Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 November 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 November 2021

 


 

 


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ü  Early Christmas shopping lifts retail sales in October

ü  Firm offers staff unlimited leave to stop burnout

ü  Alibaba: Shares dive after China spending slowdown warning

ü  Instagram: US states investigate how platform targets children

ü  China fines tech giants for failing to report 43 old deals

ü  Japan considers releasing oil reserves to curb prices -Kyodo

ü  As inflation surges, Fed to debate faster taper, earlier rate hikes

ü  Pentagon picks Northrop, Lockheed, Raytheon to develop hypersonic defense

ü  Corporate America unloads on Biden's newly active business watchdogs

ü  Visa's chief financial officer expects to resolve fee row with Amazon

ü  Tesla app coming back online after server outage, Musk says

ü  South Africa: SMEs Place Over 280 Products On the Shelves

ü  South Africa: Discussions Underway On Moving Eskom to Energy Department

ü  South Africa: SAA Cancels Daily Mozambique Flights, Adjusts Other
Schedules

ü  Uganda: Centenary Bank Commits Shs165m Towards Masaza Cup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Early Christmas shopping lifts retail sales in October

Early Christmas shopping helped to push up shop sales in October as people
spent more on clothing and on toys.

 

Sales rose by 0.8% in October, following no growth in September, according
to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

 

Clothing sales reached their highest level since the start of the pandemic,
said the ONS.

 

It also said second-hand stores, like charity shops and auction houses, had
seen sales rise.

 

Sales in clothing stores were only 0.5% below pre-pandemic levels, "with
some retailers suggesting that early Christmas trading had boosted sales,"
the ONS said.

 

Items that people were buying or pre-ordering earlier than usual for
Christmas this year included toys and clothes, shoes and accessories.

 

"After five months of no growth, retail sales picked up in October," said
ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner. "Although sales overall are above
pre-pandemic levels, it remains a mixed picture."

 

Fuel sales fell sharply, returning to more normal levels after the fuel
supply crisis in September, and food and online sales also dropped.

 

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said that
retailers were putting in "a gargantuan effort" to make sure they had
Christmas stock amid continuing supply chain problems.

 

"Labour shortages throughout the supply chains - from farms to distribution
- are pushing up costs and creating some gaps on the shelves," she said.

 

"Nonetheless, retailers are prioritising Christmas essentials, and many have
laid out their festive offerings a little earlier to ensure everyone has
time to buy treats and decorations before the big day."

 

She said that retailers were hoping demand would be sustained throughout the
Christmas period. "However, challenges remain, with higher prices looming
and many households facing rising energy bills."

 

Greener and cheaper

The jump in sales in non-food stores, which includes second-hand shops,
helped to boost October's figures.

 

Robin Osterley, chief executive of the Charity Retail Association, said
like-for-like sales across the charity shop sector in October were between
3% and 5% higher than before the Covid pandemic - a "very significant" rise.

 

People's attitudes had been changing towards donating and buying second-hand
clothing in particular, he said, in part due to growing environmental
awareness.

 

"To chuck it in the bin is not doing anything apart from filling up
landfill," he said. "[And] people want to buy from a good cause."

 

There is a growing "backlash to fast fashion", he added, saying that people
wanted to buy good quality second-hand clothing "that will last".

 

"We are in a zeitgeist of people wanting to buy second-hand. We see that
lasting for a very long time, if not forever," he said.

 

There are also sobering reasons why second-hand sales are booming, Mr
Osterley said.

 

Many people are finding their household budgets are being squeezed by
redundancy or price rises, he said.

 

"People are coming to charity shops for economic reasons," he said. "They
are looking to buy in the most cost effective way. I think inflation is a
factor."

 

The cost of living rose again in October with annual inflation running at
4.2%, its highest rate in almost 10 years.

 

Between August and September there was a fall in sales volumes in
second-hand goods stores such as charity shops, auction houses and antique
shops, but sales of expensive items at auction can make this data volatile,
the ONS said.

 

Borrowing dips

Separate figures from the ONS showed that government borrowing dipped last
month as the economy continued to recover and the furlough scheme wound up.

 

Borrowing - the difference between its spending and tax income - stood at
£18.8bn in October, £200m less than a year earlier.

