Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 25 January 2022
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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 25 January 2022
<https://www.nedbank.co.zw/>
ü Marmite maker Unilever to cut thousands of jobs worldwide
ü US shares rebound after Russia-Ukraine tensions hit markets
ü Will Russia-Ukraine tensions push up UK gas bills?
ü US shares rebound after Russia-Ukraine tensions hit markets
ü Covid travel tests axed in England and Scotland for fully vaccinated
ü Volatile markets, Fed uncertainty add to U.S. dip buyers' risks
ü Chinese fashion retailer SHEIN revives plan for New York listing in
2022-sources
ü Asian shares extend losses on Ukraine fears and Fed jitters
ü Africa: Despite Pandemic, Africa's Billionaires 15% Richer in 2021
ü Rwanda: Meet Niyoyita, Producer of First Made-in-Rwanda High-Tech White
Cane
ü Rwanda: Kigali is One of Africa's Leading Cities for Startups - Report
ü Tanzania: Sbl Agri-Business Project Boosts Farmers' Productivity
ü Tanzania: Overall Average Lending Rates Fall
ü Kenya: Unilever Tea Kenya to Apply for Power Generation License
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw>
Marmite maker Unilever to cut thousands of jobs worldwide
The consumer goods giant Unilever is set to announce thousands of job cuts
this week, the BBC understands.
The Marmite and Dove soap maker will slash staff numbers in more than 100
countries, with cuts in the "low thousands" planned, a source said.
It comes a week after the firm failed in its bid to buy the consumer health
division of GlaxoSmithKline for £50bn.
Unilever, which declined to comment on the cuts, faces mounting pressure
from investors to accelerate its growth.
The UK-based firm, which has 149,000 staff worldwide, will make the layoffs
as part of a wider restructuring that will see it adopt a more competitive
operating model.
It is not yet clear where the job cuts will fall. The firm employs more than
6,000 people in its operations in the UK and Ireland.
PG Tips maker will not raise £50bn bid for rival
Last week, Unilever sparked anger from some investors when it dropped a
short-lived pursuit of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) healthcare business.
Unilever had initially said it wanted a bigger slice of the personal
healthcare and hygiene market, to offset slow growth in its foods business.
But GSK, which owns brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol
painkillers, said the offer "fundamentally undervalued" the division and
Unilever has since refused to raise its bid.
The saga has sparked unease about the firm's management under chief
executive Alan Jope, with the head of Unilever's 13th biggest investor
labelling the GSK bid as a "near death experience".
Terry Smith, who runs Fundsmith, urged the company to focus on operating
performance its existing businesses "before taking on any more challenges".
'The stars are aligning'
In a further twist on Monday, it emerged that the New York-based activist
investor Nelson Peltz had taken a position in Unilever.
Mr Peltz's hedge fund Trian Partners has previously demanded reforms at
rival consumer goods firms Procter & Gamble and Mondelez.
It is unclear how big Trian's stake is, but his decision to buy the stake
has pleased investors, with shares in Unilever jumping by 7.3% in London
trade on Monday.
In a note, analysts at Barclays said Mr Peltz's investment "will not be that
much of a surprise to industry specialists".
"From Unilever's perspective, the status quo is not an option," they added.
"It would seem that the stars are aligning with both Unilever management and
an activist pushing for more urgency."-BBC
US shares rebound after Russia-Ukraine tensions hit markets
European markets dropped sharply on Monday as concerns about military
tension between Russia and Ukraine and interest rate rises prompted
sell-offs.
In London, the FTSE 100 fell more than 2.6%, while exchanges in Germany and
France slid nearly 4%.
But shares in the US staged a rebound and closed in positive territory
despite falling more than 2% earlier.
The swings came ahead of a meeting of the US central bank and amid warnings
of a potential invasion in Ukraine.
Nato on Monday said it was putting forces on standby, after Russia deployed
some 100,000 troops and heavy armour at the Ukrainian border. On Sunday, the
situation prompted the US, the UK and Australia to order diplomats' families
to leave Kyiv.
"Ukraine clearly is a concern that's weighing on the markets today," said
Darren Schuringa, chief executive officer of investment adviser ASYMmetric
ETFs.
"This will continue to weigh on the markets for the foreseeable future until
there's some type of resolution and more clarity as to what the outcome
looks like."
Is Russia preparing to invade Ukraine?
Concerns about inflation, Covid and other issues have led to three weeks of
consecutive declines on US markets.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen more than 10% from its previous high - a
drop considered a market "correction" - and the broad-based S&P 500 is
flirting with a similar decline.
Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin, which hit a high of $69,000 in November,
has almost halved since, dropping below $35,000 on Monday, before recovering
ground to more than $36,000.
Monday saw moments of torrid selling piling onto January's losses, with the
Dow down more than 1,000 points - nearly 3% - at one point.
But the index, which includes many of America's biggest companies, closed
nearly 0.3% higher.
The Nasdaq reversed a more than 3% drop to end 0.6% higher, while the S&P
500 finished 0.3% up.
The swings come as investors wait for action by the US central bank, which
has said it expects to respond to soaring US inflation by raising interest
rates this year.
Such moves typically depress stock prices by making other kinds of
investments more attractive.
Investors have also been also selling shares as they try to position
themselves ahead of a wave of reports from companies about their end-of-year
performance.
