Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 18 May 2022

Wed May 18 10:52:09 CAT 2022

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 18 May 2022 

 <https://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

ü  Netflix cuts 150 US-based jobs after losing subscribers

ü  UK inflation hits 40-year high of 9% as energy bills soar

ü  Global firms are boosting baby formula supplies in the US

ü  How Gen Z is hooked on cryptocurrency and NFTs

ü  Elon Musk warns Twitter deal stuck without fake account proof

ü  Petrol retailers told to pass on fuel duty cut

ü  Tesco shopper's plea to bring back till staff

ü  Kenya: UAP Old Mutual Group Rebrands to Old Mutual

ü  East Africa: Tpa Formalises Lake Victoria Dumb Ports

ü  Tanzania: TBs Urged to Use Accreditation Certificate Effectively

ü  Kenya Power Appoints Geoffrey Muli as New Acting MD

ü  Nigeria: Buhari Pledges to Increase Investments in Aviation Safety, Security

ü  Rwanda: Calls Grow to Set Up Scheme for Unemployment Benefits

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Netflix cuts 150 US-based jobs after losing subscribers

Netflix has laid off about 150 staff, just a month after the entertainment giant said it was losing subscribers for the first time in a decade.

The redundancies, announced by the streaming service on Tuesday, will mainly affect its US office in California. They account for about 2% of its North American workforce.

Netflix said the job losses were due to the slump in the company's revenue.

The streaming service is battling an exodus of viewers this year.

"These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues," the company said in a statement.

It wasn't disclosed which parts of the business would see job losses, but the Los Angeles Times reported that recruiting, communications and also the content department were all affected.

Some people also disclosed their job loss online.

unfortunately i, too, was affected by the netflix layoffs today. it was a wild ride and i'm really proud of the work that i did, particularly being part of the @netflixgolden launch, and feel v. lucky i got to work with such brilliant people

— Madelyn Chung 鍾舒華✨ (@madelynchung) May 17, 2022

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

View original tweet on Twitter

In April, the streaming giant shocked the industry when it revealed it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first three months of 2022, and warned another two million were expected to quit in the coming quarter.

The news sparked an investor sell-off, with the firm's stock plunging 35% in one day. It is now trading at $190 (£152), a 46% drop on its previous premium.

Netflix shares plunge 35% after subscriber fall

Have we had enough of Netflix?

While Netflix has 220 million subscribers globally and remains the clear market leader, it has faced fierce competition in recent years with the arrival of competitor platforms such as Disney Plus, HBO, and Amazon's Prime Video.

In its earnings report last month, the company also said the war in Ukraine and the decision to raise its prices in the US had cost it subscribers.

Pulling out of the Russian market alone had cost the service 700,000 members, it revealed.

Along with job losses, the company is also cutting content and pulling back on its own creations. Earlier in May it cancelled development of Pearl, an animated series created by Meghan Markle, in its move to cut costs.

Some analysts say that after a surge in sign-ups during the pandemic, Netflix has run out of easy ways to grow the business.

The company says it's looking at a cheaper, ad-based model and also planning on cracking down on password sharing which has cost it 100 million households.-BBC

UK inflation hits 40-year high of 9% as energy bills soar

Prices are rising at their fastest rate for 40 years as higher energy bills hit millions of households.

UK inflation, the rate at which prices are rising, jumped to 9% in the 12 months to April, up from 7% in March.

The surge came as millions of people saw an unprecedented £700-a-year rise in energy costs last month.

Higher fuel and food prices, driven by the Ukraine war, are also pushing the cost of living up, with inflation expected to continue to rise this year.

Citizens Advice said "the warning lights could not be flashing brighter" for the government to issue more support for households than they are now and debt charities urged anyone finding it difficult to pay bills to seek help earlier rather than later in the year.

Around three quarters of the rise in inflation in April came from higher electricity and gas bills, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

"There are desperate stories behind these figures. People washing in their kitchen sinks because they can't afford a hot shower; parents skipping meals to feed their kids; disabled people who can't afford to use vital equipment because of soaring energy bills, said Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice.

Inflation chart

A higher energy price cap - which is the maximum price per unit that suppliers can charge customers - kicked in last month, meaning homes using a typical amount of gas and electricity are now paying £1,971 per year on average.

The ONS, which publishes the UK's inflation rate, said the prices of food, transport and machinery also rose.

"All items" on the menus of restaurants and cafes increased last month, which the UK statistics body said was due to the VAT rate for hospitality returning to 20% in April, after being cut to 12.5% to aid businesses recovering from the pandemic.

Meanwhile, average petrol prices stood at £1.62 per litre in April 2022, the highest recorded by the ONS, compared with £1.26 per litre a year earlier.

Why are prices rising so quickly?

Recession fears grow as rising prices hit spending

Inflation is the rate at which prices are rising. For example, if a bottle of milk costs £1 and that rises by 9p, then milk inflation is 9%.

Prices have been rising for months, as fuel, energy and food prices surge higher due to the pandemic and Ukraine war, and wages are failing to keep pace.

The ONS estimated inflation is now at its highest level since March 1982, when it stood at 9.1%.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the poorest were being hit hardest by rising prices as they spent more of their household budgets on gas and electricity.

