Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 18 June 2024

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief:::  18 June 2024 

 


 


 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


 

ü  Kenya: Ukraine Proposes Kenya As Key Grain Hub Partner in Africa

ü  Nigeria: Oyetola Expresses Commitment to Zero Piracy in Maritime Domain

ü  Nigeria: Rental Businesses Worry Over Impact of Rising Shipping Cost

ü  Nigeria: Middlemen Take Advantage As Several Factors Limit Palm Oil
Production in Akwa Ibom

ü  Tanzania: We're Financially Stable in Next 30 Years - WCF

ü  West Africa: Nigeria's Trade Surplus With Ecowas Rises 216% to N1.14trn

ü  Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation

ü  Nigeria: Amid Fx Squeeze, Nigeria Records 42m Barrels Oil Production
Deficit in Five Months

ü  Nigeria: Govt Must Avert Labour Strikes

ü  Uganda: One Million Households to Get Free Electricity Connection, Says
Minister Nankabirwa

ü  Apple scraps its Pay Later loan scheme

ü  Boeing boss admits culture 'far from perfect'

ü  London becomes Europe's largest stock market again

ü  US surgeon general wants social media warning labels

ü  Too much of a good thing? Spain's green energy can exceed demand

 


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Kenya: Ukraine Proposes Kenya As Key Grain Hub Partner in Africa

Ukraine has proposed Kenya as a significant partner in establishing grain
hubs for its produce at African ports, aiming to stabilise the food supply
in the region.

 

Kenya, which heavily relies on Ukrainian wheat, has faced disruptions in
maritime logistics due to the ongoing conflict between Kyiv and Moscow.

 

The proposal was discussed during a meeting between Ukraine's President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kenya's President William Ruto on the sidelines of
the UN-led Ukraine peace talks in Switzerland.

 

"We also spoke about ways to enhance Ukrainian-Kenyan relations and
agricultural export projects and discussed Kenya's potential role in
establishing hubs in African ports for Ukrainian grain," MrZelenskyy said.

 

In September last year, President Ruto invited Ukraine to establish a grain
hub at the Port of Mombasa to help address East Africa's food shortages.

 

If implemented, Kenya would open grain hubs in three of its ports, ensuring
sufficient stocks to meet local demand and mitigate price fluctuations
caused by logistical challenges and forex exchange uncertainties.

 

"I thanked him for participating in the Global Peace Summit and reinforcing
the UN Charter, as well as for Kenya's strong support for Ukraine's
sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zelenskyy added.

 

The discussion, primarily focused on food security, underscored President
Ruto's role in co-chairing the "Food Security and Freedom of Navigation"
panel.

 

Russia and Ukraine are key suppliers of wheat to Kenya, which imports up to
75 percent of its wheat demand due to insufficient local production.

 

- Business Day Africa.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Oyetola Expresses Commitment to Zero Piracy in Maritime Domain

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said that
the Federal Government measures have been put in place to ensure the zero
piracy recorded in the maritime space for the past two years is sustained.

 

According to him, achieving zero piracy has given the country good image at
the International Maritime Bureau, IMB.

 

Oyetola who attributed the success to intervention of the Deep Blue Project,
described the development as a significant milestone in the nation's
maritime domain.

 

He stated: "The deep blue project was created as a solution which enables to
manage, control and protect the valuables resources of the country, as well
as to control the entire maritime domain of the Nigerian Exclusive Economy
Zone (EEZ) and prevent any illegal activities at the sea, inland waterways
and enhance the enforcement capabilities of Nigerian Maritime Administration
and Safety Agency, NIMASA to generate revenue.

 

 

"Since the full deployment of the deep blue project platform and asset in
2021, within the Nigerian continental shelf, maritime security has been
significantly enhanced, the project has contributed immensely fate the
significant reduction in piracy and maritime threats, enhancing safety and
security in the maritime space.

 

"The recent extension of the continental shelf from 200 to 300 kilometres
has again widen our collective responsibility of ensuring that we harness
our vast potentials that our waters that contribute to our marine resources
against potential threat."

 

Meanwhile, the Director General of NIMASA, Dayo Mobereola, explained that
the deep blue project was pivotal in strengthening the national security and
ensuring safety of Nigeria waterways.

 

According to him though the project was initiated by the federal government,
it was executed by NIMASA.

 

Mobereola said that Nigeria was no longer in the piracy hot list of the
international community, while calling for continued support to cover the
larger continental shelf awarded Nigeria by the global body.

 

- Vanguard.

 

 

 

Nigeria: Rental Businesses Worry Over Impact of Rising Shipping Cost

The Rental Professionals Society of Nigeria, RPSN, has raised concern over
the impact of rising cost of shipping on event rentals business in Nigeria.

 

Speaking at the just concluded RPSN Expo/Conference 1.0 themed: Rent, Relax
and Repeat", President of RPSN, Mrs. Taiwo Oderinlo, said that the shipping
industry is one area that government should concentrate.

 

She added that the cost of shipping, like that of living, has risen so high
that it is affecting all businesses, especially rentals.

 

Oderinlo pleaded with the government to introduce policies that would help
in checking sharp rises in cost of doing business in the industry, adding
that there is a need for government to do more in the area of exchange rate.

 

The society took advantage of the conference to build members capacity so as
to enhance their ability to discover innovative solutions to challenges
faced by businesses globally.

 

To this end, an insurance firm was brought to speak to members of the
society on the need to insure their businesses as well as the banking
experts who provided them with knowledge on financial products that are
readily available to help them scale their business in the marketplace.

 

However, the maiden edition of the RPSN exhibition brought manufacturers
from China and other parts of Africa to showcase their products, share their
business experiences and plan for the future.

 

- Vanguard.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Middlemen Take Advantage As Several Factors Limit Palm Oil
Production in Akwa Ibom

The locals produce palm oil in large quantities but make little money
compared to the middlemen.

 

A cloud of steam gathered above their heads as Christiana Akpan and Ekaete
Okon fetched oil palm fruits from a drum and poured them into a grinding
machine. It was a bright Friday morning in March, and the two women were
processing palm fruits at a mill in Utu Ikot Ekpo, Etim Ekpo Local
Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

 

Their tedious tasks demonstrated how local farmers in Akwa Ibom rural
communities produce palm oil, a commodity used in homes and industries
worldwide.

 

 

But the women were not concerned about the tedium of their work. "The work
is more than the income," Mrs Akpan said.

 

Palm oil is an edible oil commonly used for several purposes, including
cooking and soap making. PREMIUM TIMES visited two local government areas in
Akwa Ibom State to see the producers at work and understand why they are
impoverished despite a constantly high demand for palm oil.

 

Gospel Mathew lamented that intermediaries buy palm fruits from farmers
cheaply because there are no off-takers and government support systems.

 

Speaking about her latest transaction, the widowed mother of five said a
middleman gave her N400,000 to buy palm fruits and process them for him. "I
have given him palm oil worth half of the money. I still owe him half."

