Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 January 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 January 2023 

 


 

 


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ü  Ireland leader Leo Varadkar has 'regrets' over NI Protocol

ü  Netflix: Reed Hastings steps down but subscribers jump

ü  Cost of living: Japan inflation jumps to new 41-year high

ü  Debt ceiling: America's budget crisis of its own creation

ü  Retail sales fall in December as shoppers cut back

ü  Ethiopia replaces central bank boss amid high inflation

ü  New FTX boss John Ray could bring back bankrupt crypto firm

ü  FAA outage: US airline regulators blame contractor for travel chaos

ü  Retail sales fall in December as shoppers cut back

ü  Bailey: Inflation 'likely to fall rapidly' this year

ü  Rail workers given fresh pay offer in dispute

ü  More than 500 jobs go at Corby Orchard House Foods

ü  British Gas will stop remote switches to prepayment meter

ü  Nigeria: Climate Investment - Nigeria, China, Others May Lose U.S.$377
Billion GDP Growth

ü  Malawi: Nankhumwa Accuses Government of Taking Money From Farmers in
Absence of Aip Fertilizer, Gives 7-Day Ultimatum

ü  Malawi: Standard Bank Releases Its Second K20m of K80m Investment Towards
Must's Endowment Fund

ü  Nigeria: Airlines - Retarded By Obsolete Airport Infrastructure

ü  Nigeria: Naira Redesign - CBN May Increase Money Supply to Boost
Availability of New Banknotes

ü  Nigeria: Govt Revoked 3,400 Mining Licences in One Year

 


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Ireland leader Leo Varadkar has 'regrets' over NI Protocol

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said he regrets the protocol being
imposed on Northern Ireland without the support of unionists and
nationalists.

 

He told the BBC the measure was working but said he understood why unionists
felt it had "weakened the union".

 

The protocol, which keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some EU trade rules
post-Brexit, has been a source of tension since it was enacted in 2021.

 

Unionist parties argue it undermines Northern Ireland's place within the UK.

 

Mr Varadkar became Taoiseach, or prime minister of Ireland, for the second
time last month.

 

He previously served in the role between 2017 and 2020, and therefore played
a part in the Brexit talks that ultimately led to the creation of the
protocol.

 

The protocol is an agreement between the EU and UK which allows goods to be
transported across the Irish land border without the need for checks.

 

Before Brexit, it was easy to transport goods across this border because
both sides followed the same EU rules but, after the UK left, special
trading arrangements were needed so that this could still happen.

 

The land border is a sensitive issue because of Northern Ireland's troubled
political history. It was feared that cameras or border posts - as part of
these checks - could lead to instability.

 

The EU has strict food rules and requires border checks when certain goods -
such as milk and eggs - arrive from non-EU countries.

 

Asked by the BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam whether anything could have
been done differently during the protocol talks, Mr Varadkar said his main
regret was that the measure had been "imposed on Northern Ireland without
the support of both communities".

 

"In the same way Brexit was imposed on Northern Ireland without the support
of both communities, the protocol was imposed on Northern Ireland without
the support of two communities," he said, laying some blame on the fact
Northern Ireland's government "was not functioning".

 

But Mr Varadkar said the protocol was working economically and that the
absence of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic was proof
of this.

 

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he also said Northern
Ireland's economy was "outperforming the UK economy".

 

Map of the the UK showing how goods travelling from GB into NI and onward to
the Republic of Ireland.

But Mr Varadkar said he could understand why unionists and unionist
politicians felt the protocol had "lessened the links [and] weakened the
union between Northern Ireland and Britain" without them "having a proper
say as to how it operates".

 

Mr Varadkar's interview, his first with a British outlet since returning to
office, came amid an ongoing stalemate at Stormont, the Northern Ireland
parliament.

 

There has been no functioning devolved government at Stormont since February
2022 after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) withdrew from the institution
in protest against the Protocol.

 

The party has continued its boycott at Stormont and is demanding fundamental
change to the protocol before it considers a return to the assembly.

 

Mr Varadkar said he hoped a fresh agreement between the EU and UK could be
reached "sooner rather than later", describing UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
as someone he believed would "go about doing business and getting things
done".

 

"The possibility of an agreement... in the next couple of months is very
real and, with reasonableness and flexibility on both sides, it can be
achieved," he added.-BBC

 

 

 

Netflix: Reed Hastings steps down but subscribers jump

Reed Hastings is stepping down from his role as co-chief executive of
Netflix, the firm he helped found more than 25 years ago.

 

His announcement came as Netflix unveiled a big rise in subscriber numbers
at the end of last year.

 

With money tight, people were expected to cut back on streaming services.

 

But Netflix bucked that trend, adding more than seven million new
subscribers, far more than analysts expected.

 

Harry and Meghan's revelations were a big draw, as was new Addams Family
spin-off series Wednesday, and the film Glass Onion.

 

"2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish," the
company said in a statement.

 

Mr Hastings' long-planned move means he is leaving Netflix in a crowded
market, with challenges ahead, but with 231 million viewers signed up around
the globe.

 

Mr Hastings, who was an early pioneer in the streaming business and is seen
as one of the original tech industry disruptors, will stay on as executive
chairman.

 

The firm will now be run by Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, both already in
senior executive positions.

 

"Reed Hastings stepping down from his current role raises a lot of questions
about Netflix's future strategy," said Jamie Lumley, analyst at research
firm Third Bridge.

 

"Incoming Co-CEO Greg Peters will have a number of major decisions on his
plate from managing high levels of expenses, password sharing, and cracking
the code to find the next Stranger Things."

 

Mr Peters has been given a strong start, with total subscribers for the last
three months of 2022 up 7.66 million, when the firm had predicted a rise of
around 4.5 million.

 

Alicia Reese from Wedbush Securities said there were two reasons Netflix had
managed to keep subscribers from cancelling.

 

"First, viewership trends indicate better retention on popular shows;
second, Netflix offering an ad-supported tier to anyone looking to cancel or
pause their membership," she said.

 

Both those factors limited customer "churn" she said.

 

Revenue rose to $7.9bn (£6.37bn) in the fourth quarter. However, profit was
lower in this quarter than the same period a year earlier, and profit for
the year as a whole was down from 2021. Although Netflix remained "ahead of
its competitors" on profitability, said Ms Reese.

 

In early 2022, Netflix faced an uphill battle. It was facing increased
competition from rivals such as Amazon, HBO, Apple TV and Disney. It cut
hundreds of jobs, but still found it had to put up prices to customers to
cover rising costs.

 

That dealt a blow to its subscriber numbers in the first half of the year.

 

In November, it introduced a cheaper ad-supported option in 12 countries,
including most of Europe, the UK and the US,and signalled it would be less
tolerant of password sharing in future. Netflix said it was "pleased with
the early results" from the service.

 

But Paolo Pescatore at PP Foresight said that, as the new ad-funded service
had only been introduced in November, most of the additional customers in
the last three months of 2022 would be paying full price.

 

However, the coming year would be challenging for Netflix, he said, with a
"significant slowdown" expected in the ad market.

 

"The year ahead is unlikely to be plain sailing as all media companies will
have to contend with uncertainty," he said.

 

Netflix shares, which had fallen by nearly 38% in the past year, rose in
after-hours trading following the results announcement.

 

Netflix started out in 1997 as a mail-order film service. Customers ordered
via the website and DVDs were posted to them at home.

 

Mr Hastings has sometimes said the idea for Netflix was sparked when he owed
a large fine for forgetting to return a video cassette to rental shop
Blockbuster and thought a model more like gym membership, with a monthly fee
for renting films, would be better.

 

However, his co-founder Marc Randolph reportedly disputed this version,
saying the pair had simply aimed to emulate Amazon.=BBC

 

 

 

Cost of living: Japan inflation jumps to new 41-year high

Japan's inflation rate has jumped to a fresh 41-year high as businesses pass
on higher costs to their customers.

