Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 January 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 January 2023 

 


 

 


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ü  US Farmers win right to repair John Deere equipment

ü  Jack Ma to give up control of fintech giant Ant Group

ü  Himachal Pradesh: Thousands despair as India Adani plants shut down

ü  Single-use cutlery and plates to be banned in England

ü  US economy sees robust jobs growth in December

ü  Are tech job cuts a warning for the wider economy?

ü  McDonald's plans corporate job cuts and restructuring

ü  Shell to pay UK tax for first time in five years

ü  Samsung profits plunge as demand for gadgets slows

ü  Taliban and China firm agree Afghanistan oil extraction deal

ü  Energy bill support for firms set to be cut

ü  Mortgage rate pain: 'Our home buying plans were shot down'

ü  Southern Africa: Zambia Halts Electricity Exports

ü  Sudan: 'Disappointing' Stalemate As Sudan Teachers' Strike Continues

ü  Nigeria: Train Attack - NRC Shuts Down Edo Train Station Indefinitely

ü  Rwanda: Why Agriculture Still Falls Short of Set Targets

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

US Farmers win right to repair John Deere equipment

Tractor maker John Deere has agreed to give its US customers the right to
fix their own equipment.

 

Previously, farmers were only allowed to use authorised parts and service
facilities rather than cheaper independent repair options.

 

Deere and Co. is one of the world's largest makers farming equipment.

 

Consumer groups have for years been calling on companies to allow their
customers to be able to fix everything from smartphones to tractors.

 

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and Deere & Co. signed a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Sunday.

 

"It addresses a long-running issue for farmers and ranchers when it comes to
accessing tools, information and resources, while protecting John Deere's
intellectual property rights and ensuring equipment safety," AFBF President
Zippy Duvall said.

 

Under the agreement, equipment owners and independent technicians will not
be allowed to "divulge trade secrets" or "override safety features or
emissions controls or to adjust Agricultural Equipment power levels."

 

The firm looks forward to working with the AFBF and "our customers in the
months and years ahead to ensure farmers continue to have the tools and
resources to diagnose, maintain and repair their equipment," Dave Gilmore, a
senior vice president at Deere & Co. said.

 

Farmers are part of a grassroots right-to-repair movement that has been
putting pressure on manufacturers to allow customers and independent repair
shops to fix their devices.

 

In 2022, Apple launched a "self-service repair" scheme giving customers the
ability to replace their own batteries, screens and cameras of recent
iPhones.

 

The UK and European Union have policies enforcing manufacturers to make
spare parts available to customers and independent companies for some
electronics.

 

"Consumers have long been complaining that products not only tend to break
down faster than they used to, but that repairing them is often too costly,
difficult to arrange for lack of spare parts, and sometimes impossible,"
according to the European Parliamentary Research Service.

 

Some US states like New York and Massachusetts and have passed similar
measures. President Biden signed an executive order in 2021 calling on the
Federal Trade Commission to draw up a countrywide policy allowing customers
to repair their own products, particularly in the technology and agriculture
sectors.-BBC

 

 

 

Jack Ma to give up control of fintech giant Ant Group

The billionaire founder of Ant Group, Jack Ma, is to give up control of the
Chinese fintech giant after a regulatory crackdown.

 

Ant Group said that after the change no-one would have overall control.

 

The formerly flamboyant Mr Ma has seldom been seen in public since
criticising China's financial sector in 2020.

 

Following that criticism, Ant Group's planned stock market flotation was
abruptly halted.

 

Ant Group runs Alipay, the main online payment system in China, which has
eclipsed cash, cheques and credit cards.

 

Mr Ma, a former English teacher who founded e-commerce giant Alibaba,
directly and indirectly controls more than 50% of Ant Group.

 

However, after the changes in governance structure, he will control just
over 6%, according to an Ant Group statement.

 

In November 2020 Ant's £26bn stock market flotation, which would have been
the world's largest, was cancelled at the last minute.

 

At the eleventh hour Chinese authorities cited "major issues" over
regulating the firm.

 

Some analysts saw it as an attempt by the Chinese government to humble a
company that had become too powerful and a leader who had become too
outspoken.

 

The regulatory intervention came after Mr Ma had told a financial conference
that traditional banks had a "pawn-shop mentality".

 

He also lauded the merits of the digital banking system, and stressed that
future lending decisions should be based on data, not collateral.

 

Why did Alibaba's Jack Ma disappear for three months?

After the collapse of the stock market flotation, which was set to make Mr
Ma the richest person in China, he disappeared for three months, prompting
speculation as to his whereabouts.

 

He eventually resurfaced, according to reports, but has been avoiding the
spotlight since then.

 

Ant moves

Mr Ma controls Ant through his stake and by acting in concert with other
shareholders.

 

But Ant said shareholders had agreed to no longer act together when using
voting rights, and would only vote independently.

 

The shareholding structure will also change.

 

However, Ant said shareholders' economic interests would not change.

