Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 06 May 2024

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Major International Business Headlines Brief:::  06 May 2024 

 


 


 

	
 


 

 


 

ü  Nigeria: Tinubu's Nigeria - a Year At the Edge of the Abyss

ü  Namibians Borrowing Less

ü  Ghana: 54 Percent of Ghanaian Workers Are Stressed Daily At Their Jobs -
New Gallup Report Finds

ü  Kenya: Whatsapp Edges Tiktok As Most Popular Social Media Site in Kenya

ü  Rwanda: Is the Proposed East African Single Currency a Pipe Dream?

ü  Kenya: Regional Transport Ministers Commit to 6 SGR Corridors

ü  Namibia: Plans Afoot for Namibia's First Salmon Farm

ü  Kenya Commits to Start Construction of Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba SGR Line

ü  Nigeria: Long Trail of Exiting Companies Threatens Nigerian Exchange's
Drive to Grow Listings

ü  Have the wheels come off for Tesla?

ü  Slowdown in US job growth revives rate cut talk

ü  Apple sales fall in nearly all countries

ü  Goldman Sachs removes bankers' bonus limit

ü  Weight loss drug wins 25,000 new US users a week

 


 

 


 <https://www.cloverleaf.co.zw/> Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania
have successfully aNigeria: Tinubu's Nigeria - a Year At the Edge of the
Abyss

University students are among those hit hardest by the Tinubu
administration's IMF-directed austerity programme.

 

Ajadi Sodiq, an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan, receives a
monthly allowance of N25,000 ($15.82) from his parents and relatives. Before
February 2024, that amount not only fed him daily, it also left him with
enough cash to transport himself from his hostel to his classes every month.

 

"Things were not perfect then but they were not bad," Ajadi says, as he
recounts student life from about a year ago. But that's a thing of the past
now, as the country's struggling economy has pushed his reality from being
livable to almost unbearable.

 

"I now eat only once daily. And I do that a few hours after noon so that I'd
be fine till the day ends," he told African Arguments on a Thursday morning
in March. Ajadi's new reality does not exist in isolation. Across the
country, young people have resorted to extreme austerity measures to cope
with the country's economic crisis, the worst since the majority of them
were born.

 

 

A crisis like never before

 

Nigeria is currently battling its worst economic crisis in recent years. The
country's currency has lost at least half of its value against the dollar
over the past 12 months. During his inauguration on 29 May 2023, President
Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy, a decision that instantly
tripled the cost of fuel. The trickle down effect of the move immediately
spiked the cost of production across all sectors, throwing the economy into
turmoil and taking essential commodities out of the reach of many Nigerians.

 

In January 2024, the country's headline inflation rate hit 29.9 percent, the
highest in almost three decades. The cost of food, the biggest component of
the budget of many Nigerian households, has significantly spiked over the
past few months. Food inflation in the country has increased to 35.4 percent
in the country with some states recording inflation as high as 40 per cent,
according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

 

 

A series of policies by the Tinubu administration has done little to ease
the economic shock precipitated by the fuel subsidy withdrawal and
spiralling inflation. The economy was years in trouble before Tinubu took
office. The Buhari administration's preoccupation with defending a sinking
Naira appeared to be a pursuit of the ghosts of the mid-1980s when, as
military leader, his disagreement with the IMF over currency devaluation and
withdrawal of fuel subsidies, had led to his ouster. It has emerged more
recently that the previous Senate's deeply controversial N30 trillion
($20,827,836,900) Ways and Means spending, and a currency redesign project
that spiraled into a nationwide crisis, left gaping holes in the country's
economy.

 

Tinubu's determination to further deregulate the economy by removing fuel
subsidy and floating the naira last year only exposed these existing
macroeconomic cracks. Structural issues like insecurity in the North East
and South East, as well as an abductions industry that has spread almost
countrywide, have also contributed to the rise in food prices as farmers and
others, especially rural actors in the supply chain, are deeply affected.

 

 

In July last year, the President declared a state of emergency on the rising
cost of living in the country but things have only gotten worse since then.
Various palliative measures announced by the government, like the temporary
cash payments to poor households and the distribution of grains to people in
rural communities, have done little to dilute the impacts of the economic
crisis on the life of the average Nigerian.

 

Resort To Austerity

 

Olaomo Favour, a University undergraduate resident in Lagos, Nigeria's
economic center, has made sacrifices to her lifestyle to enable her to adapt
to the current economic situation. Before now, Olaomo, like many
middle-class students in the country, found comfort in placing orders for
food through online apps that delivered it to her hostel. It's an
arrangement that many find convenient as it slashes the time spent in
traffic and in queues, allowing them to better focus on their studies.

 

One afternoon in February, Olaomo opened one of these food apps to place an
order. She looked at the new amount she had to pay and smiled. "I just
cancelled it," she said, describing it as something she could no longer
afford. "The price was just too high."

 

But that's not all. When she decided to get lunch from a fast-food
restaurant, she realized that a plate of spaghetti that sold for N1300
($0.82) some weeks previously now cost N2100 ($1.33), an increase of almost
70 percent. It was at that point she realized that she had to make lifestyle
changes to continue to survive. Now, she rarely eats three times daily,
spends more time cooking as opposed to the alternatives she finds more
comfortable.

 

"Eating three times a day is a luxury now and not everyone can afford it,
including me," she says. "I've had to be more prudent with my spending."

 

Ajadi and Olaomo's stories mirror a pattern of extreme austerity measures
university students have adopted to survive the highest inflation of their
lifetime. These measures are not limited to the cost of food. Rather, they
now extend to all other basic necessities.

 

These days, Ajadi treks to classes every day from his off-campus apartment.
He can't afford the transport fare any more. To make things worse, the high
fuel prices have forced an increase in intra-campus fares.

 

For example at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria's North Central, anyone
who stays off-campus, where the majority of students live due to the low
capacity of on-campus hotel facilities, will spend an average of N15000
($9.49) monthly, equivalent to 50 percent of the country's N30,000 ($18.98)
minimum wage for workers.

 

Pandora's Box

 

The measures that students have embraced to cope with the trickle-down
effect of the country's economic crisis and high inflation rate have
potentially dangerous short- and long-term implications. Rildwan Bello,
co-founder of Lagos-based consultancy firm, Vestance, says these
implications can be categorized broadly into two: nutrition and
psychological.

 

"On the nutrition part, you have a hungry man in the classroom which means
there's a limit to what that person can learn, and on the psychological
part, you see reduction in concentration from these students because now
they have to start thinking of ways to get extra money," Rildwan said.