 

Core consumer prices for last month rose by 4% from a year earlier, double
the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) target level.

 

It puts further pressure on the central bank to put up its interest rates to
help ease the rising cost of living.

 

This week the BOJ surprised investors by announcing that it would keep rates
near zero, despite the increasing cost of everything from food to fuel.

 

"Producer prices have been rising at a much faster pace than consumer prices
for some time, but now companies are passing these costs on to consumers,"
Damian Thong, who heads Japan equity research at Macquarie Group, told the
BBC.

 

"We believe that the BOJ will [eventually] end its negative interest rate
policy," he added.

 

Producer prices are a measure of inflation at a wholesale level, while
consumer prices reflect how much is paid by households for goods and
services.

 

Official data released on Friday showed inflation was at its highest since
1981, the ninth month in a row that it has been above the central bank's 2%
target.

 

Even after the jump in prices, Japan still has one of the lowest inflation
rates in the world.

 

As a result the world's third largest economy has bucked the trend of many
other countries that have raised interest rates sharply over the last year.

 

On Wednesday the BOJ kept interest rates near zero, which pushed the yen
down in value against other major currencies.

 

Many experts had expected the central bank to start to phase out its
economic stimulus programme in an attempt to curb rising prices.

 

The latest official figures showed that inflation in the US stood at 6.5% in
December, while it was 9.2% in the eurozone and 10.5% in the UK.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Debt ceiling: America's budget crisis of its own creation

Fire up the giant digital billboards with their ever-increasing dollar
displays. Start calculating how much every American man, woman and child
owes. Cue the comparisons to a family budget, or credit-card spending or
running a small business.

 

The national debt - and the legally mandated cap on the amount of new debt
the federal government can issue - are back in the headlines.

 

First, a bit of context. The US government is in the enviable position of
being able to issue new debt pretty much whenever it wants. American
Treasury securities have been viewed for as one of the safest, most stable
investments in the modern world. In times of economic turbulence, US debt is
a harbour in the storm.

 

If the US issues new government debt in the form of Treasury bonds, bills,
notes and securities, there will be investors, both in the US and abroad,
who are interested buyers.

 

While the current figures for the US debt - $31tn (£25tn) and growing - are
astounding in both numerical and comparative terms, they do not represent an
impending crisis.

 

The US debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio, typically a more illuminating
measure of a nation ability to manage its debt, sits at 121%.

 

This is lower than dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom,
Germany, Australia and Greece.

 

What happens now the US has hit the debt ceiling?

The dispute over the national debt, then, is not one of economics but of
politics. Republicans are attempting to use a legal requirement that
Congress set a cap on the amount of new debt the US Treasury can issue to
force the White House and Democrats in the Senate to agree to sweeping
spending cuts in exchange for an increase in the debt limit.

 

Graphic shows rising US debr

That debt limit cap was first instituted by Congress in 1917, but increasing
the amount was a formality for nearly a century.

 

Republicans in 2011 first used the limit - and the threat of a US default on
its debt obligations - to force then-President Barack Obama to the budget
negotiating table.

 

Their efforts were somewhat successful, as Mr Obama and the Republicans
agreed to caps on government spending.

 

Those caps were frequently ignored, however, and ultimately abandoned by the
Republican-controlled Congress in 2018, which then increased discretionary
spending by 16% (with the support of many Democrats).

 

In fact, Congress raised or waived the debt limit three times during Donald
Trump's presidency, standing in contrast to the debt battles during his
predecessor's time in office.

 

Now that a Democrat is back in the White House and one chamber of the
Congress is in control of Republicans, the debt-limit battles have returned
once again.

 

It's a political game of chicken, where the stakes are as high as the
consequences are avoidable.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Retail sales fall in December as shoppers cut back

Retail sales fell by 1% in December, according to official figures, as
shoppers cut back on spending.

 

The Office for National Statistics said that retailers told them "consumers
are cutting back on spending because of increased prices and affordability
concerns".

 

There was a sharp drop at non-food stores, but food stores also reported a
fall in sales.

 

The ONS also revised down figures for November.

 

It said that sales volumes fell by 0.5% instead of the original estimate of
a 0.4% drop.

 

The ONS said the drop in food sales during December reinforced the view that
people stocked up for Christmas earlier. In November the volume of retail
sales at food stores rose by 1%.

 

"After last month's boost as shoppers stocked up early, food sales fell back
again in December with supermarkets reporting this was due to increase food
prices and the rising cost of living," said Heather Bovill, deputy director
for surveys and economic indicators at the ONS.

 

Online sales also fell between November and December. The proportion of
online sales dipped to 25.4% from 25.9% in the previous month.

 

Ms Bovill said feedback from retailers indicated "postal strikes were
leading people towards purchasing more goods instore".-BBC

 

 

 

Ethiopia replaces central bank boss amid high inflation

Yinager Dessie was appointed as Ethiopia's central bank governor in
2018Image caption: Yinager Dessie was appointed as Ethiopia's central bank
governor in 2018

The head of Ethiopia’s central bank has been replaced as the country
continues to grapple with high inflation rates.

 

Yinager Dessie was appointed as governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia
(NBE) in 2018 shortly after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power.

 

He has been replaced by Mamo Mihretu, who was previously the PM's economic
adviser and later ran the Ethiopian Investment Holdings, a sovereign wealth
fund with large state-owned corporations like Ethiopian Airlines and Ethio
Telecom in its portfolio.

 

The outgoing governor's tenure was marked by the devaluation of the
country’s currency, birr, against the dollar and a high rate of inflation.

 

Year-on-year inflation has remained above 20% since 2020, reaching above 33%
last year.

 

Mr Abiy has also appointed four new ministers to take recently vacated
positions including ministries of mines and transport.

 

All the appointments have to be approved by the lower house of
parliament-BBC

 

 

 

 

New FTX boss John Ray could bring back bankrupt crypto firm

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's new chief executive, John Ray, is looking
into the possibility of reviving the platform.

 

He told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that he has set up a taskforce to
explore restarting FTX.com to "recover more value" for people who lost
money.

 

A year ago FTX was valued at $32bn (£26bn), but it filed for bankruptcy
protection in November.

 

It has been estimated that $8bn worth of funds was missing.

 

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former chief executive of the exchange,
has been accused of defrauding customers and investors to pay debts incurred
by his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research.

 

He has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.

 

The future of customer funds, however, remains unclear.

 

'Complete failure'

Mr Ray is exploring the idea of resurrecting the platform instead of simply
liquidating assets or selling the platform, according to the WSJ report.

 

FTX did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment.

 

Previously Mr Ray hit out at the way the failed crypto exchange was run,
saying he had never "seen such a complete failure of corporate controls".

 

He said what he had found since taking over FTX was "unprecedented" in his
40-year career, which includes overseeing the bankruptcy of US energy giant
Enron.

 

'Crypto winter'

The collapse of the exchange was one of the key events in what has been
dubbed a "crypto winter" for firms.

 

The first big shock came last May with the collapse of two tokens - Terra
Luna and TerraUSD - owned by Terraform Labs.

 

The fall led to $400bn (£318bn) being wiped from the value of many other
cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.

 

By September, Interpol issued a red notice to law enforcement agencies for
the arrest of Terra founder Do Kwon.

 

In November, the disruption to the crypto market hit another level, with the
collapse of FTX - one of the biggest exchanges and the entry point for
millions of people.

 

It was seen as one of the most trusted platforms, but collapsed into
bankruptcy in days after its finances were revealed to be unstable.

 

FTX's founder Mr Bankman-Fried told the BBC in his last interview before his
arrest: "I don't think I tried to do anything wrong."

 

In December, the 30-year-old was extradited from the Bahamas, where FTX was
based, back to the US where he formally pleaded not guilty to charges of
defrauding customers and investors. He was released on $250m bail, denying
the allegations.-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

FAA outage: US airline regulators blame contractor for travel chaos

US air safety officials say that the glitch that led to travel chaos at
airports last week was actually caused by a contractor deleting files on a
crucial computer server used by pilots.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the worker "unintentionally
deleted files" on the Notice to Air Missions (Notam) database.

