Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 13 February 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 13 February 2023 

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


 

ü  Net zero targets 'may mean higher taxes'

ü  Mars Wrigley factory fined after two workers fall into chocolate vat

ü  Why are BP, Shell, and other oil giants making so much money right now?

ü  Tech layoffs: Yahoo to slash 20% of its workforce

ü  Eskom crisis: What does South Africa’s state of disaster mean?

ü  Can Sri Lanka trade its way back to prosperity?

ü  Ulster Bank survey: NI private sector shrinks but businesses optimistic

ü  Seaburn Stack's bosses confident despite closures

ü  AstraZeneca: Jeremy Hunt 'disappointed' by drugs firm's low-tax move

ü  Russia to cut oil production over price caps

ü  Uganda Airlines to Fly to Lagos, Abuja

ü  Nigeria: 2023 - Atiku in Abia, Promises to Earmark U.S.$10 Billion for
Businesses in South-East

ü  Nigeria: The Urgent Necessity of Saving Nigeria From Its Central Banker

ü  Malawi: Employers Body to Engage Central Bank Over New Pension Law

ü  Rwanda: Govt Targets to Have Five International Stadiums By 2028

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 

Net zero targets 'may mean higher taxes'

UK has made good progress towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by
2050 but getting there may need higher taxes.

 

That's according to leading economist Lord Nicholas Stern, who says both
public and private investment in new technologies is needed.

 

The UK is also being urged to follow the US in stimulating green technology
by a former boss of oil giant BP.

 

But the government said the UK is "leading the way" on climate change.

 

What is net zero and how is the UK doing?

Lord Stern told the BBC: "We must have growth and we must drive down
emissions, and it's investment in the new technologies that's going to get
us there."

 

He added: "I'm not arguing for delaying investment in health and education.
We have to pursue those at the same time.

 

"If we have to tax a little bit more, so be it. If we have to borrow a bit
more for the really tremendous investments, then we should do that."

 

His words come as the country grapples with a cost of living crisis and the
UK is facing the highest taxes relative to income since the Second World
War.

 

The government is also under pressure, from some quarters, to cut taxes.

 

However, Lord Stern says more public investment could help jobs and the
environment.

 

Lord Stern wrote a ground-breaking report in 2006 on climate change for the
government, then led by Prime Minister Tony Blair. He delivered an updated
version for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021.

 

He is optimistic that a tipping point in key green technologies - including
energy generation, car batteries and fertilizer manufacture - is achievable
within a few years, with artificial intelligence playing a key role.

 

Lord Stern expects private investment can fund most of it but the government
will have to be involved.

 

Lord Browne, a former chief executive of BP who now heads up a private
equity fund that invests in firms that reduce greenhouse gases, wants more
state help for businesses.

 

He is urging government to take inspiration from across the Atlantic.

 

President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act involves subsidies and tax credits
for producing electric vehicles, renewable electricity, sustainable aviation
fuel and hydrogen as well as money off for consumers who buy US-made
electric cars.

 

"I will give the US an A-grade for the Inflation Reduction Act, that's
pretty dramatic," Lord Browne says. "It's nothing like enough, but it's a
great start and it's made people notice."

 

But some UK Ministers, including former Business Secretary Grant Shapps, who
now heads up the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, have been
critical of President Biden's move.

 

They have been concerned that it gives US businesses an unfair advantage.

 

Such subsidies are typically financed by tax revenue or borrowing.

 

However, Lord Browne says there is already one source of tax cash that could
be channelled better.

 

He supports the current windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas production,
saying it is only right that producers should pay over a slice of the
unforeseen profits earned on assets that are ultimately owned by the nation.

 

He would like to see those revenues earmarked to help renewable specialists
who are developing new energies.

 

But Lord Brown is concerned that with so many issues to consider, such as
securing the UK's energy supply, environmental concerns may have slipped
from the forefront of policymakers' minds.

 

"Government ministers are preoccupied with very simple things, which is a
rediscovery of inflation and rediscovery of security," he said.

 

"It is first keeping the lights on, energy security. Secondly,
affordability. And third is climate. Now, you should be able to do all three
things at once but it's very theoretical to say that people do focus on
three objectives simultaneously. They just don't in life."

 

Speaking at the COP 27 climate meeting last year, however, Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak said that the energy crisis was a reason to accelerate the
energy transition.

 

In a statement, the government claimed the UK is "leading the world on
tackling climate change with policies having supported 68,000 green jobs
since 2020."

 

Appetite for change?

Last week saw the creation of the Department for Energy Security and Net
Zero.

 

The latter was among the 129 recommendations made in a review of the UK's
progress towards net zero commissioned by previous Prime Minister Liz Truss,
which urged the government to take a bolder approach.

 

But ramping up that role in climate action might need some difficult
conversations.

 

Pollsters Ipsos found that while people are still very concerned about
climate change, they are now more focused on inflation, the economy and
public services.

 

And when it tested several policy areas - including paying environmental
levies for frequent flights or other products and phasing out fossil fuel
heating - the level of support dropped.

 

Voters are keen to do the right thing - but maybe less enthusiastic about
funding change, especially at the moment.-bbc

 

 

Mars Wrigley factory fined after two workers fall into chocolate vat

US workplace safety regulators have fined a Pennsylvania factory after two
workers fell into a vat of chocolate and had to be rescued.

 

The Mars Wrigley factory in the city of Elizabethtown was fined more than
$14,500 (£12,000) by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

 

The workers were contractors that did not work full-time for the factory.

 

The incident happened in June 2022. A hole had to be cut into the bottom of
the partly-full tank to get them out.

 

More than two dozen rescuers responded, and one worker was transported to
hospital by helicopter, according to local reports.

 

The regulator's report labelled the incident "serious". It says the workers
were hired to clean tanks, and were not provided with proper safety
training.

 

It noted that the workers fell into a batching tank - a tank used to mix
ingredients - for Dove chocolate, a brand sold in the US. In the UK and
elsewhere, Dove is sold as Galaxy.

 

A representative for Mars Wrigley welcomed the outcome of Osha's
investigation.

 

"The safety of our associates and outside contractors is a top priority for
our business," said the spokesperson.