 

"Jack Ma's departure from Ant Financial, a company he founded, shows the
determination of the Chinese leadership to reduce the influence of large
private investors," said Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital
Research.

 

"This trend will continue the erosion of the most productive parts of the
Chinese economy."

 

Ant Group is nearing the completion of a two-year restructuring which has
been driven by regulators, and Chinese authorities are poised to impose a
fine of more than $1bn on the firm, according to the Reuters news agency.

 

The expected penalty is part of a sweeping crackdown on China's technology
giants over the past two years that has cut hundreds of billions of dollars
off their values and shrunk revenues and profits.

 

However, the authorities have softened their tone recently amid efforts to
bolster the Chinese economy, which has been hit by the Covid pandemic.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Himachal Pradesh: Thousands despair as India Adani plants shut down

"I don't know what our fault is. What have we done to deserve this?" says a
distraught Kanta Sharma, pointing to a shuttered cement plant in the
northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

 

It's one of two plants - the other is located around 48km (30 miles) away -
in Darlaghat that were shut down in December by their owner, Adani Group,
leaving thousands of locals without work.

 

Since her husband died in 2009, Ms Sharma has depended entirely on the plant
to make a living. She took a loan and dipped into her savings to purchase a
truck to transport cement and raw material to and from the plant. The little
land the family owned was acquired when the plant was built.

 

The school dropout who became Asia's richest man

The Adani Group - owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, the world's third
richest man - acquired the factories in September, but soon ended up in a
dispute with local transport unions over freight charges. The company said
operations had become "unviable" because of the losses it was incurring due
to "high transportation costs".

 

The stand-off has not just affected the 2,000-3,000 people who were directly
employed by these plants, but also thousands of others.

 

"About 10,000-15,000 people are indirectly dependent on these plants,
including truck operators, drivers, cleaners, [workers at] roadside eateries
and vehicle repair garages," said RD Nazeem, the state's industries and
transport secretary.

 

"These are people who became landless and homeless because they gave their
lands for these factories."

 

Transport business in the area is dominated by local people, many of whom
gave up their fertile farmlands when the plants were being constructed in
the 1990s.

 

They charged close to 11 rupees (13 cents; 11 pence) per tonne of cement per
kilometre, but the Adani group wants this to be reduced to six rupees.
Transporters say the freight charges are fair because of rising fuel prices.

 

The Adani Group told the BBC that it wants "to continue its operations in
both locations if it gets the necessary support from transporters". It added
that it's "unfortunate" that "local transport unions don't allow other
transporters to operate at competitive rates".

 

"The firm should be free to engage trucks wherever they are needed to
facilitate transportation, thus ensuring a free market approach to best
serve our consumers," it said.

 

But locals argue that they should have the first right to operate trucks for
these plants since they gave up their "fertile land" for them.

 

Gautam Adani, chairman and founder of Adani Group at the inaugural session
of the UP Investors' Summit - 2018 at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, on
February 21, 2018 in Lucknow, India.

 

 

"People living in these areas invested their meagre savings into buying
trucks so that they could transport material from this plant," says Mahesh
Kumar, a local resident. "With the plant shut, their future hangs in the
balance."

 

Land was bought to set up the cement plants in Darlaghat in the early 1990s.

 

"Cultivable land was acquired for 62,000 rupees per bigha (a local unit of
measurement equalling around 0.2 acres) while non-cultivable lands was
acquired for 19,000 rupees," says Paras Thakur, a local resident.

 

At that time, locals hoped that the factories would help their children get
jobs so that they didn't have to travel far in search of jobs.

 

Mr Thakur says that despite over 1,400 acres of land being acquired from
five villages since 1992, members of only 72 families got jobs at the
plants.

 

The Adani Group said that 143 employees from the two plants are being
relocated to the other plants owned by the firm to protect their jobs.

 

"We used to grow all kinds of crops. We used to grow corn, wheat and all
kinds of pulses. Today, we regret having given this land for the cement
plant," says Prem Lal Thakur, a local resident.

 

The state government says it is working on a solution to fix freight rates
that are beneficial to the people.

 

But residents don't feel hopeful.

 

"First, we lost our lands. Then, the promises of employment were not kept.
And when we tried earning through transportation, the plants have been shut
down over freight rates. Can it get any worse? says Ms Sharma.

 

This is a question other locals are asking.-bbc

 

 

 

Single-use cutlery and plates to be banned in England

Single-use items like plastic cutlery, plates and trays will be banned in
England, the government has confirmed.

 

It is not clear when the ban will come into effect, but it follows similar
moves already made by Scotland and Wales.

 

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said the move would help protect the
environment for future generations.

 

Campaigners welcomed the ban, but called for a wider-ranging plastic
reduction strategy.

 

Government figures suggest that 1.1 billion single-use plates and more than
four billion pieces of plastic cutlery are used in England every year.

 

Plastic waste often does not decompose and can last in landfill for many
years.

 

Although it might be useful in terms of food hygiene, it can also end up as
litter, in turn polluting soil and water.

