Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 29 June 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 29 June 2021

 


 

 


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ü  US judge throws out Facebook anti-trust lawsuits

ü  Hong Kong bans all incoming flights from UK over Covid concerns

ü  Police are failing to protect shop workers, say MPs

ü  Juul to pay $40m in US lawsuit over teen targeting claims

ü  Spain, Malta and Portugal restrict non-vaccinated travellers

ü  Nissan to create thousands of UK jobs in battery investment

ü  Greensill auditor under investigation by watchdog

ü  Analysis: When do electric vehicles become cleaner than gasoline cars?

ü  Musk set to tout Starlink progress as cost, demand hurdles linger

ü  Uber to let office staff work up to half their time from anywhere -source

ü  Goldman, Blankfein, Cohn must face shareholder lawsuit over 1MDB scandal

ü  Google restores services after multiple users face outage

ü  Dollar bides time below two-month highs before payrolls test

ü  Wall Street banks hike shareholder payouts after Fed gives the green
light

ü  Japan's retail sales rise for 3rd month, but overall trend still soft

ü  Rwanda: Small Holder Farmers Seek Fortune in Chia Seeds

ü  Nigeria: Why We're Yet to Resume Flights to Dubai - Aviation Minister

ü  Kenya: Tax Exemption for Solar Will Woo Investors

ü  Rwanda: Construction of Ferwafa Hotel to Resume Next Week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

US judge throws out Facebook anti-trust lawsuits

A US federal court has dismissed two separate anti-trust lawsuits filed
against Facebook.

 

Judge James Boasberg ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s
anti-trust complaint against the social networking giant was too vague.

 

Another separate anti-competition lawsuit filed by a coalition of states was
thrown out because the alleged violations occurred too long ago.

 

Facebook's shares jumped 4.2% to $355.64 on the news.

 

This resulted in the social networking giant's market value rising above
$1tn (£720bn) for the first time ever.

 

In the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruling, Judge Boasberg
wrote that the FTC's complaint was "legally insufficient" and had to be
dismissed, because the FTC had "failed to plead enough facts" to back up its
claim that Facebook was stifling competition.

 

The FTC's lawsuit had requested that the technology giant, which also owns
Instagram and WhatsApp, be broken up.

 

"The FTC's complaint says almost nothing concrete on the key question of how
much power Facebook actually had, and still has, in a properly defined
anti-trust product market," wrote Judge Boasberg.

 

"It is almost as if the agency expects the court to simply nod to the
conventional wisdom that Facebook is a monopolist."

 

While this is a setback for the FTC that some analysts say could have
repercussions for the future of anti-competition law in the US, the watchdog
can re-file the charges and has until 28 July to do so.

 

'Doing nothing over the the last half decade'

Separately, Judge Boasberg also dismissed an anti-competition lawsuit
brought by a coalition of 45 US states together with the FTC.

 

This lawsuit had also sought to force Facebook to divest Instagram and
WhatsApp. It related to Facebook's acquisition of the two apps in 2012 and
2014.

 

In March, Facebook petitioned the federal court in the US to dismiss them,
describing the FTC complaint as "nonsensical".

 

The firm said the FTC's case "ignores the reality of the dynamic, intensely
competitive high-tech industry in which Facebook operates".

 

In his ruling on this case, Judge Boasberg said that the states did not
provide "a reasonable justification" for why they had waited between six to
eight years to decide to sue Facebook - an argument the social networking
giant previously made.

 

He added that the states had failed to provide "a factual dispute" and only
gave a "half-hearted contention that Facebook was not prejudiced but rather
'benefitted from the states not filing sooner', since it has been and
remains a very profitable company".

 

"Ultimately, this anti-trust action is premised on public, high-profile
conduct, nearly all of which occurred over six years ago - before the launch
of the Apple Watch or Alexa or Periscope, when Kevin Durant still played for
the Oklahoma City Thunder and when Ebola was the virus dominating
headlines," wrote Judge Boasberg.

 

He added that the states' allegations made it clear that the lawsuit could
easily have been filed between 2012 and 2014: "The system of anti-trust
enforcement that Congress has established does not exempt plaintiffs here
from 'the consequences of [their] choice' to do nothing over the last half
decade. "-BBC

 

 

 

Hong Kong bans all incoming flights from UK over Covid concerns

Hong Kong is to ban all flights from the UK to curb the spread of the Delta
variant of Covid.

 

The UK is to be classified as an "extremely high-risk" country, the highest
rating Hong Kong has for pandemic travel.

 

The ban will come into effect on 1 July and affect all incoming passenger
flights from Britain.

 

It also comes amid political tensions between China and the west over a
crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong.

 

The ban means people who'd recently spent more than two hours in Britain
wouldn't be allowed to board flights to Hong Kong from any airport.

 

The city's authorities said the decision was based on the "recent rebound"
of the pandemic in the UK and the "widespread Delta variant virus strain" in
the country.

 

Record spike in the UK

Despite high vaccination rates, the UK is currently seeing Europe's highest
number of daily new cases by far. Most of the new infections are linked to
the Delta variant, first detected in India.

 

Hong Kong however confirmed its first local Delta variant only last week,
ending a 16-day streak of zero local cases.

 

The city has had some of the strictest border curbs in the world since 2020,
which helped to keep infections numbers low throughout the entire pandemic.

 

Officials said the city recently recorded a growing number of Delta variant
cases in people arriving from the UK, who like all incoming travellers have
to quarantine.

 

The 1 July flight ban is the second time Hong Kong has stopped arrivals from
Britain after a ban from December 2020 until May of this year.

 

Flights outbound from Hong Kong to the UK are not affected by the upcoming
ban.

 

Hong Kong already bars flights from several other countries over rising
cases of the Delta strain, including Indonesia, India, Nepal, Pakistan and
the Philippines.

 

The new ban comes amid rising tensions over Hong Kong's recent pressure on
opposition media and dissenting voices under a controversial national
security law.

 

Can 5.4 million Hong Kong residents now live in the UK?

Hong Kong citizens given 'support' to come to UK

The UK government said it "restricts the rights and freedoms of the people
of Hong Kong and constitutes a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British
Joint Declaration".-BBC

 

 

Police are failing to protect shop workers, say MPs

Almost a year ago, shop owner Amit Puntambekar, 28, found himself stuck
between two customers, trying to stop one from hitting the other.

 

The row had started outside his village store but carried on inside, ending
in the older, taller, customer punching the teenage target of his anger.

 

Mr Puntambekar managed to evict the aggressor and help the younger man,
promising to report it to the police.

 

He did so - but nearly 12 months later, nothing has happened.

 

Mr Puntambekar is one of thousands of shop owners and workers who feel they
are being let down by the police, according to a new report on violence
against retailers by the Home Affairs Committee.

 

The report has found that violence against retail employees has escalated
over the past five years, increasing further through the pandemic.

 

Only essential retailers have been allowed to stay open during periods of
lockdown, but both small and larger firms gave evidence to the committee,
detailing extensive verbal and physical abuse.

 

Supermarkets Morrisons and Sainsbury's told MPs their staff had been
threatened with knives, firearms and even syringes.

 

The Home Affairs Committee is now asking the government to consult on a
standalone law that would make it a criminal offence to assault retail
workers in England and Wales.

 

A shop security guard

It said that the problem is "becoming endemic in British society and the
policing response is failing to match the scale of the problem".

 

It cites a survey of shop workers conducted by the Association of
Convenience Stores, which found that only one in five who reported incidents
"were satisfied with the response from the police".

 

"When the police fail to attend or follow-up serious incidents, it
undermines trust and confidence in them, discourages reporting, and weakens
the deterrent for repeat offenders," the report said.

 

Assistant commissioner Alistair Sutherland, the National Police Chiefs'
Council lead for business crime, said: "Individual forces will have
different tactics available to them and will use crime prevention
initiatives most suited to the issues they are facing.