 

 

Experts believe there's not much students can do to change the situation
because it's not their fault. "They can't go and plant what they will eat.
They can't do anything at the level of policy implementation."

 

"What they can control [is how] to be more creative with [utilising] their
time. This is not the time to rely on their allowance only. They probably
want to pick up a skill or an activity that'll give them an extra stipend.
It might be by exploring work-study schemes and paid internships and
ensuring they do them in ways that don't affect their studies," Rildwan
added.

 

This, too, comes at a cost. Ajadi told African Arguments that his monthly
allowance from home has been reduced since the economy had negatively
impacted his parent's business. To get the same amount of allowance monthly,
he takes on multiple gigs. The effect is beginning to show on his academic
performance.

 

"Academically, this has also affected me so I've reduced the reading time I
have daily from three [hours] to one. There's a limit to what you can read
without food and when you have to do all these things to get a small amount
to cope," he explained.

 

However, Rildwan maintains that the real solutions to the crisis must come
from the government and the majority of these solutions are long term. "We
want to raise productivity (so we ask): Can we produce? Can we secure
farmland for farmers so that displaced farmers can return to farm? Can we
get subsidies on inputs that they import because almost all the fertilizers
they use are imported? All of these things are part of what we have to look
at."

 

In February, as part of aggressive efforts to combat the high inflation
rate, the Central Bank increased the benchmark interest rate by 400 basis
points to a record 22.75 percent. But as the government continues to tinker
with various policy options, University students continue to find individual
answers for survival in an economic climate alien to them.

 

Adebayo Abdulrahman is Nigerian journalist, fact-checker, climate justice
ambassador, and multiple-award-winning public speaker. A graduate of Mass
Communication from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, he's currently pursuing a
Bachelor's degree in Political Science at the University of Ibadan.

 

 

 

Namibians Borrowing Less

Namibians are currently spending less on debt, compared to what they have in
the past.

 

The Bank of Namibia (BoN) in its latest Financial Stability Report, which
was released on Tuesday, says this is mainly because salaries have increased
in accordance with inflation, and the government is hiring more people.

 

"The ratio of household debt to disposable income changed from 43,3% in 2022
to 40,5% in 2023, partly due to inflationary salary adjustments, coupled
with recruitment by the government during 2023," the report says.

 

Additionally, household debt increased slightly (3,3%), compared to 2022
(3,4%).

 

This means it is growing at a much slower pace.

 

This slowdown in debt growth suggests that Namibians are more cautious with
borrowing.

 

 

When it comes to corporate debt, there has been an increase driven by loans
extended to foreign investors in the mining sector.

 

The report says the corporate debt-to-gross domestic product ratio went up
slightly, with 72,4%, compared to 70,7% in the previous year.

 

"This increase is manageable, and the overall risk of excessive debt growth
for both households and businesses is considered medium in the next year,"
the report states.

 

BANKING SECTOR STILL THRIVING

 

The banking sector has remained profitable on the back of interest income,
even amid inflation.

 

The report says banks remained profitable and liquid, with enough funds to
operate safely.

 

"The profitability position of the banking sector remained healthy on the
back of higher net income, particularly interest income," it says.

 

 

The total asset amount in the banking sector grew by 6,1% to N$174,4 billion
in 2023.

 

However, there is concern over non-performing loans (NPLs), as the number of
borrowers not repaying loans has increased.

 

"Despite an increase in NPLs, the overall impact of risks from the banking
sector did not appear significant during the review period.

 

"It was therefore not deemed to pose an imminent threat to financial
stability in Namibia," the report says.

 

Stress tests also suggest the banks would survive challenges.

 

Banking sector assets grew by 6,1%, which is slightly higher than the
prevailing inflation rate of 5,9%.

 

The total asset amount for non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) grew by
almost 15% to N$419,4 billion in 2023.

 

Companies that offer loans and other financial services besides banks did
well last year.

 

Their total assets grew by almost 15% to N$419,4 billion in 2023.

 

This means that even though interest rates were going up, people still
wanted to borrow from service providers like microlenders.

 

"Despite the contractionary monetary policy environment, demand for NBFI
products remained strong in 2023. Moreover, volatility in the financial
markets remains of concern for short to medium-term viability of the NBFI
subsectors with mostly short-term liabilities," the report says.

 

BoN governor Johannes !Gawaxab says the unstable electricity supply and
logistical constraints in South Africa continue to pose potential risks to
Namibia.

 

He says Namibia's financial system is healthy amid persistent inflation.

 

!Gawaxab says the financial system has been operating efficiently, despite
challenges in the economic environment.

 

He says the global trend of persistent inflation challenges policymakers.

 

"However, despite this there is a sense of optimism," !Gawaxab says.

 

He says the bank and the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory
Authority will continue to work to ensure a favourable environment for both
financial institutions and consumers.

 

"Ours is to create a platform where providers and consumers of financial
products and services can find each other and do business in a regulated,
safe and stable environment," !Gawaxab says.

 

Namibian.

 

 

 

 

Ghana: 54 Percent of Ghanaian Workers Are Stressed Daily At Their Jobs - New
Gallup Report Finds

Young workers and those in exclusively remote or hybrid work locations
experience greater levels of stress

 

As stress levels remain at an all-time high for the global workforce, in
Ghana a majority of workers share in that pain as 54% say they experience
stress daily at their jobs. This is according to new insights from the 2023
State of the Global Workplace Report published by American multinational
analytics and advisory firm, Gallup.

 

The stress is associated with physical and mental health problems and lower
productivity, the report said, while also identifying that young workers and
those in exclusively remote or hybrid work locations experience greater
levels of stress.

 

- Advertisement -"While exclusively remote and hybrid employees report
higher employee engagement, they also report higher stress -- perhaps caused
by a less predictable or structured work life. This raise in employee stress
emphasizes the importance of organizations simultaneously addressing
employee engagement and wellbeing in the current and future workforce," it
said.

 

 

Not just in Ghana alone, but in sub-Saharan Africa, the issue is magnified
as the region records the highest percentage (70%) of employees watching for
or actively seeking a new job. It also recorded the third-highest regional
percentage of daily stress (46%) and daily anger levels (26%) among
employees.

 

The findings accoording to Gallup should offer leaders insights into
switching to science-based management techniques to change things around.

 

- Advertisement -"In this year's State of the Global Workplace report, we
estimate that low engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion. That's
9% of global GDP -- enough to make the difference between success and a
failure for humanity. Poor management leads to lost customers and lost
profits, but it also leads to miserable lives," said Jon Clifton, the firm's
CEO.

 

  Accra Time.