 

The system alerts pilots to potential hazards on flight routes. They are
required to check it before flights.

 

Lawmakers vowed to look into the issue.

 

More than 11,000 flights were delayed and at least 1,300 were cancelled on
11 January after the Notam system went offline a day earlier.

 

The technical issues marked the first time since the attacks on 11 September
2001 that flights across the US were grounded.

 

The FAA said that their contract employee, who was not identified, deleted
the files while working to synchronise the primary and backup Notam
databases.

 

Why did FAA ground flights across the US?

Two planes nearly collide on US airport runway

"The agency has so far found no evidence of a cyber-attack or malicious
intent," the regulator said in its statement on Thursday.

 

The FAA added that they were continuing to investigate the error. The system
has been fixed, and the FAA "has taken steps to make the Notam system more
resilient," the statement said.

 

The FAA had previously attributed the outage to a "damaged database file".

 

Last week, a group of Washington DC lawmakers wrote to the FAA to say that
the outage was "completely unacceptable" and demanding to know how it would
be avoided in the future.

 

FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen plans to hold a virtual briefing for
lawmakers on Friday to discuss their concerns.

 

-BBC

 

 

 

Retail sales fall in December as shoppers cut back

Retail sales fell by 1% in December, according to official figures, as
shoppers cut back on spending.

 

The Office for National Statistics said that retailers told them "consumers
are cutting back on spending because of increased prices and affordability
concerns".

 

There was a sharp drop at non-food stores, but food stores also reported a
fall in sales.

 

The ONS also revised down figures for November.

 

It said that sales volumes fell by 0.5% instead of the original estimate of
a 0.4% drop.

 

The rate of price rises, or inflation, remains close to a 40-year high,
despite slowing slightly to 10.5% in December.

 

While the amount of goods and food bought fell in December, rising prices
mean a large number of retailers have reported strong sales figures based on
value over the Christmas period.

 

The ONS said the drop in food sales during December reinforced the view that
people stocked up for Christmas earlier. In November, the volume of retail
sales at food stores rose by 1%.

 

"After last month's boost as shoppers stocked up early, food sales fell back
again in December with supermarkets reporting this was due to increase food
prices and the rising cost of living," said Heather Bovill, deputy director
for surveys and economic indicators at the ONS.

 

Online sales also fell between November and December. The proportion of
online sales dipped to 25.4% from 25.9% in the previous month.

 

Ms Bovill said feedback from retailers indicated "postal strikes were
leading people towards purchasing more goods instore".

 

Christmas retail winners and losers revealed

Price rises boost December sales for shops

Bill Grimsey, the former boss of Iceland and Wickes, told the BBC's Today
programme: "Christmas is the key trading time for retailers to often make a
difference between profit and loss, particularly in the food sector where
volumes are so very important."

 

Looking ahead Mr Grimsey said: "It is going to be a tough year. I think
inflation will start to come down but... fighting for every £1 at the tills
is the name of the game for all retailers that rely on top line sales for
bottom line profits."

 

December's figure was much weaker than expected, with Capital Economics
calling it a "disappointing end to a difficult year".

 

"Today's retail sales release suggests that some of the resilience in the
economy towards the end of last year appeared to peter out in December,"
said Olivia Cross, an economist at Capital Economics.

 

"What's more, we think the bulk of the drag on activity from high inflation
and rising interest rates has yet to be felt and will weigh more heavily on
retail spending and the overall economy in 2023."-BBC

 

 

 

Bailey: Inflation 'likely to fall rapidly' this year

Inflation is likely to fall rapidly this year as energy prices fall, Bank of
England Governor Andrew Bailey has said.

 

Speaking to Media Wales, Mr Bailey said a recent easing of inflation could
be a sign that "a corner has been turned".

 

The Bank was not trying to change market expectations that interest rates
will peak at 4.5%, he said.

 

The pandemic and the cost of living crisis meant a UK recession was still on
the cards, he added.

 

A major component of inflation - how fast prices rise - has been soaring
energy costs as economies recover from Covid and Russia's war in Ukraine
pushes up oil and gas prices.

 

But wholesale energy costs have been falling in recent weeks, and energy
bills are more than previously forecast.

 

This has made the Bank more optimistic that inflation could be on an "easier
path", Mr Bailey said.

 

However, lots of vacancies for jobs mean employees are in a stronger
bargaining position for wage rises, which could help push prices up, he
said.

 

UK inflation drops but food keeps inflation high

The pace of price rises in the UK has been slowing slightly, standing at
10.5% in the year to December.

 

In October prices were rising at a rate of 11.1%. In November inflation was
10.7%.

 

In November, the Bank forecast that inflation would fall to 5.2% by late
2023, and Mr Bailey stuck to that view. The Bank is due to publish new
forecasts next month.

 

The economy "went off a cliff" during the Covid pandemic, Mr Bailey said,
and while it has partly recovered, pay rises have not kept kept up with the
pace of price rises, which is still near a 40-year-high, he said.

 

That means the UK is still likely to fall into a long, shallow recession, he
said.

 

Rate hikes

Meanwhile, markets predict interest rates will peak at 4.5%, and the Bank is
not steering them away from that, Mr Bailey said.

 

Interest rates in part determine how much people pay for mortgages and other
borrowing.

 

Last October markets expected UK interest rates to peak as high as 6% -
partly reflecting ongoing turmoil triggered by Liz Truss's brief stint as
prime minister.

 

Financial markets now expect the Bank to raise its main interest rate to 4%
from 3.5% on 2 February, although there could be a smaller quarter-point
rate rise.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Rail workers given fresh pay offer in dispute

Rail workers have been given a fresh pay offer by train companies in a bid
to end long-running strike action.

 

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has made the new offer to the RMT union
following talks over the past week.

 

The deal includes a backdated pay rise of 5%, up from a previous offer of 4%
for 2022, and a 4% increase this year. But the deal depends on changes to
working conditions.

 

The RMT said it was "considering" the matter.

 

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "The national executive committee
will be considering this matter and has made no decision on the proposals
nor any of the elements within them.

 

"We will give an update on our next steps in due course," he said.

 

There have been 16 days of strike action since June involving RMT members
working at both train companies and Network Rail, with Network Rail members
additionally striking in a separate dispute between Christmas Eve and 27
December.

 

Train drivers in the RMT are also due to join members of the main drivers'
union, Aslef, in strikes on 1 and 3 February.

 

The RDG - which represents the train operators - said its latest offer was
its "best and final", and said as well as giving workers a pay rise, the
deal would also "improve how the industry delivers services to passengers".

 

"If accepted, it would help recover the industry's finances post-Covid,
reducing the burden on taxpayers at a time of significant pressure on public
spending," the group said.

 

Steve Montgomery, chair of the RDG, said the offer was "fair" and "weighted
particularly for those on lower incomes".

 

As well as a 9% pay rise over two years, the RDG said the deal also included
staff being able to move between stations when there are shortages, as well
as introducing part-time and flexible working.

 

The government, which ultimately holds the purse strings, has allowed the
industry to put forward new proposals. As expected, there's a higher pay
offer for 2022. It's now in line with the percentage rise offered to Network
Rail employees.

 

There is still a long list of conditions attached - which would mean change.

 

To give just a couple of examples, staff would be committed to work Sundays
if rostered on. And a new "multi-skilled" station role would be created.

 

The RMT continues to oppose the closure or re-purposing of ticket offices.
But today's offer makes clear any changes to station staffing would be
subject to local consultation.

 

The explicit requirement to expand driver-only operation - where drivers,
not guards, operate train doors - is gone. However, the plans say individual
companies could separately go on to propose changes to on-board staff roles.

 

The period of no compulsory redundancies has been extended.

