Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 November 2022
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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 November 2022
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ü Elon Musk sells almost $4bn of Tesla shares
ü FTX: Cryptocurrency market rocked by near-collapse of exchange
ü Disney says streaming business at 'turning point'
ü Egg farmers squeezed as costs rise
ü Sriram Krishnan: The Indian-American 'helping' Elon Musk run Twitter
ü Tesla recalls 40,000 cars over power-steering fault
ü Made.com goes bust with up to 500 jobs lost
ü UK firm Alstom builds monorail for COP27 host country
ü Kids' Christmas toy pester-power limited by cost of living
ü Kenya: IMF Approves U.S.$433 Million Financial Aid for Kenya
ü Liberia, Guinea, S/Leone Sign Pact to Improve Cross-Border Trade, Revenue and Security in the Region
ü Kenya: President Ruto to Hold Talks With Ramaphosa
ü Kenya: Africa Data Centres to Add 1MW at Its Nairobi's Facility
ü Malawi Fuel Crisis Shows No End in Sight
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Elon Musk sells almost $4bn of Tesla shares
Tesla boss Elon Musk has sold another 19.5 million shares of the electric car maker worth $3.95bn (£3.4bn), filings with the US financial watchdog show.
The news comes less than two weeks after the world's richest man completed his $44bn takeover of Twitter.
Tesla's share price has fallen by more than 50% since the start of this year.
Separately, Tesla is recalling just over 40,000 of its vehicles in the US because of a potential problem with their power-steering.
The reason for the latest sales, which took place in the last week, has not yet been disclosed.
The latest sale brings the total value of Tesla shares sold by Mr Musk to almost $20bn since he announced earlier this year that he had bought a stake in Twitter.
He sold $8.5bn of Tesla stock in April this year and around another $7bn worth in August.
Also in August, Tesla shareholders approved a three-for-one stock split, which is behind part of the fall in the value of the shares.
Who is Elon Musk?
Musk says 'no choice' but to slash Twitter staff
Electric car recalls
On Tuesday Tesla recalled just over 40,000 of its cars in the US because of a potential power-steering problem.
The electric car manufacturer said the vehicles' power-steering assist system may fail on rough roads or after hitting a pothole.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it could require greater steering effort, especially at low speeds, increasing crash risks.
Tesla has released a software update to recalibrate the system.
It was unaware of any injuries or deaths in connection with the problem, it said.
Twitter job cuts
Since taking control of Twitter last month Mr Musk has cut around 50% of the company's workforce.
Mr Musk tweeted that he had "no choice" but to slash the company's workforce as the firm is losing more than $4m a day.
He has also blamed "activist groups pressuring advertisers" for a "massive drop in revenue".
The shake-up of the social media platform includes charging users $8 for blue check verification marks.-BBC
FTX: Cryptocurrency market rocked by near-collapse of exchange
The digital assets market has been rocked by the near-collapse of one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX.
On Tuesday, FTX struck a bailout deal with larger rival Binance after a surge in withdrawals caused a "significant liquidity crunch".
Concerns about FTX's financial health reportedly triggered $6bn (£5.2bn) of withdrawals in just three days.
Binance says it agreed to buy FTX's non-US unit, pending due diligence.
FTX's founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance's chief executive Changpeng "CZ" Zhao are two of the most powerful people in the cryptocurrency market and high-profile rivals.
The pressure on FTX came in part from Mr Zhao, who tweeted on Sunday that Binance would sell its holdings of FTX's digital token, known as FTT.
"Due to recent revelations that have came to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books," he said. FTT has lost almost 80% of its value this week.
On Tuesday Mr Zhao tweeted, "This afternoon, FTX asked for our help. There is a significant liquidity crunch".
Binance said it had signed a letter of intent to buy the firm but had "the discretion to pull out from the deal at any time".
Also on Twitter Mr Bankman-Fried said: "Our teams are working on clearing out the withdraw backlog as is. This will clear out liquidity; all assets will be covered 1:1."
"This is a black swan event that adds more fears in the crypto space. This cold winter for crypto now takes on more fear," Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities told the BBC.