The Bank of England warned earlier this month the cost crunch is set to leave the UK on the brink of recession, with inflation peaking at over 10% later this year amid further expected energy bill rises in October.

April's astronomical rise in inflation is no less shocking, even given it was predicted.

As the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has said these sort of rises hit the poorest the hardest. April's 9% rise is an average across the population. The really painful issue is that this rate is on course to get higher over the course of this year. And only this week, Mr Bailey acknowledged that there was "not a lot" the Bank could do about four-fifths of the anticipated rise, imported from globally rising prices of energy and food.

The question now is how quickly will this come down from these highs over the next two years. Economics is a prisoner of geopolitics here. But as inflation gets to double digits, workers, consumers, and companies are more likely to start to factor a big fat round number in their expectations of price rises into the future.

So numbers of this magnitude create acute social issues. When the price rises are so widespread and visible in the energy direct debits and prepayment meters of every single households, it also creates a macroeconomic problem, draining the economy of spending power, and slowing it down to a halt, or worse. So the government will face pressure to do more.

And when this is hitting the whole world at the same time, the economy faces territory not seen for a generation.

With households under increasing pressure, there are growing calls for the government to do more to help.

Commenting on the latest figures, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government "cannot protect people completely" from rising inflation, which he said was a global problem.

He said he was "providing significant support where we can and stand ready to take further action".

But Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the news was "a huge worry for families already stretched".

"We can't wait any longer for action from this out-of-touch government," she said.

Labour has called for a one-off "windfall" tax on energy companies to help ease the pressure on people's finances, but the government has only threatened such a move if firms do not invest enough cash into new UK projects.

The cost of living is already seeing people spending less money and cutting down on car journeys due to high fuel costs.

It led to the ONS revealing last week that the UK's economy shrank in March, which has prompted analysts to warn that the country could fall into recession later this year.-BBC

Global firms are boosting baby formula supplies in the US

Global firms are boosting supplies of baby formula in the US as the country grapples with a shortage.

Gerber-maker Nestle said it was flying additional shipments to the country from the Netherlands and Switzerland.

UK-based Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Enfamil and has factories in the US, has also said it has ramped up production by 30% this year.

The move comes as US officials warned that resolution of the shortage remained months away.

On Monday, Abbott Laboratories, the biggest US supplier of powder infant formula brands such as Similac, reached a deal with regulators on steps needed to restart production at a key Michigan factory. It will take weeks for products to hit shelves after reopening, officials said.

The plant in Sturgis has been closed since February after bacteria was found in the facility, prompting recalls of several products.

The shutdown and recalls worsened a shortage that had been percolating for months due to supply chain and logistics delays and spiralled further after parents rushed to the stores to stock up.

The White House has been under pressure to respond to the problem.

On Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration said the US was working to address the issue, including easing rules to allow increased foreign shipments.

"With increased production by other manufacturers, forthcoming import actions and the potential for Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis facility to resume production in the near-term, the FDA expects supply to continue to improve over the next couple of months," it said.

The FDA said sales of infant formula rose 13% in April compared to January, before the recall, and some indicators suggested that the out-of-stock rates had been over-stated.

"Increased sales are a good indicator of formula available to the general population," it said.BBC

How Gen Z is hooked on cryptocurrency and NFTs

The lure of making a quick buck has always attracted young people to invest in risky assets. For Generation Z, it is the volatility - and the decentralised nature - of digital assets such as cryptocurrency and NFTs which appeals. But they are unregulated, meaning there is little investor protection.

"All my friends were talking about [cryptocurrency] so one day I just decided why not just jump in and see if I can make some money," says 20-year-old Paxton See Tow.

All he needed was his phone and trading thousands of dollars' worth of assets was only a click away.

Generation Z - also known as Zoomers - are the age group born between the mid-1990s to early-2000s. They grew up online, playing games and meeting friends virtually, so the transition is natural.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies while a "non-fungible token" (NFT) is a way of owning an original digital image, touted as the digital answer to collectables.

Just over a year ago, Paxton bought S$1,000 ($743; £739) worth of Bitcoin - one of the most popular cryptocurrencies - which gave him a 10% profit straight away. He decided to quadruple his portfolio. But then the price fell.

"There's always the saying 'buy low, sell high' but I did the complete opposite. I let my emotions get the better of me," he says.

He had lost a thousand dollars, on top of all the money he had invested, before he could pull his money out and re-strategise.

For another, older trader, Kelvin Kong, the loss was much bigger. After making six figures in 2017, he lost more than half a million dollars the following year.

"I lost everything," he says. "I thought I was the king of trading and my head got really big so I thought nothing could bring me down and I kept buying," he says.

In the end, he only had a few hundred dollars left in his bank account.

"I think I almost went into depression. I had suicidal thoughts."

The boom in crypto and NFTs trading among young people worries him.

"A lot of them will lose money at the end of the day," he adds.

Gamification of trading

But cautionary tales of people losing huge amounts of money don't seem to deter young traders.

For many, the first taste of digital assets are through "play-to-earn games" which reward players with NFTs and cryptocurrencies that can then be used within the game itself, or traded for cash.