 

"As always, we appreciate Osha's collaborative approach to working with us
to conduct the after-action review."

 

Mars and Wrigley - both American confectioners that are each over a century
old - merged in 2008.

 

In addition to Dove, the company produces several popular sweets such as
M&Ms, Snickers and Twix.-bbc

 

 

 

Why are BP, Shell, and other oil giants making so much money right now?

The big oil companies - from the UK-based BP and Shell to international
giants such as ExxonMobil and Norway’s Equinor - have been announcing
astonishing profit figures.

 

They are all benefitting from the surging price of oil and gas following the
invasion of Ukraine.

 

While they rake in the profits, people around the world are struggling to
pay their energy bills and fill up their cars - leading to calls for higher
taxes on these companies.

 

So how are they making so much money, and should the government step in to
stop them?

 

Bar chart showing the combined earnings of Big Oil companies. In 2022, they
reached $222bn, more than double the year before.

Why has the oil price soared?

Oil and gas are traded around the world, and if supplies are short and
demand high, sellers can charge more, and the price goes up.

 

Before the Ukraine war, Russia was the world’s largest exporter of oil and
natural gas.

 

A lot of the money that people paid to buy that oil and gas went to the
Russian government - those exports made up 45% of the Russian government
budget in 2021.

 

After the invasion, Western countries, including the UK and EU, tried to
stop (or at least massively reduce) their energy imports from Russia, to
avoid funding the Russian military and supporting a hostile regime.

 

Countries that didn’t want to buy from Russia had to pay much higher prices
for oil produced elsewhere.

 

Oil prices had already been rising as economies reopened following Covid-19
lockdowns, and people needed more oil.

 

Line chart showing the price of Brent Crude oil. On 08 February 2023, a
barrel of Brent Crude was priced at $85.09.

The day after the Russian invasion, the oil price went above $100 a barrel,
and peaked at over $127 in March, before coming back down to around $85. Gas
prices also soared after the invasion.

 

Oil and natural gas are crucial to almost every aspect of modern life. Oil
is used to make petrol and diesel, and natural gas is used for heating and
cooking.

 

They're also used in agriculture, electricity generation, and other
industrial processes which make everything from fertilizer to plastics.

 

So a sustained rise in oil and gas prices pushes up the cost of many other
things we buy, driving the cost of living crisis that has gripped the UK -
and other countries - in recent months.

 

Why do soaring prices mean more profits?

Oil companies make money by locating oil and gas reserves buried in rocks
under the earth's surface, and drilling down to release them.

 

The costs don’t vary that much as the price goes up or down, but the money
they make from selling it does.

 

So when oil prices soared after the invasion of Ukraine, the money these
companies made from selling oil and gas massively increased as well.

 

How much profit did Shell and BP make last year?

On Tuesday, BP reported record annual profits of $27.7bn (£23bn) for 2022,
as it scaled back plans to reduce the amount of oil and gas it produces by
2030. Those profits were double the previous year's figure.

 

In February, Shell reported its highest profits in 115 years. Profits hit
$39.9bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, double the previous year's total.

 

The profits they make don’t all disappear - lots of ordinary people own
shares in BP, Shell, and other global oil companies. This may be via their
pension funds, and they may not even be aware of it.

 

Some of the extra profits are paid to shareholders through higher dividends,
and buying back shares (which increases the share price).

 

But as long as the billions roll in while customers struggle to pay their
bills, the calls for higher taxes will continue.

 

How much tax do oil and gas producers pay?

Big oil companies made their record profits even after paying billions to
governments around the world.

 

BP and Shell are in a complicated position because they are headquartered in
the UK but produce a relatively small amount of oil and gas in UK waters.
They make most of their profits from activities around the world.

 

Shell paid $134m (£110m) tax on its UK operations in 2022, out of a
worldwide tax bill of $13bn.

 

BP paid $2.2bn (£1.8bn) in taxes on its UK operations, out of a global tax
bill of $15bn.

 

Oil companies already pay a tax on their profits from oil and gas production
in the UK of 40% - which is higher than taxes on other companies.

 

But they can reduce that tax bill by deducting the cost of shutting down old
oil rigs, or offsetting future investments and losses from earlier years.

 

In some years, BP and Shell have paid no tax on UK operations, and received
payments from the UK government instead.

 

After the invasion of Ukraine, the government faced calls to introduce an
extra "windfall tax" on energy company profits to help pay for soaring
energy bills.

 

What is the windfall tax and how much are oil giants paying?

This was introduced in May 2022, and increased from 25% to 35% in November.
It is now expected to raise around £40bn extra from all the companies
operating in UK waters between 2022 and 2028.

 

However, the windfall tax only applies to the profits on UK oil and gas
production, which only account for a small share of some firms' profits.

 

And firms can deduct more than 90% of the cost of new exploration and
production from their windfall tax bills, significantly reducing what they
have to pay.

 

The windfall tax accounted for all of Shell's UK tax bill, and $700m (£538m)
of BP's.

 

They face calls to pay even more tax

Politicians, environmentalists, trade unions and poverty campaigners have
attacked oil companies’ record profits, and argued for higher windfall
taxes.

 

They say high prices are the result of something beyond the oil firm's
control - war, and that it's not fair that oil companies are profiting from
people's suffering.

 

Some say higher windfall taxes are a good way for governments to raise money
because they're easy to collect and hard to avoid.

 

Even the former boss of Shell himself, Ben van Beurden, wondered if it was
inevitable that governments would need to tax energy producers more to
protect the poorest in society.

 

But oil firms argue that a higher windfall tax would make them less willing
to invest in producing in the UK, and that they would search for oil
elsewhere where taxes are lower.

 

Harbour Energy, which produces more oil and gas in the UK than anyone else,
is cutting jobs and reconsidering its UK investments because of the windfall
tax.

 

If the UK government decided to tax BP and Shell on their global profits
more heavily, they could potentially move their headquarters out of the
country - escaping the new tax, and depriving the UK of much of the revenues
they currently pay.

 

Oil companies have to operate in a world where the price of oil can go down
as well as up, with little warning. Money made in the good years helps to
balance out years when oil prices are low.

 

Many oil companies lost billions from Russian investments last year - BP
wrote off $24bn of investments in the Russian oil company Rosneft, for
example.

