Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 06 January 2023

Fri Jan 6 06:19:29 CAT 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 06 January 2023 

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ü  Staff must be free to work for employer's rivals - US regulator

ü  Many Android phones to get satellite connectivity

ü  Amazon to axe 18,000 jobs as it cuts costs

ü  Covid: Hong Kong to lift year-long ban on hamster imports

ü  Meta fined €390m over use of data for targeted ads

ü  Hunstanton pier complex sold in multi-million pound deal

ü  Northern Ireland new car sales rose slightly in 2022

ü  Energy bill help for firms expected to be halved

ü  Corby food packaging factory closure could affect 95 jobs

ü  Great British Sewing Bee helps give Ipswich shop a boost

ü  South Africa: Eskom Ramps Up Load Shedding

ü  Nigeria: EU Offers $3.4 Million Solar Grid Facility for 76,000 Beneficiaries in Nigeria

ü  Nigeria: Environmentalist Seeks Adoption of Renewable Energy

ü  Kenya: Nairobi Must Change No Turning Back, Governor Sakaja Tells Off Critics

ü  Ethiopia: Some 368,000 Liters of Fuel Transported to Tigray Region in Six Days - Petroleum and Energy Authority

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Staff must be free to work for employer's rivals - US regulator

US authorities are seeking to outlaw agreements that allow companies to limit the ability of staff to leave for work at competitors.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said non-compete clauses were "exploitative" and unfairly limited the opportunities of an estimated 30 million Americans.

The FTC, which enforces competition law, said a ban would foster a more dynamic economy.

The proposal was immediately challenged by the business community.

It will now enter a long rule-making process.

Non-compete clauses were developed to prevent leavers from joining rivals and sharing trade secrets.

The US Chamber of Commerce, one of the most powerful business lobbies, called the proposal "blatantly unlawful".

"Since the agency's creation over 100 years ago, Congress has never delegated the FTC anything close to the authority it would need to promulgate such a competition rule," said Sean Heather, a senior vice president for the organisation. "The Chamber is confident that this unlawful action will not stand."

The FTC said non-compete clauses have become embedded in the US labour market, estimating that they affect roughly one in five workers.

Though long associated with the ranks of business executives and high tech workers, the agency said the practice has become common even in fields such as warehousing and hair styling.

In 2021, US President Joe Biden, who has cast himself as a pro-labour leader, ordered the FTC to look at ways to curtail their use.

Lina Khan, who leads the agency and made her name criticising the might of big tech firms such as Amazon, on Thursday called the ability to switch jobs "core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy".

"Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand

"By ending this practice, the FTC's proposed rule would promote greater dynamism, innovation, and healthy competition," she said.

The announcement of the rule-making plans comes a day after the FTC announced legal actions against several companies that had forced workers to sign non-compete agreements, including security guards.

Officials estimated that if the rule were to go into effect, workers would receive collectively nearly $300bn (£251bn) more in wages per year.-BBC

Many Android phones to get satellite connectivity

A new partnership between the satellite phone firm Iridium and chip giant Qualcomm will bring satellite connectivity to premium Android smartphones later in the year.

It means that in places where there is no mobile coverage, handsets can connect with passing satellites to send and receive messages.

Qualcomm's chips are found in many Android-powered smartphones.

Apple announced a satellite feature for the iPhone 14 in September 2022.

The service is currently only available for sending and receiving basic text messages in an emergency.

British smartphone maker Bullitt was the first to launch its own satellite service, beating Apple to the post. It is also for emergency use, and will be available in selected areas when first rolled out.

The new partnership will make the same service accessible to millions more smartphone users, without tying them to a particular brand - but it will be down to the manufacturer to enable it.

Iridium is the original satellite phone system, sending its first satellite in to orbit in 1997. It completed a refresh of its network of 75 spacecraft in 2019.

The satellites cover the entire globe and fly in low orbit, around 485 miles (780km) above the Earth, and groups of them can communicate with each other, passing data between them.