 

There's now a wait to find out whether the RMT's executive committee
believes these proposals are acceptable to members, or perhaps, if they will
be given a vote.

 

On Wednesday, Rail Minister Huw Merriman conceded that the strikes have cost
the UK more than settling the disputes months ago would have.

 

The walkouts have cost the UK more than £1bn, he told a committee of MPs.

 

The RDG said industrial action had cost the industry around £480m in lost
ticket revenue since June.

 

It said this was on top of its current £2bn shortfall in cash following the
easing of Covid restrictions.

 

"With staff losing up to £2,000 in pay while on strike, the Rail Delivery
Group is urging the RMT leadership to put the offer to its membership for a
vote, bring an end to the dispute and work together to start rebuilding the
railway for the long-term," the group said.

 

The rail industry is not the only industry to strike in recent months, with
many other workers, such as nurses, ambulance staff and civil servants also
taking industrial action.

 

The rising cost of living has led to many workers asking for pay rises, with
inflation - the rate at which prices rise - hitting 10.5% in December.

 

On Tuesday, Aslef, the train drivers' union, rejected an offer from train
companies, which included a 4% pay rise for two years in a row.

 

Aslef said the proposal was "not and could not ever be acceptable", but its
general secretary Mick Whelan said the union was open to further talks.-BBC

 

 

 

 

More than 500 jobs go at Corby Orchard House Foods

More than 500 workers have lost their jobs after a fruit and juice firm went
into administration.

 

The administrator for Orchard House Foods, in Corby, Northamptonshire, said
managers took the decision because of "challenging trading conditions".

 

Lee Barron, TUC Midlands Regional Secretary, said workers were sacked "with
no prior negotiation or warning".

 

More than 480 Gateshead workers lost their jobs when the firm said in August
that it would relocate work to Corby.

 

Sarah O'Toole, partner at Grant Thornton UK LLP and joint administrator,
said: "Economic conditions have proved incredibly challenging for many
businesses operating in this sector.

 

"Despite management's best efforts to find a long-term solution for the
business, challenging trading conditions have meant the difficult decision
has been taken to appoint administrators."

 

The decision came two years after UK private equity fund Elaghmore purchased
Orchard House for about £25m.

 

The firm, which had its headquarters in Corby, supplied brands such as Marks
& Spencer, Morrisons, Pret A Manger, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

 

Workers from the Tyne and Wear plant are still to receive redundancy
pay-outs.

 

The administrators said it would be making contact with the former Gateshead
employees "to assist them in making the relevant claims with the Insolvency
Service".

 

The Corby workers received emails telling them they would have to return to
the site at a later date to collect any personal property and to make a
claim for money owed.

 

Mr Barron said: "We are asking for an inquiry to find out what went wrong
and to learn lessons.

 

"But, sadly, that won't help the workers, so we are also calling on the
government to intervene to provide the necessary support and help to the
affected workers."-BBC

 

 

 

 

British Gas will stop remote switches to prepayment meter

British Gas has said it will stop switching people onto prepayment meters
via their smart meters when they struggle to pay their bills.

 

It comes amid growing calls to stop the practice, which critics say puts
vulnerable people at risk.

 

Citizens Advice said forcible switching should be banned, adding it had seen
a big rise in clients needing crisis support such as emergency grants.

 

Ministers are also preparing to write to regulator Ofgem about the issue.

 

The boss of British Gas, Chris O'Shea, said his company would stop remote
switching smart meters onto prepayment mode and add extra vulnerability
checks.

 

Britain's biggest energy company has also promised £10m of extra support for
customers in need, which could include non-repayable credit of up to £250
for those struggling the most to top-up their meter.

 

"We know that some prepayment customers are self-disconnecting and not
coming forward for help, so we have reviewed our policies to do more to
target support at this group," he said.

 

However, the energy supplier has not ruled out forcibly installing
prepayment meters in people's homes.

 

'More expensive'

People using prepayment meters pay for their gas and electricity by topping
up their meter, either through accounts or by adding credit to a card in a
convenience store or post office.

 

This is a more expensive method of paying than by direct debit, but is
sometimes the only option for people who have struggled to pay and are in
debt to an energy supplier.

 

However, critics say it leaves vulnerable customers at risk of running out
of credit and "self-disconnecting" when they cannot afford to top up.

 

Last year, an estimated 600,000 people have been switched to prepay,
according to Citizens Advice, either by their supplier physically installing
a meter in their home, or automatically having their smart meter switched to
prepay mode.

 

In a letter to Ofgem, the Department for Businesses is expected to call for
greater scrutiny of whether these switches are justified.

 

Energy suppliers point out that if customers are allowed to build up
unaffordable debts, then this money would eventually be recouped from
everyone's energy bills.

 

Who can get the latest cost-of-living payments?

Energy firms remotely swap homes to prepay meters

Citizens Advice said it helped more people unable to top up their prepayment
meter last year than in the previous 10 years combined.

 

It said that among its clients, 38% of those were single people, and 37%
were single parents.

 

The data also shows that, among its clients, a majority of people in this
situation were disabled or had a long-term health condition.

 

Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "In the past,
prepayment meters may have worked as a solution for some people on a
low-income."

 

Now, she said these meters were a "squeeze point" for people's finances,
leading to some sitting in "cold, dark homes".

 

Audrey Ridson, 81, from Hampshire, told the BBC earlier this month that she
was in hospital recovering from a fall when her energy firm switched her to
a prepayment account.

 

"[The supplier] said: 'We've changed it over already to a card payment and
you'll have to go to a local shop [to top up the meter]'.

 

"My daughter-in-law said: 'She won't be able to do that. She's got to have a
special walking stick. She won't be able to get up to town'. And they didn't
listen to her. It was dangerous to go up there for me because I had this
injury.

 

"They charged me nearly £200 a month just for a shower and a light near my
cooker," Audrey told the BBC.

 

She added that she had built up arrears while she was recovering in hospital
from the fall.

 

Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive at Energy UK, which represents energy
firms, said: "Suppliers are required to have exhausted all other options
before installing a prepayment meter by warrant - only after repeated
unsuccessful attempts to contact the customer to discuss repayment options
and checks to ensure they do not go ahead when customers are in the most
vulnerable situations."

 

She said that difficult decisions had to be taken about indebted customers,
as suppliers were required to try to prevent them falling further into
arrears.

 

"Any increase in bad debt ultimately ends up costing all consumers more
money, as it is recouped from bills," she said.

 

Trade-offs would be needed if alternative ways to deal the issue were
brought in, Energy UK said.

 

line

Why is this allowed and what can you do?

Before smart meters existed, energy firms would have to get a warrant to
enter your home and physically install a prepayment meter

Now, smart meters enable energy firms to switch customers from direct debit
payments to a prepayment meter system remotely

Ofgem rules state that energy suppliers must have effective checks and
balances in place when switching the mode of a smart meter

The regulator advises customers with concerns to speak to their supplier.
Under Ofgem rules they must offer payment plans you can afford and you can
ask for emergency credit if you use a prepay meter and can't top up

Breathing Space, sometimes called the Debt Respite Scheme, is a free
government scheme that could give you up to 60 days' space from creditors to
set up a debt solution. Step Change debt charity can help you to apply

Citizens Advice offers this guide: Stop your energy supplier moving you to
prepayment-BBC

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Climate Investment - Nigeria, China, Others May Lose U.S.$377
Billion GDP Growth

Failure to invest the bare minimum needed to withstand projected climate
damage could cost China, Nigeria and other emerging markets a whooping $377
billion in climate damages and lost gross domestic products (GDP) growth
this decade, a new study by Standard Chartered has revealed.

 

The report, tagged, "The Adaptation Economy," which investigates the need
for climate adaptation investment in 10 markets - including Nigeria, China,
India, Bangladesh and Pakistan - reveals that, without investing a minimum
of USD30 billion in adaptation by 2030, these markets could face projected
damages and lost GDP growth of $377 billion: over 12 times that amount.