 

 

 

 

Kenya: Whatsapp Edges Tiktok As Most Popular Social Media Site in Kenya

Nairobi — WhatsApp remains the most popular online platform in Kenya,
leading with 22 percent of the market share, according to the latest report
on the state of the media in the country released by the Media Council of
Kenya (MCK).

 

Facebook and video sharing platform YouTube account for 19 and 14 percent,
respectively.

 

TikTok follows closely with 14 percent, having grown from 7 percent in 2022.

 

" Facebook, and YouTube maintained their positions as the leading digital
and social media platforms throughout the years 2021, 2022, and 2024. There
is however declined percentages in their usage," read the report by MCK.

 

Nonetheless, MCK report reveals that the traditional media, which are
television and radio, continue to be the main sources of information.

 

There is, however, a decline in the consumption of newspapers, according to
the report, with 26 percent of the surveyed respondents indicating that they
read a

 

newspaper in a typical week, which is a 3 percent drop from 2022.

 

"About one in every three respondents (33%) indicated that they consumed
content from TV within the last one week, another 32% mentioned radio, while
social media garnered 18% of the mentions," it added.

 

Capital FM.

 

 

 

 

 

Rwanda: Is the Proposed East African Single Currency a Pipe Dream?

Countries in the East African Community (EAC) want to adopt a single
currency as part of the broader plans to integrate under a single market,
and ultimately one region that trades together.

 

Those targets are based on the idea that integration brings far more
benefits to the countries and the people of the member states than they
would have if they traded or planned individually.

 

A single currency would mean that Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi,
Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and the newest member Somalia,
would abandon their individual currencies, and start trading under an East
African currency.

 

Those targets would have been achieved by 2024. However, they remain dreams
in the minds of East Africans and only plans written on papers shelved at
the EAC Secretariat.

 

"Without a common currency, one wouldn't confirm Africa has attained
complete independence," argues Africa Kiiza, Research Fellow at Columbia
Center on Sustainable Investment.

 

 

When you control your own currency, Kiiza asserts, you are in charge of your
own fiscal and monetary policies. At the moment, the continent is yet to
achieve full control over its monetary and fiscal policies.

 

In 2013, the EAC wanted to change that status quo. Members adopted the East
African Monetary Union (EAMU) Protocol, which was meant to lay groundwork
for a monetary union within 10 years and allow the partner states to
progressively converge their currencies into a single currency in the
Community.

 

Key to achieve that was the harmonization of monetary and fiscal policies,
financial, payment and settlement systems, financial accounting and
reporting practices, as well as policies and standards on statistical
information.

 

An East African Central Bank was to later be established.

 

Other prerequisites were the EAC Common Market and the Customs Union
Protocols.

 

The East African Monetary Institute (EAMI) which was to become the East
African central Bank and was supposed to be up and running by 2021 has not
been established. Member states are still in stalemate over who should host
it along other monetary union headquarters.

 

Despite EAC partner states having made some progress on implementing the
Common Market protocol and the Customs Union, failure to achieve monetary
union amounts to failure to integrate.

 

In fact, Kiiza, says one of the longstanding non-tariff barriers is the
multiplicity of currencies in the region. That is because lack of currency
convergence delays transactions and increases the cost of doing business.

 

"The multiplicity of currencies implies that traders lose money in the
process of currency conversion, which makes it costly to conduct business
across the border," he explains.

 

 

Africa contends that lack of a single currency in the region has led to
instability where traders who carry huge bundles of cash when traveling are
targeted, threatened, robbed, and sometimes killed.

 

He cites a case of Ugandan traders who previously complained about doing
business in South Sudan because they were being attacked for carrying huge
sums of cash when traveling to Sudan.

 

Because banks tend to give a lower rate of exchange, traders usually prefer
to withdraw cash and exchange them where they get a better exchange rate
offer, and that is usually at border points.

 

Still, John Bosco Kalisa, the CEO of East Africa Business Council (EABC),
cites currency convertibility as a major challenge for cross-border trade in
the EAC region. Businesses lose 20 per cent of the value of their money
every time they trade across borders.

 

"It does not only have an impact on trade, lack of a harmonized currency
affects the flow of investment and remittances in the region. When I send
money from Tanzania, to Rwanda, I lose 15% of the value of the money. That
shouldn't be the case," he says.

 

ALSO READ: What does demise of East African Shilling tell us about prospects
for EAC single currency?

 

Last year in March, central bank governors agreed to improve how they handle
money exchange and transfers within the region. They specifically considered
finding ways to prevent illegal activities while making these transactions
easier.

 

Although this was a step towards a future where EAC countries could share a
single currency, there has been little to no known progress about the
implementation of what was agreed last year.

 

What EAC loses

 

There is no doubt that having a common currency would be a step in the right
direction for the region to achieve complete independence and economic
stability by allowing seamless flow of investment, bringing down the cost of
trading, and easing remittances.

 

"A stronger, harmonized monetary policy is a key tool to attract and boost
investment in the region. It allows us to prevent the region from external
shocks," Kalisa notes.

 

However, it will take deliberate effort for the region to realise the
benefits that come with adopting a common currency. When the EAC missed its
2024 target, they set 2031 as a fresh deadline to adopt a single currency.

 

Experts worry this change of goalposts does not serve the interests of the
region well nor does it realistically present an opportunity for the region
to attain full integration.

 

Kalisa expresses frustration, saying that the "shift in deadlines doesn't
help the community, and this is our biggest concern. It contravenes the
[East African Monetary Union] roadmap."

 

The big question in this whole puzzle then is whether members have been
setting unrealistic targets toward achieving the East African common
currency. One has to look at and examine the effectiveness of the Treaty
that establishes the East African Community to understand whether targets
make sense.

 

"The way the Treaty was established did not take into account asymmetries.
Given the different levels of asymmetry in the region, it will be
[practically] impossible to achieve a common currency," Kalisa argues.

 

The asymmetry that Kalisa refers to is the idea that countries have
different levels of developments and situations, which determine the pace at
which each country moves towards implementing certain projects and
programmes.

 

"You cannot expect Burundi and South Sudan to move at the same pace with
Kenya and Uganda or Rwanda. Their levels of social-economic developments do
not grant them the opportunity to implement initiatives at the same interval
with those of slightly developed countries," he explains.

 

That imbalance and unequal situations among countries was not recognized in
the protocol establishing the East African Monetary Union. The protocol
stipulates that countries must achieve a similar level of macroeconomic
convergence criteria as a prerequisite for a common currency.

 

Those criteria include ceilings on headline inflation of 8 per cent, reserve
cover of 4.5-month import, on overall deficit of 3 per cent of gross
domestic product (GDP), and on gross public debt of 50 per cent of GDP.