 

Despite the fall, the figure still marked the second-highest total for
October since monthly records began in 1993.

 

The interest the government pays on what it borrows also jumped because of
rising inflation. The ONS said interest payments tripled in October from a
year earlier to £5.6bn.

 

The government has spent record amounts on emergency measures during the
pandemic, such as the furlough scheme, which was designed to protect wages.
That was withdrawn completely on 1 October.

 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said government support in the pandemic "protected
millions of jobs and businesses, but also left us with much higher public
debt".

 

He added that Budget measures "will keep debt on a sustainable path in the
years to come".-bbc

 

 

 

Firm offers staff unlimited leave to stop burnout

Workers at a London stockbrokers will have unlimited holiday from next year
to try to prevent staff burnout.

 

Finncapp employees will have to take a minimum of four weeks leave plus two
or three days every quarter.

 

Unlimited paid holiday is a perk popular among some US tech firms but less
so among financial services companies.

 

For some companies it works well, increasing productivity, but others found
staff took less time off.

 

'Fed up'

Finncapp, which also gives financial advice, has been "exceptionally busy"
as City mergers and capital markets boom, chief executive Sam Smith told the
BBC.

 

Ms Smith said the company really started to notice how much mental health
strain employees were under in February this year.

 

On Zoom calls, people were getting frustrated and some were not wanting to
communicate.

 

"People were fed up and had no resilience left because of having been in the
pandemic for a long time," she said.

 

Staff had worked very long hours from home in the pandemic, especially
during lockdowns, and the "lines between work and life became blurred", Ms
Smith said.

 

"There were no boundaries, no respite, it was just constant," she said, not
only in her company but in others.

 

And because everyone else was working, that put more pressure on people to
just keep working, she said.

 

By June, mental health pressures were starting to hit employees' physical
health, with people taking time off, and the company decided to change its
working practices.

 

>From 1 January, staff will have to take minimum leave, and that does not
include time off to care for sick parents, children or pets, or time off for
parents evenings or to deal with household problems such as a broken boiler.

 

"All these things are not holiday," Ms Smith said.

 

The company decided to set out minimum amounts of leave that must be taken -
which was first reported by Bloomberg - as the fear was that just having a
blanket policy of offering unlimited leave could backfire.

 

'Zoom fatigue'

That is what happened at software firm CharlieHR, where an unlimited leave
policy led to staff not taking enough holiday.

 

"The reality is that it's not actually unlimited," chief operating officer
Ben Gately previously told the BBC.

 

Other firms have been trying to deal with workplace stress by giving workers
some time off.

 

Dating app Bumble temporarily closed its offices in June for a week to
combat workplace stress.

 

It brought in a policy where twice a year there is a week-long company-wide
holiday. Employees have unlimited paid leave and UK workers must take 24
days holiday.

 

"Our teams were expressing Zoom fatigue, as well as actual burnout," said
Tariq Shaukat, president of Bumble.

 

"The stress comes from always being connected but when working from home, or
vacationing, there's always a feeling of 'what am I missing'?"

 

In April, LinkedIn shut down for a week, giving nearly all of its 16,000
employees a break.

 

Nike headquarters staff in Oregon also got a week off in August to support
their mental health.-bbc

 

 

 

Alibaba: Shares dive after China spending slowdown warning

Alibaba shares have slumped by more than 10% in Hong Kong trade after the
Chinese online retail giant warned of a slowdown in consumer spending.

 

The company forecast that its annual revenue would grow at the slowest pace
since its stock market debut in 2014.

 

The weak figures underscore the firm's struggles with increasing competition
and Beijing's regulatory crackdown.

 

On Thursday, Alibaba's US-listed shares ended the New York trading session
more than 11% lower.

 

In the three months to the end of September, Alibaba's revenue rose by 29%
to 200.7bn yuan ($31.4bn, £23.3bn), its slowest rate of growth for a year
and a half.

 

The company also said it expects its annual revenue to grow by between 20%
and 23%, which is lower than analysts' forecasts.

 

Chinese consumption slows

Alibaba chief executive Daniel Zhang told investors that increasing
competition and slowing consumption in China were the main causes of the
weaker growth.