 

"Examples of climate adaptation projects include the creation of coastal
barrier protection solutions for areas vulnerable to flooding, the
development of drought-resistant crops and early-warning systems against
pending natural disasters, "it stated.

 

 

Nigeria, the report stressed, is among the top 5 countries to benefit the
most from adaptation investment

 

According to the report, "Among the 10 markets in the study, Nigeria is
projected to Nigeria significantly from the adptataion investment. Leading
the pack is India, which will benefit the most from adaptation investment.
The market would require an estimated $11billion to prevent climate damages
and lost growth of $135.5 billion in a 1.5°C warming scenario - equal to a
thirteen-to-one return for the Indian economy of investment in climate
adaptation. Meanwhile, China could avoid an estimated cost of $112 billion
by investing just USD8 billion. And Nigeria could avoid costs of an
estimated $19.9 billion by investing $1.5 billion in adaptation.

 

"Even if the world's nations manage to achieve the goals of the Paris
Agreement, measures to adapt to climate change must be pursued alongside the
global decarbonisation agenda, with the banking sector having a critical
role to play in unlocking finance. The $30billion investment required for
adaptation represents only slightly more than 0.1 per cent of combined
annual GDP of the 10 markets in the study and much less than the estimated
$95 trillion emerging markets require to transition to net zero using
mitigation measures."

 

The report also surveyed 150 bankers, investors and asset managers and found
that, currently, just 0.4 per cent of the capital held by respondents is
allocated to adaptation in emerging markets where investment is needed most.

 

"However, 59 per cent of respondents plan to increase their adaptation
investments over the next 12 months. And on average, adaptation financing is
expected to rise from 0.8 per cent of global assets in 2022 to 1.4 per cent
by 2030, "it added.

 

Commenting, the Chief Sustainability Officer, Standard Chartered, Marisa
Drew, said:"This report makes it clear that irrespective of efforts to keep
global warming as close to 1.5C as possible we are going to have to
incorporate climate-warming effects into our systems and adapt to its
reality.

 

"All nations will need to adapt to climate change by building more resilient
agriculture, industry and infrastructure, but the need is greatest in
emerging and fast-developing economies with a disproportionate risk of
exposure to the negative effects of rising temperatures and extreme
weather."

 

-This Day.

 

 

Malawi: Nankhumwa Accuses Government of Taking Money From Farmers in Absence
of Aip Fertilizer, Gives 7-Day Ultimatum

Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has 'demanded' that
the government must pay back the money that it has collected from farmers
without giving them fertilizer under the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP).

 

"I am giving President [Lazarus] Chakwera and his government until Friday
next week, January 27, 2023 to return the money to the concerned farmers.
Should this not happen, I will have no choice other than seeking guidance on
the way forward from legal and governance institutions, including the Malawi
Law Society (MLS), Malawi Human Rights Commission, Malawi Legal Aid, and
Office of Ombudsman, among others.

 

 

"The Tonse Alliance government must accept that it has failed Malawians than
resorting to pure theft under the guise of AIP," the opposition leader has
said this in a press statement issued on Thursday, January 19, 2023.

 

Nankhumwa, who also serves as the opposition Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) Vice President (South), claims that he has reliable information that
the Tonse Alliance government, through its agents, is currently going
village by village collecting money for AIP fertilizer from farmers whilst
promising to give them the fertilizer at a later date.

 

This is unprecedented in the history of fertilizer subsidy programme in this
country, and it is just plain wrong, says Nankhumwa.

 

"Why should the government take money from poor farmers without giving them
the commodity when the rains are already here, and they are already late in
applying the fertilizer in their fields?

 

"This is very shocking and a wrong approach by President Lazarus Chakwera
and his Tonse Alliance government. Already, the hunger situation among many
households has reached alarming proportions.

 

 

"It is, therefore, abhorrent for the government to demand money upfront from
poor farmers, amounting to K30, 000, and never give them the required
commodity that they desperately need for crop production. For a long time,
we have been told that the government is working to purge out middlemen from
the AIP system. Why is the same government now behaving like the same
middleman it wanted to remove?

 

"The government should have just come in the open to confirm what we already
know - AIP has crashed this season, and apologize to Malawians because what
is happening now is pure stealing from poor, helpless and innocent farmers,"
reads the statement.

 

He says the Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale, and Minister of
Information, Gospel Kazako, have been providing updates assuring the nation
and beneficiaries that all is well and there is no need to panic as the
programme is progressing according to plans after addressing initial
bottlenecks. But he wondered why the government is taking money from farmers
with a promise to deliver the fertilizer later.

 

"That this season's Affordable Input Programme (AIP) has been jinxed with
bigger problems is now a documented fact. No matter what the Minister of
Agriculture, Sam Kawale and some of his cabinet colleagues say, the truth is
that the AIP has collapsed and it is irredeemable," says Nankhumwa.

 

The opposition leader has also trashed claims by the Minister of Agriculture
that his ministry is using mobile sales vehicles to distribute AIP
fertilizer and that farmers should not crowd sales depots as they risk
missing the mobile sales vehicles that would go right into villages, arguing
"the truth of the matter is that the mobile trucks are either not there or
they are too few to make any significant contribution".

 

"The other challenge has to do with the process of scanning National IDs of
beneficiary farmers for them to redeem their inputs.

 

"Apart from network challenges, the gadgets used to scan the IDs are very
few compared to the demand on the ground. For example, some districts have
to with as few as 12 gadgets for the entire, which makes a mockery of the
whole programme," reads the press statement.

 

-Nyasa Times.

 

 

 

Malawi: Standard Bank Releases Its Second K20m of K80m Investment Towards
Must's Endowment Fund

Standard Bank Plc has released its second phase of K80 million investment
towards the Endowment Fund for Malawi University of Science & Technology
(MUST), which was set up in July 2021 to assist needy students and enhance
resource mobilization at the institution.

 

Standard Bank committed a four-year sponsorship to the Endowment Fund to be
distributed in divisions of K20 million per year and the first K20 million
was contributed last year.

 

Speaking during the handover ceremony, William Nuka -- head of engineering
and chairperson of the Bank's corporate social investment (CSI) committee --
said that the fund seeks to improve access to education for students and
further improve service provision at the institution.

 

 

"Standard Bank believes that investment in education contributes positively
to the overall growth of our nation, he said. "Therefore, the fund we are
disbursing today will help students to acquire the desired education at the
same time improving education standards at MUST."

 

Nuka added that the funding resonates well with Standatd Bank's core
purpose, which seeks to see the growth of Malawi in all sectors.

 

"Our purpose as Bank is 'Malawi is Our Home, We Drive Her Growth'. As such
we understand the impact of our contribution towards initiatives that are
propelling developmental growth such as MUST's endowment fund," he said.

 

Through the funding, Nuka said Standard Bank is enhancing equity in the
education sector, saying: "As a Bank, we are aware of MUST's policy which
states that no student should withdraw due to financial and equipment
challenges.

 

 

"Our contribution is aligned with the policy to ensure that every student
has equal access to education with suitable equipment."

 

MUST's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Address Malata predicted positive growth
of the institution, which will emanate from the cordial relationship between
the two entities.

 

"Since we started our operations in 2014, Standard Bank has been a partner
for growth -- helping MUST to be financially sustainable. The contribution
will help to enhance delivery of education at the institution and assist
needy students.

 

"Through the Endowment Fund, MUST is aligning itself with the MW2063
development blueprint. Therefore, the contribution is a catalyst for
achieving objectives of the plan.

 

"As an education institution we hope to see the growth of the Endowment
Fund's revenue to K30 billion. As a result the institution will be
contributing 40% to our budget in the process helping the government to
achieve the MW2063 vision," she said.

 

 

Malata assured Standard Bank of the safety and accountability of the funds
at the warm heart of higher education in the country.

