Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 February 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 07 February 2023 

 


 

 


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ü  Energy giant BP sees record profits of $28bn

ü  Boeing: Plane maker plans to cut 2,000 office jobs this year

ü  Adani Group: Can embattled India tycoon recover from $100bn loss?

ü  Google launches ChatGPT rival called Bard

ü  Digital pound likely this decade, Treasury says

ü  Tech lay-offs: Dell to cut workforce

ü  South Africa's power cuts hit vineyards: No power, no pinot

ü  One in five homes have not cashed energy vouchers

ü  Register of Overseas Entities: What three luxury homes reveal about who
owns UK property

ü  Nissan warns costs must fall to make new electric cars in UK

ü  Nigeria: Outlook for Nigeria's Upstream Oil, Gas Sector Positive for 2023
- Report

ü  Nigeria: House Moves to Unravel Alleged 48m Barrels of Crude Oil Theft

ü  Nigeria: Naira Redesign, Fuel Scarcity Could Escalate Tension Ahead of
Polls - World Bank

ü  Kenya - Court Rules Workers Can Sue Facebook

ü  Lesotho: More Fired Civil Servants Sue Govt

 


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Energy giant BP sees record profits of $28bn

Energy giant BP has reported record annual profits after oil and gas prices
surged last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

The company's profits more than doubled to $27.7bn (£23bn) in 2022, compared
with $12.8bn the year before.

 

Other energy firms have seen similar rises, with Shell reporting record
earnings of nearly $40bn last week.

 

The profits have led to calls for energy firms to pay more tax as many
households struggle with rising bills.

 

BP boss Bernard Looney said the British company was "helping provide the
energy the world needs" and investing the transition to green energy.

 

Energy prices had begun to climb following the end of Covid lockdowns but
rose sharply in March last year after Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking
concerns about supplies.

 

The price of Brent crude oil reached nearly $128 a barrel following the
invasion, but has since fallen back to about $80. Gas prices also spiked but
have come down from their highs.

 

It has led to bumper profits for energy companies, but also fuelled a rise
in energy bills for households and businesses.

 

Last year, the UK government introduced a windfall tax - called the Energy
Profits Levy - to help fund its scheme to lower gas and electricity bills.

 

The windfall tax only applies to profits made from extracting UK oil and
gas. The rate was originally set at 25%, but has now been increased to 35%.

 

Oil and gas firms also pay 30% corporation tax on their profits as well as a
supplementary 10% rate. Along with the new windfall tax, that takes their
total tax rate to 75%, although companies are able to reduce the amount of
tax they pay by factoring in losses or spending on things like
decommissioning North Sea oil platforms.-bbc

 

 

 

Boeing: Plane maker plans to cut 2,000 office jobs this year

Plane maker Boeing plans to cut about 2,000 jobs in finance and human
resources this year, as it focuses on engineering and manufacturing.

 

The move comes as the company puts more of its resources into "products,
services and technology development".

 

It will outsource some of the roles to Tata Consulting Services, a unit of
one of India's largest conglomerates.

 

Boeing has faced a number of issues in recent years, including the grounding
of its 737 Max after two fatal crashes.

 

"We have and will continue to communicate transparently with our teams that
we expect lower staffing within some corporate support functions," the
company told the BBC.

 

"As always, we will support affected teammates and provide assistance and
resources to support their transition," it added.

 

Around a third of the jobs will be outsourced to Tata Consulting Services,
which is based in Bangalore (also known as Bengaluru).

 

However, Boeing also said that it will continue to increase its headcount
"with a focus on engineering and manufacturing".

 

On top of the 15,000 people it hired in 2022, the company said it aims to
recruit another 10,000 this year.

 

The aviation giant has been working to turn itself around after its 737 Max
passenger jet was grounded worldwide after two fatal accidents.

 

On 29 October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes
after taking off from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport,
killing all 189 passengers and crew.

 

Less than five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, another Boeing
737 Max on its way to Kenya, crashed six minutes after leaving Ethiopia's
capital Addis Ababa. All 157 people on board were killed.

 

It later emerged that both accidents were triggered by design flaws, in
particular the use of flight control software known as the "Maneuvering
Characteristics Augmentation System" (MCAS).

 

The system was designed to assist pilots familiar with previous generations
of the 737, and prevent them from needing costly extra training in order to
fly the new model.

 

But sensor failures caused it to malfunction, and in both cases it forced
the aircraft into a catastrophic dive the pilots were unable to prevent.

 

After modifications to the aircraft and pilot training, the 737 Max aircraft
has now been cleared to fly again in most countries around the world.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Adani Group: Can embattled India tycoon recover from $100bn loss?

India's Adani Group has seen its market value plunge after a US investment
firm made fraud allegations against it. Can its ambitious growth plans
survive?

 

How did the market rout unfold?

Until two weeks ago, the ports-to-energy conglomerate which operates seven
publicly traded companies had a combined valuation of $220bn.

 

But since 24 January, when short seller Hindenburg Research accused the
group of "brazen" stock manipulation and accounting fraud, its valuations
have nearly halved. The group's founder Gautam Adani has seen billions wiped
off his personal wealth and has dropped out of the list of the world's top
20 richest people.

 

The Adani Group has denied the allegations, calling them "malicious" and
"baseless" and says it plans have not changed. But investors are clearly
still nervous.

 

On Monday, the group said in a statement that it would prepay loans worth
$1.1bn, taken using shares as collateral, ahead of their maturity date next
year. This, it said, was partly due to "continued market volatility" and to
assure investors that the group's promoters would "prepay all shares-backed
financing".

 

Last week, the group also called off its secondary share sale. The 2.5bn
(£2bn) it had raised was meant to pay off debt and fund projects, including
airport renovation, expressway construction and an ambitious green hydrogen
ecosystem.

 

Why do falling share prices matter?

They indicate investors are losing confidence in a company.

 

Analysts are now watching to see how the stock price slide affects the
company's operations, cash flow and expansion plans.

 

"Most of their ambitious projects will have to be heavily scaled back in
ambition and timetable, because they will have next to no capacity to raise
funds right now," says Tim Buckley, director at Climate Energy Finance, a
think-tank that works on financial issues related to transition from fossil
fuel to clean energy.

 

Policemen detain a member of National Students' Union of India (NSUI) during
a nationwide protest in New Delhi on February 6, 2023, calling for an
inquiry into allegations of major accounting fraud at Adani, the country's
biggest conglomerate.

 

 

It could borrow money to fund projects and acquisitions - a common strategy
for infrastructure companies, which helped fuel the Adani Group's rapid
growth.

 

But the group's debt has grown at a faster pace than revenues and
profitability, which some fear could raise risks of a default - a concern
flagged by both the Hindenburg report as well as some analysts.

 

Can the Adani firms just borrow more money?

The group already has total debt of nearly two trillion rupees ($24bn;
£20bn) - it almost doubled over the past three years as Mr Adani's ambitions
extended to areas such as 5G and green hydrogen.

 

Nearly two-thirds of Adani's debt is from overseas sources such as bonds or
foreign banks, according to a report by global brokerage Jefferies.

 

Until now, the group has mostly raised funds by using its infrastructure
assets or shares as collateral. But with stock prices plunging, the value of
this collateral has also dipped. The private wealth units of two big banks,
Credit Suisse and Citigroup, have stopped accepting Adani bonds as
collateral, Bloomberg has reported.

 

Many Indian banks have also loaned billions of dollars to companies linked
to the group and state-owned insurance firm Life Insurance Corporation of
India has invested in it.

 

Market observers say that the Hindenburg report and the reaction to it will
make lenders cautious - which means loans could become costlier.