 

Chinese shoppers have become more cautious about spending as new coronavirus
outbreaks, power cuts and concerns about the property market weigh on
sentiment.

 

The latest figures do not include sales from this month's Singles Day, or
"11.11 Global Shopping Festival".

 

This year Alibaba's usually glitzy event was a more toned down affair than
previously as Beijing cracks down on businesses and China's economic growth
slows.

 

Sales for the 11-day event rose at their slowest rate since it was launched
in 2009, up 8.5% on last year.

 

However, customer spending still hit a fresh record high of 540.3bn yuan.

 

Alibaba has come under intense scrutiny from Beijing as tough new rules have
been imposed on the country's big technology companies.

 

Earlier this year, it paid a record $2.8bn fine after a probe found it had
abused its dominant market position for years. Alibaba also said it would
change the way it conducted its business.

 

The company's shares have lost more than a third of their value so far this
year.-bbc

 

 

Instagram: US states investigate how platform targets children

A group of US states is investigating how Instagram targets children,
despite it posing potential risks to them.

 

The group - made up of both Democrat and Republican states - is
investigating Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta to determine if
consumer protection laws were broken.

 

It comes after a company whistleblower testified in the US that the company
knew its products can harm children.

 

A Meta spokesman on Thursday denied that their platforms are unhealthy.

 

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat who first announced
the inquiry, tweeted: "Facebook, or Meta, has known Instagram is linked to
depression, eating disorders & suicide among young people."

 

"We will identify if any laws were broken and end the abuse for good."

 

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, a Republican, said that the
companies "treat our children as mere commodities to manipulate for longer
screen time engagement and data extraction".

 

"These social media platforms are extremely dangerous and have been proven
to cause both physical and mental harm in young people," added New York
Attorney General Letitia James.

 

Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp changed its name to Meta last
month after a series of scandals.

 

A Meta spokesman pushed back against the consortium's allegations.

 

"These accusations are false and demonstrate a deep misunderstanding of the
facts," a spokesman said in a statement.

 

"While challenges in protecting young people online impact the entire
industry, we've led the industry in combating bullying and supporting people
struggling with suicidal thoughts, self-injury, and eating disorders," he
added.

 

The announcement comes after a series of explosive reports based on of
documents leaked by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen.

 

In testimony to lawmakers in the US, she said the company knowingly pushed
its platforms to young children despite knowing that they could cause health
issues.

 

In September, the platform abandoned plans for a child-focused app after a
group of over 40 state attorneys general wrote and urged them to cancel it.

 

Instagram, like other platforms, requires users to be over 13, but the
company has admitted that it knows some users are younger.

 

When Meta's CEO Zuckerberg responded to Frances Haugen's leaks he said
something intriguing.

 

"If we attack organisations making an effort to study their impact on the
world, we're effectively sending the message that it's safer not to look at
all, in case you find something that could be held against you."

 

What Zuckerberg was essentially saying is if companies get whacked for
conducting research into the effects of their products - they won't conduct
the research at all.

 

It's important because Instagram is by no means the only social media
platform that teens use. TikTok for example has an enormous teen following,
as does Snapchat. How do they affect teen mental health? Well we don't know,
because if they have conducted this research, they haven't released it.

 

This is Meta' great grievance - that it is facing the consequences of
bothering to understand the impact of their products.

 

But that isn't quite right either. The nature of Instagram, its algorithmic
push that promotes beauty, style, success - is different to other apps.

 

It would be far better if Facebook gave its data to independent analysts to
able to research harmful effects.

 

But it would be far worse if the company simply stopped looking under the
bonnet, in case it found something it didn't like.-bbc

 

 

China fines tech giants for failing to report 43 old deals

(Reuters) - China's market regulator on Saturday said it was fining
companies including Alibaba, Baidu and JD.com for failing to declare 43
deals that date as far back as 2012 to authorities, saying that they
violated anti-monopoly legislation.

 

Enterprises involved in the cases would be fined 500,000 yuan ($78,000)
each, it said, the maximum under China's 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law.

 

 

Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com and Geely did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.

 

China has been tightening its grip on internet platforms, reversing a once
laissez-faire approach and citing the risk of abusing market power to stifle
competition, misuse of consumers’ data and violation of consumer rights.

