Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 11 May 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 11 May 2023 

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


 

ü  Disney+ streaming business loses 4m subscribers in first quarter

ü  Google reveals AI updates as it vies with Microsoft

ü  Interest rates expected to rise for 12th time in a row

ü  How worried should I be about the US economy?

ü  US inflation below 5% for first time in two years

ü  Renewable energy projects worth billions stuck on hold

ü  Warning UK losing £2,300 per minute to fraud

ü  Sainsbury's, Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl cut bread and butter prices

ü  Asos widens losses as shoppers cut back

ü  Kenya: Energy Ministry to Build Cow Dung Biogas Plants in 20 Counties

ü  Uganda: East African Firms On the List of the Continent's Most Valuable
Brands

ü  South Africa: Language Board Clarifies Spelling Error On New Banknotes

ü  South African Court Rules in Favor of NUMSA and Others in Load Shedding
Case, Asks State to Ensure Power Supply to Critical Facilities

 


 

 


          Disney+ streaming business loses 4m subscribers in first quarter

Disney says its flagship streaming service lost 4m subscribers in the first
three months of the year amid a wider cost-cutting drive.

 

At the same time the Disney+ platform narrowed its losses by $400m
(£316.5m).

 

The home of Mickey Mouse, the Star Wars franchise and Marvel movies is under
pressure to make its streaming business profitable as the traditional film
and television market shrinks.

 

Shares in the company fell by around 5% in after-hours trading in New York.

 

Most of the subscriber losses came from its Hotstar service in Asia, which
lost streaming rights to Indian cricket matches last year.

 

Disney+ also lost around 300,000 customers in the US and Canada after
raising subscription prices.

 

It comes as Disney's streaming business reduced its operating losses to
$659m for the first three months of this year. That was down from $1.1bn in
the previous quarter.

 

Disney chief executive Bob Iger said the improved financial performance
reflects "the strategic changes we've been making throughout the company to
realign Disney for sustained growth and success."

 

He previously said Disney+ had reached a "turning point" and would become
profitable by next year.

 

Earlier this year, the entertainment giant reported its first fall
subscriber numbers and announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs.

 

The latest announcement comes after thousands of Hollywood TV and movie
screenwriters held their first strike in 15 years last week.

 

They are calling for better pay and working conditions as the transition to
streaming has upended the traditional television and film industry.

 

The last writers' strike was in 2007. It lasted 100 days and cost the
industry an estimated $2bn.

 

On Wednesday, Disney's chief financial officer Christine McCarthy declined
to put a figure on how much the latest strike could cost the company.

 

The walkout has already shut down several Disney projects, including those
set to run on Disney+.

 

Disney has poured billions of dollars into its streaming platforms in recent
years, transforming it from a company rooted in traditional television,
movies and theme parks into one of the streaming industry's major players.

 

It now has a total of more than 231 million subscriptions across its three
streaming platforms, which also include the sports-focused ESPN+ and wider
entertainment site Hulu.

 

Disney+ has close to 158m subscribers around the world, although that is
still behind rival Netflix's 232.5 subscribers.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Google reveals AI updates as it vies with Microsoft

Google has announced it is rolling out generative artificial intelligence
(AI) to its core search engine.

 

The move comes after Microsoft incorporated GPT-4 into its Bing search
engine earlier this year.

 

Search Generative Experience - which will be part of Google - will craft
responses to open-ended queries, the company said.

 

However, the system will only be available to a limited number of users and
is still in "experimental" phase.

 

"We are reimagining all of our core products, including search," said Sundar
Pichai, the boss of Google's parent company Alphabet.

 

Additionally, the company announced a new feature on Google's Android system
will proactively warn users about unknown AirTags, tiny devices developed to
track personal items like keys and wallets.

 

The technology giant said the "unknown tracker alerts" would go live this
summer.

 

The announcement came after Apple and Google said last week they were
working together to address the problem.

 

Last year two women sued Apple over AirTag stalking.

 

Women who have been tracked using the devices told the BBC last year that
not enough was being done to prevent misuse.

 

Apple AirTags - 'A perfect tool for stalking'

Google made the announcement at its annual developer conference, where
leaders of the company touted their latest advancements in artificial
intelligence and new hardware offerings, including a $1,799 (£1,425) phone
that opens and closes like a book.

 

The company said it was removing the waitlist for "Bard", its experimental,
conversational, chat service, which will be rolled out in English in 180
countries and territories.

 

It also said the chatbot would soon be able to respond to prompts with
images as well as text.

 

Google has been under pressure to burnish its artificial intelligence
offerings, after the runaway success of rival chatbot ChatGPT, which is
funded by Microsoft.

 

A previous attempt to show off its credentials in the field, in February,
ended in embarrassment, after it emerged that - in an advert intended to
illustrate its capabilities - Bard had answered a question incorrectly.