 

The confirmation of the move from the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (Defra) follows a long consultation, which will be published
on Saturday 14 January.

 

Each person in England uses an average of 18 single-use plastic plates and
37 items of plastic cutlery every year, according to Defra, while just 10%
of those are recycled.

 

Ms Coffey is set to ban a range of single-use plastic items mainly relating
to takeaway food and drink.

 

"I am determined to drive forward action to tackle this issue head on. We've
already taken major steps in recent years - but we know there is more to do,
and we have again listened to the public's calls," she said.

 

"This new ban will have a huge impact to stop the pollution of billions of
pieces of plastics and help to protect the natural environment for future
generations."

 

Similar bans have already been made in Scotland and Wales, while single-use
plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds were already banned in England in
2020.

 

This latest measure does not, however, cover items found in supermarkets or
shops. The government said it would address those by other means.

 

Megan Randles, political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said that the
organisation welcomed the ban but further action was needed.

 

She said: "We're dealing with a plastic flood, and this is like reaching for
a mop instead of turning off the tap."

 

She called on the government to deliver a "meaningful" strategy on how to
reduce plastic use, which would also include stringent targets and "a proper
reuse and refill scheme".-bbc

 

 

 

US economy sees robust jobs growth in December

Jobs growth in the US remained strong last month even as the economy
wrestled with the impact of fast-rising prices.

 

Employers added 223,000 positions in December, pushing the jobless rate down
to 3.5%, from 3.6% in November.

 

The resilience of the labour market has raised hopes that the world's
largest economy will avoid a severe economic downturn this year.

 

The US central bank is raising borrowing costs to try to cool the economy
and ease the price pressures.

 

As firms struggle with the impact of higher interest rates and the
possibility of lower consumer spending, recent news of big job cuts at banks
and tech companies, such as Amazon, has drawn attention.

 

But the monthly report from the US Labor Department showed nearly every
sector in the economy adding jobs, with bars and restaurants, health care
firms and construction businesses helping to drive the gains.

 

Though job losses are rising - especially in the tech sector - the figures
overall remained near historic lows last year, said Andrew Challenger,
senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which has been
tracking such announcements since the 1990s.

 

"The overall economy is still creating jobs, though employers appear to be
actively planning for a downturn," he said.

 

Fed hikes rates again and warns of more rises

US price increases slow as fuel costs fall

The US economy has slowed sharply since 2021, when it boomed after the
pandemic reopening.

 

Higher borrowing costs are hitting firms in areas such as housing and
banking, while rising prices are straining household budgets, raising
concerns about consumer spending - the biggest driver of the US economy.

 

The most recent report showed prices in the US climbing 7.1% from a year
earlier - far faster than the 2% rate considered healthy.

 

Analysts said the strength of the labour market makes the path ahead
uncertain, since the Federal Reserve may need to continue with big interest
rate rises if it hopes to rein in inflation.

 

"As long as the labour market remains this tight, the Fed cannot rest
assured that inflation will return to its 2% target," said Ronald Temple,
chief market strategist at Lazard.

 

Average hourly earnings in December rose by 4.6% from last year, the Labor
Department said. That was a slower pace than in November, in what analysts
said was a positive sign for the fight against inflation.

 

However, it was mixed news for workers, who have not seen their pay rises
keep up with prices.

 

"Worker pay is failing to keep up with the rise in prices at the consumer
level. This is a source of stress on household budgets. How that equation
unfolds in the months ahead will be key, including whether inflation
pressures relent," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for
Bankrate.com.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Are tech job cuts a warning for the wider economy?

Recent months have delivered a steady drumbeat of announcements of job cuts
at some of America's biggest and richest companies.

 

Just this week, Amazon said it was axing 18,000 workers, or 6% of its office
staff, while business software firm Salesforce said it would reduce its
workforce by 10%, or roughly 8,000 people.

 

That followed announcements from dozens of other firms including big names
such as Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, hardware
heavyweight Cisco, and payments firm Stripe.

 

Despite the belt-tightening seen in Silicon Valley, the world's largest
economy soldiers on.

 

Employers in the United States added 223,000 jobs in December, according to
the latest official figures. Although that was slower than gains seen in
2021, when activity roared back to life after the pandemic, it was still
strong by most standards.

 

The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, returning to historic lows.

 

Warning sign?

The economy is widely predicted to slow in the coming months as rising
prices weigh on consumer spending. Firms are also grappling with higher
borrowing costs after the US central bank hiked rates rapidly last year.

 

So are the cuts in the tech industry a warning sign for others?

 

"I don't think people should be worried," said Julia Pollak, chief economist
at the job site ZipRecruiter. "What we're seeing right now seems to be... a
correction, not the start of an ominous, systematic recession."

 

Many tech executives making the announcements have blamed over-hiring during
the pandemic, when more activity moved online and business boomed.

 

Funding for smaller start-ups has also dried up due to higher interest rates
and the sharp downturn in the US stock market in 2022. Big hits some firms
have taken from the meltdown in the crypto sector have not helped the mood
either.