The news sent shockwaves through the digital assets market, with cryptocurrencies falling sharply.
Bitcoin fell by more than 10% to hit the lowest level since November 2020.
Meanwhile, online trading platform Robinhood lost more than 19% of its stock market value, while cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase fell by 10%.-BBC
Disney says streaming business at 'turning point'
Disney's streaming business has continued to grow - but its losses are rising too.
The media giant said it had added more than 12 million subscribers to its Disney+ streaming platform in the three months ended in September.
But the unit lost nearly $1.5bn - a hit that weighed on the company's overall bottom line.
Chief executive Bob Chapek said Disney+ had reached a "turning point" and would become profitable by 2024.
"We believe we are on a path to a profitable streaming business, assuming that we do not see a meaningful shift in the economic climate," he said on a conference call to discuss the firm's results.
Disney has poured billions of dollars into its streaming platforms in recent years, remaking itself from a company rooted in traditional television and movies into one of the streaming industry's major players.
The company now counts more than 235 million subscriptions across its three streaming platforms, which also include the sports-focused ESPN+ and wider enterainment site Hulu.
Netflix, by comparison, has about 223 million subscribers.
As it turns its focus to profitability, Disney has announced plans to raise prices and introduce a version of Disney+ with adverts.
Overall the company said revenues rose 9% in the three months ended in September, and were up 23% for its financial year.
It reported profits of $162m, up from $159m last year.
That was lower than analysts had expected, sending shares down more than 5% in after-hours trade.
The firm was also hurt by weakness in its traditional movie and television business, which saw declines in advertising, and rising costs cut into its profits.
Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight, said it was a "disappointing quarter" that "underlines the challenges a media giant faces in pivoting towards a streaming future".
"Quest for subscribers comes at a cost and success is not guaranteed," he said.-BBC
Egg farmers squeezed as costs rise
Egg farmers are reducing flock sizes or leaving the industry due to running costs making their businesses unviable, a farming industry body has warned.
The British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) said many of its members were losing money due to high chicken feed prices and energy costs.
Farmers have called for a 40p increase for a dozen eggs to help meet costs.
But supermarkets said they were "constrained" by how much cost they could pass onto customers.
Farmers claim that despite the price of a dozen eggs rising by about 45p in the supermarkets since March, they've only received between 5p to 10p of that increase.
Ioan Humphreys, an egg farmer from Powys in Wales said in a social media video that supermarkets were "refusing" to pay farmers a "fair price" for their produce at a time when costs had "skyrocketed" with feed, electric and the price of new birds.
"We physically can't afford to produce these eggs. Currently there has been eight million less free-range hens ordered for next year's flocks," he said.
"So that's just under eight million eggs, every day that we are not going to be producing. We are already three million eggs short of being self-sufficient [as a country]."
Like households, farmers have also been hit by soaring energy costs in recent months.
They have also had to fork more for wheat, a key ingredient in chicken feed, which has spiked as a result of the Ukraine war, with both Russia and Ukraine producing about 30% of the global supply.
As well as rising costs, farmers have been hit by the country's largest ever avian influenza outbreak, which has led to millions of birds being killed or culled in the past 12 months.
All poultry and captive birds in England are required to be kept indoors, according to government guidelines, which has meant eggs in shops being labelled as "barn eggs" due to birds being kept inside for more than 16 weeks.
Farmers have previously warned the UK could face an egg shortage if retailers do not start paying more.
However, the Department Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said there was "currently no shortage of eggs".
"We understand the difficulties the bird flu outbreak is causing for farmers, however the laying hen population is approximately 38 million so it's unlikely to affect the overall supply," a statement said.
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BFREPA said a survey of 157 of its members last week found 33% had either reduced or paused production of egg farming in some way.
Ben Pike, a spokesman for the trade body, said bird flu was a "contributing factor" in egg farmers struggling, but added pressure from prices was "probably a greater factor at the moment".
Kevin Coles, of the British Egg Industry Council, said he believed there were issues in terms of egg availability, but added he didn't think it was a "crisis".
