Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 27 March 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 27 March 2023 

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


 

ü  Firms hit back at Bank governor in prices row

ü  Castlederg hardware and drapery shop closes after 121 years

ü  Bank governor warns firms raising prices ‘hurts people’

ü  Deutsche Bank share slide reignites worries among investors

ü  UK retail sales boosted by second-hand and discount stores

ü  Bank governor warns firms raising prices ‘hurts people’

ü  Kenya: Coffee Farmers in Mt Kenya Seek Direct Access to Buyers

ü  Central African States Wants to Dump Colonial Currency

ü  Kenya: Nairobi Court Bars Meta From Sacking Facebook Moderators

ü  South Africa: Fuel Price Relief Likely in April as Rand Firms 

ü  South Africa: Artisanal Miners Face Onerous Obstacles to Become Legal

ü  South Africa: Cannabis Industry Plans for South Africa Have Stalled - How
to Get Them Moving Again

ü  Malawi Government Commits to Promoting Small and Medium Enterprises

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

Firms hit back at Bank governor in prices row

Business leaders have hit back after the Bank of England governor said they
should think twice before raising prices to cope with inflation.

 

Andrew Bailey said increased prices could drive up the cost of living even
further and hurt the poorest most.

 

But the boss of pub chain JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin, said bank managers
were "breathing down the neck" of business owners.

 

UK Hospitality said Mr Bailey ignored the "stark situation" faced by many.

 

"If all prices try to beat inflation we will get higher inflation," the bank
governor told the BBC's Today programme.

 

Speaking a day after the Bank raised interest rates to their highest level
for 14 years, Mr Bailey said higher inflation "hurts people" and he warned
rates would go up again if prices continued to rise.

 

"I would say to people who are setting prices - please understand, if we get
inflation embedded, interest rates will have to go up further and higher
inflation really benefits nobody," he added.

 

'An unnerving experience'

But Mr Martin said while businesses may "want to follow his advice, many
won't be able to" and warned there could be price rises at the pub chain.

 

"If cash costs for energy, labour and supplies rise and prices don't go up,
bank managers around the country will be breathing down the neck of business
owners - which is an unnerving experience," he said.

 

The Wetherspoons chairman said he was looking forward to a time when
"ferocious" inflationary pressures eased across the industry.

 

The low-cost food and drink chain, which has a network of 843 pubs across
the UK and Ireland, reported a 5% rise in sales over the six months to 29
January compared with the same period in 2019.

 

Its figures mirror those from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) which
showed retail sales had grown to 6.3%, their highest level since March 2022.

 

However, it said rising inflation meant sales volumes remained firmly in the
red.

 

The BRC said despite the ongoing cost of living squeeze, customers were
still ready to spend on what they needed, with higher sales in clothing and
cosmetics.

 

"There remain challenges to consumer spending in the coming months with the
end of the Energy Bill Support Scheme in April and the increasing cost of
borrowing.

 

"It is essential that government avoids any additional regulatory burdens on
business that would risk pushing prices up, adding to the squeeze on
consumer wallets," it said.

 

'Minor miracle'

Trade body UK Hospitality's chief executive Kate Nicholls said it was a
"minor miracle" so many businesses had held off raising prices for as long
as they had.

 

"To suggest the sector should stomach these staggering cost increases
ignores the real and stark situation facing venues across the country," she
said.

 

A government spokesperson said it had provided an "unprecedented" energy
support package for firms, "and further support from April onwards".

 

Table showing how much the cost of certain foods has increased in 12 months
since February 2022, with cheddar cheese up 49%, milk up 43%, sugar up 31%,
eggs up 29% and white bread up 21%

bbc

 

 

 

Castlederg hardware and drapery shop closes after 121 years

A County Tyrone hardware and drapery shop has closed its doors after more
than 100 years in business.

 

The Kyle family, from Fivemiletown, opened WJ Kyle in Castlederg in 1902.

 

Despite huge advancements in technology over the years, not much ever
changed in the shop.

 

There was never a till or a card machine the same gas lamps were used from
the 1970s.

 

"There just isn't another shop like this," said Karen Jack.

 

Her mother, Margaret Jack, nee Kyle, ran the shop for years.

 

Karen and her brother Brian had recently been helping out in the shop until
its closure on Friday.

 

"There's an awful lot of history in it going back - my mum spent her whole
life here," said Karen.

 

"I can remember my grandfather; he always sat in the office in the drapery
and did the books.

 

"It was a much bigger business at that point in time. There would have been
two staff that worked in the hardware and two in the drapery.

 

"It was always a store that was frequented and used by everyone in the
community."

 

Brian says the shop was very much like a "throwback to the old days" and
added it has "always been very traditional".

 

Karen added: "My mum was of that generation that didn't see the need to move
with the times or change anything."

