Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 January 2022

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 January 2022 

 


 

 


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ü  Tesla starts accepting once-joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin

ü  Jailed 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli ordered to repay $64m

ü  Meta faces billion-pound class-action case

ü  UK economy above pre-Covid levels in November

ü  China new home prices down less in Dec on promotions, easing curbs

ü  Netflix raises monthly subscription prices in U.S., Canada

ü  U.S. grocery shortages deepen as pandemic dries supplies

ü  Dow closes lower after disappointing bank results

ü  J&J reaches opioid settlement with holdout U.S. state New Mexico

ü  AT&T leads bidders in $22.5 billion U.S. spectrum auction

ü  Seychelles Condemns Pirate Attack On UAE-Flagged Vessel in Red Sea

ü  Kenya Power Top Officials Under Dci Radar Over Sabotage That Caused
Countrywide Outage

ü  Tanzania: Govt Earns Praise On Investment Inflow

ü  Tanzania: Tari's Grape Farming Campaign Pulled Back

ü  Africa: Key Pillars Mostly in Place to Speed Up Africa's Free Trade in
2022

ü  Tanzania: One-Year Bill Yield Increases As Prices Fall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Tesla starts accepting once-joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin

Tesla, the electric carmaker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, has started to
allow people to buy brand merchandise using Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency
initially started as a joke.

 

Mr Musk announced the development on Twitter on Friday, a month after
hinting of the plans.

 

The news sent the value of Dogecoin soaring, though it fell back later.

 

Comments by Mr Musk have frequently moved the prices of digital currencies,
including Dogecoin and Bitcoin.

 

The move, which sent Dogecoin prices more than 14% higher at one point,
comes a month after Mr Musk said Tesla would test out the digital token as a
payment option.

 

Dogecoin, which was started in 2013 as a parody of the cryptocurrency craze,
was once obscure.

 

But its value climbed about 4,000% last year, driven in part by promotion
from Mr Musk.

 

An investor in the token, he has dubbed it the "people's crypto" and said
his space company SpaceX would accept it as payment.

 

During an appearance on the humour show Saturday Night Live, after getting
pressed to define it, he called it "a hustle".

 

It's not the only digital coin to receive attention from the billionaire,
who has a passionate online following.

 

Last year, Bitcoin prices jumped after Tesla said it had invested in the
currency and would allow customers to buy cars with it. But the company
later scrapped that idea.

 

Mr Musk, who also counts Bitcoin among his crypto investments, cited
concerns about how much energy it takes to produce the currency.

 

Dogecoin is currently the only digital currency Tesla accepts.

 

Items eligible for purchase include Tesla-branded belt buckles (835 Doge or
about $162; £118) and children's all-terrain vehicles (12020 Doge or about
$2,280; £1,670), which are currently sold out.

 

The purchases are non-refundable, according to the firm's website.-BBC

 

 

 

Jailed 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli ordered to repay $64m

Martin Shkreli, the former drug firm executive who ordered dramatic price
hikes of a life-saving medicine, has been barred from the industry for life.

 

In a decision on Friday, Judge Denise Cote ordered him to repay $64.6m
(£47m) in profits he made from the scheme.

 

She ruled that Mr Shkreli's actions had violated laws against monopolies.

 

Mr Shkreli is currently serving a prison sentence for defrauding investors.

 

But this decision is about action he took in 2015 to raise the price of
Daraprim, a long-established medicine used to treat toxoplasmosis, from
$13.50 to $750 - around 4,000% - overnight.

 

He also designed supply agreements to block competitors from offering a
generic version of the unpatented medicine, which is used to treat the
parasitic disease in pregnant women and patients with Aids.

 

The moves were unpopular, and earned him the nick-name "Pharma Bro".

 

Seven states and the Federal Trade Commission brought a lawsuit over the
conduct in 2020, saying he had violated state and federal laws that ban
anti-competitive conduct.

 

In her opinion, US District Judge Cote called Mr Shkreli the "prime mover"
in the scheme.

 

"It was his brainchild and he drove it each step of the way," she wrote.

 

Vyera Pharmaceuticals, which Mr Shkreli founded and was previously known as
Turing Pharmaceuticals, earlier agreed to pay $40m.

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the officials who brought
the suit, celebrated the decision.

 

She said Mr Shkreli and his partner had illegally raised the "price of a
life-saving drug as Americans' lives hung in the balance".

 

"But Americans can rest easy because Martin Shkreli is a Pharma Bro no
more."-BBC

 

 

 

Meta faces billion-pound class-action case

Up to 44 million UK Facebook users could share £2.3bn in damages, according
to a competition expert intending to sue parent company Meta.

 

Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen alleges Meta "abused its market dominance" to set an
"unfair price" for free use of Facebook - UK users' personal data.

 

She intends to bring the case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

 

A Meta representative said users had "meaningful control" of what
information they shared.

 

'Excessive profits'

Facebook "abused its market dominance to impose unfair terms and conditions
on ordinary Britons, giving it the power to exploit their personal data", Dr
Lovdahl Gormsen says.

 

And this data, harvested between 2015 and 2019, provided a highly detailed
picture of their internet use, helping the company make "excessive profits".

