Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 27 October 2023

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief:::  27 October 2023 

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


 

ü  Ethiopia: We Were Begged to Establish Nigeria Air - Ethiopian Airlines

ü  Nigeria: Govt Moves to Securitise Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas
Dividends for $7bn Cash

ü  Nigeria: Higher Interest Rates, Naira Devaluation Drive Access Holdings'
Profit to All-Time Peak

ü  Africa Presses for UN Tax Plan Despite EU Resistance

ü  Kenya: Win for Coffee Farmers as DP Gachagua Secures Direct Sales to Java
House

ü  South Africa: World Bank Development Loan to Bring Change to
Coal-Dependent South Africa?

ü  Tanzania: Activists Push for Agroecology Scaling Up

ü  South Africa: Sand Mining Company Appeals Against Refusal of Water
Licence in Philippi

ü  Nigeria: Ban On Motorcycles Still in Force Within Uyo - Akwa Ibom Govt

ü  Rwanda: Kagame Talks Investment, Women Empowerment at Saudi Summit

ü  US economy grows at fastest pace in nearly two years

ü  How does China fix the Evergrande mess?

ü  After a year of Elon Musk, what's next for X?

ü  NatWest admits serious failings over how it treated Nigel Farage

ü  Li Keqiang: Ex-Chinese premier sidelined by Xi dies at 68

 


 

 


 <https://www.cloverleaf.co.zw/> Ethiopia: We Were Begged to Establish
Nigeria Air - Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines has finally broken its silence over its involvement in
the controversial Nigeria Air project launched by the last administration of
President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

The largest airline in Africa through its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr.
Mesfin Tasew disclosed that the airline was almost withdrawing from the deal
but it was prevailed upon by the federal government.

 

This was in spite of the pending court case instituted by the Airline
Operators of Nigeria (AON), which had got an injunction stopping the
project.

 

Former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had floated the airline on
May 27, which did not see the light of the day as it was later discovered
that an aircraft belonging to ET was used to conduct a demonstration flight
against the dictate of the process for the establishment of a new airline.

 

 

But in an interview with some Nigerian journalists in Addis Ababa with the
transcript sent to our correspondent, the Airline's CEO stated that the East
African carrier never had any plan to set up an airline in Nigeria but was
invited by the federal government to partner with it to establish a national
carrier, Nigeria Air.

 

Tasew said, "Ethiopian Airlines didn't have any intention or plan to set up
an airline in Nigeria. In May of 2022, when I took my current responsibility
(as Group CEO), a request came from the Nigerian government asking ET
(Ethiopian Airlines) to participate in a bid and help the Nigerian
government to set up a Nigerian flag carrier. It came in writing.

 

 

"Initially, we didn't want to go into that. We said we have other
initiatives in other countries and we were busy. But the Nigerian government
insisted that Ethiopian Airlines is an African airline, it has to help the
Nigerian government in setting up the national carrier. So, we had to
respect them.

 

"We serve the Nigerian public and government by flying to four cities in
Nigeria; we couldn't say no, we cannot come and help you. So, we had to
submit a proposal, we had to respect the Nigerian government.

 

"And we thought that the Nigerian government had choices, ET being one;
because they had also requested other airlines in the Middle East, Europe to
participate in the bid. I don't know whether they participated or not. We
submitted our proposal and we received a letter from the Ministry of
Aviation, saying that Ethiopian Airlines has been selected to be a partner
to set up the airline."

 

It would be recalled that the federal government had unveiled Ethiopian
Airlines as the equity partner for the airline with 49 per cent stake while
the FG would have five per cent share with the remaining 46 per cent going
to Nigerian investors.

 

 

Tasew added, "Then the Nigerian government wanted the structure of investors
to be Nigerian investing institutions and the Nigerian government wanted
only 5 per cent shares to ensure that they have presence in the airline and
to facilitate the establishment of the airline. We had a lot of discussions,
we agreed but we had some differences in some points.

 

It also explained that the federal government requested for Ethiopian
Airlines aircraft painted on the Nigeria Air logo for the inspection of
Nigerians and the airline agreed.

 

"At one point, the leadership of Nigeria Air, which doesn't include
Ethiopian Airlines, asked us to bring aircraft painted with the Nigerian
logo to facilitate the progress of the Air Operators' Certificate. So, we
agreed with that, we took out one of our aircraft, we painted it with the
Nigerian logo, we flew it, it was for demonstration by the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) for their inspection. So, after two days, we
brought back the aircraft, repainted it with the Ethiopian logo and it is
flying. So, while we were here, waiting for the decision of the court, now
there was a change of government that took place."

 

The Airline CEO said while the Nigeria Air would not kill the domestic
carriers, the local airlines are not dependable.

 

"When we talked to the Nigerian government, why do you want to set up a new
airline? They said they don't have dependable airlines within Nigeria and
they wanted an airline that can provide dependable service that departs and
arrives on time; that doesn't cancel flights on the domestic market and also
on the international market.

 

"The Nigerian government believes that airfares charged by foreign airlines
are so high that the Nigerian public is at a disadvantage. So, the intention
of the Nigerian government was to set up a very, very strong, reliable,
dependable national carrier that services both the domestic market and the
international. And we believe in it. That is why we wanted to move forward
with it."

 

The ET GCEO's comments had been generating divergent reactions from the
industry with some stakeholders accusing the federal government of
undermining the local airlines.

 

Secretary General of Aviation Roundtable, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo said the
Nigeria Air case was an embarrassment to Nigeria.

 

He said, "I think this thing has played out well, the government has not
only embarrassed the nation and our pride, they also brought down our
airlines to describe them as not competent and strong when you were given
the responsibility of revamping the industry with your numerous roadmaps and
to go and discard the airlines like that, that was horrible.

 

"What we cannot take away is that we have the highest number of domestic
airlines in the African continent. They might not have as many aircraft as
their counterparts but we have the most airlines in Africa and that is a
pride for us."

 

He said for other airlines not to bid for the project showed that the
project was not being done properly, adding, "They had to practically go and
beg Ethiopian Airlines, who had robbed it on our face that they were begged
and they were not really interested, that means there was no bidding."

 

- Daily Trust.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Govt Moves to Securitise Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Dividends
for $7bn Cash

As part of efforts to boost foreign currency liquidity in the economy and
strengthen foreign exchange (FX), the federal government has concluded plan
to securitise about $7 billion of the country's dividends from the Nigerian
Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

 

A top official in the present administration who disclosed this to THISDAY
yesterday, said while the government expects to get $7 billion from a
consortium led by Standard Chartered Bank from next week, the federal
government also expect inflows from the $3 billion emergency loan from the
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had secured two months ago, bringing the
total inflows expected in the short-term to $10 billion.

 

 

The arrangement is being organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance
Incorporated, which is the shareholder of the NLNG.

 

The move aligns with the recent disclosure by the Minister of Finance and
Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, that the country was
expecting about $10 billion inflows in the nearest term, which according to
him would help to clear FX backlog and stabilise the naira.