 

While many things in the shop did not change much, it did see a fair amount
of change.

 

Brian said bombs blew the windows in the shop out 16 times during the
Troubles.

 

The 83-year-old clocking off work after 66 years

"I remember being at the back (of the shop) and there were so many bombs I
knew the sequence," he said.

 

"You had the fire siren, the police would call and I saw the policeman
coming in and I knew something was happening.

 

"We hadn't time to get out so we had to sit it in the back of the shop on
what used to be bales of grass seed and the thing went off.

 

"I remember the shockwave coming through. I remember hearing everything
breaking because there used to be rows of tea sets on the windows and every
bomb, the windows blew in and all the china on the windows shattered."

 

For sisters Hazel Burke and Iris Baxter, coming to the shop has been
something they have done since they were children.

 

"We've always come to Kyle's for everything you wanted - you can't get it
anywhere else, you get it in Kyle's," said Hazel.

 

"The shop has never changed from when I was small, its still the same, same
decor, everything."

 

Mick Harkin's wife Ann worked in the shop for 44 years, until it closed.

 

"I'm very sad that its closing, I would have bought a lot of fishing stuff
here in my younger days," he said, adding that it was going to be impossible
to get what he needed now without going out of town.

 

"I have always come in and been able to get things that I needed," she said.

 

"It will be harder because there is nowhere else in Castlederg like it."

 

Former councillor James Emery has co-written three books on Castlederg and
its history.

 

He said Kyle's was one of the oldest businesses in Castlederg and was an
important part of the town.

 

He added the Kyle family were also auctioneers that sold houses and land.

 

In 1937, the shop was destroyed in a fire on Christmas Day which was called
"one of the worst fires experienced in County Tyrone" by the Strabane Weekly
newspaper.

 

It had to be rebuilt in 1938.

 

"I was always fascinated by the counter which is still there from 1938 which
you wouldn't find in the modern day shop - it's all changed," he added.

 

"Someone once said: 'If Kyle's doesn't have it, you don't need it'.

 

"It's a big loss, people will have to travel either to Strabane or
Omagh."-bbc

 

 

 

 

Bank governor warns firms raising prices ‘hurts people’

Raising prices could drive up the cost of living even further and would hurt
the least well-off most, the Bank of England governor has warned firms.

 

"If all prices try to beat inflation we will get higher inflation," Andrew
Bailey told the BBC's Today programme.

 

He said higher inflation "hurts people" and warned the Bank would raise
rates again if prices continued to increase.

 

Mr Bailey was speaking a day after the Bank raised interest rates to their
highest level for 14 years

 

The move came after prices jumped unexpectedly last month.

 

"I would say to people who are setting prices - please understand, if we get
inflation embedded, interest rates will have to go up further and higher
inflation really benefits nobody," he added.

 

Soaring inflation in the UK and around the world has been squeezing
households' finances as energy and food prices rise.

 

Cost of living pressures hit the least well-off hardest, because they spend
a bigger part of their income on food and fuel.

 

The Bank has been steadily increasing interest rates as it seeks to make
borrowing money more expensive and encourage people to spend less, with the
aim of stopping prices rising so quickly.

 

But higher interest rates also hit some people with existing loans such as
mortgages.

 

What the interest rate rise means for you

Mr Bailey said firms should bear in mind that the rate of inflation is
likely to drop sharply this year.

 

He said he had not yet seen evidence of companies putting up prices more
than necessary, and said that he understood they needed to "reflect the
costs they face".

 

'Restaurants already taking a hit'

Reacting to Mr Bailey's warning, Martin Williams, chief executive of Rare
Restaurants, which includes the chains Gaucho and M, said that businesses
had already been restrained in raising prices.

 

"If restaurants had reflected the increased 'costs they face' in the past
year as Mr Bailey suggests, a simple side salad would be priced at £20," Mr
Williams said, adding that beer would be £20 per pint, and a small steak
would be £100.

 

He said restaurant owners had "responsibly tried to balance keeping pricing
low, and keeping their businesses viable" while facing surging wage, food
and energy bill costs.

 

Energy bills support for businesses will become less generous from April,
with trade group UK Hospitality saying in January it would lead to an 82%
rise in bills for firms such as pubs, restaurants and hotels.

 

"That's going to hit entrepreneurs, start-up businesses incredibly hard,"
said Mr Williams. "The impact will be the closure of restaurants."

 

UK Hospitality's chief executive Kate Nicholls said no business wanted to
raise its prices for fear of losing sales. "It is a minor miracle that many
have held off increases for as long as they have," she said.

 

To suggest the sector "stomach these staggering cost increases ignores the
real and stark situation" facing many businesses across the UK, she added.

 

"The reality is that without adequate government support, doing as the
governor asks will just mean business failure and job losses."