 

Anyone living in the UK who used Facebook at least once during the period
will be part of the claim unless they choose to opt out, she says.

 

However, in November, the UK's Supreme Court rejected an optout claim
seeking billions of pounds in damages from Google over alleged illegal
tracking of millions of iPhones - Google said the issue had been addressed a
decade ago.

 

Free services

The judge in that case said the claimant had failed to prove damage had been
caused to each individual by the data collection.

 

But he did not rule out the possibility of future mass-action cases if
damages could be calculated.

 

And Dr Lovdahl Gormsen told BBC News: "Optout cases are specifically
permitted at the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

 

"As a result, my case is able to claim damages on behalf of the 44 million
British Facebook users affected."

 

Meta has rejected the allegations.

 

People use its free services because they find them useful and have control
over how their data us used, it says.

 

'Deliver value'

A representative told BBC News: "People access our service for free.

 

"They choose our services because we deliver value for them and they have
meaningful control of what information they share on Meta's platforms and
who with.

 

"We have invested heavily to create tools that allow them to do so."

 

However, this latest case adds to the company's legal battles

 

The US Federal Trade Commission was recently given the go-ahead to take Meta
to court over anti-trust rules.

 

Meta said it was sure it would prevail in court.-BBC

 

 

 

UK economy above pre-Covid levels in November

The UK economy surpassed pre-Covid levels for the first time in November
after recording stronger-than-expected growth.

 

The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP)
expanded by 0.9% between October and November.

 

That was higher than economists' expectations and meant the economy was 0.7%
larger than in February 2020.

 

But there is concern growth slowed again after the spread of Omicron and the
introduction of Plan B measures.

 

"The economy grew strongly in the month before Omicron struck, with
architects, retailers, couriers and accountants having a bumper month," said
ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner.

 

"Construction also recovered from several weak months as many raw materials
became easier to get hold of."

 

 

UK GDP growth

Analysts at Capital Economics said the economy was boosted by 3.5% growth in
the construction sector, adding "the unusually dry weather probably helped".

 

It also said manufacturing output also improved and the professional sector
also picked up, "apparently due to architectural and engineering activities
being brought forward from December".

 

What is GDP?

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is one of the most important ways of showing
how well, or badly, an economy is doing.

 

It's a measure - or an attempt to measure - all the activity of companies,
governments and individuals in an economy.

 

GDP allows businesses to judge when to expand and hire more people, and for
government to work out how much to tax and spend.

 

Rising GDP means more jobs are likely to be created, and workers are more
likely to get better pay rises.

 

If GDP is falling, then the economy is shrinking - bad news for businesses
and workers.

 

The Covid pandemic caused the most severe recession seen in over 300 years,
hurting business and employment, and forcing government to borrow hundreds
of billions of pounds to support the economy.

 

Economists had been expecting GDP to expand by 0.4% in November.

 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the stronger growth was "a testament to the grit
and determination of the British people".

 

But Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "GDP
almost certainly dropped in December, as households hunkered down in
response to the Omicron variant."

 

The Omicron variant emerged at the end of November and Plan B measures were
introduced on 8 December.

 

Mr Tombs said data such as restaurant diner numbers, transport usage and
cinema revenues "point to a pullback in consumer services expenditure" last
month, while "Omicron also depressed labour supply".

 

However, he added: "Omicron looks set to fade almost as quickly as it
arrived, thanks partly to the rapid rollout of booster jabs. As a result, we
expect the government to allow Plan B rules to automatically expire on 26
January and for GDP to bounce back in February."

 

These figures show that the reopening and recovery of the UK economy was
motoring just before Omicron struck.

 

The economy had for the first time regained, on a monthly basis, all the
very heavy losses during the pandemic lockdowns. Business had been returning
to something approaching normality after the government's decision to axe
restrictions since the summer.

 

Monthly figures are quite volatile though and usually not provided by other
countries. It is possible that the Omicron-linked hit to the economy in
December could undo the impressive growth in November on the key fourth
quarter figure. Using this more usual and internationally comparable
quarterly basis, it is still not certain if the UK economy has recovered
these losses.

 

The bigger question is about the impact of Omicron. With hopes that the
rapidly-spreading variant has peaked, economists are now confident it will
have far less of a hit than previous Covid waves. Retailers' results over
the festive period have been very encouraging.

 

But the response of the public and its attitude to going out and spending is
the big economic unknown. And while Omicron concern fades, the hits to
disposable income from rising prices are very real.

 

So while the chancellor called today's GDP milestone "amazing" it's probably
not the moment for celebration.

 

The ONS said that, on a quarterly basis, in the final three months of 2021
the UK economy will reach or surpass pre-Covid levels seen in the last
quarter of 2019 if GDP grows by at least 0.2% in December and there are no
downward revisions to figures for October and November.

 

However, several economists pointed to a bumpy road for growth in the first
months of this year.

 

"We expect growth to slow in 2022 as it will no longer be able to simply
rely on the [Covid] rebound effect to propel it," said Yael Selfin, chief
economist at KPMG UK.

