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Monday 23rd of April 2018
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Morning, Africa |
Register and its all Free.
If you are tracking the NSE Do it via RICHLIVE and use Mozilla Firefox
as your Browser.
0930-1500 KENYA TIME
Normal Board - The Whole shebang
Prompt Board Next day settlement
Expert Board All you need re an Individual stock.
The Latest Daily PodCast can be found here on the Front Page of the site
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The Pivot towards the Commonwealth #CHOGM2018 Law & Politics |
Last week, the Commonwealth held its 24th CHOGM [Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting] in London. The Theme of #CHOGM2018 was ‘Towards a
Common Future’ and the focus was on ''working together to deliver a
more prosperous, secure, sustainable and fair future for all
citizens'' The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53
independent and equal sovereign states and according to the
Commonwealth's Secretary General Patricia Scotland ''the Commonwealth
is one third of humanity''
I blinked when I saw the raw data, that there are 2.4b of us and that
in fact the Commonwealth is bigger than Facebook. I noted that
President Kenyatta made his way to the London Stock Exchange and that
maybe we should IPO ourselves. Today the vast majority of us in the
Commonwealth are ''born free'' and whilst I appreciate Emmanuel
Macron's comment;
''I don’t want to belong to a generation of sleepwalkers which has
forgotten its own past and which refuses to face up to the problems of
its own present''
Our Reality is a new and fresh one. The richness of the Commonwealth
Tapestry is in fact found in our common Literature. The Commonwealth's
central contradiction was that we were all both similar and different.
Think of Writers like Jean Rhys, VS Naipaul, Chinua Achebe, Salman
Rushdie all of whom notwithstanding their ethnic and geographical
particularity, were dealing with issues that touched on all of us; an
experience of cultural confusion, linguistic and physical dislocation,
a reassertion of self consciousness and a search for identity.
The freshly minted Commonwealth Youth Ambassador Prince Harry said
"60% of the Commonwealth is under the age of 30 and at 1.4 billion
strong, it is you who are going to change the world."
Prince Harry added : “You are the most optimistic, connected
generation the world has ever known”.
Once we used to send Aerograms [Does anyone recall them?] across the
Commonwealth and Today the Mobile Phone has dissolved the distances
and connected us all practically in real time.
And I think the other important point is this. You can have all the
resources in the World and you can dig it all out of the ground but
far more valuable is the resource that walks on that ground and in my
humble opinion, unlocking the Human Capital is the magic elixir in
this new c21st of ours.
Martin Sutherland, the De La Rue CEO said ''There are 2.4 billion
people in the #commonwealth and we need to tap into it, that’s a
massive talent pool. De La Rue are doing this but all businesses can
do more’ Interestingly, De la Rue has been operating at the Coal-Face
of this Commonwealth Economy for quite a while. De La Rue trades with
86% of Commonwealth countries and the majority of its staff are based
in the Commonwealth. The majority of its production facilities and
100% of its manufacturing Centres of Excellence are located in the
Commonwealth. Here in Kenya and in 1991, De La Rue invested in a state
of the Art Facility which prints banknotes which are circulated in
more 30 countries worldwide. De La Rue is in fact the best example of
a Business I can find that has already pivoted towards the
Commonwealth Economy.
According to the raw data, the Commonwealth boasts a combined Gross
National Income of $10.7 trillion and this is expected to rise to $14
trillion by 2020.
Prime Minister Theresa May and her Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who
are navigating the United Kingdom's Exit out of the European Union
have evidently decided to Pivot to the Commonwealth. I believe this
Pivot to the Commonwealth is a seriously decent Trade.
“Everywhere I look this week I see a Commonwealth that is optimistic
about its future,” said the Prime Minister of the UK Theresa May.
This ''Born-Free'' Commonwealth is a massive ''blue-sky'' opportunity
and it has the Big ''Mo'' but the Key to unlocking its potential is
all about unleashing the human Capital which is a ''massive Talent
Pool''
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Kim Jong-un stops all North Korea nuclear missile tests in boost to peace hopes @thetimes Law & Politics |
North Korea will suspend nuclear and long-range ballistic missile
tests and close its nuclear test site, it announced last night, adding
to momentum for peace before summits with South Korea and the United
States.