 

She knows middlemen make huge profits from buying palm oil in local
communities and selling it in the cities at much higher prices.

 

 

The stories of Mrs Mathew, who owns a local mill in Utu Ikot Ekpo in Etim
Ekpo LGA, and Anietie Dickson, a mill owner in Ikot Ebak in Mkpat Enin LGA,
are shared by many across rural communities in crude oil-rich Akwa Ibom.

 

Like many other communities in the state's 31 local government areas, Etim
Ekpo and Mkpat Enin are known for palm oil and palm kernel production.
Although the state government gets its significant revenue from federal
allocations from crude oil sales, palm fruit processing is the primary
source of income for the locals.

 

The people are primarily subsistence farmers who grow palms, vegetables, and
cassava, tap raffia palms, and brew alcoholic derivatives.

 

"In a month, we can process over 20 drums of palm oil," Mr Dickson, a father
of three, said. A drum contains a dozen 25-litre rubber containers of palm
oil.

 

 

When the reporter arrived at his mill, situated adjacent to the Government
Primary School in Ikot Ebak, on 15 March, only a few women were there.

 

Most other community women were at the famous "Ukam" market, a few
kilometres from the mill.

 

"Like today, my wife took four rubbers to the market. Another four rubbers
are in the house," Mr Dickson said.

 

He said 12 women regularly use his mill. "Like this woman who is processing,
she bought the palm fruits from the market," he said, pointing at a woman.

 

Mr Dickson said not having a vehicle poses a significant challenge for his
operations. If he had one, he said wistfully, it would take women to the
market to buy palm fruits and his palm oil to the major markets, where he
could sell it at higher prices than the middlemen often offered him at the
mill.

 

For Mrs Mathew in Utu Ikot Ekpo, palm oil processing is a family business.
Her four-year-old daughter assisted in sorting the palm fruits. Her second
daughter, Blessing, 17, stood by to operate the machine when her mother and
sister were done sorting the fruits. By 10 a.m., they had processed 90
litres of oil.

 

"I woke up at 2 a.m. today to set fire to heat the palm fruits, and by 4
a.m., we will start processing the fruits and finish before I leave for work
by 8 a.m.," the teenager said.

 

"This is the only thing mommy does to feed us. She travels to Abia State to
buy palm fruits and bring in a truck for us to process," she added.

 

The 17-year-old finds palm oil processing easy, having done it for years.

 

Her mother said she abandoned tailoring years ago to focus on the palm fruit
trade because it is more profitable. When the fruits were abundant, she
processed about ten drums of palm oil in a month or more.

 

Crude methodology

 

The use of crude machines is another challenge facing local palm oil
producers. For instance, Mrs Mathew's old, locally fabricated oil and kernel
processing machines make production labourious. However, her main concern
was the high cost of diesel, which has cut profits despite her increasing
the charges local farmers pay her to process their fruits at the mill.

 

Mrs Mathew said she needed new machines at the mill but could not raise the
money.

 

At the mill in Etim Ekpo, a machine crushes the fruits before another
separates the fibre from the kernel. But in Ikot Ebak, a single machine does
the job. Mr Dickson said his mill needs two machines to meet the processing
demand in the area.

 

 

"The machines are costly. I bought one for N520,000, but it is currently
sold at over N700,000," he said.

 

Experts say factors responsible for the decline in oil palm processing in
Nigeria include low industrial processing capacity, over-reliance on
smallholder processors and poor financial support for the sector.

 

Economy of palm oil

 

Palm oil is a natural source of Vitamin A. It is rich in carotenes (Vitamin
A precursors) and antioxidants.

 

Before the discovery of petroleum crude, the Nigerian economy relied on crop
exports. The country was a global leader in palm oil production. Oil palm
remains a major crop in southern Nigeria, particularly in Akwa Ibom, Cross
River, Imo, Edo, and Ondo states.

 

Because of the decline in production and rising local demand, Nigeria now
imports from the current global leaders - Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2018,
Nigeria imported 350,000 metric tonnes of palm oil. In the third quarter of
2022, imports from Malaysia alone were nearly N20 billion.

 

Subsistence farmers are responsible for about 80 per cent of the total palm
oil production. This may explain why Nigeria has remained fifth among the
global palm oil producers and stagnant in its output, producing 1. 4 million
tonnes annually in the last three years.

 

Cost Analysis

 

Mrs Mathew told PREMIUM TIMES that farmers sometimes process at her mill and
leave with only the oil. She then sells the kernel.

 

A cluster of palm fruits, Mrs Mathew said, cost between N25,000 and N27,000.
A cluster, according to her, produces about 30 litres of oil.

 

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the village in March for this report, a 30-litre
container of fresh palm oil cost N24,000, while a 25-litre container sold
for N21,000.

 

But Mrs Mathew considered processing lucrative because, aside from the oil,
there were the kernels--a by-product in high demand, too.

 

She explained that palm oil is of two types: fresh oil extracted on the
first day of processing and oil with an odour extracted on the second day.

 

She said the latter is not suitable for consumption and is sold to middlemen
in Aba, Abia State, for soap making.

 

Iboro Charles, from Ikot Obio Ema, a community in the Etim Ekpo, trades in
non-fresh palm oil. He said his primary challenge in the palm oil trade was
price instability.

 

Mr Charles, who acts like a second-level middleman, buys from women in local
communities to sell to the middlemen at the local government headquarters.

 

"The challenge I am facing is instability in price. You could buy today, and
the next day, the price would drop. This is not the edible type. We buy it
from the women at N18,000 and bring it here to sell at N19,500," Mr Charles
said.

 

He identified finance as his primary challenge.

 

"If you have financial muscle that will enable you to buy more, that is when
you will get more profits," he said.

 

Mfreke Donald is a middleman. She said a minibus charges N25,000 to convey
about 50 25-litre palm oil containers to Uyo, the state capital. Then she
pays N1,300 per container to transport them to northern Nigerian cities
where demand is high, such as Kaduna, Maiduguri and Sokoto.

 

According to Mrs Donald, 25 litres of oil cost about N21,000 in Akwa Ibom
but sell for over N30,000 in the north.

 

"In sending (palm) oil to the north, it is the more the quantity, the higher
the interest," Mrs Donald said.

 

Middlemen

 

Ini Akpabio, a former dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University
of Uyo, told PREMIUM TIMES that middlemen operate across agri-business in
the state. The professor of agricultural extension said the fishing
industry, particularly crayfish, is the worst affected.

 

However, Mr Charles does not see the role of the middlemen as negative. He
said the women producers in the villages do not have the means and the time
to take their products to Uyo, where the price is higher.

 

He said even he would take the product to the city and northern part of the
country if he could finance the logistics.

 

A middleman, Yaknse Effiong, said it is not cost-effective for a local woman
with 50 litres of oil to take it to the city.

 

"We (middlemen) buy in drums and convey them to the city for sale," she
said.