 

"There is pressure on the company's credibility. It will make it extremely
difficult to raise fresh loans, especially in the overseas market," an
Indian corporate banker said on condition of anonymity as he didn't want to
be seen commenting on the Adani Group.

 

Another observer, a former banker with an international wealth fund, said
that the group may be forced to delay some projects until the issue settles
down. He also did not want to be named.

 

The BBC sent a list of questions to the Adani Group. A spokesperson replied:
"All our ongoing projects continue according to the plan. Adani Group's core
fundamentals remain unchanged."

 

Which Adani projects could be at risk?

Scrutiny on the group has now increased. Investors and credit rating
agencies are closely assessing its ability to raise money and repay loans.

 

S&P Global Ratings has downgraded its outlook on two Adani companies to
negative.

 

"New investigations and negative market sentiment may lead to increased cost
of capital and reduce funding access for rated entities," it said.

 

In a video statement after the group's share sale was called off, Mr Adani
had said that its balance sheet was "healthy and assets robust". He added
that the group has an "impeccable track record of fulfilling our debt
obligations".

 

An art school teacher gives final touches to a painting of Gautam Adani,
highlighting the ongoing crisis of the Adani group in Mumbai

 

 

But credit rating agency ICRA said in a statement last week that the group's
large, debt-funded capital spending programme remains a key challenge.

 

Most of the group's capital-guzzling new businesses such as green energy,
airports and roads are housed under flagship company Adani Enterprises Ltd
(AEL) and depend on it for funds. AEL has enough cash but could come under
pressure if it has to pay interest for even its subsidiaries.

 

Some of the group's firms will be shielded from the current volatility
because they own and operate strong physical assets such as ports, airports
and factories.

 

"Adani Ports and Adani Power are the strongest and most well-capitalised
[firms], which means their assets are backed by long-term government
contracts. Most of the loans taken by these companies are against these
revenue and profit-accruing assets," says the corporate banker quoted above.

 

However, this isn't the case for some of the group's newer businesses.

 

Companies such as Adani Gas and renewable energy arm Adani Green already
have immense debt on their books and are still building up their cash flows.
This could make them more vulnerable to market shocks and reduce their
creditworthiness.

 

The banker points out that while the prices of bonds issued by Adani Ports
and Special Economic Zone Ltd have fallen only marginally, those issued by
Adani Green had lost more than a quarter of their value in three days.

 

What options does Adani have?

Deferring new projects and selling some assets to raise money could be a way
out.

 

ICRA has said that some of the planned capital spending is discretionary in
nature and can be deferred, depending on how much liquidity it has.

 

"The company has built assets that are valuable to a developing country like
India, and there will be many strategic investors interested," said a
corporate adviser who didn't want to be named.

 

Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge along with other
Opposition parties leaders walk out after both houses of the parliament
adjourned on Adani issue during the ongoing Parliament Budget session

 

 

Opposition leaders have been raising the Adani issue in parliament which was
adjourned amid uproar on Monday

Some analysts remain optimistic.

 

"I have seen varied operating [Adani] projects from ports, airports, cements
to renewables which are solid, stable and generating a healthy cash flow.
They are completely safe from the ups and downs of what happens in the stock
market," says Vinayak Chatterjee, an infrastructure expert who is founder
and managing trustee of the Infravision Foundation.

 

Analysts are also watching to see if there will be a regulatory enquiry into
the group's corporate governance. The issue has also set off a political row
over Mr Adani's perceived closeness to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which
both deny.

 

On Monday, the main opposition Congress party held protests across the
country, demanding an investigation into the allegations.

 

Mr Buckley says that as pressure mounts, the Adani Group's ability to win
government contracts easily to ramp up revenues will be challenged. It will
also find it difficult to restore its credit credibility.

 

Since the group has to repay a significant amount, it will have to do a
strategic asset sale, he says.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Google launches ChatGPT rival called Bard

Google is launching an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbot called
Bard to rival ChatGPT.

 

Bard will be used by a group of testers before being rolled out to the
public in the coming weeks, the firm said.

 

Bard is built on Google's existing large language model Lamda, which one
engineer described as being so human-like in its responses that he believed
it was sentient.

 

The tech giant also announced new AI tools for its current search engine.

 

AI chatbots are designed to answer questions and find information. ChatGPT
is the best-known example. They use what's on the internet as an enormous
database of knowledge although there are concerns that this can also include
offensive material and disinformation.

 

"Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world's knowledge with the power,
intelligence, and creativity of our large language models," wrote Google
boss Sundar Pichai in a blog.

 

Mr Pichai stressed that he wanted Google's AI services to be "bold and
responsible" but did not elaborate on how Bard would be prevented from
sharing harmful or abusive content.

 

The platform will initially operate on a "lightweight" version of Lamda,
requiring less power so that more people can use it at once, he said.

 

Google's announcement follows wide speculation that Microsoft is about to
bring the AI chatbot ChatGPT to its search engine Bing, following a
multi-billion dollar investment in the firm behind it, OpenAI.

 

ChatGPT can answer questions and carry out requests in text form, based on
information from the internet as it was in 2021. It can generate speeches,
songs, marketing copy, news articles and student essays.

 

It is currently free for people to use, although it costs the firm a few
pennies each time somebody does. OpenAI recently announced a subscription
tier to complement free access.

 

But the ultimate aim of chatbots lies in internet search, experts believe -
replacing pages of web links with one definitive answer.

 

Sundar Pichai said that people are using Google search to ask more nuanced
questions than previously.

 

Whereas, for example, a common question about the piano in the past may have
been how many keys it has, now it is more likely to be whether it is more
difficult to learn than the guitar - which does not have an immediate
factual answer.

 

"AI can be helpful in these moments, synthesizing insights for questions
where there's no one right answer," he wrote.

 

"Soon, you'll see AI-powered features in Search that distil complex
information and multiple perspectives into easy-to-digest formats, so you
can quickly understand the big picture and learn more from the web."-bbc

 

 

 

Digital pound likely this decade, Treasury says

A state-backed digital pound is likely to be launched later this decade,
according to the Treasury and the Bank of England.

 

Both institutions want to ensure the public has access to safe money that is
easy to use in the digital age.

 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the central-bank digital currency (CBDC) could
be a new "trusted and accessible" way to pay.

 

But it will not be built until at least 2025.

 

"We want to investigate what is possible first, whilst always making sure we
protect financial stability," Mr Hunt said.

 

The Treasury and the Bank of England will formally start a consultation for
the digital currency, on Tuesday.

 

Cryptocurrencies are not backed by a central bank and the value can shoot up
and down rapidly.

 

But while it may use technology similar to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin
and Ethereum, the digital pound, issued by the Bank of England, would be
less volatile. Ten digital pounds will always be worth the same as £10 in
cash, the Treasury says.

 

Though, as holidaymakers will know, the value of the pound does change
relative to other currencies.

 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked the Bank of England to look into backing a
currency, in 2021, as chancellor.

 

And in October 2022, Mr Sunak's Financial Service Minister Andrew Griffith
warned a lengthy delay could create problems for the economy.

 

Monetary science fiction?

Right now, there is probably little need for a digital pound. People use
their debit cards or phones, or even watches to fulfil the same function. It
is a solution to a problem that does not yet exist.

 

But this is looking towards a near future that sounds like monetary science
fiction. At its heart it is about data on what you spend, and what the
entire population spends. It is a world where people might just choose to
trust international private sector brands, in finance or in tech, more than
the state. Think Amazon, or Facebook, or maybe Chinese-owned Alibaba or
Tiktok having a version of sterling.

