Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 19 May 2023

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 19 May 2023 

 


 

 


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ü  China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter

ü  G7: New sanctions will make sure Russia pays a price, Sunak says

ü  Could a US debt default unleash global chaos?

ü  Disney scraps $867m Florida plan amid Ron DeSantis feud

ü  BT to cut 55,000 jobs with up to a fifth replaced by AI

ü  Rishi Sunak talking to EU over threat to UK electric car

ü  Epstein: Deutsche Bank to pay $75m over sex-trafficking lawsuit

ü  Londonderry: More than 100 jobs to be cut at Seagate factory

ü  South Africa: Cold Winter Ahead as Stage 8 Blackouts Loom 

ü  Kenya: Tough Times for Consumers As Sugar Prices Breaches Sh400

ü  Kenya to Unveil 1 Million Locally Made Smartphones in July

ü  Malawi: Chakwera Calls for Speedy Certification Processes to Promote SMEs

 


 

 


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on China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter

China says it has become the world's biggest exporter of cars after overtaking Japan in the first three months of the year.

 

Officials figures released in the last week China exported 1.07m vehicles in the period, up 58% compared to the first quarter of 2022.

 

At the same time Japan's vehicle exports stood at 954,185, after edging up 6% from a year earlier.

 

China's exports were boosted by demand for electric cars and sales to Russia.

 

Last year, China overtook Germany to become the world's second largest car exporter.

 

According to China's General Administration of Customs, China exported 3.2m vehicles in 2022, compared to Germany's 2.6m vehicle exports.

 

The shift away from fossil fuels has helped fuel the rise of China's motor industry.

 

First quarter exports of new energy vehicles (NEVs), which includes electric cars, rose by more than 90%, compared to a year earlier.

 

Tesla's China arm, SAIC - the owner of the MG brand - and BYD, which is backed by veteran US investor Warren Buffett, are among China's top exporters of NEVs.

 

Elon Musk's electric carmaker has a huge manufacturing plant in Shanghai which exports to regions including Japan and Europe.

 

Tesla's 'Gigafactory' is currently capable of producing 1.25m vehicles a year, and the company is planning to further increase capacity.

 

Last month, it started making Model Y sport utility vehicles for export to Canada.

 

China has also seen exports to Russia surge since the start of the Ukraine war, as Western countries imposed trade sanctions on Moscow.

 

Last, year, Chinese carmakers - including Geely, Chery and Great Wall - saw their market share in Russia jump after rivals including Volkswagen and Toyota quit the country following the invasion of Ukraine.-bbc

 

 

 

G7: New sanctions will make sure Russia pays a price, Sunak says

Rishi Sunak has said he wants to ensure "Russia pays a price" for the war in Ukraine, after announcing new sanctions targeting Russian exports.

 

Speaking to the BBC's Chris Mason at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the prime minister said he was leading the way with new sanctions on Russia.

 

He said he hoped other countries would follow suit.

 

Russian diamond imports to the UK are among the items that will be banned by the government.

 

The Russian diamond industry was worth $4bn (£3.2bn) in exports in 2021.

 

Russian-origin copper, aluminium and nickel imports will also be blocked, under legislation to be introduced later this year.

 

"We believe in democracy, freedom, the rule of law - and it's right that we stand up for those things," Mr Sunak told the BBC.

 

"I'm hopeful and confident that our partner countries will follow as they have done when we've done this previously.

 

"That will make the sanctions more effective, ensure that Russia pays a price for its illegal activity."

 

The UK government said it was also planning to target 86 more people and companies connected to President Vladimir Putin, including people who were "actively undermining the impact of existing sanctions".

 

Since Russia's attack on Ukraine, the UK has targeted more than 1,500 individuals and entities and frozen more than £18bn assets under the sanctions regime.

 

Last year the UK, US, Canada and Japan banned imports of Russian gold in an effort to hit the country's ability to fund the war in Ukraine.

 

Downing Street said more than 60% of President Putin's war chest has been "immobilised" - worth about £275bn.

 

Both the US and the EU have announced similar sanctions on Russia - with US President Joe Biden setting out plans to ban Russian diamonds, seafood and vodka last year.

 

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, says the EU also wants to restrict trade in Russian diamonds to try to further isolate Moscow.

 

Mr Sunak is in Hiroshima for the G7 summit, which is comprised of some of the world's richest nations.