"There are a lot of pressures on farmers at the moment, avian influenza being one, costs another, and demand remains strong - consumers want to buy eggs," he added.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents supermarkets, said bird flu had caused some disruption to egg supplies, but added retailers were trying to minimise the impact on customers.
"Retailers have long-standing, established relationships with their suppliers and know how important maintaining these are for their customers and businesses," said Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC.
"Supermarkets source the vast majority of their food from the UK and know they need to pay a sustainable price to egg farmers but are constrained by how much additional cost they can pass onto consumers during a cost-of-living crisis."-BBC
Sriram Krishnan: The Indian-American 'helping' Elon Musk run Twitter
Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has whipped up a storm after he sacked thousands of employees last week.
The controversial way the firings happened - with many employees discovering they had been laid off when they were shut out of their emails - sparked anger, frustration and even lawsuits against Mr Musk.
Among those sacked were some of the firm's most senior executives.
In their place, Mr Musk has reportedly put together a small team of his own - of friends and confidantes - and entrusted them with the job of implementing his vision for Twitter.
They appear to include Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-origin software engineer and former Twitter executive who left the company last year.
Last week, Mr Krishnan, who now works at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz or a16z, tweeted that he was "helping out Mr Musk temporarily".
Since then, his name has been trending in India, where many are bitter about the unceremonious sacking of former CEO Parag Agrawal and other Indian-origin executives.
It is not immediately clear in what capacity Mr Krishnan will be joining Twitter - the BBC contacted him for comment, but he said he "can't help right now with anything Twitter-related".
It's also hard to say how close his association with Mr Musk is at this point, though reports have repeatedly described him as a part of his "inner circle".
In a 2021 interview with Marina Mogilko, who runs a YouTube channel called Silicon Valley Girl, Mr Krishnan said he and his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy first got to know Mr Musk when he helped with "something Twitter-related" a few years ago and that they "built a relationship through that".
The couple also met Mr Musk during a private tour of SpaceX's headquarters in California "several years ago", according to The New York Times.
But the most prominent exchange between them came in February 2021 when Mr Musk appeared in a talk show the couple hosted on Clubhouse.
Social media burst out with incredulity - the world's richest man had just showed up on an invite-only app for an exclusive - and the show began to trend heavily.
Within minutes, the chatroom quickly hit the Clubhouse limit of 5,000 concurrent listeners as Mr Musk spoke about life on Mars, the possibility of aliens and about how one of his companies had wired up a monkey's brain to "play video games with his mind".
The Good Time Show, which has since moved to other platforms, continues to be hugely popular in the US.
The podcast offers a glimpse into the overlapping worlds of internet culture, politics and the latest developments in Silicon Valley, where Mr Krishnan and Ms Ramamurthy are well-known figures.
Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of a16z, says that Mr Krishnan is "perhaps the only person in the world to have served in senior product positions in the three biggest social platforms of our time", according to the company website. In addition to Twitter, the 37-year-old worked at Microsoft, Yahoo, Snap and Facebook in the past.
Ms Ramamurthy, meanwhile, worked at Facebook and Netflix before starting two of her own companies.
Together, they have been described as a well-connected "tech power couple".
Chennai years
Mr Krishnan was born in the southern Indian city of Chennai in what he described as a "very traditional" middle-income household.
His life changed when he convinced his father to buy him a computer - a luxury in the late 1990s.
"It cost about 60,000-70,000 rupees [$730-840; £638-744], a large part of my father's pay check," he told Ms Mogilko in the 2021 interview. "I told him I would use it for my studies."
But he still did not have internet because a dial-up connection was expensive and unaffordable.
So he would buy coding books instead to teach himself the basics, and practise every night.
Mr Krishnan met Ms Ramamurthy online in 2002 while studying engineering at Anna University in Chennai. By then, he was already on the path to becoming a software engineer. So was Ms Ramamurthy, a student in the same college.
"A mutual friend wanted to start a coding project, so he decided to get the two nerdiest people he knew - me and Aarthi - on board," he told Ms Mogilko.