Last week, Netflix, one of the biggest names to share results so far,
disappointed analysts with its forecast for the upcoming months, prompting
shares to plunge more than 20%.
The declines were seen as a possible warning about other firms.
Walt Disney, which has been focusing on its streaming strategy to compete
with Netflix, was among the biggest initial losers on the Dow on Monday,
down more than 4% at one point, while Tesla, which reports this week, fell
more than 6%.
Shares in both firms later recovered, with Disney ending flat and Tesla down
about 1.5%.-BBC
Will Russia-Ukraine tensions push up UK gas bills?
High energy prices are already causing problems for households in the UK and
across Europe, but geopolitical tensions threaten to make matters even
worse.
With an estimated 100,000 Russian troops massed on the border with Ukraine,
there are fears that Vladimir Putin is poised to order an invasion.
Surging gas prices have already caused a number of UK energy suppliers to go
bust - and supply shortages are the last thing anyone needs.
Will tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border push up UK gas prices?
Not directly. The UK sources very little of its gas from Russia - less than
5%, in fact.
However, that is not the case for the EU, which gets about half of its gas
from there.
Any Russian attempt to seize Ukrainian territory is likely to prompt
economic sanctions by Western powers.
In response, Russia would be expected to "weaponise" its natural resources
by cutting supplies of gas to Europe.
The wholesale cost of gas would then rocket, sending prices higher
everywhere.
Among possible sanctions, there is talk of excluding Russia from
cross-border payment systems, which would mean that European countries would
have trouble even buying Russian gas in the first place.
So where does the UK get its gas from?
About half of UK gas supplies are of domestic origin, from the North Sea.
The UK has been a big producer of gas since the mid-1960s, but output has
fallen since 2000 and usage continues to rise.
Another one-third of the UK's gas comes through pipelines from Norway.
The rest consists almost entirely of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG),
which arrive in Britain by sea from countries such as Qatar, the US and even
Trinidad and Tobago.
The small amount of Russian gas that does reach the UK comes in LNG form.
LNG supplies are particularly sensitive to global market prices and are sold
to whoever pays the most, with China one of the keenest bidders.
Does the UK face a gas shortage?
The government says the UK's energy bill crisis is due to high global gas
prices, not security of supply.
It says the UK has a "diverse and secure" range of suppliers.
However, that could change quite rapidly if Russian gas becomes scarce,
causing a knock-on effect as other countries scrabble for alternative
supplies.
Demand for gas is rising across Europe and some fear the UK could be
physically - and perhaps politically - at the back of the queue.
What's more, the UK has scant storage facilities. It's been increasingly
operating a "just-in-time model", which means it's more affected by
short-term price fluctuations in the wholesale gas market.
Bar chart: The UK has much less gas storage than other nations in Europe
The government stresses it's "not complacent".
And if needed, it does have the power to impose emergency measures, such as
ordering big industrial customers to temporarily stop using gas.
But the biggest factor - the weather - is beyond its control. Our best hope
for avoiding problems is if the rest of the winter turns out to be mild,
breezy and wind power-friendly.
Map showing where the UK gets its natural gas from
Why is there a gas shortage?
A perfect energy storm was brewing during 2021.
A cold winter around the world sent gas demand rising, depleting stores.
Those reserves would normally have been replenished over the summer. But
output dropped because many major producers were catching up with
maintenance postponed during lockdowns.
Meanwhile, calm weather reduced the amount of electricity generated by wind
power.
As a result, wholesale gas prices have more than quadrupled over the past
year.
The UK has been badly hit because it's one of Europe's biggest users of
natural gas - 85% of homes use gas central heating, while gas also generates
a third of our electricity.
What about my bills?
Even without a big freeze or a Russian supply squeeze, bills are heading up.
Households have seen their energy bills kept in check by the government's
price cap, which limits the amount suppliers can charge, but this is due to
be revised on 1 April.
As a result, fuel bills could increase by another 50% in the next few
months, the energy industry has said.
Whatever happens, economists say wholesale gas prices are unlikely to drop
before storage facilities fill up again - and that's not likely until
spring.
Rising energy prices have already contributed to a big surge in the UK's
cost of living, which is increasing at rates not seen for 30 years.
The energy bill crisis, along with soaring food costs, drove inflation to
5.4% in the 12 months to December, up from 5.1% the month before, in another
blow to struggling families.
The last time inflation was higher was in March 1992, when it was 7.1%.
Businesses too have been feeling the strain, with five business groups
writing to Chancellor Rishi Sunak asking for support for firms on energy
costs.
Are gas prices rising in Europe?
The rise in global wholesale gas prices has been felt across Europe.
Some suggest Brexit has meant the UK is at a disadvantage when it comes to
getting the best deal.
When it was in the EU, the UK was part of the Internal Energy Market which
can enable countries to access electricity more smoothly and at lower cost.
However, the way gas is traded has been largely unaffected, which means
leaving the EU has not had a significant impact.
Countries that rely heavily on imported gas, such as Italy and Spain, have
been particularly hard hit. Their governments have directly cut prices and
raised taxes on energy company profits respectively.
The price cap has meant the UK's gas bills have until now been typically
lower than the EU average.
But the rise in prices comes on top of other economic problems such as
labour shortages and increasing food prices, adding up to an unwelcome rise
in the cost of living.-BBC
US shares rebound after Russia-Ukraine tensions hit markets
European markets dropped sharply on Monday as concerns about military
tension between Russia and Ukraine and interest rate rises prompted
sell-offs.
