Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 28 March 2021

Sun Mar 28 09:22:46 CAT 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 28 March 2021

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

ü  Large block trades that caused selling raises questions about cause

ü  Volkswagen recalls Audi A3s in the U.S. over air bag concerns

ü  WeWork takes SPAC route to go public in $9 billion deal

ü  Paris, EU near deal on Air France bailout conditions - report

ü  Wall St Week Ahead Investors weigh outlook for utilities after sector’s
run up

ü  Suez Canal steps up efforts to free stuck vessel, U.S. watches energy
market impact

ü  Amazon’s social media team bares its teeth in Washington

ü  East Africa: New Data Science Can Unlock U.S.$20 Million Agriculture
Insurance Business in East Africa

ü  Ethiopia: Institue Gearing Up for Rice Import Substitution Scheme

ü  Ethiopia: Semera Industrial Park Said Vital in Ethiopia's Foreign Trade

ü  Nigeria: ICPC Cautions Hospitals, Finance Directors Against
Budget-Padding

ü  Nigeria: How We Spent N100bn in 5 Years - Aviation Minister

ü   

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Large block trades that caused selling raises questions about cause

A number of large block trades on Friday which investors said caused big
drops in the stocks of a clutch of companies has raised speculation about
what was behind them, with Goldman Sachs said to be a bank involved in the
sales. Shares in ViacomCBS and Discovery tumbled around 27% each on Friday,
while U.S.-listed shares of China based Baidu and Tencent Music plunged
during the week, dropping as much as 33.5% and 48.5%, respectively, from
Tuesday's closing levels. read more

Investors and analysts on Friday cited large blocks of shares in both Viacom
and Discovery companies as being put in the market on Friday, calling them
massive volumes, likely exacerbating the declines. Viacom also on Friday was
downgraded by Wells Fargo.

A source familiar with the matter said on Saturday that Goldman Sachs Group
Inc (GS.N) was involved in the large block trades.

Bloomberg and the Financial Times on Saturday reported that Goldman
liquidated more than $10 billion of stocks in the block trades.

The Financial Times reported that Goldman told counterparties that the sales
were prompted by a "forced deleveraging", citing people with knowledge of
the matter.

CNBC reported that the selling pressure was due to liqudation of positions
by family office Archegos Capital Management, citing a source with direct
knowledge of the situation. A person at Archegos who answered the phone
declined to comment. Archegos was founded by Bill Hwang, who founded and ran
Tiger Asia according to a page capture of the fund's website. Tiger Asia was
a Hong Kong based fund that sought to profit on bets on securities in Asia.

An email to clients seen by Bloomberg News said Goldman sold $6.6 billion
worth of shares of Baidu Inc (9888.HK), Tencent Music Entertainment Group
(TME.N) and Vipshop Holdings Ltd (VIPS.N), before the U.S. market opened on
Friday, the Bloomberg report on Saturday said.

Following this, Goldman sold $3.9 billion worth of shares in ViacomCBS Inc
(VIAC.O), Discovery Inc (DISCA.O), Farfetch Ltd (FTCH.N), iQIYI Inc (IQ.O)
and GSX Techedu Inc (GSX.N), according to the report.

The Financial Times reported that Morgan Stanley sold $4 billion worth of
shares earlier in the day, followed by another $4 billion in the afternoon.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Volkswagen recalls Audi A3s in the U.S. over air bag concerns

Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) has issued a recall for more than 150,000 Audi
vehicles in the United States on concerns that their passenger air bags
might not activate, according to a filing to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The recall is expected to affect 153,152 Audi A3 cars built between 2015 and
2020, including the Sedan, Etron and Cabriolet models, as well as certain S3
Sedans.

The system which detects whether the passenger seat is occupied might
malfunction and switch off the air bag even if a person is sitting there,
the filing said.

Volkswagen will write to owners of the affected vehicles by May 21 and will
contact them again once a solution to the problem has been found.

WeWork takes SPAC route to go public in $9 billion deal

WeWork has agreed to go public through a merger with blank-check firm BowX
Acquisition Corp (BOWX.O), in a deal that values it at $9 billion, the
office-sharing startup said on Friday.