 

They also have to invest billions to find new reserves of oil to keep
supplies running until the world switches over to renewable sources of
power.

 

Energy companies have a big role to play in that switch-over, too. BP and
Shell invest some of the billions they make from oil and gas into renewable
power such as solar and wind farms, and charging stations for electric cars.

 

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

 

Shell chief executive Wael Sawan said that these are "incredibly difficult
times - we are seeing inflation rampant around the world" but that Shell was
playing its part by investing in renewable technologies. Its chief financial
officer Sinead Gorman added that Shell had paid $13bn in taxes globally in
2022.

 

However, BP scaled back its plans to cut its carbon emissions this year
because demand for oil and gas is so strong.

 

Does the energy cap reduce oil company profits?

The energy price cap was introduced in 2019 to stop companies overcharging
people who didn't shop around for cheaper deals. It targets energy
suppliers, and doesn't affect the profits of oil and gas producers.

 

 

 

Tech layoffs: Yahoo to slash 20% of its workforce

Yahoo plans to lay off more than 20% of its total 8,600 workforce as part of
a major restructuring.

 

The veteran tech company is reorganising its advertising unit, which will
lose more than half of the department by the end of the year.

 

Nearly 1,000 employees will be affected by the cuts by the end of the week.

 

Yahoo is the latest tech firm to announce job losses as firms struggle with
a downturn in demand, high inflation and rising interest rates.

 

"These decisions are never easy, but we believe these changes will simplify
and strengthen our advertising business for the long run, while enabling
Yahoo to deliver better value to our customers and partners," a spokesperson
told the BBC.

 

Yahoo, which has been owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management
since a $5bn buyout in 2021, added that the move would enable the company to
narrow its focus and investment on its flagship ad business called DSP, or
demand-side platform.

 

Advertising changes

The layoffs are part of a broader effort by the company to streamline
operations in Yahoo's advertising unit.

 

It comes as many advertisers have pared back their marketing budgets in
response to record-high inflation rates and continued uncertainty about a
recession.

 

The re-focus signals an intention by the firm to stop competing directly
against the likes of Google and Facebook's Meta for digital advertising
dominance.

 

The Yahoo spokesperson added: "The new division will be called - simply -
Yahoo Advertising.

 

"In redoubling our efforts on the DSP on an omni-channel basis, we will
prioritise support for our top global customers and re-launch dedicated ad
sales teams towards Yahoo's owned and operated properties - including Yahoo
Finance, Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports and more."

 

What is behind the big tech companies' job cuts?

Are tech job cuts a warning for the wider economy?

Layoffs 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 shrink amid high inflation and rising
interest rates, after the pandemic.

 

Meta 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

 

 

 

 

Eskom crisis: What does South Africa’s state of disaster mean?

South Africa's president has declared a state of disaster to try and deal
with a crippling and unprecedented energy crisis. South Africans have been
facing blackouts every day, which have badly affected homes and businesses,
but what difference will this emergency measure make, if any?

 

How bad are the power-cuts?

At an ice cream parlour in Soweto, one company has been struggling to keep
their frozen treats cold amid rolling power-cuts, referred to locally as
"load shedding".

 

"It's terrible," Thando Makhubu, owner of Soweto Creamery, told the BBC's
Newsday programme. "When load-shedding is really, really bad, we find
ourselves using our profit to run," Mr Makhubu said.

 

He even fears customers might stop coming to his creamery: "We have had
customers who assume that we are closed, because of load-shedding, so I am
really worried that if load-shedding worsens, people won't come."

 

His is just one of many businesses and households that have been affected by
South Africa's energy shortage, which has even led to protests, with people
declaring that "enough is enough".

 

So the pressure has been mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa to address
the issue, which he said he would confront head-on: "We must act to lessen
the impact of the crisis on farmers, on small businesses, on our water
infrastructure, on our transport network and a number of other areas and
facilities that support our people's lives," he said in his state of the
nation address on Thursday.

 

Before a clapping crowd, he announced: "We are therefore declaring a
national state of disaster to respond to the electricity crisis and its
effect."

 

President Ramaphosa outlined that the escalation of the crisis would allow
the government to implement "practical measures that we need to take to
support businesses," he said, highlighting those in food production and
retail supply chains.

 

"It will also enable us to exempt critical infrastructure such as hospitals
and water treatment plants from load-shedding," he said, adding that it
would allow the government to remove red tape for energy projects and so
build them faster.

 

This crisis is nothing new, and has been 15 years in the making. The
country's state-owned power company, Eskom, has $26bn (£21bn) of debt, old
infrastructure, power stations that do not work properly, not to mention a
recent strike which crippled the company.

 

However, the power shortage has escalated in recent months, with South
Africans facing electricity cuts for 288 days last year, while this year
there have been electricity blackouts for up to 15 hours a day.

 

What difference will it make?

A state of disaster effectively means that the government is given
additional powers to resolve a crisis with less bureaucracy, regulation and
extra funds.

 

However, further details of what will change have not been made public, with
one analyst, Ted Blom, telling the AFP news agency that "we don't know what
the government actually plans to do".

 

A state of disaster was also implemented during the covid pandemic, and saw
some people abusing the emergency measure.

 

In 2020, the country's then-auditor general said he uncovered "frightening
findings" of overfunding and potential fraud in the use of the Covid-19
relief fund, including some cases where personal protective equipment (PPE)
was bought for five times more than the price the national treasury had
advised. The government reacted by telling those accused of corruption to
resign and cooperate with law enforcement.

 

However, the president anticipated potential corruption, and said measures
will be put in place to prevent this.

 

But despite his attempts to address potential corruption, concerns still
persist, with the chief whip of the opposition Democratic Alliance, telling
the BBC that her party would be "challenging this declaration" because there
should be "targeted" intervention towards Eskom instead of a general state
of disaster.

 

"[It] gives unfettered powers to the executive, the parliament has no
oversight over the executive under some of those sections of the act,"
Siviwe Gwarube also told South Africa's News24.

 

"And also more importantly, it allows government departments across the
board to essentially subvert procurement processes as and when at will," she
added.

 

There are also those who think the emergency measure will make no difference
at all, and that the president hasn't taken decisive enough action.