In London, the FTSE 100 fell more than 2.6%, while exchanges in Germany and
France slid nearly 4%.
But shares in the US staged a rebound and closed in positive territory
despite falling more than 2% earlier.
The swings came ahead of a meeting of the US central bank and amid warnings
of a potential invasion in Ukraine.
Nato on Monday said it was putting forces on standby, after Russia deployed
some 100,000 troops and heavy armour at the Ukrainian border. On Sunday, the
situation prompted the US, the UK and Australia to order diplomats' families
to leave Kyiv.
"Ukraine clearly is a concern that's weighing on the markets today," said
Darren Schuringa, chief executive officer of investment adviser ASYMmetric
ETFs.
"This will continue to weigh on the markets for the foreseeable future until
there's some type of resolution and more clarity as to what the outcome
looks like."
Is Russia preparing to invade Ukraine?
Concerns about inflation, Covid and other issues have led to three weeks of
consecutive declines on US markets.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen more than 10% from its previous high - a
drop considered a market "correction" - and the broad-based S&P 500 is
flirting with a similar decline.
Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin, which hit a high of $69,000 in November,
has almost halved since, dropping below $35,000 on Monday, before recovering
ground to more than $36,000.
Monday saw moments of torrid selling piling onto January's losses, with the
Dow down more than 1,000 points - nearly 3% - at one point.
But the index, which includes many of America's biggest companies, closed
nearly 0.3% higher.
The Nasdaq reversed a more than 3% drop to end 0.6% higher, while the S&P
500 finished 0.3% up.
The swings come as investors wait for action by the US central bank, which
has said it expects to respond to soaring US inflation by raising interest
rates this year.
Such moves typically depress stock prices by making other kinds of
investments more attractive.
Investors have also been also selling shares as they try to position
themselves ahead of a wave of reports from companies about their end-of-year
performance.
Last week, Netflix, one of the biggest names to share results so far,
disappointed analysts with its forecast for the upcoming months, prompting
shares to plunge more than 20%.
The declines were seen as a possible warning about other firms.
Walt Disney, which has been focusing on its streaming strategy to compete
with Netflix, was among the biggest initial losers on the Dow on Monday,
down more than 4% at one point, while Tesla, which reports this week, fell
more than 6%.
Shares in both firms later recovered, with Disney ending flat and Tesla down
about 1.5%.-BBC
Covid travel tests axed in England and Scotland for fully vaccinated
People arriving in England or Scotland from abroad will no longer have to
take Covid tests if they are fully vaccinated, it has been confirmed.
In a boost for families, the changes will come in from 4am on 11 February,
in time for the half-term break.
Rules have also been eased for unvaccinated travellers, who will no longer
have to take a day eight test or self isolate.
However, they will still need pre-departure and day two tests.
And everyone arriving in England and Scotland, regardless of vaccination
status, will need to fill in a passenger locator form - although these will
be made "easier" to complete, said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Wales and Northern Ireland have not yet said whether they will change their
testing rules, although they are expected to follow suit.
What are the travel rules?
In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Shapps said the move would save
families about £100 on visits abroad, as well as boost the beleaguered
travel industry.
"Today I can confirm that our international travel regime will now be
liberalised as part our efforts to ensure that 2022 is the year in which
restrictions on travel, on lockdowns and limits on people's lives are firmly
placed in the past," he said.
"From 4am on February 11, and in time for the half-term break, eligible
fully-vaccinated passengers arriving in the UK will no longer have to take a
post-arrival lateral flow test.
"That means that after months of pre-departure testing, post-arrival
testing, self-isolation, additional expense, all that fully vaccinated
people will now have to do, when they travel to the UK, is to verify their
status via a passenger locator form."
Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said the measures were
"extremely welcome" for the tourism and aviation sectors.
But he said "further surveillance" would be needed across all UK nations to
catch variants if they emerged.
Dan from Surrey is planning to travel to Italy on a skiing trip with his son
in the half term holiday.
"I was geared up for having to do all the tests and the forms that I needed
to," he says, adding that today's news was "a welcome change".
"It's one less thing to worry about," he says. "It's a bit less cost, but
also it's a bit less stress. So overall, hopefully we can focus on having a
nice holiday instead of worrying about the paperwork."
Dan and his family have only travelled abroad once since the pandemic
started, but he hopes that as the rules ease, planning holidays will become
more straightforward.
"I'm quite happy there are fewer barriers, it makes me feel more confident
going away from that point of view," he says. However, safety remains his
number one priority: "If a new variant came along or something changed and
the rules had to be revisited, I for one would understand that."
Mr Shapps also confirmed that from 3 February, 12 to 15-year-olds in England
will be able to prove their vaccination status via the digital NHS pass for
international outbound travel.
It comes after families have struggled to prove their children's vaccination
status when trying to enter countries including Spain, Italy and France.
Mr Shapps also told MPs the UK is set to recognise vaccine certificates from
16 further nations, including countries like China and Mexico.
This will take the total number of recognised countries and territories to
180.
Boost for travel sector
The moves were welcomed by the travel and tourism industry, which has been
one of the sectors hit hardest by coronavirus lockdown measures.