 

Speaking at the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja on Monday, President
Bola Tinubu had also assured Nigerians and investors that there was an
ongoing plan to boost the country's foreign exchange liquidity.

 

Tinubu had acknowledged challenges faced by the business community in the
financial markets and had assured them of additional FX liquidity to restore
market confidence.

 

 

Speaking further, the source told THISDAY: "NLNG has been performing and
used to pay dividends of about $6 billion, but because our oil production
and gas production have fallen, dividends also fell to about $2 billion.

 

"But what this government has decided to do is to securitise these dividends
over a period of time and use it to borrow money in order to curb the
depreciation of the naira against the dollar.

 

"The target is to boost dollar liquidity by flooding the market with dollar
supply and try to push the naira/dollar exchange rate to about N800/$. So,
by next week, they may get $7 billion from Standard Chartered Bank
consortium and get the $3 billion from Afreximbank, under the agreement
reached with NNPCL.

 

"At same time, the government is making serious efforts to ramp up oil
production significantly. The idea is to use the entire $7 billion to settle
some old FX forward obligations and reduce pressure on the naira, improve
liquidity and allow the currency to appreciate."

 

Market analysts believe that with the steps, the nation currency which has
come under intense pressure in the past few weeks might begin to appreciate.
They believe this could help the naira appreciate to around N1,000/$ and
make currency speculators to lose their shirts.

 

This, they also believe could be achieved if oil production was improved and
crude oil theft significantly curbed.

 

Meanwhile, the naira closed at N1,300 to a dollar on the parallel market
yesterday, stronger than the N1,310 to a dollar it closed the previous day,
while on the official I&E FX Window, it closed at N837.49 to a dollar,
weaker than the N801.10 to a dollar it closed the previous day.

 

- This Day.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Higher Interest Rates, Naira Devaluation Drive Access Holdings'
Profit to All-Time Peak

Nigeria's biggest lender also reported a spring in revenue to a record N1.6
trillion from N906 billion a year ago, which too surpassed the full-year
2022 level, in this case by 14.8 per cent.

 

Net profit at Access Holdings went past a quarter of a trillion naira for
the nine months to September in a feat never before recorded by the banking
group.

 

With the earnings at N250.4 billion already dwarfing that for the whole of
last year by N98.2 billion or 64.5 per cent, the development sets
shareholders up for stronger dividends when the curtains draw on the current
year.

 

 

Nigeria's biggest lender also reported a spring in revenue to a record N1.6
trillion from N906 billion a year ago, which too surpassed the full-year
2022 level, in this case by 14.8 per cent.

 

The longest cycle of interest rate hikes by the Central Bank of Nigeria,
aimed at holding back a cost-of-living crisis, is giving banks an open
sesame to charge borrowers higher interest.

 

Interest contributed nearly two-thirds of Access Holdings' gross earnings
within the period. But net interest income, which highlights the difference
between the cash the lender generated from lending and what it paid out to
savers, only grew by two-fifths to N390 billion for the group, whose
deposits rose to N16.2 trillion from N11.3 trillion a year ago.

 

Compared to its interest income, the pace at which the cash the corporation
put by to cover souring loans grew modestly by 16.8 per cent, bucking an
industry-wide trend that was strongly manifest at half year and has also
shown in the latest financials of rival GTCO, which issued its own earnings
report a couple of days back.

 

 

A foreign exchange gain of N314.6 billion, off the back of converting loans
and financial instruments denominated in foreign currencies into naira which
dropped 74 per cent against the dollar in the review period, also set the
tone for the bumper profit. That sum compares to the N184.1 billion earned
for the first nine months of last year.

 

Third-quarter results, which accompanied the financials, showed post-tax
profit at N115 billion, meaning the three months to September alone
accounted for 45.9 per cent of the net profit for the period.

 

Access Holdings bought the majority interest in the Angolan bank Finibanco
S.A. this July after a botched takeover of Kenya's Sidian Bank. Its assets
now total N21.4 trillion in contrast to N15 trillion as of last December.

 

The financial services group's acquisition of StanChart's banking businesses
in Angola, The Gambia, Cameroon and Sierra Leone, and of its consumer,
private & business banking in Tanzania is in the bag after deals were agreed
this year.

 

- Premium Times.

 

 

 

 

Africa Presses for UN Tax Plan Despite EU Resistance

The United Nations is on the cusp of negotiating an international tax
convention to tackle inequality and tax abuse, but transparency advocates
say some wealthy countries are "dragging their feet."

 

Nigeria has taken another big step toward shaking up the international tax
system, calling for a legally-binding U.N. tax convention in a new draft
resolution.

 

The resolution, filed on Oct. 11 on behalf of African member states, is the
latest development in an ongoing tussle between the United Nations and the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development over which
organization should shape the global tax agenda.

 

A U.N. tax convention would "strengthen international tax cooperation and
make it fully inclusive and more effective," the resolution said, echoing
the wording of an earlier report by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres,
which criticized the OECD for ignoring the needs of developing countries.

 

 

For decades, international tax policy has been dominated by the OECD, a
group of 38 mostly high-income countries, including the United States, the
United Kingdom and Japan. But the outsized influence of the organization's
wealthy countries has led many lower-income countries, including some OECD
members, to question whether a more representative body should take the
reins.

 

"Two main features of the OECD are that it's exclusionary — it's a member
organization that prioritizes the economic interests of its member states —
and that it's been shown not to have effective rule-making power," said Alex
Cobham, the chief executive of the Tax Justice Network advocacy group.

 

"The thing that, I think, has changed is that a lot of OECD members have
also had to accept that it's not even effective for them."

 

If the draft resolution is adopted by the U.N. General Assembly at an
upcoming vote in November, it will require the creation of an ad hoc
intergovernmental committee of 10 member states, with equal gender and
regional representation.

 

 

The committee will be tasked with drafting a U.N. tax convention by June
2025, taking into account "the needs, priorities and capacities of all
countries, in particular developing countries and countries in special
situations," according to the resolution.

 

The resolution also calls for the committee to consider the impact of
international tax rules on inequality, gender outcomes and the environment,
and to decide how best to tackle "tax-related illicit financial flows."

 

A separate resolution from the African member states, adopted at the end of
last year, pushed for the U.N. to increase efforts to claw back revenue lost
through tax evasion and avoidance. In August, the Tax Justice Network warned
tax havens could cost countries nearly $5 trillion over the next decade.

 

 

Despite the consensus among member states that the U.N. should expand its
role in developing global tax standards, a rift has already emerged between
African and European countries on how it should happen.

 

In September [PDF], a group of finance ministers from the European Union
warned that a U.N. tax convention would risk duplicating OECD-led efforts to
curb cross-border corporate tax avoidance, most recently through the
landmark 2021 global tax deal.

 

"It could imply re-opening negotiations, potentially on issues for which
promising outcomes already exist," the finance ministers said in a joint
letter. "This would be time consuming for all jurisdictions."

 

The stance contradicted the European Parliament's support for a U.N. tax
convention in its report on "lessons learnt from the Pandora Papers," which
was tabled in response to ICIJ's 2021 tax haven investigation.