 

The incident wiped $100bn (£82bn) off parent company Alphabet's share value
- an indication of how keenly investors are watching how the tech giants' AI
ventures play out.

 

Microsoft is deploying ChatGPT technology into its search engine Bing, after
investing heavily in the company that developed it, OpenAI. Chinese tech
giant Baidu also has a chatbot, called Ernie.

 

Chirag Dekate, analyst at Gartner, said Google remained an industry leader
and was well poised to benefit in the interest in AI.

 

"Google has the tools to dominate the AI battles, the perennial question is
- will they?" he said.-BBC

 

 

 

Interest rates expected to rise for 12th time in a row

The Bank of England is widely expected to raise interest rates for a 12th
consecutive time on Thursday as it tries to stop prices rising so quickly.

 

The Bank rate is forecast to go up from 4.25% to 4.5% following a meeting of
the Monetary Policy Committee.

 

The central bank has been increasing interest rates since December 2021 to
try to control inflation, which currently stands above 10%.

 

The decision would push up costs for borrowers but could benefit savers.

 

How high could interest rates go?

The Bank rate is already at its highest level for 14 years, rising
consistently in response to the soaring cost of living. The rate of
inflation - which charts rising prices - has remained stubbornly high, in
part owing to food prices increasing at their fastest rates for 45 years.

 

It stood at 10.1% in the year to March, down slightly from 10.4% in
February, but the same as January.

 

There has been a series of Bank rate increases since December 2021
attempting to control inflation.

 

Line chart showing interest rates in the UK, which have steadily increased
since the end of 2021, reaching 4.25% in March 2023.

Although there is uncertainty over the coming months, there remains a
widespread belief that rate rises may be close to, or at, an end. Some
economists suggest there could be one or two more rises.

 

The Bank will be keen not to dampen the economy, which has shown little sign
of growth.

 

The peak would be lower than initial predictions after the turmoil of last
year's mini-budget.

 

The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee meets eight times a year to decide
interest rate policy.

 

Why does the Bank of England change interest rates?

It has been under pressure to put rates up because it has a target to keep
inflation at 2%, but prices are currently rising at more than five times
that level.

 

How do interest rates affect me?

Mortgages

 

Just under a third of households have a mortgage, according to the
government's English Housing Survey.

 

After a period of ultra-low rates, many homeowners are now facing the
likelihood of much more expensive monthly repayments. The Bank of England
says up to four million households face a higher monthly mortgage bill this
year. An estimated 356,000 mortgage borrowers could face difficulties with
repayments by July next year, according to City watchdog the Financial
Conduct Authority.

 

When interest rates rise, more than 1.4 million people on tracker and
variable rate deals usually see an immediate increase in their monthly
payments.

 

An increase in the Bank rate from 4.25% to 4.5% would mean those on a
typical tracker mortgage would pay about £24 more a month. Those on standard
variable rate mortgages would face a £15 jump.

 

This comes on top of increases following the previous recent rate rises.
Compared with pre-December 2021, average tracker mortgage customers would be
paying about £417 more a month, and variable rate mortgage holders about
£266 more.

 

Forecasts suggest that they could start to come down again as the year goes
on, but there remains a significant degree of uncertainty about that.

 

Three-quarters of mortgage customers hold a fixed-rate mortgage. Their
monthly payments may not change immediately, but house buyers - or anyone
seeking to remortgage, estimated to be 1.8 million people this year - will
have to pay a lot more now than if they had taken out the same mortgage a
year or more ago.

 

There has been considerable upheaval in this market since September's
mini-budget, even though most of the policies that were announced have now
been ditched.

 

An average two-year fixed deal, which was 2.29% in November 2021, is now
5.28% - potentially a difference of hundreds of pounds each month in
repayments for a typical borrower. However, rates are lower than their peak
in the autumn, which would have been the most expensive time to take out a
fixed deal.-BBC

 

 

 

How worried should I be about the US economy?

Banks are failing, big companies are cutting staff, the stock market has
flatlined - and a carton of eggs still costs more than a double what it was
three years ago.

 

No wonder so many Americans believe the US economy is in trouble.

 

So what is actually going on?

 

>From boom-town to slowdown

Just two years ago, the economy was booming.

 

Economic growth hit 5.9% in 2021 - the fastest rate in nearly four decades -
as pandemic reopenings fuelled consumer spending and job growth.

 

Companies also had it good, enjoying unusually strong profits, despite
facing higher costs for supplies.

 

But no one believed that kind of growth could be sustained, and it hasn't.

 

In the first three months of this year, the economy expanded at an annual
rate of just 1.1%, in large part because the Federal Reserve has been
rapidly pumping the brakes to cool inflation.