Airline Virgin Atlantic said: "The removal of all testing for vaccinated
passengers is the final step in moving towards frictionless air travel,
allowing passengers to reconnect with loved ones and business colleagues.
"It restores customer confidence and demand will be boosted in a critical
booking window for the travel industry."
Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said the airline would "now look
ahead to what we believe will be a strong summer".
He said: "It is clear travel restrictions did not materially slow the spread
of Omicron in the UK and so it is important that there are no more knee jerk
reactions to future variants."
However, the Laboratory and Testing Industry Organisation, the trade body
for the industry, warned rules had been lifted too quickly.
Its chairman Tom Watson said: "We have consistently backed relaxing
unnecessary restrictions, but the only way that our country can avoid hard
lockdowns is by maintaining a robust Covid testing regime to quickly
discover new variants."
Currently, fully vaccinated passengers, who have had two doses (or one dose
of the Janssen vaccine), and under-18s no longer need a pre-departure test
two days before travelling to the UK.
However, within 48 hours of arrival, everyone aged five and over - or 11 and
over in Scotland - must take a lateral flow test (LFT), or a more expensive
PCR test.
If they take an LFT and it is positive, they must self-isolate and take an
NHS PCR test to confirm the result.
Vaccinated travellers also have to fill in and submit an online passenger
locator form no more than 48 hours before arriving, even if they are just
passing through the UK.
But Mr Shapps said the form, which had been "complex and difficult to
navigate", would now be made simpler and travellers would have an extra day
to fill it in.
Earlier in January, the government scrapped the need for fully vaccinated
travellers coming to England to take a Covid test before they travel.
However, arrivals who are not fully vaccinated must take a pre-departure
test and two post-arrival PCR tests, which are more expensive than the
lateral flow version.
They must also self-isolate for 10 days.-BBC
Volatile markets, Fed uncertainty add to U.S. dip buyers' risks
(Reuters) - Wild swings in stocks are testing the resolve of investors
employing one of Wall Street’s most popular strategies: buying the dip.
The S&P 500 (.SPX) reversed a deep selloff on Monday to finish up 0.3%,
after the benchmark index crossed into correction territory, while the
Nasdaq (.IXIC) flirted with a bear market before also finishing higher,
suggesting that dip buyers have not gone extinct despite big declines in
stocks in the first weeks of 2022. read more
But while dip buying has rewarded investors in the last two years as stocks
doubled from their March 2020 lows, bargain hunters now face uncertainties
over how aggressively the Federal Reserve will need to tighten monetary
policy this year, a potential war between Russia and Ukraine, and
disappointing corporate earnings.
Indeed, the few sizeable rallies in equity indexes this month appear to have
created good opportunities to unload stocks, as they were swiftly followed
by more declines. The Nasdaq, which traded more than 20% off its high on
Monday before turning up, has seen just two days when it rallied 1% or more.
"There doesn't seem to be a lot of confidence in risk allocations given the
number of uncertainties that are out there," said Katie Nixon, chief
investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management.
Traders in the options markets seemed more intent on guarding against
further declines than betting on gains, while retail investors, who have
frequently led the charge in past episodes of dip buying, sold a net $2.1
billion in stocks between Thursday and early Monday, according to JPMorgan.
“I don't think anything the Fed is going to do is going to make the markets
happy,” said Louis Gargour, managing partner and chief investment officer at
London-based LNG Capital.
Stocks are off to a rough start in 2022, with the Nasdaq (.IXIC) down about
14% from its November closing high as prospects of faster tightening by the
Fed spurred a rally in Treasury yields that dealt a sharp blow to Wall
Street's growth names.
A correction is confirmed if an index closes 10% or more below its record
closing level, according to a widely used definition. Aclose of 20% below
marks a bear market.
Despite Monday's ultimate higher finish, all the major indexes are trading
below their 200-day moving averages, a key technical level watched by market
participants.
In the options markets, investors have remained on the sidelines or leaned
bearish, with the Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX) leaping to its highest level
in more than a year.
Overall trading in put options, typically used to place defensive or bearish
bets on stock and index prices, outnumbered trading in bullish call options
by 1.1-to-1 on Monday – the most bearish that ratio has been since March
2020, according to Trade Alert data.
"I am not seeing much along the line of 'quick end to the selloff,'" said
Chris Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna International
Group. "It still looks pretty fearful."
Moez Kassam, chief investment officer at the market neutral Anson
Investments Master Funds, said many hedge funds had covered their bearish
equities bets when stocks sold off in December, depleting some of the fuel
that had powered past reversals.
Short interest as a percentage of float recently fell below 5% overall, its
lowest level in four years, even as the dollar amount of short interest has
increased, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners.
Some investors, including Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at
Truist Advisory Services, are taking heart from signs of extreme caution,
such as the heightened bearishness of individual investors and elevated
demand for downside protection, two indicators which in the past have
signified market bottoms.
"The market's risk/reward has greatly improved," Lerner wrote, saying the
market "is likely within a few percent of finding support."
Some remain cautious. Phil Orlando, portfolio manager and chief equity
market strategist at Federated Hermes, would prefer to wait until the
Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee closes its two-day policy
meeting on Wednesday before deciding his next move.
"I'm not looking to catch a falling knife ahead of this FOMC meeting,"
Orlando said.
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Chinese fashion retailer SHEIN revives plan for New York listing in
2022-sources
(Reuters) - Chinese fashion retailer SHEIN is reviving plans to list in New
York this year and its founder is considering a citizenship change to bypass
proposed tougher rules for offshore IPOs in China, two people familiar with
the matter said.