 

The high-profile OECD tax agreement, brokered between nearly 140 countries,
included a commitment by governments to set a minimum 15% corporate tax rate
for multinationals, but its implementation has been beset by delays. The
other pillar of the deal — meant to force U.S. tech giants and others to
share profits with the countries where they operate — looks set to fail.

 

"I think what everyone has been quite clear on is that OECD's two-pillar
proposals are not really a solution," Cobham said.

 

"Because the proposals don't reduce profit shifting, the winners will be
much the same, and the process is really just moving around the losses — so
most countries will be no better off."

 

ICIJ investigations such as the Paradise Papers and Lux Leaks have
highlighted the staggering scale of corporate tax dodging by some of the
world's biggest companies but the problem has been hard to quantify. A new
report [PDF] by the EU Tax Observatory estimates that around 35% of foreign
profits made by multinationals, totaling $1 trillion globally, were shifted
to tax havens in 2022.

 

Even so, the EU finance ministers flagged their preference for a globally
inclusive forum without binding legal powers to discuss tax matters, with a
focus on ensuring "concrete benefits to the participating countries, while
facilitating parallel and sustained progress at the OECD."

 

"If the EU countries don't revise their position, they risk becoming
blockers in the global fight against tax havens," Tove Maria Ryding, tax
coordinator at the European Network on Debt and Development, said in a
statement. "We have no time for posturing and governments dragging their
feet."

 

Ryding described the OECD as a "rich countries' club" and said that the
organization was "never a global body, and therefore is not a legitimate
place to make global decisions on tax."

 

An OECD spokesperson declined ICIJ's request for comment. In August, the
director of the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, Manal
Corwin, told ICIJ via email that the organization was proud of its "proven
track record enabling significant changes in the international tax landscape
that have benefited developed and developing countries."

 

Transparency advocates argue that shifting global tax leadership from the
OECD to the U.N. would allow countries to participate on an equal footing
and ensure that decision-making on international tax rules no longer happens
behind closed doors.

 

Cobham, of the Tax Justice Network, said if countries that have championed
clamping down on tax abuse oppose reform they risk alienating the public,
while "telling most of the countries in the world that they're not in favor
of their having a meaningful voice on international tax matters."

 

Whether U.N. member states can reach a compromise on the new resolution "or
if the blockers say no to compromise, remains to be seen," he said.

 

Joanna Robin is ICIJ's digital editor.

 

 

 

 

Kenya: Win for Coffee Farmers as DP Gachagua Secures Direct Sales to Java
House

Brussels — Local coffee farmers will start selling their produce directly to
one of the world's largest coffee firms, The Java Coffee Company, following
an agreement signed yesterday by the firm and Deputy President Rigathi
Gachagua in Rotselaar, Belgium.

 

According to the Joint Commitment deal, the Java Coffee Company, pledged to
purchase Kenyan coffee directly from the local farmers starting with 700
tonnes; a move that will soon help small-scale farmers increase their
incomes.

 

The global company, renowned for its commitment to quality coffee, has also
undertaken to procure a substantial volume of the coffee production,
focusing primarily on supporting Kenyan women farmers and cooperatives.

 

 

"Java Coffee Company, a distinguished entity in the global coffee trade
commits to purchase Kenya. coffee directly from local farmers. This
commitment entails acquisition of at least 10,000 bags of coffee, totalling
700 tonnes, of premium Kenyan coffee. Our primary focus rests on supporting
Kenyan women farmers and cooperatives, recognizing their invaluable
contributions to the global coffee landscape," indicates the deal that was
midwifed by DP Gachagua as part of government's plan to revive and reform
the coffee sub-sector.

 

The landmark deal was formalized at the company's premises in Rotselaar,
Belgium, during Mr Gachagua's official tour to the country.

 

The joint commitment followed a pivotal bilateral meeting between Mr
Gachagua and Ms Kathleen Claes, the Chief Executive Officer of Java, who was
accompanied by Mr Wim Claes, President of the Belgium Coffee Roasters
Association.

 

 

The agreement was solidified ahead of the Coffee Stakeholders Roundtable
between Kenya and Belgium coffee roasters, hosted at the esteemed Java
Coffee Company.

 

This significant step not only fosters international cooperation but also
champions the prosperity of Kenyan coffee farmers, marking a momentous
stride in the global coffee industry.

 

In his remarks, the Deputy President said Kenya has some of the worlds
finest specialty coffees and the government is expanding the market and
eliminating middlemen and brokers for the benefit of the small-scale cherry
farmers.

 

"This is as per the reforms we have been implementing in the coffee
subsector, hence the importance of this visit. As we aim to raise production
from the current 51,000 Metric Tonnes to 260,000 Metric Tonnes in five
years, we are looking forward to bringing our produce closer to the market
and the consumer. In the long term, we want a share in the value-added
product, which will deliver more money to our farmer, besides strengthening
our economy," he stated.

 

Since Belgium is one of the main points of entry and trade hubs for coffee
in Europe, Mr Gachagua said there was also growing demand for certified
coffees, triggered by a consumer trend towards sustainable, traceable and
high-quality products.

 

The development comes at a time the government is trying to increase coffee
production, which once accounted for up to 40 per cent of forex earnings in
the country.

 

"The specialty coffee market in Belgium is fast growing, alongside the
country's tradition for smaller coffee houses and cafés. I appreciate that
Belgium is Europe's third-largest importer of green coffee after Germany and
Italy and the largest re-exporter of green coffee in Europe," added the
Deputy President.

 

He noted that Belgium is also the second largest destination of Kenyan
Coffee and the gateway to most of European markets through the Port of
Antwerp. The port accounts for approximately 50 per cent of Europe's coffee
logistics business.

 

Production of coffee beans in Kenya is expected to increase due to
government subsidies for fertilizers and improved rain conditions.

 

The Java Coffee Company is a public company established by the Claes family
and has been roasting the best coffee for over four generations, since 1935.

 

Mr Wim Claes has been the company CEO from1984 and handed over to the fourth
generation in 2016. He is now serving as the Director President of the Royal
Belgian Coffee Roasters federation. The Company CEO is his daughter,
Kathleen, who took over operations of the business in 2016. - DPPs

 

- Capital FM.

 

 

 

 

South Africa: World Bank Development Loan to Bring Change to Coal-Dependent
South Africa?

Cape Town — The World Bank Board has announced  in a press release that a
U.S.$1 billion Development Policy Loan (DPL) has been offered to support the
government's efforts to promote long-term energy security and a low carbon
transition. The World Bank intends for the loan to tackle two aspect's of
the nation's energy crisis:

 

It will facilitiate the restructuring of the energy sector via the
unbundling of Eskom, the nation's embattled power utility which recently saw
board chairperson Mpho Makwana step down from the position. This is intended
to redirect resources towards investments and maintenance of existing power
plants.

Secondly, it will support a low carbon transition, most notably through
private investment in sustainable energy including by households and small
businesses, and strengthening carbon pricing instruments.