 

Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at consultancy RSM, said the wave of tech
cuts represented a "necessary and expected" adjustment after a generation of
rapid growth, fuelled in part by low interest rates, which culminated in the
pandemic frenzy.

 

"An era of excess has come to an end," he said.

 

"Firms and individuals should be prepared to reset expectations about
growth, employment and investment across what continues to be a very solid
industry."

 

He suggested that tech firms will no longer be insulated from ups and downs
in the wider economy, including the expected downturns in Europe and the UK
this year.

 

But he added that the job losses should not be "over-interpreted", noting
that many of the workers affected, at least in the US, appear to be finding
new jobs quickly.

 

The latest jobs report from the Labor Department showed that payrolls in the
information sector - which includes much of the tech industry - shrank by
just 5,000 from November to December. That's despite thousands of job cuts
being announced in recent months and compared to a year ago, employment is
up.

 

"It's probably a canary in the coal mine for the global economy more than it
is for the American economy," he added, noting that many of the tech cuts
have hit foreign staff.

 

Last week, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva warned
that a third of the world would likely be in recession in 2023. That will
hurt tech firms, many of which do big business overseas.

 

But for now, the US labour market has remained unexpectedly resilient,
making some hopeful that the country will be able to fend off a harsh
downturn, despite the central bank raising interest rates to try to cool the
economy and price rises.

 

Nearly every sector in the US economy added jobs last month, with bars and
restaurants, health care firms and construction businesses helping to drive
the gains.

 

Although job losses are rising - especially in sectors vulnerable to higher
interest rates like housing, banking and tech - the figures overall remained
near historic lows last year, said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president
at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which has been tracking such announcements
since the 1990s.

 

"We are seeing the labour market cooling," he says. "It's a slowdown but I
don't think I could say at this point whether or not it's a panic
situation."

 

Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of
Business, said he worries many of the layoff announcements reflect peer
pressure, as executives feel compelled to copy other firms making cuts -
even as they continue to churn out healthy profits.

 

If that sentiment spreads, as he expects, it risks turning the forecasts of
economic hardship into reality.

 

"Companies do what other companies do," he said. "This becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy because if everybody lays somebody off, the
unemployment rate will go up and we will in fact have a worse economy."-bbc

 

 

 

McDonald's plans corporate job cuts and restructuring

The head of McDonald's has warned staff to expect job cuts in a huge
reorganisation that will also see it speed up plans for new restaurants.

 

Its boss Chris Kempczinski said the fast food giant was being hurt by an
"outdated and self-limiting" structure.

 

"We are trying to solve the same problems multiple times, aren't always
sharing ideas," he said.

 

In a letter sent to employees globally, it said it would review corporate
staffing levels by April.

 

"There will be difficult discussions and decisions ahead," the memo said.

 

McDonald's employs about 200,000 people in corporate roles and its owned
restaurants, with 75% of them outside located outside of the US.

 

Its chief executive also announced that certain projects will be stopped
altogether.

 

"This will help us move faster as an organization, while reducing our global
costs and freeing up resources to invest in our growth," he wrote in to the
letter to staff, which was shared with investors.

 

The firm did not provide details about the scope of the job cuts being
looked at, or say which projects might be affected.

 

But in an interview with the Wall Street Journal newspaper, Mr Kempczinski
said he did not have a fixed goal for the number of cuts.

 

"Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those
jobs may go away," he said.

 

Pandemic boost

As part of the new strategy, Mr Kempczinski said the company wants to push
to open more restaurants "to fully capture the increased demand we've driven
over the past few years".

 

Although dining generally suffered during the pandemic, McDonald's has
benefited from investments the firm made in online ordering and home
deliveries.

 

In the first nine months of the year, McDonald's saw sales rise 6%, helped
by price increases to items like its cheeseburgers.

 

But its profits overseas have been hurt by the rise of the dollar and the
exit from Ukraine.

 

During its most recent update to investors in October, the firm said rising
prices were also posing challenges, noting that at many of its restaurants -
which are operated by franchisees - there was "increasing uncertainty and
unease about the economic environment".

 

The Chicago-based company operates in more than 160 countries around the
world.

 

It said earlier this week it would be pulling out of Kazakhstan, which
borders Russia, pointing to supply chain issues sparked by the war in
Ukraine.

 

McDonald's pledged to leave Russia in May after setting up there 32 years
ago - the latest change after several years of upheaval in the restaurant
industry.-bbc

 

 

 

Shell to pay UK tax for first time in five years

Shell has said it will pay tax in the UK for the first time since 2017 after
making huge global profits last year.

 

The energy firm said it expected to "take a hit" of around $2bn (£1.7bn) on
profits in the UK and the European Union in final three months the year.

 

Governments have imposed taxes on energy companies to capture some of the
massive profits firms have made through high oil and gas prices.

 

Shell will not disclose at present how much UK tax it will finally pay.

 

It is understood the figure could be lower than forecast at this stage.