 

Companies that control the data on everything someone spends, when and where
they spend it, will sit on a priceless asset. Unregulated digital currencies
could offer those companies incentives to create walled gardens, fragmenting
the pound system. It would make controlling the economy more difficult,
because £1 might not be worth £1 everywhere.

 

This is where today's ideas come in. Neither the Bank of England nor
Government would have access to the data on transactions with a digital
pound. But consumers could pick providers, not just banks, to hold their
cash in digital wallets, with varying degrees of privacy. Some users might
be comfortable with their wallet provider knowing all their transactions, if
they received a discount for example. Others might want to stay as private
as possible. The Treasury wants to encourage innovation.

 

Other, bigger blocs, such as the USA and the Eurozone also want their
digital dollars and digital euros to be international means of exchange.
That is less of an overt aim here. The eye here is on maintaining UK
monetary sovereignty against upheaval from the likes of Big Tech.

 

Initial restrictions

If given the go-ahead, there would then be significant investment to launch
the currency.

 

There are likely to be initial restrictions on how much of the currency any
individual or business could hold.

 

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the digital pound would provide
a new way to make payments, "help businesses, maintain trust in money and
better protect financial stability".

 

He stressed the importance of the consultation being the "foundation" for
what would be a "profound" decision for the way we use money in the future.

 

What could a digital pound look like?

 

It would replicate the role of cash, in a digital world

Issued by the Bank of England

Subject to rigorous standards of privacy and data protection

Accessed through digital wallets via smartphones or smartcards

Intended for payments online, in store and to friends and family

Initial restrictions on how much an individual or businesses could hold

Countries around the world, including the US, China and the Eurozone, are
considering similar proposals.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Tech lay-offs: Dell to cut workforce

Dell is to lay off about 6,650 workers because of the decline in demand for
personal computers.

 

The job cuts are expected to affect about 5% of its global workforce.

 

The company faced tough market conditions with an uncertain future and its
previous cost-cutting measures were no longer enough, co-chief operating
officer Jeff Clarke wrote in a memo.

 

Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, announced similar lay-offs in 2020, after
the pandemic hit.

 

The latest department reorganisations and job cuts were an opportunity to
drive efficiency, a company representative said.

 

"We continuously evaluate operations to ensure the right structure is in
place to provide the best value and support to partners and customers.

 

"This is part of our regular course of business," a Dell spokesperson told
the BBC.

 

What is behind the big tech companies' job cuts?

Are tech job cuts a warning for the wider economy?

Lay-offs in the US hit a more than two-year high in January, as the
technology industry, once a reliable source of employment, cut jobs at the
second-highest pace on record - to brace for a possible recession, a report
showed on Thursday.

 

Companies including Google, Amazon and Meta are now grappling with how to
balance cost-cutting measures with the need to remain competitive, as
consumer and corporate spending shrinks amid high inflation and rising
interest rates, after the pandemic.

 

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said recent job cuts had been "the most
difficult changes we've made in Meta's history", while Twitter cut about
half its staff after multi-billionaire Elon Musk took control, in
October.-bbc

 

 

 

 

South Africa's power cuts hit vineyards: No power, no pinot

South Africans are struggling with crippling power cuts on a daily basis,
which are imposing huge costs on business. As the country's grape harvest
gets under way, there are fears about the impact on the wine industry.

 

The rumble of tractors, the churning of the wine press and occasional bouts
of laughter from the farm workers provide the soundtrack to the busiest time
of the year for the Groote Post vineyard.

 

Everyone is active as the picking and processing of the grapes begin at this
winery in the picturesque town of Darling, less than 80km (50 miles) from
Cape Town, in the west of the country.

 

Bunches of dark pinot noir grapes lie in wooden pallets stacked next to the
wine press. A fork-lift truck tips a pallet into the press, releasing a
sweet odour into the air. I taste a grape, which is smaller than the
supermarket varieties, and much sweeter and full of robust flavour.

 

"In 16 months from now these grapes will be in your glass and you'll be
sipping on some lovely bubbly," Peter Pentz, Groote Post communications
manager says.

 

And while that may be true, the winemaker will be having a harder time
getting it on to tables in South Africa.

 

The difficulty for every firm in the industry is that this crucial time of
year coincides with the worst rolling power blackouts the country has ever
experienced.

 

Not a day has gone by in 2023 without the electricity from the state-run
power company Eskom going down. The interrupted power supply is having a big
effect on those hoping to make wine.

 

"As soon as the power cuts, it means that [without a generator] none of the
operation can continue within the cellar," Mr Pentz tells the BBC.

 

"No labelling can continue, no bottling and [no] cooling. Especially in the
harvesting season it's vital for us to get the fermentation process
started."

This vineyard, like many others in the region, has been forced to invest in
a back-up generator, but the exorbitant price of diesel is driving up costs
and making it hard for small and medium-sized wineries to survive.

 

Groote Post is spending around 50,000 rand ($2,800; £2,400) per month on
diesel for its generator and the farm still has to spend more on fuel for
its tractors.

 

This is representative of the extra costs facing an industry which has big
ambitions to grow.

 

South Africa is the eighth largest wine producer in the world, generating
about $3bn in revenue every year.

 

Around half of the wine made in the country is exported to overseas markets,
with UK drinkers being the largest consumers of South African wine.

 

Many wineries are exploring opportunities in Asia - exports to China, for
example, have seen double-digit growth in recent years.

 

But the constant power cuts are slashing growth forecasts.

 

The impact is being felt across all sectors of the economy. According to
global accounting firm PwC, the South African economy could havegrown by
around 7% - instead of less than 2% - last year were it not for "load
shedding", as the power cuts are known locally.

 

"This is challenging for us, in fact this is a crisis for us," says Christo
Conradie, manager of wine business at Vinpro, which represents nearly 2,600
wine producers and sellers.

 

"Power is important for our producers because we need to irrigate,
specifically at this time of the season we are looking at the ripening of
the berries.

 

"That's why we need to have it [power] and now we are sitting with Eskom
that can't supply at an optimal level," Mr Conradie adds.

 

Though South Africa's power crisis is not new, the problems seem to be
getting worse.

 

The country has a fleet of old and inefficient coal-fired power stations
that are constantly breaking down. There are two new power stations, but
they are not up and running yet and are massively over-budget.

 

Eskom is expected to impose load shedding on a continuous basis for the next
two years while it works on a plan to extricate the country from the crisis.

 

The wine industry is not being passive in its criticism of load shedding.
Representatives are talking with the government and have put proposals on
the table.

 

Mr Conradie says they have drawn up a timetable of when the winemakers need
power most - usually in the early hours of the morning and just after lunch
- and have asked for the blackouts to be scheduled around them.

 

The industry is also seeking rebates for diesel fuel and for the government
to remove red tape so there can be more investment in solar and other
alternative sources of power.

 

Man working in the back of a lorry

Load shedding during the harvest season will exacerbate the situation for
battered winemakers which have been lurching from one crisis to another.

 

The wine industry was just starting to make a comeback following a tough
period during the Covid-19 pandemic. Alcohol sales were banned in South
Africa during the height of the health emergency and domestic wine sales
dropped by 20%.

 

This year's crop is set to be smaller than that of 2022 due to unfavourable
weather conditions earlier in the season.

 

To try and alleviate some of the pressures, the department of agriculture
last month set up a task team to monitor the impact of load shedding.

 

"Technical work to measure financial costs is under way and will help to
underline the strategy," says department spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo.

 

But when that strategy emerges is hard to know.