 

 

The earliest deal listed was a 2012 acquisition involving Baidu and a
partner, and the most recent was the 2021 agreement between Baidu and
Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holdings to create a new-energy vehicle
company.

 

Other deals cited by the State Administration of Market Supervision included
Alibaba's 2014 acquisition of Chinese digital mapping and navigation firm
AutoNavi and its 2018 purchase of a 44% stake in Ele.me to become the food
delivery service's largest shareholder.

 

 

The deals, however, did not have the effect of eliminating or restricting
competition, the regulator said.

 

In December last year, it fined Alibaba, Tencent-backed China Literature and
Shenzhen Hive Box 500,000 yuan each for not reporting past deals properly
for antitrust reviews, the first time it had ever done so.

 

($1 = 6.3863 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 

 

 

Japan considers releasing oil reserves to curb prices -Kyodo

(Reuters) - Japan's government is considering releasing oil from its
reserves in response to rising crude oil prices, Kyodo news agency reported
on Saturday, without citing sources.

 

It would be the first time for Japan to release oil reserves for the sake of
lowering prices, although the country in the past has tapped such reserves
when it faced natural disasters and geopolitical risks overseas, Kyodo said.

 

Government officials were not immediately available for comment.

 

The government of U.S. President Joe Biden, who faces falling approval
ratings and higher gasoline prices, has pressed some of the world's biggest
economies to consider releasing oil from their strategic reserves to quell
high energy prices.

 

The requests include asking China for the first time to consider releasing
stocks of crude.

 

Japan reacted positively to the initial U.S. outreach on a possible
coordinated reserve release and was considering such a step, a person
familiar with the matter told Reuters previously.

 

Chief Cabinet Secretary Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno declined to
comment on Thursday about the U.S. requests, first reported by Reuters.

 

"We will continue to closely watch how rising crude oil prices will affect
global energy markets and the Japanese economy," he told reporters. "While
urging oil-producing nations to ramp up oil output, we will strive to
stabilise energy markets by coordinating with major consumer nations and
international organisations," such as the International Energy Agency.

 

Resource-poor Japan gets the vast majority of its oil from the Middle East.
Recent surging oil prices and a weakening yen are driving up the cost of
imports, dealing a double blow to a trade-dependent nation.

 

The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday unveiled a record
$490 billion stimulus plan including measures to counter higher oil prices.
It plans to subsidise oil refiners in the hope of capping wholesale gasoline
and fuel prices to ease the pain to households and firms from rising oil
costs.

 

"What's important is to urge oil-producing countries to ramp up oil
production," Kishida said last month after discussions with cabinet
ministers. "We will arrange concrete measures after confirming what industry
sectors are being affected."

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

As inflation surges, Fed to debate faster taper, earlier rate hikes

(Reuters) - Federal Reserve policymakers are publicly debating whether to
withdraw support for the U.S. economy more quickly to deal with surging
inflation, with one of the central bank's most influential officials
signaling on Friday that the idea will be on the table at the Fed's next
meeting.

 

It was just this month that the Fed decided the economy was strong enough to
begin to trim its $120 billion in monthly asset purchases, put in place
earlier in the pandemic to push down on borrowing costs and boost the
recovery. The plan would phase out all bond-buying by mid-2022.

 

Since that meeting, the economy has gained speed, with reports showing more
than half a million jobs added in October, retail sales surging, and
consumer inflation notching its biggest annual increase in 31 years.

 

"I'll be looking closely at the data that we get between now and the
December meeting, and it may well be appropriate at that meeting to have a
discussion about increasing the pace at which we are reducing our balance
sheet," Vice Chair Richard Clarida said at the San Francisco Fed's 2021 Asia
Economic Policy Conference, noting that he and many of his colleagues see
upside risks to already high inflation. "That will be something to consider
at the next meeting.

 

Earlier Friday, Fed Governor Christopher Waller called for a the Fed to
double up on its wind-down of bond purchases, finishing it by April to make
way for a possible interest-rate hike in the second quarter of next year.

 

"The rapid improvement in the labor market and the deteriorating inflation
data have pushed me towards favoring a faster pace of tapering and a more
rapid removal of accommodation in 2022," Waller said at the Center for
Financial Stability in New York.

