Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 03 September 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 03 September 2021

 


 

 


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ü  China set to open new stock exchange in Beijing

ü  GM to idle eight North American plants amid chip shortage

ü  TCS: India's largest private employer returns to office

ü  China's media cracks down on 'effeminate' styles

ü  Buy Now Pay Later: 'I'm stressed over debt'

ü  Food production in the UK at risk of moving overseas, warns industry

ü  Councils hit by bin collection delays due to driver shortage

ü  Coin hoarding at home leads to charity plea

ü  Amazon offers punctual staff £50 for turning up

ü  WhatsApp issued second-largest GDPR fine of €225m

ü  U.S. funding tapped for Pacific undersea cable after China rebuffed

ü  U.S. job growth seen slowing in August as Delta variant curbs services demand

ü  Britain's trucker shortage jams post-pandemic recovery

ü  Malawi: PAC Tackles Labour Ministry Officials On Allowances

ü  Nigeria: Mining - Govt Acquires Two Mini Aircraft for Geophysical Survey Activities

ü  Rwanda: Inside Rwanda, CAR New Agriculture Deal

ü  Kenya to Send 20,000 Nurses to the UK, Says Chelugui

ü  Kenya: Road Projects Costs Shoot Up to U.S.$219 Million This Year

 

 

 

 

 


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China set to open new stock exchange in Beijing

China has announced plans to set up a third stock exchange to serve small and medium-sized businesses.

 

President Xi Jinping said the new share market will be in the capital Beijing, during a speech to the International Fair for Trade in Services.

 

Mainland China currently has two major markets based in the Shanghai financial hub and the southern city of Shenzhen.

 

The move comes as Chinese companies are coming under intense pressure at home and in the US.

 

While President Xi did not elaborate on the plan, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) published a statement shortly after his speech that said its leadership was "excited" at the prospect.

 

"Small and medium-sized enterprises can do great things," the CSRC added.

 

The regulator said that the registration system for the exchange would be similar to Shanghai's STAR market, which is seen as China's answer to the technology-heavy Nasdaq platform in the US.

 

The announcement comes as Chinese companies have come under increasingly close scrutiny, by both Beijing and Washington.

 

In recent months, Chinese authorities have announced a series of measures that have had a major impact on large parts of the country's private sector - from tech giants and tutoring firms to music streaming platforms and TV companies.

 

Along with a huge swathe of tough new measures imposed on companies Chinese authorities have intensified their oversight of firms with share listings in the US.

 

Last week, Chinese electric car maker BYD's had to suspend a plan to sell shares in its computer chip making unit, making it the latest share offering to be hit by Beijing's crackdown on businesses.

 

Earlier this month, the Chinese government signalled that this crackdown would continue as it unveiled a five-year plan outlining tighter regulation of much of its economy.

 

Meanwhile in America, the Wall Street regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it will now require extra information from Chinese companies aiming to sell shares in the US.-BBC

 

 

GM to idle eight North American plants amid chip shortage

General Motors will halt output at most of its North American plants in September as the semi-conductor chip shortage continues to hit carmakers.

 

Four plants in the US, three in Mexico and one in Canada will shut down for up to two weeks, depending on the site.

 

Ford and Toyota also cut output this month as chip makers in the US and Asia struggle to meet demand from economies reopening following lockdowns.

 

The shortage has pushed up car prices, driving people to buy second-hand.

 

GM, which owns brands such as Chevrolet and Cadillac, said the shutdown will affect some of its most profitable vehicles, including its sport-utility vehicles and full- and midsize pickup trucks.

 

Plants affected include the Fort Wayne site in Indiana, its Silao plant in Mexico and the Cami Assembly factory in Canada.

 

Toyota to cut production by 40% amid chip crisis

Why is there a chip shortage?

"These most recent scheduling adjustments are being driven by the continued parts shortages caused by semiconductor supply constraints from international markets experiencing Covid-19-related restrictions," it said in a statement.

 

New cars often include dozens of microchips - also called semiconductors - but carmakers cancelled orders with chipmakers at the start of the pandemic, fearing a long downturn in sales.

 

Now as demand recovers, chipmakers are struggling to keep up. Carmakers have also found themselves competing directly with technology companies and the consumer electronics sector for supply.

 

Earlier this week, Ford said it would cut truck production from 6 September because of the shortage, while Toyota Motor will slash global production for September by 40%.-BBC

 

 

 

TCS: India's largest private employer returns to office

When India imposed a lockdown last year to curb the spread of Covid, IT behemoth Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which employs more than 500,000 people, shut its offices overnight.

 

Now, after 18 months of remote work, the country's biggest private employer is gearing up to return to the office. It's time to "replenish" the social capital that an office environment fosters, Chief Operating Officer NG Subramaniam told the BBC.

 

Some 90% of the company's staff in India have received at least one dose of the Covid jab so far. India's vaccine drive has picked up in the last month - half the country's eligible population has been partially vaccinated.

 

"The over-arching feedback we've got is that about 50% of the people feel they can come to work," Mr Subramaniam said.

 

As Covid cases fall and restrictions are eased, several major IT firms, including Infosys and Wipro, are hoping to bring employees back to the office. Not all of them know how this will unfold.

 

But, TCS plans to ask 80-90% of its employees to return, at least initially, before switching to a hybrid model of work, under which only 25% of its staff will work from office by 2025.

 

Is Big Tech going off remote working?

A lot will depend on whether India sees a third Covid wave. But one thing is clear: hybrid or flexible models of work are here to stay. It's still a loosely defined term that companies can adapt to suit their requirements but it can effectively allow people to work from different locations and even at varying hours.

 

This will have far-reaching consequences, not just for India's IT companies but also the industries that support them, from real estate to hospitality.

 

The knock-on effect

India's IT industry employs a quarter of the 12-13 million people in the organised private workforce. And it has been an engine for economic growth in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, where TCS, Infosys, Wipro and others have built huge campuses for their offices.

 

TCS alone has offices in 250 locations spanning 50 countries. The company says it's yet to explore the logistics of hybrid work - what happens to its physical assets such as office buildings, or will it, like Google, introduce pay cuts for staff who opt to work from home permanently.

 

IMAGE SOURCEGETTY IMAGES

image captionIndian IT firms like Infosys have built sprawling campuses in major cities

But remote working is likely to pose a grave risk to businesses like commercial real estate business.

 

The IT services sector accounts for 40% of India's office leases, and the remote working trend will lead to a drop in the demand for new commercial space, according to analytics firm India Ratings & Research.

 

Although few companies have cancelled their leases, the demand or new office space in the next few years is likely to be 40% below pre-pandemic levels as companies evaluate their long-term strategies, according to India Ratings.

 

And as firms shutter workplaces, businesses dependent on the office economy - food and beverage, hospitality, retail and maintenance - are also expected to suffer. The software industry spurred massive indirect employment in all of these sectors.

 

"I expect a 50% drop in business," Rahul Bohra, Managing Partner at Rama Hospitality told the BBC. Mr Bohra ran food courts across IT parks in the western state of Maharashtra until the pandemic closed his business.

 

Before Covid hit, the smallest IT park Mr Bohra did business in had up to 40,000 people working in its offices, he said.

 

"But now, even when the employees do come back, it will be on a rotational basis for two to three days a week."

 

'The future is cloud-shoring'

The pandemic is also ringing in fundamental changes in India's role as an offshore destination.

 

Through the 1990s and 2000s global companies shifted their back office functions to cities like Bengaluru to benefit from an abundance of low cost tech workers.

 

But with the shift to remote working, TCS' Mr Subramaniam believes the future of software services will rest not on offshoring but "cloud-shoring".

 

Covid has forced the company to finds ways to tap into talent across borders and deploy it on projects world over.