 

Andrew Mold, Chief of Regional Integration at the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa's Regional Office for Eastern Africa, says
macroeconomic convergence within the EAC has been challenging, particularly
since the 'triple crises' of the global pandemic, the Ukraine shock and
climate change.

 

"The rising debt burden and a strong US dollar have made things even more
difficult," he weighs in, adding that in any case, it is clearly desirable
to have a single currency or, at the very least, greater stability in
bilateral exchange rates among member states.

 

However, Mold suggests that a single currency alone is not sufficient to
guarantee higher levels of economic integration, highlighting the case of
West and Central African countries, who despite having a common CFA Franc,
still struggle to economically integrate.

 

New Times.

 

 

 

Kenya: Regional Transport Ministers Commit to 6 SGR Corridors

Nairobi — Transport Ministers from four countries under the Northern
Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs) have endorsed joint resource
mobilization for construction of 6 Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) routes.

 

In a joint Communique on Friday, the Ministers welcomed the commitments of
Partner States to commence construction of Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba,
Malaba-Kampala and Kampala- Bihanga-Kasese-Mpondwe leading into DRC.

 

States also committed to the construction of Bihanga- Mirama Hills, Mirama
Hills - Kigali and Tororo-Gulu-Nimule leading into South Sudan and Gulu-
Pakwach-Vurra leading into DRC after securing financing for the
Malaba-Kampala SGR section.

 

 

Kenya promised to start the construction of the Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba line
by December with Uganda committing to finalize its contract by May 31.

 

The Ministers committed to exploring the possibility of Rwanda joining the
existing working framework between Uganda and Yapi Merkezi on the update of
feasibility study of Mirama Hills-Kigali section to ensure harmonization of
specifications.

 

"The Cabinet Secretary/Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to fast track
the review of the Tripartite Agreement on water transport on Lake Victoria
and welcomed the initiatives by Rwanda for exploring the navigability of
Akagera river," read a communique released following a meeting in Mombasa.

 

The Ministers settled on Rwanda as the host of the next SGRcluster meetings
at a date to be agreed.

 

The four Ministers also committed to establishing a framework that
facilitates cross-border maintenance of the SGR assets and facilities.

 

They further committed to harmonizing the planning and development of inland
water transport infrastructure including development of navigation charts to
provide seamless multimodal transport services within the NCIP.

 

The meeting was attended by Kipchumba Murkomen (Kenya) Jimmy Gasore
(Rwanda), Roger Te Biasu representing the Minister of Transport of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and Fred Byamukama, Uganda's Minister of State
for Works and Transport.

 

Capital FM.

 

 

 

 

Namibia: Plans Afoot for Namibia's First Salmon Farm

The construction of the country's first ever Atlantic salmon farm has
started, placing Namibia at the frontline of African salmon production.

 

During a groundbreaking ceremony at Lüderitz on Wednesday, vice president
Netumbu Nandi-Ndaitwa said the Benguela Blue Aqua Farming project is set to
be a game-changer for the region's economy.

 

"For the first time in our history, Namibia will become a producer of
premium Atlantic salmon and with the new industries coming up all around
Luderitz, soon this town will become one of the major economic centres of
our country," she said.

 

 

The project is expected to create a number of jobs and opportunities for
exports to key markets in Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia.

 

Nandi-Ndaitwa said the project aligns seamlessly with Vision 2030, the
Harambee Prosperity Plan and various national development plans.

 

She encouraged Nambians to consume fish, as it has various health benefits.

 

"This is a highly valuable seafood in terms of health. This is to say, we
should not only produce it for exporting, but we must also eat what we
produce," Nandi-Ndaitwa said.

 

According to her, this farm not only positions Namibia as a potential leader
in African salmon production, but it also places the country in a strategic
position to cater to the ever-growing global demand for this prized fish.

 

Lüderitz mayor Phil Bilhao said the project will create 600 jobs.

 

 

"The establishment of Benguela Blue Aquafarming will create a total of 600
direct jobs and an additional 1500 indirect employment opportunities,
providing a vital lifeline for our community and fostering economic growth
and stability for years to come," he said.

 

Bilhao said this serves as a beacon of hope for many residents of the town
and farmers alike.

 

"The establishment of this salmon farm signifies more than just the
cultivation of fish; it symbolises the preservation of our heritage and
serves as a beacon of hope for our fishermen and women," said Bilhao, adding
that the farm not only brings economic opportunities, but also promotes
environmental stewardship.

 

"Through state-of-the-art technology and responsible practices, we are
committed to safeguarding our marine ecosystems and nurturing the delicate
balance of nature upon which our prosperity depends," he said.

 

The project secured permits to grow up to 35 000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon a
year in submersible net pens and aims to begin operations in the second
quarter of 2024, with its first harvest expected to be around 100 tonnes.

 

Namibia Investment Promotion Development Board chief executive Nangula
Uaandja said this project took three years to get off the ground, which is
considered a success when it comes to investments.

 

"For us to be doing a groundbreaking after about three years of work might
seem like it took a long time, but it is really not, because, sometimes you
need to first find investors and then convince them to think about Namibia.

 

This can take up to 10 years usually," Uaandja said.

 

Namibian.

 

 

 

 

Kenya Commits to Start Construction of Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba SGR Line

Nairobi — The government has committed to start the construction of the
Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba and Malaba-Kampala Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line
by December.

 

In a joint communique following a meeting of regional Cabinet Secretaries
and Ministers Friday, Kenya and Uganda have completed the harmonization of
the technical specifications and standards.

 

"The Cabinet Secretary/Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to Expedite the
completion of construction of the remaining SGR sections from Naivasha in
Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and DRC and develop an implementation
roadmap," read the communique.

 

 

The Ministers have also committed to establishing a framework that
facilitates cross-border maintenance of the SGR assets and facilities.

 

Also, they have committed to harmonizing the planning and development of
inland water transport infrastructure including development of navigation
charts to provide seamless multimodal transport services within the NCIP.

 

"The Cabinet Secretary/Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to fast track
the development and harmonization of the policy, legal and institutional
framework for SGR and pursue joint mobilization of resources," read the
communique.

 

The meeting was attended by Kipchumba Murkomen, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry
of Roads and Transport, Jimmy Gasore, Minister of Infrastructure of the
Republic of Rwanda, Roger Te Biasu representing the Minister of Transport of
the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Fred Byamukama, Minister of State for
Works and Transport (Transport) of the Republic of Uganda.)

 

 

The governments of Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda signed a tripartite agreement
in 2014 to construct a standard gauge railway from Mombasa through Kampala
to Kigali, Rwanda.

