Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 06 May 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 06 May 2021

 


 

 


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ü  Covid: US backs waiver on vaccine intellectual property

ü  Twitter tells users to be nice and think twice before replying

ü  Google boss emails staff detailing return to office

ü  Goldman Sachs tells bankers to return to office in June

ü  Huawei and ZTE left out of India's 5G trials

ü  UK and India agree to let more young people in

ü  Results tally up billions in profit from Texas freeze for gas and power
sellers

ü  Asia shares, commodities firm on recovery bets; A$ hit by China move

ü  Aston Martin posts smaller first-quarter loss

ü  Volkswagen lifts margin target on demand for premium cars

ü  AB InBev CEO Brito to step down, North America chief steps in

ü  Britain's Next raises profit outlook for second time in two months

ü  China's Tencent in talks with U.S. to keep gaming investments -sources

ü  Uber sees driver cost rising as U.S. economy recovers

ü  Tanzania: Kenyatta Extends Hand to Tanzanian Investors

ü  Kenya: Survey Links Weak Extension Services to Poor Food Safety Practices

ü  Mozambique: 280 Million Dollars Mobilised for 'Energy for All'

ü  Nigeria: President Orders Review of Govt Payrolls to Cut Costs

ü  China 'indefinitely' suspends key economic dialogue with Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Covid: US backs waiver on vaccine intellectual property

The US has thrown its support behind an initiative at the World Trade
Organization (WTO) to waive intellectual property protections for
coronavirus vaccines.

 

India and South Africa proposed the move, which they said would increase
vaccine production around the world.

 

But drugs manufacturers argue it may not have the desired effect.

 

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that "extraordinary times call
for extraordinary measures".

 

And she warned that it would take time for WTO members to reach a consensus
decision on the matter.

 

India and South Africa were the leading voices in a group of about 60
countries which for the last six months has been trying to get the patents
on vaccines set aside.

 

However, they met with strong opposition from the previous US administration
of Donald Trump, the UK and the EU.

 

But Mr Trump's successor as US President, Joe Biden, has taken a different
tack. He backed a waiver during the 2020 presidential campaign and
reiterated his support on Wednesday.

 

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) called the move a
"monumental moment" in the fight against Covid-19.

 

What would the waiver mean?

If approved, supporters say, the waiver would allow production of vaccines
to be ramped up and provide more affordable doses for less wealthy
countries.

 

Many developing countries have argued that rules requiring countries to
protect patents and other forms of intellectual property are an obstacle to
ramping up the production of vaccines and other products needed to tackle
the pandemic.

 

The US had previously helped block WTO negotiations about the waiver
proposal led by India and South Africa aimed at helping developing countries
to produce vaccines using the intellectual property of pharmaceutical
companies.

 

Ms Tai said the US would now embark on negotiations at the WTO to try and
secure the waiver. This could take time as WTO decisions require a consensus
of all 164 members.

 

 

It is a truly extraordinary moment.

 

President Biden's trade representative released a statement saying the White
House would support a waiver on the intellectual property rights owned by
the makers of Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

 

The campaign for this has been going on amongst NGOs, some US Congressional
Democrats and some developing countries such as India and South Africa. And
as recently as March the US, the UK and the EU were resisting the moves in
negotiations at the WTO in Geneva.

 

Katherine Tai has been seeing top pharmaceutical companies and also raised
the issue with UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss at a virtual
meeting last month.

 

In an interview with the BBC last month, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told
the BBC that if vaccine manufacturers failed to supply the world, they would
have to transfer the know-how.

 

Drugs companies are adamant that the patents are not the bottleneck here, it
is manufacturing capacity. But the Indians and South Africans have
disagreed, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa decrying what he
called "vaccine apartheid", saying his country and some in South America
could ramp up production.

 

The US move does tilt the balance of power in the WTO towards a waiver. But
the position of both the UK and the European Union will now also come under
careful scrutiny.

 

What has the reaction been?

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, called the US decision
"historic" and marked "a monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19".

 

But pharmaceutical companies have voiced their opposition, insisting that
patents are not the primary obstacle, and cautioned that the move could
stifle innovation.

 

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and
Associations called the move "disappointing".

 

"A waiver is the simple but the wrong answer to what is a complex problem,"
the Geneva-based lobby group said.

 

Dr Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health
Security, told the Reuters news agency that the waiver "amounts to the
expropriation of the property of the pharmaceutical companies whose
innovation and financial investments made the development of Covid-19
vaccines possible in the first place".--BBC

 

 

Twitter tells users to be nice and think twice before replying

Twitter will now prompt users to review and revise "potentially harmful or
offensive" replies.

 

The social media platform, which has often faced criticism over abusive user
behaviour, tested the feature last year.

 

Twitter said the tests showed that the prompts reduced offensive replies.

 

On Wednesday, the company said it would roll the prompts out to English
language accounts using Twitter on Apple and Android.

 

In a blog post, Twitter said they had found that prompts led 34% of people
to revise their initial reply or to decide against sending their reply at
all.

 

Users composed, on average, 11% fewer offensive replies after being prompted
for the first time, Twitter said.

 

 

They were also less likely to receive offensive and harmful replies back.

 

It seems, however, that you can still swear at your friends.

 

Twitter said the prompts are designed to consider the nature of the
relationship between the accounts that tweets and the account that replies.

 

"If two accounts follow and reply to each other often, there's a higher
likelihood that they have a better understanding of preferred tone of
communication," the blog post said.

 

Platforms target user behaviour

Tech platforms have grappled in recent years with how to police offensive
content, abuse and harassment on their platforms.

 

Twitter's most recent statistics, for January to June last year, show that
the platform removed potentially offensive content posted by 1.9 million
accounts, and suspended 925,700 accounts for violating Twitter rules.

 

The debate over content moderation has recently become more intense, because
of decisions taken by social media giants against public officials,
particularly former US President Donald Trump.

 

Mr Trump was banned from a number of platforms, including Twitter and
Facebook, following the Capitol Hill riots on 6 January.

 

Facebook's oversight board upheld the decision on Wednesday, but criticised
the platform for an making the suspension indefinite and gave it six months
to determine a proportionate response.