Qualcomm said that at first the new feature, called Snapdragon Satellite, will only be incorporated into its premium chips so is unlikely to appear in budget devices.

But it will eventually be rolled out to tablets, laptops and even vehicles, and also become a service that is not restricted to emergency communication - although there is likely to be a fee for this.

Satellite connectivity is broadly considered to be the next frontier for mobile phones because it tackles the problem of "not-spots" - areas where there is no existing coverage. These tend to be more common in rural or remote places.

It has already been successfully deployed to provide broadband coverage by services such as Elon Musk's Starlink.

Satellite broadband is fast and generally reliable, but more expensive than cable or fibre connections.

Use of the the feature will be subject to local government regulations, as countries including India and China ban the use of satellite phones.-BBC

Amazon to axe 18,000 jobs as it cuts costs

Amazon plans to cut more than 18,000 jobs, the largest number in the firm's history, as it battles to save costs.

The online giant, which employs 1.5 million people globally, did not say which countries the job cuts would hit, but said they would include Europe.

Most of the job losses will come from its consumer retail business and its human resources division.

Boss Andy Jassy cited the "uncertain economy" for the cuts, saying it had "hired rapidly over several years."

"We don't take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted," he said in a memo to staff.

He said the announcement had been brought forward due to one of the firm's employees leaking the cuts externally.

"Companies that last a long time go through different phases. They're not in heavy people expansion mode every year," he added.

Reacting to the announcement, one Amazon Fresh store worker told the BBC: "We're not allowed to speak about it, even to each other.

"I'd like to keep my job, obviously," the employee said. But they were aware that there are a number of vacancies at the moment in the UK and if this job was axed, they would simply apply for another.

'Amazon on a diet'

Amazon has seen sales slow after business boomed during the pandemic when customers at home spent a lot online.

A potent combination of a downturn in advertising revenues due to businesses seeking to save cash, alongside consumers spending less as the cost of living crisis bites, is hitting tech firms hard.

Retail analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, tweeted that the Amazon job cuts were "a big number" but the company - across its entire operation - had taken on about 743,000 more people since 2019, "some of which was based on irrational exuberance during the pandemic", he said.

"We're now in a different era and Amazon is on a diet," said Mr Saunders, adding more cuts are likely in the months and years ahead.

Other big tech firms including Meta - which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - and cloud-based business software firm Salesforce have also both recently announced big cuts.

Amazon has already announced that it is cutting back on projects like the Echo (better known as Alexa) and delivery robots - which were nice-to-haves but not actually making money.

Anecdotally, there is a tendency in Silicon Valley for firms to hire and retain talented workers on attractive salaries, even if they're not immediately needed, primarily in order to stop them working for rivals. This culture is a luxury which big tech can no longer afford to maintain.

Amazon employees affected by the cuts will be told by 18 January.

'More pain ahead'

The move comes after the technology giant said last year that it would reduce its headcount without saying how many jobs would be cut.

The company had already stopped hiring new staff and stopped some of its warehouse expansions, warning it had over-hired during the pandemic.

Amazon started laying off staff as early as November, according to LinkedIn posts by workers who said they had been impacted by job cuts.

Posts seen by the BBC included those from employees in Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant business, Luna cloud gaming platform division and Lab126 - the operation behind the Kindle e-reader.

It has also taken steps to shut some parts of its business, cancelling projects such as a personal delivery robot.

"Prior to the pandemic, tech companies would often remove only the bottom 1% to 3% of their workforce," Ray Wang from the Silicon Valley-based consultancy Constellation Research told the BBC.

Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush Securities said he believes Amazon will face "more pain ahead" as customers tighten their belts.

Tens of thousands of jobs are being shed across the global technology industry, amid slowing sales and growing concerns about an economic downturn.

In November, Meta announced that it would cut 13% of its workforce.

The first mass lay-offs in the social media firm's history will result in 11,000 employees, from a worldwide headcount of 87,000, losing their jobs.

