Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 21 April 2023

Fri Apr 21 02:24:53 CAT 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 21 April 2023 

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

ü  South Africa: Economists Warn of Pressure on Consumers as Inflation
Surges 

ü  Kenya: Sakaja Proposes Free Parking Near Mosques Every Friday Between
12-2 - 30pm

ü  Nigeria: As More Players Spring Up, Stakeholders Optimistic Nigeria Will
Become Major Internet Exchange Hub in Africa

ü  Nigeria Has Not Defaulted in China Loan Repayment - DMO

ü  Kenyatta Ally Ngumi Paid Sh415mn for Telkom Buyout Advisory

ü  Kenya: Road Projects Worth Sh763bn Stalled Due to Budget Shortfall, CS
Murkomen Says

ü  NIPDB and World Bank Group Join Forces to Tackle Financing Challenges for
MSMEs

ü  Buzzfeed News to close as media firm cuts jobs

ü  Beyonce and the Pope among those to lose Twitter blue check in purge

ü  Business group CBI reports new 'criminal offence' to police

ü  Compensation plan for Neil Woodford investors revealed

ü  Elon Musk threatens to sue Microsoft over Twitter data

ü  US imposes $300m penalty over hard disk drive exports to Huawei

 <mailto:innovatorsforum at zitf.co.zw> 

South Africa: Economists Warn of Pressure on Consumers as Inflation Surges 

Economists say that South Africa's rising inflation rates, combined with an
already limping economy, are clearly straining consumers, reports EWN.
Economists had hoped that inflation would ease, but the consumer price index
has increased to 7.1%. Food prices are a major driver of this trend, with
food inflation peaking at 14.4% - the highest level since 2009. This is
causing hardship for low-income households, and there are concerns that it
could lead to further inflation in core services. Energy supply constraints
have also made it difficult for inflation to normalise, contributing to the
challenges faced by the economy.

Kenya: Sakaja Proposes Free Parking Near Mosques Every Friday Between 12-2 -
30pm

Nairobi — Nairobi Governor Johson Sakaja sys there will be free parking near
mosques in Nairobi every Friday between 12:00pm and 2:30pm to allow Muslims
to pray without obstacles.

Speaking on Wednesday while hosting Nairobi County IFTAR dinner, Sakaja
stated that he will present it to the finance committee in order to ensure
that the plan is implemented as quickly as possible.

"I want to announce and am happy I have the entire assembly here, Friday
from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm no parking fee near any mosque in Nairobi," he
said.

"We accept those that are coming to the mosque to be allowed and I will
bring this to the finance act so as to be done legally so we can allow our
brothers and sisters go to mosque and pray without any obstacles, kindly no
clamping at that time!"

He warned the non-Muslim members of the public not to take advantage of the
chance provided for Muslims, saying that they would work with the mosque
leaders to ensure it was done appropriately.

He also added that the Jamia Mosque is a revered place of worship, thus the
county will look into making sure no business stalls are built around it.

Quoting the Bible verse (Mathew 21:12 when Jesus chased out business people
who were selling and buying in the temple, he made the pledge that traders
would not be permitted to do any hawking or even to pollute the Mosque's
surroundings as it is not appropriate.

"The chief officer of the environment kindly Make sure you restore that
environment to have the respect it deserves and there are no stalls that
will be erected there, it is a place of worship and even Jesus chased out
business people in the temple thus we will not allow the Jamia Mosque to be
disrespected," he said.

Capital FM.

Nigeria: As More Players Spring Up, Stakeholders Optimistic Nigeria Will
Become Major Internet Exchange Hub in Africa

Following the rise in the establishment of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)
in Nigeria, occasioned by the increasing demand for data and internet
connectivity, industry stakeholders are of the view that Nigeria will soon
become the major Internet Exchange Hub in Africa.

Their optimism is hinged on the fact that established IXPs in Nigeria are
already extending access to internet connectivity across Africa.

The recent historic entrance of additional two IXPs: AMS-IX and AF-CIX from
MDXi and Rack Centre respectively, into the Nigerian internet space, brings
the total number of established IXPs in Nigeria to seven, a development that
has positioned Nigeria as future Internet Exchange Hub in Africa, given the
infrastructural capacities of the international IXPs that have established
in Nigeria.