 

Although many believe platforms should be more aggressive in policing online
abuse and false information, many see Mr Trump's ban as an act of political
censorship.-BBC

 

 

 

Google boss emails staff detailing return to office

Google's chief executive has sent an email to employees encouraging them to
return to work in the office for at least three days a week as lockdowns
ease.

 

The firm began reopening offices in April, and has now laid out the details
of how it envisages the new hybrid working week.

 

In the email, Sundar Pichai extols the benefits of office working.

 

Twitter, by contrast, has said that employees can work from home "forever".

 

Facebook has also said that its employees can continue to be home-based.

 

Google was one of the first companies to offer working from home when the
pandemic struck last year. People can continue to work remotely until
September.

 

Previously, Googlers, as staff are known, had to formally apply if they
wanted to work from a remote location (other than their home) for more than
two weeks. That has now been expanded to four weeks.

 

In the email, seen by the BBC, Mr Pichai writes about the benefits of being
in an office: "For more than 20 years, our employees have been coming to the
office to solve interesting problems - in a cafe, around a whiteboard, or
during a pick-up game of beach volleyball or cricket."

 

He said that in locations where offices had already opened, "we've seen
nearly 60% of Googlers choosing to come back".

 

'Take care'

He added that he envisaged a workforce where 60% were office based, 20% were
in "new office locations" and 20% were working from home.

 

In terms of the numbers of days in each location, he said that teams would
come together in the office "approximately three days" a week, and work
"wherever suits them best" for two days.

 

Some teams though would "need to be on site more than three days a week due
to the nature of the work".

 

Many had assumed that, especially in Silicon Valley, working from home would
become the norm post-pandemic.

 

Mr Pichai, who is Indian-born, also said it was "heartbreaking" to see Covid
surging in places such as India and Brazil.

 

For employees living there he had a simple message: "Please focus on taking
care of yourselves and your loved ones. We are here to support however we
can."-BBC

 

 

 

Goldman Sachs tells bankers to return to office in June

Goldman Sachs has told its UK bankers they need to be ready to return to the
office in June.

 

That is the date on which the government hopes to lift legal limits on
social contact in England.

 

While for many working from home has become normal, Goldman boss David
Solomon previously described it as "an aberration".

 

But rival investment bank JP Morgan is planning for "significantly" less
office space, it said in April.

 

Goldman bankers have in large part already returned to the office in parts
of the Asia-Pacific region.

 

But, in India and Latin America "the devastating rise in the number of
infections and deaths is leading to new lockdowns and significant strain",
three Goldman top executives said in an internal memo on Tuesday.

 

However, the bank is "encouraged by the rollout of vaccines" in many places,
chief executive David Solomon, president John Waldron and chief financial
officer Stephen Scherr said.

 

US bankers should be ready to come back into the office on 14 June, and UK
bankers should make plans to be back on 21 June, they said.

 

"We know from experience that our culture of collaboration, innovation and
apprenticeship thrives when our people come together, and we look forward to
having more of our colleagues back in the office so that they can experience
that once again on a regular basis," they said.

 

Staff who wish to continue to work from home should discuss this with their
manager, they added.

 

While some bank bosses have indicated that working from home may not be a
long term option for some employees, others are planning for smaller
offices.

 

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon said in April that the investment bank will
require "significantly" less office space in the coming years, needing just
60 seats per 100 people.

 

HSBC boss Noel Quinn said at the end of April that the bank plans to move to
a hybrid model of working, with employees having a mixture of working in the
office and from home.

 

Some investment bank traders at Canary Wharf have been working from the
office during the pandemic.

 

Barclays expects to keep a significant number of traders at Canary Wharf in
the future.

 

Barclays boss Jes Staley has previously said home working is "not
sustainable" for large financial institutions.

 

Bank employees in London and New York will be coming back into the office on
a phased basis from mid-June, but the return to working from the office for
Barclays employees will be gradual.-BBC

 

 

 

Huawei and ZTE left out of India's 5G trials

India's telecom ministry has left out Chinese equipment makers Huawei and
ZTE from its 5G trials, becoming the latest country to lock the firms out.

 

The ministry granted permission to a dozen firms - including Ericsson, Nokia
and Samsung's network unit - to conduct a sixth-month trial of 5G
technology.

 

Although Huawei and ZTE were not named, they were not banned from supplying
5G equipment to carriers.

 

India is the world's second-biggest market by number of phone users.

 

Major carriers Reliance Industries' Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone
Idea will conduct the trials along with state-run MTNL.

 

A statement from the Indian government's Press Information Bureau says each
company "will have to conduct trials in rural and semi-urban settings also
in addition to urban settings so that the benefit of 5G Technology
proliferates across the country and is not confined only to urban areas".

 

Delhi is yet to implement any type of official ban on the Chinese companies,
which currently supply a significant amount of equipment to India's mobile
providers.

 

However, the government has signalled a tighter, more security-oriented
approach to the country's networks, which is widely expected to work against
the Chinese companies.

 

In December, the government said it would identify "trusted" sources of
telecoms gear its carriers can use in their networks as part of the new
security directive for the sector.

 

Those new procurement rules are expected to come into effect in June, and
will restrict Indian network providers to buying certain types of equipment
from "trusted sources".

 

It might also include a list of banned suppliers.

 

Global security concerns

Huawei has been locked out of the development of 5G in a number of other
countries, including the UK.

 

The company is currently on the US Department of Commerce's Entity List,
which restricts its access to items produced with US technology and
software.

 

The US says Huawei could be used by China for spying, via its 5G equipment
and its Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has even ordered certain US
telecommunications companies to remove Huawei equipment from their network.

 

Huawei has long denied claims that it poses any threat to national security.

 

Mobile operators in a number of countries have warned that excluding Huawei
from the network could increase the cost and slow the rollout.

 

5G - the fifth generation of wireless technology - is much faster than its
predecessors and allows much more devices to be connected at the same time.
It operates on high frequencies that require more capacity.-BBC

 

 

 

 

UK and India agree to let more young people in

The UK and India have struck a deal allowing thousands of young adults to
work and live in each other's countries for two years.

 

The Home Office said the scheme for 18 to 30-year-old professionals would
allow "the brightest and best" to come to the UK based on "skills and
talent".