"Every kid wants to make money playing games," says a 23-year-old trader in Malaysia who goes by the name of YellowPanther. "That's the dream of my generation."

A month after he started trading NFTs last August, he decided to quit his job as a marketing executive to trade them full time.

"The day job took a long time - eight to nine hours a day - and the pay was quite low. I saw a big opportunity in the [NFT] space and I took the leap of faith," he says.

YellowPanther now works with 29-year-old Resh Chandran, who offers training in conventional stocks, cryptocurrency and NFT trading in Singapore.

Using Axie Infinity, one of the most popular "play-to-earn games", Mr Chandran introduces investors to mostly Filipino gamers who play on their behalf for a fee.

But he warns the space is a "wild wild west".

The pandemic has only accelerated this growing trend of young people trading crypto and NFTs.

"There was an extreme level of volatility in the marketplace so when you have volatility you also have opportunity in the market," says Lily Fang, a professor of finance at INSEAD business school.

"Young people were at home and it's almost a gamification of trading. All of these factors created a perfect condition for this to take off."

Financial influencers

For many young wannabe traders, advice is readily available on platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Reddit.

Brian Jung, 23, boasts one million YouTube followers but compared to other crypto influencers, he is known to talk more cautiously about the risks.

"I really have to make sure I'm careful about what I say to my audience because the last thing I want is for people to get hurt from these types of videos," he tells the BBC.

Brian's family emigrated from South Korea to the US and he believes his background affects how he invests and talks about money.

"Our family always struggled financially so I always have this frugal mindset," he says.

"My mum still works at the US Post Office and my dad works in a warehouse so I know one hour of their time is still equivalent to dollar value. I see what that is worth, regardless of how much income that I'm getting right now."

Gaining financial freedom is also what attracted 22-year-old Jowella Lim - a rare female trader - to the crypto world.

But as well as the opportunities to make money, Jowella enjoys being at the forefront of this new technology.

As governments around the world look to regulate the industry, she believes they will help legitimise crypto and NFTs.

"Regulators have to eventually compromise and realise that this is a tech they cannot ignore, especially when it's constantly penetrating this society," she adds.

Addiction or passion?

Aside from financial losses, another big danger is addiction.

"The crypto market never sleeps so people really literally get sucked into it," says Mr Chandran.

Andy Leach, from addictions clinic Visions by Promises in Singapore, says he has seen a jump in young - particularly male - clients getting addicted to the thrill of trading crypto and NFTs.

"You have the ability to watch Bitcoin going up and down and basically this process, this rollercoaster ride, the highs, the lows, it's available on your phone 24/7," he says.

Despite losing money in the crypto market in the past, both Paxton and Kelvin are back trading after studying it more closely.

I asked Kelvin if he thinks he may be addicted. "You can put it that way," he smiles. "But I would call it passion."-BBC

Elon Musk warns Twitter deal stuck without fake account proof

Elon Musk has said his $44bn deal to buy Twitter may be in jeopardy due to a disagreement over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform.

Mr Musk tweeted that the deal "cannot move forward" unless Twitter backs up its claims that less than 5% of daily users are fake or spam accounts.

Twitter has defended its figures, adding that Mr Musk waived rights to "due diligence" to clinch the deal.

The spat has raised doubts about the takeover.

Analysts have speculated that Mr Musk may be looking for ways to renegotiate the price of the deal or walk away.

Mr Musk agreed the $44bn (£34.5bn) deal to buy Twitter with its board in April, but last week Mr Musk said the deal was "on hold" while he sought details about fake accounts.

He has continued to press the issue in tweets and public appearances, while also hinting that he could seek a lower price.

On Tuesday, Mr Musk said Twitter boss Parag Agrawal had "publicly refused to show proof" that fewer than 5% of its accounts were fake, and said the deal "cannot move forward" until Mr Agrawal does show proof.

Mr Musk's tweet then appeared to be deleted.

The billionaire, who also runs carmaker Tesla, has put the number of fake accounts at 20% or more.

Elon Musk has doubled down on his position that his deal to buy the social network is on ice while the actual amount of spambots and accounts operating on it is investigated.

Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal has hit back, and tempers are flaring.

When the richest man in the world replies to one of your tweets with just one symbol, the poo emoji, well, I suppose at least you know you've got his attention.

I long ago gave up trying to read the mind of Elon Musk but let's indulge in a moment of speculation.

He's making a big deal about fake accounts. Is it a convenient peg on which to hang a renegotiation? His initial $44bn offer for the firm was considerably higher than its current stock suggests.

He moved swiftly and aggressively, perhaps even impulsively.

To fund it, he's already had to sell a chunk of shares in one of his other companies, the electric car firm Tesla, and that in turn made a dent in the value of that company as it made other investors nervous.

If either party in the Twitter deal walks away now, there's a $1bn termination fee.

That may sound like small change to a multi-billionaire - although Mr Musk maintains he is asset-rich rather than cash-rich - but it perhaps gives him leverage to successfully shave a few billion off the offer price, because $1bn is not small change to Twitter and its shareholders.

However, Mr Musk might be right to question Twitter's worth.