Pleased with the growth and expansion of IXPs in Nigeria, the Chief
Executive Officer, Internet Xchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Mr. Mohammed
Rudman, told THISDAY that the rise of IXPs in Nigeria would lead to
increased domestication of data, reduction in the cost of internet access
and exchange cost, with reduced latency in interconnectivity.

Head, Interconnection and Exchange Platform at Rack centre, Mr. Obinna
Adumike, said multiple IXPs in the African regional markets, would improve
the quality and reliability of the internet.

According to Rudman, in Africa, internet access is predominantly via mobile
devices, and the Internet Xchange Points (IXPs) are connected to all the
network operators in the ecosystem, for the exchange of internet traffic.

"IXPs have formed network access points, through which institutions and
organisations can connect to the internet. In Nigeria, locally domesticated
internet traffic has increased from 30 per cent to 70 per cent within the
last seven years. As of today, Nigeria is at level two, where at least 70
per cent of the internet traffic from major service providers is connected
to the IXPN, while only about 30 per cent of internet traffic is connected
to international exchanges," Rudman said.

AMS-IX, which launched in Nigeria last week, is one of the largest Internet
Exchange operators in the world. It partnered MDXi, an Equinix company, to
launch a new Internet Exchange in Lagos, Nigeria.

The new Internet Exchange, AMS-IX Lagos, is situated in the carrier-neutral
data center of MDXi, an Equinix Company. Under terms of the partnership,
MDXi will serve as the commercial partner of AMS-IX and regional sales and
marketing arm for AMS-IX Lagos. AMS-IX is expected run the technical and
operational management of the exchange.

AMS-IX Lagos aims to become an important content hub for West Africa,
enabling regional and local Internet Service Providers (ISPs), carriers, and
Internet Exchanges to aggregate content from large global content delivery
networks, hosting companies and application providers.

CEO of AMS-IX, Peter van Burgel, said: "We intend to add value to the local
carriers and IX's by attracting even more content players to the region and
support the local connectivity community. This is a very exciting project
for us as we see it as an important steppingstone for bringing low-latency
affordable internet available for the West-African region."

Director, MDXi, an Equinix Company, Funke Opeke, said: "The partnership
enables MDXi deliver value to the rich ecosystem of network operators,
carriers, content providers, cloud services providers, and enterprises that
we have present in the data center. The AMS-IX partnership will help MDXi
consolidate its role as content hub not just for Nigeria, but for
Francophone and English-speaking West and Central Africa."

In a related development, AF-CIX has also been launched in Nigeria to boost
internet speed and improve network performance for Internet Service
Providers, Content Delivery Networks, Cloud Providers and Enterprises.

The platform is hosted in Rack Centre as part of innovations to support the
growth of the internet in Africa through effective and functional traffic
localisation, enterprise digitisation acceleration, and community support.

Speaking on the innovation, Adumike explained that integrating AF-CIX to
DE-CIX would no doubt help Nigerian businesses have direct access to the
entire portfolio of DE-CIX, thereby offering them access to networks in more
than 150 cities and over 80 countries. He stated that with the platform,
participants or businesses would enjoy the largest aggregation of cloud,
content, with direct integration to more than 20 IXPs across the globe.

-This Day.

Nigeria Has Not Defaulted in China Loan Repayment - DMO

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has denied the claim in a report by a
national daily which alleged that federal government has defaulted in debt
repayment to China for which the report claims, penalties stand at N41.31
billion.

The report claimed that Nigeria has failed to fully service its debt to
China, saying the loan obligation to China had accumulated to N110.31
billion in the last two years, a claim that was strongly rebutted by the
debt office yesterday.

"The public is advised to ignore the publication as it is FALSE," the DMO
said in a statement that was issued in Abuja.

As at 2021, Chinese loans to Nigeria stood at $3.59 billion, which
constituted only 9.4 percent of Nigeria's total foreign debt stock of $37.9
billion.