 

The central bank has raised interest rates by five percentage points since
March 2022 - a huge spike in borrowing costs in a very short period of time.
That's a kind of shock the economy has not experienced since the 1980s.

 

The debate now is just how painful this slowdown will be.

 

The cost of the fight against inflation

The Fed is trying to curb rising prices, which started soaring during the
boom, destabilising the economy and eroding buying power.

 

Higher interest rates are supposed to discourage people and businesses from
borrowing to buy homes, expand and open companies and take on other
activity, thereby cooling the economy and easing the pressures on prices.

 

Bad news - like the fact that the number of homes sold dropped by nearly 20%
last year, and hundreds of mortgage bankers lost their jobs - is basically a
sign that the plan is working.

 

Tech, finance and crypto, where low rates had fuelled growth, have also been
hit hard by the change.

 

But fears are rising that the slowdown could spiral out of control.

 

Those escalated sharply after three mid-size US banks - Silicon Valley Bank,
Signature Bank and First Republic - abruptly collapsed, done in partly due
to the shift in rates.

 

The failures were the biggest in US history, except for the demise of
Washington Mutual during the 2008 financial crisis.

 

The worries even spread to Europe, where troubled Swiss giant Credit Suisse,
a major global player, was also taken over by rival UBS in a forced rescue
deal.

 

Is the US headed for an economic recession?

The Federal Reserve has signalled that it may be ready to stop raising
interest rates and see how the economy is absorbing its actions.

 

At the moment, the US appears to be a better position than many other
countries.

 

Job creation has been surprisingly resilient, despite big layoffs from firms
like Amazon, Disney, Ford and Tyson Foods.

 

At 3.4%, the unemployment rate in April was actually lower than it was a
year ago - totally bucking most expectations.

 

Inflation has also come down. It was 4.9% in April, compared with 5% in
March, and down from more than 9% at its peak in June 2022.

 

In the UK, by comparison, inflation was 10.1% in March, and the economy did
not grow at all in February.

 

Even with a slowdown, the International Monetary Fund expects growth of 1.6%
in America this year - the fastest of the seven major advanced economies:
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.

 

But in the past, higher borrowing costs have sent the economy into reverse -
a painful contraction in activity known as a recession - and millions of
people have lost their jobs. Most people are expecting something like that
to happen this time too, starting in the second half of this year.

 

And if inflation - still well above the central bank's 2% target - persists,
interest rates could go higher than people expect.

 

Investors also see more risks ahead for banks, especially regional lenders,
who do a lot of business with commercial property firms, which have been hit
by lower demand for office space due to the rise of remote work and could
start struggling to repay their debts.

 

A nervous banking system means even less lending - and there are other wild
cards facing the economy, like the possibility that the US will go into
default.

 

So the Fed's deliberately engineered slowdown could get out of hand.-BBC

 

 

 

 

US inflation below 5% for first time in two years

Prices for milk, airline tickets and new cars fell in the US last month,
helping drive inflation to its lowest rate in two years.

 

Inflation, the pace at which prices rise, was 4.9% in the 12 months to
April, official figures show.

 

That was down from 5% in March, and marks the tenth month in a row that
price rises have slowed.

 

The fall comes after the US central bank has sharply raised interest rates
to try to control inflation.

 

Inflation in the US peaked last June at 9.1% - the highest it has been since
1981.

 

But officials have hesitated to declare victory, as a problem that once
seemed contained to particular sectors - such as energy and manufactured
goods - has spread throughout the economy.

 

Housing, petrol and used car prices all jumped from March to April. The cost
of haircuts, veterinary visits and gardening services also climbed.

 

And though no longer soaring, overall prices continue to rise far more
quickly than the 2% rate the Federal Reserve considers healthy.

 

US inflation chart

So-called core inflation - which does not include food and energy prices,
which change frequently - rose by 5.5% in the 12 months to April.

 

"With inflation in the US now below 5% for the first time in two years,
markets will be thinking the light at the end of the tunnel is getting
brighter, and the worst of this inflation is far in the rear-view mirror,"
said Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot.

 

"That said, inflation remains well above the target level, and core
inflation is proving stickier."

 

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 10 times since last March,
bringing them to the highest levels since 2007.

 

The moves are intended to discourage people from borrowing, leading economic
activity to slow and easing the pressures that are pushing up prices.

 

The head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, signalled this month that
officials believe they may have done enough to get inflation under control
and could be ready to pause their programme of rate rises.

 

Economists at Wells Fargo bank said the latest figures could help convince
policymakers to pause, but they warned that "progress remains incremental
rather than rapid."

 

"Slowing food inflation and normalising energy prices have offered consumers
some relief from the most painful parts of the price surge seen over the
past couple of years," they wrote.

