
"The National Roads Authority (NRA) will continue to increase training on both staff and contractors in order to improve quality of maintenance but the government of The Gambia should increase fundings for road maintenance programmes and also promote participation of private sector participation on road infrastructure development" he concluded.-The Point.
Liberia: Ministry of Mines and Energy Inspects Illegal Mining Sites Southeastern Liberia
Maryland County — Mining Inspectors from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, currently carrying out operations against illicit and illegal Mining activities in Southeastern Liberia, have reported major progress in Barrobo District, Maryland County.
Team Lead, Adolphus Gleekia, Deputy Inspector-General for Mines, discovered that in order to evade taxes and continue defrauding Government of needed revenue, illicit Miners in Barrobo District buried and submerged essential equipment from Dredges they are illegally operating along the waterways.
According to the Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Richard Manuba, the Mining Inspectors detected the syndicate and destroyed all of the hidden Dredge materials.-FrontPageAfrica.
Uganda: New Deal to Enable Post Bank Clients to Transact in 179 Countries
UnionPay International, a Chinese financial services corporation with headquarters in Shanghai, China, has said its partnership with Post Bank seeks to enhance financial inclusion as well as enable customers to transact in more than 179 countries, 50 of which are within Africa.
Post Bank recently signed a partnership that gives the bank's customers leverage to transact at UnionPay merchant points within and outside Uganda.
The UnionPay PostCard can transact at more than 3,000 merchant locations in Uganda and 52 million merchant points in 179 countries globally.
Mr Luping Zhang, the UnionPay International general manager in charge of Africa, said Post Bank has become one of the entities through which it will seek to drive its financial services business in the Africa region.
On his part, Mr Julius Kakeeto, the Post Bank managing director, said there is need for as many Ugandans as possible to have access to affordable financial services to achieve reduction in cost and access to banking services.
Post Bank focuses on deepening financial accessibility as well as offering affordable products.-Monitor.
SoftBank shares breach Y10,000, scale two-decade high, on record Vision Fund profit
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp shares climbed above 10,000 yen apiece on Tuesday, hitting two-decade highs, a day after the group’s Vision Fund unit reported record profits as portfolio company listings accelerate.
SoftBank’s shares were up 3.3% at Y9,800 at 03:56 GMT having earlier shot past Y10,000, the biggest intraday jump in two months. On Monday SoftBank reported a bounce back in the value of its portfolio after startups like home-selling platform Opendoor went public.
With equity raising running at record levels, major assets from the first $100 billion Vision Fund portfolio expected to go public include ride-hailing firms Didi and Grab. [L1N2JT0HC]
The Japanese conglomerate is “effectively owner of the most lucrative portfolio amidst an ongoing retail IPO frenzy,” Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a note, referring to initial public offerings.
Most of the value of the first fund is locked up in a small number of large assets, which also include e-commerce firm Coupang and TikTok-owner Bytedance, in contrast to smaller bets by Vision Fund 2.
Frothy markets have seen the value of many of SoftBank’s assets, or “golden eggs” as Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son termed them on Monday, climb with the value of its assets standing at $221 billion at the end of December.
That is $37 billion lower than three months earlier after the share price of Son’s largest “egg”, Alibaba, tumbled following the regulatory halt of the IPO of its fintech affiliate Ant in November.
“The explosion in market liquidity over the last 9-10 months has played a huge role and we believe SoftBank success correlates closely with how U.S. tech trades going forward,” Redex Research analyst Kirk Boodry wrote in a note.
Japan’s benchmark share index was trading at a 30-year high on Tuesday after Wall Street closed at an all-time high overnight.
SoftBank “looks overvalued at current levels but we would expect a turnaround only if the tech market cools off,” Morningstar analyst Dan Baker wrote in a note.
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