 

However, the SGR came to an abrupt end at Naivasha, allegedly because China
refused to fund the remaining portion of the new railway after failing to
reach a deal with Uganda.

 

On 31st July 2023, Kenya and Uganda jointly signed a communique on the
financing and development of two significant railway projects, the
Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway and the Malaba-Kampala SGR,
which will be implemented in their respective countries.

 

The deal was formalised with Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen and his Ugandan
counterpart Edward Katumba-Wamala signing an agreement.

 

The SGR was one of the Jubilee government's mega projects which were aimed
at helping accelerate economic growth.

 

Capital FM.

 

 

 

 

Nigeria: Long Trail of Exiting Companies Threatens Nigerian Exchange's Drive
to Grow Listings

MTN Nigeria's public shares sale, held in December 2021, remains the only
IPO to be recorded by the NGX in the past five years.

 

Between last year and now, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) has seen a surge of
voluntary exits from companies listed on the bourse as more firms, for
various motivations, rejig their business models to seek greater
opportunities outside public ownership.

 

>From banking to energy and consumer goods sectors, at least seven firms have
left the exchange on their own within the period or are in the middle of
doing so in moves that could weaken the NGX's newfound drive to attract
fresh listings and boost market capitalisation.

 

 

The exchange only admitted two new companies (VFD Group and Mecure
Industries) last year and has added Transcorp Power to its list this year.

 

In December 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved
listing rules for NGX's new technology board as part of the strategies to
attract startup listings and end a drought of initial public offering (IPO)
that has plagued the market for years.

 

None of the companies the new listing segment targets have quoted their
shares ever since.

 

MTN Nigeria's public shares sale, held in December 2021, remains the only
IPO to be recorded by the NGX in the past five years. It is so because the
exuberance that once drove equity trading in the days before the 2008 global
financial crisis continues to elude the market, making IPOs unviable for
corporates.

 

In a report by President Bola Tinubu's policy advisory team last May, the
committee revealed a lofty plan by the government to grow market
capitalisation to 25 per cent of Nigeria's GDP between 12 to 18 months.

 

 

The market value of the six companies that have voluntarily withdrawn from
the exchange since last year comes to N263.2 billion, while that of the
other two, which are still in the process, is N158.2 billion as of 29 April.

 

The bid by the British majority owners of PZ Cussons Nigeria to acquire the
interest of minority shareholders flopped in March when the SEC refrained
from approving the deal for failure to meet some regulatory requirements.

 

Ardova (formerly Forte Oil), Union Bank, Capital Hotels and Courteville have
left the stock exchange, just like GlaxoSmithKline Consumer (GSK), which
last year shut down its manufacturing operations in Nigeria and switched to
a distribution model.

 

 

"I guess it varies from business to business," said Muyiwa Oni, regional
head of equity research, West Africa at Standard Bank, of companies' reasons
for dumping the exchange.

 

"For some, you want access to capital through the stock market. And so they
feel maybe that motivation or opportunity is not there any longer. So that's
why that adjustment is happening."

 

In situations where companies are no longer getting the optimum value they
desire from the stock exchange, they are likely to quit, Mr Oni further
said.

 

Public listing sometimes comes with bottlenecks and stock exchange rules,
such as time limits for filing financial reports and other statutory
documents, which could attract weighty fines if flouted. It can be
challenging for companies to observe.

 

Such limitations are virtually non-existent in private ownership, which is
free of the scrutiny and oversight of market regulators, which is more
reason for some companies to operate privately.

 

Yet, for some, the logic boils down to strategy, as in the cases where the
owners of a private company decide to take it public to gain more access to
capital to scale the business from potential shareholders and investors.

 

Once such firms have grown to the size the majority owners are targeting,
the investors offer to buy out other shareholders' stakes, often at a
premium, and return the company to private ownership, enabling the original
owners to take it back.

 

"It is not uncommon for companies to leverage stock exchanges to raise
capital, expand their business, and later decide to go private or delist,"
Andrew Latham, managing director of SuperMoney, a platform that helps
consumers evaluate financial services, told PREMIUM TIMES via Quoted.

 

"Being publicly listed offers access to a broad capital pool but also comes
with regulatory scrutiny, pressure to meet quarterly expectations, and other
challenges. Once these companies have capitalised on the benefits, some see
an advantage in returning to private status," he added.

 

"It's a strategic play where the perceived benefits of public
listing--capital infusion, enhanced public image, and increased
valuation--might eventually be outweighed by the desire for operational
flexibility, less regulatory scrutiny, and the potential for long-term
strategic planning without the immediate pressures from shareholders," Mr
Latham went further to say.

 

The CEO noted that the strategy might benefit some, but it might not be
suitable for all business models or industries.

 

Ardova

 

Oilman Abdulwasiu Sowami acquired the majority stake in Forte Oil, renamed
Ardova, in June 2019 from billionaire tycoon Femi Otedola using his
special-purpose vehicle Prudent Energy. The deal, worth N64.9 billion,
conferred ownership of 74 per cent of the company's shares on its new owner.

 

At the point of acquisition, total assets were in the neighbourhood N61.7
billion. In February 2023, Mr Sowami offered to buy other shareholders'
holdings in Ardova, ultimately purchasing them at N17.88 per unit for a
total value of about N17.4 billion.

 

 

The full acquisition led the company to delist its shares from the NGX in
July 2023, enabling him to own it privately.

 

Between June 2019, when Mr Sowami bought the controlling stake, and July
2023, when he acquired the whole company, the total assets had appreciated
by roughly 145.7 per cent to N151.6 billion.

 

Ardova's exit from the NGX reduced the exchange's market capitalisation by
N21.8 billion.

 

Union Bank

 

Titan Trust Bank inked a deal in 2021 to purchase the controlling stake in
Lagos-listed Union Bank from Atlas Mara, a British Virgin Islands-based
financial services holding company. Following the acquisition, Titan Trust
Bank increased its interest in the lender to 94.05 per cent, according to
the bank's 2022 audited financial report.

 

Tropical General Investments Limited, the parent company of Titan Trust
Bank, is founded, owned and chaired by Cornelius G Vink, a Dutch national
and a Nigerian by naturalisation.

 

Union Bank's total assets as of 30 June 2022, when Titan Trust acquired the
majority stake, was N2.5 trillion.

 

Union Bank completed the removal of its shares from the daily official list
of the NGX last November after 52 years of trading, costing the exchange
N194 billion.