 

The company now plans to build the world's largest distributed talent market place on the cloud, connecting staff to jobs virtually - from anywhere and at anytime.

 

"We are talking about a fungible talent pool across the globe and define it as a talent cloud," Mr Subramaniam said.

 

"There are certain aspects of work which will still be done in one location, but the majority of work could be done without bringing people together," he added.

 

But TCS says it will continue to invest in and hire people physically in its biggest markets.

 

The firm employs more than 18,000 people in the UK and claims to have become the country's largest IT services company this year. It has plans to hire more than 1,500 people in UK this year, including 500 graduates from local universities.

 

The company also said it will create 5,000 jobs in the US, with additional investments expected later this year.

 

Mr Subramaniam said his company is committed to every market they operate in.

 

"You can't just be sitting somewhere in the cloud…You have to be locally present, and locally visible," he said.-BBC

 

 

 

China's media cracks down on 'effeminate' styles

China's broadcasting regulator has said it will ban "effeminate" aesthetics in entertainment shows and that "vulgar influencers" should be avoided.

 

It's part of a tightening of rules over what it described as "unhealthy content" in programmes.

 

The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) said political and moral conduct should be included as criteria in the selection of actors.

 

Certain talent contest show formats have also been stopped.

 

The television regulator also ordered broadcasters to rein in high salaries paid to stars and clamp down on tax evaders.

 

The authorities pledged to promote what it defined as more masculine images of men and criticised male celebrities who use lots of make up.

 

However, it said programmes that promoted traditional, revolutionary or "advanced socialist" culture, or foster a patriotic atmosphere, were to be encouraged.

 

Mass voting for reality programmes will also no longer be allowed unless it is done by live audiences.

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has restated the commitment to "common prosperity" and in this pledge to redistribute wealth, high-earning tech tycoons and entertainment stars have been singled out recently. Last week, Chinese actress Zheng Shuang was fined $46m (£33m) for tax evasion.

 

Rana Mitter, a professor of the history and politics of modern China at the University of Oxford, said the idea of "common prosperity" was a way of "criticising the immense inequality that now marks society".

 

"Prominent figures with high wealth are a clear target because criticism of them resonates on social media," he said.

 

"Having started with tech billionaires, the Party is making it clear that prominent showbiz stars are now another clear target."

 

Earlier this month, at a meeting of the Chinese Communist party's Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, state media reported that while in the early years of China's reform some were enabled to "get rich first", now the government wanted to invoke prosperity "for all". The committee pledged to regulate high earnings in a better way and to "reasonably adjust excessive income".

 

China has a population of around 1.4 billion people. Income inequality has increased in recent decades, with the 10% of the population earning 41% of the national income in 2015, up from 27% in 1978, as estimated by the London School of Economics.

 

Adjusted for inflation, national income per adult grew more than eightfold between 1978 and 2015, according to official statistics.

 

Lynette Ong, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto's Asian Institute, said that "this is part of Xi's latest efforts to 'cleanse' what he or the CCP sees as undesirable social culture, such as excessive video gaming by teenagers".

 

'Chaotic' fan culture

Last week, the country's internet regulator said it would take action against what it called "chaotic" fan culture and banned some fan club sites.

 

Prof Ong told the BBC that the latest announcements were "evidence of the Party's ever encroaching role into the lives of ordinary people."

 

In Beijing last month, film stars Zhou Dongyu and Du Jiang warned their contemporaries to never become "slaves of the market" and called on performers to "bravely scale artistic heights under the leadership of the Party".

 

The entertainment industry is one of the country's most profitable, and in 2021 it is expected to generate revenues of around $358.6bn (£260bn), according to a recent report by consultancy PwC.

 

In 2019, during further moves on censorship, China blurred out the earlobes of some of its young male pop stars in television and internet appearances to hide their piercings. Tattoos and men's ponytails have also previously been blurred from screens.

 

The country's official Xinhua News Agency criticised what it termed society's effeminate male celebrities in 2018. The agency added: "To cultivate a new generation that will shoulder the responsibility of national rejuvenation, we need to resist erosion from indecent culture."

 

In China, homosexuality is not illegal but authorities are strict on censorship and edited out gay references in the Oscar winning Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody", though they kept many similar references in the movie "Green Book". Nudity and sex scenes were also edited out of widely-viewed series such as "Game of Thrones" and the film "The Shape of Water".-BBC

 

 

 

Buy Now Pay Later: 'I'm stressed over debt'

Jordan has been chased by debt collection agencies after falling behind on payments for clothes.

 

The 23-year-old bought a winter coat using Buy Now Pay Later when employed, but then lost his job.

 

According to Citizens Advice, one on ten shoppers who use this type of credit end up being chased by debt collectors.

 

The Treasury said it was "stepping in and regulating" the market so people "are treated fairly".

 

Jordan started using Buy Now Pay Later after seeing it advertised on social media apps and on the iPhone app store. He decided to use it to buy a coat for £200.

 

"It was quite cold, it was the winter, and at that point I didn't have a lot of clothes," he said. "I was in a job, and I was able to pay it, but I ended up being quite unfortunate and losing that job."

 

He bought some other items including a hat, but fell behind with the payments to firms including Laybuy and Klarna.

 

"It was quite difficult for me to keep on top of it. I went through a lot of anxiety and depression," he said, and began to be chased by debt collection agencies.

 

"They don't give any leeway or ease with it at all," he says. "They call up quite a bit [and email]. It does make me stressed when I'm being constantly called and badgered about it."

 

"I think [Buy Now Pay Later] is quite dangerous, to be honest," Jordan says. "Especially on the advertising. They make it out to be such a good thing... but that's only condoning debt."

 

Jordan has recently moved to Bristol to start a new job, and will be in a position to pay off the debt.

 

Charities sound alarm over buy-now-pay-later debt

Buy now, pay later firms such as Klarna face stricter controls

Laybuy said: "Laybuy only refers a customer to a debt collector as a last resort, and only after other attempts to collect the outstanding payment have been exhausted.

 

"When a debt is referred to a debt collector, we only ever refer outstanding purchase price of the product.

 

"Late fees, which are limited to a maximum of £24 for a single order, are never passed to a debt collector. Laybuy also pays all the cost for debt collection."

 

Alex Marsh, head of Klarna UK, said: "At Klarna we only ever use debt collection agencies to help us contact customers we are unable to reach and we do this on fewer than 1% of orders.

 

"The debt collection agencies we work with are all Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-authorised and will only contact customers by telephone or email and do not use bailiffs.

 

"We encourage any of our customers whose circumstances have changed, to please get in touch so we can help you with a plan to get back on track."

 

Buy Now Pay Later options often appear at checkouts on retailers' websites, and can help spread the cost of purchases, interest-free, potentially avoiding expensive credit.

 

But Citizens Advice said that for many people Buy Now Pay Later can be "a slippery slope into debt".

 

It added that it "fears shoppers have been left unprotected and ill-informed during the rapid expansion of the sector".

 

"Not one of the BNPL checkouts on leading retailers' websites warned people they could be referred to debt collectors for missed payments," the advice service said.

 

Shoppers were charged £39m in late fees in the past year, it estimated.

 

Of those who were referred to a debt collector for missed payments, 96% said there had been negative consequences.

 

Millions of online shoppers have being clicking the buttons to spread the payments, but as the number of users has grown, so have the criticisms.

 

Buy Now Pay Later arrangements aren't viewed as a normal loan by credit reference agencies and other lenders.

 

It becomes a kind of invisible debt to the safety net system, so people with lots of little Buy Now Pay Later debts can get in a mess trying to juggle those payments alongside other loans and interest at the same time.

 

Fears are growing that younger people are being saddled with unnecessary debt, and that those who are already vulnerable are slipping further down the debt spiral.