 

Usman Yakubu, also a middleman, spoke in the same vein. "The women cannot
take just four or five (25 litres containers) of palm oil to the city for
sale. It will cost them a lot of money in terms of transportation. By going
to their homes to buy, we have saved them a lot of expenses."

 

Mr Yakubu, who buys in Akwa Ibom for sale in northern Nigeria, said he has
suppliers in over 20 local government areas in the southern state.

 

Ibrahim Umar, who also buys across the state's local government areas, said
the operation of middlemen is capital-intensive.

 

"I have travelled everywhere in this state to buy palm oil, but we also
target major local markets for palm oils." He said women bring large
quantities of oil to them on market days.

 

Otobong KenJoshua, who owns a foodstuffs shop in Uyo, said you cannot stop
middlemen from going to local communities to buy palm oil.

 

"Even if they try to stop them, the local women will take them to access
roads to the community," she said.

 

Despite Akwa Ibom being a leading palm oil-producing state, many women still
travel to neighbouring states like Abia to buy palm fruits.

 

Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno announced plans to revamp the state-owned
oil palm plantation during a fact-finding visit to a farm last July.

 

During a visit to President Bola Tinubu in January, Mr Eno solicited support
from the federal government in reviving the Ibom oil palm sector, saying
Nigeria has the capacity to export palm oil.

 

Solutions

 

Mr Akpabio said the government should link farmers operating mills in the
village with buyers to enable them to sell their products directly. He said
the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria recorded
success by linking farmers with off-takers.

 

"The idea was that when a farmer produces, off-takers would go and buy
because the farmers' main challenge is how to make money, not to produce
lots of goods. The farmer's main motivation comes when he makes money, not
high-level production when he is unsure of selling.

 

"The government should form cooperatives for them and give them revolving
loans. The next person would get the loan when the first beneficiary has
paid back. Government has a role to play by ensuring that farmers are
adequately rewarded for their sweat," the professor said.

 

He said market unions have derailed in their activities.

 

"Their main focus was to ensure that people do not bring poisoned foods and
sell them in the market without being traced. The market unions and
middlemen are the ones causing problems. They are making far more money than
the farmers who sweat and then blame it on transportation, fuel hike, and
dollar," Mr Akpabio said.

 

On obsolete machines, Mr Akpabio suggested that farmers should be given
loans to buy modern ones. He also noted that extension farmers were not
enlightening local millers on how to get modern machines.

 

"They are the ones that will introduce the improved machines to local oil
millers. The problem of funding will be there, and that is where the
government and cooperatives come in to provide soft loans. The palm oil
farmers should bring counterpart funds no matter how low. That is why
cooperatives that people pay dues last longer."

 

Mrs Donald said she would be happy if the government subsidised the cost of
machines for farmers.

 

However, there is no indication that the Akwa Ibom government plans to
implement any of the professor's or farmers' recommendations. The state's
Commissioner for Agriculture, Offiong Offor, did not return several calls or
reply to text messages sent to her.

 

- Premium Times.

 

 

 

 

Tanzania: We're Financially Stable in Next 30 Years - WCF

The Workers Compensation Fund (WCF) Director General Dr John Mduma has said
that they are financially stable and able to sustain their operations for
the next 30 years.

 

Dr Mduma said this recently in Kibaha District, Coast Region during a
meeting with Editors from various media houses in the country, adding that
the Fund's actuarial valuation conducted recently has shown that WCF was
stable financially. He said the Fund's actuarial valuation is normally
conducted after every three years.

 

"According to the latest actuarial valuation, our financial position has
remained very stable and sustainable to operate the Fund for the next 30
years," said Dr Mduma.

 

 

Since its establishment some nine years ago, the Fund has paid compensation
to over 16,000 beneficiaries out of 20,000 notifications.

 

It has a total of 1,642 pensioners. WCF is a social security scheme
established under the Workers Compensation ACT Cap 263, 2015.

 

The Fund is responsible for compensating workers, who suffer occupational
injuries or contract occupational diseases arising out of and in the course
of their employment.

 

In case of death of workers, the Fund is responsible for compensating
dependents as per set criteria. The scheme is operated under social security
and insurance principles.

 

All employers and employees in the public and private sectors in Mainland
Tanzania are covered and hence are required by Law to contribute to the
Fund.

 

"We are living to the objective of the Fund by providing adequate and
equitable compensation to employees," said Dr Mduma.

 

 

Regarding the amendment of the Workers' Compensation ACT (CAP 263) that was
tabled in the National Assembly for the first reading recently, the WCF Head
of Legal Unit Mr Abraham Siyovyelwa said some of the notable areas will be
touched in the amendment include Section 42(3) to erase word OSHA as a
representative of employee in a claim for compensation.

 

He said Section 48(6) will also be reviewed to abolish the ceiling of
monthly pension payment to employees, who suffer from permanent disablement.

 

The section will read "For the purpose of this section, monthly pension'
means a pension payable monthly during the lifetime of the employee and
shall expire at the end of the month in which the employee dies". Section 63
(3) will also be amended and required the director general to be furnished
with all relevant medial report from hospital that in treating an employee
whenever required.

 

"Where the Director General requires additional medical report regarding an
employee, the Medical Practitioner who treated the employee at relevant
medical facility shall, upon request, furnish the additional medical report
in the form or manner to be provided in the regulations." He said the
amendment will also touch several other areas with the objective being to
improve WCF service provision.

 

Function of the Fund include registration of all employers in Mainland
Tanzania, collection of contributions from employers, investment of surplus
funds, payment of compensation to employees, assessment of risk exposure at
workplaces and tariffs determination, maintenance of statistics for all
occupational accidents, diseases and deaths, promotion of prevention of
occupational accidents, diseases and deaths as well as conducting public
education and awareness programmes.

 

- Daily News.

 

 

 

West Africa: Nigeria's Trade Surplus With Ecowas Rises 216% to N1.14trn

Nigeria's trade surplus with countries in the Economic Community of West
African States, ECOWAS rose by 216 per cent, Year-on-Year, YoY to N1.14
trillion in the first quarter of 2024, Q1'24.

 

Vanguard analysis of foreign trade data for Q1'24 released by the National
Bureau of Statistics, NBS showed that Nigeria's export to ECOWAS countries
rose YoY by 213 per cent to N1.25 trillion in Q1'24 from N399.19 billion in
Q1'23.

 

On the other hand Nigeria's import from ECOWAS countries rose by YoY by 167
per cent to N113.04 billion in Q1'24 from N42.296 billion in Q1'23.

 

 

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS showed that Nigeria's main
trading export partners within the ECOWAS region in the quarter are Ivory
Coast (N744.59 billion), Senegal (N361.29 billion), Benin (N55.67 billion),
Togo (N38.01 billion) and Ghana (N33.75 billion) altogether representing
98.61 percent of total export to ECOWAS countries.