Director-general of the debt office, Ms Patience Oniha has often allayed
fears over the Chinese loans, saying they are all concessional loans, and
that there is no need to be worried about them.

"They are all project-tied which I think Nigeria should be happy about,"
Oniha in a previous media interview in a reaction to similar concerns by
some Nigerians.

"A closer look at the media publication shows that the body of the
publication is completely detached from the headline which gives the
impression that the publishers of the report may have set out to mislead the
public," the DMO said.

The DMO again, assuaged concerns that Nigeria will ever renege on payment of
the Chinese loans, saying the "false" information is simply an imagination
of mischief makers who want to create unnecessary bad impression in the
public space.

"The public is assured that Nigeria is fully committed to honouring its debt
obligations and has not defaulted on any of its debt service obligations.
The media report should therefore be dis-regarded," the DMO stated.

-Leadership.

Kenyatta Ally Ngumi Paid Sh415mn for Telkom Buyout Advisory

Nairobi — Former President Uhuru Kenyatta's ally John Ngumi had a hard time
explaining to MPs how he was paid Sh415 million as a transaction advisor for
the Sh6.2 billion Telkom Kenya buyout by the government.

Ngumi who appeared before the Joint Committee of Finance and National
Planning and Communication, Innovation and Information of the National
Assembly told Members of Parliament that he was paid the lump sum for being
the best in the market.

"For Helios to invest it needs to have the highest possible level of advice
it can get in order not to make a mistake. You are looking at an investment
anywhere around USD10 million or USD500 million you can't afford to make a
mistake," he stated. "Therefore you go out to get the best in the business."

Lawmakers had questioned how Ngumi was awarded the payment amounting to
USD10 million for issuing being a transaction advisor for a period of five
months

"What kind of skills did you possibly bring on board in these transactions
that had an investment banker, lawyers that would make you be paid Sh
350million?" the Chair of Finance Committee Kimani Kuria posed.

Kitui Rural MP David Mbooni raised queries on why Jamhuri Limited contracted
Ngumi solely on the transaction advisory instead of contracting the services
of his company Eagle Africa Capital Partners.

"You are the owner of Eagle Africa Capital Partners but this contract you
have with Jamhuri holding is a contract between you as a person and Jamhuri?
Why is that? Why did they contract Eagle Partners and not you?" said Mbooni.

A section of the lawmakers alluded to the fact that former President Uhuru
Kenyatta's ally had advised Jamhuri Limited to sell Telkom Kenya in order to
reap the hefty payment.

Ngumi however told legislators that having worked with the mother company
Helios Invest in previous transactions they were confident he would
efficiently advise Jamhuri Limited to exit the Kenyan market.

"Helios and Jamhuri approached me, I didn't approach them. They approached
in 2021 because I was the existing advisor with Helios with a mandate to
work on specific transactions," he said.

"They approached me with an angry narrative, it was an angry company. This
company felt it had come to Kenya on basis of certain undertakings but it
was not the case."

The owner of Eagle Africa Capital Partners outlined how Jamhuri Limited was
frustrated with their investment in the country forcing them to exit.

"This is nonsense, what are we doing here? We made at Equity and Flamingo,
why are we wasting time here and being treated as if we are not a 60 percent
shareholder as if this company is not our company," Ngumi narrated.

The acquisition of Telkom Kenya by the government has been coupled with
controversy after the Treasury withdrew Sh6.09 billion on August 5, 2022,
and paid Jamhuri Holdings Ltd, a Mauritius-based subsidiary of Helios basing
the transaction on Article 223 of the Constitution.

Revelations by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakangó before the committee
however indicated the National Treasury bypassed her in the transaction.

The Controller of Budget must approve the withdrawal of cash from the
government's main accounts and has powers to block access to funds suspected
to breach the law.

In March, Nyakang'o said that she didn't give a nod for the withdrawal of
the billions to buy out Telkom Kenya from Helios Invest.

"I rejected some of the withdrawals including the Sh6,091,140,702 that was
funding to cater for the exit of Helios Investment in Telkom Kenya Ltd. And
this was in writing," said Nyakang'o.

Article 223 of the Constitution gives the Treasury the latitude to spend on
emergencies without the approval of Parliament by withdrawing funds from the
Consolidated Fund.