 

It added that the two countries would also "crack down" on illegal
migration.

 

The new scheme comes as the UK is pushing for a post-Brexit free-trade deal
with India.

 

The two countries earlier announced business agreements worth £1bn.

 

The Young Professionals Scheme will be open to a maximum of 3,000 people
from each of India and the UK per year, although the two governments can
decide to raise or lower this limit.

 

The 18 to 30-year-olds taking part must have at least three years' training
relevant to their work - at university level or equivalent - and be able to
"express themselves in the language(s) of the host country".

 

They will not be allowed to take any children or other dependents with them.

 

The UK and Indian governments are also promising to work "constructively" on
reducing illegal migration between them, including mounting a stronger
"fight" against the use of forged documents.

 

'Roadmap'

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "This landmark agreement with our close
partners in the government of India will provide new opportunities to
thousands of young people in the UK and India seeking to live, work and
experience each other's cultures.

 

"This agreement will also ensure that the British government can remove
those with no right to be in UK more easily and crack down on those abusing
our system."

 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi held a
virtual meeting on Tuesday to discuss a "roadmap" for cooperation over the
next decade on health, climate, trade, education, science and technology,
and defence.

 

Trade between the UK and India is worth about £23bn per year, and the UK
government hopes to double that by 2030.

 

Mr Johnson and Mr Modi had been due to hold talks in person in Delhi, but
these were cancelled because of the surge in Covid cases in India.-BBC

 

 

 

Results tally up billions in profit from Texas freeze for gas and power
sellers

Natural gas suppliers, pipeline companies and banks that trade commodities
have emerged as the biggest market winners from February's U.S. winter blast
that roiled gas and power markets, according to more than two dozen
interviews and quarterly earnings reports.

 

The deep freeze caught Texas's utilities off-guard, killed more than 100
people and left 4.5 million without power. Demand for heat pushed wholesale
power costs to 400 times the usual amount and propelled natural gas prices
to record highs, forcing utilities and consumers to pay exorbitant bills.

 

After the storm, few companies wanted to talk about their financial gains,
unwilling to be seen as profiting off others' hardships. But a clearer
picture is emerging from quarterly earnings and as utility companies
smarting from big bills sue to recoup their losses.

 

The biggest winners were companies with access to supplies, including
leading energy trader Vitol, gas suppliers Kinder Morgan (KMI.N), Enterprise
Products Partners (EPD.N) and Energy Transfer (ET.N), and banks Goldman
Sachs (GS.N), Bank of America (BofA) (BAC.N) and Macquarie Group (MQG.AX).

 

The firms combined stand to reap billions of dollars in profits by selling
gas and power during the storm, according to interviews and reviews of
public documents. It is possible that some companies may never collect on
those sales due to ongoing litigation, however.

 

Losers include producers that could not deliver oil and gas due to frozen
wellheads, gathering systems and processing stations. The week-long output
loss cost shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.N) $80 million,
Chevron (CVX.N) about $300 million, and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) $800 million.

 

Utilities are complaining of price gouging and of unwarranted supply
cancellations. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is reviewing gas and
power markets for potential market manipulation.

 

Goldman Sachs and Vitol did not comment. BofA did not respond to a request
for comment.

 

'MAXIMUM WITHDRAWAL'

 

Energy Transfer, which can store about 60% of U.S. daily gas consumption in
areas hit hardest by the February freeze, could report a $850 million profit
from selling the fuel to utilities and industrial customers during the
storm, according to analysts at East Daley Capital. Other people familiar
with its operations say that figure could be higher.

 

Energy Transfer did not comment for this story. The company reports results
on Thursday.

 

Rival Enterprise Products Partners said the storm led to gains of about $250
million in the first quarter. read more

 

Kinder Morgan, another gas storage and pipeline operator, earned about $1
billion during the storm, the vast majority from higher gas prices and
sales. Anticipating high demand, Kinder Morgan said it dispatched workers
and backup generators ahead of the storm to its gas storage and pipeline
facilities.

 

At the beginning of February, gas prices ranged from $2.50 to $3 per million
British thermal unit (mmBtu) at hubs from Houston to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prices
began climbing on Feb. 11 into the hundreds of dollars, with Tulsa's hub
surging to a record $1,192.86 on Feb. 17, according to government data.

 

"That's what happens when you go from a very well supplied market to a very
tight market, and in this case a catastrophically tight market," said one
natural gas trader. "That was very localized pain, and it really surprised a
lot of people."

 

Energy traders with three Texas electric cooperatives told Reuters they paid
as much as $400 per mmBtu during a four-day stretch that began Valentine's
Day weekend. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to
speak about the crisis. San Antonio's municipal utility CPS Energy said its
gas bill for the week was about $700 million.

 

"I've been tracking natural gas markets for 20 years. I've never seen price
increases like we saw," said Tyson Slocum, an energy and environmental
advisory committee member at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a
director at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization.

 

WINNING AND LOSING

 

Australia's Macquarie, the second-largest marketer of U.S. natural gas, said
its trading around the storm boosted its overall profit outlook for the year
by about 10%, which analysts estimated at about A$400 million ($317
million). read more

 

Ahead of the storm, Macquarie traders researched how previous cold fronts
disrupted infrastructure to prepare a plan, said sources within the firm,
who requested anonymity. The company did not comment for this story.

 

Texas's grid operator ERCOT canceled $1 billion in service charges and state
officials are considering securitizing unpaid ERCOT bills from electric
companies that defaulted.

 

Many of the firms that profited from trading, such as Goldman Sachs and
BofA, are also facing losses from their exposure to utilities and electric
co-operatives that have declared bankruptcy, according to court filings.

 

BofA made hundreds of millions via its trading arm, according to a source
with direct knowledge of the matter, but it is owed nearly $480 million by
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, which filed for bankruptcy.

 

Disputes over price gouging and reneged contracts have also emerged after
some suppliers declared the freeze was a force majeure event that allowed
them to suspend contracts.