 

"In addition, rising taxes and borrowing costs, as well as elevated
inflation, will squeeze households' purchasing power, while the lingering
effects of supply chain bottlenecks together with a persistent shortage of
labour could constrain production this year."

 

Inflation is expected to hit 6% by spring, according to the Bank of England
which raised its key interest rate in December and is forecast to lift
borrowing costs again this year.

 

The government will raise the National Living Wage by 6.6% for over 23
year-olds in April but that is the same month when energy regulator Ofgem
will implement the new price cap on household gas and electricity bills.

 

Ofgem is widely expected to lift the price cap following a sharp rise in
wholesale gas prices last year which forced around 20 smaller energy
companies out of business.

 

Also from April, employers, workers and the self-employed will all pay 1.25p
more in the pound for National Insurance.-BBC

 

 

 

China new home prices down less in Dec on promotions, easing curbs

(Reuters) - China's new home prices fell more slowly in December than a
month earlier, official data showed on Saturday, as marginal easing on
financing curbs, and promotions by property developers helped to stabilise
demand.

 

Average new home prices in China's 70 major cities declined 0.2% in December
from a month earlier, slower than a 0.3% drop in November, according to
Reuters calculations from data released by the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS).

 

China's property market has slowed since June 2021 as regulators stepped up
their deleveraging campaign against the bloated sector, triggering defaults
at some heavily indebted companies.

 

But the decline moderated as authorities and property developers in multiple
cities introduced measures in December to boost home sales, with local
governments providing subsidies for buyers and real estate firms offering
discounts. read more

 

Monthly prices picked up in 15 of 70 cities, up from nine cities that
reported price gains in November.

 

"The property market is gradually bottoming out with the period of tightest
credit over," said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at property agency Centaline.
First- and second-tier cities will be the first to emerge from the downturn,
he said.

 

New home prices rose 2.6% year-on-year in December, slower than the 3.0%
growth recorded in November.

 

In a recent note, Oxford Economics analysts said they expect central and
local authorities to take steps to contain risks from defaults by property
developers, such as increasing credit to the sector and tweaking the strict
"three red lines" policy introduced to curb borrowing by developers.

 

A payment extension granted by bondholders to beleaguered developer China
Evergrande Group (3333.HK) came as authorities increasingly emphasise the
need to maintain economic stability. read more

 

Yan Yuejin, research director of Shanghai-based E-house China Research and
Development Institute said he expects property policies to continue to ease
in the first quarter given the large economic impact of the real estate
market.

 

"The December data is a positive sign, pointing to home prices not falling
further."

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Netflix raises monthly subscription prices in U.S., Canada

(Reuters) - Netflix Inc has raised its monthly subscription price by $1 to
$2 per month in the United States depending on the plan, the company said on
Friday, to help pay for new programming to compete in the crowded streaming
TV market.

 

The standard plan, which allows for two simultaneous streams, now costs
$15.49 per month, up from $13.99, in the United States.

 

Prices also rose in Canada, where the standard plan climbed to C$16.49 from
C$14.99.

 

Shares of Netflix gained nearly 3% to $533.84 on Nasdaq after Reuters broke
the news of the price rises. They closed 1.3% higher at $525.69.

 

The increases, the first in those markets since October 2020, took effect
immediately for new customers. Existing members will see the new prices in
the coming weeks when they receive their monthly bills.

 

"We understand people have more entertainment choices than ever and we’re
committed to delivering an even better experience for our members," a
Netflix spokesperson said.

 

"We’re updating our prices so that we can continue to offer a wide variety
of quality entertainment options. As always we offer a range of plans so
members can pick a price that works for their budget," the spokesperson
added.

 

The world's largest streaming service is facing the most competition ever
from companies looking to attract viewers to online entertainment. Walt
Disney Co (DIS.N), AT&T Inc's (T.N) WarnerMedia, Amazon.com Inc and Apple
Inc (AAPL.O) are among the rivals pouring billions into new programming.

 

Netflix has added customers despite prior price increases, which shows its
members have been willing to accept higher costs, Evercore ISI analyst Mark
Mahaney said.

 

"This is evidence that Netflix has pricing power," Mahaney said.

 

Netflix had said it would spend $17 billion on programming in 2021. The
company has not disclosed spending for 2022.

 

The U.S. price of Netflix's premium plan, which enables four streams at a
time and streaming in ultra HD, was increased by $2 to $19.99 per month. For
Netflix's basic plan, with one stream, the cost rose by $1 to $9.99 per
month.

 

In Canada, the premium plan rose by C$2 to C$20.99, and the basic plan was
unchanged at C$9.99.

 

At $15.49 per month, the standard U.S. plan from Netflix now costs more than
competitors. HBO Max, owned by AT&T Inc (T.N), is currently offering an
$11.99-a-month promotion for 12 months.

 

The price of Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N) Disney+ is $7.99 a month or $79.99 a
year.

 

The United States and Canada is Netflix's largest region with 74 million
streaming customers as of September 2021. The region accounted for nearly
44% of the company's revenue in 2021's third quarter, or about $3.3 billion.

 

Most of the company's recent pickup in subscribers has come from overseas.