 

The amount of tax oil and gas companies pay in the UK can be reduced after
factoring in losses, investment in areas such as renewable energy or
decommissioning North Sea oil platforms.

 

Last year, Shell revealed a huge jump in profit, which reached $9.5bn across
its global business between July and September.

 

At the time, Shell said that because it had made large investments in the UK
it had not made a profit in the country and was therefore not required to
pay taxes.

 

But on Friday, the company confirmed that it does expect to pay some tax in
the UK for the first time since 2017.

 

It comes after the government increased tax on the profits made from
extracting UK oil and gas - a policy called the Energy Profits Levy which is
commonly referred to as the windfall tax - from 25% to 35% in November.

 

What is the windfall tax on oil and gas companies?

Shell did not break down how the $2bn hit to its earnings in the final
months of 2022 would be split between the UK and the EU.

 

Oil and gas prices began to rise after the end of Covid lockdowns but surged
after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, resulting in bumper profits for energy
companies including the likes of Shell and BP in 2022.

 

With households being hit by soaring energy bills, the government came under
pressure to help and introduced a windfall tax on the profits of firms to
help fund a scheme to restrict gas and electricity bills.

 

Oil and gas firms operating in the North Sea are taxed differently to other
companies.

 

They pay 30% corporation tax on their profits as well as a supplementary 10%
rate. On top of that, they now pay the windfall tax taking their total tax
rate to 75%.

 

However, there has been concerns there are flaws in the policy.

 

Firms have been able to reduce the amount of tax they pay by factoring in
losses or spending on things like decommissioning North Sea oil platforms.
It has meant that in recent years, companies such as BP and Shell have paid
little or no tax in the UK.

 

The Energy Profits Levy also has a measure that allows energy companies to
apply for tax savings worth 91p of every £1 invested in fossil fuel
extraction in the UK.

 

However there are also fears that introducing tougher taxes on oil and gas
companies could put them off investing in UK renewable energy.

 

Offshore Energies UK has previously said higher taxes would "undermine" an
industry which generated jobs for 200,000 people.

 

Despite having to pay higher taxes, Shell remains on track for bumper annual
profits for 2022 after reporting profit of $30bn for the first nine months
of last year.

 

The company said it expects to have paid between $4.3bn and $4.7bn in global
taxes over the final three months of 2022.

 

Rival BP said it would pay $800m in windfall tax for 2022.

 

It is due to publish its full results for the 2022 financial year on 2
February.

 

Like the UK, the EU has imposed a windfall tax on energy companies, with a
33% levy on fossil fuel firms' profits and also one on the revenues made
from rising electricity costs.-bbc

 

 

 

Samsung profits plunge as demand for gadgets slows

Samsung expects its profits for the last three months of 2022 to fall by 69%
to the lowest level in eight years.

 

The world's biggest maker of memory chips, smartphones and TVs forecast its
operating profit for the period fell to around 4.3tn won ($3.4bn; £2.8bn)

 

It comes as the global economic slowdown hits memory chip prices and demand
for electronic gadgets.

 

Technology giants around the world have been hit in recent months as
consumers tighten their belts.

 

It was Samsung's lowest quarterly profit since 2014 and missed investor
expectations of around 5.9 trillion won.

 

The South Korean company said it saw a bigger-than-expected fall in demand
for computer chips as customers cut their stocks of the key components for
digital devices.

 

"For the memory business, the decline in fourth-quarter demand was greater
than expected as customers adjusted inventories in their effort to further
tighten finances," Samsung said in the statement.

 

"Smartphone sales and revenue decreased due to weak demand resulting from
prolonged macro issues," it added.

 

Samsung is scheduled to publish its full financial statement on 31 January.

 

It is the latest major technology company to reveal how weakness in the
global economy is impacting its business.

 

Sales have also slowed after demand boomed during the pandemic when
customers at home spent a lot online.

 

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

 

This week Amazon said it planned to axe more than 18,000 jobs, the largest
number in the firm's history, as it cuts costs.

 

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

 

 

 

Taliban and China firm agree Afghanistan oil extraction deal

Afghanistan's Taliban government is to sign a contract with a Chinese firm
to drill for oil in the country's north.

 

It would be first major energy extraction agreement with a foreign firm
since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.

 

The 25-year deal underscores China's economic involvement in the region.

 

On Thursday Taliban officials said security forces had targeted Islamic
State group militants who attacked a hotel used by Chinese businessmen.

 

Eight IS militants were killed and several more arrested, the Taliban said.

 

December's attack on the Longan Hotel in Kabul saw at least three people
killed and 18 more injured, including five Chinese citizens.

 

The oil extraction agreement would see Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and
Gas Company (CAPEIC) drilling for oil in the Amu Darya basin, Taliban
spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.

 

"The Amu Darya oil contract is an important project between China and
Afghanistan," China's ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu told a news
conference in the capital Kabul.

 

A Chinese state-owned company is also in talks over the operation of a
copper mine in the east of the country.