 

Nevertheless, back at the Groote Post vineyard, work continues despite the
challenges.

 

There is a resilience and defiant optimism. Mr Pentz is proud of the wines
they produce and the way that they can touch different parts of the world.

 

Holding up a fat bunch of grapes he says proudly: "It's amazing to think
that we start off from this, and we end up with someone, somewhere in the
world, sipping on some grapes coming from South Africa."-bbc

 

 

 

 

One in five homes have not cashed energy vouchers

One in five households with prepayment meters have not cashed in their
energy vouchers issued to help pay bills.

 

Data seen by the BBC showed about 380,000 vouchers, totalling up to 19% of
homes, were not redeemed each month in October and in November.

 

It means as much as £50m of government support for energy has gone unclaimed
by some of the most vulnerable.

 

The government urged energy firms to do more to make sure customers got the
help they were entitled to.

 

"When a voucher is not redeemed, suppliers must make at least three attempts
to reach the customer, by more than one means which can include post, email
and text message. Customers with a traditional pre-payment meter can contact
their energy supplier to have a voucher re-issued even if it has expired.
The re-issued voucher will then be valid for three months beginning on the
date it was re-issued."

 

The Energy Support Scheme provides £400 to each household in Britain.

 

Most of the homes in England, Scotland and Wales pay their energy bill by
direct debit and have been getting about £66 a month knocked off their bills
or credited to their account automatically.

 

However, the system has been more cumbersome for the two million households
that have a traditional pre-payment meter for their gas or electricity. They
receive the support through vouchers in the post or via email.

 

The vouchers then need to be taken to a local PayPoint store or a Post
Office to be credited onto a meter.

 

Many households with traditional pre-payment meters are considered among the
most vulnerable. Customers pay for their energy in advance, either through
an account or using a top-up card and in many cases these meters have often
been fitted when people have a history of missing bill payments.

 

Figures from both PayPoint and the Post Office showed that 81% of vouchers
for October and November were cashed before they expired, meaning 19% -
roughly 380,000 homes - did not cash those vouchers before the November
expiry date on 5 February.

 

Although the deadline has passed, it is still possible for the voucher money
to be claimed. A person who has not received their voucher or has not cashed
it in time needs to contact their energy supplier, check that their contact
details are correct, and ask for the voucher to be re-issued to them.

 

With exactly the same proportion of vouchers not redeemed for both October
and November, it could mean that some households have missed out both
months, and therefore be £132 out-of-pocket.

 

According to Citizens Advice, the main reason for people not cashing an
energy voucher is because they haven not received it yet.

 

Dr Elizabeth Blakelock, an energy specialist at the charity, said some
people had been told to check emails for vouchers, but did not have access
to the internet.

 

"They don't use an email account regularly so they can't use that method,"
she added. "And there seems to be many people where their address data is
incorrect, so it just hasn't landed on their doorstep."

 

Energy suppliers have been criticised for their treatment of vulnerable
customers, and especially over the issue of forcibly fitted prepayment
meters.

 

Charities say vulnerable people who have been switched have not been able to
afford to top-up their meter, leaving them in the cold and dark during the
winter.

 

The latest data comes during a series of developments on the issue during
the last 24 hours including:

 

Magistrates courts in England and Wales being ordered to stop authorising
warrants that allow energy firms to enter people's homes to fit prepayment
meters

A government-set deadline of the end of Tuesday for firms to report how they
will act in response to complaints from customers have been wrongfully
force-fitted these meters, such as providing compensation payments

A warning from the Resolution Foundation think-tank that, despite falling
wholesale prices, bills will still be higher for many people after April
when government support is scaled back

The National Audit Office saying that government energy support packages
present value-for-money risks because they were introduced universally and
at speed

Dr Blakelock said there was a "core group" of people who were "just not
getting the support that they need".

 

"What we need to see is for the energy companies to make it really easy for
people to get in contact with them so that they can re-issue those
vouchers," she added.

 

Steve O'Neill, corporate affairs and marketing director at PayPoint said of
the people who cashed their vouchers in its stores, 23% waited less than a
day before redeeming it.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Register of Overseas Entities: What three luxury homes reveal about who owns
UK property

Owners of around 50,000 UK properties held by foreign companies remain
hidden from public view, despite new transparency laws.

 

The Register of Overseas Entities, launched in August 2022, was meant to
reveal who ultimately owns UK property.

 

But analysis by BBC News and Transparency International found almost half of
firms required to declare who is behind them failed to do so.

 

Labour MP Margaret Hodge said the legislation was not "fit for purpose".

 

A UK government spokesperson said the register has been an "invaluable
source of information for law enforcement, and tax and revenue services".

 

Short presentational grey line

The UK government has long promised to crack down on "corrupt elites" from
overseas, including "Russian oligarchs and kleptocrats", using UK property
to launder illegal wealth.

 

Ministers insisted they would crack down on foreign criminals using UK
property to launder money by ensuring they "can't hide behind secretive
chains of shell companies".

 

As a result, under a law passed in February 2022 in response to Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, ministers said anonymous foreign companies seeking to
buy UK land or property would be required to reveal full details of the
individuals who ultimately owned them. Overseas organisations that already
owned land in the UK were given a six-month period to do the same.

 

Now that six-month grace period is up - all the people, whatever their
reputations, behind companies that own thousands of British properties
should have been uncovered for the first time.

 

The BBC and Transparency International matched thousands of filings from the
new register with Land Registry records. This analysis suggests that some
18,000 offshore companies - which between them hold more than 50,000
properties in England and Wales - either ignored the law altogether or filed
information in such a way that it remains impossible for the public to find
out who the individuals are who ultimately own and benefit from them.

 

"While the register is starting to serve its intended purpose, our analysis
reveals there are far too many companies that could be trying to skirt the
rules, not knowing they exist, or ignoring them altogether," says Duncan
Hames, Director of Policy at Transparency International UK.

 

To understand how the law is and isn't working, it helps to look at three
very expensive properties. The first is a pair of luxury apartments. Another
is a sprawling £48m estate in north London, the third a £10m country
mansion.

 

All have been linked in some way to figures connected with Vladimir Putin's
regime.

 

For instance, look at the two luxury flats in central London worth an
estimated £11m.

 

Stylised graphic showing luxury flats in London

Their ownership by the former Russian deputy prime minister, Igor Shuvalov,
was first reported by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, set up by jailed
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

 

According to the UK government, who placed him under sanction in March 2022,
Mr Shuvalov - who heads the management board of a Russian bank - is "a core
part of Putin's inner circle".

 

And now the register has confirmed that he and his wife are the ultimate
owners of the flats, held through a Russian company, Sova Real Estate LLC.

 

Mr Shuvalov's spokesperson told the BBC last year that these issues "have
been the subject of competent government audits", and that "no complaints
were ever filed".

 

But while there are thousands of examples where the register is working, the
ultimate ownership of thousands of properties remains shielded from public
view.

 

Take Beechwood House, a north London estate bought for £48m in 2008 with a
value around £85m.

 

Stylised graphic showing Beechwood House

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine 12 months ago, the UK government came
down hard on wealthy businessmen close to Putin's regime. Assets were
frozen, stopping rich Russians from taking their money out of the UK.

 

But it wasn't always clear exactly which assets belonged to these oligarchs.

 

For instance, Beechwood House was listed by the government as owned by
oligarch and ex-Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov when it announced
sanctions against him.

 

A spokesperson for the oligarch has now told the BBC that he transferred
Beechwood House, as well as other assets, to family trusts "long before
sanctions were imposed" and that while Mr Usmanov was a beneficiary for a
period of time, he withdrew "on an irrevocable basis".