The move comes as the nation faces a protracted energy crisis which has had
a marked negative impact on productivity and safety. Additionally, plans for
a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) are underway with Presidential
Climate Commission Commissioner Joanne Yawitch saying in December 2022 that
initial funding of about U.S.$86 billion (R1.5 trillion) to transition to a
low carbon and climate resilient society for the five-year period 2023-2027.
A JET, according to the Paris Agreement, rests on creating decent work and
quality job opportunities, and implementing climate policy in a way that is
fair, inclusive and leaves no one behind.

 

 

Whether meaningful change can come from the World Bank funding will have to
be framed against other additional difficulties, one of the most important
being the nation's reluctance to transition away from coal use. 85% of South
Africa's electricity is produced in coal power plants, The Conversation
Africa reported. This is much higher than all countries except Mongolia and
Kosovo, both of which have a higher dependency with much smaller populations
of three million and two million respectively. "South Africa's dependence on
fossil fuels gives rise to a range of climate, energy and transition risks,
especially for affected workers, communities, businesses and exporters.
However, embracing new economic opportunities in green technologies can
drive industrial development and innovation, leading to a sustainable and
resilient future with decent work, social inclusion and lower levels of
poverty," Yawitch said in 2022, according to SAnews.

 

 

South Africa's population currently stands at 62 million. Under the nation's
current Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which charts the nation's energy mix
plan for the next few decades, 11.3GW of coal power at seven old plants are
scheduled to be decommissioned by 2030. However, the legislation is
currently under review with a draft IRP expected to be published for comment
before the end of 2023. Furthermore, a new study from the Centre for
Research on Energy and Clean Air has found delaying the decommissioning of
South Africa's coal fleet may help with load shedding, but it will cause
thousands of air pollution-related deaths and comorbidities, Daily Maverick
reported.

 

 

 

 

Tanzania: Activists Push for Agroecology Scaling Up

AS the government is undertaking various programmes to ensure food security
in the country, human rights activists are pushing for scaling up
agroecology to ensure production of healthy food and respond to climate
change.

 

According to them, agriculture ecology should be highly encouraged at the
moment where the world is facing the biggest challenge of climate change and
diseases of which some of them have to do with the food that people eat.

 

Speaking during a plenary session on Poverty and Food Security during the
just ended South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) 20 -Year Celebration,
Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) Communications Officer Ms Monica
John said that it is high time for farmers and the government to harness
agro ecology since it is not only environmentally friendly but also ensures
production of healthy foods.

 

 

"When we are talking about food security, we should also think of healthy
food, this is much more important because there are some diseases which are
currently on the rise and are related to what we eat," she said.

 

She added "ensuring food security is important but we should also make sure
that what we eat can sustain us and good to our health instead of filling
our stomachs with food that may affect our health in future."

 

Ms John said that practicing agro ecology and establishing a secure
indigenous food seed as well as documenting indigenous knowledge on agro
ecology is vital for ensuring production of sufficient and healthy food.

 

 

She said that our forefathers used to eat traditional foods due to the kind
of farming methods they applied in the past which was environmentally
friendly and improve nutrition and health at the same time.

 

"They used traditional seeds and organic fertilisers which improved soil
health...to date people use both organic and industrial fertilisers, as a
result they don't get enough yields," Ms John said.

 

She further said that not all people can become farmers, but since only a
few farmers use agroecological practices, more people can engage in the
activity by creating backyard gardens.

 

Ms Monica said TGNP is implementing a project dubbed Rural Women Cultivating
Change in which the organisation looks into how women can engage in
agroecology and activism at the same time.

 

She said women engagement in activism will help them to engage in leadership
and thus fight Gender Based Violence (GBV) because it relates with
agriculture.

 

"If women are not engaged in leadership, they will fail to address various
challenges they encounter in agriculture, therefor we encourage them to
participate in leadership such as agriculture committee and other issues
related to the sector so that they can influence agroecology," she said.

 

She said women participation in leadership will help in the formulation of
laws and policies which will help to promote agroecology and protect the
group against various challenges such as lack of reliable markets.

 

Ms Nomonde Buthelezi, the Food Justice Activist from Food Agency Cape Town
said that it is time for every individual to start his own food gardens at
home so that they can be assured of getting healthy foods.

 

She said that her government does not recognise organic growers thus agro
ecology has not been given much weight. Ms Buthelezi said that the only
thing people can do is to have gardens in their backyards to scale up
production of organic food.xecution of duties.

 

- Daily News.

 

 

 

South Africa: Sand Mining Company Appeals Against Refusal of Water Licence
in Philippi

Keysource Minerals, a silica sand mine, is appealing a decision by the
Department of Water and Sanitation to reject its water use licence.

 

The Philippi Horticultural Area Food & Farming Campaign raised concerns
about the mine's impact on wetlands and the Cape Flats Aquifer.

 

Keysource Minerals says its Athlone mine is running low and many big Western
Cape industries are dependent on the silica.

The Water Tribunal will hear the matter in April 2024.

A silica sand mining company that has set its sights on 50 hectares of land
in the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) in Cape Town is appealing against
the decision by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) to refuse it a
water use licence.

 

 

Keysource Minerals is owned by Ardagh Glass Packaging (formerly Consol
Glass), the largest glass manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa. It produces
glass for big food and beverage companies such as Coca-Cola, Distell and
Heineken. The company says it is running out of silica reserves at its
current mine in Athlone.

 

But the PHA Food & Farming Campaign says in its comments on the water use
licence application that mining will cause a "significant and unacceptable
impact" on the environment, the Cape Flats Aquifer, and the surrounding
farmlands. The campaign says mining the area is not in the public interest,
and will affect food security in Cape Town.

 

"The PHA is a drought proof farmland, the value of which has become
incrementally more clear in the face of the role it must play in offsetting
the worst effects of climate change," the PHA Campaign commented.

 

 

Reasons provided by the DWS for refusing the licence include: the lack of a
compensation plan for the impact on the wetland; the impact on nearby
Zeekoevlei; the loss of habitat and biodiversity; the effect of increased
stormwater runoff on the nearby wetlands; and the impact on recharging of
the Cape Flats Aquifer.

 

Keysource Minerals provided 12 grounds of appeal to the Water Tribunal. The
company already holds a mining right and environmental authorisation.

 

The company denied that its proposed water uses constituted an unacceptable
risk to Zeekoevlei, bird species or surrounding wetlands. Keysource said the
DWS had failed to consider the "negative socio-economic impact if the water
use licence is refused" The company said the mine would supply silica both
for glass production and for water purification systems, for example in the
wine industry. Keysource said the mining area is "one of the last remaining
high-grade silica deposits in South Africa" and not opening the mine would
have an impact on jobs.

 

In its papers, the company says its Athlone mine, which provides all the
sand for its Bellville glass plant, is reaching the end of its life, and
reserves will be depleted by 2025.

 

Paul Curnow, CEO of Ardagh Glass Packaging Africa, told GroundUp: "there are
no alternative silica sources available".