If it really isn't bloated with spam, then perhaps it has less potential to be made great again, a phrase that may sound familiar given that he has already indicated that he would like to re-instate former US President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump, by the way, has so far declined the invitation.

Mr Musk and Mr Agrawal have been publicly debating the spambot figures on Twitter but relations appear to have soured.

On Monday, Mr Musk responded to Mr Agrawal's defence of the the firm's spam reporting with a poo emoji, later repeating his claim that Twitter was underestimating the figure.

Mr Musk has said he is concerned that advertisers on Twitter don't know what they are paying for.

"So how do advertisers know what they're getting for their money? This is fundamental to the financial health of Twitter," he wrote.

After putting his offer on hold Mr Musk told a conference in Miami on Monday that "you can't pay the same price for something that is much worse than they claimed".

He said that a deal is "not out of the question" at a different price but added: "The more questions I ask, the more my concerns grow."

Twitter has said it is committed to completing the deal at the agreed price.

In a filing with regulators on Tuesday, it told shareholders that Mr Musk's apparent eagerness to get the deal done, even without ordinary research into the business, set him apart from any other potential suitors.

"Other potential [buyers] would require substantial due diligence, creating a delay and risk to reaching the signing of such a potential transaction," it said.

Deal doubts

Mr Musk has called for tests of random samples of Twitter users to identify bots. He said "there is some chance it might be over 90% of daily active users".

Researchers have estimated that anywhere from 4% to 20% or more of the millions of Twitter profiles are fake.

Twitter shares on Monday closed more than 8% down at $37.39, sowing doubts that Mr Musk would go ahead with his acquisition at the agreed price.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that it "looks increasingly likely that Elon Musk is positioning to renegotiate a sharply lower price tag for Twitter or even try and pull the pin on the deal".

She said that establishing the number of real users on Twitter is considered "vital to future revenue streams via advertising or paid for subscriptions on the site".

"The volatility which has hit tech stocks and contributed to a sharp decline in Twitter's valuation is also highly likely to be part of the equation," Ms Streeter said, adding that Mr Musk is "clearly rueing the timing of his rash offer to pay $44bn for the social network".-BBC

Petrol retailers told to pass on fuel duty cut

The government has raised concerns that petrol retailers are not passing on the recent cut in fuel duty, after diesel prices hit another record high.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told petrol bosses the competition regulator is monitoring the situation.

However, petrol retailers said their costs had remained high.

The Petrol Retailers Association said margins were "often not enough to cover operating costs".

Chancellor Rishi Sunak implemented the 5p per litre cut in fuel duty in March to reduce the price of fuel for motorists.

In a letter to the industry, the business secretary said the public was "rightly expressing concern about the pace of the increase in prices at the forecourt".

He said people were frustrated that the fuel duty cut "does not appear to have been passed through to forecourt prices in any visible or meaningful way".

"It is also unacceptable that different locations even within the same retail chain have widely different prices," he wrote.

Mr Kwarteng said his officials recently engaged the Competition and Markets Authority about the issue, as a result of "perceived intransigence to date".

"I have been reassured that they will not hesitate to use their powers to act against petrol stations if there is evidence that they are infringing competition or consumer law," he said.

UK diesel prices rose to a record of just over £1.80 a litre on Monday, the RAC said.

After the previous record of £1.79 in March following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prices dipped but have risen again in recent weeks.

The RAC said petrol prices went up by nearly 3p a litre since the start of May and were £1.66 a litre on average.

It said retailers are taking an average profit of 2p per litre more than before the chancellor's 5p duty cut.

But Gordon Balmer, executive director of the Petrol Retailers Association, which represents independent forecourts, said comparing pump prices against wholesale prices "only gives a partial picture".

Once "additional expenses" such as storage and delivery costs are taken into account alongside the "volatility of product prices", retailers' margins are "often not enough to cover operating costs", he said.

He added that if the government wanted to lower pump prices, it should reduce fuel duty by more than 5p.

"5p per litre did not represent a substantial enough cut to ease the burden of rising prices on motorists," he said.

"While the chancellor was announcing it, oil prices rose and effectively cancelled out the reduction. In addition to this, sales volumes of petrol and diesel are still not back to their pre-pandemic levels.

"Supermarkets and independent fuel retailers are competing vigorously with each other on the thinnest of margins."

Supermarkets 'reluctant' to cut fuel prices

The row follows a warning that supermarkets have also not passed on the fuel duty cut and falls in wholesale fuel prices.

The RAC motoring group does not believe the top four supermarkets - Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco - are doing enough to help customers cut their fuel bills.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: "Despite operating just a fifth of petrol stations in the UK, the big supermarkets are responsible for around half of all fuel sales so how they choose to price petrol and diesel has a huge impact on what drivers end up paying."

He added: "When wholesale fuel prices fall dramatically it can be enormously frustrating for drivers when pump prices don't start coming down. It normally takes one retailer to effectively 'fire the starting gun' and cut its prices in order for others to follow.

"We know that the biggest retailers tend to be reluctant to reflect falling wholesale prices at the pumps day-to-day, yet they seem to pass on increases quickly when wholesale prices are rising. This can often be to the detriment of drivers."