However, the law demands that the Treasury must report the same for
regularization by the House.

-Capital FM.

Kenya: Road Projects Worth Sh763bn Stalled Due to Budget Shortfall, CS
Murkomen Says

Nairobi — Transport and Roads Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has
reiterated that the government will not initiate new infrastructural
projects due to the budget shortfall in financing the projects.

CS Murkomen made revelations while answering questions on the floor of the
House stating that his docket has 800 stalled projects worth Sh763 billion
as of February 28 subject to increased figures due to accrued interest.

Murkomen who made an appearance before the National Assembly plenary told
MPs that unless a project is funded by a congressional grant, they will not
embark on it.

"As a result of the economic situation we have made a decision as Kenya
Kwanza government to stop digging into the financial hole and as a result of
that we are not starting any more projects unless it is funded by
development partners," he said.

The Ministry of Transport and Roads owes contractors Sh145 billion pending
bills for certified work on road constructions to local and foreign
contractors with some money used for land acquisition due to budget deficit
over previous financial years.

"We are working with the National Treasury to allow us to negotiate with
some contractors who are willing to resume work through a plan that has seen
a few road projects being constructed," Murkomen stated.

Previous regimes have spent massively on infrastructure projects in recent
years most of which was money borrowed by the Jubilee government.

Budget cuts fronted by President William Ruto's administration are set to
delay major infrastructure projects as the government moves away from
spending on areas considered of lower priority.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is pressing Kenya to implement a sound
fiscal space by cutting expenditures while collecting more revenues, part of
the conditions for the continuity of the 38-month budgetary support program.

-Capital FM.

NIPDB and World Bank Group Join Forces to Tackle Financing Challenges for
MSMEs

The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) and the World
Bank Group have successfully concluded the Chelete Cage pitch event,
providing a crucial platform for innovative startups and micro, small, and
medium enterprises (MSMEs) to raise funds and meet their capital needs. The
initiative, held recently in Windhoek, marks a significant milestone in the
Namibian Government's efforts to address the persistent challenge of access
to finance that MSMEs face in Namibia.

Chelete Cage provided eight (8) investment-ready Namibian MSMEs in the food
processing, cosmetics and manufacturing, tech and logistics industries with
an opportunity to pitch their business concepts for a capital amount of N$30
000, N$20 000 and N$10 000 for their businesses. Additionally, the MSMEs
were offered access to non-monetary support, including guidance on how to
approach potential investors and tips on perfecting their pitch. In the
main, the project aims to empower MSME's and encourage them to take a
critical look at their business models, market positioning, and growth
potential. Through this process, they can identify areas for improvement and
refine their approach, in order to ultimately expand and scale their
operations.

The pitching MSMEs were selected from the Know2Grow High Potential Pool (K2G
HPP), a specialised program designed by the NIPDB to assist MSMEs with high
potential to export their products. K2G HPP provides an array of
export–focused capacity building and market access opportunities for
Namibian MSMEs, including initiatives such as Chelete Cage that aim to
unlock access to finance opportunities that will enable businesses to expand
their businesses and export their products into larger domestic and
international markets.

The winners of the Chelete Cage Pitch are:

Ndaka Mushrooms & Processing by Abner Tomas, awarded first prize of N$
30,000.00.

Ndaka Mushrooms and Processing CC is a company that specialises in
sustainable mushroom farming and processing, offering fresh organic
mushrooms, grow kits, spawns, and short-term training on mushroom
cultivation.

Ilotu Investment CC by Mareka Masule, awarded second prize of N$ 20,000.00.

Ilotu is a Namibian-owned company that produces organic and natural
cosmetics and offers fitness and health services to promote holistic
well-being.

K12 Edtech Inc by Loide Dawid, awarded third prize of N$10,000.00.

K12 EdTech is an educational technology company that digitises, streamlines,
and automates academic and mundane tasks for kindergarten to senior
secondary education.