 

MUST Endowment Fund -- whose motto is 'Create True Legacy' -- was
established in 2021 to provide a more sustainable mechanism of resource
mobilization to support needy students and also foster the university's
developments.

 

Within two years of establishment, the MUST Endowment Fund is close to K2
billion, which will be used for tuition fees and other infrastructure
development after a tenure of three years.

 

At the press briefing to announce the launch of the Fund in 2021, MUST's
director of finance & investment, MacDonald Hudge and director of MUST
Institute of Industrial & Innovation, Dr. David Mkwambisi explained that the
funding from government is not enough to sustain their services and took a
leaf from foreign universities -- especially from the USA where they weaned
themselves from dependency on government subventions by establishing
endowment funds.

 

He said MUST had decided to take a similar approach as a strategy for
diversifying revenue streams after taking cognizance that universities in
Malawi have received annual donations from individuals and corporates in
support of tuition fees and living expenses for students.

 

But whilst this has for sure facilitated education of those supported, it
has no assurance of its sustainability and that it benefitted a few whilst
the Endowment Fund is invested with financial institutions to yield interest
to cater for its services.

 

The principal gift from the donor is continually preserved and only the
proportion of the yield is spent annually and given their permanence --
giving an assurance that teaching, research and service can be sustained
forever while the donors legacy continually being recognised.

 

"The support goes beyond the donors' lifetime and the funds will continue to
grow and beat inflation," Hudge had said.

 

"Mkwambisi attested that students shouldn't be allowed to withdraw because
they cannot afford to pay their school fees as this is a loss of resources
spent on such students by the university and a loss of human resource for
the national agenda."

 

The benefits of the trust is that the donation survives the life of the
giver, thus creating true legacy and that an individual donor has the
privilege of naming their gift to a family member, a friend, a special
faculty member or themselves.

 

A donor is relieved of the burden of managing their funds and that MUST is
contractually obligated to spend on the fund in accordance with the donor's
wishes and will give regular updates of how the fund is growing and being
utilised.

 

A donor can increase their gift in instalments and the minimum value of
gifts is K20 million for corporates and K5 million for individuals.
Nonetheless, the University may accept lower amounts as a gift for the
general pool and the donors shall receive annual reports.

 

MUST believes that the Endowment Fund "is held in perpetuity, the society at
large benefits the most because, when students graduate, they engage in
gainful employment or business and thus contribute to national development".

 

-Nyasa Times.

 

 

Nigeria: Airlines - Retarded By Obsolete Airport Infrastructure

Nigerian domestic carriers are set to bring in new aircraft, increase their
fleet, but the challenge they face is that airport facilities are not
expanding to accommodate more aircraft and increase in passenger traffic.
Chinedu Eze writes that inadequate and obsolete airport infrastructure could
retard growth of the aviation sector

 

Recently, travel expert and the organiser of Akwaaba African Market, Ikechi
Uko, said facilities at Nigerian airports may not be able to accommodate the
new equipment being brought into the airport.

 

He said this while reacting to the report on the delivery of brand new
aircraft by three Nigerian airlines: Air Peace, Ibom Air and Overland
airways in the next 36 months.

 

THISDAY had last week exclusively reported that Air Peace, beyond the 10
brand new Embraer E195-E2 expected to be delivered this year, is expecting
15 Boeing 737MAX 8 and MAX 10 to be delivered in the same three-year
timeline.

 

Industry stakeholders posited that greater priority in the Aviation Master
Plan of the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration should have been
modernizing the airports, establishing Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul
(MRO) facility and establishing a leasing company, instead of a national
carrier and the establishment of aerospace university, as Nigeria has well
reputed aviation college, the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT),
Zaria and the International Aviation College, Ilorin. Also, domestic
airlines still provide Nigerian travellers the needed capacity for domestic,
regional and international travel so the country is not in dire need of a
national carrier as it would airports with modern facilities, MRO and
leasing company.

 

 

Planning

 

Top airline official and former airport manager both in Nigeria and overseas
has made significant observation about building airports and terminals in
the country and urged that Nigeria should let go arbitrariness and
spontaneous decision making on critical issues concerning airport
development.

 

He said processes should be followed and everything about airport
development should be planned and such plans should strictly be followed.

 

According to him, airports must meet certain standards in tandem with their
categories and there is need for continuous upgrade of airport
infrastructure to dovetail with current growth of the aviation sector.

 

"Part of the certification of an airport is that its infrastructure is
designed in accordance with the regulations. So apron capacity, apron
strength, apron dimensions, markings, procedures, lighting, signage, parking
bays, taxi lanes, etc must be compliant. After the NCAA (the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority) approves that, it is the airport that must regulate its
own capacity, by ensuring that operations are in line with its
certification. If you have capacity to process 10 flights an hour and you
accept 11 or more flights an hour, you're creating a serious safety hazard,
not to mention huge negative service implications for all airport users. He
said airports must cap their peaks to suit their capacity and force
customers to spread their schedules, when capacity is maxed out at certain
slots.

 

 

"Are we doing this yet? Obviously not. It's a potentially unsafe situation
in Lagos (both GAT and MM2 (the domestic terminals) and Abuja for many hours
every day. You can see that just by observing the operations, if you know
what to look for (and for operators, we feel the huge impact of this on our
businesses)," he said.

 

He frowned at the fact that Nigeria does not develop its airports on the
basis of master plan and that is why airport development has not kept pace
with growth of the industry, including passenger growth, airline growth and
emergence of new aircraft fleet.

 

"On the other hand, we are where we are because we do not develop our
airports on the basis of master plans. As a result, we have not catered for
this growth as a system. Airport infrastructure is planned with capacity to
match, from road access and egress, to terminal throughput, to apron parking
and runway/taxiway capacity. It's an end-to-end thing. But as long as
someone says, 'let's build a terminal here', with no attention to the
basics, you get what we have. The first question a terminal designer
requires answered is, 'how many passengers are we designing for'? When that
is answered, then everything from end to end must be made to match;
otherwise you get capacity mismatch and resultant gridlock, not to mention
latent unsafe conditions. The best approach to this is to have a well
thought out master plan for the airport," the industry expert said.

 

Retarding Growth

 

He also noted that it is the airport's primary business interest to
anticipate traffic growth and to develop its infrastructure to match that
anticipated growth 'just in time' for it. If not, then the airport itself
becomes the obstacle to its own growth and negatively affects economic
growth in its catchment area.

 

He regretted that many terrible decisions have been made in the aviation
industry and even some of them bordering on criminal and the country has
been suffering the consequences of these poor decisions for years now.

 

"One major credit that we have not given this current Minister is the quiet
but thorough and painstaking effort he has made to mitigate the grave and
extremely costly mistakes made by his predecessors. And he has done this
without casting blame. It is sad to note that Nigeria, our country, built
manifestly 'silly' terminals for billions of Naira and then had to spend
further billions of Naira to try to correct them and make them even
basically workable," he also observed.

 

He said that after making structural and other corrections of the various
grave mistakes made, apron capacity for both passengers and cargo should now
be expanded.

 

"Master plans need to be done for the airports and codified. Nobody should
come and say, 'build am here'. 'Put am there'. Airports cannot be developed
like that. If we continue on this trajectory, we cannot build an
Ethiopian-like airline here. This thing cannot be wished into existence. The
right work has to be done to move our industry into the 21st century. This
is 2023, my friends. Nigeria deserves much better," he stated.

 

THISDAY checks revealed that apron of many Nigerian airports seem to pay the
price of bad planning and bad design, as the apron of the airports cannot
take in many number of aircraft that provide service to the passengers, even
at the busiest airports in Lagos and Abuja. At the General Aviation Terminal
(GAT) in Lagos, the apron is too small to accommodate operating aircraft and
that is why there has been high record of aircraft collision.

 

At the MMA2 the apron is also small that sometimes during peak hours
passengers are bussed from the GAT, as the aircraft cannot be accommodated
at the apron of the terminal.