 

"A lack of sand supply in the Cape would result in glass production reducing
and eventually stopping completely in the Western Cape," said Curnow.

 

He said industries which employ thousands of people are dependent on the
development of the new mine.

 

Curnow said extensive environmental impact assessments showed "no damage"
would be done to the aquifer.

 

"We are sensitive to the fact that compromises need to be found and believe
that a solution could be reached to allow our industry and others to
continue to operate in the region, while protecting the value of the PHA,"
he said.

 

The DWS confirmed that the matter is set down for hearing by the Water
Tribunal for 15 to 17 April 2024.

 

- GroundUp.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Ban On Motorcycles Still in Force Within Uyo - Akwa Ibom Govt

"Motorcycles found within Uyo city from the 28th day of October as directed
shall be confiscated and immediately destroyed without the option of fine."

 

The Akwa Ibom State Government has said that its ban on private and
commercial motorcycles within Uyo, the state capital, is still in force.

 

The Commissioner for Internal Security and Waterways, Koko Essien, made this
known in a statement on Thursday.

 

Mr Essien said the state government has noticed the "illegal" return of
private and commercial motorcycles beyond designated areas within the Uyo
metropolis.

 

 

Motorcycles were first banned in Uyo in 2011 to checkmate the rising cases
of armed robbery, kidnapping and other crimes in the city.

 

Tricycles, popularly called "Keke Napep" would later replace motorcycles as
the commonest means of transportation for most residents.

 

Roads where motorcycles are banned within Uyo include Ikot Ekpene Road, Abak
Road, Aka Road, Oron Road and Nwaniba Road.

 

Mr Essien said security agencies have been briefed to strictly enforce the
ban on the use of motorcycles within the metropolis from 28 October.

 

"Motorcycles found within Uyo city from the 28th day of October as directed
shall be confiscated and immediately destroyed without the option of fine,"
according to the statement.

 

Registered dispatch riders are, however, excluded from the ban, the
statement added.

 

- Premium Times.

 

 

 

 

Rwanda: Kagame Talks Investment, Women Empowerment at Saudi Summit

Africa, like the rest of the world, has its challenges, from poor governance
to no accountability, but it is a big mistake not to invest in the
continent, President Paul Kagame has said.

 

Kagame was speaking on Tuesday, October 25, during the 7th Edition of the
Future Investment Initiative (FII), a major forum whose theme is to
highlight the impact of global dialogues in navigating today's uncertain
times.

 

Speaking during a fireside chat led by Richard Attias, CEO at FII institute,
Kagame spoke at length about Rwanda's journey 29 years after the 1994
Genocide against the Tutsi, women empowerment, as well as governance in
Africa.

 

 

Reacting to the concerns of investor fears in Africa, mostly catalysed by
the instability on the continent due to the recent coups, Kagame maintained
that it is a big mistake not to invest in Africa.

 

"There is no question about it," he pointed out, Africa has a potential
market which is not a simple issue, citing that the vice would create
problems not just on the continent but elsewhere.

 

Kagame asserted that Africa is not one country but many countries, adding
that the problems inside the continent are not exclusively for Africans.

 

"The point I want to make is that we should, first of all, understand what
the problems are, and not exaggerate and also understand that Africans and
their leaders want to do their best to address these problems that have kept
the continent behind the rest of the world."

 

On the current coup d'état, Kagame urged world leaders to go beyond the
coups and find the possible cause and their origins even when they seem to
be military yet some are civilians and there is an interconnection of
causes, arguing that it should not be coined in Africa, especially
particularly in the context of colonization.

 

 

For instance, he said, coups and bad governance in Africa are related to the
amount of control that former colonisers still maintain on the continent and
the coups happen on the watch of people from outside.

 

"It is not right to jump into blaming Africans for having coups but possibly
they should be blamed for letting them happen in the first place."

 

In Rwanda, Kagame said; "We have tried to invest, first of all, in people.
Anything that empowers people and allows people to raise themselves to a
high level, that's what we start with."

 

The Head of State also tipped investors on investing in Rwanda, citing that
the government has identified priority areas such as health, education, food
security, infrastructure (real estate) and technology (ICTs).

 

"Africa, Rwanda inclusive, wants more people to learn, cooperate, and work
with each other as a way of moving forward, however, this can be attained by
investing in our young people."

 

On human capital and gender equality, Kagame said it is simple logic to
empower women because 52 per cent of Rwanda's population are women.

 

"So you can imagine what would happen in one's country if we exclude the 52
per cent. You are just harming yourself. But women have rights too. They are
human beings like all of us. We are lucky we are born to women. So how can
you, at a certain point, forget the existence of the very people who bring
us to existence?"

 

Reflecting on his life as a refugee for over 30 years, Kagame said women
played a direct role in the liberation struggle, "and thus it is a basic
fact and proven to be right to empower and invest in women."

 

- New Times.

 

 

 

Li Keqiang: Ex-Chinese premier sidelined by Xi dies at 68

Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang has died of a heart attack aged 68.

 

State media said he died 10 minutes past midnight on Friday despite
"all-out" efforts to revive him.

 

Li was once tipped to be the country's future leader but was overtaken by
President Xi Jinping.

 

A trained economist, he held the second highest-ranked position in China,
though in recent years, he was widely isolated amongst China's top
leadership.

 

He was the only incumbent top official who didn't belong to Mr Xi's
loyalists group.

 

"Li's death means the loss of a prominent moderating voice within the senior
levels of the Chinese Communist Party, with no one apparently being able to
take over the mantle," Ian Chong, non resident scholar at the Carnegie China
think tank told the BBC.

 

"This probably means even less restraint on Mr Xi's exercise of power and
authority."

 

Li Keqiang: The life of China's marginalised premier

Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters

Li, who had stepped down as premier in March this year, suffered a sudden
heart attack on Thursday and died early on Friday while he was in Shanghai.

 

His death is being widely mourned on Chinese social media, with many
expressing shock and grief - though comments on many posts appear to have
been restricted.

 

"This is too sudden, he was so young," said one user on Chinese social media
site Weibo. Another said his death was like losing "a pillar of our home".

 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a government work report during the
opening meeting of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress
(NPC) at the Great 

 

But his death has been largely downplayed on state media outlets. No
official language providing the party's evaluation of Li's career was
provided in a terse statement by news outlet Xinhua.

 

In comparison, when former premier Li Peng passed away, he was praised as an
"excellent Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier and an
outstanding proletarian revolutionist, statesman and leader of the Party and
the state".

 

Deaths of former Chinese leaders have triggered protests in the past. An
outpouring of mourning during Jiang Zemin's death last year was seen as a
subtle criticism of President Xi.

 

Cloaking Xi Jinping dissent in Jiang nostalgia

Li was known as one of the smartest political figures of his generation. He
was accepted into the prestigious Peking University Law School soon after
the universities were reopened following Mao's Cultural Revolution during
which millions of people are believed to have died.

 

He is best known outside of China for the Li Keqiang index, a term coined by
The Economist as an informal measurement of China's economic progress.