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the cuts were "the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history".

The news followed major layoffs at Twitter, which cut about half its staff after multi-billionaire Elon Musk took control of the firm in October.-BBC

Covid: Hong Kong to lift year-long ban on hamster imports

Hong Kong is set to lift its year-long ban on the import of hamsters later this month as it unwinds some of the world's toughest Covid restrictions.

The city's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) told the BBC the rodents would be tested for the virus.

Last year officials said around 2,000 animals would be culled to stop the spread of Covid.

The move came after an outbreak of infections at a pet shop.

A spokesperson for the AFCD said it planned to lift the import ban in mid-January.

"Our staff will arrange to collect samples from hamsters and other small mammals for Covid-19 testing. They can only be sold if the test results are negative," the spokesperson said.

They added that this was because studies had found the animals could contract the virus and pass it to humans.

"If such imports are to resume the hamsters need to be handled with consideration [and] given the best care possible during transport and quarantine," a spokesperson from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Hong Kong said.

Rodent row

Hong Kong banned the import of hamsters last year after an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19 was linked to a worker at the Little Boss pet shop in the city.

It prompted officials to test hundreds of animals in the shop for coronavirus. Eleven hamsters that had been imported from the Netherlands tested positive.

Officials said they believed this could have been a case of animal-to-human Covid transmission, and said around 2,000 hamsters and other small animals would be culled as a "preventative measure".

At the time thousands of people signed a petition against the decision to put down the animals.

"Subsequent testing of humans and hamsters confirmed that there was transmission of Covid-19 from hamsters to humans," Vanessa Barrs, a professor of companion animal health at the City University of Hong Kong, told the BBC.

"The situation was very sad, but the government acted out of an abundance of caution at that time," she added.

The virus that causes Covid, Sars-Cov-2, can be caught by animals including dogs, cats and hamsters, which are all commonly kept as pets. But there is no clear evidence that pets can easily pass the infection to humans.

Louis Yeung, owner of the Chinchilla & Pets Shop in Hong Kong, said he had handed over 22 hamsters to be culled by the authorities last year.

He told the BBC that he hopes to start selling the pets again once import restrictions are lifted.

"Since January 2022, our business has been bad. The hamsters are popular pets to lots of people, especially children," he said.

Opening up

Hong Kong dropped almost all its Covid restrictions last month, following a similar move by mainland China.

People arriving in the city, which is a special administrative region of China, no longer have to do mandatory PCR tests.

A vaccine pass system was also scrapped, although people were still required to wear masks in public places.

It was a dramatic move by the city, which once had some of the most stringent Covid-19 restrictions in the world.

-BBC

Meta fined €390m over use of data for targeted ads

Meta has been fined €390m euros (£346m) for breaking EU data rules.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) says the way Meta asked permission to use peoples' data for ads on Facebook and Instagram was unlawful.

Meta, which owns both platforms, has three months to change how it obtains and uses data to target ads.

Meta says it is "disappointed" and intends to appeal, stressing that the decision does not prevent personalised advertising on its platforms.

The regulator said that Facebook and Instagram can not "force consent" by saying consumers have to accept how their data is used, or leave the platform.

As Facebook and Instagram have European headquarters in Ireland, the DPC takes the lead in ensuring they comply with EU data law.

Privacy campaigners say the decision is a major victory and means Meta will have to give users real choice over how their data is used to target online advertisements.

It means Meta will potentially have to change the way a key part of its business works.

The bulk of the firm's money, over $118bn (£97.8bn) in 2021, comes from advertising.

The fine is the second significant penalty imposed by the watchdog in recent months.

In November it was fined €265m (£228m) by the DPC over a data breach that saw the personal details of hundreds of millions of Facebook users published online.

According to the Irish Times Meta set aside €2bn (£1.7bn) to cover potential European fines in 2023.