The collaboration did not survive, but his and Ms Ramamurthy's relationship did. The couple continued to chat on Yahoo messenger for a year until they finally met in person.
Indians celebrate new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal
What next for Twitter under Elon Musk?
In the months to come, the internet continued to be the foundation of their relationship as they "idealised the myth of Silicon Valley" as the future of American endeavour, and dreamed of being there someday.
"One of our first dates was watching bit-torrent copy of a 1999 Silicon Valley film in my tiny room," Mr Krishnan said in the interview.
Their big break came a few months later when one of Mr Krishnan's blog posts on Microsoft was noticed by a company executive, who then hired the couple in 2005.
Life in America
In 2007, Mr Krishnan moved to the US and Ms Ramamurthy joined him six months later.
Mr Krishnan has said in the past that it took them a while to get used to living there, but work continued to be their solace.
After working at Microsoft, the couple moved on to other big tech companies. They got American citizenship in 2017, a moment Mr Krishnan has described in interviews as being on a par with their wedding and the birth of their first daughter.
Last December, they started their career as podcasters - a decision born out of pandemic-fuelled boredom, Mr Krishnan has explained in the past.
So, they decided to get on to Clubhouse, which became popular during the pandemic, to have conversations about the tech space.
The interviews are woven with analysis and candid repartee with experts, including the likes of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and the late fashion designer Virgil Aboh.
Twitter connection
While little is known about Mr Krishnan's ties with Mr Musk, he has been an open admirer of the billionaire in the past, describing him as an "inspirational person and an iconic founder".
He has also openly supported Mr Musk's vision for Twitter and criticised practices such as de-platforming on the microblogging website.
"Having extrajudicial internet cops that lead to enforcement on your platform is the road to dystopian authoritarianism," he wrote on Twitter last month.
There's speculation that Mr Musk might have got Mr Krishnan - a cryptocurrency expert - on board to integrate his dogecoin with Twitter.
Whether Mr Krishnan will become the next "Technoking" (Mr Musk's alternative title for CEO) of Twitter or not, interesting times lie ahead for the social platform - and Mr Krishnan could be right in the middle of it.-BBC
Tesla recalls 40,000 cars over power-steering fault
Tesla is recalling just over 40,000 cars in the US because of a potential power-steering problem.
Elon Musk's electric-car manufacturer says the vehicles' power-steering assist system may fail on rough roads or after hitting a pothole.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it could require greater steering effort, especially at low speeds, increasing crash risks.
Tesla has released a software update to recalibrate the system.
It was unaware of any injuries or deaths in connection with the problem, it said.
However, 314 vehicle alerts have been issued for US vehicles that may be related to the recall.
The recall affects the 2017-21 Model S and Model X vehicles.
Telsa said more than 97% of the recalled vehicles had installed an update that had already addressed the problem.
Separately, Tesla is recalling 53 2021 Model S exterior side rear-view mirrors built for the European market that do not comply with American "rear-visibility" requirements.
Tesla has issued 17 recall notices in 2022, covering 3.4 million vehicles.
In September, it recalled nearly 1.1 million cars in the US because the windows might close too fast and pinch people's fingers.
The Twitter effect
After buying Twitter, Mr Musk has reportedly been working with software engineers from Tesla to look under the bonnet of the social-media platform.
But his other business ventures appear to be suffering a knock-on effect, with Tesla investors continuing to sell off stock.
Its shares closed down 5% at $197.08 (£172.41) in New York on Monday, the lowest level since June 2021.
Investors are thought to be concerned the billionaire has become distracted by his latest acquisition and is paying less attention to his other companies.-BBC
Made.com goes bust with up to 500 jobs lost
Online furniture retailer Made.com has gone into administration, leading to the loss of up to 500 jobs.
The firm, which enjoyed soaring sales during Covid lockdowns, hit problems as households cut back and has appointed PWC as the administrator.
The fashion and furniture retailer Next is buying the Made.com brand name and intellectual property.
Thousands of customers face uncertainty over whether they will receive a refund for outstanding orders with Made.com.