 

In October last year when passenger traffic started building up at the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, sometimes aircraft that has
landed would have to keep passengers in and wait at the taxiway for aircraft
already boarded to create space as it taxies of the apron for the arriving
aircraft to take over. Sometimes it could cause up to 25 minutes delay.

 

Reviewing Past Airport Plans

 

Industry expert and Executive Secretary of Aviation Round Table (ART), Group
Captain John Ojikutu, urged that there should be a review to current
regulations because currently, many airlines seem to be operating from two
major airports, Lagos and Abuja airports and that is why the domestic
terminals of the two airports are congested.

 

"We need to go back to the FCAA (Federal Civil Aviation Authority)
Operational Directives of the early 1990s; all the operating airlines should
have operational bases and not concentrating in only Lagos; Kabo had its
base in Kano, Okada in Benin, Triax in Enugu, Barnex in PH, etc; however,
ADC that was expected to be operating from Calabar broke the rule because of
the relationship the management had then with those in the administration of
the government. Unfortunately, those ones could not save it from the reports
of the two crashes in Ejinrin and Abuja," Ojikutu said.

 

He remarked that the allocation of operational bases for them was to create
spaces at the Lagos airport aprons where they all were concentrated,
recalling that the number of aircraft then in the operating airlines were
not together up to fifty except the okada with about 15 in its fleet, adding
that Lagos was specially meant for the Nigeria Airways.

 

"Today, even with the increase and expansion of terminals aprons, airlines
are demanding for space for their aircraft because they are all concentrated
in Lagos. In spite of the concentrations, no regulations is in place by the
airport terminals operators and the regulatory authority on how many
aircraft can be accommodated on the aprons neither are the aprons marked out
for the number. No specific number of ground handling services equipment is
provided in terminals operating manuals and that includes the fuel dispenser
for the aircraft.

 

"There were fuel hydrants in all aprons where fuel dispensing engines tap
into to supply fuel to aircrafts; today fuel tankers are the common
dispenser of fuel into the aircrafts. Nobody has looked into the dangerous
manner the drivers that are not certified get into the aviation operating
environment. It is not sufficient that the drivers hold a driving licence;
they must be certified in safely operations in the aviation environment.
This is one major reason why there had been many collisions on the Lagos
aprons where there is uncontrolled number of aircraft on the aprons. That is
the responsibility of the NCAA to oversight whether or not the terminal
operator has failed to specify that in its operations manuals," he said.

 

Night Operations

 

The Managing Director of Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan,
told THISDAY that while it is very important to have airfield lighting in
many airports where airlines operate till night, but it is not all the
airports that must have night landing facilities. But currently, few
airports have night lighting facilities; that an aircraft in the Nigerian
airspace would have few airports to land in under emergency. With 32
airports, 26 operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),
Nigeria does not have more than seven airports with guaranteed landing aids
in the night. Some of the airports like the Uyo; Enugu and Anambra airports,
night landing is allowed on request. It is expected that some of these
airports have permanent landing lighting and other aids. But Akpan insisted
that not all airports should have landing aids.

 

"Airports are designed and equipped with infrastructure to meet specific
functions. That is why we have them in categories and give them
nomenclatures like tourism airport, agro cargo airport, transit/hub airport,
maintenance airport etc. Every airport issue Notice To Airmen (NOTAM), in
addition to ICAO/IATA published compilation - JEPPERSON.

 

"A thorough feasibility study for most of the airports will reveal non
sustainable traffic data (in and out) from number of flights/aircraft to
passengers and cargo. The other business activities within the airport that
should attract traffic are undeveloped, or nonviable due to economies in
their location," he said.

 

Akpan observed that airports world wide offer services within their
infrastructural capacities; and they mandatorily publish their range of
services including their limits like currently available status of the
aeronautical services, runway, fuel, handling equipment and allied services.

 

"I won't advise any airport management to start offering services that the
economy of the target markets in the environment will not enhance its
sustainability. By illustration, AkwaIbom State airport could only offer
services between 6am to 6pm daily. Arik Air, Dana Air, Air Peace were
operating into that airport. Ibom Air came with increased schedule to
destinations beyond Lagos and Abuja. Ibom Airport had to extend its closure
time on request to 10pm and sometimes to 11pm for Ibom Air to land (not
everyday). Currently other airlines are not flying into Ibom Airport again
because it is no longer economically viable for them since Ibom Air offers,
'fit to market size capacity'" he added.

 

He also said that Nigeria should focus on securing the airport cities,
provision of electric power to light the environment and to power businesses
and create enabling environment for allied businesses to operate around the
airport cities, noting that there must be attractions to fly into or through
the airport for the airlines, the passengers, and the cargo.

 

-This Day.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Naira Redesign - CBN May Increase Money Supply to Boost
Availability of New Banknotes

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday said it would take appropriate
measures where necessary to increase money supply in order to boost the
availability of the redesigned naira notes nationwide.

 

The CBN Director/Managing Director, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, Mr. Abubakar
Abdullahi Kure, disclosed this while conducting on-the-spot checks on some
banks to ascertain their level of compliance with the recent apex bank's
directive to dispense the newly redesigned banknotes via ATMs.

 

He noted that the essence of the nationwide monitoring exercise was to
evaluate the situation on the ground as well as take necessary actions
following public outcry that the new banknotes were scarce and unavailable
even through the ATMs.

 

 

He said, "The monitoring exercise will end by Saturday when we hope to have
enough feedback even if it means tinkering with our policies so that the new
naira notes can be everywhere, we will do that."

 

Asked to clarify the specific measures that could be adopted, he said,
"Tinkering means whether there will be a need to increase supply or the
monitoring evaluation may show that there is a diversion for penalties or
whether the banks are hoarding the banknotes deliberately or whether the
banks are not even picking it; it could be available and the bank may not be
picking it - there could be many issues. So, this monitoring exercise will
reveal many things."

 

However, the enforcement team led by Kure, visited two different banks and
found out that only one out of their four ATMs was dispensing the new naira
notes while others were still dispensing the old currency notes.

 

 

On further enquiries into why they were in breach of the CBN's directive,
the bank managers separately told the monitoring team that they had not
received the new naira stock.

 

Disappointed, Kure said the CBN would take inventory of the money they had
collected from the CBN in order to verify their claims, adding that any
diversion or hoarding of the new banknotes by the banks would be penalised.

 

He said, "Any bank that diverts - collected the money and is not feeding
into ATM or is allowing for withdrawal of new banknotes across over the
counter - definitely, the CBN will look into it and declare appropriate
penalties."

 

The monitoring and evaluation exercise of central bank assurance is coming
10 days before the January 31, 2023 deadline it issued for the return of the
old banknotes, after which they cease to be legal tender.

 

 

Addressing journalists at the end of the exercise, the CBN director said,
"The summary is that the new notes are out but either the banks are not
picking them from the CBN or the monitoring mechanism will reveal what is
happening -whether there is the diversion of the new naira notes to other
uses, we don't know but basically, what we've seen is that some ATMs are
dispensing new notes, whereas others are dispensing the old notes.

 

"So, those that are dispensing old notes, we would check our records and see
what stock they have gotten from the central bank and how they have utilised
it. And where there are diversions, we are going to penalise them.

 

"Above all, this exercise is useful because it would put banks on their toes
to know at least, that there is a monitoring mechanism now for them to
disburse the new notes.

 

"And those who do not do what is expected, of course, the CBN has the
authority and powers to mete out appropriate penalties."

 

Some of the bank customers interviewed expressed their frustration over the
inability to access the new naira notes via ATMs.

 

A POS operator told THISDAY that she had been unable to access the
redesigned banknotes adding that her customers were beginning to reject the
old naira notes.

 

Earlier, as part of the activities of the central bank to drive awareness
and sensitise the public on the newly redesigned banknotes, Kure also led
the team to traditional and religious institutions within the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).