Speaking about his experience during Chelete Cage, Mr Tomas shared that it
was an eye-opening experience that provided a great networking platform. He
added that the coaching sessions were helpful for his business. "When I was
announced as the winner, I felt grateful and humble. I have used about N$ 10
000 of my winnings to purchase materials which I'm currently using to build
an extra nine (9) square metres mushroom fruiting room, so we increase our
weekly mushroom production. With the remaining amount of N$ 20 000, I plan
to improve our product standards and obtain necessary certifications with
the Namibia Standard Institution (NSI) and the Namibia Agronomic Board
(NAB)." he stated.

The winners were selected by a panel of independent judges on the following
criteria:

Identification of a clear problem in the market that is being solved

·         Feasibility of the business

·         Scalability of the business

·         Market potential

·         Sustainability of the business model

·         Traction and Investment potential

·         The skills of the team.

Aligned with the NIPDB's mandate to coordinate MSME activities and support
their growth and development across all levers of the economy, the
initiative recognises the critical role that MSMEs play in driving economic
growth and job creation, and the challenges they face in accessing finance
to support their operations. Therefore, Chelete Cage is part of the NIPDB's
initiatives to bridge the access to finance gap and help MSMEs grow. The
next instalment of Chelete Cage will take place later this year.

Contact Person:

Catherine Shipushu

Senior Manager: Marketing, Branding and Communications Namibia Investment
Promotion and Development Board

Buzzfeed News to close as media firm cuts jobs

Buzzfeed is to close its news site and cut its workforce by 15%, chief
executive Jonah Peretti has said.

It comes as the digital media company faces serious financial challenges,
including a slump in advertising spending.

Calling the decisions "deeply painful", Mr Peretti said he could not invest
more in the unprofitable news site.

He said the firm would focus on delivering news via the HuffPost, which
Buzzfeed took over two years ago.

"Our industry is hurting and ready to be reborn," he said in a memo to
staff. "We are taking great pains today, and will begin to fight our way to
a bright future."

Founded in 2006, Buzzfeed was once one of the trendiest names in online
media, known for its quizzes and viral content, as well as a serious news
operation.

But the firm, which employed more than 1,300 people globally at the end of
last year, has shifted away from news, as bringing in ad revenue and
audiences became more difficult and other lines of business, such as
producing custom content, grew more quickly.

It listed on the stock exchange in 2021, but raised far less money than it
had hoped.

"While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we've determined
that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a
standalone organization," Mr Peretti wrote to staff.

Many other advertising-reliant companies, including media firms and tech
giants such as Facebook's owner Meta, have been making job cuts in recent
months, while investors have been forced to reassess the values of upstart
news ventures such as Vice News and Vox Media. News company Insider also
revealed plans on Thursday to reduce its workforce by 10% or about 95 jobs.

Mr Peretti said his company, which will continue to operate HuffPost, its
food brand Tasty, Complex Networks, and its namesake website, had faced
wider challenges but he also blamed himself.

He said he had been "slow to accept" the difficulties of making money from
online news with distribution dominated by big tech platforms. The firm
should have generated more revenue after acquiring Complex in 2021, which
runs the music site Complex and other brands, he added.

"I could have managed these changes better as the CEO of this company and
our leadership team could have performed better despite these
circumstances." he said.

In her own memo to staff, parts of which she shared on social media,
Buzzfeed News editor-in-chief Karolina Waclawiak said the company should
have tried to build a business around its news site earlier, describing the
closure as "avoidable".

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She said the failure was indicative of a wider crisis in journalism and she
feared the results if subscription-based news models were the only ones that
survive.

"The implication is that only people who can afford to pay for it will have
access to high quality information while everyone else will need to parse
through the rampant misinformation that is widely shared across social
platforms," she wrote. "The consequences of this are dire."

Buzzfeed had already announced several rounds of layoffs in recent years,
including one in December that affected roughly 170 people or 12% of staff.

The latest cuts involve about 180 jobs. Buzzfeed said it expected to incur
$7m (£5.6m) - $11m (£8.8m) in severance and other charges connected to the
move.

Some of the news staff may find roles in other parts of the firm, the
company said.