 

Foreign aid groups halt work after Taliban ban women

The Taliban's broken promises

Afghanistan is estimated to be sitting on natural resources - including
natural gas, copper and rare earths - worth more than $1tn.

 

However, much of those reserves remain untapped due to decades of turmoil in
the country.

 

Beijing has not formally recognised Afghanistan's Taliban administration but
it has significant interests in the country, which is at the centre of a
region important to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

 

Launched by Xi Jinping in 2013, the BRI provides financing for emerging
countries to build infrastructure like ports, roads and bridges.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Energy bill support for firms set to be cut

A new scheme to support firms with their energy bills will be announced in
the House of Commons on Monday.

 

The current scheme which caps the unit cost of gas and electricity for all
businesses expires at the end of March.

 

It will be replaced with a new scheme that offers a discount on wholesale
prices rather than a fixed price.

 

Very heavy energy-using sectors, such as steel, glass and ceramics, are
expected to get a larger discount than others, Treasury sources said.

 

The energy support scheme is mainly used by businesses, but is also for
charities, and public sector organisations such as schools and hospitals.

 

Firms have been warning of a "cliff-edge" when the current support stops at
the end of March, and the new scheme is expected to run until March 2024 to
avoid this.

 

But the total level of government support is expected to fall sharply - by
more than half - from the £18.4bn the current six-month scheme is estimated
to have cost by the time it ends.

 

This is partly due to wholesale energy prices falling very sharply in recent
months.

 

European gas reserves have held up better than expected thanks to an
unusually mild winter in northern Europe.

 

Wholesale gas prices are now below the level they were before Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, but still three to four times higher than their
long-term average.

 

All businesses can expect their energy bills to rise after March at the same
time that government support for households will become less generous.

 

The bill for a typical household could rise from £2,500 a year to £3,000 a
year from April - although energy analysts cautiously forecast that average
bills may fall to £2,800 a year next October if current market conditions
continue.

 

That would be a crumb of comfort for households and could save the
government billions in subsidies.

 

But the bottom line is that energy prices are going up this year for
businesses at the same time as their customers' incomes are being squeezed
even further.-bbc

 

 

 

Mortgage rate pain: 'Our home buying plans were shot down'

Young, in good jobs and having saved hard for five years to raise a deposit,
Kathryn Yabsley and her husband David were all set up to buy their first
home.

 

Last summer, the couple were looking at the prospect of an affordable
mortgage and perhaps even getting into their new place by Christmas.

 

Then mortgage rates soared. Now, they have been forced to rethink their
plans.

 

"We had that excitement and thrill. So to just be shot down, I was in bits
and my husband was disappointed too. It burst our bubble," said 29-year-old
Mrs Yabsley, an NHS therapy assistant from Pembrokeshire.

 

"We're holding off to see if the rates go down and we're going to rent
instead."

 

Caution abounds

Mortgage repayments would have been £300 more a month than their initial,
in-principle, deal had suggested. With all the costs of bringing up a little
boy, they realised every penny of their wages would be spent on bills.

 

"I don't want to just survive, I want to live as well," she said.

 

They are far from alone in their wait-and-see approach. On Friday, the
Halifax - part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's biggest mortgage lender -
said it expected buyers and sellers to "remain cautious" over the coming
year.

 

House prices would drop as a result, the Halifax said, by as much as 8% this
year. While that may be good news for first-time buyers like Mrs Yabsley, it
would need to go hand-in-hand with falling mortgage rates to make their
plans affordable again.

 

The cost of a new, fixed-rate mortgage has been going up for a year, as
lenders predicted that the Bank of England would increase its benchmark Bank
rate. That rise was turbo-boosted by the mini-budget when Liz Truss was
prime minister.

 

Mortgage rate graphic

The plan in that budget, which promised billions of pounds of tax cuts
without explaining how they would be paid for, led to turmoil on the
markets, as well as a sudden withdrawal and re-pricing of mortgages.

 

As those proposals were dampened, then reversed, mortgage rates have started
to fall again. The interest rate for a typical, new two-year fixed-rate home
loan peaked at 6.65% in October, but has now dropped to 5.78%. Five-year
deals, which had also topped 6%, now typically have a rate of 5.61%.

 

"Thankfully, mortgage rates are slowly coming down with large expectations
for further falls in the upcoming months. However, both buyers and
remortgage customers may put their plans on hold for the time being as they
struggle with the cost of living," said Rachel Springall, from financial
information service Moneyfacts, which compiled the figures.

 

What happens if I can't afford to pay my mortgage?

What is happening to house prices?

In a nutshell, that has been the problem for many potential buyers and
existing homeowners. Even though fixed mortgage rates might be dropping,
they are still higher than many people would have expected and budgeted for,
and certainly more expensive than they have been accustomed to in the past
decade. At the same time, their finances are stretched by rising energy and
food bills.

 

As many as two million homeowners will have a fixed-rate deal that expires
this year, and face a new deal that costs more in repayments each month.
Those on variable rates are likely to pay more too, because the Bank rate is
expected to climb further in the near future.