 

Nigeria's major import trade partner within ECOWAS in the period under
review was the Ivory Coast (N51.41 billion) followed by Togo (N40.86
billion), Ghana (N13.61 billion), Liberia (N3.96 billion) and Benin Republic
(N1.04 billion) representing 98.10 percent of total imports from the ECOWAS
region.

 

NBS stated: "Exports to ECOWAS member states totaled N1,250.71 billion,
while imports amounted to N113.04 billion. The main commodities exported to
ECOWAS countries in the first quarter of 2024 are Petroleum oils and oils
obtained from bituminous minerals worth N1,074.70 billion (85.93 percent of
total exports to ECOWAS), Electrical energy (optional heading) (N58.65
billion or 4.69 percent), Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution (N29.45
billion or 2.35 percent), Flours and meals of soya beans (N9.20 billion or
0.74 percent)) and Other excluding White cement (N6.66 billion or
0.53percent). The top five exported products represent 94.24percent of the
total exports to the ECOWAS region."

 

- Vanguard.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation

People in Africa's most populous nation are suffering as the price of food,
fuel and medicine has skyrocketed out of reach for many.

 

Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing
inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people
struggling to buy food. Only two years ago Africa's biggest economy, Nigeria
is projected to drop to fourth place this year.

 

The pain is widespread. Unions strike to protest salaries of around $20 a
month. People die in stampedes, desperate for free sacks of rice. Hospitals
are overrun with women wracked by spasms from calcium deficiencies.

 

 

The crisis is largely believed to be rooted in two major changes implemented
by a president elected 15 months ago: the partial removal of fuel subsidies
and the floating of the currency, which together have caused major price
rises.

 

A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria's more than 200 million citizens are
skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states
usually provide. They generate their own electricity and source their own
water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces
cannot. They negotiate with kidnappers when family members are abducted.

 

But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.

 

No Money for Milk

 

On a recent morning in a corner of the biggest emergency room in northern
Nigeria, three women were convulsing in painful spasms, unable to speak.
Each year, the E.R. at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in Kano,
Nigeria's second-largest city, received one or two cases of hypocalcemia
caused by malnutrition, said Salisu Garba, a kindly health worker who
hurried from bed to bed, ward to ward.

 

 

Now, with many unable to afford food, the hospital sees multiple cases
everyday.

 

Mr. Garba was sizing up the women's husbands. Which source of nutrition he
recommended depended on what he thought they could afford. Baobab leaves or
tiger nuts for the poor; boiled-up bones for the slightly better off. He
laughed at the suggestion that anyone could afford milk.

 

More than 87 million people in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, live
below the poverty line -- the world's second-largest poor population after
India, a country seven times its size. And punishing inflation means poverty
rates are expected to rise still further this year and next, according to
the World Bank.

 

 

Last week, unions shut down hospitals, courts, schools, airports and even
the country's Parliament, striking in an attempt to force the government to
increase the monthly salary of $20 it pays its lowest workers.

 

But over 92 percent of working-age Nigerians are in the informal sector,
where there are no wages, and no unions to fight for them.

 

For the Afolabi family in Ibadan, in southwestern Nigeria, the descent into
poverty started in January with the loss of an electric tuk-tuk taxi.

 

Forced to sell the taxi to pay his wife's hospital bills after the difficult
birth of their second child, Babatunde Afolabi turned to occasional
construction work. It paid badly, but the family managed.

 

"We had no thoughts about starvation," he said.

 

But then, he said, cassava -- the cheapest staple in many parts of Nigeria
-- tripled in price.

 

All they can afford now, he said, is a few biscuits, a little bread, and for
their six-year-old, 20 peanuts a day.

 

A Country Built on Gas

 

Nigeria is a country heavily dependent on imported petroleum products,
despite being a major oil producer. After years of underinvestment and
mismanagement, its state refineries produce hardly any gasoline.

 

For decades, the national soundtrack has been the hum of small generators,
fired up during daily power outages. Petroleum products move goods and
people around the country.

 

Until recently, the government subsidized that petroleum, to the tune of
billions of dollars a year.

 

Many Nigerians said the subsidy was the only useful contribution from a
neglectful and predatory government. Successive presidents have pledged to
remove the subsidy, which drains a hefty chunk of government revenue -- and
later backtracked fearing mass unrest.

 

Bola Tinubu, who was elected Nigeria's president last year, initially
followed through.

 

"It was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt," Mr. Tinubu
said in April, at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia.

 

Instead, many Nigerians are going bankrupt -- or working multiple jobs to
stay afloat.

 

Mr. Garba, the hospital worker, used to be solidly middle class, even though
17 family members, including 12 children, depended on him.

 

 

After shifts at the hospital, where he is setting up the first statewide
ambulance service in addition to working in the emergency room, for which he
is paid $150 a month, he heads to the Red Cross. There he occasionally
receives a $3.30 volunteer stipend for helping tackle a severe diphtheria
outbreak.

 

At night, he works at the pharmacy that he and a colleague set up. But few
people have money for medicine anymore. He sells about $7 worth of
medication per day.

 

Last year, Mr. Garba sold his car when the gas subsidies were removed, and
now takes a tuk-tuk to work. Unable to power the generator, he reads
medicine labels at the pharmacy by the light of a small solar lantern. He
can only afford to buy rice and cassava in small quantities.

 

Life under the previous government was very expensive, he said, but nothing
like today.

 

"It's very, very bad," he said.

 

It's gotten so dire that there have been several deadly stampedes for free
or discounted rice distributed by the government -- including one in March
at a university in the central state of Nasarawa where seven students were
killed.

 

Mr. Tinubu promised to create a million jobs and quadruple the size of the
economy within a decade, but has not said how. The International Monetary
Fund said last month the state has started subsidizing fuel and electricity
again -- though the government has not acknowledged this.

 

"There's still very little clarity -- if any -- on where the economy is
headed, what the priorities are," said Zainab Usman, a political economist
and director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.

 

The Tapping Craze

 

A spate of new crypto-mining games that promise to generate income the more
the user plays has people across Nigeria spending all day tapping on their
smartphone screens, desperate to earn a few dollars.

 

People tap as they pray, in mosques and churches. Children tap under desks
at school. Mourners tap at funerals.

 

There's no guarantee any of them will ever benefit from the hours they put
in mindlessly tapping.

 

Then again, they can't count on the national currency, the naira.

 

The government has twice devalued the naira in the past year, trying to
enable it to float more freely and attract foreign investment. The upshot:
It's lost nearly 70 percent of its value against the dollar.

 

Nigeria cannot produce enough food for its growing population; food imports
rise 11 percent annually. The currency devaluation caused those imports --
already expensive because of high tariffs -- to explode in price.

 

Nigerians can become paupers almost overnight. So they're searching for
anything that might hold its value -- or ideally, get them rich.

 

"People are looking for me everywhere," said Rabiu Biyora, the undisputed
king of tapping in Kano, opening one of his five foldable phones to add to
his 2.7 billion taps on the TapSwap app. "Not to attack me, but to collect
something from me."