New law, new complaints

The DPC investigation was sparked by complaints made in 2018 by privacy campaigner Max Schrems, on behalf of two users in Austria and Belgium. The complaint was brought just as the EU's new data and privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), came into operation.

In order to comply with GDPR both Facebook and Instagram asked users to click "I accept" to indicate that they agreed to updated terms of service setting out how their data would be used in ads.

If users did not accept, they were unable to use Facebook or Instagram.

The complainants argued that this meant Meta was "forcing" them to consent to their data being used in targeted ads - and this breached the GDPR.

Meta's representatives argued that Facebook and Instagram are "inherently personalised" and that, as part of that personalisation, targeted ads are a "necessary and essential part" of how the platforms work.

They said Meta was not giving users an ultimatum, and that there was just no way the platforms could work without using data for advertising.

But the DPC found that is not the case, and users were forced to consent.

The DPC also found that Meta was not clear enough with users about how it was using their personal data and why.

But the decision was only arrived at after a dispute with other European data authorities.

That was finally settled in December by the European Data Protection Board.

Meta's spokespeople say that it plans to challenge the size of the fines imposed, "given that regulators themselves disagreed with each other on this issue".

The company argues that far from forcing people to accept how it uses data, it gives consumers a number of tools to control how their data is used.

Let's set the record straight.

"...these decisions do not prevent personalized advertising on our platform. The decisions relate only to which legal basis Meta uses when offering certain advertising."https://t.co/EyD0eGBAeL

Privacy campaigner Mr Schrems wrote in response to the decision: "This is a huge blow to Meta's profits in the EU. People now need to be asked if they want their data to be used for ads or not.

"They must have a 'yes or no' option and can change their mind at any time".-BBC

Hunstanton pier complex sold in multi-million pound deal

A seaside pier complex has been sold in a multi-million pound deal.

Hunstanton Pier, on the north Norfolk coast, has been bought by MD Abbott Holdings, which owns Pettitts Adventure Park in Reedham.

The amusement centre and bowling alley was built in the resort after the former pier building was destroyed by fire in 2002.

The pier was swept away by a storm in 1978 - and only a few uprights survived next to the promenade.

At the time, the new building caused controversy because of disputes over its design.

"The purchase of Hunstanton Pier adds to Mr Abbott’s growing portfolio of leisure businesses in Norfolk," solicitors acting for the buyer said.

The company has not revealed how much the pier was sold for.-BBC

Northern Ireland new car sales rose slightly in 2022

New car sales in Northern Ireland continued to recover in 2022 but were still well below pre-pandemic levels.

Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed 38,381 new registrations in 2022, up by 5% on 2021.

In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, there were just over 51,500 new cars sold.

Last year, the car industry faced significant supply chain problems which delayed the delivery of vehicles.

There were particularly serious problems obtaining semiconductors, which are used in a vast array of electronic systems, from in-car entertainment to engine management.

"It's still the long Covid effect," Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said.

"The key issue is global disruption to supply chains.

"The demand we know is there… manufacturers have just really struggled to be able to make vehicles in sufficient quantities."

In the UK as a whole, new car sales fell to their lowest level in three decades.

There were 1.61 million new registrations, the lowest since 1992.

Meanwhile, across the UK sales of electric cars continued to grow.

They rose from 190,700 to 267,000 - with their market share climbing from 11.6% to 16.6%.

In December, that figure rose to just under 33% - although this reflects the timing of shipments from overseas by Tesla.-BBC

Energy bill help for firms expected to be halved

Business groups are expecting government help with their energy bills to be halved after March, when the existing package of support expires.

Heavy energy users will get support close to current levels.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told business groups on Wednesday that the support would be at a "lower level" to protect the public finances from volatile energy markets.

Gas and electricity prices have been fixed for firms until the end of March.

The revised scheme is expected to run for 12 months until March 2024, with details on the level of support detailed next week

"No government can permanently shield businesses from this energy price shock," Mr Hunt added.

Businesses eligible for support include charities and local authorities.