The deal marks a steep drop from the $47 billion the loss-making company was
worth in 2019 ahead of its botched initial public offering that imploded due
to investor concerns over its business model and its founder Adam Neumann's
management style.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), which first made public
its investment in WeWork in 2017, will retain a majority stake as the
company looks to steer itself out of the pandemic-induced slowdown.

"We believe that WeWork is going to be the opportunity stock for the
recovery," Vivek Ranadivé, founder of Bow Capital Management, which is
backing the SPAC, told CNBC in an interview. Bow Capital also counts NBA
star Shaquille O’Neal as an adviser.

The SPAC's shares rose about 5% in early trading on the Nasdaq. WeWork is
the latest in a slew of high-profile companies that have used the SPAC route
to the market. SPACs are shell firms that use proceeds from a public listing
to buy a private firm.

WeWork Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Mathrani told CNBC that the company
was approached by BowX and other SPACS in December. "We thought it was a
good time to raise additional liquidity to make sure that we have a path to
profitability," Mathrani said.

Just before WeWork scrapped its IPO plans, Goldman Sachs bankers had said
the startup's valuation could be as much as $65 billion. That plummeted to
roughly $8 billion after SoftBank was forced to extend a life-saving
financing lifeline to WeWork.

A man walks out of a WeWork space in the Manhattan borough of New York City,
New York, U.S., October 4, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

SoftBank and other investors have agreed to a one-year lock-up on their
shares, according to a person familiar with the matter. It was not
immediately clear whether the lock-up agreements contain provisions or
financial targets that would allow for shares to be sold early.

Current shareholders will own about 83% of the combined company, WeWork
said.

Excluding ChinaCo, its joint venture in China, WeWork said it expects to be
adjusted EBITDA positive in 2022 and revenue to more than double by 2024.

WeWork will fetch $1.3 billion in cash from the deal, including $800 million
in private investment from Insight Partners, funds managed by Starwood
Capital Group, Fidelity Management and others, the company said.

After the transaction closes by the third quarter of 2021, SoftBank and its
Vision Fund will have a minority representation on the board, WeWork said.

BowX Acquisition raised $420 million in its IPO in August last year.

Paris, EU near deal on Air France bailout conditions - report

The French government and the European Union's executive are close to an
agreement on the terms of a bailout for Air France (AIRF.PA), which like
other carriers has been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, Le Monde
reported.

The expected deal would see Air France give up fewer airport flight slots at
its Paris base than initially sought by the European Commission, notably at
Orly airport, the newspaper said in a report published late on Friday.

Contacted by Reuters, a spokeswoman for the Commission said it was in
contact with the French authorities. "We cannot prejudge the timing or
outcome of these contacts," she added.

Air France and France's economy ministry declined to comment.

The Air France-KLM group recorded a 7.1 billion euro ($8.38 billion) net
loss for last year. read more

It received 10.4 billion euros in loans and guarantees from France and the
Netherlands and has been negotiating a state-backed recapitalisation, with
EU regulators seeking airport slot concessions at Paris-Orly and
Amsterdam-Schiphol.

Under a plan submitted to Brussels, France would swap a 4 billion euro
shareholder loan granted to Air France-KLM last year for hybrid debt or
perpetuities, sources have said.

Air France and its unions had baulked at the EU's demands for slot
concessions at Orly.

Slot concessions for KLM had yet to be agreed by the Commission and the
Dutch government, Le Monde and fellow French daily Les Echos said.

($1 = 0.8477 euros)

Wall St Week Ahead Investors weigh outlook for utilities after sector’s run
up

Investors looking for ways to protect themselves from a potential market
downturn and rising inflation have been warming to utilities, sometimes seen
as bond substitutes, as attractive alternatives.

The S&P 500 utilities index (.SPLRCU) has outperformed the broader market
this month, rising 9.3% so far compared with a 4.3% gain in the benchmark
index (.SPX) and leading gains among sectors for March.

Driving the gains may be a defensive move by investors to position
themselves against a potential slide in equities, with worries mounting over
higher inflation as seen in the jump in 10-year Treasury yields and over
pricey stock valuations, some strategists say.