 

A relaxed, businesslike 39-year-old followed everywhere by young tech-savvy
acolytes, Mr. Biyora would only say that he made "over $10,000" from the
previous tapping craze.

 

He profits from everyone else's taps, so he encourages them in posts on
social media, and by providing free internet to anyone willing to sit
outside his house. Nigerians don't need much encouragement -- despite the
risks and volatility, Nigeria has the second highest cryptocurrency adoption
rate in the world.

 

So every evening, struggling young men gather by Mr. Biyora's home and tap.

 

Pleas for Help

 

In much of Nigeria, it's normal to share with your neighbors and give alms
to the poor.

 

Every day, people come to the gate of Kano's Freedom Radio station to drop
off sheets of paper containing heartfelt appeals for help paying medical
bills or school fees, or to recover from some disaster.

 

A radio presenter chooses three to read out daily, and often a sympathetic
listener calls in to pay the supplicant's bill.

 

But lately the appeals have multiplied, and offers of help have dried up.

 

Good Samaritans used to come to the E.R. and pay strangers' bills for them,
Mr. Garba said. That rarely happens now either.

 

Still, Mr. Garba said, the number of patients coming to his hospital has
almost halved in recent months.

 

Many of the sick never even make it. They can't afford the 20-cent bus ride.

 

·This article, which the Presidency reacted to, was first published in the
New York Times on June 11, 2024.

 

- Vanguard.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Amid Fx Squeeze, Nigeria Records 42m Barrels Oil Production Deficit
in Five Months

Abuja — As Nigeria continues to borrow to counter the prolonged reduced
foreign exchange inflow into the economy, a THISDAY analysis of available
data has shown that the country lost as much as 42 million barrels of crude
oil to underproduction between January and May, 2024.

 

Data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission
(NUPRC) indicated that going by the 1.58 million barrels per day quota
allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), the country was supposed to produce 240 million barrels in the five
months under review.

 

However, the data showed that Nigeria only managed to drill a volume of
about 198 million barrels of crude oil, leaving a deficit of about 42
million barrels of OPEC-sanctioned production during the period.

 

 

At an estimated average Brent crude oil price per barrel of $85 in 2024, it
showed that the country may have lost a gross revenue of $3.57 billion to
its inability to meet the revised OPEC production quota of 1.58 million bpd
so far this year.

 

Nigeria gets over 80 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings from the
export of crude oil and is therefore highly negatively impacted by either
falling crude oil production or prices in the international market. For a
long time, crude oil prices have stabilised at over $80 per barrel, but
Nigeria has failed to markedly raise output during the period.

 

The country has blamed oil theft, massive oil assets vandalism,
deteriorating infrastructure in the country's Niger Delta as well as years
of underinvestment for its persistent inability to raise production
significantly.

 

 

Nigeria in recent times, has resorted to borrowing to augment the little
inflow of foreign exchange into the country's FX market, first taking
foreign loans of $1.71 billion to boost FX into the country in the first
nine months of 2023.

 

In August last year, Nigeria's state-oil firm, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) announced that it had secured a $3.3
billion crude oil repayment loan from Cairo-based Afrexim Bank that will
support the government's reforms to stabilise the exchange rate market.

 

The NNPC in a post it tagged, "Relief for The Naira," said the loan will
immediately help to disburse funds to support the government in its ongoing
fiscal and monetary policy reforms aimed at stabilising the exchange rate
market.

 

Since the harmonisation of the foreign currency market segments in Nigeria
one year ago, the naira has depreciated by an estimated 214.64 per cent
against the dollar, closing at N1482.72 to a dollar last Friday, compared to
the N471/$ it was selling at the government-controlled official market a
year earlier.

 

 

Last week, the Board of the World Bank approved a $2.25 billion loan for
Nigeria to shore up revenue and support economic reforms that have
contributed to the worst cost-of-living crisis in many years for Africa's
most populous country.

 

The bank said in a statement that the bulk of the loan -- $1.5 billion --
will help protect millions who have faced growing poverty since a year ago
when President Bola Tinubu came to power and took drastic steps to fix the
country's ailing economy, including fuel subsidy removal and floating of the
Naira.

 

The remaining $750 million, the bank said, will support tax reforms and
revenue and safeguard oil revenues threatened with limited production caused
by chronic crude theft.

 

Despite repeatedly targeting a production of 2 million bpd crude oil for
years, the country has failed to meet its OPEC quota, which was slashed from
1.74 million bpd last year to the current 1.58 million bpd.

 

But the NUPRC data showed that instead of the almost 49 million barrels
required to meet its OPEC allocation for each of the five months, Nigeria
produced 44.22 million barrels in January, the highest this year.

 

In February, the country produced 38.34 million barrels; 38.14 million
barrels in March; 38.44 million barrels in April and 38.79 million barrels
in May, all excluding condensates which are outside OPEC's monthly
computation.

 

Crude oil production from the Bonny terminal declined considerably from 6.35
million barrels in January to 3.6 million barrels in May of this year, while
Brass also reduced from 735,680 barrels to 635,929 barrels during the same
period.

 

In addition, output from Qua Iboe fell from 4.2 million barrels in the whole
of January to 3.96 million barrels last month, while Forcados slumped from
7.7 million barrels to 5.9 million barrels in May 2024.

 

There was no major change in output at the Excravos facility, which was 4.1
million barrels apiece in January and May, while production from Odudu
terminal fell marginally from 2.9 million barrels to 2.6 million barrels.

 

No production was recorded at all at the Aje, Asaramatoru, Okono, Anambra
Basin, Ukpokiti and Ima facilities, although oil flow resumed at Utapate,
and Ajapa.

 

A breakdown of the production information further showed that Nigeria
produced 1.42 million bpd in January; 1.32 million bpd in February; 1.23
million bpd in March; 1.28 million bpd in April and 1.25 million bpd in May
this year.

 

Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude oil producer, also owns the second largest
reserves of the resource on the continent. It also has over 209 Trillion
Cubic Feet (TCF) in gas reserves, but is hardly able to get the required
quantity out of the ground as a result of lack of investment and several
bottlenecks in the sector.

 

- This Day.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Govt Must Avert Labour Strikes

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the
two main labour unions in Nigeria, embarked on an avoidable and debilitating
nationwide industrial strike that paralysed the country on June 2 and June
3, 2024. The action was due to the mistrust and disagreement between the
government and the organised labour. It led to total blackout across the
country as the national grid was unplugged. Flights were disrupted because
the unions blocked the roads to the airports. Tertiary institutions had to
shut classrooms. Health workers joined the strike, causing hospitals to
remain shut over that period. The strike led to frustration among ordinary
Nigerians who were at its receiving end.

 

 

The strike was the fourth in the last one year since President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu took over the leadership of the country. The National Secretary of
the TUC, Nuhu Toro, said the action was to demand fair wages, noting that
the action was "a joint decision and a total one. We are demanding a living
wage, not just a new minimum wage; reduction of the current electricity
tariff."