 

"We take reports of all types of retail crime very seriously, particularly
those involving violence, and will seek to prosecute anyone who breaks the
law in this regard."

 

He added: "We recognise however, that there is more that we must do to
encourage reporting and provide a better service and assurance to victims."

 

'Nothing ever happened'

It is an issue that Mr Puntambekar is all too aware of: "We phoned the
police. We had all the incident, we had the customer's licence plate. I
spent hours with the police tracking what direction he was coming from."

 

"I sent them all the video evidence and nothing has ever happened."

 

Unfortunately, the parents of the young man who was assaulted now blame Mr
Puntambekar.

 

He said: "I thought everything had proceeded fine [but] the parents no
longer shop with us because they blame me for the incident and blame me for
not following it up."

 

It has been compounded by the fact that Mr Puntambekar is not allowed to
show the parents the CCTV video of what happened to their son, because of
General Data Protection Regulation rules.

 

"So the parents, to this day, do not know what has happened to this poor lad
because I can't legally show them the footage," he said.

 

The pandemic has exacerbated the problems that retailers are facing -
industry group the British Retail Consortium says the number of violent
incidents or abuse against shop workers between 2019 to 2020 rose by 7% to
455 attacks a day, compared to 424 a day during 2018 to 2019.

 

At one point in the winter, Mr Puntambekar said his shop was losing between
£300 to £400 a week due to theft.

 

"The police view it as a 'soft crime' because when a theft happens there is
no penalty to the state or the government," he said. "We will end up paying
the liability for it."

 

As a shopkeeper, he says "you accept there is always going to be a level of
shrinkage of theft", adding that "there's not many other businesses where
you think "we going to lose £5,000 or £10,000 a year".

 

The National Federation of Retail Newsagents told the inquiry that they
thought a "strong police response" to simple shop theft "might serve to stop
future, more serious incidents, but it is here that the police response is
weakest".

 

Marks and Spencer added that local police have "struggled to respond to
reports of assaults" in their shops.

 

The company told the committee that as a result "colleagues have become less
inclined to report assaults to the police, as they believe that there is 'no
point' when it is likely no action will follow".

 

media caption'I thought I was going to get stabbed,' says shop worker
recalling robbery

The report also suggests it is "surprising that there is no mandatory
process for recording crimes against retail workers as a specific group"
within police force crime statistics and that there is a "much needed" drive
for data on incidents.

 

The Home Affairs Committee is seeking a new standalone criminal offence that
protects retail workers from violence and abuse in England and Wales -
similar to that already passed by the Scottish government.

 

"A standalone offence for assault on emergency workers has produced
promising early results in increasing prosecutions," said Home Affairs
Committee chair Yvette Cooper.

 

"Violence and abuse towards shop workers must be treated with the same
seriousness and those workers must be afforded similar protection in
law."-BBC

 

 

 

Juul to pay $40m in US lawsuit over teen targeting claims

E-cigarette maker Juul has agreed to settle a lawsuit with a US state that
accused the firm of marketing its products to young people.

 

Juul will pay $40m (£29m) to North Carolina over six years and will change
its advertising in the region.

 

The vape pen manufacturer did not, however, admit any wrongdoing as part of
the settlement.

 

A Juul spokesman said: "This settlement is consistent with our ongoing
effort to reset our company.

 

"We continue to combat underage usage and advance the opportunity for harm
reduction for adult smokers."

 

Juul also pointed out that it had stopped distributing its non-menthol,
non-tobacco, flavoured products and paused all "mass-market" product
advertising over the last two years.

 

Its efforts included shutting down Instagram and Facebook pages promoting
its vape products, the firm said.

 

The settlement, announced on Monday by North Carolina Attorney General Josh
Stein, is the first to be reached by the company with a state government.

 

Attorney General Stein told a press conference: "North Carolina is now the
first state in the nation to hold Juul accountable for its instrumental role
in creating a youth vaping epidemic.

 

"They did it to teenagers across North Carolina and this country simply to
make money."

 

Youth vaping 'epidemic'

Under the agreement, Juul will not be allowed to target its advertising at
underage people or use anyone in its adverts under the age of 35 in the
state.

 

The deal also caps the number of Juul vaping devices and pods that consumers
in North Carolina can buy monthly or annually.

 

The North Carolina lawsuit had been scheduled to to go trial in July. It
became the first state to sue the e-cigarette giant in 2019.

 

It alleged that Juul's small devices and sweet flavours, which previously
included mango or cucumber, delivered the highly-addictive substance of
nicotine to young people, as well as selling products to them online.

 

Between 2018 and 2019, the use of e-cigarettes rose by 78% amongst North
Carolina high school students, according to the state's Youth Tobacco
Survey.

 

The settlement money will be used to fund research and programmes aimed at
stopping young people from taking up vaping.

 

Juul said it looked forward to working with Attorney General Stein and other
companies on developing industry-wide marketing practices.

 

It also voiced its support for the state making the decision to use the
settlement money for measures to reduce underage use.

 

The company faces other similar cases brought against it by state officials,
school districts and even young people in the US, which are still ongoing.

 

Juul has long promoted its nicotine pods as being a safer alternative to
traditional cigarettes.

 

But in the US, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warns that the
use of vape pens is not safe for children or young adults. It says that
young people who vape are also more likely to smoke cigarettes in
future.-BBC

 

 

 

Spain, Malta and Portugal restrict non-vaccinated travellers

Portugal and Malta have introduced measures to restrict UK travellers who
are not fully vaccinated.

 

The Portuguese government says travellers will have to quarantine for 14
days unless they can prove they received their second vaccine dose a
fortnight before arrival.

 

Malta is also only allowing double-vaccinated people in from Wednesday.

 

In Spain, UK travellers need to prove they are fully vaccinated, or provide
a negative PCR test on arrival.

 

 

Hong Kong is to ban all passenger flights from the UK from 1 July, after the
government said it had discovered cases of "variant virus strains" had been
"persistently" detected from the UK in the past few days.

 

The measures have been introduced for UK travellers, in particular for those
not fully vaccinated, amid fears they could spread the Delta variant of
coronavirus, which was first established in India.

 

The Portuguese government added the UK to the list of countries from which
travellers must quarantine "at home or a place indicated by the health
authorities". The rules came into effect at midnight.

 

The new quarantine measures apply only to those travelling to mainland
Portugal, not Madeira.

 

There were 19 flights listed as departing on Monday from UK airports to
Portugal's mainland airports - Lisbon, Faro and Porto.

 

Brazil, South Africa, India and Nepal were already on Portugal's quarantine
list, but the exception for people who are vaccinated against Covid-19 to
avoid isolating applies just to the UK.

 

Frustrated would-be holidaymaker Sarah Cluskey is one of many people who
have been caught out by the ever-changing travel rules.

 

"Portugal is one of our favourite holiday destinations and when it went on
the green list, we decided to book," she told the BBC.

 

Sarah's husband runs a construction company and has had to work in very
difficult circumstances throughout the year, she says.

 

He has been travelling into London the whole time, apart from the first
three weeks of lockdown.

 

After a stressful year, she, her husband and their two teenage daughters had
been looking forward to a break in the sun.

 

"Myself and my husband have been double vaccinated, so we can still go.
However, we have an 18-year-old daughter who has just received her first
vaccination and a 13-year-old daughter who hasn't been vaccinated.

 

"This leaves us in a position where we can go away, but not as a family, and
there will be many other people in the same situation, which is very unfair
to families.

 

"This means that we have no choice now but to cancel our holiday."

 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday the measures in Spain
for UK travellers would come into effect in 72 hours and included the
Balearic Islands as well.

 

Portugal and mainland Spain are currently on the UK's amber list, meaning
those arriving back in the UK must take two tests and quarantine for 10
days.