 

"Even if inflation trends generally seem to be moving in the right
direction, we believe it will take significantly more realised progress
before policymakers are ready to declare mission accomplished."-bbc

 

 

 

Renewable energy projects worth billions stuck on hold

Billions of pounds' worth of green energy projects are on hold because they
cannot plug into the UK's electricity system, BBC research shows.

 

Some new solar and wind sites are waiting up to 10 to 15 years to be
connected because of a lack of capacity in the system - known as the "grid".

 

Renewable energy companies worry it could threaten UK climate targets.

 

National Grid, which manages the system, acknowledges the problem but says
fundamental reform is needed.

 

The UK currently has a 2035 target for 100% of its electricity to be
produced without carbon emissions.

 

Last year nearly half of the country's electricity was net-zero.

 

But meeting the target will require a big increase in the number of
renewable projects across the country. It is estimated as much as five times
more solar and four times as much wind is needed.

 

The government and private investors have spent £198bn on renewable power
infrastructure since 2010. But now energy companies are warning that
significant delays to connect their green energy projects to the system will
threaten their ability to bring more green power online.

 

A new wind farm or solar site can only start supplying energy to people's
homes once it has been plugged into the grid.

 

Energy companies like Octopus Energy, one of Europe's largest investors in
renewable energy, say they have been told by National Grid that they need to
wait up to 15 years for some connections - far beyond the government's 2035
target.

 

'Longest grid queues in Europe'

There are currently more than £200bn worth of projects sitting in the
connections queue, the BBC has calculated.

 

Around 40% of them face a connection wait of at least a year, according to
National Grid's own figures. That represents delayed investments worth tens
of billions of pounds.

 

"We currently have one of the longest grid queues in Europe," according to
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation.

 

The problem is so many new renewable projects are applying for connections,
the grid cannot keep up.

 

The system was built when just a few fossil fuel power plants were
requesting a connection each year, but now there are 1,100 projects in the
queue.

 

Diagram showing how the UK electricity system works and the different
stakeholders

Torbay Council has been hit by the delays. The diggers are already clearing
the ground for a 6-hectare solar plant it is building in Torquay. It is due
to be finished next year.

 

The council plans to use money raised from selling the energy to help fund
local services, but it has been told the plant will not be connected for
five years.

 

And even that date isn't certain. "Worryingly, there are some indications
that that could slip into the mid 2030s", said Alan Denby from Torbay
Council. "That's a real problem for the council in that we declared that we
wanted to be carbon neutral by 2030."

 

With projects unable to get connections, construction is either being paused
or projects are being completed but are unable to produce any power.

 

National Grid, which is responsible for moving electricity across England
and Wales, says it is tightening up the criteria for projects to apply so
only the really promising ones join the queue.

 

But a huge new investment is also required to restructure the grid so it can
deal with more power sources, says Roisin Quinn, director of customer
connections.

 

"Fundamental reform is needed", she told the BBC. "More infrastructure is
needed. We are working very hard to design and build at a faster pace than
we ever have done before."

 

The Energy Network Association represents the operators, known as DNOs,
which connect people's homes to the main system owned by National Grid. It
says that the government needs to speed up the planning process so
electricity infrastructure can be built more quickly.

 

The government announced in March that it was looking into how to speed up
planning decisions.

 

The energy regulator, Ofgem, which oversees the operators, said that all
stakeholders were playing catch up with the government's targets.

 

Rebecca Barnett, direct of networks at Ofgem said: "The targets have been
increasing in the last two or three years dramatically and there is a long
lead in investment time that is needed to commit, develop, and deliver these
really big assets.

 

"I think that has caused a real problem; we definitely need to catch up. The
incremental approach of the past is not fit for purpose."

 

Ofgem says it has agreed to allow the National Grid to raise an additional
£20bn over the next 40 years from customer bills to pay for the huge
upgrades the grid needs.

 

Customers have seen household prices soar over the last year following the
invasion of Ukraine by Russia and a run-on gas.

 

But Ms Barnett said this new investment will have a minimal impact on
customers bills and will help shoulder the burden of some of the volatile
energy prices.

 

"The future is for green, more secure and in fact cheaper energy. We know
there is some investment cost needed to get us there, but in the long run it
is going to be cheaper for us all," she said.-bbc

 

 

 

Warning UK losing £2,300 per minute to fraud

People in the UK lost £1.2bn to fraud in 2022, the equivalent of £2,300
every minute, according to bank industry group UK Finance.

 

It said around three million scams took place - slightly less than the
previous year - with frauds involving payment cards being the most common.

 

UK Finance said losses were not always reimbursed and urged tech firms to
"share the burden" of covering costs.

 

Ministers say they will get tougher on scams as part of a national strategy.

 

Fraud is now the most common crime in the UK, with one in 15 people falling
victim.