Shares fell 20% on Thursday on the news, reducing Buzzfeed's market value to
about $100m (£80m) - a fraction of the more than $1.5bn (£1.2bn) valuation
investors were reportedly discussing just two years ago.-bbc

Beyonce and the Pope among those to lose Twitter blue check in purge

What do Beyoncé and Pope Francis have in common? As of today, they are no
longer verified on Twitter.

The social media giant began removing the once-coveted blue check
verification from thousands of accounts on Thursday.

The move comes as owner Elon Musk attempts to overhaul the social media
company to turn a profit.

Users who wish to retain the check beside their name must pay $84 a year
(£67) to subscribe to Twitter Blue.

As the change happened, many formerly verified voiced took to Twitter to
joke about it, or mourn the loss.

The company first introduced the verification feature in 2009, after a
former professional baseball player sued the social media giant over
imposter accounts.

The blue check became a status symbol and a sign of authority. But in the
new Twitter-verse, Mr Musk wants users to pay to be verified.

The decision to monetise verification could usher in a massive cultural and
power shift on the platform.

In the days before verification, Kanye West, Shaq and Ewan McGregor were
among the first celebrities to speak out about being impersonated on
Twitter. Now that the badges are gone, a celebrity's follower count may
become the only way to tell the difference between someone famous and an
imposter.

Mr Musk has tried to frame the decision to do away with verification as a
way to democratise content on the site. But critics have argued the move
will amplify disinformation as Twitter Blue subscribers will get prioritised
rankings - Mr Musk has said that only verified accounts will appear in the
site's prominent For You stream.

Social media monitors and experts fear the rise in paid verification will
lead to an amplification of misinformation on the site. If that were to
happen, it could scare off yet more advertisers - and undermine any extra
revenue Twitter is getting from its verification subscription model.

But Mr Musk said pain is a part of change.

"I feel like we're headed to a good place," he told BBC News. "Overall, I
think the trend is very good."-bbc

Business group CBI reports new 'criminal offence' to police

Business group giant the CBI says it has handed over additional information
about what it describes as a serious criminal offence to the police.

The City of London police is already investigating claims a woman was raped
at a CBI summer party in 2019.

The BBC understands that the "additional information" relates to a new
allegation.

The CBI has been engulfed in a crisis over a range of allegations including
sexual harassment and misconduct.

The organisation is one of the UK's leading business lobby groups and claims
to speak for 190,000 companies.

In a statement, it said: "Late yesterday afternoon the CBI was made aware of
additional information relating to a report of a serious criminal offence.

"We have passed that information immediately to the police, with whom we are
liaising closely and who have asked us not to comment further on potentially
criminal matters".

The BBC has contacted the City of London police for comment.

The CBI also said it was expecting the results of an investigation into the
allegations by the law firm Fox Williams "imminently".

"The board will be communicating its response to this and other steps we are
taking to bring about the wider change that is needed early next week."

The original allegations emerged after the Guardian reported that more than
a dozen woman claimed they had been subject to various forms of sexual
misconduct at the CBI.

The CBI has since suspended three employees while the investigation took
place.

Separately, the lobby group fired its director general Tony Danker in April
following complaints of workplace misconduct against him.

Mr Danker admitted to the BBC that he had made some staff feel "very
uncomfortable", adding: "I apologise for that."

However, he said that his "reputation has been totally destroyed" because
his name had been wrongly associated with separate claims including of
serious sexual assault that were made at the CBI before he joined.

He said that his dismissal letter had set out four reasons for firing him
and added he was considering legal action against the CBI.

But Brian McBride, president of the CBI, told the BBC that Mr Danker's
description of events was "selective" and he was free to seek "redress" if
he felt unfairly treated.

He claimed that Mr Danker had been sacked on strong legal grounds.

A former CBI staff member, who was in touch with existing workers at the
organisation, said they were "furious" and "upset" by Mr Danker's interview.

"It's important that we remember who the victims of this situation are: the
women who've had negative experiences with men at the CBI," she said.

"They have described to me feeling furious, grossed out and upset by
Danker's attempts to downplay his role in this situation. As director
general, Danker bore responsibility not only for his own actions but for the
culture of the organisation under which numerous men acted inappropriately.

"He shouldn't be permitted to sweep that under the carpet."