 

The Balearic Islands are on the UK's green list, so holidaymakers do not
have to quarantine on their return.

 

Malta has said only "fully-vaccinated travellers" will be allowed to enter
the country from the UK, but children under 12 will be permitted if they are
accompanied by parents or guardians who have had both doses.

 

The Maltese government has said those aged between five and 11 must also
show evidence of a negative PCR test taken within the previous 72 hours
before arrival.

 

How do you prove you're vaccinated?

The UK government says travellers can use an NHS Covid Pass to prove their
vaccination status.

 

The pass is available in digital or paper format and people can access their
own pass two weeks after having a second dose of the vaccine.

 

You are eligible to get a pass if:

 

·         You have had a full course (two doses) of any Covid-19 approved
vaccine

·         You were vaccinated in England

·         You are aged 16 or over

 

The tougher restrictions across Europe come after Germany urged the EU to
restrict UK travellers.

 

The Times reported German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to designate the UK
as a "country of concern" because the Delta variant of the coronavirus is so
widespread.

 

The plans will be discussed by senior European and national officials on the
EU's integrated political crisis response committee.

 

The current travel list

The destinations added to the green list from 04:00 BST on 30 June are:

 

·         Europe: The Balearic Islands (which include Ibiza, Menorca,
Majorca and Formentera), Malta and Madeira

·         Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin
Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos
Islands

·         Other British Overseas Territories: Bermuda, British Antarctic
Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory and Pitcairn

·         Six destinations will also be added to the government's red list
on 30 June - the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Haiti, Mongolia, Tunisia and
Uganda.

 

Mrs Merkel previously told Germany's parliament: "In our country, if you
come from Great Britain, you have to go into quarantine - and that's not the
case in every European country, and that's what I would like to see."

 

She is set to meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Chequers on Friday.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron has also talked about his concern at the
spread of the variant.

 

Currently, fully vaccinated UK visitors to France can enter without
quarantining.

 

Travelling abroad isn't just about what is on the UK's green list: other
countries also have to let UK travellers in.

 

In the last few days, more countries have tightened up their restrictions on
arrivals from the UK, but each has decided its own approach on a sliding
scale of severity.

 

Some, like Spain, have added the need for a Covid test, while others like
Malta require 12-year-olds and over to quarantine if not fully vaccinated.
Each country is likely to continue deciding its own individual travel
policy, but if many follow Malta's example, this could majorly disrupt
family holidays.

 

Many countries that rely on UK tourists will be loath to increase
restrictions that will stop them from travelling and policies could change
during the summer as countries vaccinate more of their citizens.

 

But these changes do show that international travel is still on shaky
ground.

 

What refund rights are there for holidays abroad?

With Covid still widespread in many countries, tourists will have to think
carefully about their spending on holidays.

 

There is always a risk that a green-list country may move to the amber or
red list. If this happens, you will need to quarantine after your holiday -
something that could be difficult for many people.

 

Operators do not have to refund you if you are unexpectedly forced to
self-isolate on your return.

 

If the government announces that travel to a particular country is not
advised, then airlines and travel companies are likely to cancel any
pre-booked flights or holidays there.

 

In this case, you are entitled to a full refund and you can choose to
receive that refund in cash.-bbc

 

 

 

Nissan to create thousands of UK jobs in battery investment

Nissan is to announce a major expansion of battery production in Sunderland
creating thousands of new jobs both directly and in the supply chain.

 

The firm, which already makes the Leaf electric car in Sunderland, may also
announce the launch of a brand new electric model.

 

The government is contributing to the overall cost of the project, which is
expected to cost hundreds of millions.

 

The size of the government contribution has not been disclosed.

 

As a person familiar with the deal put it, the government announced a ban on
the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, so it was prepared to
support the transition.

 

It is hoped the new plant will be producing batteries in time for 2024 when
the level of UK-made components in UK-made cars is required to start
increasing in line with the terms of the UK's trade deal with the European
Union - where most of Nissan's Sunderland-assembled cars are sold.

 

 

Industry sources expect the scale and size of the new facility may closely
match that of a new facility in Douai, France recently announce by Renault -
which is a major shareholder in Nissan and a partner in a global
manufacturing alliance.

 

The government is also in talks with Vauxhall to secure production of
electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port plant. The BBC understands those
talks are "going positively" and an announcement is expected in the next few
weeks.

 

'Tiny fraction'

The market for electric cars is expanding rapidly.

 

But earlier this month, influential green group Transport and Environment
(T&E) said the UK risked being left behind in the race to build electric
cars.

 

The Brussels-based campaign group said that as recently as 2018, the UK
produced roughly half of all electric cars built in Europe.

 

But it claimed a lack of investment by UK manufacturers meant that by the
end of the decade that figure could fall to just 4%.

 

T&E also said Nissan's expansion plans for Sunderland - which would
reportedly see the plant having a capacity of 6.5 Gigawatt hours (GWh) -
amounted to "a tiny fraction of the 474GWh of production at 17 sites across
Europe for which funding has already been secured".-bbc

 

 

Greensill auditor under investigation by watchdog

The UK's accountancy watchdog has launched an investigation into the auditor
of Greensill Capital, the collapsed financial backer of industrialist
Sanjeev Gupta.

 

The Financial Reporting Council has begun a probe into accountancy firm
Saffery Champness.

 

It also announced an investigation into PwC, which audited financial
statements made by Wyelands Bank.

 

The bank was controlled by Mr Gupta but also lent money to his other firms.

 

The FRC said it was looking into Saffery Champness's audit of Greensill
Capital's financial statements for the year to 31 December 2019.

 

The supply chain finance company went bust in March, raising concerns over
the future of GFG Alliance, the sprawling empire controlled by Mr Gupta and
his family which owns the UK's Liberty Steel.

 

Following the collapse of Greensill, it emerged that the former prime
minister David Cameron had unsuccessfully lobbied senior members of the
government and former colleagues for loans on behalf of the company.

 

Greensill's founder, Lex Greensill, was an adviser to the government during
Mr Cameron's time as prime minister.

 

In May, the Serious Fraud Office announced an investigation into "suspected
fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering in relation to the financing
and conduct of the business of companies within the Gupta Family Group
Alliance, including its financing arrangements with Greensill Capital".

 

A spokesman for Saffery Champness said: "As professional accountants we owe
a duty of confidentiality to present and former clients and, with this
matter the subject of investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment
at this time save to say that Saffery Champness will of course be
co-operating fully with the FRC."

 

The FRC said it was also examining PwC "in relation to its audit of the
consolidated financial statements of Wyelands Bank for the year ended 30
April 2019".

 

There is no shortage of official enquiries into the collapse of Greensill
Capital and the affairs of one of its main clients, GFG Alliance, the group
of companies presided over by the metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta.

 

Parliamentary select committees are doing a post mortem on the former, and
trying to work out the future of the latter as part of a wider probe of the
future of the steel industry.

 

The Serious Fraud Office is investigating suspected fraud, fraudulent
trading and money laundering within GFG, including its relationship with
Greensill.

 

Today's announcements, however, show a new front being opened and a new
question asked. How was Greensill able to come so far, and to appear in
decent financial health, only to cave in so suddenly? Were its accounts not
to be trusted?

 

The FRC has also begun an inquiry into PwC's auditing of Wyelands Bank, part
of the GFG network. Wyelands has been under a shadow for some time. It is
expected to be sold or wound up after Mr Gupta said he would not provide any
more funding.

 

If FRC staff are looking for some groundwork for their investigation, they
may want to tune into Tuesday's evidence session at the Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy select committee. The first witness before MPs will be
Stephen Rose, Wyelands' chief executive.

 

Mr Gupta bought Wyelands, formerly known as Tungsten Bank, in 2016 for £30m.