 

"What the country needs at this time was a deliberate and very decisive
action plan with timelines, with targets and with a progress report," Dr
Nthabiseng Moleko, a development economist from Stellenbosch Business
School, told South Africa's SABC news channel.

 

"It doesn't look like these solutions that we have are going to yield any
outcome that is going to change the course and the path that this country is
on," she added.

 

The appointment of a minister of electricity was also announced under the
purview of assuming "full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the
electricity crisis response".

 

However, this new position has been mocked online, with some saying they
would be clueless about how to solve the crisis and saying the country could
soon end up with a minister of "potholes".

 

The president also outlined plans for the country to continue with its green
energy transition programme, including through the "roll-out of rooftop
solar panels".

 

South Africa relies on aging coal-fired power stations for most of its
electricity - in 2020, just 7% of its energy came from renewable sources,
according to the International Energy Agency.-bbc

 

 

 

Can Sri Lanka trade its way back to prosperity?

Sri Lanka is, in the words of its own president, "bankrupt".

 

The Indian Ocean nation defaulted on its sovereign debt in May 2022,
plunging the country into economic and political chaos.

 

The Colombo government secured a $2.9bn (£2.4bn) International Monetary Fund
bailout in principle the following September.

 

But the cash will not be released to Sri Lanka until its sovereign creditors
in China and India first agree to a restructuring of the billions of dollars
of bilateral debt they are owed.

 

Despite optimism over the past month that such an agreement was imminent, a
deal has still not materialised - and Sri Lanka's economic agony, and the
suffering of its population, continues.

 

Yet, even if the bailout cash does start to flow in the coming weeks or
months, that will not mark the end of Sri Lanka's economic rebuilding
programme, but merely the beginning.

 

For it's widely accepted that Sri Lanka's economic model needs a fundamental
overhaul.

 

In the years following the savage end of the government's 25-year war
against the separatist Tamil Tigers in 2009, Sri Lanka benefited from
something of a financial "peace dividend".

 

The government at the time successfully attracted large flows of foreign
investment, not only from foreign governments like China, but also private
international bondholders.

 

These financial flows pumped up domestic economic growth, but at the cost of
ballooning imbalances.

 

The domestic economy grew steadily less internationally competitive in these
years. And while exports continued to rise from 2000 to 2018, from $6.5bn to
$19.4bn, over the same time period they slumped as a share of the economy,
from 39% to 23%.

 

Even before the pandemic hit in 2020, tearing the heart out of the island's
lucrative tourism industry, the Sri Lankan trade deficit - the gap between
its imports and exports - was already running at more than 6% of GDP.

 

That imbalance is one of the reasons the default hit Sri Lanka so hard - it
suddenly found itself without the means to generate the foreign currency
needed to import vital supplies of food and fuel.

 

Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took over the presidency after the discredited and
reviled Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country in July 2022, has been clear
that Sri Lanka's road to recovery will have to involve addressing the
imbalance at source, and, in particular, driving up exports.

 

"We have to transform into a highly competitive export-oriented economy," he
told local business leaders last year.

 

"There is no other way out. We are a country with 22 million people. We have
to find markets outside."

 

So the big economic question looming over Sri Lanka is: can this be done?
Can the country trade its way back to prosperity?

 

Traditionally, Sri Lanka's big exports have been agricultural, starting with
cinnamon, which attracted European colonisers in the 16th Century. Today tea
is still the biggest export commodity.

 

But the tea sector is still reeling from a disastrous 2021 ban on imports of
fertiliser by the previous government, which cut yields by a fifth.

 

Looking to the future, increasing agricultural productivity is an obvious
avenue for policymakers to explore.

 

Yet many firms in the tea sector style themselves as "artisan" producers,
with leaves still plucked by hand as they were two centuries ago when the
plantations were started by the British Empire. And many estates are still
using archaic processing equipment.

 

On top of this, Roshan Rajadurai, the general manager of the Pedro estate in
Nuwara Eliya, says that its workers are resistant to new, more efficient
methods of picking.

 

He wants to move to a model in which pickers and their families are given
individual sections of plantation to harvest themselves - with them setting
their own hours - rather than working in large traditional work teams for
fixed daily hours.

 

It's a reform Mr Rajadurai says has been proven to increase yields where it
has been adopted, but he says the pickers are resisting.

 

Sri Lanka's tea farmers struggling to survive

"If we don't do it I think with the rising cost, and the static prices that
we get in the world markets for our product, I don't think we can be
sustainable in the long term," he warns.

 

Textiles - manufacturing garments for Western brands - are another major
source of exports for Sri Lanka.

 

But this, even more than tea, relies heavily on imported raw materials and
fuel, which have shot up in price in the wake of the pandemic and the
Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

Those prices should come down this year, yet the reality is that tea and
textiles, though they will probably always be important, are unlikely to
push Sri Lanka very far up the global export value chain.

 

So what else could Sri Lanka export?

 

What's striking is that speaking to policymakers and analysts in Sri Lanka,
as Newsnight did in January, is that there is very little sense of a grand
plan.

 

Unlike other Asian nations such as Malaysia or Vietnam, which saw a major
state-led push into electronic manufacturing, there's no strong sense that
one hears of a particular sector where the country can and should gain an
advantage.

 

The closest area to a prospective national champion is probably port
services.

 

The governor of the county's central bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe, says Sri
Lanka's geographical location, in the centre of Indian Ocean shipping lanes,
offers an opportunity to be a major "trans-shipment" hub.

 

"Ports and logistics are where there is the potential for us to promote
exports," he says.

 

It is estimated that a third of the world's bulk cargo, and two-thirds of
its oil, is transported across the Indian Ocean.

 

But perhaps the absence of a clear national plan doesn't matter as much as
getting the economic policymaking basics right.

 

In the grip of the crisis last year, the government removed a peg on the
currency, which resulted in a halving of the value of the rupee against the
US dollar. Some think keeping a floating exchange rate will ultimately help
boost exports.

 

"[In the past] we didn't allow it to depreciate or to adjust according to
market forces, which has basically discouraged exports," says Roshan Perera
of the Advocata think tank, and a former central bank director.