 

Macquarie was sued by Exxon seeking to void an $11 million gas bill. CPS
Energy sued BP, Chevron, Energy Transfer and others for submitting bills
that ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

Texas wind farm operators also have filed lawsuits against trading arms of
JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, maintaining the cold snap was an extreme
event that overrode contracts for power generation and delivery. -The
Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Asia shares, commodities firm on recovery bets; A$ hit by China move

Asian shares rose on Thursday and commodity prices held near multi-year
highs as investors switched to cyclicals amid hopes of a strong economic
recovery, while the Australian dollar fell after China said it would end
economic dialogue with Canberra.

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS)
rose 0.25%, and Japan's Nikkei (.N225) jumped 1.8% as it reopened after a
five-day holiday.

 

Chinese shares, also resuming trade for the first time since last week, were
mixed in early trade, with the Shanghai Composite (.SSEC) up 0.45% and
CSI300 (.CSI300) down 0.2%.

 

On Wall Street, Dow (.DJI) hit a record high overnight, having risen 0.29%,
while the S&P 500 (.SPX) added 0.07%, led by gains in energy and other
cyclical shares.

 

The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gave up its earlier gains to end 0.37% lower on
Wednesday as megacap technology companies slipped, following sharp declines
on Tuesday.

 

Richly valued tech shares fell after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's
suggested rate hikes may be needed to stop the economy from overheating,
though she later said she was not "predicting or recommending" a near-term
hike. read more

 

With very few Federal Reserve officials ready to discuss withdrawing
stimulus and the world economy looking set to post a strong recovery from
the pandemic-triggered recession, investors have switched to cyclicals -
companies that are heavily affected by economic conditions, analysts said.

 

"This year, both the U.S. and Chinese economy could grow 6% or more. If the
world's two biggest economies are growing that much, clearly that's
positive," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist, Mitsubishi UFJ
Morgan Stanley Securities.

 

Against this backdrop, commodity prices are riding high, with copper
flirting with 10-year peaks.

 

Oil prices also held near their March tops. U.S. crude futures stood at
$65.65 per barrel , little changed on the day but just below Wednesday's
two-month high of $66.76.

 

Thomson Reuters CRB index (.TRCCRB) has risen to its highest level since
2015, having gained more than 21% so far this year.

 

BONDS AND CURRENCIES

 

Higher commodity prices are fuelling inflation expectations in the bond
market.

 

The U.S. breakeven inflation rate, or inflation expectations calculated from
the yield gap between inflation-linked bonds and conventional bonds, rose to
as high as 2.48% overnight.

 

But the U.S. nominal bond yields held relatively stable, with the 10-year
U.S. Treasuries yield little changed at 1.584% .

 

"Bonds were supported partly because the pace of vaccinations has slowed in
the States and as real-money investors are starting to buy," said Naokazu
Koshimizu, economist at Nomura Securities.

 

"Rise in inflation is also driven more by supply constraints than demand,
which is why we are seeing rising inflation expectations and fall in nominal
yields," he added.

 

In currencies, the Australian dollar dropped 0.5% to $0.7712 after China's
state economic planner said it had decided to "indefinitely suspend" all
activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue. read more

 

The British pound was flat at $1.3910 ahead of a central bank policy review.

 

The Bank of England could slow the pace of its bond buying to allow the
quantitative easing programme to last until the end of the year, as it could
reach the cap by September at the current pace of buying. read more

 

Other currencies were little moved, with focus on Friday's U.S. monthly jobs
report that is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls increased by 978,000
jobs last month.-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Aston Martin posts smaller first-quarter loss

British carmaker Aston Martin (AML.L) posted a smaller first quarter loss in
2021 of 42.2 million pounds ($59 million) and said it continued to take
steps towards profitability, maintaining its guidance of around 6,000 sales
this year.

 

In the first three months of 2020, the luxury brand reported a pre-tax loss
of 110.1 million pounds.

 

($1 = 0.7191 pounds)-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Volkswagen lifts margin target on demand for premium cars

Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), Europe's largest car maker, raised its operating
margin target for 2021 on Thursday, pointing to stronger demand for more
profitable cars in the first three months of the year.

 

The group now expects its operating profit margin to be 5.5-7% this year,
versus a previous forecast for 5.0-6.5%, with vehicle deliveries and sales
each up by more than a fifth.

 

The better outlook is mainly driven by improved demand for high-margin
premium cars such as Porsche and Audi, a trend that has also been observed
by rivals General Motors (GM.N), Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and Ford (F.N) and
Stellantis (STLA.MI). read more

 

"We started the year with great momentum and are on a strong operational
course. This is clearly reflected in our positive quarterly figures,"
Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess said.

 

"Our successful e-offensive continues to gain momentum and we have
significantly expanded it with attractive new models."

 

Shares in the group were indicated to open 1.2% higher in pre-market trade.

 

Volkswagen's operating profit came in at 4.9 billion euros ($5.9 billion) in
the first quarter to March, helped by cost cuts and higher sales, versus 0.9
billion in the same period last year that was impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic.

 

Its improved outlook for the year comes even though the car maker expects
the impact of an ongoing shortage of crucial automotive chips to intensify
in the second quarter.

 

($1 = 0.8329 euros)-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

AB InBev CEO Brito to step down, North America chief steps in

Carlos Brito will end 15 years of his tenure as chief executive officer of
Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) in July, and be replaced by its North America
division head as the world's largest brewer seeks to drive beer sales in its
global markets.

 

The company said on Thursday its board had unanimously elected Michel
Doukeris, the former head of sales, to succeed fellow Brazilian Brito, the
architect of AB InBev's global expansion, from July 1.

 

AB InBev Chairman Martin Barrington said in a statement that Doukeris was
ideally suited for the company's next phase with his expertise in brands,
consumers and innovation. The next phase could be focused on boosting sales
of over 500 brands than on acquisitions in an already concentrated brewing
market.

 

The brewer of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois lagers separately reported
first-quarter earnings ahead of expectations, even with lockdowns closing
hospitality in much of Europe and a one-month alcohol sales ban in South
Africa.

 

Sales of beer surged 64% in Asia-Pacific, a year on from the initial
coronavirus lockdown in China, a major AB InBev market.

 

They were also up by more than 10% in Latin America, outperforming industry
growth in two of its top markets, Brazil and Mexico. In Europe, sales of its
own beers were flat.