 

Last month, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said that in 2019, the
Bank's Prudential Regulation Authority banking watchdog had launched an
investigation into the business over concerns "connected lending in the
context of the ultimate beneficial owner who is Mr Gupta".

 

He said the Bank notified the National Crime Agency and set out its concerns
to the Serious Fraud Office in early 2020.

 

Earlier this year, the Bank of England forced Wyelands to hand back £210m in
deposits to customers.

 

A spokesman for PwC said: "It's understandable that there is regulatory
scrutiny in situations like this. We will co-operate fully with the FRC in
its enquiries."

 

Stephen Rose, chief executive of Wyelands Bank, will appear in front of MPs
on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee on Tuesday
to answer questions on Liberty Steel and "the future of the UK steel
industry".

 

Mr Rose has been the boss of Wyelands since November 2020, taking over from
Iain Hunter who was chief executive of the bank for five years after leading
the sale of the business to Mr Gupta.

 

Milan Patel, a partner at King & King, which audited a number of companies
within GFG Alliance, will also appear in front of the committee.-BBC

 

 

Analysis: When do electric vehicles become cleaner than gasoline cars?

(Reuters) - You glide silently out of the Tesla (TSLA.O) showroom in your
sleek new electric Model 3, satisfied you're looking great and doing your
bit for the planet.

 

But keep going - you'll have to drive another 13,500 miles (21,725 km)
before you're doing less harm to the environment than a gas-guzzling saloon.

 

That's the result of a Reuters analysis of data from a model that calculates
the lifetime emissions of vehicles, a hotly debated issue that's taking
center stage as governments around the world push for greener transport to
meet climate targets.

 

The model was developed by the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago and
includes thousands of parameters from the type metals in an electric vehicle
(EV) battery to the amount of aluminium or plastic in a car.

 

Argonne's Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in
Technologies (GREET) model is now being used with other tools to help shape
policy at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California
Air Resources Board, the two main regulators of vehicle emissions in the
United States.

 

Jarod Cory Kelly, principal energy systems analyst at Argonne, said making
EVs generates more carbon than combustion engine cars, mainly due to the
extraction and processing of minerals in EV batteries and production of the
power cells.

 

But estimates as to how big that carbon gap is when a car is first sold and
where the "break-even" point comes for EVs during their lifetime can vary
widely, depending on the assumptions.

 

Kelly said the payback period then depends on factors such as the size of
the EV's battery, the fuel economy of a gasoline car and how the power used
to charge an EV is generated.

 

NORWAY'S A WINNER

 

Reuters plugged a series of variables into the Argonne model, which had more
than 43,000 users as of 2021, to come up with some answers.

 

The Tesla 3 scenario above was for driving in the United States, where 23%
of electricity comes from coal-fired plants, with a 54 kilowatt-hour (kWh)
battery and a cathode made of nickel, cobalt and aluminum, among other
variables.

 

It was up against a gasoline-fueled Toyota Corolla weighing 2,955 pounds
with a fuel efficiency of 33 miles per gallon. It was assumed both vehicles
would travel 173,151 miles during their lifetimes.

 

But if the same Tesla was being driven in Norway, which generates almost all
its electricity from renewable hydropower, the break-even point would come
after just 8,400 miles.

 

If the electricity to recharge the EV comes entirely from coal, which
generates the majority of the power in countries such as China and Poland,
you would have to drive 78,700 miles to reach carbon parity with the
Corolla, according to the Reuters analysis of data generated by Argonne's
model.

 

The Reuters analysis showed that the production of a mid-sized EV saloon
generates 47 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per mile during the extraction
and production process, or more than 8.1 million grams before it reaches the
first customer.

 

By comparison, a similar gasoline vehicle generates 32 grams per mile, or
more than 5.5 million grams.

 

Michael Wang, senior scientist and director of the Systems Assessment Center
at Argonne's Energy Systems division, said EVs then generally emit far less
carbon over a 12-year lifespan.

 

Even in the worst case scenario where an EV is charged only from a
coal-fired grid, it would generate an extra 4.1 million grams of carbon a
year while a comparable gasoline car would produce over 4.6 million grams,
the Reuters analysis showed.

 

'WELL-TO-WHEEL'

 

The EPA told Reuters it uses GREET to help evaluate standards for renewable
fuel and vehicle greenhouse gases while the California Air Resources Board
uses the model to help assess compliance with the state's low-carbon fuel
standard.

 

The EPA said it also used Argonne's GREET to develop an online program that
allows U.S. consumers to estimate the emissions from EVs based on the fuels
used to generate electric power in their area.

 

The results of the Reuters analysis are similar to those in a life-cycle
assessment of electric and combustion-engine vehicles in Europe by research
group IHS Markit.

 

Its "well-to-wheel" study showed the typical break-even point in carbon
emissions for EVs was about 15,000 to 20,000 miles, depending on the
country, according to Vijay Subramanian, IHS Markit's global director of
carbon dioxide (CO2) compliance.

 

He said using such an approach showed there were long-term benefits from
shifting to electric vehicles.

 

Some are less positive about EVs.

 

University of Liege researcher Damien Ernst said in 2019 that the typical EV
would have to travel nearly 700,000 km before it emitted less CO2 than a
comparable gasoline vehicle. He later revised his figures down.

 

Now, he estimates the break-even point could be between 67,000 km and
151,000 km. Ernst told Reuters he did not plan to change those findings,
which were based on a different set of data and assumptions than in
Argonne's model.

 

Some other groups also continue to argue that EVs are not necessarily
cleaner or greener than fossil-fueled cars.

 

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents over 600 companies in the
oil industry, states on its website: "Multiple studies show that, on a
life-cycle basis, different automobile powertrains result in similar
greenhouse gas emissions."

 

Argonne National Laboratory is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and
operated by the University of Chicago.

 

 

 

Musk set to tout Starlink progress as cost, demand hurdles linger

(Reuters) - Don Joyce, a Nokia director working from home at a remote lake
cottage in Canada, recently abandoned his painfully slow phone-line internet
in favor of satellite broadband service Starlink, offered by Elon Musk's
SpaceX.

 

Starlink, which cost him C$600 dollars (US$486) for hardware and a lofty
C$150 monthly subscription, provides "blindingly fast" speeds when uploading
videos or streaming movies, he said.

 

But the beta test customer said he experiences dropouts during calls on
Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

 

"If you're in the city and you have alternatives, I wouldn't recommend it.
But if you're in the country, like in the middle of nowhere and you're
getting pathetic internet service, then it's definitely a competitor."

 

For billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk - founder of electric vehicle
manufacturer Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) - the success of one of his biggest bets may
come down to just how many people like Joyce are out there.

 

Musk on Tuesday is expected to discuss Starlink's progress in a speech at
the Mobile World Congress telecommunications event, an audience with a lot
at stake in the fate of Starlink. If the service is successful, it could
vastly expand the reach of broadband internet around the world, connect
Tesla vehicles, and even provide a new platform for traders and others with
exotic internet needs, people familiar with the Starlink plan said.

 

But to do that, it must avoid the fate of similar satellite ventures that
have preceded it.

 

"Not bankrupt, that would be a big step," Musk said last year. "That's our
goal."

 

SpaceX's Starlink division launched its "Better Than Nothing Beta program"
in the United States last October, with data speeds up to a competitive 150
megabits per second. Early reviews are mixed, with some users complaining of
the problems that have always plagued satellite internet: sensitivity to
weather.

 

Recent heat waves have caused new problems.

 

"I'm gonna have to spray it with a garden hose to reboot my internet... That
just feels so wrong," a Reddit user who said he lives in Arizona posted
earlier this month, along with an error message saying "Offline: Thermal
shutdown" and "Starlink will reconnect after cooling down".

 

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in April said the firm has "a lot of work
to do to make the network reliable". The company on Tuesday did not have an
immediate comment.