 

Netflix's subscriber growth slowed from a boom early in the COVID-19
pandemic but rebounded with help from global phenomenon "Squid Game," a
dystopian thriller from South Korea released in September. Total global
subscriptions reached 213.6 million.

 

The company's next subscriber report is due Thursday when Netflix posts
quarterly earnings. Analysts project the company will report 8.5 million new
sign-ups from October through December, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S
data, bringing its global subscriber base to 222 million.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

U.S. grocery shortages deepen as pandemic dries supplies

(Reuters) - High demand for groceries combined with soaring freight costs
and Omicron-related labor shortages are creating a new round of backlogs at
processed food and fresh produce companies, leading to empty supermarket
shelves at major retailers across the United States.

 

Growers of perishable produce across the West Coast are paying nearly triple
pre-pandemic trucking rates to ship things like lettuce and berries before
they spoil. Shay Myers, CEO of Owyhee Produce, which grows onions,
watermelons and asparagus along the border of Idaho and Oregon, said he has
been holding off shipping onions to retail distributors until freight costs
go down.

 

Myers said transportation disruptions in the last three weeks, caused by a
lack of truck drivers and recent highway-blocking storms, have led to a
doubling of freight costs for fruit and vegetable producers, on top of
already-elevated pandemic prices. "We typically will ship, East Coast to
West Coast – we used to do it for about $7,000," he said. "Today it’s
somewhere between $18,000 and $22,000."

 

Birds Eye frozen vegetables maker Conagra Brands' (CAG.N) CEO Sean Connolly
told investors last week that supplies from its U.S. plants could be
constrained for at least the next month due to Omicron-related absences.

 

Earlier this week, Albertsons (ACI.N) CEO Vivek Sankaran said he expects the
supermarket chain to confront more supply chain challenges over the next
four to six weeks as Omicron has put a dent in its efforts to plug supply
chain gaps.

 

Shoppers on social media complained of empty pasta and meat aisles at some
Walmart (WMT.N) stores; a Meijer store in Indianapolis was swept bare of
chicken; a Publix in Palm Beach, Florida was out of bath tissue and home
hygiene products while Costco (COST.O) reinstated purchase limits on toilet
paper at some stores in Washington state.

 

The situation is not expected to abate for at least a few more weeks, Katie
Denis, vice president of communications and research at the Consumer Brands
Association said, blaming the shortages on a scarcity of labor.

 

The consumer-packaged goods industry is missing around 120,000 workers out
of which only 1,500 jobs were added last month, she said, while the National
Grocer’s Association said that many of its grocery store members were
operating with less than 50% of their workforce capacity.

 

U.S. retailers are now facing roughly 12% out of stock levels on food,
beverages, household cleaning and personal hygiene products compared to
7-10% in regular times.

 

The problem is more acute with food products where out of stock levels are
running at 15%, the Consumer Brands Association said.

 

SpartanNash, a U.S. grocery distributor, last week said it has become harder
to get supplies from food manufacturers, especially processed items like
cereal and soup.

 

Consumers have continued to stock up on groceries as they hunker down at
home to curb the spread of the Omicron-variant. Denis said demand over the
last five months has been as high or higher than it had been in March 2020
at the beginning of the pandemic. Similar issues are being seen in other
parts of the world.

 

In Australia, grocery chain operator Woolworths Group , said last week that
more than 20% of employees at its distribution centers are off work because
of COVID-19. In the stores, the virus has put at least 10% of staff out of
action.

 

The company, on Thursday, reinstated a limit of two packs per customer
across toilet paper and painkillers nationwide both in-store and online to
deal with the staffing shortage.

 

In the U.S., recent snow and ice storms that snared traffic for hours along
the East Coast also hampered food deliveries bound for grocery stores and
distribution hubs. Those delays rippled across the country, delaying
shipment on fruit and vegetables with a limited shelf life.

 

While growers with perishable produce are forced to pay inflated shipping
rates to attract limited trucking supplies, producers like Myers are
choosing to wait for backlogs to ease.

 

"The canned goods, the sodas, the chips – those things sat, because they
weren’t willing to pay double, triple the freight, and their stuff doesn’t
go bad in four days," he said.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Dow closes lower after disappointing bank results

(Reuters) - The Dow closed lower on Friday with a big drag from financial
stocks as investors were disappointed by fourth quarter results from big
U.S. banks, which cast a shadow over the earnings season kick-off.

 

The Nasdaq and the S&P regained lost ground in afternoon trading to close
higher. Meanwhile the consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD)put pressure on
the indexes throughout the session after morning data showed a December
decline in retail sales and a souring of consumer sentiment.

 

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) tumbled after reporting weaker performance at
its trading arm. The bellwether lender also warned that soaring inflation,
the looming threat of Omicron and trading revenues would challenge industry
growth in coming months. read more

 

Along with JPMorgan, big decliners putting pressure on the Dow included
financial stocks Goldman Sachs (GS.N), American Express (AXP.N) and home
improvement retailer Home Depot (HD.N).