 

 

Waller and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who earlier this week
called for the Fed to end its bond purchases by March, have been at the
forefront of policymakers pushing for an accelerated timeline for
tightening.

 

"All shocks tend to be transitory and fade away. By this logic the Fed
should never respond to any shocks, but sometimes it does, as it should...
appropriate monetary policy responds to these inflation movements," Waller
said.

 

Clarida's suggestion Friday that a quicker taper could be discussed at the
Fed's next policy meeting suggests the idea is gaining traction within the
Fed.

 

After his remarks, interest-rate futures trading reflected rising bets that
the Fed will begin to raise rates by June and lift them twice more by the
end of the year.

 

There is still no consensus within the Fed to quicken the taper. San
Francisco Fed President Mary Daly earlier this week urged her colleagues to
remain patient. Supply-chain disruptions are the main culprit behind higher
inflation, she argued, and as those get worked out, inflation will recede;
raising rates now would only slow progress in the job market and hurt
millions of Americans.

 

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans on Thursday also said he believes the
Fed should stick to its taper plan. But even he, among the Fed's most dovish
policymakers, acknowledged he is "more open-minded" to raising interest
rates next year than he was six months ago. read more

 

Separately, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said Thursday
he believes the U.S. central bank could start raising interest rates by the
middle of next year, based on his outlook that the economy will be back to
full employment by then L1N2S92XA

 

The tension over Fed policy comes as President Joe Biden nears a decision on
whether to keep Jerome Powell as Fed chair for another term, or to elevate
Governor Lael Brainard to the position. A decision is expected by
Thanksgiving.

 

The Fed's next meeting is December 14-15.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Pentagon picks Northrop, Lockheed, Raytheon to develop hypersonic defense

(Reuters) - The Pentagon on Friday said it selected Northrop Grumman
(NOC.N), Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and Raytheon (RTX.N) to research and
develop a missile system that would be able to defend the United States
against a hypersonic weapons attack.

 

The three companies were awarded separate contracts totaling about $60
million to develop a glide phase interceptor that would be guided by a
constellation of satellites and sensors to intercept a hypersonic missile
inside Earth's atmosphere as it glides towards its target.

 

The Missile Defense Agency 2022 budget earmarked $136 million for research,
development, testing and evaluation for the interceptor, but the program
will ultimately yield billions of dollars of revenue for defense
contractors.

 

The United States and its global rivals have intensified their drive to
build hypersonic weapons - the next generation of arms that fly at high
speeds. As a result hypersonic arms require quicker defenses and new systems
to defeat them. read more

 

Often the Pentagon runs competitions for arms or defense contracts in an
effort to get the highest quality product at the lowest price for the
taxpayer. Many of the competitions are phased so that the technology can
mature and inferior offerings are weeded out along the way.

 

Earlier this fall a defense official said the Missile Defense Agency was
working with industry and hoped to have awards by the end of the calendar
year.

 

There was a broad expectation the Missile Defense Agency would select two
companies to proceed. The inclusion of a third competitor underscores the
Missile Defense Agency's desire to incentivize industry to perform research
and develop around this new class of weapon.

 

Arms makers Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and Raytheon
Technologies Corp (RTX.N) all touted their hypersonic weapons programs at
the top of their quarterly earnings calls recently as an anticipated source
of profits in the future.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Corporate America unloads on Biden's newly active business watchdogs

(Reuters) - Corporate America mounted fresh attacks on Friday on President
Joe Biden's antitrust enforcers who have vowed to rein in anticompetitive
practices and vigorously investigate corporate crime.

 

The Chamber of Commerce wrote three letters and filed more than 30 Freedom
of Information Act requests about what it said were Federal Trade Commission
failures to strictly follow rules and giving in to political interference.

 

 

The FTC defended itself, saying it would not change course despite criticism
from the big business lobby group about a series of actions spearheaded by
FTC Chair Lina Khan.

 

Also Friday, Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) asked the U.S. Justice
Department to consider requiring Jonathan Kanter, the newly confirmed head
of the department's Antitrust Division, to recuse himself from matters
related to the search and advertising giant because of his work for a long
list of Google critics.