 

Kure, alongside other CBN officials, visited the Ona of Abaji/Chairman of
the FCT Council of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Majesty, Alhaji Adamu Baba
Yunusa, at his palace in Abaji.

 

Stressing that the January 31 deadline for the return of old naira notes
remained sacrosanct, the CBN director urged the people to make hay while the
sun shines by depositing the old notes in banks - in order not to incur
losses at the expiration of the timeline.

 

Among other things, he explained that the currency redesign project was
meant to address inflation, control money supply, and reduce the cost of
currency management as well as tame terrorism.

 

Kure added that traditional institutions remained critical in the
sensitisation of the public, particularly rural dwellers on the naira
redesign programme.

 

He also assured the traditional ruler that the people can always use their
money at will even after exchanging them for the new banknotes, adding that
the CBN had established a robust payment infrastructure for people to use in
their financial transactions - stressing that there are agency- banking
operatives and POS terminals in every nook and cranny of the country.

 

Responding however, the monarch commended the federal government for deeming
it fit to redesign the naira at a crucial time in the country's history, as
well as praised the CBN for embarking on the awareness exercise.

 

The royal father also urged the opportunity to urge the central bank to
review the January 31 deadline upwards noting that "up till now, some of my
people haven't seen the new naira".

 

While also assuring of the support of the traditional institution towards
the betterment of the country, Yunusa made a passionate appeal to the CBN to
consider citizens of the FCT for employment at the apex bank.

 

The CBN team also took its awareness campaign to the International Centre
for Islamic Culture and Education (ICICE), Abuja, where it was received by
its Director General, Dr. Kabir Kabo Usman.

 

Kure stressed that the objective of the visit was to ensure that religious
institutions help to spread awareness of the new naira to the grassroots.

 

Usman, while pledging support to the CBN team said the rural dwellers needed
to act fast by depositing their old banknotes in order to save their
investments.

 

He said the currency redesign programme was a positive step towards
developing the Nigerian economy.

 

He said, "What we can only do is to encourage the local businesses in rural
areas, in local governments to make sure that they go to the banks and
deposit all their old notes because, after January 31, there are going to be
obsolete.

 

"It is our responsibility to make sure that happens so that we don't go and
create insecurity, more inflation in the process of trying to achieve
stability of our economy."

 

"We will do our best to inform our followers and let them know that there is
a positive thing that is coming out of this... "

 

Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar has advised the
CBN to reconsider the January, 31st deadline for the old notes to remain in
circulation in the country.

 

Speaking while receiving the CBN Comptroller in charge of Sokoto State,
Dahiru Usman, who led some officers of the Apex bank to intimate him and
seek his advice on the redesigned naira notes at his palace, yesterday, the
monarch observed that, many people were still unaware of the redesigned
naira notes, especially at the rural areas.

 

"We still have people who didn't know that our naira was redesigned. They
could reject the new naira notes when given. If they see the colours they
will think is a fake currency.

 

" The CBN ought to have considered stakeholders right from the day the
resignation was announced.

 

"We have credible means to step down the information to the common man
because the conventional media is for the elites.

 

"You should have used traditional rulers to pass the message down to the
masses but you didn't involve us, that is why we keep quite."

 

Sultan Sa'ad identified insecurity as another challenge as some people could
note move large sum of money from their village to banks in the city because
they could be robbed or kidnapped along the way.

 

He then asked "what will be the fate of these people after January, 31st
deadline."

 

Earlier, the branch controller said they were in the palace to inform the
Sultan about the naira redesign project.

 

The apex bank visited some banks to monitor their compliance with the CBN
directive of dispensing redesigned notes to customers through their ATMs,
just as they sensitised traders on the need to deposit their money in banks
and adopt e-Naira transaction.

 

-This Day.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Govt Revoked 3,400 Mining Licences in One Year

The federal government has disclosed that 3,400 mining licenses were revoked
within one year with a promise to revoke other unutilised mining titles in
2023.

 

The Director-General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Obadiah Nkom,
who stated this yesterday, while speaking with newsmen at the State House,
Abuja, stressed that the application of the principle of, "use it or lose
it" to mining title/rights administration and failure to pay up mandatory
annual service fees, are responsible for revocation, revealing that some
3,400 titles have been revoked in the last 12 months.

 

 

On the principles of allocation of mining licences in Nigeria, Nkom said the
agency gives priority to 'first come first served' and 'Use it or lose it'.

 

He added: "How does the system run? Is on use it or lose it basis? We've had
instances where people receive and get licences and keep these licences, and
they don't use them. The law is very, very clear on that. What does that
mean? We give you the license. If you don't adhere to the provisions of the
Act, you lose it. How do you lose it, you lose it by way of revocation and
it's not arbitrary. We give you a notice of default, for you to be able to
remedy the defect, we give you 30 days, in line with the law.

 

"You can decide to remedy the effect on the 29th day. We are fine with that,
but once it is 30 days, and you don't remedy the defects, then we revoke the
title because we know that all these are subjects to litigations."

 

 

He added that in a move to generate appropriate revenue for the government,
the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, which is responsible for the management
and administration of mineral titles in the country, would still go ahead to
revoke more unutilised mining titles in 2023.

 

He also said the agency generated N14.59 billion between 2018 and 2022 from
the issuance of mining licences

 

Speaking on incomes, Nkom said the agency, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, generated
N1.55 billion, N2.38 billion and N2.57 billion respectively.

 

However, between 2021 and 2022, the agency's revenue fell from N4.3 billion
to N3.79 billion respectively, attributing this drop in revenue to changes
in its internal operating system which temporarily affected revenue inflow.

 

Nkom, whose appointment was recently renewed for another four years,
explained that there are restrictions and conditionalities for the issuance
of coal mining licenses in Nigeria.

 

 

"We have to be very strategic, and also take into account current global
issues. The Mining Cadastre Office does not just issue licenses, we look at
the future, issues of sustainability, maximising value, strategically
ensuring Nigeria is properly managing her mineral wealth to achieve maximum
economic value and diversification", he explained.

 

Nkom said the agency generated over three billion naira for the country last
year alone, explaining that the agency generated the funds through its major
mandate of issuing licenses to miners.

 

"My mandate is simply administration of mineral titles in line with the
provisions of the Act establishing the agency. The agency came into being in
2007 with the re-enactment of the Act.

 

"So, the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act establish the Nigerian Mining
Cadastre Office in 2007 with clear mandates as to administration and
management of minerals titles and maintenance of the Cadastre register. The
essence of that is to ensure that is to ensure that minerals titles are
administered and manage in the most transparent manner.

 

"Revenue Generation is key because we have had to be able to ensure that we
improve on it. We had 86 percent increase in revenue from 2001. But I can
tell you that with the new system, without mincing words that subsequently
we are going to have a steady increase.

 

"In our revenue generation, it is nothing, but application fees, processing
fees and the annual service fee. We are not in charge of other activities
like payment of royalties and so on. So, even with these little aspects of
revenue components we still want to ensure that at the end of the day our
revenue increase and we are able to add to the development of Nigeria and
increase the wellbeing of citizens particularly the key components of job
creation and revenue, based on our vision for the country," he said.

 

The Director General said the Cadastre has of recent witnessed an increase
in the number of applications for mining permits, due to the transparent
nature of the process.

 

"Among our key accomplishments, is the more you are transparent the more you
will be able to see people coming in to submit application. So we have quite
an increase in that regard and the increase is not just nationally you have
foreign investors getting attracted by way of our transparency, our policies
and the way things are being done.

 

"We have also opened zonal offices, which has taken it closer to the people
and the intent of the agency is to be able to ensure that we reduce the
number of illegal or informal miners so that at the end of the day, we make
licencing easier for them." he added.

 

Nkom added that the agency collaborates closely with state governments in
order to advice the Minister of Mines and Steel Development on mining
matters.

 

He further said the agency is also looking at the coal sector because of the
emergence of coal to power projects to increase energy alternatives for
citizens.

 

-This Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


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
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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