The state news agency reported that nuclear and intercontinental
ballistic missile (ICBM) tests are suspended from today, following a
meeting yesterday of North Korea’s highest decision-making body.
The central committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, announcing “a
new stage” in state policy, said that the country would make a
strategic shift towards developing its economy.
“As the weaponisation of nuclear weapons has been verified, it is not
necessary for us to conduct any more nuclear tests or test launches of
mid and long-range missiles or ICBMs,” Kim Jong-un, the North Korean
leader, told the meeting, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
Mr Kim and President Moon of South Korea have also established their
first telephone hotline, as hopes rise that their summit next week
could result in a declaration of peace after seven decades of war.
Engineers installed the white telephone on Mr Moon’s desk on the third
floor of the Blue House in Seoul, and South and North Korean officials
tested the connection yesterday. The hotline was set up days before Mr
Kim is due to become the first North Korean leader to set foot on
South Korean soil.
A South Korean official tests the hotline to talk to a counterpart on
the North Korean sideA South Korean official tests the hotline to talk
to a counterpart on the North Korean side
“The historic direct telephone line between the leaders of the South
and North was connected a short while ago,” Youn Kun-young, a senior
Moon aide, said. “The test call went on for four minutes and 19
seconds starting at 3.41pm with both sides speaking to each other. The
connection was smooth and the voice quality was very good. It was like
calling next door.”
The phone incorporates a fax and a screen with internet connection to
enable the leaders to speak by video call.
This is the first time that the two leaders have been able to talk
directly. Their first conversation is due next week, before a summit
to be held on Friday on the South Korean side of the Panmunjom border
crossing.
The summit will be only the third between leaders of the Koreas, and
already South Korean officials have said that they are discussing a
formal declaration of peace.
Such a statement would not technically end the 1950-53 Korean War,
which would require a peace treaty also signed by the United States
and China, but it would give powerful impetus to that end, and put
pressure on President Trump to achieve a breakthrough in his meeting
with Mr Kim, expected in May or June. Mr Trump responded to last
night’s announcement with a tweet saying: “This is very good news for
North Korea and the World — big progress! Look forward to our summit.”
The phrasing of the announcement on the suspension of tests suggests
that Pyongyang has little intention of abandoning nuclear weapons in
Mr Kim’s meeting with Mr Moon, or the one with Mr Trump.
Another question is whether he will be accompanied by his wife, Ri
Sol-ju, who has recently been referred to by the North Korean media as
“first lady”, rather than just comrade.
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What Does Kim Jong-un Want? U.S. Fears Answer Is 'Give a Little, Gain a Lot' @nytimes Law & Politics |
WASHINGTON — As North Korea’s reclusive ruler, Kim Jong-un, prepares
for a landmark meeting with President Trump, he has seized the
diplomatic high ground, making conciliatory gestures on nuclear
testing and American troops that have buoyed hopes in South Korea and
won praise from Mr. Trump himself, who called it “big progress.”
But Mr. Kim’s audacious moves are unsettling officials in the United
States, Japan and China. Some suspect he is posturing in advance of
the summit meeting, as well as a separate meeting this coming week
with South Korea’s president, and has no real intention of acceding to
demands that he relinquish his nuclear weapons.
They worry that his gestures could put Mr. Trump on the defensive in
the difficult negotiations to come, by offering symbolically potent
but substantively modest concessions in place of genuine disarmament —
what one senior American official labeled a “freeze trap.”
The sudden offer of olive branches, from a leader who only four months
ago warned the United States that he was ready to launch missiles from
a nuclear button on his desk, is sharpening a question that has long
bedeviled North Korea watchers: What does Mr. Kim want?
In Washington, most officials and experts believe that the North
Korean leader is determined to cement his country’s status as a
nuclear state while escaping the chokehold of economic sanctions. His
concessions on nuclear testing and the presence of American troops in
South Korea, they said, are calculated to prod the United States into
easing such penalties, even before the North dismantles its arsenal.