 

Although the government said in February that they will regulate the sector, they haven't done so yet.

 

These included sleepless nights, ignoring texts, emails and letters in case they were about debts, avoiding answering the door, borrowing money to repay the debt, or deteriorating mental health.

 

Citizens Advice said that a woman aged in her 60s was trying to buy plants online, but struggled to find the postage cost at the checkout and decided to abandon her purchase.

 

The keen gardener was surprised to receive an email saying she had signed up to a buy now pay later agreement, and tried to cancel her order.

 

She told Citizens Advice: "I really don't understand how I ended up paying for my plants through buy now, pay later.

 

"I didn't understand what it was. Then I get these threatening emails saying they're going to contact debt collectors, and then I got a letter from a debt collector.

 

"I couldn't sleep, I lay awake worrying that someone was going to turn up to my house and start taking things. I have a number of health issues and I was worried this was going to make me ill again. It was eventually resolved, but at great stress to me."

 

Millie Harris, a debt adviser at Citizens Advice East Devon, said: "My concern is that people aren't processing the fact that buy now pay later is credit. They don't realise there are going to be consequences if they don't pay - it gives them a false sense of security.

 

"I've seen people using it for their kids' clothes and shoes that they would otherwise never be able to afford. They are taking out what is effectively a loan, but they don't see it as one.

 

"For example, I helped someone who has tens of thousands of pounds of debt, but they don't see buy now pay later as part of that total.

 

"It's almost under-the-radar debt."

 

Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, agrees: "A seamless buy now pay later checkout process should not mean shoppers have to dig around in the small print to find out they're taking out a credit agreement, and could be referred to debt collectors if they can't pay. The warnings should be unmissable."

 

Citizens Advice is urging anyone who has been contacted by debt collectors to get free, independent debt advice.

 

A Treasury spokesperson said: "Buy Now Pay Later can be a helpful way to manage your finances but it's important that consumers are protected as these agreements become more popular.

 

"By stepping in and regulating, we're making sure people are treated fairly and only offered agreements they can afford."

 

On 2 February, the government announced it would to bring unregulated interest-free Buy Now Pay Later products into regulation.-BBC

 

 

 

Food production in the UK at risk of moving overseas, warns industry

Food manufacturing in the UK is under such strain due to staff shortages that some production may have to move out of the country, a retail group has said.

 

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said shortages of HGV drivers and other supply chain staff meant that the sector was "just on the edge of coping" right now.

 

He warned the Christmas period would be "incredibly challenging" in some areas.

 

Factories cannot recruit enough staff, he said, adding: "We are struggling."

 

Mr Opie, the BRC's director of food and sustainability, was speaking at a special session of the UK Trade and Business Commission, an independent group of business representatives and MPs looking to make recommendations to the government.

 

Asked about the impact of driver shortages, Mr Opie told the commission it was incredibly challenging for the industry, but said he was more concerned about shortages in manufacturing and food processing.

 

"Despite every effort that's being made by food factories, we cannot recruit enough indigenous people here. They just do not want to do those roles for whatever reason," Mr Opie said.

 

Driver shortage: 'I got a big pay rise overnight'

How serious is the HGV driver shortage?

"That leaves the government with a choice. Does it want to maintain the level of food manufacturing as it stands at the moment in this country, or does it risk offshoring that production to other countries and then we import those finished goods into the UK," he added.

 

"We've got a very highly skilled, well run food manufacturing sector in this country at the moment which exports quite widely. It's under such strain at the moment and if we cannot recruit people and fill those vacancies, then retailers who buy those products to sell to us as consumers will need to look elsewhere and will end up offshoring some of that production into places like Europe," he told the commission.

 

"I think the government faces quite a stark choice here about where it wants to put its resources, where it wants to put its immigration policy, and where it wants to put the economy, in terms of the products that are manufactured here in the UK," he added.

 

A government spokesperson said the UK's food supply chain was "highly resilient".

 

It said it had expanded a pilot scheme for six-months visas for overseas workers to come to the UK to 30,000 workers this year, but urged employers to "make long term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad".

 

'Perfect storm'

Richard Harrow, from the British Federation of Frozen Food, agreed that there were shortages across the sector, not just drivers.

 

"We've got a shortage of engineers, of butchers, of production operatives," he said.

 

"And if you haven't got the staff to produce the product, even if you've got a lorry to transport it, you can't supply that product."

 

He added: "I've never seen the pressures our members are under right now, from labour costs to the price of raw materials. We are facing what I can only describe as a perfect storm."

 

Alex Veitch from UK Logistics said the backlog in HGV drivers test because of the pandemic was one of the main factors behind driver shortages.

 

"People will be attracted to these roles because wages are rising substantially. We estimate that starting salaries have gone up by at least £5,000 from a base of £25,000.

 

"It's not so much a problem of finding people who want to be drivers. It's getting them a driver test," he added.

 

"Short term, we'd like movement on a temporary visa for drivers to come and work in the UK."

 

The BRC's Andrew Opie agreed, telling the commission the industry just needed "breathing space" to allow for UK drivers to be recruited and tested.

 

"We've got vacancies. We will pay more to attract drivers here. We don't see it as a major change in immigration policy. It would be a short-term measure," he said. "That could make a massive change for us overnight."

 

Less choice

During the hearing, all three business groups acknowledged that Christmas could present problems, though they didn't anticipate any major shortages.

 

"We're not seeing major shortages and not anticipating that, but it's the constant challenge, trying to keep head above water. There's no slack in system," Mr Opie said

 

"Christmas is going to be incredibly challenging in some areas. There might be small scale disruption. Even delivery times for online could be more difficult. It's too early to predict, but not too early for the government to do something to make sure there isn't a problem," he added.

 

Mr Harrow from the British Federation of Frozen Food said his members would normally be laying down stock for Christmas right now, but that they currently haven't got the capacity to do that, though he said he doesn't expect big shortages at this stage.

 

"What we are more likely to see is a reduction in choice, rather than shortages," he said.-BBC

 

 

 

Councils hit by bin collection delays due to driver shortage

At least 18 councils across the UK confirmed on Thursday that they are experiencing ongoing disruptions to their bin collection services.

 

It is due to staff self-isolating and a lack of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers who can drive bin lorries.

 

The Local Government Association (LGA) told the BBC that the delays were primarily affecting garden waste.

 

However, some councils are also delaying recycling collections in order to prioritise general waste.

 

It comes as three councils in Devon wrote to Home Secretary Priti Patel on Thursday, asking for the government to grant temporary visas to trained European HGV drivers in order to help with the shortage.

 

"At the time of writing, North Devon Council are attempting to fill seven [bin lorry driver] vacancies, Torbay Council eight vacancies, and Teignbridge Council ten vacancies," wrote councillors Steve Darling, David Worden and Alistair Dewhirst.

 

"This equates to approximately 20% of the HGV workforce in driver vacancies and it is proving very challenging to fill this resourcing gap given the dynamics of this labour market."

 

The UK currently has a shortfall of about 100,000 HGV drivers, after many EU workers returned home during the pandemic.

 

Ministers say UK employers should hire locally to fill the gap, but the councils said it would take time to train the next generation of drivers. They also highlighted delays in the current HGV driver recruitment process.

 

"With our efforts to 'grow our own' HGV drivers, we need their DVLA applications to be fast tracked, as for example in Teignbridge, there are five [bin lorry driver] applications in the system which if fast tracked could help partially tackle the challenges we face," the councillors stressed.

 

The BBC understands that the DVSA has already increased the number of vocational tests from 2,000 a week to 3,000, and the DVLA are prioritising HGV provisional licence applications and taking about two weeks to issue them.