 

According to UK Finance, the amount of money stolen in 2022 was actually 8%
less than in 2021, and fraud cases were down 4% - but there were still
nearly three million cases across the UK in total.

 

It said the most common type of fraud after card fraud was scams involving
purchases.

 

It also found that romance fraud - where a scamming gang pretends to be
romantically interested in the victim to get money - increased in 2022.

However, investment fraud, where fraudsters pretend to offer an opportunity
to invest, fell by a third amid cost-of-living pressures.

UK Finance boss David Postings said drugs gangs, criminal groups abroad and
"state-sponsored bad actors" were responsible for the majority of fraud.

 

He added that while banks were legally obliged to refund so called
unauthorised fraud, they did not have to cover the costs of authorised scams
- where victims are tricked into agreeing to send sending money to
fraudsters.

 

As a result, banks only refunded about 59% of the losses from this type of
fraud on a voluntary basis, amounting to £285.6m of the £485.2m stolen.

 

Mr Postings said many of the most common frauds started online and called on
tech and telecoms companies to play a greater role in reimbursing lost
funds.

 

UK to ban all cold calls selling financial products

Calls for push payment scam refunds for all

However, industry group Tech UK said technology firms "already take a wide
range of active measures to prevent fraud".

 

In terms of future threats, Mr Postings said he was concerned that
artificial intelligence [AI] would let scammers "spoof people even more than
is already the case".

 

He added that AI could be used to automate fraud and generate convincing
scams to trick people.

 

The government recently released a new fraud strategy, which will include
allowing banks to delay payments from being processed for longer, to allow
for suspect payments to be investigated.

 

The strategy will also include banning cold calls on all financial products,
such as those relating to bogus insurance or sham cryptocurrency schemes, to
help stop scams at source.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Sainsbury's, Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl cut bread and butter prices

Tesco, Aldi and Lidl have followed Sainsbury's by cutting the price of
own-brand butter and bread after criticism over high supermarket prices.

 

The supermarkets have all reduced its salted and unsalted butter prices from
£1.99 to £1.89 for 250g packets.

 

Wholesale food prices have been falling globally, but UK food inflation is
at its highest for 45 years.

 

The move comes after criticism supermarkets are not passing on wholesale
price falls quickly enough.

 

Inflation was expected to fall below 10% last month, but soaring food prices
meant it fell by less than expected.

 

Last month the Office for National Statistics - which measures the rate of
prices increases - told the BBC you would expect to see global food price
falls reflected in supermarkets "but we're not there yet".

 

And in March, the union Unite accused some retailers of "fuelling inflation
by excessive profiteering".

 

In April industry body the British Retail Consortium said there is a three
to nine-month lag to see wholesale price falls reflected in shops, and
promised prices would come down over the next few months.

 

Asda and Morrisons have been approached for comment.

 

Sainsbury's said it was cutting the price of its some of its own-brand bread
to 75p from 85p.

 

The supermarket said it was able to lower some of its bread and butter
prices due to wholesale prices beginning to fall.

 

"Whenever we are paying less for the products we buy from our suppliers, we
will pass those savings on to customers," the UK's second-largest
supermarket chain said.

 

Aldi said it was cutting some bread to 75p from 79p, while Tesco cut some
its own-brand bread from 85p to 75p.

 

Lidl said it had dropped the price of some butter to £1.89, and some bread
to 75p, adding that it has a loaf priced at 39p.

 

The war in Ukraine has driven up food prices around the world, but the UK
has also faced its own problems too - from Brexit red tape to labour
shortages.

 

However, as commodity prices have started to fall, supermarkets have started
to cut prices on some products - but not others.

 

Some of the earliest price falls have been in milk, with Aldi, Lidl and Asda
recently following Sainsbury's and Tesco in cutting the price of milk by at
least 5p.

 

Last summer, butter brand Lurpak said it had put prices up so dairy farmers
would get a fair deal.

 

Some shoppers had expressed shock at rapidly rising prices, with a 750g tub
of Lurpak priced at £7.25 in Sainsbury's in July 2022.

 

Farmers have been under pressure as milk prices have dropped, with one dairy
farmer in Shropshire recently saying he is on a "knife-edge".

 

Sainsbury's said its price drop would not have an impact on how much it paid
farmers.-bbc

 

 

 

Asos widens losses as shoppers cut back

Asos, the online fashion retailer, has reported large losses after shoppers
cut back on spending and the cost of living squeezes household budgets.

 

The firm, which owns Topshop, posted a loss of £87.4m in the six months to
the end of February, compared to a profit of £14.8m in the same period last
year.

 

It said trading had been "very challenging" with sales down 10% in the UK
and 7% in the US.

 

But Asos said it was confident it would return a profit in the next six
months.