Mr. Trump has vowed not to do that. But aides say he is beguiled by
the prospect of making history on the Korean Peninsula. He has yet to
impose any preconditions on his meeting with Mr. Kim, not even the
release of three Americans who are being held in North Korea, though
officials say the United States is working hard to get them out.
This past week, he endorsed Mr. Kim’s effort to reach a peace accord
with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, which would formally end
the 68-year military conflict in Korea. Inside the White House, some
worry that Mr. Kim will use promises of peace to peel South Korea away
from the United States and blunt efforts to force him to give up his
nuclear weapons.
“Just because North Korea is responding to dialogue, there should be
no reward,” Mr. Abe said after spending two days with Mr. Trump at his
Palm Beach estate in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. “Maximum pressure should be
maintained, and actual implementation of concrete actions towards
denuclearization will be demanded.”
Even China, which is accustomed to controlling its relationship with
North Korea without interference from other powers, is chafing at the
speed of events, and the increasingly warm feelings between Pyongyang
and Washington. Chinese officials fear that they will be sidelined in
negotiations and that Mr. Kim will pursue a deal with the United
States that places the North closer to Washington than Beijing.
Much of the anxiety in Tokyo and Beijing stems from the
unpredictability of the main players. Mr. Trump, who threatened in
August to rain “fire and fury” on the North, is now talking about
“good will” between Washington and Pyongyang. Mr. Kim has proved more
adroit than many expected in orchestrating the diplomatic opening to
South Korea and the United States.
“They’re doing a great job of appearing reasonable, but picking apart
the maximum pressure campaign, and positioning themselves to be
accepted as a nuclear weapons state in the future,” said Evan S.
Medeiros, a former senior Asia adviser to President Barack Obama.
Like their American counterparts, South Korean officials do not
believe that Mr. Kim will swiftly relinquish his nuclear weapons. But
there is a growing belief in Seoul that he might ultimately bargain
them away, if it helps him rebuild the economy. That is why some in
South Korea viewed his announcement on testing as a hopeful sign.
“It means that North Korea is willing to give up an ICBM capability
that threatens the United States,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior
North Korea analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think tank in South
Korea. “This is why it is good news for the Trump administration.”
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India's Modi will visit China's Xi this week in a new sign of thawing diplomatic relations @business Law & Politics |
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to meet Chinese
President Xi Jinping this week, as relations between the world’s two
most-populous countries thaw after a tense border dispute last year.
The “informal summit” between Xi and Modi will be held Friday and
Saturday in Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei,
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday at a news conference with
India External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Xi and Modi would have
“communications of a strategic nature concerning big changes happening
in the world,” Wang told reporters in Beijing.
“They will also exchange views on overall, long-term and strategic
matters concerning the future of China-India relations,” Wang said,
citing the rapid growth of both countries. “This makes for a more
balanced international geometry and a stronger trend toward peace.”
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US warns of growing African terror threat CNN Africa |
But while he labeled both groups threats, Hicks said that al Qaeda
represented the bigger concern due to its ability to plan for the long
term.
"What concerns me most specifically is al Qaeda, because I believe
that al Qaeda-associated threats here, so al Shabaab and JNIM and the
other offshoots of formerly known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,
are taking direction from al Qaeda core and are sort of walking
through the al Qaeda playbook to develop clandestine infrastructure,
and I think they have a disciplined, patient approach to building a
base that will allow them to form a caliphate when the time is right,"
Hicks said referring to the terror group's Somalia, Mali and North
Africa based affiliates.
The biggest al Qaeda affiliate is al Shabaab in Somalia where the
terror group commands some 4,000-6,000 active fighters, according to
the US military, making it one of al Qaeda's largest affiliates. US
Navy Seals advise local Somali security forces battling al Shabaab
while the Trump administration has also conducted dozens of targeted
airstrikes against the group.