It was not immediately clear how much the company was looking to raise from
its New York debut.
The initial public offering (IPO), if finalised, would be the first major
equity deal by a Chinese company in the United States since regulators in
the world's second-largest economy stepped in to tighten oversight of such
listings in July.
SHEIN, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Chris Xu in 2008, first started
preparing for a U.S. IPO about two years ago, but shelved the plan partly
due to unpredictable markets amid rising U.S.-China tensions, the sources
said.
Both sources declined to be named as the plans are confidential. A SHEIN
spokesperson said the company had no plans to go public.
The Nanjing-based company is one of the world's largest online fashion
marketplaces targeting overseas consumers. The United States is its biggest
market.
The sources said SHEIN founder Xu was eyeing Singapore citizenship partly to
bypass China's new and tougher rules on overseas listings. The change in
citizenship, if applied for and successful, would ease the path to an
offshore IPO, they said.
Neither Xu nor other SHEIN executives have applied for Singaporean
citizenship, the company spokesperson said, without elaborating. Xu did not
respond to Reuters queries sent via this spokesperson.
New rules issued by China's cyberspace administration and the offshore
listing filing regime to be finalised by China's securities regulator are
set to make a U.S. listing process for Chinese firms more complicated, if
not lengthier.
The securities regulator's draft rules for offshore listings targets
companies where a majority of senior management are either Chinese citizens
or reside in China, or whose main business activities are conducted in
China.
VALUATION JUMP
SHEIN ships to 150 countries and territories from its many global
warehouses, according to its website.
It made around 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in revenue in 2021, taking
advantage of the pandemic that shifted global consumption online, said one
of the sources and another person with knowledge of the matter. Its
valuation was around $50 billion in early 2021, they said.
The valuation is estimated to have as much as doubled in the past year, one
of the first two sources said.
The company, whose investors include Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital and
Tiger Global, was valued at $15 billion in its last funding round in August
2020, according to CB Insights data.
According to Coresight Research, SHEIN's estimated sales in 2020 jumped 250%
over the preceding year to $10 billion, with over 2,000 items added on its
website weekly.
The SHEIN spokesperson said as a private company it did not disclose
financial figures.
SHEIN has hired Bank of America (BAC.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JPMorgan
(JPM.N) to work on the IPO, said the source with knowledge of the company's
valuation, and another person familiar with the matter.
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Asian shares extend losses on Ukraine fears and Fed jitters
(Reuters) - Asian shares and U.S. futures fell sharply on Tuesday, with
investors nervous about the potential for military conflict in Ukraine and
ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting that could offer hints about the
timing and pace of rate hikes.
Benchmarks slid, with most extending losses in afternoon trade. MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) shed
1.43% to its lowest in a month. The Nikkei (.N225) closed down 1.66%, having
earlier touched its lowest level since December 2020.
After a tumultuous session on Wall Street which saw a late rally and a
higher close, U.S. share futures fell. Nasdaq futures (.NQc1) were off 1.3%
and S&P500 e-minis lost 0.95%%.
But in Europe, it looked like selling pressure would ease with pan-region
Euro Stoxx 50 futures 1.16% higher and FTSE futures up 0.76%. That follows a
3.8% fall for the Euro STOXX 600 (.STOXX) on Monday, its worst day in 18
months.
Tai Hui, Asia chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said
investors were facing a dilemma.
They are anxious about the outlook of monetary policy in the context of some
growth stocks getting more expensive, while the growth outlook for 2022 is
still decent and there are few assets that offer the same long-term return
prospects like equities, he said.
"Geopolitical uncertainties in Europe this week and potential impact on
energy prices further muddled the outlook," Hui added.
NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern
Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as Western
"hysteria" in response to its build-up of troops on the Ukraine border. read
more
Elsewhere in Asia, Korea's KOSPI (.KS11) dropped 2.34% while Hong Kong
shares pared early losses but were still down 1.5%. The Australian benchmark
(.AXJO) tumbled 2.68% to close at an eight-month low, hurt also by a high
inflation reading Tuesday morning that stoked fears of approaching rate
hikes.
Keeping traders on their toes, the Federal Reserve will begin its two-day
meeting later on Tuesday, with some investors starting to speculate about a
surprise rate hike announcement though that is still seen as a small
possibility.
"The big question mark is about the pace of the Fed hiking cycle - as the
central bank seeks to tame the increase in inflation – and the impact on
equity markets," Prashant Bhayani, chief investment officer for Asia at BNP
Paribas Wealth Management, said in a note to clients.
Fed tightening is putting pressure on some central banks in Asia to follow
suit, potentially hurting their equity markets as happened in 2013 when the
U.S. central bank began tapering its post financial crisis stimulus.
Singapore's central bank tightened monetary policy on Tuesday in an
out-of-cycle move. read more
"The good news is that, by and large, current account balances in Asia are
healthier compared to the taper tantrum in 2013," Bhayani added.
U.S. benchmark Treasuries were sitting out some of the rate hike
speculation. Yields on benchmark 10 year notes slightly edged down slightly
to 1.7618% having finished a choppy day of trading Monday near where they
started.
In currency markets, the jitters sent the dollar higher against most peers.