 

Capital Hotels

 

22 Hospitality Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of energy company NIPCO
Plc, in September 2022 acquired 66.1 per cent of the issued shares of
Capital Hotels. Capital Hotels counts Abuja Continental Hotel (former
Sheraton) among its subsidiaries.

 

The majority owner would initiate a tender offer to buy out other
shareholders' interests and consummate the transaction in 2023.

 

The deal would give Capital Hotels "the opportunity to strategise for better
performance, minimise costs, and stay competitive within its industry," the
company stated this as its rationale for quitting public listing, according
to a filing at the NGX.

 

Total assets as of September 2022, when 22 Hospitality procured the
controlling stake, was N28.9 billion, which climbed to N30.3 billion about
the time it full acquired the company.

 

Capital Hotels ditched the NGX in November, causing the bourse's market
value to decline by N9.6 billion.

 

Courteville Business Solutions

 

Courteville completed its exit from the NGX last November after a few months
in the works. The firm quit as the directors' board felt the market value of
its shares was not commensurate with its key performance metrics, even
though the management thought the fundamentals were strong and attractive
enough.

 

"We are considering pulling out from the Nigerian stock exchange
temporarily. Our shares have not been adequately valuable over the past ten
years. We make huge returns on investment, but the market price of our
stocks is less than its value," CEO Adebola Akindele said at its annual
general meeting in 2023.

 

"We are considering pulling out from the Nigerian stock exchange
temporarily. Our shares have not been adequately valuable over the past ten
years. We make huge returns on investment, but the market price of our
stocks is less than its value," he added.

 

Nonetheless, its most recent financials do not show notable improvement in
performance. Courteville's unaudited accounts for the nine months to last
September pointed at a clear setback in profitability, with it recording a
loss after tax of N25.3 million in contrast to a net profit of N113.3
million a year ago.

 

Revenue also dropped by 24 per cent to N1 billion, while total assets dipped
to N4.4 billion from N4.6 billion.

 

The delisting of Courteville's shares caused the market capitalisation of
the NGX to drop by N2.1 billion.

 

GSK

 

Drug maker GSK announced last August it was winding down its Nigerian
operations. The company disclosed "its strategic intent to cease
commercialisation of its prescription medicines and vaccines in Nigeria
through the GSK local operating companies and transition to a third-party
direct distribution model for its pharmaceutical products."

 

The company received the SEC's nod in November 2023 to proceed with the move
and offered other shareholders, apart from GSK UK (the principal
shareholder), a cash distribution of N17.42 per share. This February, GSK
quit the NGX, causing the combined value of the market to shrink by N20.3
billion.

 

Coronation Insurance

 

Coronation Insurance, backed by Access Bank's Chairman Aigboje
Aig-Imoukhuede, disclosed last July that its biggest shareholder Coronation
Capital (Mauritius) Limited and some other shareholders had tabled an offer
to take the underwriter private.

 

Mr Aig-Imoukhuede helped found Coronation Capital (Mauritius) Limited.
Coronation Capital (Mauritius) offered other shareholders N0.65 per share,
30 per cent greater than the company's share price of NN0.50 as of 12 August
2021, the last traded price before the offer date.

 

The NGX lost N15.4 billion of its market capitalisation to Coronation
Insurance's exit in January.

 

Oando

 

Oando, which has dual listings in Johannesburg and Lagos, announced in March
2023 that it received an offer from its core shareholder - Ocean and Oil
Development Partners Limited (OODP) - seeking to purchase the holdings of
all the minority shareholders in the energy company.

 

Wale Tinubu, Oando's CEO, and Omamofe Boyo, his deputy, own OODP. No mention
has been made of why the core shareholders want to take the company private.

 

OODP became Oando's majority shareholder in 2003. Between 2013 and 2021,
total assets had climbed 78.9 per cent to N966.1 billion.

 

Oando's delisting from NGX could knock N111 billion off the exchange's
market capitalisation, based on its total share value as of 29 April.

 

MRS OIL

 

Sayyu Dantata, the half-brother of Africa, founded the energy firm's
wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, who is close to leaving the boursee, having
announced an extraordinary general meeting to hold in May, where it plans to
get shareholders' approval.

 

MRS Oil's withdrawal is set to reduce NGX's market value by N46.3 billion,
the worth of its total issued shares as of 29 April.

 

The company hasn't' made a disclosure on why it is delisting from the
exchange.

 

Premium Times.

 

 

 

 

Have the wheels come off for Tesla?

Last month Tesla had to recall thousands of its Cybertrucks over safety
concerns around their accelerator pedals

There was a time when it seemed Tesla could do no wrong.

 

In little more than a decade, it went from technology upstart to mass-market
carmaker, invested billions in its clean energy business, and saw its value
rocket.

 

But now the company is struggling with falling car sales and intense
competition from Chinese brands, as well as problems with its much-hyped
Cybertruck.

 

Lower sales have hit its revenues, and hurt its profits. Its share price has
fallen by more than a quarter since the start of the year.

 

It has cut prices in major markets, and is in the process of laying off some
14,000 employees - 10% of its global workforce. Those affected include
senior executives and the entire team responsible for its much-admired
supercharger network.

 

 

So is all of this just a bump in the road, or are the wheels coming off the
Tesla bandwagon?

 

"It's about breaking a spell," explained Elon Musk to a specially invited
audience at Tesla's California factory back in June 2012.

 

"The world has been under the illusion that electric cars can't be as good
as gasoline cars," he said.

 

Musk was speaking at the launch of the new Tesla Model S, a car he insisted
would shatter that illusion. It was no empty promise.

 

Getty Images A Tesla Model S chargingGetty Images

Tesla's 2012 release of the Model S transformed the electric car market

 

At the time electric cars had a long-standing reputation for being slow,
uninspiring and impractical, with very limited range.

 

Although new models such as the Nissan Leaf were starting to develop a niche
following, they had yet to make much of an impact on the wider market.

 

The Model S was powerful, had sportscar performance, and could travel up to
265 miles on a single charge. It wasn't cheap, starting at $57,000 (£47,000)
in the US for the lowest performance version, but it certainly made a point.

 

Since then, Tesla has launched four more models, including the Model X SUV,
the "affordable" Model 3 and Model Y, and the Cybertruck.

 

It now has huge, so-called gigafactories building cars in Shanghai and
Berlin, in addition to its original facility in Fremont, California, and a
number of other US sites. Last year, it delivered 1.8 million cars,
suggesting it has established itself firmly as a mass-market manufacturer.

 

 

But according to Professor Peter Wells, director of Cardiff University's
Centre for Automotive Industry Research, that is part of the problem. "When
Tesla first emerged, it had an exciting new product, a charismatic CEO, and
it came across as really pioneering," he explains.