Utilities tend to do better in a downturn because they pay dividends and
offer stability.

"It's a little defensive positioning," said Joseph Quinlan, head of CIO
market strategy for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank in New York.

"We have some clients who want to be more defensive but want to stay in the
market."

While the economy is expected to rebound sharply this year from the impact
of the coronavirus, that optimism may be dampened by next year if
unemployment remains elevated and growth slows more than expected.

Some investors say utilities also may be benefiting from hopes that there
will be a bigger push toward green energy under the Biden Administration.
President Joe Biden is expected to unveil next week a multitrillion-dollar
plan to rebuild America's infrastructure that may also tackle climate
change. read more

"If you get any acceleration of the decarbonization rhetoric, that's a
positive for utilities," said Shane Hurst, managing director and portfolio
manager at ClearBridge Investments.

But whether the recent surge in utilities has further room to run is a
matter of debate, and many strategists and investors, including Quinlan,
still favor cyclicals that benefit from economic growth over
defensive-leaning groups such as utilities.

The gains in utilities have come amid a rotation from technology and other
growth stocks into so-called value stocks. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) has
fallen in March after four straight months of gains.

Cyclicals, which investors dumped during the early part of the pandemic,
have benefited the most from the rotation. An end-of-quarter rebalancing of
investment portfolios by institutional investors may be adding to the recent
rotation from growth into value.

While utilities still sharply lag gains for the year compared with many
cyclical sectors, including energy (.SPNY), they are also considered
inexpensive at this point by some investors.

After a weak performance in 2020, utilities "are just really, really cheap
at the moment," Hurst said. "And that is an attractive place to be when
you're in a market that's very much earnings driven."

The utilities sector is trading at 18.3 times forward earnings compared with
a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.1 for the S&P 500 index and 26 for
technology (.SPLRCT), according to Refinitiv's data.

David Bianco, Americas chief investment officer for DWS, which has an
overweight rating on utilities, said interest rates are still low, but
utilities offer inflation protection because they would be able to raise
their prices.

As of Friday, the S&P 500 utilities sector had a dividend yield of 3.3%, the
second-highest among S&P sectors after consumer staples, and well above the
1.5% yield for the S&P 500, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Benchmark 10-year note yields were at 1.660% on Friday after reaching a
one-year high of 1.754% the week before.

"Utilities is our most preferred bond substitute," said Bianco.

Suez Canal steps up efforts to free stuck vessel, U.S. watches energy market
impact

Dredging and tugging aimed at freeing a mega vessel stuck in the Suez Canal
failed on Friday to end a blockage that has lifted shipping rates for fuel
tankers and scrambled global supply chains for everything from grains to
baby clothes.

U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration was looking at what it
could do to help, after the 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given ran aground
in the vital trade waterway on Tuesday due to strong wind.

"We have equipment and capacity that most countries don’t have. And we are
seeing what help we can be," Biden told reporters in Delaware.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Navy was
prepared to send a team of dredging experts to the canal, but was awaiting
approval from local authorities.

The latest effort to dislodge the ship with tug boats was suspended late on
Friday, and attempts would resume on Saturday, three sources at the canal
said. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) could not immediately be reached for
comment.

Shipping rates for oil product tankers nearly doubled after the ship became
stranded, and efforts to free the giant vessel may take weeks and be
complicated by unstable weather, threatening costly delays for companies
already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions. read more

All its 25 crew members, who have remained on board, were safe, in good
health and spirits, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the Ever Given's
technical manager said.

A Dutch rescue team had confirmed two additional tugs would arrive on March
28 to help dislodge the ship, BSM said.

"There have been no reports of pollution or cargo damage and initial
investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the
grounding," a BSM statement said.

Earlier, the SCA said efforts to free the ship by tug had resumed following
the completion of dredging operations at its bow to remove 20,000 cubic
metres of sand.

"The tugging operations require the availability of a number of supporting
factors including wind direction and tides, which makes it a complex
technical process," the authority said.

The SCA welcomed a U.S. offer to help. Turkey also said it can send a vessel
to the canal, amid a push by Ankara to repair ties with Egypt after years of
animosity.