 

Before the strike, the engagement between labour and the government over the
new minimum wage broke down. While labour asked for N494,000 ($329) as
minimum living wage, the government insisted on paying N60,000 ($40), an
amount that cannot buy a bag of rice. At the moment, the minimum wage is
N30,000 ($20).

 

The strike lasted two days but its negative impact on ordinary Nigerians was
monumental, as the economy suffered and the society was disoriented.

 

 

We commend the labour movement for promptly calling off the strike initially
planned to be indefinite and accepting to engage the government further on
the issue in order to reach a compromise.

 

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said,
"The federal government's new minimum wage (N60,000) proposal amounts to a
100 per cent increase on the existing minimum wage which was last reviewed
in 2019. Labour, however, wanted N494,000, which would increase by 1,547 per
cent on the existing wage. The sum of N494,000 national minimum wage which
labour is seeking will cumulatively amount to the sum of N9.5trn bill to the
Federal Government of Nigeria. Nigerians need to understand that whereas the
government is desirous of ample remuneration for Nigerian workers, what is
most critical is that President Tinubu will not encourage any action that
could lead to massive job losses, especially in the private sector, which
may not be able to pay the wage demanded by the organised labour."

 

 

It is unfortunate that the government allowed the issue of a new wage to
degenerate up to the point where the organised labour had to call its
members out for another nationwide strike. Without argument, it is clear
that what the government pays as minimum wages is ridiculously low and falls
below the average minimum wage in Africa. There is no argument about the
fact that a wage is not about the quantity of money, but what such money can
buy.

 

In 1974, the minimum wage was about N60, which amounts to about $228 today.
In 2009, when the minimum wage was N18,000, the value was $111, which is
five times the value of the current N30,000 per month.

 

Therefore, the demand for the minimum wage increase is not anchored on the
quantity of the naira, but on the purchasing power of the wage.

 

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is clear about the need for a
regular review of wages every five years; that is in the worst case. Some
countries review salaries every two years, especially after considering the
rate of inflation and the value of their currency. The Nigerian government
must develop this systemic approach to minimum wage increase to ensure that
Nigerians do not have to embark on industrial actions before it reviews
salaries.

 

It is also very important that the government makes a deliberate effort to
bring down the prices of food items and other essential goods. The current
inflationary trend is becoming too wild for comfort. At the rate in which
the prices of items are skyrocketing, even the N250,000 that labour is
advocating may not be enough as minimum wage. It has become imperative for
the government to put in place other fiscal and monetary measures to bring
down the prices of goods and shore up the value of the naira. The
devaluation of the naira is actually the devaluation of labour in Nigeria; a
step that many governments do not take until measures to cushion their
effects are put in place.

 

We, therefore, call on the government to take action on the issue of the
wage increase seriously and arrive at a genuine consensus with labour to
avoid any further industrial action.

 

- Daily Trust.

 

 

 

 

Uganda: One Million Households to Get Free Electricity Connection, Says
Minister Nankabirwa

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu has
revealed that government has received a loan from World Bank summing to
USD638 millions under the Electricity Access Scale-Up Project to expand
electricity connectivity in different parts of the country including refugee
host communities.

 

Nankabirwa revealed this at Kande Village in Katikamu Sub County in Luwero
district in an engagement with locals from the area following reports of
extortion by private power companies with promises to connect them.

 

She said that, the ministry's target is to increase consumption of power to
meet the costs of it's production and this particular project is supposed to
run for 3 years and over one million households will be connected at a free
cost.

 

"We have started implementation of this project, put in place committees and
we are now contracting out. We shall target those who have poles within
their vicinity and we will connect them freely provided ,that houses are
connected by certified people," Nankabirwa stated.

 

 

In the meeting, Livingstone Luzinda a resident of Kande Village reported
that there's a private company that asked locals from over 40 house holds in
the area to collect Shs 22 millions, each paying Shs 700,000 for electricity
poles and connection expenses.

 

Luzinda told the minister that they had started collecting money but it was
really a heavy burden for them and they decided to report the issue to the
Deputy Secretary General of NRM Rose Namayanja to help them report the
matter to the concerned authorities.

 

"We have tried to get electricity in our area but in vain. Some company
asked us to pay Shs 700,000 for poles and connection but we couldn't afford
so we decided to run to Hon. Namayanja and we are pleased that she has heard
our cry by bringing Hon Nankabirwa."

 

Namayanja who acted swiftly said that she was shocked to hear that companies
are charging people that illegal big sum of money yet power is the engine of
development.

 

 

" Requiring people to pay money to bring power lines, to me was extortion
and it paints a very bad image for NRM because this service is supposed to
be free and this is why I decided to invite my colleague Hon. Nankabirwa
such that she can directly get it from the horse's mouth," Namayanja said.

 

"I am glad that she promised to send a technical team to come and carryout
the designs to ensure that this town that is near Kampala Gulu Highway gets
power" Namayanja added.

 

Nankabirwa warned private companies to desist against charging people for
power lines and connection because it is the responsibility of government to
connect people to power.

 

"Government is obliged to connect people freely, so when I heard that there
companies charging people for electricity connection, I was concerned
because it's not right, transportation of electricity is expensive so people
should be calm and patient government is trying so hard to ensure that power
is evenly distributed," said Nankabirwa.

 

However, Energy Minister urged those that can afford gas to slowly start
using it to protect the environment.

 

"The government is looking for money to move people from using firewood and
charcoal to gas or electricity to save the environment."

 

- Nile Post.

 

 

 

Apple scraps its Pay Later loan scheme

Apple Pay Later users in the US could break up the cost of purchases worth
up to $1,000 (£788) into four instalments over six weeks without having to
pay interest or fees.

 

The scheme represented a move into providing financial services, with Apple
effectively offering customers loans, instead of resorting to banks and
other traditional lenders.

The company used a new subsidiary, Apple Financing, to issue the loans.

It came at a time when US interest rates were close to zero, making both
borrowing much more attractive.

However, as central banks put up rates to tackle rising prices, such plans
became less appealing.

 

During its annual developer event last week, Apple announced that it would
be partnering with banks , including Citi in the US, HSBC in the UK and ANZ
in Australia, to offer instalment payment options.

 

The new payment options will be made available on its upcoming iOS 18
operating system, which is expected to be released later this year.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Boeing boss admits culture 'far from perfect'

Boeing's chief executive Dave Calhoun will tell US lawmakers on Tuesday that
he understands concerns about its safety culture after a mid-air emergency
in January raised alarm.

In prepared remarks ahead of the US Senate sub-committee hearing, he said:
"Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making
progress. We understand the gravity."

The company has been in the spotlight since an unused door fell off a brand
new 737 Max plane during a flight operated by Alaska Airlines, leaving a
gaping hole in its side.