 

Kanter had worked for such Google critics as Yelp, which the letter
described as "vociferously advocating for an antitrust case against Google
for years."

 

The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google last year
and is believed to be preparing a second focused on the company's dominance
of online advertising.

 

The Chamber of Commerce said it was particularly concerned about votes cast
by Commissioner Rohit Chopra before he left the FTC but which were announced
after his departure. He now heads the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau.

 

The chamber expressed concern about what it said was White House
interference in FTC decision-making and the agency's decision to use civil
penalty authority.

 

The FTC said it would not change direction.

 

"The FTC just announced we are ramping up efforts to combat corporate crime
and now the chamber declares 'war' on the agency. We are not going to back
down because corporate lobbyists are making threats," said FTC spokesman
Peter Kaplan.

 

The agency has filed a lawsuit accusing Facebook of breaking antitrust law,
tightened some merger reviews, been asked to probe high gasoline prices, and
is considering a study to probe the role of competition in supply chain
disruptions. read more

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

Visa's chief financial officer expects to resolve fee row with Amazon

(Reuters) - Visa (V.N) expects to resolve its credit card fee dispute with
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) in Britain and hopes to continue its co-branded
credit card partnership with the e-commerce giant in the United States, its
Chief Financial Officer told Reuters.

 

Amazon said on Wednesday that it would stop taking payments from Visa credit
cards in Britain from mid-January next year.

 

 

"We've resolved these things in the past and I believe we'll resolve them in
the future," Vasant Prabhu said in an interview on Friday, adding: "It is
our expectation that there will be a resolution so that UK consumers are not
impacted."

 

Shares in Visa pared losses after Reuters reported Prabhu's comments, moving
from 1.4% lower on the day to 0.5% lower. The shares then gave back those
gains and were last trading down 1.4%.

 

 

Amazon said in its Wednesday statement that credit card charges should be
"going down over time with technological advancements, but instead they
continue to stay high or even rise."

 

Analysts have suggested its stance may be a negotiating tactic. In the past,
other big retailers have settled fee disputes with Visa after announcing
they were going to quit taking its credit cards in narrow segments of their
businesses.

 

 

Walmart Inc's (WMT.N) unit in Canada, for example, said in 2016 it would
stop accepting Visa credit cards after being unable to reach an agreement on
fees. Seven months later the companies said they had settled the matter.

 

Prabhu said reports on Wednesday suggesting the dispute was the result of an
EU-enforced cap on fees no longer applying in the UK after Brexit were
"entirely inaccurate."

 

That rule applied to cross-border transactions between the EU and UK,
whereas the dispute relates to domestic transactions, he said.

 

In recent months, Amazon has also introduced surcharges on customers using
Visa credit cards in Singapore and Australia, citing high fees, as the
relationship between the two companies appeared to deteriorate.

 

Some analysts had expressed concern Amazon's move in the UK could be a
precursor to the retailer dropping Visa's credit card in other territories,
something Prabhu said he hoped would not materialize.

 

"Restricting consumer choice doesn't help merchants either," said Prabhu.
"If a merchant tells me I can't use my preferred card that is not helpful to
me as a consumer."

 

Amazon also said it is considering dropping Visa as partner on its U.S.
co-branded credit card and is in discussions about this with both with
Mastercard and Visa.

 

Visa said it remains in discussions about continuing its partnership with
Amazon and is hopeful that it will continue.

 

"We hope to get to the point where our relationship with Amazon goes back to
being what it was," Prabhu said.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

Tesla app coming back online after server outage, Musk says

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) chief Elon Musk said on Friday that the
company's mobile application was coming back online after an app server
outage earlier prevented many owners from connecting to their cars.

 

Musk was responding to a Tesla owner's tweet, who said that he was
experiencing a "500 server error" to connect his Model 3 through the iOS app
in Seoul, South Korea.

 

"Should be coming back online now. Looks like we may have accidentally
increased verbosity of network traffic," Musk said.

 

The outage was first reported by Electrek.

 

About 500 users reported they faced an error at around 4:40 p.m. ET (2140
GMT), according to outage monitoring website Downdetector, which tracks
outages by collating status reports from a series of sources, including
user-submitted errors on its platform. There were just over 60 reports at
around 9:20 p.m. ET.