Susanne Given, chair of Made, said: "Having run an extensive process to secure the future of the business, we are deeply disappointed that we have reached this point and how it will affect all our stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders."
She added: "We appreciate and deeply regret the frustration that [Made.com] going into administration will have caused for everyone."
Made.com announced its intention to appoint administrators last week.
It is a dramatic change in fortunes for the brand, which boomed during the pandemic-related lockdowns as people bought more furniture and other products online.
The retailer, which sourced furniture directly from designers and manufacturers, gained a loyal base of mostly younger customers. Last year, it was valued at £775m after floating on the London Stock Exchange.
But more recently the company hit problems, as households cut back on big-ticket purchases. Global supply chain issues have also left customers waiting months for deliveries. -BBC
UK firm Alstom builds monorail for COP27 host country
A UK company that has been contracted to build monorails for Cairo has said it has completed its first units.
Derby-based Alstom has finished its first 12 monorails in a move it hopes will cut emissions in Egypt, which is hosting the COP27 climate summit.
The company is part of a consortium delivering a €2.7bn (£2.3bn) contract to construct and run the monorail.
Alstom's Derby works site manager Mick Hughes said: "It's a fantastic project."
Mr Hughes said: "We secured the contract as part of a broader project to deliver new monorail systems in Egypt two years ago.
"We've actually been in the manufacturing stage for the past 18 months.
"It's one of the key projects we are delivering out of Derby."
'Technology for the future'
Mr Hughes said the firm had been contracted to build 70 four-car monorail trains.
The first units have been delivered to Cairo, with the first due to be tested by Egypt's Ministry of Transport this week.
"It's certainly getting a lot of focus, particularly in the developing world. It's a high-mass transport system for all cities," Mr Hughes said.
"I think that's why it's gained the approval in Cairo. It's very green technology.
"It's something to be really proud of for the UK in terms of our expert capability.
"In all, it's exciting technology for the future."
Cairo's monorail project includes one 57km (35 mile) line, to serve as a connection with Egypt's new administrative capital and a second 42km (26 mile) line connecting to Giza.
Alstom said its monorails would be fully automated and driverless and would have the capacity to transport 45,000 passengers per hour in each direction when complete.
Mr Hughes said that because monorails run above the ground, they were cheaper and lower risk to install in cities than a conventional tram system.
In 2019, Derby City Council's leader Chris Poulter suggested an idea for a monorail in the city to connect it to a possible HS2 hub.
Mr Hughes said he hoped a UK city would adopt the technology in the future.
"The UK would be the ideal place to continue this journey. All the engineering for this project is based in Derby," he said.
"I'd like to think in the future we could secure this technology for some of our larger cities."-BBC
Kids' Christmas toy pester-power limited by cost of living
Children's pester power is losing some of its impact in the run-up to Christmas owing to the soaring cost of living, an expert has said.
Melissa Symonds, UK director of toy analysts NPD, said parents were changing their shopping habits, ruling out some low-cost impulse purchases.
She said the "sweet spot" for retailers was toys priced from £20 to £50 that would last beyond the festive season.
Forecasts suggest toy sales are unlikely to rise this year.
The value of sales in the UK toys market in the first nine months of the year is down 5% compared with the same period last year, NPD analysis suggests.
"Parents are being stronger with pester power and saying 'no' at low price points, but they are not over-indulging at the highest prices either," Ms Symonds said.
She said that families were moving to the "middle-ground", even though £100 is typically spent on toys for children aged up to 10 at Christmas.
Toy library hopes to help families cope with rising costs
Second-hand buying in vogue as costs soar
Despite the predictions of stagnant or falling sales, retailers will be hopeful that the timing of Christmas Day boosts sales. It falls on a Sunday, giving them a full shopping week in advance - which was a bumper week the last time it happened in 2016.
The UK toy industry is still the second largest in Europe and the fifth biggest in the world.
As it unveiled its top 12 "dream toys" for Christmas, the Toy Retailers Association said it was conscious of the financial pressure facing families. However, people did still tend to prioritise spending on children for birthdays and Christmas, so toys at a range of prices were chosen.