 

The group, which announced a major restructure in October last year, had
previously said it expected to make losses, in part due to having to cut
prices to clear stock.

 

But the latest losses come on top of £32m hit to the business revealed in
its last full-year results.

 

Asos and some of its rivals have been seen as the poster children for the
shift to online shopping. The company benefited during the pandemic as
locked-down shoppers, mostly younger adults, splashed the cash online.

 

But with the reopening of High Street shops followed closely by the rising
cost of living, spending power of customers has been hit, with households
having to deal with higher energy and food bills.

 

José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, chief executive of Asos, said despite the
losses, he was pleased with the operational changes the company had made in
the past six months in what he described as "some very challenging trading
conditions".

 

In the UK, Asos said while its sales were still above pre-pandemic levels,
trading had been "volatile from month to month" and hit hardest notably in
September, which it blamed on "negative news flow relating to the cost of
living" and in December as a result of postal strikes.

 

Outside of the UK and US, the retailer's sales in Europe remained flat and
its sales around the rest of the world dropped by 12% in the six months to
the end of February.

 

Adam Vettese, an analyst at social investing network eToro, said Asos was
unfortunate that the cost of living was hitting his target demographic of
"fashion conscious twentysomethings".

 

"Not so long ago, Asos was seen as the future of retailing in this country
but it has been a long time since it has lived up to that tag. Ironically,
online-only retailers such as Asos and BooHoo were meant to be the final
nail in the coffin for bricks and mortar retailers, but the High Street is
fighting back post-pandemic," he added.-bbc

 

 

 

Kenya: Energy Ministry to Build Cow Dung Biogas Plants in 20 Counties

Nairobi — The Ministry of Energy is looking to build domestic masonry biogas
plants using cow dung in 20 counties.

 

In a tender document, the Ministry has invited bidders for the construction,
testing, and commissioning of the projects.

 

They will be built in devolved units such as Nyamira, Kisii, Uasin Gishu,
Laikipia, Homabay, Kakamega, Tharaka Nithi, Narok, and Nandi.

 

Others include Migori, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Bomet, and Bungoma,
among others.

 

"The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, State Department for Energy invites
sealed tenders from eligible candidates for Construction, Testing and
Commissioning of 10m3 Domestic masonry biogas plants, using cow dung as the
feedstock," the Ministry announces in a tender document seen by Capital
Business.

 

"The works will be carried out in fourteen (14) lots," it added.

 

The digesters will be plastered inside and out to prevent water and gas
leakages, according to the tender document.

 

"In the slab covering the dip end of the expansion chamber provide for an
inspection hole not more than 150mm diameter," it added.

 

"In the mixing chamber allow for trapping of sediments(stones)," it said.

 

"Exposed part of the gas pipe should be protected from damage from animals
and passers-by."

 

Interested bidders will be required to deposit a tender security of
Sh100,000.

 

"Completed tenders must be delivered to the address below on or before 24th
May, 2023 at 10.00 A.M. Electronic Tenders will not be permitted," it added.

 

"Tenders will be opened immediately after the deadline date and time
specified above or any dead line date and time specified later."

 

-Capital FM.

 

 

 

Uganda: East African Firms On the List of the Continent's Most Valuable
Brands

Kampala, Uganda — Seventeen East African firms are among the list of the
continent's most valuable brands, with the Safaricom retaining the top spot
amidst a decline in its overall ranking.

 

The latest annual survey by South Africa's African Business Magazine on
Africa's Top 250 Companies ranked Safaricom in the 25th position with a
market capitalization of US$5.47bn. Last year, Safaricom ranked 12th with a
market capitalization of US$ 11.89bn.

 

Tanzania Breweries Ltd, Equity Holdings Group and East African Breweries Ltd
have been ranked 77th, 83rd and 101st position with a market capitalization
of US$ 1.37 billion, US$ 1.29bn and US$1bn, respectively.

 

 

MTN Uganda ranked in the 102nd position, an improvement from the 105th
position attained last year, with a market capitalization of US$1bn.

 

Stanbic Bank has been ranked in the 224th position with a market
capitalization of US$ 285mn. This is a drop from the 215th position with a
market capitalization of US$357mn last year.

 

Other companies in the Top 250 companies are; KCB Group (US$861mn), NMB Bank
(US$748mn), Vodacom Tanzania (US$737mn), Tanzania Cigarette Co (US$726mn)
Co-operative Bank of Kenya (US$582mn), Absa Bank Kenya (US$525mn), Standard
Chartered Bank Kenya (US$485mn).

 

Others include; British American Tobacco Kenya (US$ 350mn), Stanbic Bank
Kenya (US$328mn), Tanzania Portland Cement (US$311mn) and I&M Holdings
(US$260mn) are the other companies that have made it to the list of Top 250
companies in Africa.