 

The prime minister will visit the site of the first nuclear bomb detonation at the Hiroshima Peace Park alongside other G7 leaders before the meeting where the Ukraine war and economic security are likely to be high on the agenda.

 

Russia has significantly increased the frequency of its missile attacks on Ukraine recently, while Ukraine appears to be shooting down more of Russia's missiles.

 

At the meeting, Mr Sunak is expected to warn other world leaders "against complacency in defending our values and standing up to autocratic regimes".

 

On Sunday, he will meet the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, who is attending the G7 summit as a guest.

 

Mr Modi has remained neutral on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling for peaceful dialogue to end the conflict.

 

Mr Sunak told reporters travelling with him in Japan that he had seen "positive" steps from India in its stance on the war.

 

The prime minister said the sanctions demonstrated the G7 was unified in the face of the threat from Russia.

 

He said: "We are meeting today in Hiroshima, a city that exemplifies both the horrors of war and the dividends of peace.

 

"We must redouble our efforts to defend the values of freedom, democracy and tolerance, both in Ukraine and here in the Indo-Pacific."-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

Could a US debt default unleash global chaos?

The US government is currently engaged in what could be one of the most costly games of chicken in history.

 

If Democrats and Republicans do not agree to allow the US to borrow more - or, in their language, raise the debt ceiling - the world's biggest economy will default on its $31.4tr (£25tr) debt.

 

They have to reach an agreement by the ominous sounding "X-date" of 1 June.

 

If they do not, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned the impact would be "absolutely devastating".

 

So what would that mean for the economy - and you?

 

The economy

First things first: all the experts the BBC spoke to do not think the US will default on its debt.

 

However, if it did, "it would make the global financial crisis look like a tea party", says Simon French, chief economist at investment bank Panmure Gordon, referring to the near collapse of the world's banking industry in 2008.

 

If the US does not lift its debt ceiling, it will not be able to borrow more money - and it will quickly run out of money to pay for public benefits and other obligations.

 

Media caption,

Watch: The debt ceiling explained - in under 90 seconds

 

"It would stop doling out welfare payments and support to people, which would hit their ability to spend and pay their bills," says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. "So it would therefore hit the economy."

 

The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that if the government cannot reach a debt ceiling agreement for a prolonged period, the economy could shrink by as much as 6.1%.

 

Economist Mohamed El-Erian, president of Queens' College at Cambridge University, says a default would "probably tip the US into recession".

 

That would have big knock-on effects for the rest of the world, including the UK, which counts the US as a key trading partner.

 

"The US is one of the biggest trading partners globally. It would be buying less products from the rest of the world," he says.

 

Mr El-Erian does not think a recession in the US would lead to an economic slowdown in Britain, but Mr French is "100%" certain it would.

 

Mortgages rates may rise

As well as hurting trade, Mr French says a US default would lead mortgages in the UK to become more expensive and cause UK unemployment to rise.

 

"It would be pretty cataclysmic," he says.

 

Why would problems in the US make mortgages more expensive in the UK?

 

When a government wants to borrow money, it issues a bond or an IOU. In the US, it is called a Treasury bond and in the UK, it is called a gilt. An investor charges the government interest if it buys Treasuries or gilts.

 

If the US government does not repay its debt or even pay the interest, "investors will look at this and say 'well if the US can default, what's stopping the UK defaulting?'" Mr French says.

 

Investors could then demand a higher interest rate to buy UK government debt.

 

"Interest rates on debt - be it your mortgage debt or public debt - they take their cue from how much risk is perceived and clearly [a US default] would be a massive risk event and therefore all debt would become more expensive overnight," he says.

 

Prices could go up

The US dollar is the reserve currency of the world.

 

What that means is a long list of important commodities such as oil, which is used to make petrol, and wheat, which is ground into flour to make bread, are priced in dollars.

 

Should the US government default, the value of the dollar is expected to drop sharply.

 

That sounds like it could be good news for people outside of the US, but it would mean investors in commodities "don't know how to price stuff", Mr French says.

 

 

"What you'd have with a US default is suddenly investors panicking and they're wondering, 'Is Japan next? Is the UK next? Germany next? What else is going to be defaulted on'," he said.

 

"We suddenly have to reprice everything and in economic terms it is a risk premium. You get a risk premium added to prices and therefore bread becomes more expensive."