 

Now though, the company "is no longer the entrepreneurial new entrant and
upstart disrupter, but increasingly an industry incumbent with all the
challenges this brings when faced with a growing array of competitors in the
same market space".

 

Other companies, like China's Nio, are offering more exciting products, says
Prof Wells, while fellow Chinese firm BYD offers good performance at lower
prices. "Basically, the world has caught up with Tesla," he says.

 

Getty Images A Nio NP9Getty Images

Chinese electric car brand Nio is making cars with the wow factor

There is no doubt that there is a lot more competition than there used to
be. Following the diesel emissions scandal that engulfed it in 2015,
Volkswagen began ploughing money into electric vehicles.

 

 

And as governments around the world began looking seriously at eventual bans
on the sale of new petrol and diesel models, other established manufacturers
soon followed. Customers looking for an electric car with decent range and
performance now have plenty of options to choose from.

 

In China, meanwhile, policymakers have for years seen the development of
electric vehicles (EVs) as an opportunity to take a significant share of the
global market, and promoted their development. The result has been the rapid
growth of brands such as BYD. It overtook Tesla to become the world's
biggest manufacturer of electric cars at the end of 2023, although a
subsequent drop in sales allowed Tesla to regain its crown in the first
three months of this year.

 

At the same time, as the EV market has become more established, in many
parts of the world subsidies to help consumers buy them have been reined in.
That may be one reason why the rampant growth in EV sales in recent years
has eased off - and why the manufacturers themselves are having to drop
their prices.

 

According to independent auto analyst Matthias Schmidt, this has certainly
had an impact on Tesla.

 

"Finance ministers who were previously happy to offer attractive incentives
for the purchase of a battery electric vehicle in a market environment that
appeared bare-shelved, with essentially a Tesla or a Tesla on offer, are now
slamming their purses shut," he says.

 

One market in which this appears to have had a profound effect is Germany. A
subsidy scheme offering thousands of euros off the cost of a new electric
vehicle was abruptly ended in December.

 

EV sales there fell sharply in the first three months of this year, with
Tesla suffering a 36% drop compared to the same period in 2023.

 

The question now is whether Tesla can regain lost momentum. Its maverick
chief executive, Elon Musk appears to be pinning his hopes on the company
becoming a leader in vehicle autonomy - a provider of driverless robot
taxis.

 

Last month, on his social media site X, he wrote: "Not quite betting the
company, but going balls to the wall for autonomy is a blindingly obvious
move. Everything else is like variations on a horse carriage".

 

Getty Images Elon MuskGetty Images

Elon Musk is betting on Tesla being the leader in driverless cars

Yet Musk has been talking up the prospect of full autonomy a very long time.
In 2019, for example, he promised that within a year there would be a
million Teslas on the road capable of acting as robotaxis.

 

The reality, so far, is rather different. Tesla's "Full Self Driving"
package remains rather less than its title suggests - it is still a "hands
on" system that requires the driver to be paying attention at all times.

 

The quest for full autonomy does fit with Tesla's identity as a technology
business, rather than a traditional carmaker. But Musk's critics believe it
is simply a smokescreen to distract from other problems.

 

Meanwhile, Tesla has been cutting prices to boost sales, and cutting costs
and reducing headcount to improve its margins. Much as any other car company
might do.-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

Slowdown in US job growth revives rate cut talk

Job growth in the US cooled last month and the unemployment rate ticked
higher, in a sign that some of the heat may be coming out of the world's
largest economy.

 

Employers added 175,000 positions in April, while the jobless rate rose from
3.8% in March to 3.9%, the Labor Department said.

 

It marked the fewest job gains since October and the first time in months
that growth was weaker than analysts expected.

 

The US labour market has been closely watched for signs of slowdown, as
borrowing costs hover at two-decade highs.

 

Analysts said the report could bolster the case for the Federal Reserve to
cut interest rates later this year.

 

"At last there is evidence of some weakness in the US jobs market. Rate cuts
will move back up the agenda as a result and there is little doubt that
markets will take this as good news," said Neil Birrell, Chief Investment
Officer at Premier Miton Investors.

 

"While we shouldn’t make too much of single data prints, this could be the
start of a positive trend for the Fed,” he added.

 

The Federal Reserve sharply increased interest rates starting in 2022,
hoping to cool the economy and ease the pressures that were pushing up
prices at the fatest pace in decades.

 

Analysts had been expecting the US central bank to cut rates this year, as
inflation, which measures the pace of price rises, cooled.

 

But at 3.5% in March, it has remained above the bank's 2% target, raising
doubts about the timing of such moves.

 

An unexpectedly robust jobs market, which has bolstered consumer spending -
and the wider economy - has added to those questions.

 

At the same time, it has raised hopes that the US will be able to avoid a
painful economic downturn of the kind that has often historically
accompanied a spike in borrowing costs.

 

Shares in the US opened higher after the latest jobs figures from the Labor
Department.

 

Satyam Panday, chief US economist at the credit rating agency S&P Global
Ratings, said the signs of a hiring slowdown were expected and should help
cool inflation, without being so severe as to raise concerns about a
recession.

 

"I would call it a decent jobs report but not too hot, so the Federal
Reserve really likes this," he said, adding that he expected the Fed would
be ready to cut rates by "perhaps by sometime in the fall or maybe
December."

 

The pace of job growth in April remained relatively resilient, if slower
than previous months.

 

Employers added 315,000 positions in March and 236,000 in February. That was
about 22,000 fewer than previously estimated, the Labor Department said.

 

In April, most sectors added workers, with health care firms driving the
gains, according to the report.

 

Average hourly earnings rose 3.9% over the 12 months to April, a slower pace
from the previous month, the Labor Department said.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Apple sales fall in nearly all countries

Apple sales have fallen in almost every market across the globe, according
to the latest results from the tech giant.

 

The company said that demand for its smartphones dropped by more than 10% in
the first three months of this year, while overall sales fell in every
geographic region except for Europe.

 

Apple said that overall, revenues across the company declined by 4% to
$90.8bn (£72.5bn), which was the biggest drop for more than a year.

 

Nevertheless, the results were not as bad as expected and Apple's share
price rose in after-hours trading in New York.

 

The company said the figures were distorted by Covid-related supply
disruptions, which led to unusually strong sales during the same period last
year.

 

It said it expected sales to return to growth in the months ahead, noting
upcoming product launches and investments in artificial intelligence (AI).

 

Overall sales in the critical greater China market dropped by 8%. Mr Cook
attempted to reassure investors about the state of the business in the
world's second largest economy, noting that iPhone sales were actually up in
"mainland" China.