 

A government spokesperson said it had provided an "unprecedented" energy
support package for firms, "and further support from April onwards".

 

Profiteering claim

Mr Bailey's comments came after Tesco chairman John Allan said in January
that food firms may be using inflation as an excuse to hike prices further
than necessary.

 

Last year, Mr Bailey called on workers to not ask for big pay rises,
sparking a backlash from unions.

 

The rate at which prices are rising remains close to its highest level for
40 years, hitting 10.4% in the year to February - more than five times the
Bank of England's target.

 

Higher food prices are one of the main drivers fuelling overall inflation,
with the cost of everyday basics such as eggs, cheese and milk rising
sharply.

 

UK banks 'safe'

Mr Bailey also said he believed the UK banking system was "safe and sound"
following the recent collapse of two US banks and the rescue of Swiss lender
Credit Suisse.

 

"We have banks that people can rely on, and that's critical," he said. "I
had to deal with a lot of problems in the global financial crisis when we
were not really in that situation all of the time, let's be honest."

 

He also said that the risk of recession for the UK "has gone down quite a
lot", adding that the prospects for economic growth are "now considerably
better".

 

-bbc

 

 

 

Deutsche Bank share slide reignites worries among investors

Sharp declines in banking shares in Europe have renewed concerns the panic
triggered by the collapse of two US banks and rushed takeover of Swiss giant
Credit Suisse may not be easily contained.

 

Shares in Germany's Deutsche Bank fell by 14% at one point on Friday, with
other lenders also seeing big losses.

 

London's FTSE 100 ended the day down 1.3%, while stock markets in Germany
and France dropped even more sharply.

 

But US fears did not materialise.

 

After falling early in the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%
and the S&P 500 rose almost 0.6%, while the Nasdaq ended 0.3% higher.

 

The rise came despite declines in shares of big banks such as JPMorgan Chase
and Morgan Stanley.

 

In Europe, the banks hit by a sell-off from worried investors included
Germany's Commerzbank, which saw shares fall about 5%. France's Societe
Generale ended down about 6% while in the UK, Standard Chartered was the
biggest faller, down more than 6%.

 

Deutsche recovered from its steepest losses but still closed more than 8%
lower.

 

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, told the BBC the drop in
Deutsche Bank's share price, and a sharp jump in the cost of insuring
against a possible default by the bank, was "indicative of a wider loss of
confidence in the banking sector".

 

"There's a gathering fear that central banks may have overdone it with
interest rate increases, having left them too low for too long," he said.

 

Central banks slashed interest rates during the 2008 global financial crisis
and again when the pandemic hit in 2020 as part of efforts to encourage
economic growth.

 

But over the past year or so authorities have been raising rates sharply to
try to tame soaring price increases.

 

These rate rises have hit the value of investments that banks keep some of
their money in, and contributed to the bank failures in the US.

 

Share prices have fallen across the sector, as high-profile investors warn
the collapses are symptoms of deeper problems in the system, with other
pockets of distress yet to emerge.

 

Higher interest rates have also raised the possibility of recession, Mr
Mould said, and if that happens, "banks will generally find it pretty hard
going".

 

A worker (C) tells people that the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters is
closed on March 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California.

 

 

Central banks and governments have been trying to calm market worries.

 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended Deutsche Bank at a news conference on
Friday, noting that it had "thoroughly reorganised and modernised its
business model" and was "very profitable".

 

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey also told the BBC that the UK banking
system was "safe and sound".

 

But mixed messages from US authorities as to whether they were prepared to
guarantee all bank deposits have led to confusion and hopes that calm had
been restored to the sector appear to be have been premature.

 

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convened an unexpected Friday meeting
with regulators on financial stability, while use of an emergency lending
programme for banks that the US central bank created this month has
increased over the past week, the Federal Reserve reported.

 

Bloomberg News also reported that UBS and Credit Suisse were being
investigated by the US Department of Justice into whether they had helped
Russian oligarchs avoid sanctions.

 

Meanwhile, the financial turmoil sparked by the failures has raised
uncertainty about how much higher interest rates might go.

 

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said this week the bank may not lift
borrowing costs much more, if the banking panic continues to weigh on
lending and slows economic growth.

 

But on Friday St. Louis Fed president James Bullard, who is not currently on
the rate-setting committee, said he thought the panic would subside, leading
to higher rates than the roughly 5% currently expected.

 

Joachim Nagel, president of Germany's Bundesbank, said still rampant
inflation meant central banks should continue to raise rates.

 

He declined to comment on Deutsche Bank, but said market turmoil was to be
expected after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the
US and the UBS takeover of Credit Suisse.