 

If food and fuel become more expensive, it would raise the cost of living for millions of people.

 

Your pension could suffer

The US accounts for 60% of the value of global stock markets, according to Mr Mould.

 

"So the chances are people will have exposure to American shares in their pensions whether they know it or not," he said.

 

And stock markets are likely to react badly to a US default.

 

But it is not all bad news.

 

In 2011, Democrats and Republicans remained at an impasse over the debt ceiling until hours before a potential default.

 

US stock markets plunged. But the scare was short-lived and shares recovered from the sharp fall.

 

Mr Mould reckons that will be the case this time around.

 

Though people drawing pensions now could be affected, he says, "if you're drawing it somewhere down the line then you've got time for it to make up that deficit."-bbc

 

 

 

Disney scraps $867m Florida plan amid Ron DeSantis feud

The Walt Disney Company has scrapped a plan to invest nearly $1bn (£806m) to build a new corporate campus in Florida, it announced.

 

The reversal comes amid an escalating feud between the entertainment giant and the state's Republican-led government headed by Ron DeSantis.

 

The plan would have seen about 2,000 employees relocate to a Disney-owned complex at Lake Nona, near Orlando.

 

Mr DeSantis' office has called the announcement "unsurprising".

 

The cancellation was announced in an internal email to employees on Thursday.

 

The email, seen by BBC News, said the company's decision was the result of "considerable changes" that have taken place since it was first announced.

 

In the email, Josh D'Amaro, the head of Disney's theme park division, also referred to "changing business conditions".

 

While the email does not mention politics or Mr DeSantis, it has been interpreted as alluding to mounting tensions between Disney and Florida lawmakers.

 

"Disney announced the possibility of a Lake Nona campus nearly two years ago. Nothing ever came of the project, and the state was unsure whether it would come to fruition," Mr DeSantis' office said in a statement.

 

"Given the company's financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures."

 

The internal Disney email noted that the decision to scrap the project comes after "new leadership" at the company, referring to ex-CEO Bob Chapek, whose sudden departure in November shocked Hollywood.

 

The Lake Nona campus, which had not been built, would have been a new home for employees at the firm's secretive theme park research and development arm, known as Imagineers, who were asked to move from California to Florida.

 

Mr D'Amaro's email said relocation would no longer be required and it would discuss next steps with those he said had already done so.

 

Many of the jobs that were supposed to relocate to Florida were higher paid, white collar and tech-focused positions.

 

The Orlando Business Journal reported the project was valued at about $867m and that the average annual wage for the positions was $120,000.

 

Bob Iger, the former chief executive who made a stunning return to replace his successor, Mr Chapek, has announced sweeping changes to boost the firm's business, which has come under pressure as the traditional movie and television industries decline.

 

Disney launched a streaming offering, Disney+, in 2019, but it remains loss making.

 

Unlike other media companies, Disney has been shielded by the popularity of its theme parks, which have kept the firm profitable.

 

But the value of its share price has halved since peaking in March 2021, as investors predict a tough road ahead.

 

Earlier this year, Mr Iger announced a plan to save $5.5bn, involving a sweeping reorganisation of the company's operations and roughly 7,000 job losses. 

 

Among the cuts, announced separately on Thursday, was the closure of a 100-room Star Wars-themed immersive hotel experience at one of its Florida theme parks.

 

'More than Disney'

The relationship between Disney and Florida - where it employs more than 70,000 staff - began deteriorating last year after Mr DeSantis condemned the company for opposing a state law banning discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools.

 

In April, Florida also moved to take control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District - covering the 25,000-acre area known as Walt Disney World - a self-governing zone, with utilities and a fire department.

 

State lawmakers voted to give Mr DeSantis the power to appoint members to the district's governing board, removing that authority from landowners, of which Disney was by far the biggest. 

 

The move prompted a lawsuit from Disney, accusing state officials of conducting "a relentless campaign to weaponise government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain state officials".

 

Days later, Florida filed a countersuit against Disney.

 

Disney's parks in Florida have long been one of its most-popular attractions, bringing in about 50 million visitors each year.

 

In a call with investors a week ago, Mr Iger questioned Florida's interest in having Disney grow in the state.

 

"Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes, or not?" Mr Iger asked.

 

Aubrey Jewett, a politics professor at the University of Central Florida, said he believed Mr DeSantis and his allies "did not think about the longer-term ramifications of their actions" when they moved to "punish Disney for speaking out".