 

Core profit (EBIDTA) rose 14.2% on a like-for-like basis and removing the
impact of currency translation to $4.27 billion, stronger than the 6.6%
expansion average forecast in a company-compiled poll.

 

This figure should increase by between 8% and 12% in 2021, with revenue
growth greater than that, based on higher beer sales, price hikes and a
shift in consumer taste to premium brands, AB InBev said.-The Thomson
Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Britain's Next raises profit outlook for second time in two months

British fashion retailer Next (NXT.L) on Thursday raised its profit guidance
for the 2021-22 year for the second time in two months as it reported better
than expected first quarter trading.

 

The group, which trades from about 500 stores as well as online, raised its
central guidance for 2021-22 pre-tax profit to 720 million pounds ($1.00
billion) from the 700 million pounds forecast in April after full price
sales in the 13 weeks to May 1 fell 1.5% on two years ago.

 

Next's previous guidance assumed first quarter sales would be down 10%
versus the same period in the 2019-20 year - the last full financial year
before the pandemic hit. It said it beat this forecast by 75 million pounds.

 

However, the group said it had not raised its sales guidance for the rest of
the year, which it maintained at up 3% versus two years ago.

 

Next said first quarter retail sales (stores) were down 76% on two years
ago, reflecting COVID-19 lockdowns, while online sales increased 65%.

 

($1 = 0.7191 pounds)-The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

China's Tencent in talks with U.S. to keep gaming investments -sources

Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) is negotiating agreements with a U.S.
national security panel that would allow it to keep its ownership stakes in
U.S. video game developers Riot Games and Epic Games, according to people
familiar with the matter.

 

Tencent has been in talks with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States (CFIUS), which has the authority to order the Chinese
technology giant to divest U.S. holdings, since the second half of last
year, the sources said.

 

CFIUS has been looking in to whether Epic Games' and Riot Games' handling of
the personal data of their users constitutes a national security risk
because of their Chinese ownership, the sources added.

 

Tencent owns a 40% stake in Epic Games, the maker of popular video game
Fortnite. Tencent also bought a majority stake in Riot Games in 2011 and
acquired the rest of the company in 2015. Riot Games is the developer of
"League of Legends," one of the world's most popular desktop-based games.

 

Tencent is negotiating risk-mitigation measures with CFIUS so it can keep
its investments, according to the sources. The details of the proposed
measures could not be learned. They typically involve ringfencing the owner
of a company from operations that have national security implications. They
often call for the appointment of independent auditors to monitor the
implementation of these agreements.

 

One of the sources said Epic Games has not been sharing any user data with
Tencent.

 

The sources cautioned there is no certainty that Tencent will clinch deals
to keep its investments and asked not to be identified because the matter is
confidential.

 

A Tencent logo is seen in Beijing, China September 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu
Wang

Tencent, Epic Games and a CFIUS representative at the U.S. Treasury
Department declined to comment.

 

A Riot Games spokesman said the Los Angeles-based company operates
independently of Tencent and that it has implemented "industry-leading
practices" to protect player data. He declined to comment on Riot Games'
discussions with CFIUS.

 

CFIUS has been cracking down on Chinese ownership of U.S. technology assets
in the last few years, amid an escalation in tensions between Washington and
Beijing over trade, human rights and the protection of intellectual
property. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that the personal data of
U.S. citizens could end up in the hands of China's Communist Party
government.

 

President Joe Biden's administration has maintained the hawkish stance
against China inherited in January from his predecessor Donald Trump, albeit
with more of a focus on geopolitical issues such as the future of Taiwan and
Hong Kong, as well as China's persecution of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

 

Yet many key CFIUS roles have not yet been staffed. This has provided a
reprieve to China's ByteDance, which was ordered by Trump last year to sell
its popular short video app TikTok but balked at a transaction that would
have involved Oracle Corp (ORCL.N) and Walmart Inc (WMT.N). CFIUS has not
sought to enforce the divestiture order under Biden.

 

Epic is locked in a legal fight with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) over access to the
iPhone maker's app store. It alleges that Apple forces developers to use its
in-app payment systems - which charge commissions of up to 30% - and to
submit to app-review guidelines that discriminate against products that
compete with Apple's own.

 

Apple argues that Epic Games broke their contract when it introduced its own
in-app payment system in Fortnite to circumvent Apple's commissions. It says
the way it runs the app store inspires trust in consumers to open up their
wallets to unknown developers. 

 

Tencent's vast businesses include video games, content streaming, social
media, advertising and cloud services. China has in recent months sought to
curb the economic and social power of Tencent and other internet companies
such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), in a clampdown backed by
President Xi Jinping. Reuters reported last week that Beijing was preparing
a substantial antitrust fine for Tencent.-The Thomson Reuters Trust
Principles.

 

 

Uber sees driver cost rising as U.S. economy recovers

Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) signaled it would pay drivers more to get
cars back on the road as the U.S. economy recovers from the pandemic and
disclosed a $600 million charge to provide UK drivers with benefits, a sign
of the potential costs if the United States requires more driver
compensation.

 

Shares of Uber were down 4.6% in after-hours trade. The stock fell 3.4%
during the regular session after the Biden administration blocked a
Trump-era rule affecting gig workers. read more

 

The cost and speed of business recovery is of paramount interest to
investors, and Uber executives on Wednesday said the take rate, the share
Uber takes in fees from each ride, would drop from the previous quarter to a
20% range. Taking a lower cut will allow Uber drivers to earn more, but
weigh on Uber's second-quarter mobility revenue and profitability.

 

Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said shares fell after hours
because of the pressure on the take rate and implicit driver incentives.

 

 

The food-delivery business continued to grow in the first quarter, but
ride-hail bookings were flat from the previous quarter.

 

Moreover, the ride-hailing mobility business had to absorb a $600 million
hit to account for a settlement with its more than 70,000 UK drivers and
provide them with more benefits. read more

 

"The company's bottom line has been hurt by the ruling in the UK which
raised expenses and reminded investors that a similar move in the U.S. could
have a much bigger impact," said Haris Anwar, senior analyst at
Investing.com.

 

Uber posted an adjusted $359 million first-quarter loss before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization - a metric that excludes one-time
costs, including stock-based compensation, narrowing losses by nearly $100
million from the previous quarter.