 

"In the weeks after such interesting events, it is often a bumpy road," he
said.-bbc

 

 

 

 

UK retail sales boosted by second-hand and discount stores

Shoppers facing cost-of-living pressures turned to discount and second-hand
stores last month, giving retail sales a surprise boost.

 

Sales volumes rose by 1.2% in February, official figures showed, the biggest
monthly gain since October last year.

 

Food sales also rose, but the Office for National Statistics said there were
signs price pressures had cut spending in restaurants and on takeaway meals.

 

Figures out earlier this week showed prices rising faster than expected.

 

Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - jumped to 10.4% in the year to
February, remaining close to its highest level for 40 years.

 

The Bank of England has been rising interest rates in an attempt to cool
price rises, and on Thursday it lifted rates to 4.25% from 4%.

 

February's rise in retail sales was stronger than forecast, and followed an
upwardly revised 0.9% increase in January.

 

Sales volumes are now back to pre-pandemic levels, the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) said, although are still 3.5% lower than a year ago.

 

"The broader picture remains more subdued, with retail sales showing little
real growth, particularly over the last 18 months with price rises hitting
consumer spending power," said ONS director of economic statistics Darren
Morgan.

 

The ONS said non-food sales rose by 2.4% last month, boosted by discount
department and clothing stores. There was also "strong growth" in
second-hand goods stores, such as auction houses and charity shops.

 

"Looking at the latest retail sales figures you might be forgiven for
wondering if Britain really is in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis,"
said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

 

"But pop the hood and the reality is laid bare... people are hunting out
bargains whether they're found in the sales aisles being well-stocked by
department stores, or in charity shops or other second-hand emporiums."

 

Businesses are also feeling the squeeze from rising costs. Pub chain
Wetherspoon said inflationary pressures - from the cost of energy, food and
labour - had been "ferocious", as it reported its latest results.

 

"The Bank of England, and other authorities, believe that inflation is on
the wane, which will certainly be of great benefit, if correct," said
chairman Tim Martin.

 

Wetherspoon reported a pre-tax profit of £4.6m ($5.6m) for the six months to
29 January, compared with a £21.3m loss a year ago. However, that is still
well down on £50m Wetherspoon made in the first half of 2019 before the
Covid pandemic hit.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Bank governor warns firms raising prices ‘hurts people’

Raising prices could drive up the cost of living even further and would hurt
the least well-off most, the Bank of England governor has warned firms.

 

"If all prices try to beat inflation we will get higher inflation," Andrew
Bailey told the BBC's Today programme.

 

He said higher inflation "hurts people" and warned the Bank would raise
rates again if prices continued to increase.

 

Mr Bailey was speaking a day after the Bank raised interest rates to their
highest level for 14 years

 

The move came after prices jumped unexpectedly last month.

 

"I would say to people who are setting prices - please understand, if we get
inflation embedded, interest rates will have to go up further and higher
inflation really benefits nobody," he added.

 

Soaring inflation in the UK and around the world has been squeezing
households' finances as energy and food prices rise.

 

Cost of living pressures hit the least well-off hardest, because they spend
a bigger part of their income on food and fuel.

 

The Bank has been steadily increasing interest rates as it seeks to make
borrowing money more expensive and encourage people to spend less, with the
aim of stopping prices rising so quickly.

 

But higher interest rates also hit some people with existing loans such as
mortgages.

 

What the interest rate rise means for you

Mr Bailey said firms should bear in mind that the rate of inflation is
likely to drop sharply this year.

 

He said he had not yet seen evidence of companies putting up prices more
than necessary, and said that he understood they needed to "reflect the
costs they face".

 

'Restaurants already taking a hit'

Reacting to Mr Bailey's warning, Martin Williams, chief executive of Rare
Restaurants, which includes the chains Gaucho and M, said that businesses
had already been restrained in raising prices.

 

"If restaurants had reflected the increased 'costs they face' in the past
year as Mr Bailey suggests, a simple side salad would be priced at £20," Mr
Williams said, adding that beer would be £20 per pint, and a small steak
would be £100.

 

He said restaurant owners had "responsibly tried to balance keeping pricing
low, and keeping their businesses viable" while facing surging wage, food
and energy bill costs.

 

Energy bills support for businesses will become less generous from April,
with trade group UK Hospitality saying in January it would lead to an 82%
rise in bills for firms such as pubs, restaurants and hotels.

 

"That's going to hit entrepreneurs, start-up businesses incredibly hard,"
said Mr Williams. "The impact will be the closure of restaurants."

 

UK Hospitality's chief executive Kate Nicholls said no business wanted to
raise its prices for fear of losing sales. "It is a minor miracle that many
have held off increases for as long as they have," she said.

 

To suggest the sector "stomach these staggering cost increases ignores the
real and stark situation" facing many businesses across the UK, she added.

 

"The reality is that without adequate government support, doing as the
governor asks will just mean business failure and job losses."