 

Service should improve with more satellites and other improvements: Starlink
has launched over 1,700 of its 260 kilogram satellites so far, and envisions
more than 40,000.

 

The economics are daunting nonetheless. Musk has said Starlink could serve
less than 5% of internet users and still generate $30 billion a year in
revenue. Critics called that wishful thinking.

 

"Is the demand there for tens of millions of subscribers at that price
point?" asked analyst Tim Farrar, president at TMF Associates. "In most
parts of the world, if you said to someone, your broadband service will cost
you 100 U.S. dollars a month, they'd be like, incredulous."

 

He said there might be wealthy people in isolated areas, "but there's just
not very many of those people".

 

He said Starlink would also struggle for enough capacity to support that
level of demand, especially as people are consuming more data for video
streaming. That would mean "significant additional expenditure on upgrading
the satellites and adding more satellites."

 

RURAL SUBSIDIES

 

Pricing pain could be eased by nearly $900 million in Federal Communications
Commission subsidies earmarked for Starlink for bringing the internet to
rural areas.

 

Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX's vice president, said COVID-19 highlighted the
need for "access to quality internet" anywhere on the globe.

 

Perhaps more importantly, Starlink said it can drive costs down by building
its own terminals and satellites. It has hired engineers from chipmakers
Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) and others to design its own
communications chips, a person familiar with the matter said - an approach
similar to that taken by Tesla.

 

Starlink has more than halved the terminal cost from $3,000 and expects it
to be in a range of a few hundred dollars within the next year or two,
Shotwell said in April.

 

"Lowering Starlink terminal cost, which may sound rather pedestrian, is
actually our most difficult technical challenge," Musk tweeted last year.

 

Starlink also benefits from SpaceX's low-cost launch capability.

 

"When you own pieces of the stack, you can do really technically
sophisticated things at an affordable cost," said Misha Leybovich, a former
Starlink sales director.

 

Still, competition promises to be fierce. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) subsidiary
Kuiper has a directly competing project, while OneWeb - a collapsed
satellite operator rescued by the British government and India's Bharti
Group - has vowed to be in the game as well. Terrestrial telecom providers,
meanwhile, are racing to deploy high-speed, fifth-generation (5G) broadband
services.

 

The rapid spread of wireless and terrestrial broadband, along with high
prices, were significant factors in killing previous low-Earth-orbit
satellite ventures. Motorola-backed Iridium Communications Inc (IRDM.O) went
through bankruptcy after billions of dollars in investment, while a similar
fate met Teldesic, backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) founder Bill Gates.

 

SpaceX, Amazon and a number of others have "created quite a race that no one
is absolutely sure whether there is a big enough market for it," Iridium
Chief Executive Matthew J. Desch told Reuters.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Facebook hits $1 trillion value after judge rejects antitrust complaints

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed federal and state antitrust
complaints against Facebook Inc (FB.O) that sought to force the social media
company to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, saying the federal complaint was
"legally insufficient."

 

Facebook shares rose more than 4% after the ruling. The share price rise put
Facebook's market capitalization over $1 trillion for the first time.

 

The dismissal was the first big blow to state and federal lawsuits against
Big Tech firms last year seeking to rein in alleged abuses of their massive
market power.

 

Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
said the FTC failed to show that Facebook had monopoly power in the
social-networking market but said the FTC could file a new complaint by July
29.

 

He also dismissed a lawsuit by multiple U.S. states, saying they waited too
long to challenge the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and
2014 respectively. The judge did not invite the states to refile their
complaint.

 

A spokesperson for the New York Attorney General’s office said it was
"considering our legal options."

 

Facebook had asked for the lawsuits to be dismissed.

 

Regarding the FTC lawsuit, the judge wrote: "Although the court does not
agree with all of Facebook's contentions here, it ultimately concurs that
the agency's complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be
dismissed."

 

A Facebook spokesperson said: "We are pleased that today’s decisions
recognize the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook."
An FTC spokesperson said the agency was "closely reviewing the opinion and
assessing the best option forward."

 

A bright spot for the FTC in the opinion was the judge's saying that the
agency was "on firmer ground in scrutinizing the acquisitions of Instagram
and WhatsApp, as the court rejects Facebook's argument that the FTC lacks
authority to seek injunctive relief against those purchases."

 

The FTC and a big group of states filed separate lawsuits last year that
accused Facebook of breaking antitrust law to keep smaller competitors at
bay by snapping up rivals, such as Instagram for $1 billion and WhatsApp for
$19 billion.

 

JUDGE FINDS FLAWS IN MARKET SHARE CLAIM

 

The federal government and states filed a total of five lawsuits against
Facebook and Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google last year following bipartisan
outrage over their social media clout in the economy and the political
sphere.

 

The judge said that the FTC did not adequately support its assertion that
Facebook has more than 60% of the market. But Boasberg said the agency could
potentially fix the issue in a refiling.

 

The judge also criticized portions of the FTC's case regarding its refusal
to allow interoperability permissions with competing apps.

 

Republican Senator Josh Hawley criticized the court's decision on the FTC
lawsuit as "deeply disappointing."

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Uber to let office staff work up to half their time from anywhere -source

(Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) will let employees work half
their hours from wherever they want as part of its revamped return-to-office
strategy, the transport app company plans to announce on Tuesday, according
to a person familiar with the matter.

 

In one of the most flexible policies offered yet by a big U.S. tech company
as the COVID-19 pandemic eases, Uber plans to say that those working in
offices need to spend at least 50% of their time there.

 

But unlike many other companies the policy does not mean at least three days
per week in the office, the source said. Instead, workers can show up five
days one week and zero the next.

 

The plan is a reversal from April when Uber said that from September
"employees can work from home up to two days a week, but with a clear
expectation that they also come into the office three days a week."

 

When working remotely, employees can be wherever, including at home, with
family or even more exotic destinations. They will be encouraged to try
working away from their regular home for four weeks a year, the source said.

 

The company on Tuesday also is expected to say it will begin allowing more
employees to work remotely all the time.

 

Online news outlet Insider first reported details of the plan on Monday.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Goldman, Blankfein, Cohn must face shareholder lawsuit over 1MDB scandal

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and two former top executives
were ordered by a U.S. judge on Monday to face a lawsuit accusing them of
misleading shareholders about the bank's work for 1MDB, a Malaysian fund
that became embroiled in a corruption scandal.

 

U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick in Manhattan said shareholders in the
proposed class action adequately alleged that several statements by Goldman,
former Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein and former Chief Operating Officer
Gary Cohn about 1MDB and Goldman's ethics were false and misleading.

 

Shareholders led by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden claimed that
Goldman's market value fell by billions of dollars as the truth about its
1MDB dealings became public.

 

Goldman spokesperson Maeve DuVally declined to comment. Lawyers for the
other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The
shareholders' lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.

 

Broderick's decision followed Goldman's agreement last Oct. 22 to pay $2.9
billion in penalties and have a Malaysian unit admit criminal wrongdoing to
settle 1MDB probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities.

 

Goldman helped sell $6.5 billion of bonds for 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund
that former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak launched to promote
economic development, and collected an estimated $600 million of fees.

 

Authorities have said that fund officials and accomplices looted bond
proceeds for luxuries and to finance Hollywood films, while Goldman bankers
bribed officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to win 1MDB business.

 

Broderick said it "strains credulity" for Goldman to contend it had no
indication that funds were being siphoned, and said shareholders could sue
over the bank's claim it was "dedicated to complying fully with the letter
and spirit of the laws, rules and ethical principles that govern us."

 

He also said shareholders could try to prove Blankfein ignored internal
warnings about 1MDB before telling a journalist in November 2018 that he had
been "not aware" of red flags.

 

Broderick also dismissed all claims against Harvey Schwartz, who became
Goldman's co-COO after Cohn left.