 

So, all will hope that mortgage rates do fall as the year goes on, and many
are delaying any decision as a result. That has already been recorded in
Bank of England data about falling mortgage approvals, and falling interest
from buyers leading to lower house prices.

 

Halifax monthly house prices

Mortgage brokers - who search the market for the best deals - are somewhat
united in their view that the picture will improve.

 

"We expect that rates will continue to decrease and that remortgage and
purchase activity will increase over the coming months," said Jed Newton,
director at Trinity Financial, noting that many clients have delayed
mortgage applications.

 

David Hollingworth, from London and Country Mortgages, said that better
deals were already available.

 

"Calmer funding conditions mean that lenders have been able to cut their
fixed-rate deals and five-year fixed rates are now available below 4.5% as a
result," he said.

 

"We could see further improvements as competition between lenders heats up.
In a slower market, [mortgage providers] will be keen to attract greater
volume and competition is likely to benefit borrowers looking for a new
deal."

 

He suggested there were some pitfalls with a wait-and-see approach, as
variable and tracker deals - which may appear cheap now - were likely to get
more expensive.

 

Some homeowners might also be considering extending their mortgage term to
cope with the approaching payment shock.

 

"That comes at a cost, as it can push up the overall interest charge
substantially," he said.

 

As for Mrs Yabsley, the prospect of owning their own home must remain
wishful thinking for a while yet.

 

"We have accepted it, but if I could win the lottery tomorrow, I would buy
myself a house," she said.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Southern Africa: Zambia Halts Electricity Exports

Lusaka, Zambia — The Zambian government on Friday announced that it has
halted electricity exports to some neighboring countries due to reduced
power generation capacity the southern African country was facing.

 

Minister of Energy Peter Kapala, however, said the government will not
completely do away with exports in order to maintain existing power markets,
the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, the state broadcaster, quoted
him as saying.

 

The minister said that the government was alive to the disruptions caused by
the ongoing load shedding but was cautious to ensure that there was no
complete shutdown. The government was working on bringing on board other
power producers such as the 5-MW Ndola Energy Power Plant in Copperbelt
Province and the fifth 120-MW generator at the Kafue Lower Gorge Power
Station.

 

 

On Thursday, President Hakainde Hichilema said discussions were ongoing to
find short-term solutions to the ongoing electricity crisis in order to
avoid reversing the gains made so far in reviving the economy.

 

In remarks delivered through Anthony Bwalya, the presidential spokesperson,
the Zambian president said among the discussions was power export agreements
with some neighboring countries.

 

On Wednesday, the country's power utility, Zesco Limited, announced a
12-hour daily rotational load-shedding exercise due to a drastic reduction
in available water at the Kariba North Bank Power Station, the country's
largest power plant.

 

The power utility said in a statement that the power station's power
generating capacity has been reduced from its installed 1,080 MW to below
400 MW.

 

The situation has been worsened by the removal of a 150-MW generator at the
coal-powered Maamba Collieries Limited Power Plant for routine annual
maintenance from Jan. 4 until Jan. 20.

 

-Independent (Kampala).

 

 

 

 

Sudan: 'Disappointing' Stalemate As Sudan Teachers' Strike Continues

Khartoum — The Sudanese Teachers Committee (STC) decided to continue with
the comprehensive strike and closure of schools for a period of three weeks,
from January 8 until January 28. In a press statement on Friday, the
Teachers Strike Committee also stated they met with Jibril Ibrahim*,
Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, to discuss their demands the day
before.

 

"The outcome [of the meeting] was disappointing and reflects the disregard
of the elites who have the opportunity to serve in decision-making
positions, even if they are advocates of supporting the marginalised and the
downtrodden," the statement read.

 

 

The STC further announced that they will organise a protest march to the
Ministry of Finance in Khartoum in the coming days.

 

In a statement following the STC's meeting with the finance minister, the
Undersecretary of the federal Ministry of Education said that "the minister
rejected their request to increase the minimum wage this year", but
"referred to a nine per cent increase in spending on education in the total
of the 2023 budget".

 

However, the ministry sated their refusal in paying the three-month
differences in allowances to the teachers, "because these differences were
not paid to any staff of any government institution".

 

As well as the refused three-month shortfall, the clothing allowance, which
is another point of contention for the STC, is to be disbursed in all states
except for Khartoum.

 

Ibrahim further promised to form a committee to consider and amend the fixed
value allowances.

 

*Minister Ibrahim is also head of the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement
(JEM), one of the movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement with the
Sudanese government in October 2020. He was appointed Minister of Finance
the following year, however, while almost all other members of the Council
of Ministers resigned after the military coup d'état in October 2021,
Ibrahim kept his position.

 

-Dabanga.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Train Attack - NRC Shuts Down Edo Train Station Indefinitely

THE Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, has announced the indefinite shutdown
of Ekehen Station in Edo State.

 

The announcement came on the heels of the attack and abduction of some
passengers on Saturday.