 

The spokesperson added: "Neither Mr Usmanov nor members of his family are
the beneficial owners of these companies."

 

You would think the register should shed light on who actually owns
Beechwood House. But it does not.

 

The owner is given as Hanley Limited, an Isle of Man company. And in turn
the beneficial owner of Hanley Limited is Swiss company Pomerol Capital SA,
which controls it as part of a trust structure.

 

However, nothing about the individuals who own Pomerol Capital is listed on
the public register.

 

That is because companies owned through trusts - as opposed to other set-ups
- are exempt from having their beneficial owner information made public on
the register.

 

So from the filing, it is impossible to identify the people who own, control
or stand to benefit from Beechwood House- a property that the government
itself said was owned by Mr Usmanov, which would have made it subject to an
asset freeze.

 

While the names of individuals linked to trusts are not included in the
register, companies do have to provide their details privately to the
corporate registry Companies House.

 

Flow chart showing that if a UK property is owned by an overseas company,
which is owned by another overseas company through a trust structure, then
it is exempt from publishing the individual owner.

IMAGE SOURCE,BBC NEWS

And many other owners have found an even more straightforward means of
keeping their names off the register - by simply not complying with the new
legislation.

 

Overseas companies with property in the UK - bought since January 1999 in
England and Wales and since December 2014 in Scotland - were supposed to
reveal the identity of their owners by 31 January.

 

But around half of offshore firms with property in England and Wales -
approximately 15,000 - had no matching record in the property register
before last week's government deadline.

 

This includes the company that owns a £90m home in west London linked with
former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. The Cyprus-based firm does not yet
appear to have submitted its details to the property register.

 

Mr Abramovich could not be reached for comment.

 

As well as the firms that are yet to file, BBC analysis has found that one
in four offshore companies that have submitted their details have actually
included other foreign firms, not people, as their owners.

 

Infographic showing that of the 92,000 England and Wales properties owned by
32,000 overseas companies, 21,000 companies submitted to the register; 1,900
do not list a beneficial owner; 5,700 list a foreign company; 4,000 name
overseas trusts; and 1,800 list a foreign company that is not a trust,
potentially making their filing non-compliant.

Some of these are owned by trusts, as with Beechwood House.

 

But that is not the only way in which companies are avoiding publicly
disclosing the individuals who are actually behind them.

 

And there is a third category - companies that have filed their details to
the property register, but have not complied with the rules.

 

The BBC's investigation has identified more than 1,800 companies whose
filings do not appear to do so.

 

Among these is Uart International, a Panamanian company that, according to
Land Registry records, acquired a countryside mansion in 2008.

 

Stylised graphic showing the countryside mansion

As part of the Pandora Papers, a leak of almost 12 million files, the
property was owned through an offshore corporate network controlled by
Vladimir Chernukhin and his wife, Lubov.

 

Mr Chernukhin is a former Russian deputy minister of finance and businessman
who had financial links to oligarchs close to the Kremlin. He moved to the
UK after being sacked by Putin in 2004 and insists he is not a supporter of
the Russian president.

 

His wife Lubov, whom he married in London in 2007, is a major donor to the
Conservative Party, having given the Tories more than £2.3m since 2012.

 

Companies House records show that Uart International lists another foreign
firm as its "person of significant control". This means that the individuals
who ultimately own the property remain hidden from the public register,
despite the change in the legislation.

 

Under the new regulations, another anonymous offshore firm should not be
named as the owner of a company with UK property.

 

There is no indication in the filings that the company owner is a trustee,
which would exempt the firm from having their person of significant control
revealed on the register - suggesting it could be a violation of the rules.

 

Lawyers for the couple told the BBC that "Mr and Mrs Chernukhin do not
support, and have never supported, the policies of President Putin, nor are
they allies of President Putin" and that they are "unaware of Uart ever
having made corporate filings contrary to the applicable rules and
regulations in all relevant jurisdictions".

 

Flow chart showing the difference between a compliant and non-compliant
filing. The latter is a UK property owned by an overseas company that is
owned by another overseas company, with no record of the owner’s name.

While the new rules include severe penalties for companies and individuals
who do not comply, experts have questioned whether this will work.

 

"Although the legislation contains some stringent penalties for
non-compliance, the government has failed to equip Companies House with the
teeth and resources to apply these in practice," says Helena Wood, head of
the UK Economic Crime Programme at the Royal United Services Institute think
tank.

 

Margaret Hodge MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on
anti-corruption and responsible tax, said the new register was "turning into
a joke".

 

She added: "We need to know who owns these fantastically expensive
properties, why they bought them and how they got the money to do so."

 

A government spokesperson said that Companies House was now "assessing and
preparing cases for enforcement action" and further legislation would allow
it to impose fines and pursue legal avenues against companies that are
flouting the law.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Nissan warns costs must fall to make new electric cars in UK

A senior boss at Nissan has warned the "economics have to work" for the
company to make new electric models of its Juke and Qashqai cars in the UK.

 

Ashwani Gupta, chief operating officer at the firm, told the BBC the UK
faced a challenge to remain competitive with other car-making countries.

 

He said manufacturing costs in the UK were higher than others due to higher
energy bills and overall inflation.

 

Nissan employs more than 6,000 people at its Sunderland manufacturing plant.

 

Mr Gupta warned having lower production costs was key to keeping the UK
competitive. He added other tools to keep the UK attractive to car-makers
were ongoing government support in the transition to electric vehicles, as
well as robust supply chains.

 

Nissan has already committed to producing the successor to its Leaf electric
car at its factory in Sunderland, but Mr Gupta said that when it came to
allocating production of new Juke and Qashqai models between its 44 global
plants, the company "needed to have the economics to justify it".

 

The decision of where to build the new Juke and Qashqai does not have to
made for a couple of years yet as the next models of those big
Sunderland-made sellers are not due until 2027-28, and decisions are usually
made two or three years in advance.

 

Car makers often press governments to provide more support. Nissan recently
secured about £100m in public money towards a £1bn investment in expanding a
Chinese-owned battery plant located right next to its Sunderland plant.

 

But the map of global car manufacturing is being reshaped and the US is
offering tens of billions in subsidies to car makers who move production and
supply chains there. The EU is also expected to respond with carrots of its
own.

 

The comments from Mr Gupta come as Nissan and Renault unveiled the details
of a major shake-up of their often strained 24-year-old alliance, after
months of negotiations between the motor industry giants.

 

In a joint statement, the two firms said they had "rebalanced" their
relationship by agreeing that Renault would cut its stake in Nissan.

 

Under the deal, Nissan will take a stake in Renault's flagship electric car
unit Ampere.

 

The companies also said that they will work together on electronics and
battery technology, as well as making savings from joint projects in Europe,
India and Latin America.

 

The agreement will see Renault cutting its stake in Japan's Nissan from more
than 43% to 15%, the same size as Nissan's stake in its French counterpart.

 

The companies also said that Nissan will take a stake of up to 15% in
Renault's new electric vehicle venture, Ampere.

 

A Renault R5 hybrid is displayed at a motor show in Brussels, Belgium.

Christopher Richter from investment group CLSA said the changes were
necessary to keep the two-decade partnership alive.

 

"It's a last ditch attempt to save an alliance where the two partners don't
get along very well," he told the BBC.

 

"Hopefully, by equalising their status in the alliance, they can put some of
the rancour behind them, and find a limited number of activities where they
can cooperate and add value to each other," Mr Richter added.

 

The move comes at a time of huge change for the motor industry as it
transitions to electric vehicles and adopts new technology.