The suspension of traffic along the channel linking Europe and Asia has
deepened problems for shipping lines.

The blockage could cost global trade $6 billion to $10 billion a week, a
study by German insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE) showed on Friday.

Ratings agency Moody's expects Europe's manufacturing and car parts
suppliers to be most affected because they operate "just-in-time" supply
chains, and said port congestion and further delays to the supply chain were
"inevitable."

IMPACT ON OIL

Retired British Royal Navy commander Tom Sharpe said the best bet for the
next attempt would be a high tide on Sunday, but because the ship was
aground both front and rear there was a risk the hull could rupture if
rescuers pulled too hard.

Mohab Mamish, the Egyptian presidential adviser on Suez Canal projects and
sea ports, told MBC Misr TV a floating crane should be used to transfer some
of the Ever Given's containers to another ship to lighten the vessel and
enable it to float.

About two dozen ships could be seen from the shores of Port Said on Friday
morning, according to a Reuters witness.

Oil rose over 3% on Friday as more than 30 oil tankers have been waiting on
either side of the canal since Tuesday, shipping data on Refinitiv showed.
However, there is low seasonal demand for crude and liquefied natural gas,
which will likely mitigate the impact on prices, analysts said.

About 4 million barrels of mostly Kazakh CPC Blend and some Russian Urals
were waiting along with tankers carrying Libyan, Azeri and some North Sea
crude oil for Asian refiners, traders said.

Egypt's SUMED pipeline operator approached crude traders to see whether they
wanted to book space in the system but so far traders prefer to wait to
avoid high additional costs.

Analysts expect a greater price impact on smaller tankers carrying oil
products, such as naphtha and fuel oil, for export from Europe to Asia, if
the canal remains shut for weeks.

Re-routing ships around the Cape of Good Hope could add about two weeks and
extra fuel costs to the voyage, said Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia
oil at FGE.

The blockage is weighing on the already weak Asian gasoil, or diesel,
market. More than 60% of Asian exports to the west flowed via the choked
Canal in 2020, according to FGE.

Aframax and Suezmax rates in the Mediterranean have also reacted as the
market starts to price in fewer vessels being available in the region,
shipbroker Braemar ACM Shipbroking said.

At least four Long-Range 2 tankers that might have been headed toward Suez
from the Atlantic basin are now likely to be evaluating a passage around the
Cape of Good Hope, Braemar ACM said. Each LR-2 tanker can carry around
75,000 tonnes of oil.

The cost of shipping clean products, such as gasoline and diesel, from the
Russian port of Tuapse on the Black Sea to southern France jumped 73% over
the last three days to $2.58 a barrel on March 25, according to Refinitiv
Eikon data.

The shipping index benchmark for LR2 vessels from the Middle East to Japan,
known as TC1, has climbed by a third since last week to 137.5 worldscale
points, said Anoop Jayaraj, clean tanker broker at Fearnleys Singapore.
Worldscale is an industry tool used to calculate freight rates.

On the crude side, traders have had to pay 10-20% more for replacement
tankers but market freight rates have not yet risen as charterers are not
ready to commit to higher levels in case the container is freed this
weekend, shipbrokers said.

Amazon’s social media team bares its teeth in Washington

Amazon.com’s social media team bared its teeth this week to go after two big
critics in Congress: Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Amazon (AMZN.O) first struck out Wednesday with tweets by Dave Clark, chief
executive of Amazon’s worldwide consumer business, who criticized Sanders
for pushing for a $15 minimum wage and supporting Amazon workers in Alabama
who are considering unionizing.

On Friday, the day that Sanders met with Amazon workers in Alabama, Amazon
News tweeted that Sanders' home state of Vermont's minimum wage was $11.75.
"Sanders would rather talk in Alabama than act in Vermont," the company
tweeted.

In his meeting, Sanders urged Amazon workers to vote for the union: "When
you stand up and fight, you are taking on here not only one of the most
powerful corporations in this country you are taking on the wealthiest
individuals in the world. And you're doing it in an anti-union state."

The company also went after Warren, who pledged on Twitter that she would
"fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not
powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."