Those at the meeting included the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Federation of Small Businesses, the British Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors, Make UK, UKHospitality, and the British Beer & Pub Association.

Unlike households, businesses are not covered in normal times by an energy price cap, which limits the amount suppliers can charge per unit of energy.

But after energy prices spiked last year, the government's Energy Bill Relief Scheme fixed costs, providing a lifeline for many firms that risked going bust without the support.

In October, the government said it would review the scheme due to its high cost to taxpayers, with officials considering options to extend support only for "vulnerable businesses".

A decision on whether to extend the support had been due before Christmas, but the government postponed it until the new year.

Firms and business groups reacted angrily to the delay, with Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, describing it as having "a corrosive effect on business confidence".

The delay is thought to have been down to the complexity of delivering the government's original ambition of separating out different sectors for different levels of support according to need.

It is impossible to accurately forecast how much the ongoing support, which ran from October, will cost the exchequer, as it depends on the difference between wholesale energy prices and the level of any cap.

The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated the cost of the support scheme for business at nearly £20bn for the six months to March 2023.

The Treasury told businesses that extending the scheme at current levels "could cost tens of billions of pounds, with costs potentially doubling or tripling if international energy prices increase further than expected".

As wholesale gas prices have fallen sharply from the record highs seen a few months ago thanks in part to the very mild winter so far in Europe, the government may not need to spend as much as forecast.

Separately, household bills will also not rise as high as previously thought. Government subsidies are keeping typical annual household bills at £2500 till March when support will be scaled back.-BBC

Corby food packaging factory closure could affect 95 jobs

A factory that produces plastic packaging for supermarkets could close with the possible loss of 95 jobs.

A consultation is ongoing with workers at Berry Superfos Thermoforming in Corby, Northamptonshire, regarding the possible closure.

Berry Global Group has proposed the closure to "streamline operations, increase capacity utilization, and best serve its customers".

The company said it would "work diligently" to help those affected.

"If the closure moves forward, approximately 95 employees will be impacted," a spokeswoman said.

"Should this be the case, we will work diligently to help those employees affected with a job loss to identify new opportunities in the Corby community and at other Berry locations."

The company's website says its other Superfos facilities in the UK are situated in Blackburn in Lancashire and Oakham in Rutland, while the Berry group operates about 30 sites in total, including a manufacturing site in Rushden in Northamptonshire.

-BBC

Great British Sewing Bee helps give Ipswich shop a boost

Laurence Franklin, centre, with his eldest son Jason, left, and his nephew Jordan, said demand for sewing items had increased

Lockdowns, the cost of living and the BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee have given a long-running town centre shop a boost in business, its director said.

Family-run sewing shop Franklins has opened its doors in new, larger premises in Ipswich.

Laurence Franklin said the business, which had been in the town for more the 60 years, needed to move to meet an increase in demand.

He said there was a "new age range of people" learning sewing skills.

The new shop in Westgate Street, a stone's throw away from its old premises in St Matthew's Street, is the business's third location in the town.

Mr Franklin, who is the second generation to run the business, said it had been in the St Matthew's Street building for 17 years and each shop had got "bigger and bigger".

"The demand for our products is growing and people are wanting to be more crafty and creative with their time so we thought we've got to move to a much bigger place," he said.

"There's a whole new age range of people wanting to customise or accessorise garments.

"There are a lot of young people coming into sewing... with the Great British Sewing Bee on TV as well."

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Mr Franklin said the Covid lockdowns and rising cost of living had also contributed to the trend.

"People 'make do and mend' a little bit, but you can, even on a garment, just change the buttons and it changes the look so people are doing more and more of that too, to get more use out of their garments and obviously that prevents landfill, etc," he added.

Mr Franklin said they also planned to establish classrooms in the building so people could learn how to dressmake and knit.

The Franklins Group, established in 1956, also has stores in Colchester, Chelmsford and Dovercourt in Essex, and Salisbury in Wiltshire.-BBC

South Africa: Eskom Ramps Up Load Shedding

Eskom is expected to ramp up load shedding to Stage 4 from 4pm this afternoon (Thursday) and will drop to Stage 3 from 5am on Friday morning.