 

Another area for reform identified by the World Bank is, ironically,
liberalising imports and dismantling tariffs. These duties make many
imported goods and products more expensive, thereby benefiting domestic
producers, such as those in the retail and construction sectors.

 

Presentational grey line

Global Trade

More from the BBC's series taking an international perspective on trade.

 

Presentational grey line

Sri Lanka is reckoned to be one of the most protected economies in the world
in terms of import duties on consumer goods.

 

The argument is that liberalisation could attract more foreign investment,
which will help the country's industries become more efficient and export
more.

 

The question is whether, despite the change of president last year, there is
enough political space for Mr Wickremesinghe to dismantle trade barriers,
which will inevitably attract opposition from powerful local vested
interests.

 

The optimistic case is that the shock of the last year will provide an
impetus for such painful reforms, and give Sri Lanka at least a fighting
chance of trading its way out of its worst ever economic crisis.=bbc

 

 

 

 

Ulster Bank survey: NI private sector shrinks but businesses optimistic

Output from Northern Ireland's private sector continued to shrink in January
but there were tentative signs of optimism.

 

The details are contained in Ulster Bank's regular business survey.

 

The monthly survey of about 200 firms is considered a reliable indicator of
the health of the private sector economy.

 

It suggests firms experienced a drop in new orders but are continuing to
hire workers.

 

Official figures suggest that Northern Ireland entered a recession in the
third quarter of 2022 and the Ulster Bank survey points to a continuing
downturn since then.

 

The January survey recorded falling output in manufacturing, construction
and services.

 

However, retail experienced growth after a long period of falling activity.

 

Ulster Bank chief economist Richard Ramsey said the delivery of £600 in
energy support for NI households in the second half of January may have
bolstered retail.

 

He also pointed to the relatively robust performance of the Republic of
Ireland economy: "Unlike Northern Ireland and the UK, the Republic of
Ireland is neither in nor flirting with recession and cross-border shopping
is providing some valuable support."

 

Mr Ramsey said that although output was still falling the pace of decline
appears to have eased.

 

Growing optimism

"Both business activity and incoming orders fell for their ninth successive
month, although the rates of decline slowed in January."

 

Some businesses also appear to be growing in optimism about the year ahead
after what Mr Ramsey called the "extreme pessimism" seen in 2022.

 

Manufacturers and retailers were at their most optimistic in almost a year
and only the construction sector expected further falls in output in 12
months time.

 

On Friday, official figures suggested the UK as a whole narrowly avoided
falling into recession in 2022 after the economy saw zero growth between
October and December.

 

This was despite a sharp 0.5% fall in economic output during December,
partly due to strike action, the Office for National Statistics said.

 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the figures showed "underlying resilience" but
added "we are not out of the woods".

 

The Bank of England still expects the UK to enter recession this year, but
it thinks it will be shorter and less severe than previously forecast.-bbc

 

 

 

Seaburn Stack's bosses confident despite closures

Bosses behind a leisure complex made from containers say they are confident
of its future, despite the loss of a number of businesses in recent months.

 

Stack Seaburn, which opened in Sunderland in 2020, is due to expand across
the UK including Durham, Bishop Auckland and Lincoln.

 

However, a number of businesses have moved out of the original complex,
leaving units vacant.

 

However, Stack bosses have said the concept remains "successful".

 

It said more than 700,000 people visited the complex, based on the seafront,
last year.

 

The BBC understands at least four of six businesses in main units on the
exterior of the complex have left, with some claiming the set-up of the site
was "no longer financially viable" amid the cost of living crisis.

 

Businesses, including a cake shop and café, a dog grooming salon, games room
and a street food stall, have shut.

 

One business, Posh Street Food, published a statement on its website
claiming the rising costs of utilities, ingredients and packaging was having
a "huge effect" on independent businesses.

 

The Seaburn venue, which is home to a number of street food stalls inside,
is made up of containers surrounded by a plaza and centre stage.

 

Last year, Stack announced plans to open permanent sites on Durham's Silver
Street later this year, and Bishop Auckland's Newgate Street in 2024.

 

It also announced plans to open a pop-up venue in Middlesbrough.

 

'Very exciting time'

However, despite the recent closures bosses said it was proving to be an
"extremely successful formula", adding they had received a "large number of
inquiries" for their other sites.

 

A spokesperson said: "This is a very exciting time for the Stack brand as we
look to expand across the North East and beyond."

 

It said some businesses had been affected by the cost of living and economic
climate, but it had supported tenants and not increased rents.

 

A spokesperson said: "As both landlords and operators we do everything
possible to support our tenants which includes us investing heavily in
marketing, events and live entertainment to drive footfall."

 

"The vacant units at the front will give us the opportunity to expand YOLO
Coffee and Kitchen and represents further investment from Stack into the
scheme.

 

"We are also talking with our current traders to explore opportunities for
expansion and relocation to assist with their current business aspirations."

 

It added that could leave it with one unit to lease left.-bbc

 

 

 

AstraZeneca: Jeremy Hunt 'disappointed' by drugs firm's low-tax move

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said he is "disappointed" drugs giant AstraZeneca
has chosen the low-tax Republic of Ireland over the UK to build a new £320m
factory.

 

The firm's chief executive said it had wanted to build the site in
north-west England, but the "discouraging" tax rate meant it chose Dublin
instead.

 

Mr Hunt said he agreed with the firm's "fundamental case" on business taxes.

 

But he said the government would not consider tax cuts funded by borrowing.

 

AstraZeneca is the UK's biggest publicly listed company and has its
headquarters in Cambridge.

 

The firm already has sites close to Macclesfield, Cheshire, and had
originally wanted to build its new factory nearby.

 

It says the planned Dublin factory is expected to create around 100 skilled
jobs.

 

Mr Hunt told the BBC: "We're disappointed that we lost out this time. And we
agree with the fundamental case they're making which is that we need our
business taxation to be more competitive and we want to bring business taxes
down.

 

"But the only tax cuts we won't consider are ones that are funded by
borrowing because they're not a real tax cut. They're just passing on the
bill to future generations."

 

He added: "If you look at life sciences, we have billion pound investments
announced recently by BioNTech, by Moderna, by Merck, by other big
pharmaceutical companies. We think we are in a tremendously strong position,
with the biggest Life Science Centre in Europe.'