The dollar index was at 96.010, hovering near a two-week high, and the
risk-friendly Aussie dollar gained briefly after the high inflation data.
FRX
China's yuan hovered at a more than 3-1/2-year high against the dollar,
while its value against major trading partners jumped to strongest level
since late 2015.
Oil prices were also elevated, further worrying stock investors. U.S. crude
rose 0.4% to $83.63 per barrel and Brent crude was at $86.75, up 0.55%.
Gold held on to recent gains as investors sought safety. The spot price was
at $1,842 an ounce, flat on the day but near last week's two-month high of
$1,847.7.
The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Africa: Despite Pandemic, Africa's Billionaires 15% Richer in 2021
The continent's 18 billionaires are now worth an estimated $84.9 billion.
Africa's billionaires became richer in 2021 despite the devastating impacts
of the global pandemic on businesses around the world, a new report by
Forbes has revealed.
The continent's 18 billionaires are now worth an estimated $84.9 billion,
which implies a 15 per cent increase within a year and the most since 2014
when a larger number of billionaires (28 billionaires ) were worth $96.5
billion when combined.
"On average, the continent's billionaires are worth $4.7 billion now vs.
$3.4 billion in 2014," Forbes, a global media company, said in its latest
report.
The report published on Monday is a product of a study that tracked the
wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary
business within the continent.
It excluded the Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen
and Mohamed Al-Fayed an Egyptian billionaire who is a London resident.
However, Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident,
appeared on the list because of his telecom holdings in Africa.
The billionaires' net worths were calculated using stock prices and currency
exchange rates from the close of business on Wednesday, January 19.
According to the report, soaring stock prices from Nigeria to Zimbabwe
lifted the fortunes of the tycoons, as demand for products from cement to
luxury goods ticked up.
For the 11th year in a row, Aliko Dangote of Nigeria remained the
continent's richest person, worth an estimated $13.9 billion, up from $12.1
billion last year following a 30 per cent increase in the stock price of
Dangote Cement, his most valuable asset.
According to the report, analysts found that a surge in housing developments
in Nigeria and growth in government infrastructure spending drove higher
demand in the first nine months of 2021.
Luxury goods magnate, Johann Rupert of South Africa, who was ranked fourth
among the billionaires, rose to second spot in the latest rankings.
"A more than 60% surge in the share price of his Compagnie Financiere
Richemont-maker of Cartier watches and Montblanc pens-pushed his fortune to
$11 billion, up from $7.2 billion a year ago, making him the biggest dollar
gainer on the list ," the report says.
Similarly, the report said South African Nicky Oppenheimer, who formerly ran
diamond mining firm DeBeers before selling it to mining firm Anglo American
a decade ago, ranks number three, and worth an estimated $8.7 billion.
"The biggest gainer in percentage terms-up 125%--is Strive Masiyiwa of
Zimbabwe, worth $2.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion last year. Shares of
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which he founded, rose more than 750% in the past
year, helping to drive up the size of his fortune," the report partly reads.
Also, the study shows that Nigerian cement tycoon, Abdulsamad Rabiu, is $1.5
billion richer after taking yet another of his companies public.
In early January, Mr Rabiu listed his sugar and food firm BUA Foods on the
Nigerian stock exchange, where himself and his son retained a 96 per cent
stake in the company which recently had a market capitalization of nearly
$2.8 billion.
The report said only two out of the 18 billionaires are worth less than last
year (Koos Bekker of South Africa and Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania)
It said Mr Bekker dropped to $2.7 billion from $2.8 billion as the share
prices of consumer Internet firms Naspers and Prosus fell more than 20 per
cent each, while Mr Dewji's fortune declined to an estimated $1.5 billion
from $1.6 billion a year ago due to lower multiples for publicly traded
competitors.
Findings from the study reveals that none of the 18 billionaires from Africa
are new to the ranks, and that the billionaires hail from seven different
countries.
It said while South Africa and Egypt have five billionaires each, Nigeria
currently has three and Morocco with two.
"All of the continent's billionaires are men; the last woman to appear in
the ranks, Isabel dos Santos of Angola, fell off the Forbes list in January
2021," the report said.-Premium Times.
Rwanda: Meet Niyoyita, Producer of First Made-in-Rwanda High-Tech White Cane
Amani Niyoyita, a Rwandan young innovator, is the brains behind the first
Made-in-Rwanda high-tech white canes that are already being distributed to
visually impaired people on the market.
"The stick helps the visually impaired person in different ways. It helps
them to detect the obstacle which they might bump into. While the previous
stick would only detect an obstacle when one touches it, the technology
advancement allows one to detect from a long distance as it uses sensors,"
he said.
The high-tech white cane which is the first of its kind to be made in Rwanda
uses ultrasonic ranging technology to detect obstacles in a distance of 1.2
meters and alert the user through vibrations and sounds.
The smart white stick, he said, also helps to detect if it is night or day
time to improve efficiency for users and interaction with other members of
the public.
Amani Niyoyita, a Rwandan young innovator, is the one who is behind the
first Made-in-Rwanda high-tech white canes that are already being
distributed to visually impaired people on the market. All photos: Courtesy.
"If they reach any darkness such as in any place, the smart white can
immediately detect darkness or light," he said.
At night the cane turns blue and red to increase visibility of the user.
With easy operability, practicality of use on public transport or cars,
being light to carry, and being waterproof, the high-tech white cane, he
added, can be tracked.