The power utility said this pattern will repeat until Sunday morning.

The scaling up of the rotational power outages is due to challenges at some six power stations.

"The further delays in returning to service a generating unit each at Arnot, Camden, Kendal, Kriel, Matla and two units at Majuba power station has contributed to capacity constraints.

"We currently have 6014MW [unavailable due to] planned maintenance while another 17 278MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns and delays in returning generators to service," Eskom said.

The electricity supplier called on South Africans to use electricity sparingly as capacity constraints continue.

"Eskom requests the public to reduce to the usage of electricity and to exercise patience and tolerance during this difficult period. Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generating capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns," the power utility said.

-SAnews.gov.za.

Nigeria: EU Offers $3.4 Million Solar Grid Facility for 76,000 Beneficiaries in Nigeria

The European Union(EU) has given approval for a $3.4 million working capital facility under the ElectriFI Country Window for Nigeria for Okra Solar to use solar mesh-grids to target 76,000 energy access beneficiaries by the end of 2025.

Okra Solar will provide access to electricity through mesh-grid technology to mini-grid developers.

The initiative, which was launched in 2016, Okra Solar developed the mesh-grid technology specifically to electrify underserved or unserved communities.

Their proprietary Okra Pod is a device that enables the solar systems installed at each household to communicate and share power through a low voltage transmission cable (creating the mesh-grid). The pods are sold with PV panels, battery and inverters.

The company has started focusing on the highly strategic Nigerian market and wants to deploy multiple pilot projects to energise more than 30,000 households in-country over the next two to three years.

"Even with off-grid solutions like mesh-grids being 10 times cheaper than grid extension for hard-to-reach communities, 80 million people continue to live off-grid in Nigeria. Okra is incredibly excited to work with EDFI ElectriFI to deploy innovative financial tools that will enable local developers to deploy mesh-grids at scale and continue rapidly bringing power to the people," said , co-founder and CEO, Okra Solar, Afnan Hannan.

EDFI ElectriFI's investment consists in a revolving working capital facility, designed to bridge the financing gap in the supply chain and help Okra leverage the high demand for their technology, penetrate the Nigerian market further and eventually speed up sustainable electrification.

ElectriFI senior investment officer at EDFI MC, Maud Watelet,

called the Okra Solar technology "transformative."

"We are proud to contribute to facilitating and accelerating the development of micro- and mini-grids for rural electrification across Nigeria. Given the various awards received by Okra, we are confident that the highly skilled Okra Team will thrive within this complex industry," said Watelet.

The ElectriFI Country Window for Nigeria is developed in partnership with EU Delegations and host governments.

"The European Union's support to Okra through the ElectriFI Nigeria Country Window assists the country's efforts in accelerating energy access to people in underserved and unserved communities.

"As such, it is at the heart of our partnership with Nigeria, which among others, aims at improving reliable energy access to seize the environmental, social and economic potential of renewable energy," explained, the head of Green and Digital Economy at the Delegation of the European Union to the Federal Republic of Nigeria & ECOWAS, Inga Stefanowicz.

-Leadership.

Nigeria: Environmentalist Seeks Adoption of Renewable Energy

An environmental expert, Mr Gafar Odubote, has tasked Nigerians on adaptation and adoption of renewable energy to address climate change effects.

Odubote, the Network Coordinator, Let's Do It World (LDIW) Africa Region, an environmental non-profit organisation, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.

Odubote said the fight against climate change should go beyond mitigation to engaging in adaptation.

"We can actively address climate change actions by engaging in climate change adaptation asides mitigation.

"Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the current and future effects of climate change.

"It is completely different from mitigation which is the prevention or limitation of climate change effects.

"With adaptation we are not just reducing the green house gases emissions but making it practically non-existent," he said.