 

"They weren't going to move the Disney World complex someplace else. But as Disney has just shown, that's not the only investment and jobs they were talking about creating in Florida."

 

Erin Huntley, the chair of the Republican Party in Orange County, where Disney World is located, said "it's a different ballgame" now compared to when Walt Disney first realised the area's potential in the 1960s.

 

"People are still wanting to come here, no matter what battles are going on," she told the BBC. "Central Florida is more than just Disney."

 

Mr DeSantis is expected to announce a 2024 presidential bid next week. His likely rival, Donald Trump, said in a statement that Mr DeSantis was being "absolutely destroyed by Disney" and that his "political stunt" of battling them was "all so unnecessary".

 

Media caption,

Watch: DeSantis v Disney fight explained in 90 seconds

 

Additional reporting by Natalie Sherman in New York.

 

CORRECTION: The headline in the initial versions of this story misstated the value of Disney's investment in billions rather than millions.-bbc

 

 

 

 

Rishi Sunak seeks closer ties with Japan ahead of G7 summit

Rishi Sunak has agreed new defence and economic deals with Japan in a visit to Tokyo, ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

 

Speaking on board the JS Izumo aircraft carrier, the PM announced a partnership featuring closer UK-Japanese co-operation between armed forces, cyber-agencies and semiconductor companies.

 

He also said Japanese firms would be investing almost £18bn in the UK.

 

But Labour said foreign investment had plummeted under the Conservatives.

 

The government is emphasising it sees the region providing economic opportunity for the UK post-Brexit UK, as well as working with Japan and Australia to counter the strategic threat from China.

 

About £10bn of the investment is coming from trading and investment business conglomerate Marubeni and is earmarked for offshore wind and green hydrogen projects in Scotland and Wales.

 

Similarly, Sumitomo Corporation intends to inject £4bn in offshore wind projects off the Suffolk and Norfolk coastline.

 

The government said both the investments would further solidify "the UK's status as a clean energy pioneer" and would help the UK achieve its net zero target by 2030.

 

The announcement came as Mr Sunak hosted a reception in Tokyo highlighting the strength of the UK and Japan's economic relationship ahead of the UK joining the regional CPTPP trade bloc (the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership).

 

The government said Japan was the fifth largest investor in the UK, with trade in goods and services worth £27.7bn last year.

 

Mr Sunak said the new investment was a "massive vote of confidence in the UK's dynamic economy" from some of Japan's top firms.

 

"The sky's the limit for British and Japanese businesses and entrepreneurs."

 

Labour's shadow international trade secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, pointed to figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility which predicts exports are set to fall by 6.6% this year, equivalent to a £51bn hit to the UK.

 

Responding to the announcement about Japanese investment, he said the "devil will be in the detail".

 

Aside from energy, two of Japan's largest real estate companies, Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsui Fudosan, confirmed £3.5bn for affordable housing, office space and a life-science laboratory in London.

 

There is also investment travelling in the opposite direction - from UK businesses into Japan.

 

Octopus Energy is set to invest £1.5bn in the Asia-Pacific energy market by 2027, to "speed up the region's transition to a cleaner, smarter energy system", creating 1,000 jobs in the UK.

 

UK consultancy Mott MacDonald will help develop an offshore wind farm in western Japan which could power more than 175,000 homes with clean energy, the government added.

 

Separately Mr Sunak will commit to a partnership combining British expertise and Japanese materials to boost supply chains for semiconductors.

 

The silicon microchips, used to produce supercomputers and AI technology, are hugely important to modern economies and there has been concern about depending on China for their production.

 

The UK prime minister also pledged to deploy a naval battle fleet in the Indo-Pacific region by 2025.

 

After agreeing the Hiroshima Accord, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Mr Sunak will attend the G7 summit, where the focus is expected to be on economic security and the conflict in Ukraine.

 

During the gathering, Mr Sunak will hold bilateral talks with France's Emmanuel Macron and India's Narendra Modi.

 

Speaking on the plane to Tokyo, Mr Sunak said: "Prime Minister Kishida and I are closely aligned on the importance of protecting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and defending our values, including free and fair trade.

 

"The Hiroshima Accord will see us step up co-operation between our armed forces, grow our economies together and develop our world-leading science and technology expertise."