She had initially called for Amazon to be broken up, along with other Big
Tech giants, in 2019 when she was running for president.

Amazon called her tweet "extraordinary and revealing."

"One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she's
going to break up an American company so that they can't criticize her
anymore," Amazon tweeted.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither
Sanders' nor Warren's offices immediately replied to a request for comment.

It may not be just Amazon losing patience with pressure from Washington.

At a congressional hearing on Thursday, Twitter (TWTR.N) Chief Executive
Jack Dorsey apparently got frustrated with lawmakers pressing for yes or no
answers to questions. During the hearing, Dorsey tweeted “?” with a poll
asking Twitter users to vote “yes” or “no.”

Democratic Representative Kathleen Rice asked: "Mr. Dorsey, what is winning,
yes or no, on your Twitter account poll?"

Dorsey told her that “yes” was winning, to which she replied: “Your
multitasking skills are quite impressive.”

East Africa: New Data Science Can Unlock U.S.$20 Million Agriculture
Insurance Business in East Africa

Nairobi — Allianz Africa is eyeing the agriculture insurance sector in Kenya
and the East African region which they say is set to grow by 200 percent.

Allianz experts estimate that the value of the agriculture insurance segment
to stand at $10 million but say it holds the potential to grow to $30
million. They aim at partnering with aggregators such as banks,
cooperatives, agro-dealers, and commodity Associations to deploy the
solution, said Lovemore Forichi, Senior Underwriter of Agriculture at
Allianz Re

"According to our estimates, Agriculture Insurance Premium globally is USD
32 billion. East Africa contributes about USD18 million of which Kenya is
about USD10 million. Governments and the Private Sector in East Africa are
working together to increase agriculture insurance penetration in the
region. Less than 5% of the Kenya farming community is insured," said
Lovemore

Allianz, one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers, entered the
East African market last year after signing an agreement with Jubilee
Insurance to establish a strategic partnership in the five African countries
where Jubilee Insurance currently operates.

The partnership covers the general insurance business (also known as the
property & casualty insurance segment) in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well
as the short-term insurance segment in Burundi and Mauritius. JHL retains
its ownership of its Life and Pensions operations and its Medical insurance
business in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Lovermore says that Allianz aims at unlocking the potential using
parametrics which is a non-traditional insurance product that offers
pre-specified payouts based upon trigger events such as wind speed and
rainfall measurements.

"Operationally, parametric solutions are less cumbersome as the insurance
company does not need to visit the farm and occupy the farmer's time.
Monitoring of the index can be done remotely through satellite imagery and
data. The farmer can also have access to the data and they can closely
monitor the development of the index throughout the growing season on their
mobile phone or tablet. This also makes it very transparent, traceable,
efficient, and paperless," said the official.

Through parametrics, farmers can choose which parameter is of concern to
them, as far as affecting their crop yield is concerned. The most common
parameter is rainfall. Lack of rainfall during the cropping season (drought)
as well as too much rainfall (excessive rainfall) have a huge impact on the
farmers' yield and subsequently the revenue.

So the farmer will choose to insure against drought and/or excessive
rainfall to hedge their losses. When the insurance company uses index
insurance solutions such as Rainfall Index, Evapotranspiration Index, Soil
Moisture Index, and Area Yield Index, these are classified as parametric
solutions.

Over the years, more insurance companies are venturing into the agricultural
space as farmers are increasingly understanding the value of insurance as
they learn from other people's experiences.

The Kenyan government and private sector are also actively contributing to
the insurance penetration through premium subsidies for both crop and
livestock farmers as only less than 5% of the Kenya farming community are
insured.-Capital FM.

Ethiopia: Institue Gearing Up for Rice Import Substitution Scheme

ADDIS ABABA -The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)
accentuated that Ethiopia has to employ agricultural technology and
mechanized farming to save 300 million USD spent each year for rice
importation.

Having a stay with the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), EIAR Researcher and
National Rice Production Program Coordinator, Mulugeta Atnaf (PhD) said that
the country has planned to substitute rice importation through increasing
productivity and utilizing its abundant natural resources via employing
various agricultural technologies and farming irrigation.