 

Waste management giants Biffa, Veolia and FCC Environment told the BBC they are "doing everything" they can to mitigate the driver shortage.

 

"We are working hard to recruit new drivers, offering great rates of pay alongside fantastic benefits, as well as full training," said Biffa's HR director Jane Pateman.

 

Veolia said it currently has 180 bin lorry driver vacancies in the UK. In August, it launched a campaign encouraging mothers to consider a new career in driving for the waste management industry.

 

"To meet the industry-wide shortage of drivers, Veolia are offering incentives such as a sign-on bonus for new staff, and a retention bonus for existing drivers in areas where we are most affected," said Veolia UK and Ireland's chief human resources officer Beth Whittaker.

 

"We are also up-skilling existing staff and utilising our extensive apprenticeship scheme."-BBC

 

 

 

Coin hoarding at home leads to charity plea

UK residents are hoarding an estimated £50m in loose change, with little sign of it all being spent as Covid restrictions ease.

 

Nearly six in 10 people are holding coins at home, according to a survey by banking trade body UK Finance.

 

People tend to hold on to 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p coins.

 

The findings have prompted pleas for this money to be given to charity, as cash donations dropped during the Covid crisis.

 

UK Finance data suggests that people have been holding onto cash three times longer than they used to owing, in part, to the coronavirus lockdowns.

 

Many retailers and entertainment venues were shut, and some shops have encouraged the use of contactless payments over cash.

 

The research said that cash use had risen - notably among 35 to 54-year-olds - as restrictions were eased.

 

"It is clear that with the reopening of the economy there has been some degree of revival in cash transactions," it said.

 

However, the stash of low-value coins in people's homes still showed little chance of being spent in the next two or three months, the report suggested.

 

Among the 1,000 people surveyed, most tended to hoard cash primarily for security, but also to pay friends and neighbours for shopping, for gifts and for pocket money.

 

Although the amounts held tended to be below £100, this could have an impact on the way cash flowed around the economy, the report said.

 

UK Finance said this raised questions about the mix of coins in circulation in the UK. Two years ago, the Treasury said that 1p and 2p coins would continue to be used "for years to come".

 

"Industry and policymakers may need to actively encourage greater recycling of hoarded cash to avoid significant wastage to the UK economy," the report said.

 

Charity boxes

One way to do that was by urging people to give loose change to charity, it said.

 

The Charities Aid Foundation found that more than half the charities they spoke to last year had seen a drop in donations. That coincided with four in 10 charities reporting increased demand for help from those in need. 

 

"Cash donations to charities, normally the country's most popular way of giving, saw a substantial decline during 2020 and remain at very low levels compared to previous years," said Neil Heslop, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation.

 

"As charities struggle to resume fundraising, while continuing to work on the frontlines of the response to the pandemic, donating spare loose change would be a huge show of much-needed support at a critical time."

 

Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance said:  "Putting your pennies in a charity box is a great way to help those in need." -BBC

 

 

 

Amazon offers punctual staff £50 for turning up

Amazon is offering a £50 weekly bonus for permanent staff at some UK locations for turning up to work on time.

 

The reward is for people who have 100% attendance, excluding time taken off for sickness linked to disability and Covid.

 

Amazon said the enticement would help it meet summer and Christmas demand.

 

Last week, the online retail giant advertised a £1,000 joining bonus for new warehouse workers.

 

It comes as the UK labour market continues to rebound, with UK job vacancies at a record high in August.

 

UK job vacancies at record high as wages pick up

Amazon offers £1,000 joining bonus for new UK staff

The attendance bonus will be offered at sites including Amazon warehouses in Durham and Gateshead.

 

Banner saying 'Get in touch'

As a current or former Amazon employee, what's your view of the scheme?

 

An Amazon spokesperson said: "We are currently offering an attendance bonus at a number of locations to permanent associates to support our summer demand and help us prepare for the festive season ahead."

 

The bonus will be paid per week, and will be based on 100% attendance for all scheduled shifts, excluding absences under the Equality Act and relating to Covid.

 

Amazon recently advertised that new starters who start working before 18 September will get a £1,000 signing-on fee.

 

The company has faced accusations of poor working conditions in the UK and elsewhere.

 

In March, Unite, the union, launched a whistleblowing hotline for Amazon workers in the UK. It also called for Amazon to allow British workers to unionise and to have a greater share of the firm's profits.

 

In July, the union described working conditions at Amazon as "Charles Dickens meets 21st century Britain".

 

Some workers described having to run to the toilet to make it back to their workstation on time, and not being allowed to sit down for ten hours.

 

Other workers described queues for toilets which meant they had to urinate in bottles.

 

Driver shortage

Amazon's recruitment and retention efforts come as UK job vacancies hit a record 953,000 in the three months to July.

 

Some parts of the UK economy are struggling to recruit, including efforts to try to address a chronic shortage of HGV drivers.

 

Tesco has offered lorry drivers a £1,000 joining bonus, and John Lewis plans to increase annual salaries.

 

The meat industry has said it is hoping to recruit prisoners and former inmates to fill roles in abattoirs and processing plants.-BBC

 

 

 

WhatsApp issued second-largest GDPR fine of €225m

WhatsApp has been fined €225m (£193m) by Ireland's data watchdog for breaching privacy regulations.

 

It is the largest fine ever from the Irish Data Protection Commission, and the second-highest under EU GDPR rules.

 

Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, has its EU headquarters is in Ireland, and the Irish regulator is the lead authority for the tech giant in Europe.

 

WhatsApp said it disagrees with the decision, and the severity of the fine, and plans to appeal.

 

The fine relates to an investigation which began in 2018, about whether WhatsApp had been transparent enough about how it handles information.

 

The issues involved were highly technical, including whether WhatsApp supplied enough information to users about how their data was processed and if its privacy policies were clear enough.

 

Those policies have since been updated several times.

 

"WhatsApp is committed to providing a secure and private service," a company spokesperson said.

 

"We have worked to ensure the information we provide is transparent and comprehensive and will continue to do so. We disagree with the decision today regarding the transparency we provided to people in 2018 and the penalties are entirely disproportionate."

 

GDPR rules allows for mammoth fines of up to 4% of the offending company's global turnover.

 

media captionWATCH: What is GDPR?

The Irish DPC said it had submitted its decision to other national data authorities, as required under GDPR, "following a lengthy and comprehensive investigation", and received objections from eight countries, including Germany, France, and Italy.

 

Some disagreed with the Irish regulator about which specific articles of GDPR had been broken or the way the fine had been calculated, among other issues.

 

And in late July, the European Data Protection Board told the Irish DPC to tweak its finding, "reassess" its proposed fine of €30-50m (£26-43m) and amend its decision "by setting out a higher fine amount".

 

Formally reprimanded

This "shows how the DPC is still extremely dysfunctional", privacy campaigner Max Schrems said, welcoming the decision.

 

"The DPC gets about 10,000 complaints per year since 2018 - and this is the first major fine," he said.

 

And because of WhatsApp's planned appeal, "in the Irish court system, this will mean that we will see years before any fine is actually paid".

 

The Irish DPC has also formally reprimanded WhatsApp and ordered it to "bring its processing into compliance", however.

 

Only Amazon has been fined more for breaking GDPR rules, in a case it is also vigorously defending.

 

In July, Luxembourg's regulator fined Amazon €746m for what it said was non-compliance with data-processing laws.-BBC

 

 

 

 

U.S. funding tapped for Pacific undersea cable after China rebuffed

(Reuters) - The Federated States of Micronesia will tap a U.S. funding facility to construct a Pacific undersea communications cable, two sources told Reuters, after rejecting a Chinese company-led proposal that was deemed a security threat by U.S. officials.