The RAC believes that supermarkets often wait for long sustained drops in wholesale prices before they cut their forecourt prices. If they cut the retail price too soon and then the wholesale price rises again, they will be forced to reintroduce a higher price which looks bad to customers, according to the motoring organisation.

A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "We understand that the cost of living is a real challenge for many households and we are committed to helping our customers as much as we can.

"We lowered prices the day the chancellor announced fuel cuts so that our customers could benefit as soon as possible."

Morrisons said it took the full 5p from its prices at 6pm on the day of the chancellor's announcement.

Asda and Tesco have not yet responded to the BBC's request for comment.-BBC

Tesco shopper's plea to bring back till staff

A Tesco shopper is urging the supermarket to "stop replacing people with machines" after she struggled to use the store's self-service checkouts.

Pat McCarthy, 69, started a petition calling for more cashiers on tills because "you can't speak to a machine".

She is one of the many who complain self-service tills are too slow or hard to use, and her petition has been signed by more than 99,000 people.

Tesco said staff were always on hand to help at either type of checkout.

Ms McCarthy, from Brentford in West London, said she began her campaign after visiting the Tesco Extra in Osterley where she said three quarters of the tills were self-service.

"These new tills are not accessible for people who don't have credit cards and can only use cash or those with little confidence to use these self-service card-only tills - myself included," she wrote on her Change.org page.

The volunteer, who helps people with disabilities, told the BBC there were five or six staffed tills but she faced a 30 minute wait due to queues.

"You do need some self-service for the people who find them more convenient but just fewer," she said.

Ms McCarthy said she loved chatting with checkout staff as she lives on her own, but "now that experience has been taken away from me".

A Tesco spokesperson said: "Our colleagues and the friendly service they provide are absolutely vital to our stores and will always be on hand to help our customers, whether they are checking out at one of our colleague-operated or self-service checkouts."

Ms McCarthy is not alone. Some customers have complained that self-service tills are slower than staffed ones despite being billed as being faster.

Others find them annoying. In 2015, Morrisons brought back staff at 1,000 "express" checkouts after finding that 67% of customers felt nervous using self scanning tills.

The Twitter hashtag #BringBackTescoStaff has been used more than 3,000 times as shoppers share Ms McCarthy's petition and their own experiences.

Dr Angi tweeted: "On my last visit to Tesco's we had a £170 shop. We were told to go to the self check out tills! We said unless you open the check out we were leaving all this right here and will never shop here again - they opened the tills."

Another customer Steve tweeted: "Being on the autistic spectrum, I find self service tills a godsend as I don't have to queue anxiously waiting, knowing I have to speak to someone."

Tesco said it introduced self-service checkouts nearly 20 years ago to give customers a choice and all of its stores had both options.

In October, the supermarket converted its store in High Holborn in central London into a Tesco GetGo which allows customers to shop and pay without using a checkout.

Shape of things to come?

At the time Richard Lim, chief executive of retail analyst group Retail Economics, said the move was "reflective of the way the wider industry is heading".

According to one estimate, the number of self-service checkouts in stores worldwide was forecast at 325,000 in 2021 - up from around 200,000 in 2013.

Adam Leyland, editor of The Grocer magazine, said the decline in the number of staffed tills in supermarkets reflected shopper preference for getting in and out quickly.

He said: "On my High Street, the new Amazon Fresh store with the fancy just-walk-out tech is always empty, whereas the new deli, four doors down employs six to eight people on each shift and is rammed to the gills.

"It shows that many shoppers still value great customer service and human interaction and technology won't always win. So supermarkets will need to listen hard as the market evolves and cater for all needs."-BBC

Kenya: UAP Old Mutual Group Rebrands to Old Mutual

UAP Old Mutual Group has rebranded to Old Mutual, the rebrand which has already taken place in Kenya and Rwanda and will later be followed by similar exercises in Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania which is expected to be completed in 2023.

The group says that the change signifies the company's confidence in its future in Kenya as well as its readiness to unlock more opportunities and more value for its customers, communities, and other stakeholders.

Old Mutual Kenya CEO, Arthur Oginga, while commenting on the brand was positive that the group will now be positioned to build its long-term savings, protection, investment, and lending businesses.

"East Africa is growing as a regional investment and business hub, with this growth comes new opportunities for Alternative Investments, innovation, and expansion, and as Old Mutual Kenya we are ready to partner with Kenyan customers, communities and stakeholders to ensure we harness this potential," he remarked.

CEO of Old Mutual Limited Iain Williamson, on his part noted that the group's commitment will be directed towards to growing and protecting the prosperity of customers and communities on the African continent.

As part of its strategy, the group will harness says it will harness African footprint to provide pooled cover for multinationals, product innovation and leveraging integrate financial services to realise economic growth.

Old Mutual has been operating in Kenya for more than 100 years. In 2014 it acquired a controlling stake in Faulu Microfinance Bank and a year later, it similarly acquired stake in UAP Holdings PLC (formerly UAP Holdings Limited), unifying the companies as UAP Old Mutual Group.-Capital FM.