 

Citigroup Inc (C.N) shares fell after it reported a 26% drop in
fourth-quarter profit, while asset manager BlackRock Inc (BLK.N)fell 2.2%
after missing quarterly revenue expectations. read more

 

The S&P 500 bank subsector (.SPXBK), which hit an intraday high in the
previous session, closed down 1.7%. The sector has been outperforming the
S&P recently as investors bet the Federal Reserve's expected interest rate
hikes will boost bank profits.

 

"The bar was very high going into (JPMorgan) results. On the surface it was
good but, under the hood, not so much," said Michael James, managing
director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. In the
interest rate hiking cycle expected this year "positioning was very crowded
on the long side" going into the earnings season.

 

For consumer stock weakness, James pointed to "clearly disappointing" retail
sales, which dropped 1.9% last month due to shortages of goods and an
explosion of COVID-19 infections. read more Separate data showed soaring
inflation hit U.S. consumer sentiment in January, pushing it to its second
lowest level in a decade. read more

 

Retail sales and bank loan growth raised doubts about the economic outlook
for the current quarter and 2022 for Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at
Globalt in Atlanta.

 

"The question is, does the economy have enough strength to get through the
risk Omicron brings as fiscal and monetary stimulus is rolling off,"
Buchanan said.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 201.81 points, or 0.56%, to
35,911.81, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 3.82 points, or 0.08%, to 4,662.85 and
the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 86.94 points, or 0.59%, to 14,893.75.

 

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% while the Dow fell 0.9% and the Nasdaq
fell 0.3%.

 

At the end of the session, four out of eleven S&P sectors gained ground with
energy (.SPNY) leading gains.

 

An afternoon rally pushed the Nasdaq and the S&P to closing gains with help
from rate-sensitive growth sectors with technology (.SPLRCT) closing up
0.89% and communications services (.SPLRCS) adding 0.53%.

 

"There's clearly some bargain hunting going on in technology today," said
Wedbush's James.

 

Analysts see S&P 500 companies earnings rising 23.1% in the fourth quarter,
according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

 

One bright spot in the bank sector on Friday, however, was Wells Fargo & Co
, which rallied after posting a bigger-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter
profit. read more

 

Las Vegas Sands rallied 14.2% while Melco Resorts advanced 16.6% and Wynn
Resorts (WYNN.O) closed up 8.6% after Macau's government capped the number
of new casino operators allowed to operate to six with an operating period
of up to 10 years. read more

 

U.S. stock markets will remain shut on Monday for the public holiday in
honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.63-to-1
ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.19-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

 

The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq
Composite recorded 71 new highs and 570 new lows.

 

On U.S. exchanges, 10.74 billion shares changed hands compared with the
10.34 billion average for the last 20 sessions.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

J&J reaches opioid settlement with holdout U.S. state New Mexico

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) on Friday said it had agreed to pay
$44 million to resolve claims that it fueled the opioid epidemic in New
Mexico, a state which originally opted against participating in a nationwide
settlement resolving thousands of similar cases.

 

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based drugmaker said the $44 million was
consistent with the terms of a proposal for J&J and drug distributors
McKesson Corp (MCK.N), AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N) and Cardinal Health
Inc (CAH.N) to pay up to $26 billion to resolve the cases nationally.

 

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, a Democrat, initially declined
to take part in those settlements but last month said his state would
participate in the distributors' $21 billion deal. He did not join J&J's $5
billion deal at that time.

 

Under Friday's accord, J&J agreed to pay New Mexico its share of the
nationwide settlement in 2022, rather than over several years, if all of the
state's local governments signed on by May 31.

 

"Opioids have destroyed families in New Mexico, and local communities and
addiction professionals still need vital funding to save lives and fight
this ongoing tragic epidemic," Balderas said in a statement.

 

J&J did not admit wrongdoing and in a statement said it appropriately
marketed its pain medications.

 

More than 3,300 lawsuits, largely by state and local governments, are
pending, seeking to hold those and other companies responsible for an opioid
abuse crisis that has led to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths.

 

How much of the $26 billion the companies ultimately must pay and how much
outstanding litigation they will face depends on state and local government
participation.

 

Settlement supporters have extended to Jan. 26 a deadline for cities and
counties in states that backed the proposal to opt-in to the deals, citing
the potential for more states to join.

 

Nevada and Georgia agreed this month to settle with the companies. Six
states have not settled with some or all of the four companies.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

AT&T leads bidders in $22.5 billion U.S. spectrum auction

(Reuters) - AT&T Inc led bidders in the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) 5G spectrum auction of 3.45 GHz band spectrum, winning $9 billion in
bids, the U.S. regulator said on Friday.

 

The auction generated proceeds of $22.5 billion in total, the FCC said.
T-Mobile (TMUS.O)won $2.9 billion while Weminuche LLC won $7.3 billion,
which some analysts and FCC documents suggest bid on behalf of Dish
(DISH.O). Dish, which did not immediately comment Friday, confirmed in
November it had filed to participate in the auction.

 

AT&T declined to comment.

 

U.S. Cellular (USM.N) won $580 million in bids.

 

The FCC said over one-third of the top 100 markets have at least four
winning bidders, a broader ranger than a prior auction. The broader range
and distribution of winning bidders "will increase competition by providing
a diversity of wireless carriers with the midband spectrum resources needed
to maintain American leadership in 5G," it said.