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PUBLIC SERVICE IN AFRICA @Mo_IbrahimFdn #MIFKigali Africa |
Only three countries - Libya, Mauritius and Tunisia, have at least one
doctor per 1,000 people
In sub-Saharan Africa, government expenditure ranges from almost 36%
of GDP in South Sudan to less than 5% in Chad
Cairo’s population is larger than each of the 36 least populous
countries on the continent
Sub-Saharan Africa has the second smallest public health expenditure
of all regions, far below the world average. Between 2009 and 2014,
sub-Saharan Africa’s public health expenditure as a % of GDP fell by
more than 15%
Five out of the ten African countries with the largest public health
expenditures as a % of total government expenditure are also among the
ten countries with the highest share of external nancing of their
total health expenditure
Citizens’ dissatisfaction with how their government is addressing
educational and health needs has grown over the last decade
Approximately 60% of jobs in Africa are considered vulnerable, with
only 19% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa covered by social
insurance
Public employees in Africa represent less than 12% of total
employment, less than half the average level in Europe & Central Asia
In Kasaï Central and Kasaï Provinces (DRC), 27% of the health workers
listed as salary recipients in the electronic payroll system were
“ghost workers”
The rapid spread of Ebola in West Africa was exacerbated by weak
health systems and poor hygiene and sanitation practices
In a continent where more than 40% of the population is under 15 years
old, progress in Education has almost come to a stop over the last ve
years
Personal Safety is the most deteriorated of the 14 sub-categories in
the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, over the past decade
More than 50% of people in 36 countries reported dif culties to obtain
assistance from the courts
Libya and South Sudan allocate the lowest share of the public budget
on health on the continent, but also have two of the ten largest
military expenditures as a share of GDP
More than 60% of primary school students dropped out in Madagascar,
Mozambique and Rwanda in 2012
In 2018, the 20 biggest cities of the continent manage populations
bigger than many countries
Since 1990, sub-national administrative units in 25 African countries
have increased by at least 20%, amongst these Guinea from 14 to 341,
Niger from 35 to 256, South Africa from 53 to 284
Filling the void left by public services, private security, private
education, and private health are rising exponentially, with the risk
of widening inequalities on the continent
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African Millennials: The Myths, The Reality @GeoPoll @NjeriWangari Africa |
African Millennials who were born from the early 1980s until around
the turn of the new millennium are perceived as having changed the
world’s understanding of Africa, bringing it from a ‘dark continent’
to ‘Africa rising’ through blogging and social media
(#SomeoneTellCNN). They are often thought of as mobile, connected, and
tech savvy, founders of tech startups that begins with the
abbreviation ‘M’ – for mobile, artists who don’t care much about their
oppressive governments, but will tweet about it - #ZumaMustFall.
Since the definition of the Millennial generational cohort by market
researchers, those who fall into this age group have been described as
entitled, lazy narcissists who still live with their parents. Perhaps
the biggest trigger for a global conversation was the feature article
of the May 2013 Time magazine by Joel Stein. It is particularly from
this article that numerous sweeping assumption about millennials
become the gospel truth. Many of us marketers have been caught up in
the over-simplified characteristics that define millennials. Business
decisions and marketing campaigns have spent millions of dollars based
on these myths and wrong assumptions of this target demographic.
However, when we examine assumptions about Millennials further, you
will find that most of the commonly referred to characteristics that
have been used to define millennials have been used to describe nearly
every other previous generation.
A New York cover article from 1979, at the height of the baby boomers
generation, wrote of ‘The Me Decade’- Exports on America’s New Great
Awakening. A Newsweek cover from 1985, at the height of the generation
X, focused on “The Video Generation” who they described as being
caught up in documenting each and every aspect of their lives using
the video camera. Fast forward to the year 2007, during the height of
the Millennial generation, and again, the cover story in the one of
the Time magazine editions profiled “China’s Twentysomethings,” who
were too busy living the good life to care about politics.
Based on similar perceptions of older generations in the past, have we
managed to get it wrong about the Millennial generation? What are the
myths and what is the reality around African millennials, who we often
believe are fully mobile, connected and tech savvy? Mobile research
and engagement platform GeoPoll has been looking into this question to
provide clarity on the true habits and preferences of this much
sought-after generation.
The defining factor
Globally, Millennials were born as the world entered a digital age; a
generation that grew up with the internet and digital communications.