 

The case is Sjunde AP-Fonden v. Goldman Sachs Group Inc et al, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York, No. 18-12084.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Google restores services after multiple users face outage

(Reuters) - Multiple users complained about an outage affecting Alphabet
Inc's (GOOGL.O) search engine Google as well as its streaming and email
services late Monday before services were restored, according to outage
monitoring website Downdetector.

 

Platforms including Google, YouTube, and Gmail were down, with users citing
issues with login and accessing the website in parts of North America,
according to Downdetector.

 

More than a thousand users were having difficulties with the search engine
at one point, the outage monitoring website showed, and users were also
facing issues with YouTube TV and Google Drive.

 

Reports of Google outage on Downdetector have dropped significantly to
single digits early Tuesday.

 

The issue affecting the platforms was not immediately clear.

 

Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment after
business hours.

 

Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from a series of
sources, including user-submitted errors on its platform.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Dollar bides time below two-month highs before payrolls test

(Reuters) - The dollar hovered below a two-month high versus major
counterparts on Tuesday, with traders largely sidelined ahead of a closely
watched U.S. jobs report, which could sway the timing of an exit from
Federal Reserve stimulus.

 

The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major
currencies, was at 91.884 early in the Asian session after retreating from
as high as 92.408 on June 18, in the week the Federal Open Market Committee
shocked markets by predicting two interest rate hikes by end-2023.

 

The Fed commentary since then has put the focus on the data to determine
when a tapering of asset purchases and higher rates are appropriate, with
Chair Jerome Powell saying a weak ago that policymakers won't act on just
the "fear" of inflation, and will encourage a "broad and inclusive" job
market recovery. read more

 

The U.S. Labor Department is expected to report a gain of 690,000 jobs in
June, compared with 559,000 in May, and an unemployment rate of 5.7% versus
5.8% in the previous month, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

 

Investors are also looking at U.S. consumer confidence data on Tuesday as
well as the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index on
Thursday for clues as to where interest rates are headed.

 

The dollar bought 110.620 yen , hanging below a nearly 13-month high of
111.110 reached last week.

 

Both the dollar and yen benefited from some safe-haven demand as the more
contagious Delta strain of the novel coronavirus spread in Asia and
elsewhere, stoking fears of further lockdowns.

 

The euro was at $1.19210, edging back toward the 2-1/2-month low of $1.8470
touched on June 18.

 

"The market had been positioned long of the single currency on optimism
regarding the vaccine catch-up trade in the region (but) forecasts that the
Delta variant of COVID could spread through Europe (in) the summer months
could now be undermining confidence in this trade," Rabobank strategist Jane
Foley wrote in a report, cutting a one-month euro forecast to $1.19 from
$1.20.

 

"Assuming the U.S. data remains broadly supportive, we expect the USD to
grind moderately higher vs. the EUR though the course of the year."

 

Elsewhere, sterling slipped back toward a two-month low, waekening 0.1% to
$1.38645.

 

The Australian dollar , seen as a liquid proxy for risk appetite, was mostly
unchanged at $0.75615 after falling 0.3% at the start of the week on
concerns over renewed COVID-19 lockdowns across parts of the country.

 

The kiwi dollar was also steady $0.70430 ahead of a speech by Reserve Bank
of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr. The currency dropped 0.4% on Monday,
ending a five-day winning run after rebounding from its lowest level since
November.

 

"We expect the RBNZ to start tightening monetary policy more than one year
before the FOMC, which is a tailwind for the NZD," CBA analyst Kim Mundy
wrote in a client note.

 

"The RBNZ is the most hawkish central bank under our coverage."

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Wall Street banks hike shareholder payouts after Fed gives the green light

(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and
Wells Fargo said on Monday they were hiking their capital payouts after the
U.S. Federal Reserve gave them a clean bill of health following their annual
"stress tests" last week.

 

Analysts and investors had expected the country's largest lenders to start
issuing as much as $130 billion in dividends and stock buybacks from next
month after the Fed last week ended emergency pandemic-era restrictions on
how much capital they could give back to investors.

 

Morgan Stanley (MS.N) delivered the biggest surprise to investors, however,
saying it would double its dividend to 70 cents a share in the third quarter
of 2021. Some analysts had been expecting a boost to about 50 cents.

 

The Wall Street giant also said it would increase spending on share
repurchases. Its shares rose as much as 3.7% in after-market trading
following the announcement.

 

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said in the announcement that the bank could
return so much capital because of the excess it has accumulated over several
years. The action, he said, "reflects a decision to reset our capital base
consistent with the needs we have for our transformed business model."

 

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) said it will hike its dividend by 17% to 21
cents a share beginning in the third quarter of 2021, and JPMorgan Chase &
Co (JPM.N) said it will go to $1.00 a share from 90 cents for the third
quarter.

 

Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) said it planned to increase its common stock
dividend to $2 per share from $1.25.

 

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), which has built up capital more rapidly than
rivals due in part to a Fed-imposed cap on its balance sheet, said it plans
to repurchase $18 billion of stock over the four quarters beginning in
September.

 

The repurchase target amounts to nearly 10% of its stock market value and is
line with expectations from analysts.

 

Wells Fargo, which for years has been trying to move past a series of costly
mis-selling scandals, said it was doubling its quarterly dividend to 20
cents a share, consistent with analyst expectations.

 

"Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we have built our financial strength ...
as well as continuing to remediate our legacy issues," CEO Charlie Scharf
said in a statement.

 

"We will continue to do so as we return a significant amount of capital to
our shareholders," Scharf added.

 

CITIGROUP

 

Citigroup (C.N), meanwhile, confirmed analysts' estimates that a key part of
its required capital ratios had increased under the stress test results to
3.0% from 2.5%.

 

A hike of that size will limit Citigroup's share buybacks, versus its peers,
a report from analyst Vivek Juneja of JPMorgan shows. Juneja expects
Citigroup will have the lowest capital return of big banks he covers.

 

Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said the bank will continue its "planned capital
actions, including common dividends of at least $0.51 per share" and buying
back shares in the market.

 

Bank of America's shares were flat in after hours trading, Goldman Sachs'
shares were up 0.6%, while Citigroup's and JPMorgan's were down 0.9% and
0.3% respectively.

 

The Fed said on Thursday it was ending its remaining curbs on dividend
payouts after finding the country's largest banks would remain well
capitalized in its latest stress tests.

 

The central bank said the test found 23 of the largest firms would suffer a
combined $474 billion in losses under a hypothetical severe downturn, but
would still have more than twice as much capital required under Fed rules.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Japan's retail sales rise for 3rd month, but overall trend still soft

(Reuters) - Japanese retail sales beat expectations in May as households
loosened their purse strings, but underlying trends in consumption remain
hostage to COVID-19-linked pressures and suggest the economic recovery will
take time to gather steam.

 

With Tokyo set to host the Olympic Games next month, analysts expect Japan's
economy will barely grow in the second quarter after prolonged coronavirus
emergency curbs hurt the growth outlook. read more

 

As major global economies such as the United States rebound strongly from
the COVID-19 slump, the weak growth rate in Japan is pressuring policymakers
to take fresh supportive measures on top of the massive existing stimulus to
boost demand.

 

Retail sales jumped 8.2% in May from a year earlier, the third straight
month of growth, government data showed on Tuesday, a larger rise than the
median market forecast for a 7.9% gain.

 

Despite the better-than-expected rise in retail sales, the jump was not
strong enough to mark a definite shift towards a brighter outlook for
spending conditions, said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin
Research Institute.

 

"Many elderly were unlikely to go out and spend money in April and May as
there was still a state of emergency or quasi-emergency measures (in major
areas)," said Minami.

 

"It's hard to imagine that the Olympics will set off a spending rush," he
said, adding that risks remained that another resurgence in COVID-19
infections would weigh on consumption ahead.