 

The United States has taken great interest in several plans in recent years to lay optic fibre cables across the Pacific, projects that would bring vastly improved communications to island nations.

 

The undersea cables have far greater data capacity than satellites, leading Washington to raise concerns that the involvement of Chinese firms would compromise regional security. Beijing has consistently denied any intent to use cable infrastructure for spying.

 

Two sources with knowledge of the plans said FSM would use U.S. funds to construct a line between two of its four states, Kosrae to Pohnpei, replicating part of a route proposed under a previous $72.6 million project backed by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

 

Reuters reported in June that project, which also encompassed Nauru and Kiribati, was scuppered after Washington raised concerns the contract would be awarded to Huawei Marine, now called HMN Technologies and majority owned by Shanghai-listed Hengtong Optic-Electric Co Ltd. read more .

 

One source told Reuters that FSM would draw around $14 million from the American Rescue Plan, a U.S. facility created by President Joe Biden to distribute funds both at home and abroad to combat the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

FSM said it was committed to providing fibre connectivity to the State of Kosrae, and onward connectivity to Kiribati and Nauru. It did not respond directly to questions about U.S. funding.

 

The U.S. State Department declined to comment.

 

The United States and FSM have a long geopolitical relationship, enshrined in the Compact of Free Association, a decades-old agreement between the United States and its former Pacific trust territories. Under that agreement, Washington is responsible for the island nation's defence.

 

The second source said the U.S. funded cable would likely connect to the HANTRU-1 undersea cable, a line primarily used by the U.S. government that connects to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

 

Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly.

 

The World Bank said in a statement it was working with FSM and Kiribati to map out their next steps after the original tender for the larger project concluded with no contract awarded.

 

PACIFIC POLITICS

 

Undersea cables represent one of the newest and most sensitive fronts in the rivalry between China and the U.S. in the strategic waters of the Pacific.

 

While FSM has close ties to the United States, it also has long-standing diplomatic and trade relations with China.

 

Prominent U.S. lawmakers have warned that Chinese companies could undermine competitive tenders by offering state-subsidised bids Reuters previously reported. read more

 

The U.S. Commerce Department publicly lists Huawei Marine on its so-called "Entity List" - known as a blacklist - which restricts the sale of U.S. goods and technology to the company. The Department told Reuters that Huawei's new owner, HMN Tech, would also be captured under these restrictions.

 

China has strongly refuted the allegations. China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters that Chinese companies had a good record in cybersecurity.

 

"The so-called security threat [alleged] by the U.S. is totally groundless, and has ulterior motives," the statement said. "Who the 'hacker empire' really is - engaging in spying and stealing secrets - is plain to the world."

 

Australia, a strong regional ally to the United States, has ramped up its presence in the Pacific through the creation of a A$2 billion ($1.48 billion) infrastructure financing facility that island nations can potentially access for cable projects.

 

Nauru has been negotiating plans to tap into the Australian-backed Coral Sea Cable system, via Solomon Islands, sources told Reuters in June. read more

 

($1 = 1.3510 Australian dollars)

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

U.S. job growth seen slowing in August as Delta variant curbs services demand

(Reuters) - U.S. employment growth likely pulled back in August after gaining nearly 2 million jobs in the past two months as soaring COVID-19 cases reduced demand for travel and entertainment, but the pace was probably enough to sustain the economic expansion.

 

The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday would come as economists have been sharply marking down their gross domestic product estimates for the third quarter. Reasons cited include the resurgence in infections, driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, and relentless shortages of raw materials, which are depressing automobile sales and restocking.

 

Surging COVID-19 cases could also have kept some unemployed people home, frustrating efforts by employers to boost hiring.

 

"The Delta variant is like a sandstorm in an otherwise sunny economy," said Sung Won Sohn, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. "If it weren't for that, employment in August would have been even higher."

 

According to a Reuters survey of economists nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 750,000 jobs last month. The economy created 1.881 million jobs in June and July. Should job growth in August meet expectations, that would leave the level of employment about 5 million jobs below its peak in February 2020.

 

But the forecast is highly uncertain, with estimates ranging from 375,000 to 1.027 million.

 

High frequency indicators have suggested a softening in demand for air travel, hotel accommodation and in-person dining, which some economists expect led to a moderation in leisure and hospitality job growth.

 

Reports this week showed a measure of factory employment contracting and private payrolls undershooting expectations. But hiring by small businesses accelerated and consumers' views of the labor market remained fairly upbeat.

 

Over the last several years, including in 2020, the initial August payrolls print has undershot expectations and been slower than the three-month average job growth through July.

 

"COVID effects may make this comparison to the trend less useful, however, August payrolls have been revised higher with the subsequent two jobs reports in 11 of the last 12 years, including last year," said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York.

 

Friday's report will be crucial for financial markets as investors try to gauge the timing of the Federal Reserve's announcement on when it will start scaling back its massive monthly bond buying program.

 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week affirmed the ongoing economic recovery, but offered no signal on when the U.S. central bank plans to cut its asset purchases beyond saying it could be "this year."

 

Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. Macro Strategist at TD Securities in New York, who is forecasting a 400,000 rise in payrolls in August, does not believe this would be weak enough for the Fed to back away from their "this year" signal.

 

"But it would probably increase the probability of a formal announcement coming at the December rather than the November meeting," said O'Sullivan. "We certainly don't expect an announcement at this month's meeting, even if the August data are stronger than expected."

 

Reuters Graphics

SUPPLY CONSTRAINTS BITE

 

Despite the flare-up in COVID-19 cases, the leisure and hospitality sector likely accounted for a big chunk of payroll gains last month. Some economists expect the hit to restaurant and bars would be in the form of reduced hours.

 

Government employment likely increased solidly as schools reopened for in-person learning, though the pace slowed from July's whopping 240,000 jobs.

 

Manufacturing payrolls are expected to have advanced by 25,000 jobs last month. Factory hiring is being constrained by input shortages, especially semiconductors, which have depressed motor vehicle production and sales.

 

Raw material shortages have also made it harder for businesses to replenish inventories.

 

Motor vehicle sales tumbled 10.7% in August, prompting economists at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to slash third-quarter GDP growth estimates to as low as a 3.5% annualized rate from as high as 8.25%.

 

"At some point production should pick up, allowing for the restocking of inventories and supporting sales, but it is unclear exactly when this will occur," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York. "The recent spread of the Delta variant and persistence of broader supply chain issues has generated some downside risk to the near-term outlook."

 

The economy grew at a 6.6% rate in the second quarter.

 

The unemployment rate is expected to have declined to 5.2% in August from 5.4% in July. It has, however, been understated by people misclassifying themselves as "employed but absent from work."

 

The pandemic has upended labor market dynamics, creating worker shortages even as 8.7 million people are officially unemployed. There were a record 10.1 million job openings at the end of June. Lack of affordable childcare, fears of contracting the coronavirus, generous unemployment benefits funded by the federal government as well as pandemic-related retirements and career changes have been blamed.

 

There is cautious optimism the labor pool will increase because of schools reopening and government-funded benefits expiring on Monday. But the Delta variant likely delayed the return to the labor force for some.

 

"While we believe the trend in labor force participation is higher due to reopening and mass vaccination, we expect a pause in August due to concerns around the Delta variant," said Spencer Hill, an economist at Goldman Sachs in New York.

 

With labor scarce, average hourly earnings likely increased 0.3% after rising 0.4% in July. That would keep the annual increase in wages at 4% in August.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Britain's trucker shortage jams post-pandemic recovery

(Reuters) - Two furloughed jumbo jet pilots and a burnt-out finance worker have been among the more unusual candidates to learn how to drive 44-tonne trucks at Laurence Bolton's school in south London during the pandemic.