 

"We all know that auto firms will be amalgamated into five or six globally,
especially due to the big changes occurring in AI technology," Seijiro
Takeshita from the University of Shizuoka in Japan told the BBC.

 

"In that context, Nissan and Renault need to find a good partner, and that's
what they are, at least nominally. They cannot and do not have the luxury of
going alone in this battle," he added.

 

Soviet-era car brand revived at ex-Renault plant

Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn says he wants a trial

The alliance was formed in 1999 when Renault rescued Nissan from the brink
of bankruptcy.

 

In 2016, they were joined by Mitsubishi, after Nissan took a major stake in
the struggling Japanese firm.

 

The alliance was rocked in November 2018 when Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn was
arrested over allegations that he had understated his annual salary and
misused company funds. Mr Ghosn denied the charges.

 

At the time, Mr Ghosn was the chairman of the Japanese carmaker. He was also
chairman of France's Renault and the boss of a three-way alliance between
both carmakers and Mitsubishi.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Outlook for Nigeria's Upstream Oil, Gas Sector Positive for 2023 -
Report

Abuja — Nigeria's oil and gas industry experienced historic crises
throughout 2022 as the sector struggled with severe crude thefts and
pipeline vandalism constraining output, but will do relatively well this
year, a new report has said.

 

Resumption of operations at onshore export terminals at the end of 2022
coupled with fresh offshore drilling activity have turned the outlook
positive for 2023, according to a new report by investment research firm
Hawilti.

 

The research agency released its Nigeria Upstream Oil & Gas Report for 2023
, forecasting a recovery of onshore volumes and incremental growth coming
from shallow water projects.

 

The company estimated that Nigeria's onshore production stood at only some
400,000 bpd last year, against more than 725,000 bpd in 2020. Its initial
analysis forecast a strong but not full recovery of onshore production in
2023, although it noted an uptick in drilling activity from a wide range of
onshore operators.

 

 

It also noted the potential of field owners who have recently secured
Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) under the country's last Marginal
Fields Bidding Round to raise output.

 

These new entrants, it said, will seek to make the best of their new
three-year licenses to start producing as soon as possible, providing they
can secure the funding and technical expertise to redevelop their assets.

 

The report pointed to increased investment from onshore operators into
midstream and downstream infrastructure to minimise their exposure to
third-party export pipelines.

 

"The market is witnessing a strong appetite for additional storage capacity
and refining infrastructure from both large and marginal fields operators,"
Hawilti said.

 

The report noted real growth potential from Nigeria's shallow water segment,
where it highlighted several brownfield and greenfield projects by operators
such as General Hydrocarbons, Sunlink Energies, Oriental Energy Resources,
West Africa E&P, Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum, and AMNI International that could
drive output in the short and medium-term.

 

"Nigeria's shallow water segment remains attractive because of its existing
and reliable export infrastructure and its widely de-risked geology," said
the Director and Head of Research at Hawilti, Mickael Vogel.

 

"However, its attractiveness can also be a double-edge sword because a lot
of discovered fields are sought after by stakeholders, generating strong but
lengthy Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity that ultimately delays
projects' development," he added.

 

-This Day.

 

 

 

Nigeria: House Moves to Unravel Alleged 48m Barrels of Crude Oil Theft

Udora Orizu writes that members of the House of Representatives are putting
relevant stakeholders on their toes, as they commence investigation into
whistle-blower's allegation of illegal sale of 48 million barrels of
Nigeria's Bonny Light crude in China in 2015

 

Members of the House of Representatives are currently investigating a
whistle-blower's allegation of illegal sale of 48 million barrels of
Nigeria's Bonny Light crude in China in 2015 and the insurance status of the
cargo.

 

The lawmakers are also investigating all crude oil exports and sales by
Nigeria from 2014 to date, with regards to quantity, insurance, revenue
generated, remittances into the Federation Account or other accounts as well
as utilisation of the revenue for the period under review.

 

 

Over the years, the increasingly audacious and humongous theft of crude oil
poses a multiplicity of threats to oil companies and all tiers of
governments, the livelihoods of citizens and communities, and, mostly
importantly, to national security. This theft often comes with threats to
the lives of officials trying to curb the menace or the whistleblowers.

 

Last year, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Mele Kyari, said he had received
several death threats from people who are not happy with efforts being made
by the federal government to ensure increased transparency, accountability
as well as an end to crude oil theft which has seen the country recording
severe revenue losses.

 

In July 2020, an oil trading firm, Samano Sa De CV, wrote a letter to the
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele
Kyari, demanding five percent reward for exposing the diversion and theft of
48 million barrels of crude oil.

 

 

In a letter signed by a lawyer, Gboyega Oyewole, on behalf of the
whistleblower titled, 'Formal Request for the Payment of five per cent
Whistleblower Compensation For Information Furnished In Respect of Crude Oil
Stolen from the Federal Republic of Nigeria', it was stated that in October
2015, the stolen crude was moved to China without the knowledge of President
Muhammadu Buhari and sold illegally by some government officials with the
proceeds not remitted to the government's coffers.

 

Reacting to the allegation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
in a statement issued by its solicitor, Afe Babalola and Co, stated that the
entire story was a hoax designed to blackmail, defraud and embarrass the
system operators and the nation at large.

 

 

The statement reads: "The management of the corporation states emphatically
that these publications are replete with falsehoods, offensive, gold-digging
and a calculated attempt by the said SAMANO SA DE CV (SAMANO) working in
concert with its local and international agents to intimidate, blackmail and
extort money from the Federal Government of Nigeria and NNPC. Given the
attention which these publications have generated, NNPC deems it necessary
to make the following clarifications.

 

"For context, as of 2015, the daily production of crude oil in Nigeria was
below 1.6 million barrels. Therefore, 48 million barrels of crude oil would
have been the total production capacity of the country for a whole month. It
was and remains simply impossible for one-month crude oil production for the
entire country to disappear without any record or trace from the shores of
the country. Consequently, the Federal Government terminated all
communications with SAMANO as it became apparent that its claim was a hoax.

 

"When SAMANO realised that the Federal Government was no longer interested
in the non-existent stolen crude, it resorted to blackmail and intimidation
of key officials of the government. SAMANO threatened that it would
publicise the fact that the non-existent crude had been recovered, sold and
proceeds looted by senior government officials and other personalities when
it knew this was absolute falsehood.

 

"SAMANO made several demands including that it be paid the sum of
$125,000,000 by the government officials to prevent it from disclosing this
false information to the public. This demand soon metamorphosed into
harassment as SAMANO embarked on a mischievous exercise to embarrass the
Federal Government of Nigeria on international media platforms and before
several international institutions like the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC), all in a calculated bid to blackmail the Federal
Government of Nigeria and NNPC into paying it a significant amount of money
as compensation.

 

"As a result of the constant harassment, NNPC was constrained to make a
formal report to the Department of State Security (DSS) and Nigeria Police
while other victims wrote petitions in respect of the same subject to the
Attorney-General of the Federation. After a thorough investigation by the
police and DSS and confessions by agents of SAMANO, it was discovered that
the allegations of conspiracy, forgery, obtaining money by false pretence,
blackmail and extortion were well-founded and that some of the fraudulent
activities of one Mr Ramirez and Mr Jose Salazar Tinajero (both agents of
SAMANO) constituted a threat to the national security of Nigeria."

 

Lawmakers Probe Alleged Theft

 

Two years later, the House of Representatives resolved to constitute an
adhoc committee to investigate the allegation.