East Africa: Tpa Formalises Lake Victoria Dumb Ports

Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) has already put in a formalization process five dumb ports in Lake Victoria in a bid to maximise controls.

The dumb ports await some legal process including enacted by various government institutions before becoming formal ports.

The process of formalising the five ports namely Nyehunge, Kamanga Ferry, Mkombozi A and B and Bijiri started since last year.

TPA Head of Operations Department in Lake Zone, Mr Francis Mwanga, said that they are also in the process of identifying five other ports for formalisation before end of June.

"These dumb ports activities mostly are ferrying passengers and cargoes to and from various islands of Lake Victoria... others are used by fishermen as landing camps," Mr Mwanga said during the tour of some of the dump ports.

The delegation toured over the weekend some dumb ports namely Igabiro, Marehe, Kabindi, Rwazi, Nyamkazi, Ruhanga and Katunguru and Missenyi in Kagera region.

TPA has mapped out some 348 dump ports in Lake Tanganyika alone and only a handful are in process of being formalised.

'Daily News' during the tour saw some dhow-wharves, mostly dealing with fishing only activities.

However, some wananchi told TPA to set up jetties for both passengers and cargoes to ease boarding and landing while avoid unwanted accidents.

The Katunguru Village Executive Officer (VEO), Mr Elizeus Tilwabahoile, said the construction of jetties will not only provide reliable landing and boarding but also attract more dhow-wharves to ply around lake ports.

"If improved the Katunguru port will trigger an increase in revenues because is among the main exit for Lake Victoria fishing products," Mr Tilwabahoile said.

The VEO said once improved the port will attract more fishmongers to use it while encouraging people's interaction. To beginning with the government should immediately construct a cargo-shed.

Some 300 passengers are estimated to use the Katunguru port in each 14 days of fishing circle--dark days--a month and handles 400 bags sardines.

Mr Tilwabahoile said the village is collecting 300/- per kilogramme of fish and 100/- per kilogramme sardines.

The Bukoba District Fishing Officer, Mr Daniel Kuboja, said Marehe is in serious need of improved facilities which some were badly damaged by heavy rains.

In 2019 TPA said they want to formalise the entire country dumb ports in a bid to control the flow of goods in and outside the country as well as checking landing of undocumented persons.

TPA said various items are shipped in through dumb or unrecognized entry points include sugar, cooking oil, cement, timber, as well as facilitating the export of crops and minerals, operations which upset revenue projections and disturb the market by landing untaxed goods, sold at significantly lower prices.-Daily News.

Tanzania: TBs Urged to Use Accreditation Certificate Effectively

DEPUTY Minister for Industries, Trade and Investment, Dr Exaud Kigahe has underscored the need for the Tanzania Bureau of Standard (TB) to maximize the use of the accreditation certificate on management systems.

Speaking here recently at a ceremony to award the accreditation certificate which is being issued by the Southern African Development Community Accreditation Services (SADCAS), Dr Kigahe said that the accreditation certification would help to address the challenges faced by public and private entities which were forced to seek the service from outside the country .

He advised TBS to provide affordable rates to companies and other entities in need of the service so as to allow majority of them to have access to the service.

Dr Kigahe directed that the staff attached to the certification board must to be well versed in the field in order to provide better services.

He called upon private and public sectors to go for the TBS accreditation certification as far as the management system are concerned.

TBS provides Management Systems Certification Service to manufacturers and service providers from both public and private sectors regardless of their size and type of business.

The certification service is provided to confirm that the organization or business entity carries out its activities in conformity with the International Standards.

TBS Certification body provides the Management Systems Certification after being awarded the accreditation by SADCAS.

Speaking during the event, TBS Director General, Dr Athumani Ngenya called upon the public and private entities to take advantage of the certification as it gives them ability to maintain consistency and increase in customer's confidence.

"Enhance customers' satisfaction, identify and address the risks and opportunities associated with organization thus increase ability to demonstrate conformity to the specified product or service requirements.

He said Management Systems Certification Body offers technical assistance in areas of certification services and understanding of the requirements of the standards and auditing against respective International Standards.

Technical assistance programmes are designed and implemented to promote understanding of requirements of the key certification and accreditation standards.

However, he said, implementation of these programmes is neither a pre-condition nor a guarantee for certification by the body.

In addition, the body does not offer specific advice for the development of business operations for the sake of maintaining impartiality principles.-Daily News.

Kenya Power Appoints Geoffrey Muli as New Acting MD

Nairobi — Kenya Power has appointed Geoffrey Muli as Acting Managing Director to replace Rosemary Oduor who was also serving in an acting capacity since August 2021.

Muli will take over as Oduor proceeds on annual leave.

"The appointment of Geoffrey Muli takes effect on May 17," Kenya Power said in a statement.

Muli holds a Master of Business Administration (Strategic Option); Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and is currently pursuing a PhD in Business Administration (Strategic Option).

Prior to his appointment, he was the acting General Manager in charge of Regional Coordination in the Company.

The utility firm is yet to appoint a substantive MD since the resignation of Bernard Ngugi in unclear circumstances.

At the end of January this year, Kenya Power kicked off the search for a new Managing Director.