"Kids are lucky enough to be put first," said Aimee Hill, a toy selector representing the association. "Half of the list of 12 is below £30 which is quite reasonable.
"People want fun this year more than ever because they are facing some real challenges."
The average price of the dozen highlighted toys - which include a fluffy guinea pig that gives birth to three pups - is just under £35. That is only £1 lower than the average last year, but nearly £10 cheaper than two years ago.
Across the market, the average cost of a toy is less than £10 during the year, and £13 at Christmas.
Ms Hill said that higher costs were not being passed on by the toy industry in the same way they had for groceries.
'Dreading' Christmas
Among those fearing the financial pressure of the festive season is Kerry, who is unable to work while awaiting surgery.
"My Christmas Day will be filled with guilt," the 47-year-old told the BBC. "I am absolutely dreading it."
"I am looking out for the cheap options for everything. I can't afford to get my youngest daughter a main present, so it will be bits I can scrape together.
"I never spoilt her, but it would be nice not to have to worry about things so much."
She said she was suggesting to relatives that they buy her daughter toiletries and practical items as presents.
"It is upsetting. You would want to get her a treat, not just something we use everyday," she said.
Barnardo's, the children's charity, said its survey work suggested about half of parents with children aged under 18 were expecting to spend less on presents and food and drink compared with previous years.
The financial company, Barclaycard forecast a "restrained approach to festivities" among consumers this year. This would include more buying of secondhand gifts and families setting spending limits to manage their costs, it said.-bbc
Kenya: IMF Approves U.S.$433 Million Financial Aid for Kenya
Nairobi — Kenya is set to receive USD433million(Sh52.7billion) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the USD2.34 billion(Sh284.8billion) facility approved in April last year.
The agreement is subject to the approval of IMF management and the Executive Board in the coming weeks.
"Upon completion of the Executive Board review, Kenya will have access to USD433 million, bringing the total IMF financial support under these arrangements to US$1,548 million," IMF said in a statement.
The funds will assist Kenya to cover external financing needs resulting from drought and challenging global financing conditions.
"The Kenyan economy has been resilient in the face of a challenging environment. Food insecurity has increased on severe drought in parts of the country. Higher food and energy prices have pushed up inflation and pressured the external position," the IMF said.
The multilateral lender noted that the peaceful completion of the country's elections lifted uncertainty and credit to the private sector is expanding.
IMF projects growth at 5.3 percent in 2022 amid domestic policy tightening and a global slowdown that are likely to also weigh on growth in 2023.
The medium-term outlook remains favorable, supported by proactive reform efforts by the new government.
"There has been good progress on fiscal adjustment needed to address debt vulnerabilities though pressures remain elevated. The overall deficit on cash basis declined from 8.2 per cent of GDP in FY2020/21 to 6.2 percent of GDP in FY2021/22," said IMF.
Despite the improved fiscal adjustment, IMF noted that a constrained borrowing environment for the country meant that planned external commercial financing did not materialize.
"The lack of funds contributed to 0.7 per cent of GDP in unpaid obligations that were carried over to FY2022/23. Significant unbudgeted spending in the early months of this fiscal year, much of it for fuel subsidies, pose an additional challenge," it said.
Looking forward, the IMF expects Kenya to continue with structural and governance reforms.
This includes completing efforts underway to publish beneficial ownership information for awarded government contracts, which will be a major step towards greater transparency and accountability.
Key among them is the reform of financially-troubled state-owned enterprises--including Kenya Airways and Kenya Power and Lighting Company.
-Capital FM.
Liberia, Guinea, S/Leone Sign Pact to Improve Cross-Border Trade, Revenue and Security in the Region
Monrovia — The Customs Department of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has signed an MOU with its Guinean and Sierra Leonean counterparts for mutual administrative assistance to combat customs crimes and boost customs revenues in the three countries.
The Customs authorities agreed to foster meaningful and more robust collaborations in facilitating cross-border trade and improved security to attract domestic resource mobilization in the three Mano River Union (MRU) countries.