 

The two men had dinner together at Mr Kishida's favourite restaurant on land once owned by his grandfather. Mr Sunak attended the meal wearing socks featuring Mr Kishida's sports club - the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team.

 

During his visit to Hiroshima, Mr Sunak will plant a tree to remember the victims of the atomic bomb, which killed an estimated 140,000 of the city's 350,000 population in 1945.-bbc

 

 

 

BT to cut 55,000 jobs with up to a fifth replaced by AI

Telecoms giant BT is to shed up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade, mostly in the UK, as it cuts costs.

 

Up to a fifth of those cuts will come in customer services as staff are replaced by technologies including artificial intelligence.

 

The headcount reduction from the current workforce of 130,000 includes staff and contractors.

 

"Whenever you get new technologies you can get big changes," said chief executive Philip Jansen.

 

He said "generative AI" tools such as ChatGPT - which can write essays, scripts, poems, and solve computer coding in a human-like way - "gives us confidence we can go even further".

 

Mr Jansen said AI would make services faster, better and more seamless, adding that the changes would not mean customers will "feel like they are dealing with robots".

 

"We are multi-channel, we are online, we have 450 stores and that's not changing at all," he said.

 

"There are plenty of opportunities for our customers to deal with people at BT, plenty of people to speak to."

 

Mr Jansen added that "new technologies drive new jobs", although BT has said it will have a"much smaller workforce" by the end of the 2020s.

 

BT, which is the UK's largest broadband and mobile provider, is currently continuing to expand its fibre network as it moves away from copper. The company said that once the work was completed it would not need as many staff to build and maintain its networks.

 

In addition, newer, more efficient technology, including artificial intelligence, means fewer people will be needed to serve customers in future, it said.

 

The move comes shortly after Vodafone said it would axe a tenth of its staff over the next three years, equating to 11,000 jobs.

 

UK hit

Mr Jansen said BT would become "a leaner business with a brighter future", with the firm planning to get rid of between 40,000 and 55,000 jobs by 2030.

 

The firm has about 80,000 employees in the UK, and this is where the bulk of the cuts will come. It has about 20,000 staff abroad.

 

It also has 30,000 contractors, mainly abroad. Many of those roles will go.

 

The cuts break down as:

 

More than 15,000 cuts as BT completes building fibre networks in the UK

More than 10,000 as new UK networks require less maintenance

More than 10,000 from using new tech including AI

About 5,000 from restructuring

The Communications and Workers Union (CWU) said the BT announcement was "no surprise".

 

"The introduction of new technologies across the company, along with the completion of the fibre infrastructure build replacing the copper network, was always going to result in less labour costs for the company in the coming years," a CWU spokesperson said.

 

But the union said it wants BT to keep as many of its core employees as possible, with job cuts coming from sub-contractors "in the first instance", and through roles not being replaced as people leave the business.

 

The BT announcement was made as it reported a 12% drop in profits of £1.7bn for the year to April.

 

Its shares fell more than 7% after its results fell short of analysts' expectations.

 

Cost of living: Tackling it together

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Read more here

 

.

James Barford, head of telecoms research at Enders Analysis, said the BT job cuts were mostly about fewer people being needed in building networks, whereas the Vodafone cuts were "more general efficiency savings".

 

He said that in both cases plans were "already broadly in place, with savings previously described in monetary terms rather than headcount reduction".

 

Possibly, the firms are now talking about job cuts "to help convince sceptical investors that they will actually deliver the promised savings", Mr Barford added.-bbc

 

 

 

Rishi Sunak talking to EU over threat to UK electric cars

The UK is lobbying the EU over a Brexit trade deal deadline that carmakers have warned pose a threat to UK industry.

 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK was "engaged in a dialogue" with the EU about a looming rule change that could affect UK electric car hopes.

 

Carmakers in Britain and the EU have been asking for the rule change to be pushed back.

 

Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, has said that its UK factories are at risk.

 

The company has previously committed to making electric vans in the UK, but now says these plans are under threat.

 

It has warned it could face tariffs of 10% on exports to the EU due to rules on where parts are sourced from.

 

Under current rules, 40% of the value of an electric vehicle should originate in the UK or EU to qualify for trade without tariffs.

 

However, this percentage will rise to 45% from the beginning of next year, while for battery packs the threshold will be 60%.

 

>From 2027, the bar is raised even higher, to 55% for the value of an electric vehicle and 70% for battery packs.