The company was expected to receive applications from interested candidates by the end of February.-Capital FM.

Nigeria: Buhari Pledges to Increase Investments in Aviation Safety, Security

President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that Nigeria would deploy more investments aimed at the provision of infrastructure and facilities for safe, secure, environmentally friendly and sustainable civil aviation.

This is just as Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika, justified the current aviation fuel scarcity in the country, saying the situation was not peculiar to Nigeria alone.

The president, who spoke yesterday, while receiving in audience the Secretary General of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Mr Juan Carlos Salazar, at the State House, Abuja, said Nigeria would support the ideals and aspirations of ICAO and achievement of its strategic objectives, in collaboration with other Member States of the Organisation.

According to him: "Nigeria became a member of ICAO Council in 1962, and since then, it has continued to make valuable contributions to the Council's work and its activities.

"It is pertinent to also mention that Nigeria has been playing a key role in supporting the implementation of ICAO Policies and Programmes internationally, and particularly in the African region.

"To this end, Nigeria has ratified international air law instruments like the Montreal Protocol and amendments to some articles of the Chicago Convention. Nigeria is also championing the cause of Aviation safety, security and facilitation in Africa."

The president told the ICAO delegation that he had approved the establishment of Aerospace University in Abuja, to cater for research and development as well as provide manpower for the industry.

"In this regard, Nigeria is looking forward to the continued support of ICAO under its 'No Country Left Behind' initiative," he added.

Buhari also pointed out that the Nigerian government had established independent agencies in order to enhance aviation safety and security, while ensuring effective and efficient provision and management of infrastructure in all aspects of the industry.

"These include the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority for safety and economic oversight of the industry; the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency for air traffic services; the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for management of Government owned airports; the Nigerian Meteorological Agency for meteorological services; and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, the nation's main aviation training organisation, established in 1964 in collaboration with ICAO and the United Nations Development Programme.

"Nigeria is fully committed to working with other States and supporting the implementation of the Global Aviation Safety Plan, the Global Air Navigation Plan, as well as the Global Aviation Security Plan," the president said.

As part of its support, Buhari said Nigeria, over time, seconded auditors to support various ICAO programmes in the areas of safety and security.

"We have also contributed experts on various ICAO technical panels, commissions and working groups.

"The Government of Nigeria has adopted a civil aviation policy, which is centered on liberalisation and Public-Private-Partnerships Initiative. These have resulted in huge investments in the nation's airports infrastructure and services, increased capacity utilisation and phenomenal increase in the number of domestic operators.

"Indeed, the domestic and international traffic has experienced tremendous growth since our assumption of office in 2015.

"Nigeria is the headquarters of the Regional Safety Oversight Organisation, the Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organisation and also, a major contributor and participant in the Regional Accident Investigation Agency, the Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency," he added.

According to the president, Nigeria recently made a robust donation to the ICAO Voluntary Air Transport Fund in order to be part of the global efforts for recovery from COVID-19 crisis.

"We have also made significant financial contributions to the Safety and Human Resource Development Funds, in addition to hosting several ICAO meetings and regional workshops, including the widely acclaimed successful third ICAO World Aviation Forum, as well as several other workshops on safety oversight," he said.

Also speaking at the event, Sirika, commended Buhari for the giant strides taken under his administration in the areas of aviation safety, security and development.

"Our profile improved significantly during your tenure, Mr President. Passengers rose from eight million to 18 million in four years, while security and safety also went up significantly," he said.

Earlier in his speech, the ICAO Scribe lauded what he called, "the leadership role Nigeria plays in civil aviation in Africa," saying the country's record was one of the most impressive in the world.

"The number of airports have doubled, passengers are growing in spite of COVID-19. The record of safety is the most important performance indicator of all. I recognise the excellent work by your government to maintain high standards, in line with international best practices," Salazar said.

Stressing that it was important to maintain the track record, the ICAO Secretary General stressed that there was no end line in civil aviation, "we keep chasing targets that go on and on."

He urged Buhari to sustain the support being given to the sector, to attract further investment, tourism, and continued growth.

Addressing newsmen after the visit, the Aviation Minister reiterated that aviation fuel scarcity with its attendant high cost was not peculiar to Nigeria.

Sirika also gave reasons for the high cost of the product globally and what the government was doing to arrest the spiral in the price of the commodity.

His words: "The scarcity and high cost of Jet A1 in civil aviation is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is a global phenomenon driven by many factors.

"Some of them include even low capacity to refine the product. It's also in high demand around the world, it has increased activity and increased the number of airplanes out there and users of this jet A1.

"Plus also the Ukraine crisis and many more. It's a time when crude itself is so expensive today, it is in the hundreds of dollars per barrel and only the high cost of Jet A1 product in Nigeria. Also the peculiarity of the fact that we're not refining the product, so to speak.

"And I addressed the press a couple of days ago, saying that, by the grace of God, perhaps once the Dangote refinery is online or if the government fixes the Port Harcourt refinery, which is now ongoing, we will begin to refine this product and sell it.