The customs administrations signed the resolution over the weekend in the Guinean Capital, Conakry, at the close of their first tripartite meeting. Customs Commissioner Saa Saamoi signed the resolution for Liberia, while Sierra Leonean Customs Chief Abu Martin Kanneh and Guinea's Director General of Customs Brigadier General Moussa Camara signed for their respective countries.
The MOU contains a chain of immediate actions that seek to strengthen cohesion, solidarity, and cooperation in countering Customs frauds that are detrimental to the economic, commercial, fiscal, social, cultural, or security interests of the three countries.
The customs authorities resolved to strengthen cooperation among border officers, improve intelligence sharing, and called on their respective governments to rehabilitate roads and bridges to enhance trade facilitation and boost revenue collection.
The MRU Countries Customs Chiefs, in separate closing statements, underscored the need for mutual administrative assistance among them as a workable way of addressing revenue frauds, facilitating cross-border trades, and engendering regional security.
The need for customs collaboration among our three countries is imperative... in fighting security threats and revenue frauds," Liberia's Customs Commissioner Saa Saamoi insisted during the two-day meeting. Saamoi stressed, "Our borders are extremely porous, and it takes only collaboration among our countries and ports to put revenue fraud under control."
Commissioner Saamoi told the gathering that every customs transaction at any of the borders in the three countries "should be as transparent as much as possible," both for the businesses and revenue, adding that "the more transparent we are as customs officers, the more we facilitate trade" across the region.
Guinea's Customs Director General Camara added that cross-border criminality has increased in recent years and that the three countries needed to collaborate - with each playing its role - in arresting cross-border crimes in a region with multiple porous borders. He said the collaboration would help fight trade based money laundering and unwholesome cross-border crimes and trades.
The MOU, he said, contains recommendations and challenges which solutions that will require the interventions of state authorities. "We will take note of the challenges and find a way to solve them... we will take these matters to the political authorities," Camara said.
In his closing statement, Sierra Leonean Customs Chief Abu Martin Kanneh noted that "The only way we can succeed in fighting cross border crime and illicit trade is to collaborate,"Kanneh described the MOU as the beginning of a new era in the MRU region for customs administrations. He said they would work to help each other in terms of intelligence in tracking down customs-related crimes and protecting revenues.
Saamoi led an expert-based Liberian delegation, including Assistant Commissioner for Compliance and Enforcement Atty. D. Blamo Kofa; Manager for Anti-Smuggling and Investigations Unit (ASIU) Masu Fahnbulleh; Manager for Customs Collections and Enforcement Robert Pyne; Manager for Customs Risk Management and Intelligence Abraham F. Siafa, ASIU Supervisor Abel Sneh, among others.
The Liberia experts joined their counterparts in technical discussions, including producing, presenting, interpreting, and clarifying the 14-chapter, 27-section MOU.
The attendees believe that implementing the MOU can address the problems associated with commercial exchanges, transit operations, the fight against cross-border frauds and crimes, and the interconnectivity of automated systems among the three countries.
-FrontPageAfrica.
Kenya: President Ruto to Hold Talks With Ramaphosa
Nairobi — South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Nairobi for his first official visit.
President Ramaphosa was received at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua and Mining Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya
The two-day State visit will enable South Africa to deepen economic, political, cultural, and social relations with Kenya, the leading economy in the East African region.
Ramaphosa will meet his host President William Ruto, who jets back into the country from COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.
Though the visit will provide a platform for both countries to review progress on key areas of bilateral cooperation, the thorny issue of 'harsh' South African Visa policy towards Kenyans is expected to dominate the talks.
-Capital FM.
Kenya: Africa Data Centres to Add 1MW at Its Nairobi's Facility
Nairobi — Pan-African data center Africa Data Centres is adding 1 megawatts (MW) at its Nairobi's facility.
Construction of the facility, which began in mid-June, will take an estimated 40 weeks to complete, becoming the first EDGE® certified data centre in the region.
EDGE® certification is a green building certification system for emerging markets created by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.