 

Stellantis said it was "now unable to meet these rules of origin" due to the recent surge in raw material and energy costs.

 

Europe's car trade body, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, has also asked the EU to extend the deadline, arguing that the supply chain is not ready.

 

Speaking to reporters in Japan where he is attending a G7 summit, Mr Sunak said the approaching deadline was "something that car manufacturers across Europe, not just in the UK, have raised as a concern".

 

"And as a result of that we are engaged in a dialogue with the EU about how we might address those concerns when it comes to auto manufacturing more generally," he added.

 

UK car giant warns Brexit may force factory closure

Mike Hawes, chief executive of UK trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said he hoped "some degree of common sense would prevail".

 

"It doesn't need a full renegotiation of the Brexit deal, it just needs an agreement that you won't [implement] some of the rules that were due to change next year," he told the BBC's Today programme.

 

"It's hard to see how you can make sure that your plant is competitive for the long term if you're facing these additional costs. It undermines the investments either that have been made or potentially will be made."

 

Industry experts have expressed concern that the UK is running out of time to develop its own battery manufacturing industry, given heavy investment being made in the US, China and the EU.

 

Mr Hawes said the UK had not missed the boat yet, "but the boat has got its engines fired up, ready to go".

 

"What we've seen over the last few years is these massive investments being made in terms of gigafactories and indeed product allocation. That window isn't shut, but it's closing."

 

Regarding these concerns, Mr Sunak said: "Nissan have invested a billion pounds in battery manufacturing capability in the North East.

 

"I'll be talking to the Nissan CEO and other Japanese business leaders later about investment into the UK."

 

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said on Thursday that the issues raised by the car industry were not to do with Brexit.

 

"The issue that the automotive industries are talking about is around rules of origin. This is something that the EU are also worried about because the costs of the components have risen," she told the Commons during business and trade questions."This isn't to do with Brexit, this is to do with supply chain issues following the pandemic and the war in Russia and Ukraine."I actually have had meetings with my EU trade counterpart, we are discussing these things and looking at how we can review them."

 

Ahead of Mr Sunak's meeting with business leaders in Japan, the government announced that Japanese firms had committed to invest nearly £18bn in the UK.

 

The government said the investment would create jobs, fund offshore wind, other clean-energy projects and affordable housing, with Mr Sunak calling it a "massive vote of confidence" in the UK economy.

 

However, Labour said foreign investment in the UK had plummeted under the Conservatives.-bbc

 

 

 

Epstein: Deutsche Bank to pay $75m over sex-trafficking lawsuit

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75m (£60m) to settle a lawsuit that claimed the lender had enabled Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring.

 

The case was filed by an unnamed woman who alleged that the banking giant continued to do business with Epstein, despite knowing that his accounts were used to facilitate the abuses.

 

She also claimed that she was abused by Epstein and trafficked to his friends.

 

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the case when approached by the BBC.

 

The woman, who is listed anonymously as "Jane Doe" in court papers, filed the class-action lawsuit in New York last November on behalf of herself and other women who had allegedly been abused by the late American financier.

 

She said Deutsche Bank "chose profit over following the law" as it knew it would "earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein's sex trafficking".

 

The woman also alleged that she was sexually abused by Epstein and trafficked to his friends for around 15 years, while receiving cash payments for her sexual acts.

 

The settlement is expected to be used to pay compensation to dozens of women.

 

Edwards Pottinger, one of the law firms representing the unnamed woman, told the BBC that the outcome was "likely the largest sex-trafficking settlement involving a banking institution in US history."

 

"The settlement will allow dozens of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to finally attempt to restore their faith in our system knowing that all individuals and entities who facilitated Epstein's sex-trafficking operation will finally be held accountable," the firm added.

 

Musk documents subpoenaed in Epstein lawsuit

Jeffrey Epstein banks to face sex-trafficking case

Deutsche Bank previously sought to have the lawsuit dismissed.

 

Dylan Riddle, a spokesman for the bank, declined to comment on the settlement on Thursday, but said it had "made considerable progress in remedying a number of past issues".

 

Mr Riddle added that the bank had invested more than €4bn ($4.3bn; £3.5bn) to improve its controls, training and operational processes, and grown its team dedicated to fighting financial crime.

 

Epstein died in a New York prison cell on 10 August 2019 as he awaited, without the chance of bail, his trial on sex trafficking charges.