What counts as sexual harassment at work?

The CBI said on Thursday: "Recognising the need for confidentiality, we urge
anyone, including the media, who has further information in relation to any
alleged offence to also report that to the police."

Rain Newton-Smith, formerly the CBI's chief economist, has been named as the
lobby group's new director general. She had left to join Barclays, the
banking group.

When the CBI announced Ms Newton-Smith's appointment, it also said that it
was taking "a number of steps to bring in new leadership and make immediate
changes to the way we operate".

These included appointing Jill Ader, an existing board member of the CBI, to
"oversee a root-and-branch review of our culture, governance and processes"
and lead a new sub-committee with Mr McBride.

Commenting on Ms Newton-Smith's appointment, Ann Francke, the chief
executive of the Chartered Management Institute, told the BBC: "I'm not sure
there was a huge amount of openness and transparency around the process and
obviously you can question whether somebody who was there is the right
change agent to change the culture."

She added that organisations typically look for outsiders to come in
"because it is easier to be objective and it is easier to point to the
things that need to change".

"And clearly one of the things that needs to change is a better
understanding of and better mechanisms for dealing with sexual harassment
and a change in workplace culture that makes people comfortable."

Mr McBride admitted last week that a "handful" of small companies had left
the CBI since the allegations had emerged.

Since then, the British Insurance Brokers' Association has also left,
stating: "We have withdrawn our membership of the CBI in light of recent
reports."

The government has also "paused" its engagement with the CBI.-bbc

Compensation plan for Neil Woodford investors revealed

Investors who lost money when a fund managed by big-name stockpicker Neil
Woodford collapsed are in line for compensation.

The City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said people who
had money invested when the fund was suspended could receive a share of
£235m in redress.

That would amount to about 77p in every pound they had invested.

For the money to be paid, investors will need to approve the plan.

Various other conditions will also need to be fulfilled, such as the sale of
some assets.

Therese Chambers, from the FCA, said the proposal offered the best possible
outcome for the 300,000 trapped investors who lost money.

Fall from grace

Mr Woodford was one of the UK's most high profile investment managers and
when he set up his own managed fund, he came with an impressive reputation.
He was as close to a household name as is possible in the world of
investing.

Investors, ranging from ordinary people to pension funds, put money into the
Woodford Equity Income Fund. At its peak, the fund was reportedly managing
more than £10bn.

But as they became increasingly worried about the investments being made on
their behalf, many withdrew their money. More than £500m was taken out in
four weeks and in June 2019 the fund was frozen. It was later closed and is
being wound up.

The spectacular fall of fund manager Neil Woodford

The fund administrator which made that decision was Link Fund Solutions. As
the authorised corporate director of the fund, it had a responsibility to
ensure that the fund was being managed with appropriate levels of liquidity
and risk, and that all investors were treated fairly.

The FCA said there were "critical mistakes and errors" made by Link in its
duties. As a result, those who had money in the fund when it was suspended
were left with a disproportionate share of the remaining assets that were
less easy to access, and difficult to use to repay investors who wanted to
leave. Nearly four years on, some of those assets remain unsold.

The FCA and Link Group have agreed a pay-out of about £235m to these
investors, which is funded, in part, by the sale of the Link business. This
is less than an earlier statement by the FCA, which suggested investors
would get a share of £298m.

'Sorry episode'

Investors are receiving a letter now about the proposal, and should receive
further information about the timetable of events in July. They will need to
vote to approve the deal for payments to be made.

"It would be a surprise if Woodford investors didn't approve the deal given
how long this has dragged on for," said Ryan Hughes, from investment
platform AJ Bell.

"While it will take some time for this redress process to complete and for
payments to be made, investors are one step closer to being able to finally
put this whole sorry episode to bed."

The events leading up to the fund's collapse in October 2019 are still being
investigated by the FCA in what it described as a "complex" inquiry. The
saga also prompted separate lawsuits on behalf of investors.

Mr Woodford has said he was "very sorry for what I did wrong", but has
criticised the decision by Link to suspend the fund.-bbc

Elon Musk threatens to sue Microsoft over Twitter data

Twitter boss Elon Musk has threatened to sue Microsoft as he accused the
technology giant of using data from his social media company without
permission.