 

The African Business Top 250 Companies survey focuses on the biggest
companies, with the ranking determined by the market capitalisation (total
value of the listed shares). The market capitalisation is converted into US
dollars on the same date.

 

 

The companies must be listed on the national and regional stock exchanges
across Africa and make huge profits and invest in Africa-wide strategies to
seize future opportunities.

 

Market capitalization declines

 

Overall, the market capitalization for the Top 250 biggest listed companies
declined considerably since the 2022 survey, from $701bn to $561bn, and is
well below the record $948bn achieved in 2015.

 

The 2022 figure represented, however, a strong recovery from the low of
$556bn recorded in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many
companies enjoyed a temporary bounce from the release of pent-up demand.

 

Yet this year's market capitalisation has drifted below the lows of the
pandemic - and much more needs to be done to support the growth of a vibrant
private sector across the continent.

 

 

According to a recent McKinsey study, of the 438 African companies with
revenues in excess of $1bn, 60% were privately owned and 25% were
subsidiaries of foreign-domiciled multinationals.

 

The continent's biggest oil firms, such as Sonatrach from Algeria and
Sonangol from Angola, would be among the very largest companies if they were
listed. The Angolan government has pledged to list Sonangol on the Angola
Stock Exchange, but the timetable for this has repeatedly slipped and the
current target date is in 2027.

 

South African companies still dominate

 

The lion's share of this year's decline is due to big drops in the value of
South African stocks, from $488bn to $375bn over the past year. The position
of South African companies within the pan-African corporate landscape is
particularly interesting.

 

Stock values on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) have tumbled in dollar
terms over the past year through a variety of factors, including the falling
value of the rand; the underlying weakness of the South African economy; and
the impact of low infrastructural investment on power supplies and transport
reliability. This is reflected in our survey, with the number of South
African entries in our Top 250 falling from 133 last year to 96 in our 2023
rankings.

 

However, it is important to note that cyclical fluctuations in demand for
mining commodities have also played a role. Commodity prices soared as the
Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures were lifted, driving up
the value of the mining companies that comprise a significant proportion of
the JSE. For instance, the value of the highest-ranked mining company in our
table, Anglo American Platinum, jumped from $11.3bn in March 2020 to $38.6bn
in 2021 and then $36.4bn the following year, before crashing to $14.2bn this
year, with its value mainly determined by wide fluctuations in global
demand.

 

The total value of the Top 250 was also affected by several delistings,
notably South Africa's Massmart and Danone Centrale in Morocco. The lack of
medium-term growth in the value of Africa's biggest corporations is,
however, also partly a function of general African economic trends, with the
optimism generated by moderately robust growth in the first part of the new
millennium giving way to more patchy growth punctuated by a handful of
stronger growing economies.

 

The lack of progress is also reflected in the lack of strength in depth. The
250th position in the rankings was achieved with $394m in 2018; but that
figure fell this year to the $229m valuation of Cleopatra Hospital in Egypt.

 

Despite continued weak economic growth in South Africa, the country's 96
corporations listed in the continent's Top 250 companies completely dominate
it, taking 67% of its entire value, with combined market capitalisation of
$375bn out of the $556bn total for the Top 250.

 

Nine of the top ten slots were filled by South African companies, with only
telecoms company MTN Nigeria intruding into a perfect ten, while 15 out of
the top 20 are South African. Of the remaining five, three are Nigerian and
two Moroccan, which fairly reflects the balance of power in the overall
table.

 

Top position retained

 

Internet and multimedia company Naspers leads the table with market
capitalisation of $81bn, up from $50bn last year, although still down from a
high point of $104bn in 2021. Naspers also has the highest net income by a
long way, with $12bn, ahead of Anglo-American Platinum with $2.7bn. However,
analysts have suggested that some of the company's operations may have
little room for growth in its domestic market.

 

Naspers moved to the top of the pan-African rankings in 2016 following the
purchase of a 33% stake in Chinese tech and entertainment company Tencent -
but now plans to sell off some of its stake to fund a planned share buyback.

 

Its stake in Tencent was worth about $100bn at the start of the year, but
the company's share price on the JSE lies significantly lower than its net
asset value per share, because of its complicated dual system of voting
rights, which reduce shareholder influence on the company's operations.

 

It is easy to attribute big changes in market value to the circumstances in
specific sectors or countries, yet the next two firms on the list have
enjoyed very different years. FirstRand moves up one place to second,
despite a big fall in value from $30bn to $19bn, with fellow South African
bank Standard Bank rising two positions to third with $16bn, from $21bn last
year, representing a far more modest fall.

 

Beyond South Africa

 

South Africa's continued dominance of the African corporate landscape
obviously means that the rest of the continent appears - and indeed is -
underrepresented in the rankings. North Africa accounts for 14.3% of the
value, followed by West Africa with 11.4% and East Africa 3.3%.