 

It came more than a decade after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

Londonderry: More than 100 jobs to be cut at Seagate factory

More than 100 staff at Seagate Technology in Londonderry are to be made redundant, BBC News NI understands.

 

Speculation had been mounting for weeks that there would be job losses at the Springtown factory as part of a global restructuring operation by the company.

 

It is believed 116 people will be affected, out of a total workforce of 1,400.

 

Some managers had already been informed they are to take a pay cut of 10%.

 

A spokesperson for Seagate said it was one of the most difficult decisions its management team had to make.

 

The data storage company is one of the north west's biggest employers.

 

Opened in 1993, the factory produces a tiny specialised part for hard drives called a recording head.

 

Seagate said previously that it was in the middle of a global restructuring progress.

 

It said the restructuring was "in response to changes in macroeconomic and business conditions", and it expected the process to be "substantially completed by the end of the current quarter".

 

In a statement on Thursday, Seagate said: "Our goal is to take these next steps in a thoughtful manner and work collectively with employees.

 

"Seagate has more than 30 years of investment and partnership in NI, establishing the facility as a world leading resource in nano-manufacturing and technology research."

 

"The team continues to play a significant role as we invest in mass capacity data solutions driving our future growth."

 

In a statement, Unite the Union described the job losses at the Springtown site as unnecessary and unjustified.

 

"There's no real justification for redundancies or attacks on workers' pay," Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.

 

"It seems that while workers must pay the price of short-term production problems there are no issues with paying out large dividends to shareholders."-bbc

 

 

 

South Africa: Cold Winter Ahead as Stage 8 Blackouts Loom 

Power utility Eskom predicts severe electricity shortages during winter with a minimum of Stage 5 power cuts and a strong possibility of Stage 8 over July and August, reports News24. Stage 8 means consumers will be without electricity for 16 hours in a 32-hour cycle. Eskom presented its winter plan, forecasting the load shedding outlook based on seasonal patterns of demand and the likely performance of the plant, and the extent of the plant breakdowns. Eskom's acting CEO Calib Cassim said that South Africans could expect a difficult winter.

 

Emotional State Witness Confronts Accused in Meyiwa Murder Trial

 

EWN reports that Zandile Khumalo, the sister of singer Kelly Khumalo, became emotional and broke down in tears while testifying as the latest state witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial. Khumalo was present when the South African football star was shot at Kelly Khumalo's home in Vosloorus in October 2015. Five men are currently on trial for Meyiwa's murder in the Pretoria High Court. When Khumalo was asked to describe the events leading up to the shooting, she started sobbing and criticized the accused directly, talking about the damage they had caused to her family. The judge reprimanded her for addressing the accused directly.

 

 

Plans Unveiled for Smart City in Ntshongweni, West of Durban

 

Fundamentum Property Group CEO Carlos Correia has announced that over R3 billion has been committed to developing the first phase of an integrated smart city in Ntshongweni, west of Durban, reports TimesLive. The project, expected to be completed by the end of 2024, involves housing, a shopping centre, and a hospital. The development will last 15 to 20 years and require a total investment of over R30 billion. Deputy President Paul Mashatile expressed the government's commitment to supporting the project and its vision of creating a post-apartheid city with residential, business, and retail facilities.

 

-South African news

 

 

 

Kenya: Tough Times for Consumers As Sugar Prices Breaches Sh400

Narok — Consumers will have to dig dipper into their pocket as prices of sugar hit record high.

 

A one kilo of the commodity now retails at about Sh200, up from Sh150 a few weeks ago.

 

Speaking to KNA, Emmanuel Saruni, a supervisor in Kanini Haraka Enterprises Limited in Narok town said the wholesale price of sugar had jumped from Sh7,000 up to Sh9,500 per 50 Kilograms of sugar in the past two weeks.

 

"Sales on sugar have decreased for the past two weeks, maybe because of the price increase or maybe consumers are looking for alternatives" Saruni said.

 

 

Mohamed Adan, a shopkeeper in Narok town, said one kilogram of sugar is selling at Shs.200 from Ksh.150 compared to the past two weeks, and it might retail at higher prices in the coming days.

 

"My usual customers who buy sugar twice every week, have changed to once in a week," Adan said.