 

"Apologies, we will take measures to ensure this doesn't happen again," Musk
said.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

South Africa: SMEs Place Over 280 Products On the Shelves

Government's localisation strategy is bearing fruit, and by the end of
October, the Rural and Township Entrepreneurship Programme that was approved
by Cabinet eight months ago had resulted in 289 products - manufactured by
45 small business - being placed on the shelves of major retailers and
wholesalers.

 

This is according to a response by Deputy President, David Mabuza, who
responded to oral questions in the National Council of Provinces on
Thursday.

 

In February 2020, Cabinet approved the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship
Programme as championed by the Department of Small Business Development.

This Fund was developed as a response to the urgency of the need to roll out
appropriate support to small businesses in townships and rural areas.

 

"Through the programme, qualifying small enterprises are provided with
financial and non-financial support to empower them to run their businesses
in a profitable manner and also help them to acquire business equipment,
tools and machinery with a view to increase their capacity to access
economic opportunities and enhance their competitiveness.

 

"As of 31 October 2021, 289 products manufactured by Small Medium and Micro
Enterprises have been placed on the shelves of major retailers and
wholesalers in the country as part of the localisation programme.

 

"These products were manufactured by a total of 45 small businesses,
creating over 700 jobs," he said.

 

The Deputy President said it is government's vision that through the
programme, more products will be locally produced by small businesses for
supply to local and global markets and create more job opportunities.

 

"At the same time, we need to encourage the public to buy goods produced
locally, as this will increase sustainability and competitiveness of these
businesses."

 

Deputy President Mabuza said in addition to the initiative, the Department
of Small Business Development - through its entity SEDA - has established 54
branches through a district-based development approach to align support to
the district economic sectors, thus bringing services closer to the
entrepreneurs.

 

"It has, however, been realised that there are still a number of areas where
entrepreneurs are still traveling longer distances to access these services,
which is why SEDA is in the process of establishing additional service
points.

 

"This includes considering alternative mechanisms such as mobile offices to
increase access. Furthermore, the Department is establishing more incubation
centres and digital hubs across the country, to add to the 110 currently
existing to supporting township and rural based enterprises."-SAnews.gov.za.

 

 

South Africa: Discussions Underway On Moving Eskom to Energy Department

Deputy President David Mabuza says talks are underway to determine if Eskom
will be moved to fall under the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy
for better alignment and oversight.

 

The Deputy President was responding to questions from provincial delegates
in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.

 

"To address the Honourable Member's question on whether government has
considered moving Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprises to the
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, discussions are currently
underway as part of a broader government effort to improve the management of
parastatals.

"The reorganisation, once finally decided, would better align companies such
as Eskom to their mandate," he said.

 

Tshitereke Matibe, the ANC's provincial delegate from Limpopo, had asked the
Deputy President whether government had considered moving Eskom from the
Department of Public Enterprises to the Department of Mineral Resources and
Energy.

 

The Deputy President said the Presidential State-Owned Enterprises Council
will advise government on the appropriate shareholder models and
repositioning of State-owned companies as effective instruments of economic
transformation and development.

 

"In this regard, we should await the finalisation of the Presidential
State-Owned Enterprises Council's work for further guidance.

 

"As government, we continue to engage with key stakeholders to address any
implementation bottlenecks and challenges in our efforts to provide stable
energy, which will stimulate sustainable economic growth.

"Private sector experts are also invited to share expertise and experience
across a number of key performance areas that the Eskom Political Task Team
is seized with."

 

No additional panel of experts will help fix Eskom challenges

 

The Deputy President said the challenge at Eskom has not been with the
quality of advice or plans, but rather the resources, services and funding
required in implementing interventions on power generation.

 

"It is, therefore, our view that an additional panel of experts shall not
improve the situation, and we remain open to specific ideas that can
contribute to further improvements.

 

"Equally, the Board of Eskom has been urged to review existing weaknesses
that continue to affect performance of the utility and ensure that we
resolve operational challenges.

 

"The management of the utility is also doing its best to focus on intensive
maintenance and management of the aging power generation fleet to avoid
breakages that lead to collapse in generation and ultimately power outages."