 

A government spokesperson said it had provided an "unprecedented" energy
support package for firms, "and further support from April onwards".

 

Profiteering claim

Mr Bailey's comments came after Tesco chairman John Allan said in January
that food firms may be using inflation as an excuse to hike prices further
than necessary.

 

Last year, Mr Bailey called on workers to not ask for big pay rises,
sparking a backlash from unions.

 

The rate at which prices are rising remains close to its highest level for
40 years, hitting 10.4% in the year to February - more than five times the
Bank of England's target.

 

Higher food prices are one of the main drivers fuelling overall inflation,
with the cost of everyday basics such as eggs, cheese and milk rising
sharply.

 

UK banks 'safe'

Mr Bailey also said he believed the UK banking system was "safe and sound"
following the recent collapse of two US banks and the rescue of Swiss lender
Credit Suisse.

 

"We have banks that people can rely on, and that's critical," he said. "I
had to deal with a lot of problems in the global financial crisis when we
were not really in that situation all of the time, let's be honest."

 

He also said that the risk of recession for the UK "has gone down quite a
lot", adding that the prospects for economic growth are "now considerably
better".

 

Buy things close to their sell-by-date which will be cheaper and use your
freezer-bbc

 

 

 

Kenya: Coffee Farmers in Mt Kenya Seek Direct Access to Buyers

Nyeri — Coffee farmers in the Mt Kenya region want the Kenya Kwanza
government to open up marketing of the crop through the scrapping of the
Nairobi coffee exchange and allowing farmers to deal directly with buyers.

 

Speaking during a farmers' field day at Ndaroini coffee factory in Mathira,
the farmers said that the so-called reforms will not bear fruits unless they
are allowed to sell directly to buyers in need of specialty coffee globally.

 

"The so-called reforms currently being initiated are of no consequences to
coffee farming, what our Deputy president and MPs from coffee growing areas
need to address is the marketing of the crop, currently they are only eight
brokers in Nairobi auction who collude and set up prices, when will the
farmers earn from their sweat?" wondered Joseph Mukua chairman of the
factory.

 

Mukua said that unless farmers are allowed to sell directly to buyers they
will still be exploited and coffee production will continue to deteriorate.

 

 

"At the moment our MPs should not be crying over the poor prices in the
auction what they should be doing now is to come up with a law allowing
farmers freedom of marketing their products through direct sales this is the
way to go," said Mukua.

 

The official said that so far many buyers who are in need of specialty
coffees are being curtailed by colonial law prohibiting farmers from selling
their crop directly unless through the auction.

 

According to acts that govern sale of coffee, no one is allowed to sell
clean coffee unless through the Nairobi coffee exchange which is currently
according to farmers realizing poor prices of between USD300 to 350 for 50
kg of clean coffee.

 

The assertion by farmers comes a time when there is fear of poor pay this
year unlike other years when farmers were paid Sh100 and above for a kilo of
cherry delivered.

 

President William Ruto appointed his deputy Rigathi Gachagua to oversee
reforms in both coffee and tea and ensure farmers are paid well.

 

  Capital FM.

 

 

 

 

Central African States Wants to Dump Colonial Currency

Cape Town — The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC)
has taken a decision to stop using the Franc CFA (FCFA). They were expected
to announce some currency changes, but instead opted for a complete change
of the name.

 

CEMAC also want a complete closure of the operating account (compte
d'opération) at the Banque de France in order to allow the body to hold all
of its foreign exchange reserves as opposed to the 50% it currently holds,
and the withdrawal of French representatives from the decision-making and
control bodies of the BEAC (regional Central Bank).

 

CEMAC is currently considering joining West Africa, which is in the process
of producing a regional currency called the ECO. Experts however consider
the process delicate but judging by the recent Euro/Dollar crisis, which
drastically affected the FCFA, they consider the move necessary.

 

Heads of State have proposed that the results of the various reflections by
the BEAC should be shared with ministers of economy and finance of the
member states according to Camer.be.

 

The Central African Republic had earlier adopted Bitcoin as  Currency as
legal tender.

 

 

 

 

Kenya: Nairobi Court Bars Meta From Sacking Facebook Moderators

A court in Nairobi has barred Meta, Facebook's parent company, from laying
off its content moderators pending determination of a lawsuit that is
challenging their planned dismissal, BBC reports.

 

The suit alleges that the social media giant instructed their new content
moderation partner, Majorel, to blacklist them. These former employees are
also suing their former employer, Sama, claiming they were given the boot in
an unlawful manner, according to TechCabal Daily.

 

The labour court has now ordered Meta not to hire other moderators to
replace the fired ones.

 

africanews. reports that Meta, which also encompasses Instagram and
WhatsApp, has undertaken to reduce its workforce by nearly 25% in less than
six months, a symbol of the difficulties faced by the tech sector.