"They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time," the
multi-billionaire said in a tweet.

Mr Musk was responding to Microsoft's plan to remove Twitter from its
corporate advertising platform.

He did not provide further details or evidence to support the claim.

Microsoft declined to comment when approached by the BBC on Thursday.

Earlier, the company said in a notice that its advertising platform would
"no longer support Twitter" from Tuesday 25 April.

As a result, ad buyers would not be able to access their Twitter accounts
through Microsoft's social management tool.

"Other social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn will
continue to be available," Microsoft said.

Twitter's press email responded to a query with a customary poo emoji.

In a separate tweet, in the discussion about the social media platform's
data, Mr Musk said he was "open to ideas".

"But ripping off the Twitter database, demonetizing it (removing ads) and
then selling our data to others isn't a winning solution," he added.

In February, Twitter started charging for the data it collects from
"hundreds of millions" of users, with a basic plan starting at $100 a month.

The data allows users to "manage and track every aspect of your social media
presence", according to the platform.

Since buying Twitter for $44bn (£35.4bn) in October, Mr Musk has cut its
workforce by around 80% and moved to boost the company's finances through
measures including charging users for "blue tick" verification.

In recent months, major companies including iPhone maker Apple reportedly
halted advertising on the platform over concerns about how content was
moderated on the site.

In November, Mr Musk said Twitter had seen a "massive" drop in revenue and
blamed activists for pressuring advertisers.

Speaking to the BBC last week, he said Twitter had just months left to live
when he took over. He also said "almost all advertisers have come back or
said they are going to come back" to Twitter.

Mr Musk added that Twitter could be profitable by the second quarter of
2023, and he would be willing to sell the company if the right person came
along.

-bbc

US imposes $300m penalty over hard disk drive exports to Huawei

US authorities have imposed a $300m (£241m) penalty on tech firm Seagate for
allegedly violating export controls of hard disk drives to China's Huawei.

Seagate Technology shipped more than $1.1bn worth of goods to Huawei after
export controls were introduced in 2020, the Department of Commerce said.

The penalty is the latest move by the US government to stop sales of
sophisticated technology to China.

US authorities have said such equipment may be used by China's military.

Seagate shipped 7.4 million drives to Huawei for about a year after the rule
was imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump,
according to the Commerce Department.

It continued to do so "even after Huawei was placed on the Entity List for
conduct inimical to our national security," Matthew Axelrod of the
department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said.

"This settlement is a clarion call about the need for companies to comply
rigorously with BIS export rules, as our enforcement team works to ensure
both our national security and a level playing field," Mr Axelrod added.

Huawei's other two main hard drive suppliers had stopped exports to the
Chinese firm in accordance with the new rule, the department said.

The penalty will be paid in instalments of $15m every three months for the
next five years, Seagate said.

It comes as the US continues its drive to curb sales of technology, such as
advanced computer chips, to China.

Huawei was put on a US trade restrictions list in 2019 as part of
Washington's efforts to cut sales of American goods to the company over
national security and foreign policy concerns.

Washington has said the technology could be used by the Chinese military to
support human rights abuses or threaten US national security in other ways.

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied the allegations.

In recent years, many Western countries have taken measures against Chinese
technology firms over security fears.

Companies specialising in 5G technology such as Huawei, ZTE and Hytera have
been banned from installing equipment on networks in the US, Australia,
Japan, India, and Canada.

Meanwhile, the UK government has ordered equipment installed by Huawei to be
removed from 5G networks by 2027.

Earlier this week, Chinese surveillance technology giant Hikvision denied
that it was illegally disguising its products sold to the US government to
enable Chinese espionage.

It was responding to BBC queries about allegations revealed in a recently
leaked Pentagon document.-bbc

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2023

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Workers’ Day

May 1

Africa Day

May 25

Companies under Cautionary

CBZH

TSL

Fidelity

Willdale

FMHL

ZBFH

GetBucks

Zimre

Seed Co

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from s 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 d from third parties.

(c) 2023 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell:
+263 77 344 1674

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