 

The next biggest markets by combined market capitalisation are Nigeria with
9.3%, Morocco with 8.8% and Egypt with 4.7%. There is not a single entrant
from Central Africa, and some individual countries are conspicuous by their
absence, including Algeria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC). State control largely explains the first two, while many of the
biggest economic enterprises in the otherwise underdeveloped DRC are foreign
mining companies.

 

Considering companies in Southern Africa excluding South Africa, Mauritius
is the next most important country in the Top 250, with six companies and
1.3% of market value, an increase of 2 percentage points. It is followed by
Namibia with seven entrants and 1.2%, also up 2 points on last year. The
remaining Southern African companies come from Malawi (7), Botswana (3),
Zimbabwe (3) and Zambia (2). It might be expected that Zambia would enjoy
stronger representation - but its large mining sector is dominated by
foreign companies.

 

-Independent (Kampala).

 

 

 

South Africa: Language Board Clarifies Spelling Error On New Banknotes

The Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) has moved to assure South
Africans that all terms written in Xitsonga on the new banknotes are
accurate and correct.

 

This comes after reports of a spelling error in the translation of the words
'Reserve Bank' into Xitsonga.

 

PanSALB rebutted those reports and said the words were verified and are
correct.

 

"There were consultations between the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and
PanSALB, and the terms were verified and authenticated by the Xitsonga
National Language Body, a statutory and advisory structure established in
terms of the PanSALB Act.

 

 

"Therefore, the Pan South African Language Board hereby confirms the words
written in Xitsonga, 'Bangikulu', as reflected on the upgraded banknotes,
are accurate and correct, and consistent with the revised Spelling &
Orthography Rules published by the Pan South African Language Board in May
2022.

 

"PanSALB notes the confusion that may have been caused by the change and
wishes to encourage members of the public to download the latest revised
spelling and orthography rules available in all official languages on the
PanSALB website," the language body said.

 

It explained that on the old notes, there had been an error in the
translation.

 

"The Xitsonga NLB has pointed out that in prior notes, the term 'Bangikulu'
was spelt erroneously as 'Banginkulu', with a /n/ that was not supposed to
be there. The following is the explanation for why the Xitsonga NLB advised
the removal of the /n/ in the current banknotes.

 

"Bangikulu is a compound noun, which is formed by two words, the noun
'bangi' and the adjective stem '-kulu' to form bangikulu. The /n/ cannot be
accounted for, as to where it comes from. As much as we cannot say bangi
leyinkulu/yinkulu, we also cannot say banginkulu.

 

"The /n/ that goes with the adjective stem '-kulu' can only be accounted for
in nouns that pertain to humans. Matsalanankulu, mhaninkulu, and papankulu
are a few examples. This is because the /n/ on these words is an allomorph
of /mu/, which can stand as a prefix of class 1 words," PanSALB said.

 

-SAnews.gov.za.

 

 

 

South African Court Rules in Favor of NUMSA and Others in Load Shedding
Case, Asks State to Ensure Power Supply to Critical Facilities

In a crucial ruling on May 5, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria
decided in favor of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa
(NUMSA) and 18 other applicants seeking relief from severe power outages
that have affected much of the country.

 

The Court ordered the Minister of Public Enterprises to take “all reasonable
steps” within 60 days to ensure that there is sufficient supply or
generation of electricity to prevent any interruption due to load shedding
to all public health establishments, all public schools, and the South
African Police Service.

 

South Africa has been in the throes of an electricity crisis as Eskom, the
state-owned energy utility company, has struggled to meet the country’s
energy demands for over 15 years, resorting to load shedding in the process.

 

Record power outages over the past year have inflicted major economic losses
and disrupted access to crucial public services including hospitals.
Conditions are set to worsen with Eskom preparing protocols for Stage 9 load
shedding, which could see outages lasting for over 14 hours a day.

 

In March, the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and NUMSA joined political
parties, trade unions, and civil society groups in calling upon the court to
declare load shedding (or rotational power cuts) unconstitutional.

 

As such, the application not only named Eskom, but also President Cyril
Ramaphosa, the Ministers of Mineral Resources and Energy and Public
Enterprises, and the South African government as a whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:       <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com  

Website:         <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> www.bullszimbabwe.com 

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Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2023

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

Africa Day

 

May 25

 


 

Heroes’ Day

 

Aug 14

 


 

Defence Forces Day

 

Aug 15

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


CBZH

GetBucks

EcoCash

 


TSL

Econet

Turnall

 


First Capital Bank

ZBFH

Fidelity

 


Zimplow

FMHL

 

 


 

 

 

 


 <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 s 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 d 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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