 

The resolution followed the unanimous adoption of a motion moved by Hon.
Ibrahim Isiaka, titled 'Alleged Loss of over $2.4 Billion in Revenue from
Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Export in 2015, Including
Crude Oil Exports from 2014 till Date.'

 

The panel will also investigate all proceeds recovered through the
Whistle-Blowers Policy and the level of compliance by the policy.

 

At the commencement of the probe, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon.
Mark Gbillah, vowed that the parliament will unearth the facts behind the
allegations.

 

He said it will engage local and foreign stakeholders to unravel the facts
behind the alleged loss from 2014 till date. The lawmaker, who assured all
the whistleblowers of utmost confidentiality about their identities, said
the investigation was in line with President Buhari's anti-corruption drive.

 

He said progress is being made in the investigations as the committee had
obtained recordings and photographs of the meetings, documentation to show
e-mail trail and discussions and even bank account statements of very highly
placed people where the transactions took place.

 

At it's sitting last week, the lawmakers grilled the Head, National Central
Bureau, NCB, Interpol, AIG Garba Baba Umar for allegedly inviting
whistleblowers for questioning shortly after it commenced investigation into
the matter.

 

The lawmakers specifically queried why the individuals who were witnesses
and ready to give them evidence would suddenly be tagged "fugitive" and
declared wanted by the police.

 

Gbillah while warning against harassing and intimidating the witnesses, said
the committee was not on a witch-hunt mission but fulfilling its
constitutional mandate in the interest of the Nigerian people.

 

The committee also summoned the Director, Public Prosecution (DPP) and
others, hinting of their decision to embark on a trip to Mexico to meet with
the country's officials on the issue for more information.

 

He said: "There is an allegation that sometime in 2015, a presidential
committee was set up which included the late chief of staff to the
president, Abba Kyari, the late GMD of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, the former
DG DSS, Daura. It was chaired by retired General Mohammed Umar and the
current CEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, was then the group general manager, crude
oil marketing department, the attorney general at some point also became a
member of the committee.

 

"That committee is said to have travelled to China at the insistence of a
whistleblower of Mexican citizenship about the existence in China of
millions of barrels of Nigeria"s crude and this individual expressed an
interest to purchase this crude which the government at the time allegedly
needed to investigate first so this committee went to China, confirmed the
existence of this crude, but this individual concerned alleges that when the
process of selling this crude commenced they were no longer contacted and
they have evidence of the fact that the crude was sold without the money
being remitted to the coffers of the Nigerian government.

 

"Now when these issues started to occur they said they were being
intimidated and threatened and had spurious allegations made against them
that involved them being charged to court over this matter and eventually
the matter was discontinued and in their own point of view they said
allegedly because when they were the revelations of the details of the
documents, text exchanges between them started to come to the fore, the
parties involved did not want it to become public knowledge.

 

"Now fast forward to now, because that case was stalled. It may interest you
to know that at the time when these allegations seemingly occurred the
department that was sent in by the police to investigate this was the Force
CID, then under the DIG Michael Ogbizi now retired. The report is supposed
to have been made and forwarded for action by the Attorney General. But it
will also be something we would want to understand why now if it is related
to that issue why is the Interpol writing to some of these individuals.

 

"We would also want to get the documents and facts at his disposal. They
said they have recordings, photographs, some of which they have shown the
Committee, e-mail correspondence, text messages and a lot of that related to
this issue and other documents. But the Nigerians who are involved are still
within the country. Two of them were the ones who approached us willing to
give detail of what transpired in this whole situation but considering the
fact that you were not involved in that initial investigation, I want to
first start by asking how come you write letters to these individuals after
the committee's investigation had commenced and after they had indicated
desire to give evidence to this committee".

 

Reacting, the Head of NCB, Umar said they were not investigating anyone. He
stressed that their role was to grant the request from the ministry of
justice as mandated by law. He directed further inquiries to the office of
the Attorney General of the Federation.

 

As Nigerians await the outcome of the probe, the committee has hinted on
their decision to embark on a trip to Mexico to meet with the country's
officials on the issue for more information.

 

-This Day.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Naira Redesign, Fuel Scarcity Could Escalate Tension Ahead of Polls
- World Bank

The world bank said the Nigerian authorities should consider allowing for a
longer implementation period, well beyond February 10.

 

The World Bank Country Office in Nigeria's capital city, Abuja, has said
that the hardship being faced by Nigerians due to fuel scarcity and the
naira redesign policy could escalate tension in Africa's largest economy
ahead of the general elections.

 

According to an internal document dated February 2, obtained exclusively by
PREMIUM TIMES, the bank said that the deadline of 10 February for the
phasing out of old naira notes will cause a cash crunch which could be
economically and socially damaging to vulnerable people in Nigeria.

 

"The shortage of cash compounds fuel shortages which have been ongoing for
months," the bank said.

 

"There is a clear risk that cash shortages cause hardship and frustration
which could escalate social tensions, especially in a febrile political
environment ahead of elections on February 25 (presidential and
parliamentary) and March 11 (gubernatorial)."

 

 

Prior to the implementation of the new note policy, the World Bank said the
latest available data shows that only 45 per cent of Nigerian adults had a
bank account, 34 per cent reported paying or receiving money digitally over
the past year, and that only nine per cent made an in-store payment by
digital means.

 

Based on this, it said the Nigerian authorities should consider allowing for
a longer implementation period, well beyond February 10.

 

According to the bank, Nigeria is highly unlikely to achieve digital
payments increase quickly enough to complement the lingering shortages of
new notes across the country within the stipulated deadline.

 

Naira redesign, Scarcity

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria on 26 October, 2022, announced the introduction
of redesigned 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes into the financial system. But
since the notes were unveiled, Nigerians across different parts of the
country have had a hard time accessing it from banks and ATM points.

 

 

Last week, amid the chaos caused by the scarcity of the new notes, the CBN
extended the deadline for the phasing out of the old notes from 31 January
to 10 February.

 

Despite the extension, many Nigerians working in the informal sector of the
economy have had to scramble for the new notes while others lamented their
inability to withdraw their hard earned money from their bank accounts.

 

Deposit Money Banks have equally been accused of hoarding the new notes,
while some mobile cash point vendors are said to be exploiting the situation
by dispensing the new notes to customers at skyrocketed prices.

 

The World Bank in its document noted that anecdotal evidence and media
reports suggest that the new notes are scarce.

 

 

"The annual capacity of the national mint is reportedly 2 billion notes, so
even assuming it produces only the highest denomination 1,000 naira notes,
it would take a year to produce NGN 2 trillion worth of notes," it said.

 

Consequently, the bank noted that if existing notes are indeed demonetised
on February 10, there will be a major shortage of physical currency.

 

"Roughly N500 billion worth of new notes may be available, compared with NGN
800 billion worth of old notes outside of banks as of last week and NGN 2.7
trillion outside of banks before this policy began to get implemented," the
bank said.

 

Socio-economic Cost

 

The World bank said the shortfall in the physical availability of cash seems
to stifled economic activities as it is increasingly becoming difficult to
transact business.

 

It said the shortage is likely to affect poor and vulnerable households in
rural areas the most, since they have the highest dependency on cash, and
the lowest access to banking and mobile money services.

 

At a minimum, the bank said that the new policy imposes a transaction cost
on people by forcing them to deposit their existing notes or exchange them
for new ones, potentially at a large premium to traders, which again may be
most significant for the poorest and most isolated households.

 

Digital Payments

 

As of 2021, the world bank explained that the formal bank account ownership
for Nigerian adults was below the average in the Sub-Saharan Africa region,
as well as the global average.