 

"Enabling commercial use of this spectrum is important to America’s
continuing economic recovery and 5G leadership," FCC Chair Jessica
Rosenworcel said.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Seychelles Condemns Pirate Attack On UAE-Flagged Vessel in Red Sea

The government of Seychelles has condemned "in the strongest terms" the
recent pirate attacks on the civilian cargo vessel Rwabee off the coast of
Hodeidah, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

 

Seychelles has also called for the immediate release of the vessel and its
crew and urged all parties to abide by international laws and seek peaceful
ways to resolve the conflict.

 

"Seychelles has long been at the forefront of the fight against piracy in
the western Indian Ocean, and therefore, we are deeply disturbed by the
recent attacks on the UAE-flagged vessel in the Red Sea," said the
statement.

 

"In addition to the grave threats to freedom of maritime navigation and
international trade, such blatant acts jeopardise regional security and
place the protection of the region's citizens at risk," it added.

 

On January 3, Houthi rebels hijacked the ship 25 nautical miles west of the
Yemeni port of Hodeidah. Of the 11 crew onboard, 7 are from India. The
Indian government has said it is making all efforts to secure their swift
release.

Seychelles took the lead in the fight against piracy in the region in 2008,
when the security threat began expanding and adversely impacted the nation's
tourism and fishing industries, the top pillars of its economy.

 

The need for more collaboration in the region was highlighted between
2008-2012, the period where Somali piracy threats were at a peak in the
Indian Ocean, and 21 states in the region decided to collaborate through the
Djibouti Code of Conduct agreement in 2009.

 

Collaboration is especially important for Seychelles with a vast Economic
Exclusive Zone of 1.4 million square kilometres, which makes maritime
surveillance a challenge.

 

Since then, Seychelles has been working with international partners and is
hosting the Regional Fusion and Law Enforcement Centre For Safety and
Security at Sea (REFLECS3) at Bois De Rose. The centre was set up in 2014 to
play an integral role in anti-piracy efforts and countering drug trafficking
in the Indian Ocean region.-Seychelles News Agency.

 

 

 

Kenya Power Top Officials Under Dci Radar Over Sabotage That Caused
Countrywide Outage

Nairobi — Five senior officials from Kenya Power are under investigation for
sabotaging electricity supply that affected the whole country earlier this
week.

 

DCI Director George Kinoti says those under investigation are senior
officials charged with the responsibility of securing high voltage lines and
transmission from the national grid.

 

So far, investigations have shown that the basement of the Angle towers of
Kenya Power's High voltage power lines in Embakasi had been vandalized and
the cross beams removed/unbolted, leading to the collapse that caused a
major outage.

The officials who include the Chief Engineer, Network Management officials
and Chief Security Officer were picked up for interrogation and freed last
night and will be going back to DCI this morning.

 

"Preliminary investigations and Interrogations of Kenya power personnel at
the scene revealed that the basement of the Angle Towers of Kenya Power High
voltage power lines had been vandalized and the cross beams
removed/unbolted," Kinoti said.

 

Investigations have shown that since the Angle Towers had been vandalised
and bracings (tower members) they could not support the weight of the
conductors which are very heavy and the tower itself.

 

"The team also established that the Angle towers caved in, the other towers
failed to sustain the weight and also caved in," he said citing a
preliminary report from his detectives.

 

Power went off countrywide for the better part of Tuesday when four towers
collapsed in Embakasi but it was later restored several hours later.-Capital
FM.

 

 

Tanzania: Govt Earns Praise On Investment Inflow

THE Chief Executive Officer of Kabanga Nickel, Chris Showealter has praised
the government for its efforts to create conducive investment and business
climate that attracts more investors into the country.

 

He said the efforts have seen an influx of big companies that are now
investing in the extractive industries, thus contributing highly to the
economy of the country.

 

Mr Showealter was speaking on Thursday during his tour to the Tanzania
Standard (Newspapers) Limited (TSN), publishers of the 'Daily News, 'Sunday
News', 'HabariLeo', 'HabariLeo Jumapili', 'SpotiLeo' and online platforms
'Daily News Digital'.

 

"The efforts are so encouraging, and for us, (Kabanga Nickel) we have been
working closely with the government on ensuring all the plans are executed
accordingly," he said.

 

Kabanga Nickel is a joint venture project where the government of Tanzania
has a 16 per cent stake through local partnership entity, Tembo Nickel
Corporation, Kabanga Nickel Ltd (UK) holds the balance. Kabanga is a
developmentready, high-grade nickel sulphide deposit located in Ngara
District in Kagera Region. It is estimated to have more than 1.52 million
tonnes of nickel.

 

Nickel, traditionally used to make stainless steel, is also a key component
in lithiumion batteries, allowing vehicle manufacturers to reduce the use of
cobalt, which is more expensive and has a less transparent supply chain. So
far, the company has set an initial capital of 1.3tr/-, among which 350bn/-
is for construction of a refinery plant in Kahama Municipality, Shinyanga
Region and the remaining is for Nickel plant in Ngara District, Kagera
Region.