This and their relative comfort with technology is the defining factor
that sets millennials apart from previous generations. In Africa
however, as various research studies confirm, Millennials have not
been fully defined by the traits that have been seen in the developed
world.
Mobile phones are ubiquitous in Africa. The leapfrog effect for many
Africans, whose first interaction with technology is with mobile
phones has had a tremendous effect, making Africa a mobile first
continent. However, amidst all the hype peppered with phrases such as
‘Silicon Savannah’, ‘mobile money’ and ‘Africa Rising’, there is a
reality. The reality is that, on this tech revolution that is
currently ongoing, the youth are the mavericks as confirmed by various
studies by GeoPoll in multiple African countries as well as by other
research agencies.
Africa is by far the youngest continent in the world. Unlike
everything we have heard before, millennials in Africa are not the
youngest and neither are they the majority. The oldest millennial is
around 38 years of age with the youngest being about 23 years old. Out
of a population of 1.2Billion in the continent, those aged 19 years
and below are at 51%. Millennials make up less than 30% of the
continent’s population. A new generation which is the majority in
Africa is here; Generation Z or the iGen cohort, of those between
15-20 years, are the young and they are the majority.
b.They are all mobile and connected
Although Africa has the highest growth rate in mobile phone
penetration, there are only 420M unique mobile subscribers and a
penetration rate of 43% in Africa against the global rate of 63%.
Internet penetration remains significantly lower. There are only 300
million internet users, a majority of whom access the internet via
their mobile phones. Currently 75% of people in Africa are still
offline. This is attributed to: lack of basic infrastructure such as
grid electricity; high data costs, and household income levels among
other factors. Despite this, internet access, especially that via
mobile phone subscription, is growing and predicted to reach 41
percent of Africa's population by 2020.
c.They are mobile first; Have higher phone usage
One of the biggest defining characteristics of Millennials globally is
their usage and dependence on mobile phones. Increased dependency on
technology and a mobile first approach is being driven by African
Millennials according to a recent GeoPoll rapid survey carried out
among youth in five Sub-Sahara African countries between the ages of
18-35.
d.They are all on social media
There are currently only 170 million active social media users in
Africa, equaling a penetration rate of only 14% according to the 2017
Digital in Africa report by Hootsuite and We are Social. Whereas the
percentage of the African population that uses social media is quite
low, these numbers vary from country to country. Like their global
counterparts, African millennials are increasingly using social media
sites as tools for communication and a source of news and information.
Social network platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have
become an integral part of everyday life, and over 60% millennials who
have access to the internet say they
Although social media has become the first point of breaking news in
many regions, as seen in the percentage of those online and those on
social media, in Africa, radio and TV are still king. Sub-Saharan
African consumers watch TV or listen to the radio twice per day on
average, while they access the internet only every second day.
However, African millennials have a different view on ownership in
media and this is driving the diminished importance of live TV as the
dominant communications channel. This is a generation that has become
a ‘prosumer’- creating and consuming their own content on blogs,
YouTube and various other social channels.
f.They do not care about serious matters
The assumption that millennials do not care about matters to do with
political participation, civic engagement or public affairs has been
attributed to their ‘short attention span’. This is a myth as has
been demonstrated by various research studies carried out on this
demographic. A study in 2014/2015 by the Africa Barometer among a
survey sample of respondents aged between 17-35 in 7 African countries
shows strong evidence of interest in civic engagement, public affairs
and politics among African youth. A more recent straw poll by GeoPoll
in 2017 among a similar demographic in 5 African countries assessing
their interest in public affairs shows concerns in levels of
corruption, youth unemployment and distribution of national resources.
Social media has become an important tool through which the connected
Millennials voice their concerns and engage on the things that matter
to them. This can be seen in movements and campaigns such as
#BringBackOurGirls, #FeesMustFall and #DataMustFall among others.
What next on engaging African millennials
Although African millennials are not young nor are they the majority
in Africa, they have now entered the workforce in strong numbers.