 

"You get people from all industries, and think: 'Blimey, I never saw you here before 2020'," Bolton said. "There are more people that have been displaced from retail, with the high street closing or certainly running down, and from hospitality."

 

Business is brisk for truck driving schools as Britain emerges from its COVID-19 crisis. The country is facing an acute shortage of lorry drivers, and haulage companies are raising starting salaries and offering sign-on bonuses to entice candidates in the post-pandemic economy.

 

Bolton, managing director of the National Driving Centre, said he had seen a 20% rise in the number of people seeking to become truckers compared with before the pandemic.

 

It's not enough, though. Britain needs 100,000 more drivers if it is to meet demand, according to the UK's Road Haulage Association (RHA). The signs are already there: sporadic gaps on supermarket shelves, pubs running low on beer, McDonald's (MCD.N) suspending milkshakes.

 

The shortfall, mirrored to a lesser degree in other countries like the United States and Germany, spells potential trouble on the inflation front. Truckers are a central cog in the global economy, carrying almost all our goods. If there aren't enough of them, it is likely to drive up prices.

 

Wesley Van Tonder, who delivered food for Uber Eats and Deliveroo during the pandemic, is among those workers who have sought to change course in the new reality - he has cashed in his motorbike to fund truck-driving lessons at Bolton's school.

 

"Now everything is starting to open back up so there's more people on the road, and on the bike it's a bit dangerous," he said. "I'd rather drive a truck."

 

'SUPPLY CHAIN CAN'T COPE'

 

The Bank of England expects British inflation to hit a 10-year high of 4% this year. How fast it might fall thereafter depends in part on how quickly people who have lost their jobs in the pandemic switch to sectors such as logistics where workers are badly needed.

 

UK manufacturers said shortages of raw materials and delivery delays disrupted production last month, leading to slower growth and a marked increase in costs.

 

Britain is not alone with its driver shortage. United States trucking firms want more visas for foreign drivers and German logistics bodies estimate a 45,000-60,000 driver shortage there.

 

But the gap is bigger in Britain, where post-Brexit immigration rules since Jan. 1 have cost the industry 20,000 drivers from the European Union, the RHA told Reuters.

 

Normally nearly 40,000 people a year pass tests to drive a lorry in Britain, but this fell by almost two-thirds last year at the height of the pandemic when many driving schools were closed for long stretches in an already aging industry.

 

"We do not have enough fresh blood coming in," said RHA policy director Rod McKenzie. "Britons will not get the things they want. That is the position we're in now. And it's getting worse between now and Christmas."

 

This was echoed by Bolton at the National Driving Centre.

 

"You've got to make sure that Amazon deliveries arrive at people's doors," he said. "People have the expectation that everything is 'click to buy', with the expectation 'I want it here tomorrow'. But the supply chain can't cope with it, with the amount of drivers that are left in the industry."

 

Britain's government has rejected industry calls to temporarily ease visa restrictions for EU lorry drivers, and instead told the sector to improve pay and conditions. read more

 

$7,000 SIGNING-ON BONUSES

 

The demand has driven up wages: salaries for new drivers in Britain rose by 5.7% between February and July compared with a 0.8% increase across all types of jobs, according to Jack Kennedy, an economist at recruitment website Indeed.

 

The shortage has also led companies such as Gist, a division of U.S.-German Linde which delivers food to British supermarkets Tesco (TSCO.L) and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), to offer 5,000-pound ($6,900) sign-on and retention bonuses.

 

Yet it's an industry where trade unions have long criticised pay and conditions.

 

The average hourly wage for truck drivers in 2020 was 11.80 pounds an hour, or 30,820 pounds a year, according to official data.

 

While the annual salary is roughly in line with the national average, hours are longer and often anti-social - a typical full-time truck driver was paid to work for 47 hours a week, compared with 37.5 hours for the average job.

 

The sector in Britain is dominated by small haulage companies which operate on thin margins, pressured by big customers in the retail and industrial sectors, according to Adrian Jones, a national officer at trade union Unite.

 

Unite wants an industry-level agreement on minimum pay rates, as in some other European countries and more regulated sub-sectors such as petrol and chemical delivery.

 

Big signing-on bonuses from some large employers were not translating into broader pay rises, and instead suggested that they thought the current shortage would blow over, Jones said.

 

"That's just a sticking plaster over a gaping wound. That is not a solution to the problem," he added.

 

'I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO IT'

 

A big question mark for Britain's central bank is whether the recruitment difficulties mark the start of a longer-term, more broad-based rise in the country's wages, which have been weak since the 2008 financial crisis.

 

Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent has highlighted a mismatch between new jobs created during the pandemic in areas such as logistics and IT, and the skills of people in sectors that suffered such as high-street retail and hospitality.

 

However, in an ominous sign for the Bank and inflationary pressures, Indeed economist Kennedy said the flow of new drivers from outside the sector appeared to slow in the three months to June, as job options widened.

 

For some, though, the lure of the open road is irresistible.

 

London bus driver Nick Fuller is among those training at Bolton's National Driving Centre and plans to get a licence to drive an articulated lorry up and down motorways.

 

He said he couldn't turn down the prospect of better pay and a bigger vehicle - plus the absence of aggressive passengers.

 

"I always wanted to do it. But hearing about these labour shortages – yes, maybe it gives me an incentive to get it now rather than later," the 37-year-old added.

 

"With lorries, you've got no passengers hollering at you or trying to get to you through the cab – and a bit more money to help feed my family as well."

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Malawi: PAC Tackles Labour Ministry Officials On Allowances

Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has demanded that the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Development should recover the money amounting to K5 million from the officer who had an international trip, but did not travel.

 

PAC Chairpersons, Shadrek Namalomba, emphasized that it was an anomaly for the controlling officers to allow such financial mismanagement in their places.

 

"Controlling officers should desist from entertaining issues of money in such a manner," he said, adding that the money should be recovered and be channelled to their intended purposes.

Earlier, the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Development, Dickson Chunga told the Committee that a Mr Mazaza was supposed to travel to Algiers alongside two officers, Brenda Sulamoyo and Maureen Phiri, a trip he failed because his allowances were cleared very late by the banks.

 

"He failed to source the money on his own as others did for his accommodation and meals," he said.

 

It was also observed during the meeting that another officer, Director of Sports, Jamieson Ndalama was overpaid by K769, 024 as an external travel allowance to Botswana.

 

He said the auditors found out that the accounts paid external travel allowances using a higher rate of $280 instead of a recommended rate of $200 per day as a director.

 

"This was indeed an error by our accounts personnel who used the rate for those travelling outside Africa rather than within Africa," he said.

 

As a solution to recover the money, the ministry has written the secretary for sports to effect recoveries through their monthly salaries.-Nyasa Times.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Mining - Govt Acquires Two Mini Aircraft for Geophysical Survey Activities

The federal government yesterday took delivery of two small aircrafts that were fitted with sensors earmarked for Airborne Geophysical Survey Activities across the country.

 

During the inspection of the two survey aircrafts with registration number N580kr (ZS-XAR) and ZS-XAS at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, hinted that the project was part of a program to acquire data on the minerals in Nigeria.

 

Adegbite said that the aircrafts have equipment in them that could monitor certain parameters on ground, which "is a very basic method of acquiring data through geophysical measurements."

He explained that the project is part of the World Bank's Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification Project in Nigeria.

 

He said: "There was an open competition and this company from South Africa, Xcalibur Multiphysics, won it, and they are here now with their aircrafts.

 

"We had to go through a lot of security process. The National Security Adviser has given his go-ahead. The Nigerian Air Force is aware they are here and 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory have been earmarked for the project.

 

"The federal government had three months ago begun the establishment of artisanal mineral processing clusters for the development of selected minerals in the six geopolitical zones of the country."