 

"I maintain a great view of China in the long term," he said.

 

Competition in that market has been intensifying from local rivals such
Huawei.

 

Gil Luria, senior software analyst at DA Davidson, said companies such as
Huawei do well in China because "it is the homegrown brand".

 

"But in terms of features, functionality and prestige, iPhone still has an
advantage over any other handset," he told the BBC's Today programme.

 

"So any time consumers get the choice and have the resources they’re going
to buy an iPhone – that’s not any different in China."

 

Struggles at the company - which has endured a streak of sales declines for
five of the last six quarters - marked a contrast with the wider market.

 

Globally, smartphone shipments rose 10% in the first three months of the
year, expanding after a long lacklustre period, according to research firm
Canalys.

 

Mr Luria said that for Apple, there hasn't been "significant improvements to
the handset" since the iPhone 12 was launched almost four years ago "when
Apple introduced 5G connectivity which compelled a lot of consumers to
upgrade the phone".

 

He added: "What they’re hoping for now is that they can introduce enough new
AI features into the iPhone 16 which will come out later this year in order
to finally drive a big iPhone upgrade cycle.”

 

Apple is also facing legal battles with regulators in the US and Europe over
its app store fees.

 

A separate anti-monopoly lawsuit in the US against Google threatens the
lucrative payments Apple receives from the search giant in exchange for
making Google the default search engine on Safari, Apple's internet browser.

 

According to court filings, those payments amounted to about $20bn in 2022,
a sum that helped lift Apple profits.

 

Pre-tax profit for the three months was flat at $28bn and the company
announced that it was setting aside $110bn to buy back shares.

 

Finance chief Luca Maestri said Apple sales were expected to rise in the
"low single digits" in the three months to June.

 

He added that the firm expected double digit growth in its services
business, offering more guidance than the company typically provides.

 

Looking ahead, Angelo Zino, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, said:
"China is holding up better than expected and there are a host of upcoming
events/catalysts on the horizon that could improve investor sentiment."-BBC

 

 

 

 

Goldman Sachs removes bankers' bonus limit

The investment bank Goldman Sachs has become the first to remove its cap on
bankers' bonuses following changes to UK laws introduced last year.

 

The bank said this would give "greater flexibility" and was closer to what
happens in other big financial centres such as Singapore and New York.

 

Bonuses were limited to twice basic pay in a move introduced by the EU in
2014.

 

Other big banks are thought to be considering a similar moves.

 

The limit on bankers' bonuses was introduced by the EU in 2014 despite
British opposition, to try to discourage the kind of excessive risk-taking
that contributed to the 2008 great financial crisis.

 

Critics argued that banks were able to get round it by simply increasing
base salaries. This then made it harder to reduce salaries when bankers
performed badly, or claw back pay if misconduct came to light.

 

When it brought in the changes, the Financial Conduct Authority said the
change should remove these "unintended consequences".

 

 

The decision was first announced by Kwasi Kwarteng during his brief stint as
chancellor in 2022, in a bid to boost the competitiveness of London as a
financial centre.

 

Banks have argued that the bonus cap makes it harder to attract talent from
the US and Asia to the UK.

 

Goldman Sachs said in a statement: "This approach gives us greater
flexibility to manage fixed costs through the cycle and pay for performance.
It brings the UK closer to the practice in other global financial centres,
to support the UK as an attractive venue for talent."

 

A number of other banks have reportedly been reviewing their pay policies in
the light of the changes.

 

When the decision to remove the bonus cap was announced last year, the
Trades Union Congress general secretary Paul Nowak called it an "insult to
working people" when "millions up and down the country are struggling to
make ends meet."

 

The change will not be universally welcomed by bankers, some of whom prefer
to receive more of their income as guaranteed basic pay rather than bonuses
which depend on their performance.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Weight loss drug wins 25,000 new US users a week

Sign-ups for weight loss drug Wegovy jumped five-fold in the US in the first
three months of the year, reaching a rate of more than 25,000 a week, maker
Novo Nordisk has said.

 

The surge reflects scorching demand for the medicine which, alongside sister
diabetes drug Ozempic, has been hailed as revolutionary and helped to
transform Novo Nordisk into one of Europe's most valuable companies.

 

But the drugs giant is facing new pressures, as the high price of such
medicines comes under scrutiny in the US and rival offerings emerge from
competitor Eli Lilly.

 

In a quarterly update for investors, the firm said it had cut prices in the
US in the first three months of the year.

 

It said prices for Wegovy and Ozempic would continue to fall in the months
ahead.

 

But overall sales are still expected to grow by as much as 27% this year, up
slightly from earlier forecasts, despite the price cuts and other supply
constraints.

 

"With the volume opportunity we have at hand, that significantly outweighs
what we see in terms of lower price points," chief executive Lars Fruergaard
Jorgensen said.

 

He attributed the price fall in part to the firm pushing to reach more
"vulnerable" corners of the market.

 

In all, Novo Nordisk said its diabetes and weight loss drugs served almost
42 million patients globally at the end of March.

 

The US, where about 40% of adults are obese and more than 10% are estimated
to have diabetes, represents by far the biggest market for the company.

 

But the high price of the drugs has prompted many health insurance plans in
the US - including Medicare, the government plan for seniors - to restrict
access.

 

Last month, Senator Bernie Sanders launched an investigation into the issue,
noting that Novo Nordisk lists a monthly price of $1,349 (£1,078) for Wegovy
in the US, whilst in the UK it can be purchased privately from around £140,
and less for medical professionals.

 

Mr Jorgenson acknowledged that demand for the treatments was "putting
strains on health care systems".

 

But he said he expected the firm would be able to convince regulators of the
benefits of the drugs, which was also recently approved to treat heart
disease.

 

"I'm optimistic about how we can communicate the value to health care
systems of these interventions. I'm very optimistic about the underlying
willingness among both patients and physicians to use these medicines," he
said.

 

So far, the biggest struggle Novo Nordisk has faced is keeping up with
demand.

 

It has spent recent years scrambling to try to expand its manufacturing
capacity, investing in new factories.

 

The five-fold jump in Wegovy prescriptions in the US since December is a
sign that those issues are easing, said chief financial officer Karsten Munk
Knudsen.

 

"Clearly that is a sign of supply chains operating and running and building
inventories and supplying the market," he said. "You should see that as
confidence in scaling."

 

Ozempic was approved for sale in the US in 2017, and in 2018 in the EU.
Wegovy followed in the US in 2021, and in the European Union in 2022.-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


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Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


CBZH

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contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
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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
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