According to CA Global, today, those born between 1980 and 2000 are
now of working age, and they are changing the operation of the
workplace as they go. As a socio-economic group, Millennials are
growing in power and investment potential. In addition to reshaping
the workplace, they are also influencing marketing and advertising
strategies across the African continent. Learning how to work with
Millennials has become increasingly important over the past few years,
as studies have noted. This requires a shift in communication
messaging, integrated communication through online and offline
channels as well as have an understanding that the decision making
unit for Millennials has evolved.
The rise of Generation Z (iGen)
Generation Z, currently aged 22 years and below, are now the majority
in terms of population in Africa. This is the first generation born
into a fully technological environment. Although they seem similar to
Millennials, especially in the use and uptake of technology, the iGens
have some unique traits that must be examined more closely. As this
next generation acquires more spending power and marketers begin to
turn towards them, our focus should move to better understand this
younger demographic in addition to the much-discussed African
Millennials.
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Zambia Risks Asset Attachments as Libya Debt Payments Missed Africa |
Libyan telecommunications company LAP GreenN is considering chasing
after Zambia’s offshore assets after the southern African country
defaulted four times on an order to pay $257 million in compensation
for nationalizing a firm it invested in.
Zambia owes state-owned LAP GreenN more than $400 million including
interest, and has defaulted on payments totaling about $220 million
following a 2016 judgment in the nation’s high court, according to the
Libyan Post, Telecommunication and IT Holding Co. which owns LAP
GreenN. Yields on the nation’s dollar bonds climbed.
Yields on Zambia’s $1 billion of bonds due in April 2024 rose 19 basis
points to 7.73 percent, the highest since April 11, at 9:14 a.m. in
New York.
The missed payments following the 2016 order mean that LAP GreenN
could pursue Zambia’s assets, Auslander said by phone. “This was a
consent judgment, it’s fully enforceable.”
Kenya
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Flame Tree Group @FlameTreeGroup reports FY 2017 EPS -72.222% Earnings here Africa |
Par Value:
Closing Price: 4.50
Total Shares Issued: 161866804.00
Market Capitalization: 728,400,618
EPS: 0.25
PE: 18.00
Flame Tree Group FY 2017 results through 31st December 2017 vs. 31st
December 2016
FY Revenue 2.425090214b vs. 2.544628524b -4.698%
FY Cost of sales [1.626812792b] vs. [1.640312183m] -0.823%
FY Gross profit 798.277422m vs. 904.316341m -11.726%
FY Other operating income 18.315442m vs. 5.412643m +238.383%
FY Selling and distribution costs [321.826823m] vs. [329.112443m] -2.214%
FY Administrative expenses [335.379894m] vs. [297.491883m] +12.736%
FY Other operating expenses [59.685127m] vs. [45.267509m] +31.850%
FY Operating profit before gain on disposal of Property, Plant and
Equipment 99.701020m vs. 237.857149m -58.084%
FY Gain on disposal on PPE 2.697049m vs. 0.837365m +222.088%
FY Operating profit after gain on disposal of PPE 102.398069m vs.
238.694514m -57.101%
FY Profit before tax 41.409855m vs. 175.974893m -76.468%
FY Profit for the year 39.754509m vs. 144.980485m -72.579%
EPS 0.25 vs. 0.90 -72.222%
FY Total comprehensive income for the year 10.144470m vs. 137.244923m -92.608%
EPS (Total comprehensive income for the year) 0.06 vs. 0.85 -92.941%
Total Assets 1.680769788b vs. 1.521194765b +10.490%
Shareholders’ Funds 731.460183m vs. 719.166802m +1.709%
Cash and cash equivalents at 31st December [323.257037m] vs.
[101.713064m] -217.813%
Company Commentary
FTG diversified Manufacturer and Distributor of plastic tanks,
cosmetics and snacks.
Gross profit margins declined to 32.9% margin versus 35.5% attributed
to rising polymer prices in the global markets, increase in fuel and
input food prices following the negative impact of the prolonged
drought.
Overall expenses rose by 45m largely impacted by a 37.8m increase in
administrative expenses to 335.4m. Co. made significant provisions
against receivables from Supermarkets in Kenya that have been
extremely slow too pay.
conclusions
Buy on dips.
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