 

 

Analysts on average had expected the company to report an adjusted EBITDA
loss of around $452 million, Refinitiv data showed.

 

Uber has promised to be profitable on that metric by the end of the year,
three months after its smaller ride-hail rival Lyft Inc (LYFT.O), which on
Tuesday said it would report sustained adjusted profits starting in the
third quarter. read more

 

Uber's chief financial officer, Nelson Chai, said on Wednesday the company
would become profitable in the "second half of the year," leaving the door
open to achieving profits in the third quarter.

 

Revenue at Uber's delivery segment, which includes its Uber Eats restaurant
delivery business, more than tripled from last year and grew 28% from last
quarter to $1.7 billion.

 

 

Uber's ride-hail gross bookings, which plummeted over the last year due to
the pandemic, remained roughly flat from the last quarter and down 38% from
the previous year.

 

SPRING REBOUND

 

Uber's first-quarter results come as the company reported record food
delivery and rides bookings in March and April, as U.S. vaccination rates
increased and temperatures warmed.

 

Both Uber and Lyft have struggled to serve the spring rebound in ride-hail
trips, when consumer demand temporarily outstripped driver supply, leading
to higher prices and longer wait times in some U.S. cities.

 

Uber in April said it would invest an additional $250 million to further
boost driver earnings and offer payment guarantees in an effort to
incentivize new and existing drivers. read more Those charges will further
drag down second-quarter mobility results.

 

Excluding the $600 million charge, Uber reported $3.5 billion in
first-quarter revenue, ahead of an average analyst estimate for $3.29
billion, according to Refinitiv data.

 

Uber and Lyft's shares took a tumble last week when U.S. Labor Secretary
Marty Walsh told Reuters in an interview that "a lot of gig workers should
be classified as employees." 

Uber Chief Legal Officer Tony West on a Wednesday conference call said the
company was hopeful it will have a dialogue with the Biden administration
Labor Department that "can ultimately lead to a resolution."

 

The gig companies rely on low-cost flexible workers and say their services
would become unavailable if workers were reclassified as employees. - The
Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Tanzania: Kenyatta Extends Hand to Tanzanian Investors

KENYA President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday called upon Tanzanian companies
to en masse come and invest in his country. Mr Uhuru was categorical that
the investors were welcomed to set up business ventures in the East African
nation, maintaining that they were free to operate in his country without
visas or work permits.

 

"We would like to see more companies and businessmen come to invest in
Kenya, as long as they abide by the laws of the land," stated Mr Uhuru,
while addressing a meeting of business investors from Kenya and Tanzania in
Nairobi.

 

Mr Uhuru's assertion will be music to ears of Tanzanian businessmen and
entrepreneurs, considering that the number of business ventures owned and
run by Tanzanians in Kenya stood at 30, in contrast, there are over 500
Kenyan companies in Tanzania.

"The prosperity of our two countries hinges on the conducive environment for
business as we have a common desire to promote trade and tourism within the
East African Customs Union framework," explained President Uhuru.

 

The Kenyan leader underscored the importance of the two East African
Community (EAC) Partner States to corporate on trade and tourism fronts,
rather than compete for the benefit of its people.

 

Despite enjoying an overall trade volume of $ 18.8 million, Tanzania and
Kenya have in the past been embroiled in a sibling rivalry. He added: We can
only transform our economies if we seriously work together.

 

In the same vein, Mr Uhuru challenged the country's Cabinet Secretary for
Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development Betty Maina to get out
of her comfort zone and resolve truckers' stalemate at Holili/ Taveta One
Stop Border Post and the maize row in Namanga border.

Mr Uhuru, who also chairs the EAC Heads of State Summit, also tasked his
ministers to find a lasting resolve on the issuance of Covid-19
certificates. In March this year, Kenya banned maize from Tanzania, claiming
that it contained high levels of mycotoxins that exceed safety limits.

 

Last year, Dar es Salaam and Nairobi agreed that truck crews from both
countries would undergo testing before commencement of their journeys at the
point of origin as the per World Health Organization (WHO) standards. That,
has however not been the case, with custom officials from the countries
being reluctant to allow the crews to drive through.

 

Earlier on, Tanzanian Minister of Industry and Trade Kitila Mkumbo assured
the business forum of a planned bilateral engagement that will ease tensions
between the two countries and open up business between the nations. The
meeting is scheduled for later this month, according to Prof Mkumbo.

On his part, East African Business Council (EABC) Chairperson Nicholas
Nesbitt attributed the decline in intra EAC trade to several barriers to
trade, investment and movement of persons. Intra-EAC trade currently stands
at below 20 per cent against Southern African Development Community's (SADC)
48 per cent and European Union's (EU) 70 per cent.

 

He pushed for the need to embrace digitalization particularly in moving
goods and services across the region and harmonizing the tax regimes "We
need to strengthen the East African Secretariat and encourage value addition
in manufacturing and diversification of our products," he said.

 

According to Mr Nesbitt there was a need to enhance competitiveness of EAC
products by building regional supply chains; ensuring professionals who have
credentials in foreign countries and the elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers
(NTBs).-Daily News.

 

 

 

Kenya: Survey Links Weak Extension Services to Poor Food Safety Practices

Weak agricultural extension services to farmers has been cited as among
major barriers to ensuring food safety in the country, according to a recent
baseline survey.

 

Other barriers include lack of information on proper use of pesticides and
proper hygiene practices.

 

As such, the survey concluded that farmers need to be informed on the
correct use of pesticides and on hygiene practices. Additionally, there is
need to strengthen extension services while agro dealers need to be
empowered with the right information.

 

The survey was done for the Market Access Upgrade Programme (Markup) Kenya
by Ipsos, an International research company.

Funded by the European Union (EU), Markup Kenya seeks to promote
competitiveness and market access along selected fruits, vegetables, nuts,
herbs and spices value chains. The programme, which was launched in October
2019, is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (Unido), in partnership with the government and the private
sector.

 

Knowledge attitudes and practice

 

The research, which focused on the 12 counties where Markup is implemented,
sought to establish the knowledge attitudes and practice (KAP) on food
safety in Kenya.

 

Further, the research revealed that money and the availability of ready
markets are major drivers of food safety.