 

The man who 'told it as it is'

Li came from a modest family and was the son of a local official. He was
born in July 1955 in Dingyuan County in eastern China's Anhui province.

 

He rose among the ranks, becoming the youngest provincial governor in China
and later earning a spot in the top echelon of the party's central
leadership, the Politburo Standing Committee.

 

At one point there was speculation that he would be groomed to succeed Mr
Xi's predecessor Hu Jintao.

 

He was widely considered to be Mr Hu's protégé and was the last appointee of
the Hu administration to remain on the Politburo Standing Committee before
he stepped down in March this year. The Hu years were seen as a time of
opening up to the outside world and increased tolerance of new ideas.

 

Li was known for being pragmatic in economic policies, with a focus on
reducing the wealth gap and providing affordable housing.

 

"He was a very enthusiastic open man who really strove to get China ahead
and facilitated open dialogue with people from all walks of life," Bert
Hofman, a professor at the National University of Singapore told the BBC's
Newsday programme.

 

Li will be remembered for being "open and reformist in his economic
orientation", said Dr Chong. "[He was] more of a technocrat than an
ideologue or loyalist."

 

Li pushed for policies to encourage entrepreneurship and technology
innovation, especially among young people.

 

In a Party dominated by engineers, he was an economist who become known for
"telling it like it is" - publicly acknowledging China's economic problems
as a means of finding solutions.

 

His economic policy of structural reform and debt reduction, termed
"Likonomics", aimed to reduce China's dependency on debt-fuelled growth and
steer the economy towards self-sustainability.

 

But by 2016, articles in the party's mouthpiece People's Daily had dropped
"Likonomics" in favour of Mr Xi's economic thoughts, which emphasised
micro-economic reforms and advocated supply-side changes.

 

Hofman added that Li led China's major campaign against air pollution during
his time as premier, famously "declaring war" against pollution in 2014 and
acknowledging at the highest level that it was a crisis for the country -
leading to a significant reduction in pollution and associated health risks.

 

Li's end of his time in office was mired in China's zero-Covid crisis.

 

During the worst of it, he warned that the economy was under massive
pressure and called on officials to be mindful of not letting restrictions
smash growth. He even appeared unmasked in public before China lifted its
zero-Covid policy.

 

But when cadres had to choose between his order to protect the economy and
Mr Xi's to maintain zero-Covid with extreme discipline, it was no contest -
with China doubling down on restrictions.

 

Zero-Covid hit China's economy hard, strangling supply chains and shuttering
businesses, from economic hub Shanghai to rural towns.-bbc

 

 

NatWest admits serious failings over how it treated Nigel Farage

"Serious failings" were made by NatWest in its treatment of Nigel Farage
when it closed down his Coutts bank account, an independent review has
found.

 

The report said the communication of the closure with the former UKIP leader
did not follow the bank's policies.

 

However, the report found the closure was lawful, and based mainly on
commercial reasons.

 

Mr Farage said the report was a "whitewash", calling some findings
"laughable".

 

He accused the law firm Travers Smith, which is conducting the
investigation, of having taken a "mealy-mouthed approach to this complex
issue".

 

Mr Farage, a prominent Brexiteer, said earlier this year that Coutts, the
prestigious private bank for the wealthy and owned by NatWest, had moved to
shut down his account because his political beliefs did not align with the
bank.

 

However, the politician later obtained a report from the Bank which
indicated his political views were also considered.

 

The fallout let to NatWest's chief executive, Dame Alison Rose, resigning
after admitting she had made a mistake in speaking about Mr Farage's
relationship with the bank.

 

Law firm Travers Smith, which conducted the review, said "on balance", the
decision to close Mr Farage's Coutts account was "predominantly a commercial
decision" as the bank "considered its relationship with Mr Farage to be
commercially unviable because it was significantly loss-making".

 

It added there were "other factors considered as part of the decision-making
process" including Coutts' reputation with customers, staff and investors
given Mr Farage's public statements on issues such as the environment, race,
gender and migration.

 

Travers Smith said these public views were not a determining factor in
closing his Coutts account, but they did "consider them to have supported
the decision".

 

It concluded that Coutts "had a contractual right" to close Mr Farage's
account and the decision was made in line with policies, but added the way
it was communicated to him was not, with "no adequate reasons" provided.

 

NatWest apologised for the "unacceptable failures".

 

Sir Howard Davies, NatWest Group chairman, said although the investigation
confirmed "the lawful basis for the exit decision, the findings set out
clear shortcomings in how it was reached as well as failures in how we
communicated with him and in relation to client confidentiality".

 

"We apologise once again to Mr Farage for how he has been treated. His
experience fell short of the standards that any customer should expect," he
added.

 

Earlier this week, the Information Commissioner's Office concluded that Dame
Alison had breached Mr Farage's privacy rights.-bbc

 

 

 

 

After a year of Elon Musk, what's next for X?

A year ago, having just bought Twitter, Elon Musk walked into its HQ
carrying a sink. "Let that sink in" he quipped - then fired a large swathe
of staff.

 

It was the first flavour of what has been a 12-month whirlwind of erratic
change - not least the renaming of the company to X.

 

In some ways, X has been remarkably resilient. Despite rivals old and new
circling, it survives.

 

However, with advertisers wary and user metrics shaky, what's next for X?

 

The challenge

It is difficult to precisely quantify how many people use X because the
company doesn't release those figures. But according to several analytics
firms, X is not used as much as it was.

 

"Basically everything is down on a year-over-year basis," said David Carr,
from the web analytics firm SimilarWeb.

 

Ross Gerber, an investor in Twitter and vocal critic of the direction Mr
Musk has taken, said the platform is "dying".

 

"There's reality and there's fantasy. And the reality is, Twitter is dying
and it needs to be saved," he said.

 

What we know for sure is a lot of big names have left the platform over the
last year, including Elton John and Gigi Hadid.

 

Former journalist Madeleine Dunne, who now works for digital marketing
agency Story Shop, said she has more or less stopped using the platform
because paying for blue tick verification - a change introduced by Mr Musk -
has made it "hard to know who to trust."

 

"Logging into X feels like stepping onto a sinking ship. The 'For You' page
is a disaster - verified users on X Premium suffocate out everyone else, so
very little of the content is actually stuff I'm interested in," she said.

 

Subscriptions vs advertising

The big challenge for X, and Twitter before it, is how to make money. In
pursuit of that goal, Mr Musk has radically cut costs through lay-offs, a
process which has been bruising for staff.

 

Melissa Ingle, who worked as a moderator, said her "stomach dropped" when
her company logins abruptly stopped working.

 

"It was a very, very bad time for me," she told the BBC.

 

Twitter has always previously relied on advertising money, but Mr Musk has
tried to bolster that with a separate subscription-based revenue stream,
where users pay for a blue tick and other features. Recently he announced
there would be two new tiers of premium subscriptions.

 

Those innovations haven't really changed things though - X is still heavily
reliant on ad revenue, and worryingly for Mr Musk that is going down.