It is a quantifiable way for developers to optimise designs, leading to a more marketable product and a better investment while promoting sustainability simultaneously.
EDGE® certification also helps keep certification localised, fast and inexpensive to promote more green construction by enabling developers to certify projects at a comparatively lower cost.
"East Africa Region is one of the Africa Data Centres' key markets as there is a skyrocketing- demand for data centres in the region," Africa Data Centres Managing Director Dan Kwach.
"The immediate 1MW facility is a key part of this expansion as Kenya is a critical African market in terms of being at the vanguard of hyperscale Data Centre demand and digital transformation in East Africa," he added.
According to the firm, the new facility will promote job creation, partner with local companies to build facilities, strengthen the economy, and promote social growth in all the regions of operations.
The expansion sits within the already Tier III Certified environment popularly known as the East Africa Data Centre facility.
The Sameer site is in the Sameer Business Park, the country's capital. This expansion brings an additional 717 square meters of white space, accommodating approximately 230 racks.
"The cold aisle containment will be completed to maintain cooling efficiencies and dedicated fresh air systems will manage humidity control for the hall," Kwach said.
In addition, all critical infrastructure and security systems will be managed and monitored around the clock. The facility will be ISO27001 and PCI DSS compliant to ensure top information security too," he noted.
The new facility aims to pave the way for Africa Data Centres hyperscale customers to deploy technology solutions to the region in low latency.
-Capital FM.
Malawi Fuel Crisis Shows No End in Sight
Blantyre — Drivers in Malawi are spending all night in long lines at fuel stations in hopes of filling their gas tanks as the country struggles with a weekslong fuel shortage.
Elizabeth Lingala runs a restaurant business in Blantyre market about six kilometers from her home in the Mpemba area. She said she stopped using her car Monday after a futile attempt to buy fuel at a pumping station.
"For example, last Sunday, I went there at 4:30 a.m. but up until 10 a.m., I had no fuel. And I had to leave that place. I am a woman. I have to take care of children. I have a home to run. I can't stay five hours at a fueling station waiting for fuel, which did not even come that day," she said.
Users also flooded social media with reports of some people being robbed of their phones and other property, and cars being broken into while motorists waited in line for fuel at night.
Fuel has been in short supply in Malawi for about two months.
Authorities say this is largely because of foreign exchange shortages, which affected the loading of fuel for Malawi at the ports in Beira, Mozambique and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
During a press conference over the weekend, government authorities failed to give clear answers to when the problem would end.
Henry Kachaje, executive director for the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority, said he hopes the situation will start to normalize from mid-November if efforts to source foreign exchange are achieved.
These include the $60 million the government said has been sourced to buy fuel.
"We also have some assurance that negotiations that have been ongoing with one international financier, are almost complete and one that comes on board, the National Oil Company, which is responsible for managing strategic oil reserves, will have adequate resources to help restock the strategic reserves," Kachaje said.
In the meantime, those in need of the commodity the most have been buying fuel from the black market, where prices are more than double the pump price.
To end the problem, the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority has suspended permits to buy fuel in bulk using jerry cans, saying many people were abusing it by purchasing fuel only to resell it on the black market.
Now, those who use generator sets are carrying their gadgets while waiting in line at gas stations.
Humphrey Mvula, a Blantyre-based analyst on good governance, said foreign exchange problems could have been avoided if President Lazarus Chakwera had not ended a financial assistance agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after taking power in 2020.
The Chakwera administration canceled the agreement, known as an Extended Credit Facility, over an allegation that the former administration of President Peter Mutharika falsified documents to the IMF on the administration of the ECF funds.
"The only unfortunate thing is that they decided to cancel the ECF to correct a problem before they had established other means of generating forex. Or before they had introduced contingency measures that would curtail excessive use of forex," Mvula said.
He added that the only solution for Malawi to resolve the foreign exchange issue is to embark on programs that would increase the country's export base rather than the current situation, where the country is heavily relying on imports and debt.
=VOA.
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INVESTORS DIARY 2022
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December 22
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December 26
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