Odubote also called on corporate organisations and individuals to adopt the use of renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He urged individuals to practice sustainable lifestyles to adequately adapt to climate change effects.

"Corporate organisations can begin climate change adaptation by adjusting their business models to adapt to climate change and reduce imminent natural disasters.

"The use of renewable energy sources instead of burning of diesels to run their offices and machinery is one major way of adaptation to climate change.

"It is time we start thinking of more way we can adopt renewable energy as means of climate change adaptation."

"Our building models should also be designed and constructed to adapt to climate change effects. From the construction materials and the use of solar energy is paramount.

"Our infrastructural development should be tailored in line with climate change adaptation in mind," Odubote added.

He stressed that the measures remain the right step for all and sundry in curtailing the effect of climate change in the country.

Odubote called for behavioural change among Nigerians in order to address climate change effects.

"We must also cultivate behavioural change toward climate change, it should not be perceived as a myth.

"In mitigation all we preach the reduction of greenhouse gases through sustainable lifestyle and practices.

"We should further encourage more afforestation activities and increase the budgetary allocation for the forestry department.

"If we can replenish our environment through adaptation, we can over time overcome the challenges of climate change," he said.

-Leadership.

Kenya: Nairobi Must Change No Turning Back, Governor Sakaja Tells Off Critics

Nairobi — Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has told off critics that he will continue instituting his planned changes in the city and that there is no turning back.

Governor Sakaja was responding to those who have been criticizing his move to kick out long distance Public Service Vehicles out of the CBD, and banning night clubs from residential areas.

His action to relocate PSVs from CBD specifically have put him at loggerheads with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who asked him to first be consulting before making decisions which affect the businesses of Mt. Kenya people - who gave him votes.

"I have heard saying Nairobi was like this before I was born but I want to tell them that that's why I am the Governor. We must change our city and there is no shortcut about that," Governor Sakaja stated.

Governor Sakaja said although change might be painful, they are necessary for the city to move forward.

"Nairobi is not competing with Kisumu or any other city, we are competing with other international cities and to achieve that we have to make some changes," he stated.

-Capital FM.

Ethiopia: Some 368,000 Liters of Fuel Transported to Tigray Region in Six Days - Petroleum and Energy Authority

Addis Ababa — Some 368,000 liters of fuel have been transported to Tigray region during the last six days, according to the Petroleum and Energy Authority.

Petroleum and Energy Authority Director-General Sahrela Abdulahi told ENA that efforts have been exerted to ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel to the region.

Recall that the government established a task force to make sure that fuel is directly transported to Tigray region from Djibouti Port.

Accordingly, a total of eight fuel tankers carrying 368,000 liters have arrived at their destinations in the stated period.

The director-general stated that the authority has given permission for the transportation of fuel to region since December 28, 2022.

"Following the peace agreement we have been working on ensuring fuel access primarily up to Shire. However starting from November 28, the authority has given permission to Petroleum Supply Enterprise for the transportation of fuel to the entire region without any preconditions. Thus far, some 8 fuel trucks have been arrived in the region."

Following that, fuel stations in the region, including in the regional capital Mekele have been operating fully, she added.

Additional fuel stations are being repaired and resuming services, it was learned.

The director-general further stated that a task force has been set up to ensure that there is no interruption in the daily supply of fuel to the region.

According to Sahrela, fuel is currently reaching all the cities of the region, including Mekele and Zalanbessa.

Following the Pretoria peace agreement, the Government of Ethiopia is providing all public services, including air transport, banking and telecom services, for Tigray region.

-ENA

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Facebook:      <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimbabwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA> www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:         Bulls.Bears 

INVESTORS DIARY 2023

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

National Unity Day

December 22

Christmas Day

December 25

Boxing Day

December 26

Companies under Cautionary

CBZH

Meikles

Fidelity

TSL

FMHL

Turnall

GBH

ZBFH

GetBucks

Zeco

Lafarge

Zimre

 <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> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77 344 1674

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