 

Technology can help the NHS, says AstraZeneca boss

Hunt says significant tax cuts in Budget unlikely

In April corporation tax, which is paid by UK companies and foreign firms
with UK offices, is due to increase from 19% to 25%.

 

Dr Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry, said: "There are more stories about losing
investment, like the one we've seen with AstraZeneca, than the positive
noise stories coming in, and we really have to turn that around."

 

AstraZeneca and others in the sector have also expressed concern about the
NHS-branded medicines sales levy, which has soared because of rising demand
since the Covid pandemic.

 

Dr Torbett told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The agreement we have with
the NHS, that has got to the point where companies are now paying more than
a quarter of their revenues - not profit but revenues - back to the
government.

 

"That is vastly in excess of anything the industry pays anywhere else in the
world and we have to get to the point where the UK is able to compete for
investment on a level playing field, and we are not there yet."

 

Conservative MP Sir John Redwood said the UK was "being undercut mercilessly
by the Irish tax system".

 

Sir John is member of the Conservative Growth Group of backbench MPs,
calling for a return to ex-PM Liz Truss's tax-cutting agenda.

 

Mr Hunt has warned it is unlikely there will be any room for "significant"
tax cuts in the Budget in March.

 

It comes as new figures show the UK narrowly avoided falling into recession
in 2022, after the economy saw zero growth between October and December.

 

The Bank of England still expects the UK to enter recession this year -
usually defined as when the economy shrinks for two consecutive three-moth
periods.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Russia to cut oil production over price caps

Russia will reduce crude oil production by 500,000 barrels per day from
March after major economies imposed a price cap on oil products.

 

Oil prices rose after Russia's deputy prime minister Alexander Novak
announced the cut.

 

The European Union, G7 nations and Australia have capped how much they will
pay for oil and refined products.

 

These are part of western sanctions designed to put pressure on Russia over
its war in Ukraine.

 

Russia is one of the largest oil producers in the world. Its planned cuts
sent the price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices,
up by 2.2% to $86 per barrel.

 

Western countries have been introducing tougher oil sanctions on Russia as
its invasion of Ukraine continues, as part of efforts to limit the Kremlin's
gain from sales and reduce its ability to finance the war.

 

Most recently, an EU ban on seaborne imports from Russia of refined oil
products, such as diesel, came into force this week. Traders who do not
comply with these sanctions have access to tanker fleets and insurance
markets restricted.

 

In the case of the oil price cap, countries stopped the use of
Western-supplied maritime insurance, finance and brokering for seaborne
Russian oil priced above $60 per barrel from 5 December.

 

In response, Russia has banned any deals involving the cap.

 

Mr Novak said: "As of today, we are fully selling the entire volume of oil
produced, however, as stated earlier, we will not sell oil to those who
directly or indirectly adhere to the principles of the 'price cap'.

 

"In this regard, Russia will voluntarily reduce production by 500,000
barrels per day in March. This will contribute to the restoration of market
relations."

 

So far, according to Mr Novak, Russia has been able to find buyers for all
of its output, despite the sanctions.

 

Industry sources told the BBC that hundreds of tankers have been acquired by
companies in recent weeks, creating a so-called "dark fleet" prepared to
carry Russian crude at higher prices.

 

The last big fall in Russian oil output was in April last year, when it
collapsed by nearly 9% following the introduction of Western sanctions over
Ukraine.

 

But since then, Russia has managed to set up logistics chains for its oil
sales, mostly in Asia. Last year, Russian oil production rose by 2% to 10.7
million barrels per day.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Uganda Airlines to Fly to Lagos, Abuja

Uganda Airlines will soon start direct flights to Lagos and Abuja after a
Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Nigeria and Uganda.

 

On Friday, the Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister, Gen Jeje Odongo met
Nigeria's minister for aviation, Hadi Sirika in Kampala as the two
principals discussed several issues related to aviation industry of both
countries.

 

During the meeting, the Nigerian minister hailed the excellent cordial and
robust bilateral relations between Nigeria and Uganda anchored on the
principle of Pan Africanism and shared values.

 

 

Sirika informed his host that the federal government of Nigeria has reviewed
its Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with Uganda as part of efforts to
facilitate direct air connectivity between the two countries.

 

This bilateral air service agreement provides for reciprocal international
commercial air transport services between the two countries.

 

He further appraised the minister of the meeting held with, Gen Edward
Katumba Wamala, the Minister for Works and Transport which took place
earlier this month and deliberated on measures to review the Bilateral Air
service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries signed in 2002 and
reviewed in 2005.

 

The meeting provided the necessary administrative and technical support to
the MoU agreed upon, during the last International Civil Aviation
Negotiation (ICAN) event, which was held in Abuja from in December last
year.

 

 

Sirika said that following these successful deliberations with Ministry of
Works and Transport and Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, an MoU was
concluded and signed to pave way for the commencement of direct flights from
Entebbe to Lagos.

 

In addition, the Nigerian minister highlighted that it was agreed that Abuja
is reviewed and included as an additional route to the existing Bilateral
Air Service Agreement (BASA) with Nigeria.

 

The current BASA had initially only designated the Lagos route for Uganda
Airlines.

 

The Nigerian Minister lauded the exceptional, visionary leadership of
President Museveni and Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari highlighting that both
leaders are united in their commitment to achieve socio-economic
transformation for Africa and her people as well as attain sustainable
advancement for human capital development.

 

He further emphasized the commitment of the government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria to bolster bilateral relations in key sector areas of
cooperation for the mutual benefit of both countries.

 

 

Gen Jeje Odongo appreciated Nigeria's interventions to further strengthen
bilateral cooperation in the transport sector specifically in aviation.

 

He reiterated Uganda's commitment to boost air connectivity and quest for
the operation of direct flight into Nigeria using its national carrier, the
Uganda Airlines but also underscored the role of improved air connectivity
to enhance bilateral trade between Uganda and Nigeria.

 

Gen Odongo emphasized that these efforts are in line with ministry's policy
of pursuing commercial and economic diplomacy with the primary objective of
further strengthening bilateral trade and investment to accelerate economic
growth and development.