"With this smart blind stick you can track where they are located because it
has GPS of wherever they are. This means the stick can't be stolen and go
missing because it can be tracked using a mobile phone or machine using a
software we have developed," he explained.
Niyoyita said that the sticks can sound with audible and vibrant sounds and
it has traffic or red lights that inform other road users that the cane user
needs special attention.
The sounds help those who are visually impaired but are able to hear.
The high-tech white cane which is the first of its kind to be made in Rwanda
uses ultrasonic ranging technology to detect obstacles in a distance of 1.2
meters.
For those with multiple disabilities- deaf-blind, the stick is fitted with
vibration capability that warns them as needed.
He said that the smart cane is rechargeable to be able to be used for five
days with electricity adding it can be charged using a normal phone charger,
he said.
The smart white cane itself is made from aluminium, which makes it lighter,
portable and easy to fold, and be carried in a bag.
"It also has an insulator to avoid danger in case they touch electric
wires," he said.
How the innovative idea came
He said that the idea to produce the "electronic and smart blind stick"
came, in 2018, after identifying challenges being faced by visually impaired
people.
"We visited different people with disabilities assessing challenges that
they were facing considering the white cane that was in existence until we
managed to create a solution." he said.
Niyoyita, who studied electronics and telecommunication, was the first one
to come up with the idea, he testified.
"After coming up with the idea, I gathered developers and we worked on it as
a team of three. In 2018, we joined the YouthConnekt competition organized
by the ministry of youth and culture to showcase our idea. We started to
compete from sector level until we were selected among 30 best innovative
projects in the country and got cash prizes," he said.
In 2019, he said they spent $500 cash prize to improve the project.
"We joined different hackathons and trainings prepared by institutions that
support technology in Rwanda to enhance and improve on our product," he
said.
Hackathon definition, a usually competitive event in which people work in
groups on software or hardware projects, with the goal of creating a
functioning product by the end of the event.
He said that the team also went to exhibit the innovation in China at the
International Youth Innovation conference in 2019.
"We ranked 7th among 30 innovations worldwide during the exhibition. Since
then our idea promised that it could benefit many visually impaired people,"
he said.
In Rwanda, there are over 400,000 persons with visual impairment according
to available statistics.
Back in Rwanda, the team also joined innovations for people with
disabilities competition.
"We have now worked with The United Nations Development Program's (UNDP)
Rwanda Accelerator Lab to deliver on the final product in terms of value
addition," he said.
Currently Niyoyita is an electronic project developer at Beno Holdings, a
Rwandan technology company.
"The product which has been registered has reached end users. We donated 40
smart white canes during the international meeting of people with
disabilities.
We can produce the canes that fit every one's size by using our lab. We have
capacity to produce 50 smart canes per day when there is demand and raw
materials and we target to expand this capacity" he said.
He said they want to add more features with weather detection where they can
detect if it is going to rain.
He said that they are also working on smart white cases for children.
Limitations
Despite the growing technologies to support people with disabilities, there
is a question about their affordability.
Niyoyita said the stick is still expensive adding they are working with
Non-government organizations to ensure affordability.
"One cane we have produced can now cost Rwf100, 000 but we want to cut the
price with different interventions," he said.
According to Maxwell Gomera, the Representative of the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) in Rwanda that supported the development of the
smart white cane said that most of these technologies are too expensive or
not yet available in Low Middle Income Countries adding they may fail to
address local cultural and environmental contexts.
"For example, many smartphone apps to support people who are deaf or blind
require high speed internet connections absent in rural areas," he said..
It is up to innovators in Low Middle Income Countries, he said, to lead the
development of innovative solutions through direct engagement with affected
communities.
Approximately 26.3 million people in Africa are visually impaired. Of these,
an estimated 20.4 million have low vision and 5.9 million are blind--about
15.3 percent of the world's blind population.-New Times.
Rwanda: Kigali is One of Africa's Leading Cities for Startups - Report
Rwanda's capital city, Kigali, has been ranked at sixth position on new
continental charts for leading cities in Africa.
The outlook, released in the latest StartupBlink survey, noted quantity
(number of startups), quality (number of unicorns), and business as the
major factors for the rank.
Kigali scored 1.21, trailing Cairo, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and
Lagos in an increasing manner.
The development also comes at a time Rwanda aims to position itself as a
regional tech and innovative hub.
2021, according to the report, was a year of tremendous growth for the
start-up scene in Africa.
Start-ups in Africa raised over $4.3 billion through 818 $100k+ deals. This
is equivalent to an average raise of $1m every 2 hours and more than two
times the amount that had been raised in 2020.
81 percent of the funding was raised in Nigeria alone.
Pre-Covid numbers in context
Many African ecosystems have shown strong growth patterns since 2019,
despite the ongoing pandemic, according to the report.
For instance, in the big four, South Africa is the only market to show
strong consistent growth over the period from less than $100 million in 2019
to nearly $1 billion in 2021.
Kenya had a particularly strong 2020, topping the table, but failed to
continue at the same levels in 2021.
Nigeria showed a slump in 2020 but rebounded massively in 2021, driven by a
few strong 'mega deals' while Egypt grew most in 2021.
Beyond the Big Four, however, the report noted a few countries including
Tanzania, Cameroon and Tunisia that have grown consistently.