 

According to third-party data, monthly US ad revenue on the platform has
declined at least 55% year-over-year each month since Mr Musk bought the
company. The business has always struggled to break even - even before Mr
Musk's involvement - making an annual profit just twice since its launch in
2006.

 

He has admitted it's a critical issue.

 

"Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything
else," he said in a conversation earlier this year.

 

Hopes for rebound as 'everything app'

The appointment of 'superwoman' Linda Yaccarino, previously head of
advertising at NBCUniversal, as the X CEO - was seen as a positive milestone
for the firm, creating distance between Mr Musk and the platform.

 

Dr Ben Marder, senior lecturer in marketing at University of Edinburgh
Business School, said he didn't believe Ms Yaccarino had been "given the
space needed to innovate" and instead she had been "rather strong-armed by
Elon to focus on quick revenue fixes, which leaves only weapons in the
arsenal that are more than likely to backfire - like the subscription
model."

 

Mr Musk wants employees to think big. His long-term plan for X is far
greater than just a social media company. He wants X to be "an everything
app."

 

When asked by the BBC earlier this year what this means he said: "I guess
you will have to stay tuned to find out".

 

 

Perhaps the most specific public description of how X might expand came from
Ms Yaccarino in July.

 

"X is the future state of unlimited interactivity - centred in audio, video,
messaging, payments/banking - creating a global marketplace for ideas,
goods, services, and opportunities," she said.

 

"Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we're just beginning to
imagine".

 

We've already seen Mr Musk diversifying Twitter's offering. Earlier this
month he streamed himself playing computer games. He hopes X could compete
with apps like Twitch.

 

On Thursday, he launched a new audio and video calls service which works
without a phone number. Several users on the platform received a
notification when opening the app, stating: "Audio and video calls are
here!"

 

And then there are Mr Musk's X banking plans.

 

According to the New York Times - which got hold of the pitch deck Mr Musk
was giving to investors last year - X was supposed to bring in $15m from a
payments business in 2023 - which would grow to about $1.3bn by 2028.

 

Mr Gerber said when he invested, he was mainly investing because it was Elon
Musk.

 

"Really their pitch in a lot of ways was like, we're not sure what this will
be. But trust us because it's Elon, and he's going to create something
amazing," he said.

 

But a year later he's baffled by Mr Musk's plans for the company. "Will he
make concessions with his absolutism on speech to bring back advertisers?
Because that's what it really comes down to," he said.

 

Moderation headache

Filtering out extreme material looks set to be an ongoing problem for X.

 

Research by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate showed that X continued
to host nearly 86% of a set of 300 hateful posts collected a week after they
were reported to moderators. The group is locked in a legal battle with the
platform over its claims.

 

Posts included those promoting antisemitism, racism and white supremacy.

 

Twitter and hate speech: What's the evidence?

Twitter insiders: We can't protect users from trolling under Musk

Imran Ahmed, founder of the group, said: "Musk's 12 months at the helm of X
is a perfect case study of how naïve it is to expect digital platforms to
self-regulate."

 

So challenges abound for X - not that they appear to have dented Mr Musk's
ambition too greatly. His pinned post on the platform he spent so much money
acquiring reads: "X as humanity's collective consciousness."-bbc

 

 

 

How does China fix the Evergrande mess?

The Chinese property developer Evergrande owes more than $325bn (£269bn).
That's more than Russia's entire national debt.

 

For two years, the company has been lurching from crisis to crisis,
repeatedly failing to make payments on its multi-billion dollar loans.

 

Now its founder is under police surveillance, its shares are practically
worthless and more than a million people in China are still waiting for
their homes to be completed. On Monday, a court in Hong Kong could open a
new chapter in the crisis by ordering the liquidation of some of Evergrande
assets to pay back frustrated foreign investors.

 

Evergrande has become the poster child of China's flailing real estate
sector. Its name, along with other major developers such as Country Garden,
has become associated with unsustainable debt and impending financial
disaster. Yet, Evergrande clings to survival.

 

In most Western countries, a failing privately-owned business such as
Evergrande would either be liquidated or, in extreme cases, bailed out by
the government. But things are done differently in China.

 

Why should I care if Evergrande collapses?

China's empty tower blocks highlight economic woes

The world's second-largest economy is neither capitalist nor communist. It
is unique, which makes it hard to predict Evergrande's fate.

 

But for now, Beijing has eased pressure on the firm in ways other countries
cannot.

 

"It's alive only because the government hasn't let it die," says Leland
Miller, chief executive of China Beige Book, an analytical platform that
tracks the Chinese marketplace.

 

Zombie mode

Unlike Western countries, China is not a free market. When a problem arises,
Mr Miller explains, the state can simply move tidal waves of money to patch
it up.

 

The majority of the money Evergrande owes is to creditors in China,
including ordinary homeowners, suppliers and banks. And the government's
control over them is key to explaining the company's zombie-like state.

 

"The banking system in China is still almost exclusively state-run," says
Dexter Roberts, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. "So if Beijing tells
those banks to find a way to roll over the debt, then they're going to do
that. Ultimately, they answer to the state and they're well aware of that."

 

Mr Miller agrees: "The Chinese state can order lenders to lend, suppliers to
supply, borrowers to borrow. Evergrande is neither dead nor alive, but in
this system it doesn't really matter."

 

Not all of Evergrande's creditors are Chinese. A small group of frustrated
lenders outside of China have scheduled a court hearing in Hong Kong on 30
October. A judge could order a liquidation of company assets to be
distributed to these foreign creditors.

 

A Country Garden real estate project in Yangpu District, Shanghai, China, 16
September 2023.

 

 

However, this would be unprecedented in scale and complexity. And it would
almost certainly need the approval of Chinese authorities.

 

So what happens to Evergrande? Some analysts say that China's leadership is
yet to decide.

 

"A lot of the Chinese system is still modelled on the Soviet Union and there
were no bankruptcies in the Soviet Union," says Logan Wright, director of
China Market Research at Rhodium Group.

 

"You have to remember that Western capitalism has had a long time to
establish a process for failed companies and how you manage their debts. In
China, there isn't the same kind of template."

 

The Chinese government could let Evergrande collapse. But, according to Mr
Roberts, Beijing would then have to clean up the mess, which would be a huge
political headache.

 

The knock-on effects for local governments - which rely on land sales -
suppliers and banks would be "potentially catastrophic", he added.

 

The rise and fall of Evergrande's billionaire founder

Anxious Chinese home buyers reel from Evergrande crisis

Other analysts argue that Evergrande's collapse, if it were to happen, could
hurt the future of the Communist Party itself.

 

"Social stability is at stake," says Shitong Qiao, an expert in Chinese
property law at Duke University in the US.

 

"A collapse would not just leave many Chinese banks with bad debt, it would
also leave hundreds of thousands of Chinese homebuyers without an apartment
that they have paid for."

 

On more than one occasion, there have been chaotic scenes at Evergrande's
headquarters in Shenzhen, when protesters scolded executives and home buyers
demanded refunds on their purchases. Last year, many of them joined a
mortgage strike until their homes were completed.