 

Mabuza said government is cognisant of the impact and inconvenience of
inadequate electricity supply on people's daily lives and its devastation to
the country's economic growth.

 

"Collectively, this undermines development and delivery of critical services
on a predictable basis across society.

 

"Honourable Members should rest assured that measures are being undertaken
to ensure that the negative impact of load shedding is minimised in order to
avoid the total collapse of energy-intensive economic sectors such as mining
and manufacturing."

 

The Deputy President said within the framework of the Integrated Resource
Plan, alternative energy generation measures are also being explored and
implemented to augment electricity supply and improve the stability of the
grid upon their completion.

 

"The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy recently announced the
preferred bidders for the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers
Procurement Programme Bid Window 5.

 

"The 25 projects in this latest round of Independent Power Producer
procurement will eventually add the much needed 2 583 megawatts capacity of
renewable energy to South Africa's grid."-SAnews.gov.za.

 

 

 

South Africa: SAA Cancels Daily Mozambique Flights, Adjusts Other Schedules

The South African Airways (SAA) has announced that it will be removing
return daily flights from Maputo, Mozambique, from its schedule at the
beginning of December.

 

SAA Interim Executive for Commercial, Simon Newton-Smith, clarified that the
decision was taken as a result of a lack of uptake in the route.

 

"When SAA resumed operations at the end of September, we committed to
constantly monitor passenger volumes and revenue on all routes. Demand on
this service has not met expectations and for the time being, this change is
in line with our strategy of being a transparent management and fiscally
responsible," Newton-Smith said.

He said passengers who hold tickets to travel will be accommodated on
Mozambique Airlines or they can opt to receive a credit voucher which will
be offered in the original form of payment.

 

Those who no longer wish to travel will be able to cancel their booking and
are expected to receive a full refund.

 

"No airline likes to cancel flights but we are committed to success and
sustainability of our airline, whilst we meet our valued customer
requirements. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience and full
assistance will be provided to all customers holding an SAA ticket on
flights that are withdrawn from the schedule. Customers should refer to
issuing offices for assistance," he said.

 

The airline says those customers who used travel agents to book flights
should contact them directly and tickets that were bought online or through
the SAA call centre can be reconciled through contacting the SAA Trade
Support via e-mail at Tradesupport1 at flysaa.com.

 

SAA will also not be operating its return flights to Accra in Ghana on
Christmas and New Year's Day.

 

Flights to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo will not be
operational on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

 

The airline said flights to Lusaka, Zambia will operate for five days a week
from December 1 instead of seven days a week.-SAnews.gov.za.

 

 

Uganda: Centenary Bank Commits Shs165m Towards Masaza Cup

Centenary Bank Uganda has committed shs165million towards the 2021 Masaza
Cup football tournament as part of its three-year sponsorship package of
shs465million.

 

The announcement was made during the launch at Bulange Mengo.

 

Speaking at the function, Joseph Balikuddembe, the Centenary Bank Executive
Director reechoed the financial institution's commitment to support local
sport in the country.

 

"Centenary Bank has been part of the Masaza Cup for close to now 6 years as
part of our ongoing partnership with Buganda kingdom,"Balikuddembe said.

"On behalf of the bank, I would like to commend the leadership of Buganda
Kingdom, which has made it possible for the young people to continue
showcasing their talents through this football tournament. To all the teams
participating in this year's Masaza Cup, I would like to encourage you to
devote yourselves to the game, train regularly and most importantly keep
safe and get vaccinated. As we wait for the general public to once again
physically attend the games, it is my plea to you all to maintain
forthrightness as you play against each other."

 

The 2021 tournament will kick off on Saturday November, 20, 2021 at the FUFA
Technical Center in Njeru, Buikwe District

 

The second deputy Katikiiro Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa applauded the bank for
the continuous support to the tournament.

 

"The current times have pushed us into having a virtual tournament following
the plea from the fans. We therefore, urge the participants to give it their
best shot as you compete against each other because many Ugandans shall be
watching and rooting for you,"Nsibirwa said.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

National Unity Day

 

December 22

 


 

Christmas Day

 

December 25

 


 

Boxing Day

 

December 26

 


 

Public Holiday in lieu of Boxing Day falling on a Sunday

 

December 27

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


ART

PPC

 

 


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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