 

The broader rise in retail sales, which was largely due to statistical base
effects that reflected last year's slide, was underpinned by year-on-year
gains in spending on items such as general merchandise, clothing, cars and
fuel, the data showed.

 

But compared with the previous month, retail sales lost 0.4% on a seasonally
adjusted basis, in a sign the trend for spending by Japanese consumers was
losing steam.

 

Separate data showed the nationwide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate
was up at 3.0%, above the previous month's 2.8% and a median forecast of
2.9%.

 

There were 1.09 jobs per applicant in May, unchanged from April, labour
ministry data showed.

 

The world's third-largest economy is set to expand by an annualised 0.5% in
the current quarter after posting a sharp 3.9% annualised drop in
January-March, according to the latest Reuters poll data.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Rwanda: Small Holder Farmers Seek Fortune in Chia Seeds

Most hills of two sectors in Remera and Rurenge, Ngoma District, have turned
purple, as blossoms of chia seed crop give farmers a hope of unprecedented
income at the end of the season again.

 

It all started in 2018 when the new crop was tried in four farms in Ngoma 22
irrigation scheme located between the two sectors, with the result
attracting the interest of more farmers.

 

The crop mainly produced for export is served as a food supplement; it was
grown on about 100 hectares in the Ngoma 22 irrigated area this season by
around 400 farmers, with many other farmers growing it in their respective
lands across 14 sectors of the district.

 

This is one of a few crops that a farmer grows with certainty of a market;
as they sign contracts with the buyer before planting it every three months.

 

This is the second season that Protais Simpindurwa, father of four hailing
from Rwamutabazi, Ndekwe Cell in Remera, is going to harvest chia seed; last
season, he got 120 kilos from a half hectare land.

"Here, if you want to make money fast from agriculture, you grow chia seed,"
he said.

 

"Previously, we grew maize here, I could get Rwf150,000 from my half hectare
land, while I now get more than Rwf300,000 a season from the same land. The
profits have doubled!" he pointed out.

 

Though the crop is not part of their food staple, the farmers affirm that
they are able to buy any food they want because they have money.

 

Vestine Umuhoza, said it has been two years since she started growing chia
seed, and she found it very profitable. "After seeing that others are making
a lot of money, we joined," she added.

 

Umuhoza is expecting about 600 kilos this season from her hectare farm,
estimating around Rwf1,800,000 soon. This crop will help her get a stable
life with her own child and three others she has adopted.

 

"After one harvesting season, you can get the capital to start a business
project depending on your idea," she declared.

This crop productivity has also given an inspiration to younger generations
to jump in agriculture, as witnessed by Sandra Urwibutso, 18, from Cya
Kabiri Village, Ndekwe Cell in Remera.

 

She said she tried it in a "very" small space, where she got 13 kilos, and
this time around, she is doing it seriously on a large land that her parents
gave to her.

 

"Chia seed is becoming a source of money for youth people like us who want
to solve problems for ourselves. I had to try to see what I would get. I
expect a lot of money soon," she declared, adding that she is doing it on
about a hectare.

 

Most of the chia farmers in this area are members of Koperative Tuvugurure
Ubuhinzi Ngoma 22 (KOTUNGO), which was established in 2018 to use the dam
constructed in partnership of Japanese and Rwandan governments, which waters
fruits and vegetables on 227 hectares on hillsides of two sectors.

Protais Mutaganzwa, the chairperson of the cooperative of 1,180 members,
said the cooperative has a deal with an exporting company to grow chia seed
organically, and any farmer interested must sign a contract before growing
it, to commit adherence to organic farming conditions.

 

Protais Simpindurwa, with bags of chia seed produce.

 

"Some chia farmers have already bought motorcycles, modern breed cows,
houses, others have bought more farms, and those success stories are also
told by women. Many more will plant chia seed this September," he said.

 

Mutaganzwa revealed that the farmer on the top of the payment list is set to
get Rwf5,149,795 at the end of this season.

 

The cooperative also grows maize and vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants and
chili, they also have fruits like passion fruits and tamarillos.

 

Bertrand Nkurikiyimana is from Akenes & Kernels, the company that introduced
chia seed in Ngoma, the district which is also the largest producer of the
country, other districts producing the crop include Kirehe, Bugesera,
Kayonza, Nyagatare and Rwamagana.

 

He said this season chia seed is on more than 500 hectares across the
country, but it is sort of their willingness to limit the number of growers
because they have to control every farm, to make sure they grow organically,
avoiding chemical fertilizers and spraying.

 

"We try to limit the number of farmers in order to control the quality, we
do not want to lose the quality because quality is actually what we sell,"
he explained.

 

"There is a large market we are negotiating in China, we are going to start
exporting in Dubai soon, we are also waiting for certificates allowing us to
export to Europe," he said, adding that they are still in the production
phase, before starting the exportation.

 

Nkurikiyimana said that in the next three or four years, they target that
the crop will be grown on around 30,000 hectares of the country.

 

Agriculture key

 

Ngoma District Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs, Cyriaque Nyiridandi
Mapambano, said: "In crops we have, it is rare to find a crop that sells at
Rwf3,000 per Kilogramme , so chia seed a good crop for us, and the most
important is the fact that you grow it with certainty that you will get a
market ahead of the season."

 

According to the vice mayor, at least 95 per cent of Ngoma District's
population are crop and livestock farmers, and most of the developments
established in this area revolve around agriculture promotion and
facilitating the farmers to improve livelihoods and to boost productivity.

 

Early in June, for instance, the district provided 70 bicycles to community
agriculture sensitizers from 14 sectors who teach farmers on improvement of
their farming, and inaugurated a grain storage for Mutenderi Sector farmers
on the same day.

 

Some 150 motor pumps for small-scale irrigation were distributed this year
through the Nkunganire programme, which allows the farmers to pay 50 percent
of the cost, with the government paying the remaining cost.

 

"Agriculture is a key to our district's economic development," Mapambano
stated.

 

Besides chia seeds, Ngoma District, which has 867.74 sq. Km and 338,562
population (as of 2012 census), is mostly known for large banana and
pineapple plantations. There are an estimated 23,000 hectares of banana
plantations in the district, with productivity of 24 tonnes per hectare
every year, and 2,800 hectares of pineapples, which produced 86,000 tonnes
in 2020, mainly supplied to Kigali markets.-New Times.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Why We're Yet to Resume Flights to Dubai - Aviation Minister

The Minister says Nigerians have rights to travel to Dubai but that UAE will
not be allowed to discrimate against citizens.

 

The Federal Government on Monday said flights to the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) are yet to resume due to discriminatory nature of protocol introduced
by the United Arab Emirates, UAE.

 

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made the remark during the briefing
by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 in Abuja on Monday.

 

Mr Sirika, who explained that the protocol appeared to be targeted at only
Nigerians, added that it was discriminatory and not backed up
scientifically.

 

He explained that UAE was insistent that all passengers intending to visit
its country must use Emirates Airline or spend two weeks in the alternative
carrier's country before gaining entrance to Dubai.

 

The minister dismissed insinuations that the continuous delay in the
resumption of flights was ego related.

 

He, however, said that talks were ongoing to resolve the matter.

 

According to him, Emirates in particular and other airlines, including KLM,
gave some conditions that were not acceptable to Nigeria because they don't
make scientific sense.

 

"After review, some of the airlines, especially KLM, saw sense with what
Nigeria presented which is that you can do the test 48 hours to 72 hours
before you leave and do another test on arrival.

 

"Emirates at that time wanted us to do the test 48 hours before boarding and
48 hours is not yet the incubation time.

"They expect us to do a rapid test at the airport and then fly seven hours
later and do another test in Dubai and then follow us to our hotel or our
accommodation and do another test.