He further said that the government is endeavoring to scale up productivity
so as to substitute importing rice by beefing up

the local product which is covering only 20 percent of the national demand
at present.

"Each year, Ethiopia spends about 300 million USD to import rice to cover 80
of the national demand despite the natural resource abundance for the
productivity of the cereal. If things go as per the schedule, the plan will
help fully stop importing rice within five years,"he said.

Some 95 percent of Ethiopia's rice is imported from India when the stock
market is crashing these days due to COVID-19 PANDEMIC impact, he stated.

Rice is among the commodities like wheat and food oil that the government is
striving to ensure supply under its COVID 19 mitigation strategy, he
mentioned.

It was thirteen years ago that the government named rice as crop of the
millennium for to its rich nutrient value and potential to achieve food
security. But, a lot remains to be done to realize this desire through wide
range of investment, he remarked. Currently the country is producing 40
quintals of rice per hectare which makes the cereal the second most
productive crop in the country next to maize, Mulugeta said adding that his
institute is working to grown this number by additional 10 quintals.

Expansion of mechanization and effective work in cooperation with farmers
and experts will help improve both the quality and quantity of the product,
and some 38 rice varieties are currently dispatched to farmers, he added.

He also pointed out that the country should use both rain and irrigation to
lift up production on its wetlands. In addition, the government needs to
expand mechanization to achieve import substitution.

Studies conducted in 2014 indicated that the country has about 13 million
most suitable arable landsfor rice production although it is only 60,000
hectares that have been cultivated so far, it was learnt.

Rice is a lowland crop but it needs a huge amount of waterand hot
temperature. Fortunately, both necessities are abundant in Ethiopia which
makes the country suitable for rice productivity, according to Mulugeta.

Fogera, Beninshangul, Gambella, West of Gondar, Somali, South Omo, Guraferda
are the most suitable areas for rice production identified by studies, he
mentioned.

To this end, various research centers including Pawi, Gondar, Jimma, Tepi,
Jinka, Werer, Bako and Asosa are working together under the EIAR to provide
the producers with swift seed and other agricultural technologies, he
mentioned.

International Rice Research Institute and Africa Rice Center are supporting
Ethiopia in rice production through providing germ plasm of the grain, it
was indicated-Ethiopian Herald.

Ethiopia: Semera Industrial Park Said Vital in Ethiopia's Foreign Trade

ADDIS ABABA- The proximity of Semera Industrial Park to Ethiopia's main sea
outlets, ports of Tadjourah and Djibouti would create conducive investment
climate in the area and to enhance the country's import-export activities,
Afar Prosperity Party officials visiting the project said.

Visiting the park recently, senior member of the Afar Prosperity Party and
Speaker of the State's Council, Amina Seko stated that the construction of
the park would play a vital role to give impetus to the state economy and
the national economy at large. Upon completion, the industrial park also has
the opportunity to access the Assab Port.

The speaker further highlighted that the park, which lies in 500,000 square
kilometers plot of land would have a significant contribution in providing
jobs for the local youth and creating a market linkage for the nearby
communities. The construction of the park is near to completion except few
final activities.

Noting that the industrial park would bring multifaceted benefits to the
people of Afar, she called on all concerned parties to contribute share for
the timely completion and effectiveness of the project.

Afar State Prison Head Umer Kotina said on his part that Afar Prosperity
Party officials have made commendable efforts to enable the project reached
at the current stage. All actors in the sector should back the party's
involvement to the speedy execution of the industrial park.

Meanwhile Afar's Investment Bureau Head Asia Kemal called on the local
community to protect the industrial park as their own property cognizant of
its future development potentials, local media reported.-Ethiopian Herald.

Nigeria: ICPC Cautions Hospitals, Finance Directors Against Budget-Padding

Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, has condemned the padding of
budget by government officials, warning that the Commission won't tolerate
breach of government financial rules and regulations.

Prof. Owasanoye gave this warning during a meeting with the Forum of
Directors of Finance of federal hospitals convened by the Budget Office of
the Federation to review a position paper presented by the Forum on the
challenges of implementation of the 2021 budget recently in Abuja.