 

It said only 34 per cent of Nigerian adults reportedly made or received
digital payments in 2021 and that it appears overly optimistic to expect
that the remaining large majority (two-thirds of people) can quickly switch
to doing so despite being unfamiliar with the technology and possibly
lacking access to mobile phones and digital devices.

 

"Even in Kenya, which has one of the highest take-ups of mobile money in
Africa, 22% of people still report not receiving or using digital payments,
showing the continued need for cash even in an environment where digital
payments have become the norm," the bank noted.

 

It said digitisation is a structural challenge that will take time and
require a systematic approach, especially to address inclusion challenges.

 

While the total number of digital transactions in Nigeria has been growing
rapidly year over year, the bank said the number of digital transactions per
capita is still low compared to developed countries such as Sweden and
Finland (where the use of cash is very low) with high levels of digital
payments adoption.

 

Policy Outlook

 

In considering the timing of the policy implementation, the World bank
recommended that the Nigerian authorities should also take into
consideration the level of merchant acceptance of digital payments and
adoption of in-store payments in the country.

 

At about 9 per cent of total transactions, the level of digital payments
remains very limited when compared to peer countries, limiting the number of
digital use cases for most people's daily transactions, it said.

 

"Differences in account ownership between urban and rural areas should also
be considered, as the account ownership level and the access points
distribution tend to differ," the bank said.

 

The bank noted that data on the size of the informal economy should be
considered when promoting a rapid shift to digital payments, as informal
businesses might face challenges in digitising their payment acceptance
without undergoing a formalisation process.

 

"Digital infrastructure gaps (i.e., poor connectivity, limited national ID
coverage, etc.) and the payment system's operational reliability to absorb a
steep increase of transactions from cash to digital in a limited timeframe
should be considered," the bank added.

 

-Premium Times.

 

 

 

 

Kenya - Court Rules Workers Can Sue Facebook

Parent company Meta has failed to block a court case accusing it of
exploitative working conditions after arguing the East African country did
not have jurisdiction over its operations.

 

A labor court in Kenya ruled on Monday that Facebook's parent company, Meta,
can be sued after a former employee filed a lawsuit against the social media
giant, citing poor working conditions.

 

Meta tried to have the case thrown out, arguing that courts in the East
African country do not have jurisdiction over Facebook's operations.

 

However, Judge Jacob Gakeri said: "Since the petition has raised certain
actual issues that are yet to be determined, it would be inopportune for the
country to strike out the two respondents from the matter."

 

Why did an employee take action against Facebook?

 

A former Facebook moderator in Kenya accused the company of exploiting poor
working conditions.

 

 

Daniel Motaung said that while working as a moderator he was exposed to
content such as rape, torture and beheadings. He said this put his and
colleagues' mental health at risk.

 

He said Meta did not offer any support to employees regarding such issues.
In addition, staff were allegedly required to work unreasonably long shifts,
and offered minimal pay. Motaung was employed in Facebook's African hub in
Nairobi, which is operated by Samasource Ltd.

 

Following Monday's ruling from Judge Gakeri, the next step in the process
will be considered by the court on March 8.

 

Meta also faces Ethiopia lawsuit

 

Meta is also facing legal action in which two Ethiopians say hate speech was
promoted on Facebook in the midst of the country's Tigray conflict.

 

The suit was filed in Kenya in December by two Ethiopian researchers and a
Kenyan rights group, the Katiba Institute. According to court documents, the
plaintiffs accuse Meta of not only failing to moderate violent posts about
the conflict, but also blame the social media giant for amplifying the most
virulent ones.

 

One of these posts preceded the murder of a plaintiff's father, their filing
said.

 

That case also alleges Meta responds more slowly to crises in Africa than
elsewhere in the world.

 

(AP, Reuters)

 

 

Lesotho: More Fired Civil Servants Sue Govt

A NEW set of 51 fired Ministry of Trade, Industry, Business Development and
Tourism employees have petitioned the High Court to overturn their
dismissals.

 

Their petition follows a similar one by 48 other civil servants from the
same ministry who first sued the government after they were similarly
dismissed. The 48 nonetheless withdrew their case on Friday following an
earlier ruling Tuesday by Justice Tseliso Mokoko that their case was not
urgent. The government's lawyer, Thomas Thakalekoala, had also argued that
the High Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case as it was a
Labour Court case.

 

But their 51 counterparts have still gone to the High Court with their
urgent application, arguing that it has jurisdiction.

 

All in all, 198 civil servants have been fired from the Ministry of Trade,
Industry, Business Development and Tourism. The first 48 went to court,
followed by the 51, bringing the total of those contesting their dismissals
to 99. The other 99 seem to have accepted their fates as they have not
challenged their dismissals.

 

 

The whole 198 were dismissed as part of the new Sam Matekane government's
efforts to get rid of civil servants whom it said had been employed
illegally or for political purposes by previous coalition governments. As
part of its efforts to contain runaway state expenditure, the new government
has also imposed a freeze on new recruitment into the civil service. It had
also vowed to clean up the public sector and promote merit in recruitment.

 

A 15 December 2022 circular by the Ministry of Public Service Labour and
Employment principal secretary (PS), Lineo Ramabele-Smith, preceded all the
dismissals. It announced a freeze on all new recruitment and the dismissals
of those "employed illegally" by previous coalitions.

 

"It has been discovered that the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)
have been appointing officers without following proper recruitment
processes. These are appointments which were not authorised by relevant
authorities. MDAs are therefore requested to terminate all employment of
staff (done) outside legal recruitment processes by 31 January 2023," Ms
Ramabele-Smith wrote.

 

 

The 51 who filed their application on Wednesday, argue that the High Court
has jurisdiction to hear their case. It should do so on an urgent basis as
well. They argue that the government was wrong to have terminated their
contracts without affording them a hearing.

 

The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Business Development and Tourism, the
Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) and Attorney General Rapelang
Motsieloa are first to third respondents respectively.

 

The LHDA is cited because some of the workers were deployed at 'Muela
Hydropower Station which is managed by the Authority. It is not clear in
what capacities these people were employed there. The Matekane government
believes they were appointed politically as part of a "jobs for the boys" by
previous parties.

 

But the 51 insist they were hired legally.

 

"The first respondent (the minister) offered us employment on the basis of
many considerations. We were made to apply for positions created in the
national parks and in order to determine competency and suitability for the
vacant positions, we underwent the recruitment and selection process
conducted and carried out within the parameters of the law that governs us,"
one of them, Motseoa Pule, states in her founding affidavit.

 

"It is for this reason that the Ministry cannot be heard to complain about
the manner in which the assessments were carried out and it has never been
their case that our recruitments were against the established positions and
contrary to the job descriptions and requirements of the specified jobs for
which we were employed. The government paid us for the last time on 20 July
2022.

 

"The condition precedent for terminating unlawful appointments is
self-review and any termination of our employment done without an order of
this court in the self-review application is doomed to be declared unlawful.
We cannot afford to have a government that fails to honour its undertakings
to pay our salaries and to launch simple applications of self-review. It is
declared (by the gvt) that we were not recruited lawfully. This is
incorrect."

 

-Lesotho Times. 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2023

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

Robert Mugabe National Youth Day

 

February 21

 


Cafca 

AGM

virtual 

February 23  - (12pm)

 


Ariston 

AGM

Centenary Room, Royal Harare Golf Club

February 24 - 3:30pm

 


 

Good Friday

 

April 7

 


 

Easter Saturday

 

April 8

 


 

Easter Sunday

 

April 9

 


 

Easter Monday

 

April 10

 


 

Independence Day

 

April 18

 


 

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 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.

 


 

 


(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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