 

As part of an ongoing investigation, Boeing whistleblowers told the Senate
in April that the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 models had serious
production issues.

But concerns about Boeing's attitudes toward safety and quality control
conditions in its factories are not new.

The company faced intense criticism five years ago, after two 737 Max
aircraft were lost in separate, but almost identical accidents, killing 346
people.

Mr Calhoun is also expected to apologise to the families affected on Tuesday
in what will mark his first time giving testimony in front of the panel
during his time as chief executive.

 

“We are deeply sorry for your losses,” his prepared opening comment says.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of the people who step on board
our airplanes."

He became chief executive of Boeing in 2020 when the company was reeling
from the aftermath of the fatal crashes.

In October 2018, the Lion Air crash led to a temporary grounding of the
Boeing 737 Max.

 

 

All 189 people on the flight died after the aircraft crashed into the Java
Sea 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta, Indonesia.

In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight, which was a Boeing 737 Max,
crashed six minutes after take-off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis
Ababa.

All 157 on-board were killed and both these crashes were linked to faulty
flight control systems.

 

 

Since the 2018 and 2019 incidents, family members of those killed, some of
whom are still working to resolve legal claims against the firm, have spoken
out.

Several are planning to attend the hearing on Tuesday.

Zipporah Kuria, who lost her father in the 2019 crash, is one of them.

 

 

"I flew from England to Washington, DC, to hear in person what the Boeing
chief executive has to say to the Senate and to the world about any safety
improvements made at that corporation," she said in a statement ahead of the
hearing.

"We will not rest until we see justice," she added.

Speaking ahead of the hearing on Tuesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal, who
chairs the panel, said in a statement: "Boeing must repair a broken safety
culture and that is management's task ahead."

 

 

"Years of putting profits ahead of safety, stock price ahead of quality, and
production speed ahead of responsibility has brought Boeing to this moment
of reckoning, and its hollow promises can no longer stand," he added.

Dave Calhoun, the outgoing Boeing chief executive who has also served as its
president for the last four years, also said in his prepared remarks that it
was "thankful" there were no fatalities during the Alaska Airlines incident.

 

 

"I come from this industry, and I know full well that this is an industry
where we simply must get it right, every time," he wrote.

He also added that in the wake of the incident, the company has co-operated
with investigations by US authorities, as well as listening to employees and
holding "stand downs" in plants to address any potential issues.

 

 

In May, the company also presented regulators with a plan aimed at improving
the quality of its aircraft.-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

London becomes Europe's largest stock market again

The UK’s main stock market retook its crown as Europe’s most valuable for
the first time in nearly two years, data shows.

The total value of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) hit
$3.18tn on Monday, overtaking the $3.13tn total value of companies listed in
Paris, according to Bloomberg data.

 

 

Both valuations have shifted since and remain close, but analysts describe
it as a milestone.

They say the French market has slumped because of the uncertainty around its
election, while the UK market is recovering after several years of
underperformance.

The LSE had been Europe’s largest stock market for many years before
November 2022 when it was overtaken.

 

 

Analysts at the time blamed LSE’s performance on the fallout from former
Prime Minister Liz Truss’ mini-Budget, a weak pound, recession fears and
Brexit.

The LSE was worth about $1.4tn more than its Parisian rival in 2016.

Analysts say that market investors generally dislike uncertainty - and there
are many questions about what the French snap election called by the
president will mean.

President Emmanuel Macron called the snap election earlier this month,
following a victory for his rival Marine Le Pen's right-wing National Rally
in European elections.

Hargreaves Lansdown's money and markets head Susannah Streeter suggested
though that Le Pen's manifesto contains "unfunded spending".

"They are not so focused about winning over the market," said Ms Streeter.

Financial markets often react badly when they do not know where the money
for a government's pledges will come from.

This is because it affects the value of bonds, which is money investors loan
the government at a rate agreed by the market.

If investors believe that a government or potential government's policies
don't add up, the interest rate on bonds, known as the yield, tends to rise.

This then hurts the value of listed companies, because if the bond yield is
very high then investors can often make more money lending to the government
than investing in a company's shares.

 

 

How the government raises and spends £1 trillion a year

Labour's claim of £71bn of unfunded Tory spending fact-checked

Conservative claim that Labour would cost families £2,000 fact-checked

Looking towards the UK, Ms Street added that the Labour party, which is
currently leading in the polls in the run-up to the UK general election, has
been trying to reassure investors and the City that it is a "safe pair of
hands".

 

 

The Conservative party has also been trying to convince investors of its
approach.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the Wall Street Journal chief executives'
council summit last month: "I think London’s stock market demise is
massively overstated."

"We do have challenges, and we’re addressing those challenges.”

 

 

One of the biggest challenges facing the LSE over the last decade has been
pitching to investors and companies tempted by American exchanges.

A number of big firms, including ones based in the UK, have chosen to list
in the US rather than the UK.

This has driven up the value of American stocks, which then encourages even
more companies to list there.

The S&P All-Share index, which tracks the value of every listed company in
the US, has soared over 85% over the last five years.

The equivalent FTSE All-Share index has increased by less than a tenth over
the same time period.

 

 

However, since the start of this year, the UK index has picked up, which AJ
Bell's investment director Russ Mould said is partly due to clarity on
interest rates.

They are expected to go down at some point this year, meaning British
companies can borrow money for less.

 

Despite this, British stocks are much cheaper than American stocks relative
to their earnings, and Mould suggests investors may be overvaluing US
companies and undervaluing UK ones.

 

 

He noted that the main US exchanges are heavily dependent on a handful of
highly-valued tech stocks, including Google, Apple, and Amazon, but did not
believe this would be sustainable in the long-term.

"If everyone is sitting on one side of the boat, it's going to tip over
eventually," he said.-BBC

 

 

 

 

US surgeon general wants social media warning labels

One of America's most senior health officials has called on the country to
impose smoking-style warning labels on social media platforms.

Writing in the New York Times, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said social
media increased the risk that children would experience symptoms of anxiety
and depression.

He wants people who visit these platforms to be shown a message warning that
they are "associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents".

He said such a label would "regularly remind parents and adolescents that
social media has not been proved safe".

The BBC has approached Youtube, TikTok, X and Meta, which owns Facebook and
Instagram, for comment.

 

 

Warning labels were first added to cigarette packaging in the US in 1966,
after then-Surgeon General Luther L Terry published a report linking tobacco
to lung cancer.

Other countries then followed, with the UK requiring a similar message to be
printed on packets in 1971.

Mr Murthy said that the evidence showed adding these labels to tobacco
packaging increased awareness of the risks associated with smoking.

And he believes that a similar warning applied to social media platforms
would encourage parents to monitor their child's safety online.

 

In the article, he also called for phone use to be banned in schools, and
said parents should stop children from using devices during meals and at
bedtime.

It comes after Mr Murthy published a public health advisory in 2023 which
found a link between teenage social media use and poor mental health.