 

"The initiative is to ensure effective harmonisation of minerals' exploitation as well as to derive the right revenue for the government."

 

Speaking further, Adegbite noted that the aircraft works when the ground is dry and that recordings in the equipment are trans-loaded into computers that would interpret them. "This will give us data that can be utilised.

 

"The aircrafts will fly at low altitude of about 50 metres, which is about 15 storey building. From the ground, the aircraft can be seen and heard. To allay people's fears, for the last three months, we have been going round the states, sensitising people, and so that when these yellow aircrafts are flying at low altitude, people would not panic.

 

"Basically, the aircrafts are there to gather data. These data will enhance our ability to know what minerals we have, and thereby attract investors. It would enhance what we know already and give us clearer data. We have two aircrafts on ground, but will be increased eventually to four," Adegbite said.

 

Similarly, Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) had also stated recently that generation of geoscientific data by relevant government agencies over the years have played a cardinal role in the growth of the minerals sector.

 

Osinbajo stated that available reports from the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) confirmed that Nigeria is endowed with over 44 mineral deposits occurring in commercial quantities in over 500 locations across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.

 

He said: "It can be reasonably inferred that every local government council area of the country is endowed with one or more mineral resources that can be harnessed for the development of the local government and the country at large. The value chain of these mineral resources remains largely untapped and as such they are not readily available for sustainable economic development of the country more so that the mining industry is dominated by over 90 per cent artisanal operators."

 

Also, the Technical Adviser, Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification Project (MinDiver), Mr. John Eyre, disclosed that the two small aircrafts are fitted with electronic sensors, which will pick up variations, particularly magnetic and radiometric changes in the ground.- This Day.

 

 

 

Rwanda: Inside Rwanda, CAR New Agriculture Deal

The memorandum of understanding on agriculture cooperation between Rwanda and the Central African Republic (CAR) which was signed last week on Friday, offers a world of opportunities for peoples of both countries, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources has said.

 

During an interview on Tuesday, Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze told The New Times that the pact signed in Bangui, covers many agriculture-related areas in a bid to utilise the available arable land in CAR.

 

They include research in agriculture, land use and management, soil and water sustainable management, seed development to produce quality and highly productive seeds the advancement of the sector, crop and environmental protection, climate change adaptation, aquaculture and fishing, as well as agribusiness and agro-industry, Ngabitsinze pointed out.

He said that the MoU covers a period of five years, but indicated that it is renewable based on the progress registered in the initial period.

 

Ngabitsinze observed that CAR is a country whose economy is based on agriculture, though the sector is underdeveloped due to the problems [insecurity] that have blighted the country for years, and its small population.

 

"I would say that CAR is somehow amazing in terms of natural resources. It has about 30 million hectares of arable and fertile land, while it has a relatively small population of five million," Ngabitsinze remarked.

Having land for large scale production in CAR presents a huge opportunity for Rwanda which has small land with agriculture production largely small scale, a situation that results in small profits, Ngabitsinze explained.

 

He said that the cooperation presents employment opportunity to Rwandan professionals as CAR wants Rwandan experts to help develop its agro-industry.

 

So far, he said, CAR has provided 70,500 hectares to Rwanda, which are ready for use, adding that they are under the management of Crystal Ventures - a local Rwandan company which is the parent of the agro-processing firm Inyange Industries, among other firms.

 

Potential value chains

 

Ngabitsinze said that CAR has nine major agriculture commodities for which it has made a development plan, adding that Rwanda is currently assessing how the two countries can partner.

They include groundnuts, which was allocated an area of two million hectares, wheat sector, with three million hectares, cotton textile sector that is allocated two million hectares, and palm oil sector with production area of three million hectares.

 

Others are corn (maize) sector which was allocated three million hectares, rice with an area of five million hectares, sugarcane sector allocated three million hectares, the onion sector allocated one million hectares, and the tomato sector allocated an area of one million hectares.

 

Ngabitsinze said that currently, Central African Republic has no factory for tomato processing, which he said was another opportunity to explore.

 

Talking about cotton, Ngabitsinze said that the country had already started developing this sector, with some old plantations still in existence, but noted that its performance was impaired by the civil war that ravaged the country.

 

He said that the cotton subsector can help Rwanda develop its textile industry whose progress has been facing a lack of raw materials.

 

"Getting enough raw materials for the textile industry has been a challenge here [in Rwanda] because of factors including small land. But, if we have the opportunity to grow them there through partnerships, we can bring them into the country, then they get processed into clothes locally," he said.

 

For maize, Ngabitsinze said that CAR wants Rwandan investors to venture into the processing of maize into flour, indicating that the country has just one factory - owned by a foreign investor - that produces small amount of flour vis-à-vis the population's needs.

 

"This makes it [maize meal] costly because it is their main food," he said, noting that maize processing requires urgent investment.

 

Citrus sector

 

He said that CAR wants Rwandan business operators to set up a citrus fruit processing factory soon as fruits are abundant in the country.

 

The identified fruit value chains include lemon, tangerine, orange, and grapefruit sectors.

 

"They wanted that companies like Inyange Industries can venture into the processing of available fruits because they get deteriorated as there is no factory for value addition there," he said.

 

Livestock development

 

Though Central Africans like meat, Ngabitsinze said, there is a lack of it in the country, indicating much of what they consume is imported from Chad.

 

However, he said that the country has a programme to address the issue through developing the poultry sector among others.

 

In the field of poultry farming, the programme aims to produce 2 billion chickens in 10 years, including 1.3 billion broilers, 500 million layers which will produce 15 billion eggs in the long term, and 200 million roosters.

 

In the area of cattle industry, the programme aims to increase cattle production to 10 million heads within 10 years.

 

For the goat industry, the programme aims to increase the production of goats to eight million heads within 10 years.

 

Ngabitsinze stated that the two countries have to establish a joint technical team to work on the implementation of the cooperation MoU, indicating that "we will form it as soon as possible".

 

Meanwhile, Ngabitsinze said that CAR has a programme to create an agriculture bank, in which it expects investments amounting to more than $25 billion over the next 20 years, adding that the country wants that the bank starts with a capital of $2 billion.

 

This bank, he said, could be important to the growth of the agro-industry in the country through promoting investments into the agriculture sector by providing it with tailored financial products.-New Times.

 

 

 

Kenya to Send 20,000 Nurses to the UK, Says Chelugui

Kenya will send 20,000 nurses to the United Kingdom as it seeks to improve the welfare of its migrant workers abroad.

 

Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said the government has embarked on exporting highly skilled healthcare workers and professionals abroad.

 

On July 29, Kenya and the UK signed a pact that is expected to benefit unemployed medics.

 

Mr Chelugui disclosed that the two governments had agreed to send 20,000 nurses to the UK to address a shortage of 62,000 in that country.

 

The CS said the UK government has also committed to building the capacity of Kenya's medical training colleges and universities to train more nurses.

 

Some 894 Kenyan nurses work in Britain's public healthcare system, the National Health Service.

 

"We are exporting Kenyan nurses. Last month we were in London with President Uhuru Kenyatta and had discussions with the UK government, which agreed to take 20,000 of their 62,000 shortage of nurses trained in Kenya," he said when he appeared at a meeting of the National Assembly's Committee on Labour and Social Welfare in Mombasa.

 

 

"There is a benefit for us because our institutions are now being upgraded to international standards to offer training to fit the UK market."

 

The first batch of nurses will leave Kenya by October 15.

 

The positions were advertised by the National Employment Authority. The government is evaluating applications before sending the documents to the Ministry of Health for confirmation and verification for interviews.

 

This is good news for at least 30,000 jobless Kenyan nurses and healthcare workers. Mr Chelugui said there are many opportunities for Kenyan migrant workers in the transport, medical and education sectors.