 

The minister appreciated Nelson Ocheger, Uganda's High Commissioner to the
Federal Republic of Nigeria and Ismail A. Alatise, the Nigerian High
Commissioner to Uganda whose concerted efforts and coordination with
relevant ministries, departments and agencies from respective countries
culminated into the signing of the MoU ensuring commencement of direct
flights from Entebbe to Lagos and Abuja.

 

The Minister affirmed that the ministry would provide the necessary
political leadership that will facilitate implementation of the agreements
reached during the meeting.

 

The meeting noted the need for technical cooperation and collaboration
between the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, and the
East African Civil Aviation Academy (EACAA), located in Soroti, Uganda.

 

Equally, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority also solicited technical
support from Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

 

In his response, Senator Sirika underscored the importance of air
transportation, which he deeply observed that it remains the major veritable
means of connecting the people of Africa and enhancing trade.

 

He stated that air transportation will do well in Africa with its population
of over 1.37 Billion and urged African nations to leverage the opportunity
of Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM) to attain the 2065 Africa
Agenda.

 

He gave the assurance of the government of Nigeria to facilitate necessary
efforts to ensure air connectivity becomes a reality as both countries have
come a long way and promised positive responses to the requests made by
Uganda.

 

 

 

Nigeria: 2023 - Atiku in Abia, Promises to Earmark U.S.$10 Billion for
Businesses in South-East

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State was absent at the rally.

 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar,
has promised to set aside $10 billion to develop businesses in the
South-east.

 

Atiku stated this on Saturday during the party's campaign rally in Umuahia,
Abia State.

 

"My vice-president(ial candidate) has announced that we are going to set
aside $10 billion to make sure that we support businesses, particularly in
this part of the country," he told a crowd of Igbos at Umuahia Township
Stadium, venue of the rally.

 

 

"I remember in 2019 when I came here, I addressed a group of businessmen
from the South-east generally because Aba is the capital of the South-east
as far as business is concerned," Mr Atiku claimed.

 

"I remembered I addressed all Igbo businessmen and promised them that I am
going to support them and set out a lot of money for the rehabilitation of
businesses in Aba. So, it is still there."

 

The PDP candidate also promised to address "other needs" in the region, such
as the rehabilitation of federal roads and provision of railways, if he is
elected Nigeria's president in the 25 February poll.

 

The former Nigeria's vice-president appealed to residents of Abia State not
to be "distracted" by other political parties, which he said, are playing
either religious and ethnic cards to win elections.

 

He also urged the residents to remain in the PDP to move the country
forward.

 

"I have seen a number of requests that you people made here and I want to
say that they are all legitimate and they fall within our policy which we
tagged: 'Our Covenant with Nigerians' meaning our promise to Nigerians.

 

 

"We in PDP will be prepared to give Abians what Abians want. It is not an
issue of ethnicity, it is not an issue of religion but it is an issue of
good governance," Atiku stated.

 

The PDP candidate restated his resolve to provide an enabling environment
for businesses in the state. He recalled that he was part of the team that
secured the approval for the Abia Dry Port.

 

"It will only be my pleasure to make sure that the dry port functions and is
operating," he added.

 

Atiku mocked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), arguing that the
Nigeria was much better when the PDP was in power between 1999 and 2015.

 

Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari, is a member of the APC. Mr Buhari
defeated former president, Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, to emerge the
country's president in 2015.

 

 

"You can all bear witness that when PDP was governing, Nigeria was
prospering. That was the time Nigeria became the biggest economy in Africa."

 

"We created more jobs; we created more prosperity for everybody in this
country. We brought about peace and we brought about unity," Atiku claimed.

 

He urged the people at the rally to vote for the PDP in the 2023 general
elections to get the country back on track. He expressed confidence he would
win the 25 February poll.

 

Ikpeazu absent

 

Despite Atiku's visit, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State was
conspicuously absent at the rally.

 

Although the governor was represented by his deputy, Ude Chukwu, at the
rally, observers link his absence to the ongoing row between the G5
governors and the PDP national leadership.

 

The G5, a group of aggrieved PDP governors, is being led by the Rivers State
Governor, Nyesom Wike.

 

Apart from Messrs Ikpeazu and Wike, other members of the group include
Governor Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and their Oyo State
counterpart, Seyi Makinde.

 

The group came about after the PDP presidential primary, where Atiku,
defeated Mr Wike and others to become the party's presidential candidate.

 

The group has been demanding the resignation of the PDP National Chairman,
Iyorchia Ayu, to pave the way for a southerner to lead the party in order to
achieve a "regional balance".

 

The governors' argument is that Messrs Ayu and Atiku hail from northern
Nigeria.

 

-Premium Times.

 

 

 

Nigeria: The Urgent Necessity of Saving Nigeria From Its Central Banker

Mr Emefiele's grasp of basic economics is abysmal. Cash in circulation does
not fuel inflation.

 

It is no longer news that the Central Bank of Nigeria has botched the latest
attempt at redesigning the nation's currency. Nor, given what was known
about the level of preparedness of the relevant institutions at the
exercise's onset, has the restiveness that has attended the banknotes swap
come as a surprise. Still, the ferocity of the streets' response, especially
the wanton destruction of property that has taken place, shocks. Doubtless,
the Central Bank's incitement of bank depositors against commercial banks -
claiming they were the ones hoarding the new banknotes - worsened these
outcomes.

 

 

The breakdown of relations between the president and state governors, and
recourse by sections of the latter cohort to litigation at the Supreme Court
to compel CBN to reinstate the old banknotes as legal tender was just as
unseemly. Unsurprisingly, concern around the near-term health of the Fourth
Republic coalesced around hope that the meeting late last week of the
National Council of State (NCS) would somehow present a silver bullet to fix
the problem.

 

Official numbers may not be out yet but the implications of this failure of
monetary policy for consumer spending are that the damage to the economy
will take a long time to fix. Back-of-the-envelope estimates already speak
of output losses as severe as 3 percentage points in an economy where much
of the growth projected for this year is about 3.2 per cent, according to
the International Monetary Fund. Nonetheless, the strongest headwinds in the
country's path today are of a political character.