 

On the other hand, the survey recommended that farmers should be educated on
their collective responsibility on food safety and on storage of chemicals
in separate areas.

"If you tell me that you will buy my macadamia at Sh200, I don't see any
reason as to why I wouldn't follow the pre-harvest interval. I will check
everything from the beginning until I sell [them] because there is [some
good] return. But if the return is imaginary, then I will also operate in an
unprofessional way," the report quotes a macadamia farmer from Embu.

 

It calls for better coordination and policy enforcement by different
stakeholders.

 

"Farmers should be educated on their collective responsibility on food
safety and on storage of chemicals in separate areas," reads the report
which also calls on the government to have better structures to enforce
current laws and regulations.

 

Survey timely

 

The KAP lead researcher Caroline Mackenzie described the survey as timely,
noting that issues of food safety are a major concern in the country.
Additionally, she noted, the baseline provided benchmark data for a food
safety campaign and so it will be good to evaluate the impact of the
campaign using a follow-up survey.

Small holder farmers, she noted, need to be educated on the identified gaps
so that they can produce food that is safe. Additionally, consumers need to
be educated to demand food that has been produced under safe conditions, and
they should be willing to pay a premium for food produced under high hygiene
standards.

 

Ms Mackenzie recommends other surveys, especially among transporters,
wholesalers and retailers, to see how to improve food safety during
transportation and storage, before it gets to the consumer.

 

"It would also be good to check with consumers what they know about food
safety, how they handle food after purchase, what they do when they get sick
among other related issues," said Ms Mackenzie, adding, "It would also be
good to find out if consumers would be willing to demand and pay premium for
food produced under high food safety standards. If yes, this can be used as
an incentive to farmers."

 

Action plans

 

Markup Kenya National Coordinator Maina Karuiru said there are various
action plans planned by the project following the research findings. Among
them are trainings on key issues such as good agricultural practices and
integrated pest control and management methods.

 

Additionally, the programme will support the government to have a
centralised mechanism to handle food safety matters and train farmers on
correct handling and application of pesticides.

 

Stakeholders in the nuts sector will be trained on aflatoxin management and
various value addition methods in order to increase their capacity to access
different markets.

 

They will also receive support to access financing while producers will be
linked with diversified markets.-Nation.

 

 

Mozambique: 280 Million Dollars Mobilised for 'Energy for All'

Maputo — The Mozambican government has mobilised about 280 million US
dollars from its cooperation partners to implement the programme "Energy for
All", intended to provide electrical power to every household in the
country.

 

The Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Ludovina Bernardo, gave the
figure at a press briefing on Tuesday, after the weekly meeting of the
Council of Ministers (Cabinet).

 

She added that this year 400,000 households will, for the first time, be
linked to the electricity grid.

 

Since December 2020, when the government abolished the fee for domestic
electricity connections, there has been a sharp increase in the number of
citizens requesting electrification of their homes.

 

"There's a lot of support from the public. They want access to electricity",
said Bernardo, who recalled that the government's Five Year Programme for
the period 2020-2024 set a target for increasing the number of people with
electricity in their homes from 34 to 64 per cent of the population.

 

All the activities envisaged under the "Energy for All" programme, "are
going ahead smoothly", she added.

 

President Filipe Nyusi launched the programme in November 2018. The
ambitious target of ensuring universal access to electricity by 2030 will
require the government to mobilise about six billion dollars.

 

The Council of Ministers also approved a pardon of fines owed by companies
that have failed to pay their contributions to the National Social Security
Institute (INSS), and a reduction of the interest on overdue INSS payments.

 

This handout to employers, and to self-employed people enrolled in the
social security system, is justified as part of the package of measures to
mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

 

 

Nigeria: President Orders Review of Govt Payrolls to Cut Costs

Abuja — The federal government has initiated a raft of measures to cut the
cost of governance in the face of dwindling revenue occasioned by the
headwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant global economic
tailspin.

 

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said
yesterday in Abuja that the measures were targeted at reducing recurrent
expenditure, which is projected to gulp about 41.5 per cent of the total
provisions of N13.588 trillion in the 2021 budget, amounting to N5.64
trillion.

 

She stated that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the salaries and
wages committee to review the payroll of public servants as well as consider
the merger of some agencies.

Besides, the government will also remove some unnecessary items from the
budget as a move to cut the cost of governance.

 

Ahmed spoke at a policy dialogue on 'corruption and cost of governance in
Nigeria,' organised by the Independent Corrupt Practice and other Related
Offences Commission (ICPC).

 

Also at the occasion, the Director-General, Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze,
proposed a constitutional amendment to pave the way for the restructuring of
the country into six regions instead of the present 36 states structure.
This, he said, would help to reduce the rising cost of governance.

 

Ahmed stated that the proposed cost-saving measures was aimed at
streamlining government expenditure with revenue.

 

She said: "We still see government expenditure increase to a terrain twice
higher than our revenue."

She urged all government agencies to come together to trim the cost amid the
country's dwindling revenue.

 

According to her, the nation's budgets are filled every year with projects
that are recycled and that are also not necessary.

 

"Mr. President has directed that the salaries committee that I chair, work
together with the head of service and other members of the committee to
review the government pay rolls in terms of stepping down on cost," she
added.

 

The minister said the federal government would also review the number of
government agencies in terms of their mandates, adding that the government
will consider merging two agencies with the same mandate.

 

She said: "We need to work together; all agencies of the government to cut
down our cost. We need to cut down unnecessary expenditures-expenditures
that we can do without.

"Our budgets are filled year-in-year out with projects that we see over and
over again and also projects that are not necessary."

 

Akabueze, in a paper titled: 'Reducing the Cost of Governance in Nigeria,'
described the country's current system of democratic governance as very
expansive and expensive.

 

He said the constitutional provision that mandated the president to appoint
a minister from at least each of the 36 states, should be amended to reduce
the number of federal cabinet members.

 

He cited the large federal structure to be one of the drivers of the high
cost of governance and engendering public outcry that government spending is
largely on recurrent activities at the expense of capital projects.

 

While describing the subsisting fiscal policy as unsustainable, Akabueze
said the persistent call for the reduction of governance cost had continued
to gain momentum in view of its impact on government fiscal situation.