 

A collapse could shatter confidence in the housing market, plunging prices
further. That would leave people noticeably poorer in a country where they
invest their life-savings in new homes. And it would be a blow to an already
sluggish economy - the property sector accounts for a quarter of it.

 

All of this could lead to more public anger and even instability. And that
is perhaps the biggest threat to the Party, whose grip on power has long
been bolstered by China's prosperity.

 

Too big to fail?

Does that mean Evergrande is - to borrow a Western phrase - "too big to
fail".

 

It is tempting to draw parallels with the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008,
which saw the collapse of Wall Street investment giant Lehman Brothers and a
global recession. Back then failing banks and institutions around the world
were bailed out by their governments and central banks.

 

A worker walks past a housing complex under construction by Chinese property
developer Evergrande in Wuhan, China on 28 September 2023.

 

 

But China is different. Its financial system is not as enmeshed with the
property sector as it is in the US.

 

And Beijing, which has firm control over money flows, seems in no rush to
bail out Evergrande.

 

"The system is designed to ensure that an acute crisis will always be very
unlikely," Mr Miller says. "It's not susceptible to a western-style 'Lehman
moment'".

 

A bailout would also not fit with the ideology of China's leadership. In
fact, some argue that the Party deliberately triggered Evergrande's decline
because the firm's success relied on a flawed economic model.

 

Evergrande's rise was fuelled by heavy borrowing to build houses for
middle-class Chinese looking to make money from property. But property
developers borrowed too much money to build too many houses that not enough
people want to buy.

 

"This is not a sustainable economic model and the government knew this," Mr
Roberts says.

 

This "investment-led growth" - or building for building's sake - drove
China's rise well before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.

 

But over time the Party's refrain, encouraged by Mr Xi, became "houses are
for living in, not for speculation".

 

Things came to a head in 2020 when the government, fearing a bubble in the
property market, introduced new financial regulatory guidelines, known as
its "three red lines".

 

They severely restricted developers' ability to borrow more money,
eventually causing the crisis that has mired Evergrande and the rest of
China's property sector.

 

For China's leaders, the painful but necessary measure was the only way to
rein in unsustainable debt. Except they didn't anticipate how much worse it
would get, especially as China's economy took a hit from sweeping zero-Covid
lockdowns.

 

"But still, bailing out Evergrande now would effectively make a mockery of
everything the government is trying to do in terms of de-leveraging the
sector and changing the economy," Mr Roberts says.

 

Mr Wright agrees it would be seen as a backward step: "What kind of signal
are you sending to the rest of the industry if you bail out Evergrande?"

 

In other words, China's leadership is stuck. A collapse would be disastrous
and a bailout would be ideologically untenable.

 

"This may be a contrarian view - but I absolutely believe Beijing has a
strategy here," Mr Miller says.

 

"For years foreign investors have lectured Beijing that it needs to stop
relying on artificially high levels of growth driven by property sector
borrowing. Now that the Party is finally doing that - it was never going to
be a painless process."

 

What new model Mr Xi, who has increasingly centralised power in his hands,
wants is unclear.

 

At last year's Party Congress, when he secured a historic third term as
leader, he warned against continuing China's "unsustainable" economic model,
driven by what he calls "money worship" and "vested interests". Rebuking the
dangers of unfettered capitalism, he said: "The leadership of the Communist
Party of China is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese
characteristics."

 

Amid the chaos of Evergrande, the arrest of its billionaire founder and
chairman Hui Ka Yan reinforced the idea that the Party, rather than private
businessmen, is still firmly in charge.

 

According to Mr Miller, China is consciously paying the price for "gross
economic mismanagement", but its continued grip over the economy suggests it
has a plan.

 

But others insist that is not so clear.

 

"Capitalism is a profit and loss system," Mr Wright says. "It will be
interesting to see how China deals with the losses part".-bbc

 

 

US economy grows at fastest pace in nearly two years

Fans of Taylor Swift and Beyonce attending the pop stars' concerts have been
credited with boosting local economies

The US economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of the year,
helped by a tight jobs market and consumer spending.

 

The economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.9% in the July to September
period, according to the government's first estimate.

 

It marked the biggest rise seen since the last three months of 2021.

 

Consumers spent a lot despite the Federal Reserve trying to clamp down on
spending with higher interest rates.

 

Analysts expected that the economy would grow by 4.5% in the third quarter
of this year.

 

But a strong jobs market meant that consumers were able to ask for bigger
pay packets and keep spending on concerts, movies or holidays over the
summer.

 

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic
activity in the US, was the main driver behind the rise.

 

The latest figure is a big spike from the 2.1% growth seen in the three
months to July.

 

In a statement, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis said the increase
reflects "accelerations in consumer spending, private inventory investment,
and federal government spending" among other factors.

 

US economic growth

It raises a question over previous predictions that the world's biggest
economy could possibly enter a recession.

 

The latest data comes ahead of a key meeting for the US Federal Reserve,
where it will decide whether or not to raise interest rates again next week.

 

Some economists had raised concerns of an economic downturn being sparked by
the central bank increasing rates to a 22-year-high in a bid to bring the
rate at which prices are rising back down closer to 2%.

 

Raising interest rates is one of the key tools central banks use to try to
tackle inflation. By making borrowing more expensive, the theory is
consumers will spend less and lead to slower price rises.

 

So far, the world's biggest economy has managed to defy the worst
predictions.

 

But Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic said she expects that
consumers are spending the "last portion of pandemic-related savings," and
that she expects growth will slow in the last three months of 2023.

 

Ms Bostjancic told the Agence France Presse news agency that the Federal
Reserve may see the need for a further rate rise as it battles "sticky"
inflation.

 

Higher fuel costs keep driving US inflation

US mortgage rates hit highest level for 20 years

In a separate update on Thursday, the US Labor Department said that the
number of people applying for unemployment benefits remains low.

 

However, in the final quarter of the year, growth might be hampered by
strikes by the United Auto Workers, as well as the fact that student loan
repayments by millions of Americans will have resumed, putting more pressure
on their budgets.

 

The European Central Bank (EBC) alsoleft interest rates unchanged on
Thursday as higher borrowing costs work their way through.

 

The ECB started increasing rates in July 2022, in response to rapidly rising
prices.

 

After 10 successive rate rises, eurozone inflation, which peaked at 10.6 %
in October 2022, has been falling steadily. It reached 4.3% in
September.Although that means prices are still rising, the ECB has said the
cost of borrowing is now high enough, and the effects of previous rises will
continue to filter through.In a statement, the ECB's governing council said
inflation was still expected to stay "too high for too long", but insisted
rates were at levels that, if maintained for a sufficiently long duration,
would make a "substantial contribution" to meeting its target of 2%.

 

Analysts said that although there were still some risks around the global
economy from uncertainty in the Middle East and Ukraine, the focus was now
moving towards the potential for rate cuts - with the Euro area economy
currently stagnating.-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2023

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


CBZH

GetBucks

EcoCash

 


Padenga

Econet

RTG

 


Fidelity

TSL

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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