"Once you breach the rules, sanctions must follow," the ICPC boss told the
directors.

He pointed out that it was an aberration for Federal Medical Centres to have
more staff than teaching hospitals and criticised the fraudulent practices
associated with outsourcing of services which was prevalent in the
hospitals.

Owasanoye advised the management of the hospitals to carry out a proper
evaluation of the actual number of personnel needed and for which services
so as not to go beyond the number of non-regular staff required.

He noted that a review of the health sector undertaken by the Commission
revealed that funds meant for specific projects in hospitals had been
diverted to other unimportant areas.

On internally generated revenue, Owasanoye told the finance directors that
agencies which receive allocations from government were expected to pay 100
per cent of their IGRs into the government treasury to avoid abuse.

"There are some agencies and institutions that pay severance packages but do
not remit their IGRs to the government. If an agency or institution is 100
per cent funded by the government, it is expected that such agency will
remit its IGR to the government," he declared.

On their part, the Chairman of the Forum, Dr. Samson Adegoke raised the
issue of non-regular staff whose allowances were not captured in the budget,
especially house officers and interns, and wondered how they were supposed
to be taken care of.

He also spoke on the challenge of outsourcing, claiming that funds were not
usually made available in the overheads to pay for the services.

While appreciating the government for fulfilling its capital obligations to
the hospitals, Dr. Adegoke criticised officials of the Budget Office of the
Federation, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and the
Office of Accountant General of the Federation for putting too much burden
on the hospitals during oversight functions to take care of their welfare,
even when provisions had already been made for them in their respective
budgets to carry out their assignments.

On the IGR, the chairman of the Forum also raised the issue of remittances
and requested that the hospitals be allowed to use the funds for their
operations and not to remit the entire internally generated revenue to
government.

However in his response, the representative of the Director-General of
Budget Office of the Federation debunked the accusation made by the Chairman
of the Forum that officials of the Budget Office usually make unnecessary
demands from the hospitals during oversight, describing the allegation as
unfounded and frivolous.-This Day.

Nigeria: How We Spent N100bn in 5 Years - Aviation Minister

The minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika has said that the federal government
expended about N100 billion in developing the aviation sector between 2015
till date.

The minister stated this in Abuja at the 8th edition of the Aviation
workers' week and award night organised by the Joint Consultative and
Negotiating Council (JCNC) and the federal ministry of aviation, with the
theme: 'The challenges of COVID-19 pandemic to the Nigerian Aviation
industry:the part to recovery.'

Represented by the minister of state for Science and Technology, Abdullahi
Mohammed, Sirika said the funds were spent on infrastructure, equipment
among other things.

He further said staff welfare, trainings, facilities upgrade, remodeling of
the airports were some of the other places the funds were expended on within
the time under review.

Also speaking, the chairman of the JCNC, Hector Nnadi called for the
setting-up of the National Council on Civil Aviation.

According to him, "the unions wish to passionately reiterate the compelling
need for the setting-up of the National Council on Civil Aviation.

"This has been the platform for most ministries to examine, explore,
initiate, proffer and compare notes on key policy decisions or issues."

Also speaking on the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, the chairman of
JCNC said: "the rampaging pandemic generally termed COVID-19 has become not
only reference point but also a major turning point in the annals of human
history. The quantum of havoc wrecked by this phenomenal viral explosion in
the world over cannot be over-emphasised. This challenge has, therefore,
been the major and most important topic of discussion among experts,
professionals, the academia and even the ordinary artisan on the
streets.-Leadership.

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:       <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

Website:         <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> www.bullszimbabwe.com 

Blog:
<https://bullszimbabwe.com/category/blogs/bullish-thoughts/>
www.bullszimbabwe.com/blog

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Skype:         Bulls.Bears 

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

CFI

AGM

Farm & City Boardroom, 1st Floor Farm & City Complex, 1 Wynne Street

31/03/21 | 11am

Good Friday

02/04/21

Easter Sunday

04/04/21

Easter Monday

05/04/21

Independence Day

18/04/21

Public Holiday in lieu of Independence Day falling on a Sunday

19/04/21

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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