 

 

"Brexit is an opportunity for this country. The fact that Kenya's education system, standards and language of instruction is English is a huge opportunity for our country. We are engaging our medical training schools to enhance capacity for the export market," he said.

 

He said the government will streamline its labour migration sector to protect workers from exploitation.

 

"Migrant workers can contribute to development. In the last decade, remittances have significantly increased, reaching Sh310 billion from Sh1.04 billion in 2004," he said.

 

"In 2020, Kenya, with Sh310 billion in diaspora remittances, was one of the top four highest remittance-recipient countries in Africa. Kenya lags behind Egypt (Sh2.9 trillion), Nigeria (Sh1.72 trillion) and Ghana (Sh360 billion)."

 

He said Central Bank of Kenya data shows that Kenyans in foreign countries sent home a monthly record of Sh34 billion ($315.8 million) in May, a 22 percent jump from the corresponding month last year.

 

 

"This is supported by higher flows from the US and Saudi Arabia. This is the first time diaspora remittances have crossed the $300 million mark, continuing to defy expectations of a dip due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Diaspora remittances are currently Kenya's highest foreign exchange earner, having overtaken tea, coffee and tourism," he added.

 

Mr Chelugui assured migrant Kenyan workers that the government will ensure their welfare is protected.

 

The government is also seeking to establish safe houses as temporary shelters for its citizens working abroad who are in distress before they transition to other employment or are repatriated.

 

This will be a relief to hundreds of Kenyans stranded in Gulf countries and elsewhere.

 

The State will also dispatch more labour attaches to countries where many Kenyans are working.

 

"Kenyans who have lost jobs are taken to deportation camps and sometimes they are mistreated or abused. But to protect Kenyans against such abuses we must allocate funds to establish safe homes. Other countries have done it," Mr Chelugui said.

 

Statistics show that there were four million Kenyans in the diaspora in 2019, with over 200,000 in the Middle East. Of the total number, only 1.5 have been registered.

 

Data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection shows Kenyans work in Europe, the United States, Asia, Latin America, Canada, Australia, the Middle East and the Gulf region, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.

 

The committee's chairperson, Kabiga Wachira, urged the government to ensure that Kenyans are safe while working overseas.

 

"There are agents not complying with the rules. That's why several migrant Kenyans are stranded. We have heard a lot of crying, especially on the ineffectiveness of our embassies in attending to their problems when they call in distress. Our embassies are not supporting our people," he said.

 

But Mr Chelugui said his ministry will collaborate with those of Foreign Affairs and Interior to deal with rogue recruitment agencies.

 

He said the government has established three labour attache offices in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE but the number is inadequate.

 

"Saudi Arabia is almost the size of East and Central Africa and we only have one labour attache and yet we have the highest number of migrant workers (there). It is overwhelming. It's almost humanly impossible for one person to handle 100,000 people," he said, asking for more officers to be posted to the kingdom to address the challenges Kenyan workers face.

 

Hundreds of Kenyans working in the Middle East have been narrating their tribulations as workers in Gulf countries.-Nation.

 

 

 

 

Kenya: Road Projects Costs Shoot Up to U.S.$219 Million This Year

Kenya's connectivity is set to improve after the government allocated Sh24.03 billion to tarmac and maintain 18,406km of roads this financial year.

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration has invested mainly in infrastructural development as his legacy projects.

 

In the Annual Public Roads Programme for the 2021/2022 financial year, the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) plans to build and maintain 18,406km of roads across the country, at a staggering cost of Sh24.03 billion.

 

The Nyanza region will gobble up Sh1.93 billion followed by the North Rift (Sh1.45 billion), Upper Eastern (Sh1.43 billion) and South Rift (Sh4.11 billion). Others are Coast (Sh1.36 billion) and North Eastern (Sh1.35 billion).

 

The State has allocated Sh2.3 million per kilometre for periodic maintenance and Sh404,000 per kilometre for routine maintenance of the major road infrastructure projects under Kenha.

Corridor A (Mombasa-Museum Hill; Athi River-Namanga got Sh1.908 billion to cover 779km. Corridor B (Rironi-Busia; Mau Summit-Malaba; Maai Mahiu-Kisii was allocated Sh1.64 billion for 979km, whereas Corridor C (Nairobi-Thika-Mwingi-Garissa; Thika-Kenol-Moyale received Sh1.82 billion to cover 955km.

 

Nairobi, Kenya's capital city, got Sh1.29 billion for 608km, Central Sh1.25 billion for 1,109km, Lower Eastern Sh1.26 billion for 1,321km and Western Sh965 million.

 

"These are just ... a few of the many projects that the government is working on in its effort to upgrade the regional transport corridors and enhance integration as well as national connectivity," Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said.

 

For axle load activities, Kenha will use Sh415 million to install and manage virtual weighbridge stations, Sh376.2 million for A2, A104 (Athi River, Juja, Isinya and Network).

A109 B8, comprising Mariakani, Mtwapa and Network will take Sh290.6 million, whereas A104 (Gilgil, Mai Mahiu and Network) will use Sh247.5 million. B1, A1 (Kisumu, Busia, Isebania and Network) will get Sh221.7 million and A104 (Webuye, Malaba, Eldoret and Network) will get Sh190.7 million.

 

At the Coast, where the projects are crucial in making the region a key economic and commercial hub for the East Africa region, Kenha will carry out detailed work on performance-based contracting maintenance along the 76km Lungalunga-Ukunda stretch that connects Kenya to neighboring Tanzania in the south at an estimated cost of Sh215 million.

 

Mombasa is the gateway to East Africa, with the largest port in the region.

 

Kenha will also work on Sabasaba-Malindi (116km), Ukunda-Likoni, (25km), and Garsen-Hola (95km) for Sh250 million, Sh110 million and Sh190 million, respectively.

Under the government's grand plan, the 135km Garsen-Witu-Lamu road (C112) and the Lamu port access road will also get Sh650 million and Sh100 million, respectively.

 

Mr Macharia said the major infrastructure developments on the Coast will ensure swift cargo transportation from the Lamu and Mombasa ports.

 

Another roads agency, Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) will spend Sh4.7 billion for road works in 10 regions. Nairobi got the lion's share at Sh1.4 billion for its 535km roads followed by Coast (Sh635 million for 364km), Nyanza (Sh470 million for 360 km) and South Rift (Sh387 million for 179 km).

 

Kura will upgrade roads at Sh15.3 million per kilometre for upgrading, and Sh1.05 million per kilometre for routine maintenance.

 

In the Coast region, the government will start dualling the 14km Nyali-Mtwapa section of the Mombasa-Malindi highway in the first phase.

 

Mr Macharia said the second phase will start from Mtwapa to Kwa Kadzengo.

 

It is part of the 460km Malindi-Tanga-Bagamoyo East African Coastal Corridor development project, for which the African Development Bank in December 2020 approved a Sh38.4 billion financing package, a few months after the European Union had contributed a grant of Sh3.3 billion.

 

The road is also expected to ease the flow of traffic from both the Mombasa and Tanga ports towards the land-locked countries of East Africa.

 

Another project is the construction of the six-lane Mombasa-Kwa Jomvu dual carriageway, which includes three grade-separated intersections at Changamwe, Mikindani and Kwa Jomvu; adjacent truck parking areas; and service lanes.

 

Once completed, this project will ease congestion on this part of the road to Nairobi.

 

Mr Macharia said the Changamwe interchange, expected to be completed by October this year, is part of the Sh16 billion Mombasa Port Area Road Development project, part of a multibillion-shilling upgrading of key roads in the Coast region.-Nation.

 

 

 


 


 


 

 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


ART

PPC

Dairibord

 


Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

 


Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


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