 

The content moderators have reportedly taken Meta and two outsourcing
companies - Majorel and Sama - to court, a tech rights group has said. A
total of 43 workers for outsourcing company Sama, who moderated Facebook
content, are bringing the lawsuit for what they allege was "unlawful
dismissal" under Kenyan law.

 

 

They are also bringing on a so-called constitutional petition in Kenya's
Employment and Labour Relations Court against Facebook, Sama, and Majorel on
the grounds that retaliating against employees who are seeking better work
conditions is unlawful discrimination, reports TIME.

 

In January 2023, 260 content moderators working at Facebook's moderation hub
in Nairobi were reportedly told they would be made redundant by Sama, the
outsourcing firm which has run the office since 2019.

 

The moderators have told the court that they have been given "varying and
confusing" explanations for the redundancy.

 

Meta and Sama have been given a week to respond to the application. The case
will be heard on 28 March.

 

In December 2022, a Kenyan NGO and two Ethiopian citizens filed a complaint
in Kenya against Meta, accusing the platform of not fighting enough online
hate and demanding the creation of a fund of 1.6 billion dollars to
compensate victims. After posting insolent growth since its creation,
Facebook, which became Meta at the end of 2021, has been suffering from a
slowdown in online advertising since last year.

 

 

 

South Africa: Fuel Price Relief Likely in April as Rand Firms 

The rand firmed further against the U.S. dollar on Thursday night (March 23,
2023), edging close to the psychological R18 mark and fuelling expectations
of fuel price cuts in April, Moneyweb reports. The currency traded over 1%
stronger, at around R18.07 to the greenback, buoyed by the U.S. Federal
Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday. If the rand
stays at current levels or strengthens further by the end of March, fuel
prices are expected to ease across the board in April, according to the
Automobile Association of South Africa (AA).

 

Eastern Cape Woman Who Was Reported Kidnapped is Found Unharmed

 

An Eastern Cape biokineticist who was allegedly kidnapped on Thursday last
week (March 16, 2023) was found unharmed in the early hours of Friday March
24, police have confirmed. TimesLive reports that Riana Pretorius, 26, was
reportedly abducted outside a medical practice in Gqeberha. A frantic search
ensued, with reports emerging that a ransom demand was made to her family.
Hawks Eastern Cape spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela confirmed to
TimesLIVE that Pretorius was found unharmed. The National Prosecuting
Authority has confirmed that a suspect arrested in connection with the
incident is expected to appear in Gqeberha magistrate's court for a bail
application on Friday.

 

 

Some Western Cape Towns to Be Taken Off Grid, Provincial Govt Says

 

The City of Cape Town says it is in the process of implementing strategic
intervention measures to mitigate the impact of load shedding. Mayor Geordin
Hill-Lewis announced this during a weekly media briefing, SABC reports.
TimesLive reports that Western Cape premier Alan Winde's special adviser on
energy, Alwie Lester, said that about 100 schools across the province are
currently being identified to be fitted with solar power systems that are
linked to battery and inverter systems "to ensure learners are not
disadvantaged during school hours". The provincial government is also in the
process of identifying four or five towns in the Western Cape to be taken
off the grid, "to make them as independent as possible from Eskom in the
coming months".

 

South African news

 

 

South Africa: Artisanal Miners Face Onerous Obstacles to Become Legal

Johannesburg — Greed, poverty, irresponsible legal mining giants which
exploited and then abandoned South Africa's mines, together with the
government's failure to enforce regulations on the mining giants to
rehabilitate mines before closing them, have created fertile ground for a
thriving illegal artisanal mining sector called Zama Zama, many of them run
by criminal syndicates.

 

South Africa's economy has largely been mining based, and under apartheid,
white-owned mining companies exploiting lucrative gold, diamond, coal, and
chrome grew rich, using cheap local and migrant labour from neighbouring
countries.

 

 

Post-apartheid, the ANC government has tried to bring black ownership and
small-scale miners into the mining sector and, more recently, attempted to
decriminalise artisanal miners who use rudimentary tools and are largely
involved in surface mining.

 

According to submissions made by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), the
Benchmarks Foundation, and the International Labour Research and Information
Group (ILRIG), policy weaknesses, lack of enforcement, bureaucratic
bungling, and red tape have ensured that the status quo from apartheid
remains largely intact.

 

The LRC contends that retrenchments due to mechanisation or closure of
unprofitable mines have increased illegal mining. The lack of enforcement of
laws relating to the rehabilitation of closed mines has created space for
criminal Zama Zama and artisanal miners who are perforce illegal to operate
in disused or abandoned mines.

 

With the publishing of the Policy on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in
March 2022, artisanal miners all over the country are forming cooperatives
in a bid to be legalised. But it is an uphill battle to get permits.