Much as Rwanda had no robust activity in 2019; the report indicated that it
had displayed strong growth levels between 2020 and 2021.
Meanwhile, Uganda and Ghana are yet to recover from setbacks registered in
2020.-New Times.
Tanzania: Sbl Agri-Business Project Boosts Farmers' Productivity
Serengeti Breweries Limited's (SBL) initiatives of empowering local farmers
to produce raw materials locally through technical and financial assistance
are meant for meeting the brewer's demand for various ingredients.
The SBL Corporate Relations Director John Wanyancha said recently that the
company's ambitious project facilitates farmers growing maize, sorghum and
millet in various parts of the country, increasing the locally-sourced raw
materials for beer production.
"To date, this project has benefited more than 400 core farmers across
various regions including Arusha, Manyara, Mbeya, Kilimanjaro, Singida,
Morogoro, Shinyanga and Dodoma who collectively cultivate around 20,000
acres," he said.
Some of the beer ingredients are water, grains, hops and yeast. Cereals such
as maize, millet and sorghum have been used to substitute grain
requirements.
They are formidable ingredients in the beer brewing process. Fortunately,
they can be grown locally and in large quantities, unlike barley widely used
worldwide and supplied to SBL'S three breweries in Dar es Salaam, Moshi, and
Mwanza.
SBL has over the last five years, embarked on empowering local farmers to
produce quality cereals to enable the brewer to get the necessary
ingredients and boost the farmers' economic well-being.
More farmers are set to join SBL's agri-business project, a programme that
provides farmers with high-quality seedlings free of charge, links them to
financial institutions to acquire the capital needed for large scale farming
and supplies them with fertilizers and other farming implements.
The main objective of this grand initiative is to work with Tanzanian
farmers to help them create self-sustaining businesses and secure the local
production of raw materials.
Agribusiness partnership with farmers is geared towards propping up the
financial fortunes of the local farmers by including them into the SBL
supply chain while extending and improving Tanzanian's long term and short
term farming goals as a whole.
A large-scale farmer from the Kilimanjaro Region, Said Msua is one of the
beneficiaries of the support provided by SBL.
"SBL agri-business project has been helpful to me because the company has
consistently provided me with fertilizer, seedlings and insecticide," he
said.
On his part, Mwinyi Makame from the Manyara Region said; "I am very grateful
to SBL because they have provided me with seedlings and other farming
implements without fail."
He explains that once the additional farmers are incorporated into the
project, they will benefit from over 300 tonnes of seedlings that the brewer
provides to the beneficiaries annually.
The benefits accrued by the 100 households so far under the project, he
adds, include the purchase of tractors, boom sprayers, and improved economic
conditions like constructing permanent houses and being able to take
children to school.
According to him, SBL has increased its locally-sourced raw materials to
10,000 tons within the past four years, equivalent to 70 per cent of the
total raw materials used in beer production annually.-Daily News.
Tanzania: Overall Average Lending Rates Fall
The overall lending rates declined to 16.40 per cent in the period ending
November last year down from 16.65 per cent recorded in the preceding month
and 16.61 per cent in the corresponding period 2020.
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review for December last year
shows that the negotiated lending rates charged to prime customers remained
unchanged at around 14 per cent.
According to the BoT report, banks' interest rates on deposits increased
slightly in November last year with an overall deposit interest rate
averaging at 6.80 per cent compared with 6.64 per cent and 6.74 per cent
recorded in October last year and November 2020, respectively.
Meanwhile, the negotiated deposits rate for prime customers remained
unchanged, averaging 9.78 per cent in November last year.
During the reference period, the credit extended to the private sector
continued to recover, growing by 7.8 per cent in the year ending December
last year compared to 5.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2020.
According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review for December
last year, the sustained recovery of growth of credit to the private sector
is largely attributed to accommodative monetary conditions as well as
ongoing initiatives by the government to improve the business environment.
The domestic credit by the banking system, extended to the private sector
and central government, grew at an annual rate of 13.5 per cent in November
last year compared with 12.5 per cent in November 2020.
The growth of credit to the private sector is expected to continue to
maintain an upward trend towards the target of 10.6 per cent set for
2021/22, supported by the implementation of policy measures recently rolled
out by the Central Bank to foster credit growth and lowering of lending
rates, the continued recovery of the global economy and sustained
accommodative monetary policy.-Daily News.
Kenya: Unilever Tea Kenya to Apply for Power Generation License
Nairobi — Unilever Tea Kenya has announced its intentions to apply for a
power generation license.
In a public announcement, the firm said it intends to apply for a license
for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electrical energy for
use within Kericho and Bomet counties.
The application for the license will be made on February 8, 2022.
The electrical power will be generated, transmitted, and distributed from
existing power stations to be upgraded at Kimugu and Jamji power stations
located in Kericho to serve the company's installations.
In plans to save energy costs, the firm in May 2019 had a 619 kWp solar
plant commissioned in its Kericho farm.
This was through a partnership between Unilever and CrossBoundary Energy
which saw the first on-site solar installation for a Unilever facility in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
CrossBoundary Energy sold power from the solar plant to Unilever via an
innovative 15-year power purchase agreement.-Capital FM.
Invest Wisely!
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INVESTORS DIARY 2022
Company
Event
Venue
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ART
PPC
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Fidelity
Turnall
Medtech
Zimre
Nampak Zimbabwe
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