 

 

Last week may have produced one of the most frightening weekends in the life
of the Fourth Republic. A fact which underscores the even scarier admission
that Nigeria's democracy may be facing an existential crisis. Less than two
weeks to a general election, what responses are now appropriate to a problem
of this magnitude?

 

Previous calls by this newspaper for the replacement of the Central Bank
governor have been met by worry that a change of helmsman in what is
arguably one of the nation's most important institutions, during a political
transition as fraught as the current one promises, is ill-advised.
Unfortunately, either through his earlier misguided, and eventually
abortive, bid for political office, his utter disregard for the laws
governing the operation of the CBN or in his management of the ongoing
banknotes swap, Mr Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele has eerily proven himself a
real and present threat to Nigeria's desire to manage itself normally.

 

 

It is thus easy to agree with the apt observation of the Nigerian Governors
Forum, in its recent communique, that what Mr Emefiele and CBN are operating
is a currency confiscation programme, in which banknotes have been seized
from the public, without the intention of giving it back to them, thereby
exacerbating the level of tension in the polity at a rather inopportune
period in our national life.

 

Mr Emefiele's grasp of basic economics is abysmal. Cash in circulation does
not fuel inflation. In order to address inflation, the most effective tool
in a central bank's kitty is its benchmark rate. Through his arbitrary
debiting of banks to meet his equally arbitrary sense of banks' cash reserve
ratios, he has severed the transmission lines that connect the Central
Bank's monetary policy rate (MPR) to retail rates in the financial services
sector. His understanding of the concept of the rule of law is louche at
best. He still struggles to understand how his wanton breaking of the law on
ways and means advances to the federal government is no different for its
impact on the health of the polity, from the rioters who sought to compel
banks to return their deposits by breaking and spoiling private and public
property. He plays fast and loose with facts. Insisting that commercial
banks were to blame for hoarding new banknotes that the CBN had supplied
enough, only to turn around to admit that the Central Bank never printed
enough in the first place. Against the backdrop of the needless loss of
lives and damage to property that this latter foolishness led to, there are
few legitimate arguments left for retaining the incumbent governor of the
Central Bank in office.

 

PREMIUM TIMES sympathises with the National Council of State's decision that
more currency notes should be printed or the old notes should be brought
back into circulation forthwith. We are, however, persuaded that in the
light of the objective and subjective constraints that have come to light on
the matter of banknotes swap, the most efficient solution is for the
President to direct the immediate return of the old banknotes as legal
tender until sufficient new notes are produced.

 

There is abundant evidence that cash is the lifeblood of the Nigerian
economy, where the informal sector accounts for more than 84% of employment
and close to a third of domestic output. There is equal evidence that Mr
Emefiele's incompetent management of the monetary policy space has rendered
the economy comatose. PREMIUM TIMES believes there is no better moment than
immediately to infuse the economy with its lifeblood. But not before the
pathogen is neutered.

 

-Premium Times.

 

 

Malawi: Employers Body to Engage Central Bank Over New Pension Law

Officials from Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) say they
will engage the central bank, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to sensitize
employers on the amended Pension Act.

 

President Lazarus Chakwera on Friday assented to four bills including the
Pensions Bill to become laws.

 

ECAM executive director George Khaki said there was need for employers to
know detail of the new pension law.

 

He said this will help in effective remittances of pension money to pension
fund managers.

 

The new law subscribes penalties for employers who fail to remit the pension
funds.

 

The three other assented bills are Public Audit Amendment, Public Roads and
the Constitutional Amendment.

 

Among other issues, the Pension Act will enhance coverage of the pension
sector and strengthen compliance and supervision over entities operating in
the pension sector.

 

It is also expected to increase the proportion of pension benefits to be
paid as a lump sum at retirement from 40 to 50 percent.

 

-Nyasa Times.

 

 

Rwanda: Govt Targets to Have Five International Stadiums By 2028

The government is targeting to have five international football stadiums in
the next five years, according to the Ministry of Sports.

 

The new stadiums are expected to be either built or revamped in places
including Muhanga District, Kigali, and Nyanza.

 

Speaking during the sports breakfast last week, Zephanie Niyonkuru, the
Permanent Secretary at MINISPORTS, revealed that Rwanda will do everything
possible to achieve the targeted infrastructure projects in the next five
years.

 

The facilities include Amahoro Stadium which is currently under renovation
to raise its capacity to 45,000 people from an initial 25,000, as well as
Kigali and Huye stadiums which are also expected to be revamped.

 

 

Muhanga and Nyanza stadiums are also set for renovation. Studies have been
done, Niyonkuru said.

 

Regarding the new stadium to be built in Muhanga, Minister Aurore Mimosa
Munyangaju, said that the Government of Rwanda has provided the land while
the construction works and the funds will be mobilized by World Football
governing body (FIFA) in collaboration with Confederation of African
Football (CAF).

 

"Muhanga has been selected by FIFA as part of the body's plan to build
high-standard stadiums for its member associations," Munyagaju said.

 

"We participated in that program as Rwanda, and we committed to provide land
where the stadium will be built. It is not the Government of Rwanda who will
build the facility because it is among the programs that must be financed
through FERWAFA," she added.

 

Concerning the timeline of the stadium completion, Munyagaju said, "We have
accepted the land. What is left is that Ferwafa gives what is required, and
then they will be given what we pledged."

 

The Ministry of Sports did not give a deadline for when all these stadiums
could be available because "they will be built in different phases", but it
is said that all the projects will have been completed by 2028.

 

There were reports that Rwanda was ready to receive the recently dismantled
Qatar's Stadium 974, the First Temporary World Cup Stadium which was among
the venues that hosted the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

 

However, Munyangaju dismissed the reports and clarified that Rwanda hadn't
held any talks with the government of Qatar over the possibility of handing
over the facility to Rwanda.

 

"It is not true. There is no plan to bring that facility to Rwanda," she
said.

 

Among other projects announced by the Ministry of Sports are basketball
courts that will be built in Remera at the former National Health Center
(RBC).

 

"The most important infrastructure project is the basketball courts that
will be built here at the former RBC, which continues around the former
tennis court. He is a private investor, Masai [Ujiri who runs the NBA's
Toronto Raptors] will build stadiums for people to play sports," said
Niyonkuru.

 

-New 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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