But he accepts that there is no academic consensus on the impact of these
platforms, and is calling for more research to be done.

"In an emergency, you don’t have the luxury to wait for perfect
information," he said.

 

 

"You assess the available facts, you use your best judgment, and you act
quickly.

"The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency - and social
media has emerged as an important contributor."

'Not inherently harmful'

 

 

Gin Lalli, psychotherapist and author of How to Empty Your Stress Bucket,
told the BBC warning labels would be "a significant step towards promoting
better mental health and wellbeing".

She said that social media may have many benefits, but there may also be
some risks such as cyberbullying or exposure to harmful content.

"These risks lead to anxiety, depression and other mental health issues,
something myself and my colleagues are seeing more and more."

She said a warning label would act as a reminder for people to be mindful of
their usage, and to take regular breaks.

"I can also see warning labels as being of great benefit to the parents –
having that ‘back-up’ so to speak means that they can feel more confident in
setting boundaries around social media use," she said.

 

 

There is an ongoing debate about the impact of social media on young people.

Some research has found a link between heavy social media use and a negative
impact on teenagers' mental health, and other research has linked teenage
social media use to a reduction in how satisfied children feel with their
lives.

 

 

But a 2023 study found no evidence linking the global spread of Facebook and
widespread psychological harm, while other research reported some children
benefit from spending time online speaking to friends they already know
offline.

And the American Psychological Association says social media is "not
inherently beneficial or harmful", though it warns of problematic use and
wants content removed which encourages harm.

 

 

It also said "most" under-14s should be monitored while using social media.

In the UK, tech firms will have to take more action to keep children safe on
the internet, with the Online Safety Act set to come into force in 2025.

Media regulator Ofcom set out new rules for tech firms in May, requiring
them to have robust age-checking measures and to steer children away from
"toxic" material.

But parents of children who died after exposure to harmful online content
want the rules to go further.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Too much of a good thing? Spain's green energy can exceed demand

The patchwork plains of Castilla-La Mancha, in central Spain, were once
known for their windmills.

 

But now it is wind turbines, their modern-day equivalent, which are much
more visible on the region’s skyline.

The 28 vast turbines of the Sierra del Romeral windfarm, perched on hills
not far from the historic city of Toledo, look out over this landscape.

Operated by Spanish firm Iberdrola, they are part of a trend that has
accelerated Spain’s renewable energy output over the past half-decade,
making the country a major presence in the industry.

 

 

Spain’s total wind generation capacity, its prime renewable source in recent
years, has doubled since 2008. Solar energy capacity, meanwhile, has
increased by a factor of eight over the same period.

This makes Spain the EU member state with the second-largest renewable
energy infrastructure, after Sweden in first place.

Earlier this year, Spain's Socialist Workers' Party prime minister, Pedro
Sánchez, described his country as "a driving force of the energy transition
on a global scale".

 

 

The boom began soon after the arrival of a new government under Mr Sánchez
in 2018, with the removal of regulatory obstacles, and the introduction of
subsidies for renewable installation. The pandemic further accelerated the
trend on a domestic level.

 

"The impact of Covid was very positive for our sector," says José Donoso,
chief executive of UNEF, the Spanish Photovoltaic Association, which
represents the solar panel sector. "People saved money, took time to think
about what to do with it, and many of them decided that it was better
invested on their roof than in their bank."

Meanwhile, the government introduced ambitious new targets, including
covering 81% of Spain’s electricity needs with renewables by 2030.

 

 

Spain has seen a boom in people getting solar panels fitted to the roofs of
their homes

 

However, behind this success story, there are concerns within the
electricity industry caused by an imbalance between supply and demand with,
at times, a surplus of electricity.

Even though the Spanish economy has bounced back strongly from the trauma of
the Covid pandemic, and is growing faster than all of the bloc’s other big
economies, electricity consumption has been dropping in recent years.

 

 

Last year, demand for electricity was even below that seen in the pandemic
year 2020, and the lowest since 2003.

"What we saw until 2005 was that when GDP increased, demand for electricity
increased more than GDP," says Miguel de la Torre Rodríguez, head of system
development at Red Eléctrica (REE), the company that operates Spain's
national grid.

 

 

More recently, he says, "we've seen that demand has increased less than GDP.
What we're seeing is a decoupling of energy intensity from the economy".

There are several reasons for the recent drop in demand. They include the
energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which
caused businesses and homes across Europe to cut back on usage.

 

 

Also, energy efficiency has improved and become more commonplace.

The increased usage of renewable energy has also contributed to the
reduction in demand for electricity from the national grid.

Mr Rodríguez says that during daylight hours, when solar energy output is
particularly strong, the supply-demand balance can be pushed out of kilter,
having an impact on prices.

 

 

"Since the power system always has to have an equilibrium – demand has to
equal generation – that has meant there has been excess generation during
those hours," he says.

"That has driven prices down, especially during certain hours, when the
prices have been zero or even negative."

 

 

Pedro Sánchez wants Spain to be a "driving force" of renewable energy

 

While such low prices are welcome for consumers, they are potentially a
problem when it comes to attracting investment to the industry.

"This can make it more difficult for investors to increase their investment
in new electricity based on renewable energies," says Sara Pizzinato, a
renewable energy expert at Greenpeace Spain.

 

 

"That can be a bottleneck for the energy transition."

Concerns about Spain having an excess of electricity have led to discussion
of the need to accelerate the "electrification" of the economy, which
involves moving it away from fossil fuels. The Sánchez government has set a
target of making 34% of the economy reliant on electricity by 2030.

"This process is going slowly, and we need to accelerate it," says UNEF’s
José Donoso.

 

 

"Electricity is the cheapest and most competitive way to produce clean
energy.

"We need facilities that use electricity in place of fossil fuels."

 

 

Shifting to a total reliance on electricity is seen as unrealistic, as some
important sectors like chemicals and metals will find the transition
difficult.

 

However, Mr Donoso and others see plenty of scope for swifter
electrification. For example, Spain is trailing many of its European
neighbours when it comes to the installation of heat pumps in homes, and the
use of electric cars, which only make up around 6% of vehicles on the road.

Ms Pizzinato agrees that electrification is crucial, but says there are
other ways of tackling the supply-demand quandary, including phasing out the
use of nuclear plants more quickly, and increasing energy storage
capability.

 

 

She says: "We need to engage more people and more industries in demand-side
management, to make sure the flexibility needed in the system is out there
to make generation and demand match better during the day and during the
night."-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


 Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Cellphone:         +263 71 944 1674 | +27 79 993 5557 

Email:                <mailto:bulls at bullszimbabwe.com>
bulls at bullszimbabwe.com

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

Blog:                  <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com/blog>
www.bullszimbabwe.com/blog

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LinkedIn:           Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

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www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe



 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2024

 


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) 2024 Web:  <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:bulls at bullszimbabwe.com> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com Tel: +27 79 993
5557 | +263 71 944 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

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