 

"The projects are expected to commence in 2025, targeting minimum annual
nickel equivalent production of 65,000 tonnes square, with 30+ years life of
mine and exploration upside potential," he said.

 

The project is also expected to create over 1,000 direct employment
opportunities for locals, including 980 employees for the plant in Ngara
District, and 200 others for a refinery plant in Kahama. For his part, the
Country Manager for Tembo Nickel Company, Benedict Busunzu spoke of the
economic effects of the project to the country.

 

Some of the benefits include stimulation of the economy as well as creation
of direct and indirect jobs to the locals.

 

>From the project which is scheduled to exist in a period of more than 33
years, the government is expected to be collecting over 700bn/- annually
from taxes, duties, revenues and other collections, he noted.

 

Going forward, he said the company will continue complying with all
requirements for the greater potentials of the sector and economic benefits
for all parts.-Daily News.

 

 

Tanzania: Tari's Grape Farming Campaign Pulled Back

TANZANIA Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) campaign to expand grapes
farming is being backpedalled by lack of vine processing facilities outside
Dodoma.

 

The institute said the farmers need simple grape processing facilities for
crushing and pressing the fruits into watery form for easy handling, instead
of transporting them raw.

 

For instance, farmers from Kibaigwa and Mpwapwa failed to secure bulk buyers
due to logistics challenge to transport and maintain the grapes freshness
until they reach at the processing facilities in Dodoma.

 

TARI's Makutupora Centre Director, Dr Cornel Massawe, said they are facing
an uphill task to encourage farmers to cultivate grapes in areas where there
are no processing plant.

"The grape processing factories are in Dodoma [city]. We want all Dodoma to
grow grapes and then move to another region," Dr Massawe told 'Daily News'
on Thursday.

 

Due to the challenge TARI now concentrates on maximising winegrowing
(viticulture) in Dodoma region before venturing out the campaign to other
regions that have suitable land for grape farming.

 

"Once we satisfy ourselves that Dodoma, which is most suitable area in the
country (for grapes farming), is fully exploited on winegrowing we will move
to another region. "In Dodoma we are also encouraging traders and farmers to
invest in small grape processing factories even if they are not for wine
making, to prevent grapes from going bad," said Dr Massawe.

 

After registering a positive outcome in Dodoma, the director said, they will
move to other regions staring with Singida then Tabora.

 

"Our goal is to see that when people decide to farm grapes should realise
the investment benefits. The idea behind is to create a ready market for
farmers' produce to avoid postharvest loss," he said.

 

To that effect, the TARI-- Makutupora Centre continues to conduct training
to farmers and extension officers on good agricultural practices for grapes
production along the value chain at Chamwino District Council in Mpwapwa ,
Dodoma region.

 

The training targets local government leaders including ward councillors,
extension officers, district agricultural officers, ward and village
executive officers.

 

For instance, the last week training, Dr Massawe said, various topics on
grapes production and processing technologies were covered, including site
selection, land preparation, identification and management of insects, pests
and diseases, grapes management, proper harvesting techniques, post-harvest
and value addition techniques of grapes.

 

"We are training them to reduce losses. The current situation the processors
hardly buy from local farmers since have their own vineyards to supply their
needs," Dr Massawe said.

 

In July last year, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa instructed all councils in
Dodoma to establish nurseries to produce grape seedlings to enable farmers
get quality and reliable seeds. Regions whose soil was studied and found to
be suitable for grapes farming are Tabora, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro, Singida
and Manyara-Daily News.

 

 

Africa: Key Pillars Mostly in Place to Speed Up Africa's Free Trade in 2022

One year in, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) negotiators are
making progress on remaining crucial elements, especially on rules of
origin.

 

The official start of free trading under the African Continental Free Trade
Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021 moved a major continental aspiration closer to
reality. One year later, cross-border trade in goods and services may not
exactly be in full swing as had been anticipated, but indications are that
there is some progress--the cup is half-full, not half-empty.

 

A major hurdle is ongoing negotiations on the remaining crucial elements of
the trade pact, particularly rules of origin.

 

However, in an interview with Africa Renewal last month, the
Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, sketched an
optimistic vision of 2022.

 

In sum, AfCFTA's implementation will rev into higher gear, traders would be
delighted, and the push toward accelerated industrialization of the
continent should begin in earnest.

Concluding negotiations on rules of origin, which is basically to determine
the "nationalities" of thousands of products to prevent dumping, will be key
to success.

 

Already, negotiators have reached an impressive 87.8 per cent agreement on
rules of origin. That includes more than 80 per cent of the about 8,000
products listed under the World Customs Organisation's Harmonized System of
rules of origin and tariffs. Such a high threshold of consensus guarantees
that the vast majority of products can be traded.

 

"What is outstanding are automobiles, textiles, clothing and sugar. These
account for about 12-15 per cent of what we call the tariff book. We want to
conclude negotiations on these so that we can reach a 100 per cent rules of
origin convergence," Mr. Mene said.

 

Mr. Mene is convinced that traders in Africa deserve an enabling
environment, including robust market information and other incentives to
power their businesses.

The Futures Report 2021 launched last December in New York provides traders
with valuable business information, making it one more item in the AfCFTA's
toolbox to catalyze intra-African trade.