 

According to small businesses, traders that rely on sugar as a key ingredient such as bakeries, confectioneries and hotels are facing declining profit margins as they struggle to absorb the increased costs without passing them to their customers.

 

Sarah Nyongesa, a bakery owner in Narok town said the price increase on sugar has affected her business, saying she has in turn increased the prices of her products to her customers.

 

"In the previous year, one Kilogram of cake was sold at Ksh.1,300, but for now it sells at Shs. 2,000," added Nyongesa.

 

Sharon Naeku, a hotel business Woman in Narok town, confirmed that she is buying one kilogram of sugar at Shs. 200, hence the price increase on sugar has contributed to decrease in her sales.

 

"I changed the prices of foods. For example, a cup of tea sells at Ksh. 50 from Ksh.30. while other hotels sell at Ksh.70 from Ksh.50, which is a slight increase" Naeku said.

 

However, Naeku said during evening time, customers usually flow into her business premise and order tea before they proceed to their houses or homes after work, but for the past two weeks the trend has changed drastically.

 

Josephine Musombi, a Majengo resident in Narok, said the rising prices on sugar has forced her to change the way she consumes tea in a day.

 

"I normally drink tea three times a day. Nowadays, I do take one time and that is in the morning. It is becoming expensive to buy sugar every week or buy a cup of tea in hotels," Musombi added.

 

Sugar consumers are going deeper into their pockets to buy the commodity as prices skyrocketing.

 

-Capital FM.

 

 

 

 

Kenya to Unveil 1 Million Locally Made Smartphones in July

Nairobi — Kenya will unveil its first locally made smartphones in the next two months as the government seeks to increase internet-enabled mobile phone penetration in the country.

 

ICT Cabinet Secretary (CS) Eliud Owalo said that the expensive cost of the devices has been a hindrance to digital inclusion.

 

The gadgets, which are assembled at the Konza Technopolis in Malili, Machakos County, will retail at Sh5,488 ($40), which is affordable compared to other big brands such as Samsung, among others.

 

"We are alive to the question of the affordability of ICT devices as a potential hindrance to the ability of citizens to exploit the full potential that this sector presents," Owalo said.

 

"We have been actively engaging diverse stakeholders in the ICT and manufacturing sectors on the prospects of producing low-cost smartphones and lowering data costs," added the CS.

 

However, the CS disagrees with revealing the company making the smartphones.

 

In 2013, 14 companies showed interest in setting up operations in the Konza City project, such as Chinese corporation Huawei and Safaricom, among others.

 

-Capital FM.

 

 

 

Malawi: Chakwera Calls for Speedy Certification Processes to Promote SMEs

President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has called upon authorities at the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) to ensure speedy certification processes, stressing that this is key in promoting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

 

Chakwera has also called for the modification of the product certification system to suit the needs and conditions of small-scale processors and producer.

 

Chakwera made the call on Wednesday when he officially opened MBS Complex and the 2023 International Trade Fair in Blantyre.

 

The President said with the MBS Office Complex now in full operation, he expects the Bureau to be instrumental in challenges SMEs are facing to grow their businesses.

 

 

"I expect the complex will help fast-track the information dissemination to SMEs and cooperatives to enable them to involve the Bureau in the early stages of their production for increased success in attaining certification.

 

"To put it bluntly, Minister, I want the complaints from the private sector players attending this Trade Fair about the slowness of government in issuing certificates to end, because in this digital age, no certificate should require a business to walk physically into any office and no certificate should take more than a few days to secure," he said.

 

Chakwera further stated that he expects that the opening of the complex will strengthen collaboration between the MBS and SMEDI in support of SMEs and making the fees payable by the SMEs favourable.

 

"Everywhere I go, friends of Malawi who want to help us succeed say that our economy has huge potential, but our problem as a nation is that we take too long to facilitate things for businesses and investors.

 

"The world is moving at lightning speed into the future and yet we have too many people in this country still moving in slow motion. I don't want to hear that this is happening here, and I assure you that I will send people regularly to check.

 

"I don't want businesses that are working hard to be productive, like the ones whose exhibitions I have seen at this year's Trade Fair, to be slowed down in their ability to put goods on the local and international market because of slowness in certification procedures," he said.

 

Chakwera also told MBS that this is the right time when the Bureau needs to crackdown on the use of illegal weighing instruments by vendors on the market to ensure farmers are benefitting from their sweat.

 

-Nyasa Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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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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