 

He stated that the cost of governance is considerably cheaper in the United
States from where Nigeria copied the presidential system of government.

 

According to him, the general cost of administration in the United States is
less than 10 per cent of the total annual budgets while the United States,
with a higher population than Nigeria, has only 15 secretaries and executive
departments as against Nigeria, which has 27 ministers, 16 ministers of
state and 27 ministries.

 

He lamented that the federal government is maintaining 943 Ministries
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with many of them having duplicated
functions.

 

"There are 541 federal government-owned public corporations and enterprises.
We need to cut these in order to install efficiency in governance. Also, we
have a bloated civil service. The current civil service structure and size
is clearly unsustainable for Nigeria's economy," he said.

 

He warned against the tendency where the civil service is accorded
political, ethnic and religious patronage.

 

"A comprehensive staff auditing and job available is imperative to determine
the right size of the federal civil service without having any adverse
effect on the service. And to avoid duplication in the civil service, the
staff rationalisation programme should be gradual," he added.

 

Akabueze said the federal government's recurrent spending accounted for more
than 75 per cent of the actual MDAs expenditure between 2011 and 2020, in
addition to personnel cost which accounted for government significant
spending.

 

He accused the MDAs of incurring excessive personnel costs and wilfully
indulging in wide range of underhand practices that are driving governance
cost out of the ordinary.

 

According to him, in 2016, personnel cost was N1.87 trillion while at the
moment the same cost has spiralled to over N3 trillion.

 

The effect of the rising cost of running government, Akabueze added, is the
reason why only 30 per cent of the budget is available for capital project
and the cause behind many abandoned capital projects nationwide.

 

He said: "Personnel cost accounted for 31 per cent and 63 per cent of the
total spending and retained revenue in 2020. In the USA, the general
administration cost is less than 10 per cent of total budget."

 

He challenged Nigerians to task themselves on governance, saying that the
success story of the Asian Tiger was a product of sound leadership and
determination.

 

ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, described the cost of governance as
the driver of corruption in Nigeria.

 

He said the government was committed to improving the country's revenue by
focusing on new and existing sources and by streamlining payroll.

 

He added that the federal government would also ensure removal of subsidies
and reduction in the cost of contracts and procurement are for the benefits
of the vulnerable.

 

He listed critical area of concern to include payroll padding and the
phenomenon of ghost workers.

 

The federal government's intended cost-cutting approach is coming amid a
report by a public finance transparency advocacy firm, BudgIT that the 2021
federal budget contains over 316 duplicated capital projects worth N39.5
billion.

 

BudgIT, a public finance transparency advocacy firm, said in a report that
the duplication of projects was just one among other loopholes for
corruption in the budget.

 

It added that there were no audit records of N10.02 trillion received by the
security sector between 2015 and 2021.

 

It said: "Our investigations into the 2021 budget revealed at least 316
duplicated capital projects worth N39.5 billion, with 115 of those duplicate
projects occurring in the Ministry of Health. This is very disturbing,
especially considering the health infrastructure deficit and the raging
COVID-19 pandemic affecting Nigeria.

 

"BudgIT also found zero audit records of the N10.02 trillion received by the
security sector between 2015 and 2021."

 

It also alleged that budgetary provisions were made for agencies for
projects that are beyond their execution. It added: "Even worse, agencies
now receive allocations for capital projects they cannot execute. For
example, the National Agriculture Seed Council has an allocation for N400m
to construct solar street lights across all six geopolitical zones, while
the Federal College of Forestry in Ibadan in Oyo State got N50m for the
construction of street lights in Edo State.

 

"These are aberrations that need to be corrected."- This Day.

 

 

 

China 'indefinitely' suspends key economic dialogue with Australia

China has "indefinitely" suspended key economic dialogue with Australia, the
latest in a growing diplomatic rift between both countries.

 

Relations have been on the decline since Australia called for a probe into
the origins of the virus and banned Huawei from building its 5G network.

 

Last year, China imposed sanctions on Australian goods like wine and beef.

 

In a statement on Thursday, a Chinese government commission accused
Australia of having a "Cold War mindset".

 

"Recently, some Australian Commonwealth Government officials launched a
series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between
China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination,"
China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a
statement.

 

Reacting to the decision, Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said it was
"disappointing" but added that Canberra was still open to discussions.

 

 

Canberra has previously described the China-Australia Strategic Economic
Dialogue as one of the "premier bilateral economic meetings with China".

 

 

China had previously already informally stopped ministerial-level
communication between the two countries.

 

James Laurenceson, the Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute
said Beijing's move appears to be extending that diplomatic freeze.

 

"Up until now, both Canberra and Beijing have been saying that the lower
level day-to-day nitty-gritty continues as normal. And now we're seeing
co-operation and dialogues even closer to that are being disrupted," he told
the BBC.

 

Strained trade ties

The move appears to the be the latest in a string of tit-for-tat measures
between both countries.

 

Mr Laurenceson said Beijing appears to be a responding directly to the
Australian government's cancellation of two deals that the state of Victoria
struck with China as part of its flagship Belt and Road Initiative.

 

"If this is the extent of retaliation, then Canberra will be pretty relieved
because it strikes me as being quite calibrated. We're a long way here from
withdrawing from something like ChAFTA (the China-Australia free trade
agreement )," he said.

 

The Australian government has also reportedly sought new security advice
over the port of Darwin, which has been leased to Chinese-owned company
Landbridge, with some media outlets suggesting that the company could be
forced to divest on national security grounds.

 

 

media captionAustralia and China are big trading partners but have disagreed
on a number of important political issues

Until now China has mostly expressed its displeasure through trade measures,
which have affected a dozen key Australian industries, including wine,
barley and coal.

 

China is Australia's biggest trading partner, accounting for 29 per cent of
Australia's trade with the world in 2019, according to the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade.

 

Chinese investment in Australia plummeted 61% in 2020, the lowest number in
six years, according to the Australian National University's Chinese
Investment in Australia Database.--BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


FCB

AGM 

virtual

06/05/21 : 3pm

 


NMB

AGM

virtual

1205/21 :  3:30pm

 


 

Africa Day

 

25/05/21

 


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
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been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
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opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
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any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

 


 

 


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