"And as a stopgap measure, interim measure, there's an agreement that the airline operators of Nigeria would nominate either from among themselves or from other major oil marketers to be given the opportunity to import this product. Then also get the necessary foreign exchange for that purpose. And that will now increase more supply and perhaps drive down the cost.

"So this is not unique to Nigeria. And unfortunately we're going through this phase, but civilisation from time always survives challenges. They come, unfortunately, but then you see civil aviation graphs keep going up. We hope that this is a temporary thing around the world and we hope that Jet A1 will be very available everywhere and at the very good price.

"And we will hope, in the future, that we learn to do away with all these carbon emitters and have much more cleaner energy, which will be more readily available for everybody on a very cheaper cost to make civil Aviation transportation, the preferred choice."-This Day.

Rwanda: Calls Grow to Set Up Scheme for Unemployment Benefits

Advocates for workers' rights have called for an unemployment benefit scheme that will support people who lose jobs as a result of unexpected circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic and through mergers and acquisition of companies or public institutions.

Also called unemployment insurance scheme, the unemployment benefit scheme, is a type of insurance that pays money to individuals when they lose their job after meeting certain eligibility requirements.

Such requirements might include being unemployed through no fault of your own, and proof that you are actively seeking work as you collect benefits to sustain your family.

Their appeal comes as some involuntarily unemployed people do not have anything to fall back on. As a result, their living conditions are much negatively affected by joblessness.

Such is the case of a communication officer who lost his job at one of the major non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Rwanda.

The case occurred around mid-2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic caused financial constraints to the NGO, resulting in laying off some employees as it attempted to carry on its work with a 1thin budget.

"Losing a job has a psychological and financial impact on you. Psychological one because it happens abruptly and you have nowhere to immediately look up to for comfort; and financial one because you did not plan for the loss of income," he told The New Times, preferring anonymity.

For him, there are some essential expenses such as rent, basic food, and school fees and health insurance which should be cushioned against involuntarily unemployed person as they look for another employment opportunity.

"If that scheme is established and supports the affected person in a precise period, say the first six months, that can be a relief; even though it is a loan that the person can pay back when they get another job for sustainability purposes," he said.

According to the Labour Congress and Workers' Brotherhood in Rwanda (COTRAF-Rwanda), like other schemes such as pension managed by the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), the unemployment benefit scheme can get funding from employee and employer contributions as well as the Government support through the national budget, and be under the management of RSSB.

Eric Nzabandora, president of COTRAF Rwanda, told The New Times that there are cases where a worker loses employment unintentionally and has poor living conditions, which should not be the case.

"The establishment of that scheme can be helpful because even in other developing countries [where a similar scheme is available], every person who loses a job is supported by such a fund in order to get at least the minimum amount of money to help them survive and do not live miserably as they look for another employment," he observed.

Fixing the gap in the labour sector

Teddy Kaberuka, an economist, told The New Times that the social security benefits under RSSB should be expanded to cover cases of job loss, pointing out that this scheme can be of great relief.

According to him, when a person who has been contributing [to the scheme] suffers a temporary job loss, involuntarily, they can get some living allowances as they look for another employment, and when they get it, they will continue supporting the scheme until they reach the retirement age (currently 65 years) and be entitled to pension benefits.

"We are in times when employees are unstable at work. An employee has been working for five years, and the company is merged, or a bank, an insurance firm or other company is acquired [by another]. When such merging or acquisition takes place, there are employees who lose jobs. So, when such people are still looking for another job, they need to live.

Currently, for one to be entitled to pension benefits, they should have contributed to the pension scheme for at least 15 years upon retirement. This means that a person who has contributed to the scheme for the required period, but loses a job at 55, waits for the retirement age to get any benefits.

"How can you say that you will give [pension] benefits to a person when they go into retirement (at 65), yet you do not support them when they incur temporary job loss (say at 55)? That does not make sense," he said.

MP Frank Habineza said that the sources of funding for the scheme should be well studied, but suggested that as Rwandans pay taxes such as value added tax (VAT), the Government should be taking some amount from it to finance the fund.

Theoneste Ntagengerwa, the Spokesperson of the Rwanda Private Sector Federation (PSF), said that "it [the lack of such a scheme] was not only a gap in the labour sector, but also in the country's economy ... because when a parent loses a job, their child is unable to study, and they lack other basic needs".

Meanwhile, Ntagengerwa said that some businesses closed because of lack of financial means as a result of Covid-19 impact.

According to the According to the Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2021 published by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda in March 2022, the annual unemployment rate stood at 21.1 percent, indicating that roughly, for five persons in the labour force, there was one person unemployed.

That data represents an increase of 5.9 percentage points in unemployment in the country compared to the Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2019 which showed that the annual unemployment rate stood at 15.2 percent - indicating that there was one jobless person out of roughly seven persons in the labour force.

The New Times wanted to get a comment from the Minister of Public Service and Labour on the issue but it had not yet received it upon the publication of this article.

According to "Unemployment insurance schemes around the world: Evidence and policy options," a publication of October 2019 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), there were 40 countries with unemployment benefit schemes, including Mauritius and South Africa on the African continent.-New Times.

Invest Wisely!

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INVESTORS DIARY 2022

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Companies under Cautionary

ART

PPC

Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

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

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