 

In a message shared on the passengers' WhatApp Group, the Corporation said,
"Public Announcement: This is to inform our general public and most
especially our esteemed passengers, that Ekehen Station has been temporarily
closed due to security issues, till further notice."

 

"Another notice reads, "Due to the incident at Ekehen station on Saturday,
WITS 01/ 02 will no longer stop at Ekehen Station. Please advise our
customers."

 

VANGUARD reports that a few months after terrorists attacked an Abuja-Kaduna
train on March 28, 2022, kidnapping about 168 passengers and killing eight
others, there has been another attack on a train station by gunmen in Edo
state.

 

The development was, however, confirmed by the Edo Police Public Relations
Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, on Sunday.

 

-Vanguard.

 

 

 

Rwanda: Why Agriculture Still Falls Short of Set Targets

Lending to agriculture, and the yield of major crops namely beans, maize,
soybean are far from the attainment of Government's set targets under the
National Strategy for Transformation (NST) due to come to an end next year,
recent data indicate.

 

According to the 2021-2022 report by the Ministry of Agriculture, the
midterm evaluation of NST1, indicates where the sector performed well
vis-à-vis to the strategy targets by 2024, and also shows areas lagging
behind that need special interventions.

 

These include productivity of major crops (beans, maize, soybean),
agriculture loans, which were among low-performing indicators, the report
observed.

 

 

The maize production target by 2024, was 2.94 tonnes per hectare, but the
current status showed that the quantity for this crop was 1.6 tonnes, or 54
per cent of the envisaged amount.

 

For beans, production was even lower as it was 0.7 tonnes, or about 32 per
cent of the targeted 2.22 tonnes by 2024.

 

Regarding Soya beans, production was 0.5 tonnes per hectare, or 39 per cent
of the envisaged 1.28 tonnes.

 

Another area with low performance is the credit to agriculture sector as
percentage of total loans provided by financial institutions in the country.
The report revealed that while the targeted agriculture share of total loans
is 10.4 per cent, it was just at 4.8 per cent - or less than half of the
rate aimed at.

 

Marie Jeanne Ntirenganya, a farmer from Nyagatare District said that lack of
quality seeds, and the hike in fertiliser prices were among the major
challenges for farmers.

 

 

"Because of high fertiliser increase, and low-quality seeds, there is poor
yields, which limits farmers' profit on their investment," she said, adding
that drought also negatively affect farm productivity, especially on
hillside farms where irrigation is too expensive.

 

While Rwanda targets a fertiliser use of 75 kilogramme per hectare by 2022
under the National Strategy for Transformation, the rate was 62.5
kilogrammes as of 2021-2022, implying that the performance versus the set
target was 83 per cent.

 

Speaking to The New Times, Charles Bucagu, Deputy Director General in charge
of Agriculture Development at Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources
Development Board (RAB), said that factors which have been challenging crop
productivity include climate change - in the form of drought and floods.

 

For instance, last month, Evariste Tugirinshuti, the president of the
Federation of Maize Farmers' Cooperatives in Rwanda told The New Times that
drought took its toll on crop production in 2022, estimating that overall,
maize produce was expected to drop by 40 per cent as a result.

 

 

Bucagu said that the Government was responding to the low crop productivity
issue with interventions such as scaling up irrigation efforts, and
providing quality seeds to farmers.

 

He cited the variety of biofortified beans rich in iron and zinc that was
distributed to the farmers in this farming season A of 2023 so that they get
relatively high yields.

 

He also said that the Government provided free fertilisers to some farmers -
for maize, soya and bean farming on consolidated agriculture land, and
selected large farmland based on their potential to give high yields.

 

"We are being affected by climate change, but we are catching up so that we
increase productivity," he said.

 

De-risking agriculture

 

Meanwhile, Bucagu said that the Government was investing in initiatives
intended to increase irrigated area and developing marshlands in line with
optimizing yields.

 

These, he said, include the Commercialisation and De-Risking for
Agricultural Transformation Project (CDAT), the five-year initiative running
through April 30, 2027, which was launched in September last year by the
Government of Rwanda and the World Bank Group.

 

The project aims to commercialise and de-risk the agriculture sector in
Rwanda through irrigation, insurance and affordable financing to farmers,
among other interventions.

 

Bucagu said that CDAT will develop and rehabilitate irrigation systems on
17,673 ha.

 

"It's a strategy to mitigate climate change impacts such as drought and
floods," he said.

 

Also, he said that the project will contribute to addressing the issue of
banks that have been reluctant to lend to agriculture, hence raising credit
level to the sector.

 

"Banks have been reluctant to lend to agriculture because of the risks in
the sector including climate change, and unpredictable factors. This project
comes to make agriculture projects safer for financing from banks," he said,
indicating that the project will provide money to financial institutions
that they will be lending to farmers at 8 per cent annual interest rate.

 

Also, he said, the project will insure the loans that the financial
institutions will be giving to farmers, adding that the Government will work
on ways to ensure that more loans are offered to farmers, even outside that
project.

 

-New Times.

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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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
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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
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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.

 


 

 


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