 

"That dragged on and in the interest of our people and cordial relationship,
even though it is a commercial decision for the airline to take at any point
in time, we ceded and accepted that we would do those tests that doesn't
make scientific sense to us at the expense of our people and our monies.

 

"We accepted what Emirates presented and proceeded even though KLM and other
airlines saw our reasons and rationale and towed the lines of Nigeria.

 

"In this case, Emirates insisted again that in addition to the test on
arrival and other tests, that Nigerians cannot fly to UAE except through
Emirates airline.

 

"And that if we choose to do so through other airlines like Ethiopia, Qatar,
Turkish or other airlines, we must remain in the country of that airline for
two weeks if we are Nigerians before we continue to Dubai.

 

"Meaning that if I buy my ticket in a free market which Nigeria and UAE
practices, if I buy a ticket on Ethiopian Airline, that means I must remain
in Addis Ababa for two weeks whether I have a visa or not before I proceed
to Dubai.

 

"So, they insisted that we must fly by Emirates and majority of Nigerians
are petty traders and the ticket of Emirates in this case may be higher than
other airlines," Mr Sirika explained.

 

He stressed that civil aviation was being guided by agreement and
international convention.

 

"It is only one aviation and we found this position to be discriminatory
against our country and it is not acceptable.

 

"We thought we could take it diplomatically and we have been meeting and
exchanging ideas because at some point, they said they are being hard on
Nigerians because there are fake results.

 

"And I said there are fake results in UAE, Germany, UK, USA, all over the
world, there are fake results but Nigeria went ahead to put measures in
place to detect fake results.

 

"So, we have gone the extra mile plus if you look at the rate of infection
and the rate of people catching COVID-19 in Nigeria, we are far less than
many other countries in the world which UAE did not apply that principle
upon.

 

Mr Sirika said that the total number of deaths in Nigeria might be 3000 and
in one day, 3000 Italians died or British and they were still being allowed
to go direct to UAE.

 

"Even Ghanaians, Nigeriens and other African countries can go to Dubai
directly; so the protocol is country-specific and it is not acceptable by
the agreement and convention that we signed with UAE.

 

"So, this is the position, it has nothing to do with ego, it is a fact that
we cannot be isolated as the only country that they will apply this to.

 

"In one of our discussions, they said it is also the same case with South
Africa, I want to put it on record that South Africa as a country wrote and
demanded that the condition be applied upon them.

 

"So, it is their own choice but it is not the choice of Nigeria that we
should be excluded and discriminated against.

 

"We are still talking with them and we would likely escalate the matter and
I am sure that we would resolve it soon.

 

Mr Sirika, however, apologised to passengers, saying, "we are aware that
some have to travel for medical reasons while some have to resume work, some
are students and even holidaymakers.

 

"We believe that you have the right to travel to Dubai and you will do so
and for the sake of the international convention, we cannot be discriminated
against," he explained.-Premium Times.

 

 

Kenya: Tax Exemption for Solar Will Woo Investors

Sustainable and affordable energy is one of the goals of Kenya Vision 2030
and the government has, without a doubt, been offering incentives to
potential investors in renewable energy.

 

The Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Policy on renewable energy was established in 2008.
Originally for electricity generated from wind, biomass and small hydropower
sources, following revision in 2010, FiTs now also provide support to
geothermal and biogas sources and solar electricity generation.

 

The objective of FiT is to facilitate resource mobilisation by providing
investment security and market stability for investors in electricity
generation from renewable energy sources, and reduce transaction and
administrative costs and delays associated with the conventional procurement
processes.

Low income earners

 

Nevertheless, investors in this sector have also had their fair share of
hardships, and this was expressed by the drastic ascension into law of the
Tax Law Amendment Bill 2020, which sought to put up taxation on this sector.

 

This Bill proposed a 14 per cent VAT tax on all imported supplies in this
field, ostensibly to cushion the economy from the adverse effect of the
global Covid-19 pandemic.

 

These changes would have had a pseudo motive -- to dampen the investors'
appetite in the sector, besides leading to higher prices of solar equipment
and, therefore, forcing suppliers to transfer the tax pressure to consumers.

Higher retail and installation costs would lock out low-income earners from
this source of energy and foil the plan for universal energy access by 2022.
Jobs created through distribution of solar equipment would be lost.

 

However, the recent move by the government to exempt solar products from
taxation has two instant benefits: Encouraging investors to set up shop
locally and reduced tariffs for consumers, making solar energy a big
competitor to other forms of electricity.

 

Solar energy

 

Major electricity consumers have shifted to solar energy as a primary source
of power.

 

Solar energy has gained traction in most countries around the world. For
example, Sweden is working towards eliminating fossil fuels from electricity
generation by 2040 while Costa Rica aims at complete carbon neutrals this
year.

Most of Nicaragua's electricity is from solar and wind, while up to 98 per
cent of the energy used in Scotland is wind and solar, Germany has set a
target of 65 per cent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2030,
Uruguay has improved from 40 per cent to almost 100 per cent running on
renewable energy (solar and wind), Denmark gets half of its energy from
solar and wind, in the United States a solar panel is installed every so
often, and, surprisingly, China, the world's largest carbon emitter, has the
largest amount of solar PV and wind capacity installed. In Africa, Morocco
is about to complete the largest concentrated solar plant in the world.

 

Kenya has attracted notable large-scale energy projects but its potential is
largely untapped. But with solar products now tax-exempt, expect huge
investments in clean energy, industrialisation, and foreign direct
investment and job opportunities.-Nation.

 

 

Rwanda: Construction of Ferwafa Hotel to Resume Next Week

The construction works for the Ferwafa Hotel are set to finally resume next
week, the football governing body has announced.

 

The hotel has been under construction since 2016 but the works were
suspended when the building reached halfway.

 

Ferwafa vice-president, Marcel Habyarimana, said that the federation has
reached an agreement worth Rwf 2.6 billion with a Chinese contractor to
resume the construction works.

 

The planned budget includes the financial support worth Rwf 1. 86 billion
donated to Ferwafa in 2017 to finance the completion of the four-star hotel.

The Moroccan federation provided the support via FIFA and Ferwafa is
guaranteed to get it once the draft contract sent to the world football
governing body is approved.

 

Habyarimana revealed that all details regarding the contract with the
contractor have been concluded and the final draft of the contract was
submitted to FIFA last week for approval before the construction works begin
next within a week.

 

"We hope to start construction works within a week. The budget is available
and we don't expect any challenges that could hold back the works unless the
contractor has his own reasons that could affect the activity," Habyarimana
said.

 

The hotel is part of the FIFA Goal project development programme aimed at
helping developing countries to establish infrastructure and facilities to
boost the growth of the game.

 

The planned hotel had initially caused trouble for some former Ferwafa
officials including then President Vincent de Gaulle Nzamwita, and his
Secretary General Olivier Mulindahabi as well as a consultant, Eng. Adolphe
Muhirwa, who were accused of alleged malpractices linked to the tender for
the hotel construction.

 

While Nzamwita was cleared of any charges, Mulindahabi and Muhirwa were each
handed a six-month jail term for mishandling the project.

 

The first phase of the hotel construction is set to be completed within 10
months and will see 40 rooms built with another 48 rooms to be constructed
in other phases

 

Upon completion, the hotel will primarily host the residential camps for
national teams of different categories while it will also have offices for
rent for various federations which are yet to get their own offices.-New
Times.

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


Edgars

AGM

virtual

June 30, 8:45am

 


GetBucks

2019  AGM

Conference Room 1, Monomotapa Hotel, 54 Parklane

July 1, 8:30am

 


GetBucks

2020 AGM

Conference Room 1, Monomotapa Hotel, 54 Parklane

July 1, 10:30am

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


ART

PPC

Dairibord

 


Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

 


Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

 


 

 


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

 


 

 

 

 

 

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