 

 

The LRC also warns of further conflict and xenophobia because the law
precludes foreign Zama Zama from getting permits. However, Minister of
Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe says: "It must be clear that
once an individual illegally enters our country and engages in illegal
economic activity, such an individual cannot be sanitised through being
issued with a small-scale mining license."

 

Robert Krause, an environmental researcher, says that the roots of the
problem lie in "the mining houses shirking their environmental
rehabilitation responsibilities as well as failure to invest in a
post-mining economy for workers and the surrounding community."

 

There are nearly 6000 ownerless and derelict mines, many of them "abandoned
by mining capital before the present regulatory dispensation under the
National Environmental Management Act and the Financial Provisioning
regulations."

 

 

Krause says there is "a persisting pattern of large mining houses selling
off their mines towards closure to companies they know full well will not be
in a position to carry out their rehabilitation duties."

 

Legal loopholes and lax regulation by the regulator enable this.

 

"The companies that end up with liabilities frequently go insolvent, and the
financial provision for closure is often treated as just another claim."

 

He says, "Mine abandonment fuels illegal or artisanal operations, as
low-grade ore is left behind, convenient entrances remain open, and people
in need of work are thrown out of the economy."

 

When the profitable reserves are depleted, there's an employment crisis.
Then, the option for survival, mainly where closure is not done properly, is
to become a Zama Zama.

 

Krause says the artisanal miners need material support and capacitation from
mining companies and the state, "instead they are still often treated like
criminals while violent criminal syndicates flourish."

 

According to an Oxpeckers environment journalism probe a few years ago, "a
fortune has been set aside for mine rehabilitation in South Africa. But
large mines are not being properly closed, and the money cannot be touched."

 

Oxpeckers say that although the money cannot be used for rehabilitation
while a mine is still operational, the DMRE can use it if it is abandoned.

 

"The department is yet to provide an instance in which this money has been
used, however. Instead, most mines are not deemed legally closed, and the
money cannot be touched."

 

But Mantashe says: "It is estimated that it would cost over R49 billion to
rehabilitate these mines. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy
(DMRE) receives R140 million per annum for the rehabilitation of mines. With
this allocation, we can only rehabilitate at least three mines and seal off
40 shafts per year."

 

The minister revealed in September 2022 that 135 shafts in the Eastern,
Central, and Western Basins in Gauteng (province) were sealed over three
years. The DMRE intended to seal off another 20 in the current financial
year, prioritising the Krugersdorp area where Zama Zama gang raped a film
crew in July last year.

 

Mantashe says that the rehabilitation of mines is a long terms project: "We
must appreciate that it would take a long time to completely rehabilitate
all these mines at this rate due to budget constraints and security threats
to officials executing this programme."

 

Advocates for the legalisation of artisanal miners say the government needs
to provide resources to fund environmental assessments and facilitate a
local buyers' market via a national buying entity to sell their mined
products.

 

"People in South Africa need to finally see the benefits of the mineral
resources of South Africa, as in the past colonial and Apartheid practices
coupled with large-scale mining have deprived the majority of this benefit,"
the LRC group says.

 

Clearly, this is a pipe dream, as the struggle by artisanal miners to get
permits to become legal has underlined.

 

The irony is that their legalisation will not only allow them to earn a
living but also pay taxes and end their constant harassment by criminal
elements and the police alike.

 

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

South Africa: Cannabis Industry Plans for South Africa Have Stalled - How to
Get Them Moving Again

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently reiterated plans to
accelerate the commercialisation of hemp as well as cannabis plants. His
speech setting out government's priorities for 2023 was a reminder of a
pledge in 2022 - also in his state of the nation address - that the
government would mobilise investment in the hemp and cannabis sectors.

 

In his speech, the president indicated that government is in the process of
addressing the conditions for the growth of the cannabis sector,
particularly for rural farmers. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform
and Rural Development and the Department of Health are working closely to
address the existing conditions for growing hemp and cannabis to enable
outdoor cultivation and harvesting by rural farmers.

 

Currently farmers who have licences, grow their hemp and cannabis indoors
under controlled conditions. The commercialisation will allow them to farm
outdoors on a larger scale.

 

 

This is very exciting. The industry has the potential to create jobs,
alleviate poverty and help reduce the extreme inequality in South Africa.
One estimate is that the sector has the potential to create more than
130,000 new jobs.

 

The opportunity to commercialise the hemp and cannabis industry is that it
is a new, fast-growing, multi-billion dollar sector with local and
international markets. The potential legal pharmaceutical market for hemp
and cannabis in South Africa alone has been estimated at over R100 billion a
year.

 

But there are challenges.