 

Jointly produced by the AfCFTA Secretariat and the UN Development Programme
(UNDP), the report, titled "Which Value Chains for Made in Africa
Revolution", highlights for market participants value chains with lucrative
opportunities in goods and services for value addition. Noting rising
inequalities, the report states that, "Africa is the only continent where
the number of poor people increased, up from 392 million in 2000 to 438
million in 2017."

 

Africa must "diversify into other commodities... beyond the current
commodity cycle traps into different high technology-content industries,"
comments Mr. Mene, in the foreword to the report. "Africa has 42 of 63
elements for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), including coltan,
cobalt, copper, nickel and graphite, for which global demand will increase
by 1,000% by the year 2050."

UNDP Africa's Regional Director, Ahunna Eziakonwa, is urging Africa to stop
exporting raw materials, but to "industrialize its economies, produce goods
rich in African content, and create decent jobs for generations to come."

 

One year of free trading in Africa calls for celebration despite teething
problems

AfCFTA: Traders to have opportunities to scale up and expand their markets
in 2022

In addition to completing 100 per cent negotiations on rules of origin, Mr.
Mene's sunny optimism for free trade in Africa in 2022 will depend on other
supporting pillars: -

 

The first is establishing a Trade Finance Facility to support SMEs,
especially those managed by women and young people. The timing for bringing
this initiative to fruition is less certain given the involvement of
commercial banks.

That conversation [with commercial banks] is going slower than I would have
hoped because there are several technical issues that we have to iron out,"
says Mr. Mene. "It may take a bit longer."

The second pillar is launching the African Trade Gateway, which is a
one-stop digital platform with information on rules that apply to thousands
of products, customs procedures, market information and trends, and payment
transfers. Mr. Mene said: "The African Trade Gateway is within our control.
We can roll that out relatively quickly."

The third pillar is an AfCFTA Adjustment Facility, which is expected to
cushion the fiscal effects of tariff loss in countries. Mr. Mene was quick
to point out that this facility is not intended to address budgetary
shortfall; rather, "it will be to support specific value chains in specific
productive sectors of the economy, for example, textiles and
agro-processing."

 

The AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank have raised $1 billion for the
Adjustment Facility, a good start, although the startup liquidity estimate
is between $7 billion and $10 billion.

 

The fourth pillar is rolling out the Pan-African Payment and Settlement
System (PAPSS), a platform that facilitates cross-border payments in local
African currencies and is expected to save African traders about $5 billion
annually in currency convertibility. The PAPSS was officially launched on 13
January 2022 while a continent-wide rollout and awareness-raising campaign
among traders is expected to be ramped up in the coming weeks.

"We have over 42 currencies in Africa. We want to reduce and eventually
eliminate that cost [$5 billion] because it constrains our SMEs'
competitiveness and makes trade costly and inaccessible to many SMEs and
young entrepreneurs," explained Mr. Mene.

 

The last pillar is ensuring that Africa's Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are
compatible with AfCFTA. Countries that establish SEZs subject such zones to
special trade laws, such as tax breaks, to attract investments and boost
employment.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a champion of AfCFTA's
success and SEZs, reports that there are 237 SEZs--and counting-- in 38
African countries.

 

In anticipation of increased activities in Africa's free trade area, UNCTAD
recommends appropriate policies to enable SEZs to adjust to both "new trade
and investment environment in Africa" and "future changes in global value
changes and investment patterns."-Africa Renewal.

 

 

Tanzania: One-Year Bill Yield Increases As Prices Fall

THE first auction of two Treasury bills this year has been substantially
oversubscribed, but prices and yields painted a mixed trend.

 

The two bills, 182 and 364 days, both were oversubscribed while the 35 and
91 days were cancelled for lack of bidders at the auction held on Tuesday.
The 364-day bill was oversubscribed by almost 60 per cent to 115.3bn/-
against the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) offer at the table of 72.7bn/-.

 

The oversubscription in per cent was equal to 42.6bn/-. Vertex International
Securities' projection in its Weekly Market Review went right as the bill
yields continue raising.

"We expect yields to increase in this week Treasury bills auction," Vertex
said prior to the auction over the weekend.

 

The yields of 364-day bill walked down in comparison with the previous one
after declining to 95/16 from 95/26 of last month. The prices declined
pushed up yields by almost 1.0 per cent to 5.10 per cent from previous 4.99
per cent recorded in the last auction in 2021.

 

However, on the other side, the 182 days bill was oversubscribed by slightly
over double, to 6.5bn/- against 3.0bn/- offered by the central bank.

 

However, despite the oversubscription of 3.5bn/-, the 182-day bill price and
yield remained unchanged at 98/26 and 3.55 per cent on Tuesday compared to
last bill auctioned at the end of last year.

 

During the last billed to be auctioned last year, Bank of Tanzania, sought
to raise 75.7bn/-.

 

The public tendered 65.6bn/- through the 364-day and 182-day bills only
while the 35-day and the 91-day bills were cancelled.

 

The government ended up taking only 64.5bn/- out of the tendered
amount.-Daily News.

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2022

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


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
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suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
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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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