 

First, that the government fails to implement changes needed to ensure the
sector grows in a way that benefits township and rural entrepreneurs
farmers. Adding a paragraph dedicated to the cannabis and hemp sector to the
annual state of the nation address each year is one thing. But seeing action
being taken and plans implemented is another.

 

 

The second is that, from mid-2022, small scale farmers farming cannabis
promised to be issued with licences to farm legally. However, some farmers
in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape are still waiting.

 

But there is a way forward. Based on my experience as a member of the
Cannabis Organisation University of Pretoria and a member of one of the
working groups set up to give inputs for a government masterplan first drawn
up in 2021, I make four recommendations to fast-track the process.

 

These include reviewing and revising the existing master plan, getting
defunct working groups up and running again, ensuring the plan is in place
before investments begin and setting up a monitoring and evaluation
capability.

 

A stalled process

 

The president mentioned that, in accelerating commercialisation of the
sector, urgent work is being finalised by government to create an enabling
regulatory framework for hemp and cannabis plants. This includes their use
for complementary medicines, food, cosmetics as well as some industrial
products.

 

 

The president said that the government was urgently finalising the work to
create this enabling environment.

 

But some crucial questions need answering: what happened to the cannabis
master plan working groups and workstreams set up in 2021/2022?. These
working groups and workstreams consisted of representatives from government,
the private sector, academic institutions and the cannabis research
community. The groups got off to a good start and were in a process or
reviewing and revising a plan to commercialise hemp and cannabis. One of the
key objectives was to ensure that township entrepreneurs and rural farmers
would benefit from any changes.

 

But working groups collapsed and disappeared without trace.

 

The president's comments therefore invite the question: what happened to the
master plan working groups, and the workstreams? When the president speaks
about acceleration to commercialise the cannabis sector, which includes the
participation of rural farmers, how far along is the planning?

 

The way forward

 

Firstly, the presidency must reinstate the cannabis master plan working
groups and workstreams. They must be allowed to finalise the review and
revision of the current master plan.

 

The revised master plan should enable the inclusion of township
entrepreneurs and rural farmers. They are currently excluded from the
mainstream commercialisation of hemp and cannabis due to a cumbersome
licensing process.

 

Secondly, investments in the hemp and cannabis sector should only be
implemented once the master plan has been reviewed and revised. This will
provide guidance on how the proposed funds can be properly channelled.

 

The wheel should not be reinvented. Neither should time and effort be
wasted.

 

Thirdly, a monitoring and evaluation committee needs to be set up to look
after the hemp and cannabis project implementation. It should be set up in
the same way as the working groups were formed with representatives from all
interested players. This will ensure that all players in the sector are
included. And that funds are appropriately spent.

 

Motshedisi Mathibe, Senior Lecturer Gordon Institute of Business Science,
University of Pretoria

 

 

 

Malawi Government Commits to Promoting Small and Medium Enterprises

Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) William Matambo has
expressed government commitment to supporting and promoting micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSMEs) to thrive.

 

Matambo further assured the business community of the government's
commitment to creating a conducive environment for business growth and
increasing access to finance, capacity building and financial
infrastructural development.

 

The Deputy Government made the remarks in Mponela, Dowa, on Tuesday when he
opened a day-long media orientation on Financial Inclusion and
Entrepreneurship Scaling (FinES) Project.

 

 

The Malawi Government is implementing FinES Project with financial support
from the World Bank to improve financial inclusion through increasing access
to financial services, promote entrepreneurships and capabilities of MSMEs
in Malawi.

 

Matambo observed that MSMEs in Malawi face many challenges to thrive in
their various entrepreneurial activities, citing lack of capital as the
major hindrance.

 

He said it is against this background that the government rolled out the
project to address some of the challenges.

 

He challenged MSMEs to take full advantage of the facility to create more
wealth through access to the cheaper loans that the FInES Project is
offering.

 

"Let us utilise these resources wisely. Remember, "No-one but ourselves will
take us out of the bondage of poverty." Let us encourage the entrepreneurs
who obtain these loans to multiply the resources so that when the owner (of
the resources) comes back calling for what he gave, we will have a lot of
change left in our pockets to live a happier and healthier life," he said.

 

In his remarks, FinES Project Manager, Dr. Mark Lungu, disclosed that 33,
000 businesses have been reached with startup packages totaling K32 billion.

 

-Nyasa Times.

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2023

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

Good Friday

 

April 7

 


 

Easter Saturday

 

April 8

 


 

Easter Sunday

 

April 9

 


 

Easter Monday

 

April 10

 


 

Independence Day

 

April 18

 


 

Workers’ Day

 

May 1

 


 

Africa Day

 

May 25

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


CBZH

TSL

Fidelity

 


Willdale

FMHL

ZBFH

 


GetBucks

Zimre

Seed Co

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
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any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and d from third parties.

 


 

 


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