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The image mosaic was created using 16 years' worth of data from the Hubble Space Telescope, and it shows roughly 265,000 galaxies stretching back 13.3 billion years, to just 500 million years after the Big Bang @techreview Africa |
Background: This isn’t the first Hubble deep-field image. The first
one was released back in 1995, with further deep-field images
following in 2003, 2004, and 2012. However, this is by far the most
comprehensive. It was created by weaving together several of the
previous Hubble photos. The image, dubbed the Hubble Legacy Field,
represents 7,500 separate exposures. It contains about 30 times as
many galaxies as the previous shots. The image above is just a section
of the whole: you can see the full thing here.
A time machine: Because many of the galaxies Hubble captures are so
far away, it has taken billions of years for their light to reach us.
That makes the telescope a sort of time machine, letting us see
galaxies as they were billions of years ago.
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I was halfway up the ice, scaling one of the last remaining glaciers on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania @1843mag Africa |
I was halfway up the ice, scaling one of the last remaining glaciers
on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It was a race against
my lungs: would I run out of breath before I got to the top? The base
of the ice was at around 18,000ft (5,500 metres), and the air was so
thin that I felt as though I were pinned to the ice by my exertion. No
gasp gave me enough oxygen to fill my lungs.
To manage the climb, I had to swing my pick into the ice several
times, like a lumberjack, to make the hole for every single movement
upwards. Unlike climbs I’ve done in the Andes or Himalayas, here I had
no time to acclimatise – and I had no idea what I’d find at the top.
At home in Canada, I’d looked at maps showing frozen layers at the
peak. I’d liked the idea of climbing ice on the physical roof of
Africa, but the maps were a few years old. Now there’s very little
glacier left, just these last remnants. They looked like waves,
sitting in a sea of sand. It was a shocking, physical manifestation of
how much our world is changing. Early in the morning, clouds swirled
among the icebergs. Normally ice is attached to rock, which gives it
some stability. With this, I thought that the whole thing might fall
to bits. I walked round the glacier several times, to make sure it was
safe to climb. Break a leg at the top and it’s going to be a long time
before any help arrives. But slowly, with my breath running out, I
made it. It was worth it, to reach the most unlikely wild place I’ve
ever been, and to gaze upon the shadow of the mountain on the plains
far below.•
Will Gadd, a professional ice climber and guide, was talking to
Samantha Weinberg
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As the ice caps melt, as oceans heat up, and water tables plunge, as we rip through the delicate web of interdependence that sustains life on earth Arundhati Roy Africa |
As the ice caps melt, as oceans heat up, and water tables plunge, as
we rip through the delicate web of interdependence that sustains life
on earth, as our formidable intelligence leads us to breach the
boundaries between humans and machines, and our even more formidable
hubris undermines our ability to connect the survival of our planet to
our survival as a species, as we replace art with algorithms and stare
into a future in which most human beings may not be needed to
participate in (or be remunerated for) economic activity – at just
such a time we have the steady hands of white supremacists in the
White House, new imperialists in China, neo-Nazis once again massing
on the streets of Europe, Hindu nationalists in India, and a host of
butcher-princes and lesser dictators in other countries to guide us
into the Unknown.
While many of us dreamt that “Another world is possible”, these folks
were dreaming that too. And it is their dream – our nightmare – that
is perilously close to being realized.
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Asia-Pacific stocks were sent reeling on Tuesday in the wake of one of Wall Street's worst days this year, with investors spooked by further escalation in the US-China trade war Law & Politics |
Asia-Pacific stocks were sent reeling on Tuesday in the wake of one of
Wall Street’s worst days this year, with investors spooked by further
escalation in the US-China trade war as China released a full list of
its own retaliatory tariffs.
The Chinese tariffs, which will be imposed on $60bn of goods starting
on June 1, will fall most heavily on products in which China already
has an industrial surplus — from textiles to steel and chemicals.
These will be taxed at 25 per cent, while goods the country does not
produce, including precision instruments, will only face a 5 per cent
tariff.
The latest tit-for-tat escalation in tensions sent China’s CSI 300
index of major stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen down as much as
1 per cent at the open before paring losses to be finish 0.2 per cent
lower at the lunch bell.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of large-cap Chinese companies
listed in Hong Kong dropped as much as 2.4 per cent before pulling
back to finish the morning 1.6 per cent lower, as did Hong Kong’s
broader Hang Seng benchmark.
In Tokyo, the Topix index shed 0.9 per cent after touching its lowest
level since January in early trading, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 lost
almost 1 per cent.
The declines came on the heels of the S&P 500’s 2.4 per cent tumble
that marked the worst day for the US equities benchmark since early
January, while the tech-focused Nasdaq shed 3.4 per cent, its biggest
loss since December 4.
US markets were rattled after Beijing delivered on a promise to raise
tariffs in response to the US increasing duties on $200bn of Chinese
imports to 25 per cent on Friday.
The Trump administration later on Monday set in motion a plan to hit a
further $300bn in Chinese imports with 25 per cent tariffs.
China’s list of new tariffs, which mostly matches a list of threatened
tariffs originally released last year, will mark a dark day for one US
industry: natural gas exports.
US president Donald Trump had personally pushed for China to sign
deals to import liquefied natural gas from Texas, and Chinese
president Xi Jinping had raised hopes in Alaska with a short visit to
that state in 2017.
Great promises for additional gas exports ignored the higher costs of
US gas in Asia, compared to competing sources.
But now LNG imports from the US will face a 25 per cent tariff. The
stock of exporter Cheniere Energy fell by 3.3 per cent in US trading
on Monday, compared with an overall market drop of 2.4 per cent.
Analysts said last year that President Donald Trump was forced back to
the negotiating table with Beijing by the intensity of the rout in US
equities at that time.
But Kerry Craig, a global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset
Management, said US politicians might now be more willing to look past
stock price falls in the short term, with the S&P still up almost 20
per cent from its December low.
But without any clear schedule for meetings between US and Chinese
negotiators, “markets are likely to be more volatile, especially in
the absence of any substantive information not written in a tweet”, Mr
Craig added.
Helen Qiao, China and Asia economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch,
said that while there was hope that the two sides could mend fences
when Mr Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping attend the G20 meetings
in Osaka in late June, the challenges to a trade deal would probably
grow if the two could not reach agreement.
In a “no deal” scenario, Ms Qiao said, multiple rounds of tariff hikes
on either side would more seriously affect inflation in the US and
growth in China — where the annual rise in gross domestic product
could slow to 5.8 per cent, below Beijing’s target range of 6 per cent
to 6.5 per cent.
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Babur, William Dalrymple and "Exactly- what Iranian threats?" Law & Politics |
"Like us many have spoken over this spring, but they were gone in the
twinkling of an eye, We conquered the world with bravery and might,
but we did not take it with us to the grave." said Emperor Babur in
his contemporaneously written autobiography The Baburnama.
The reason Babur came to mind was because the historian William
Dalrymple has taken himself off to Akshikent Babur's childhood home
which is situated above the Sirdarya and has been tweeting from there.
There are many mythical tales about Babur but my favourite is the
story of Humayun.
I have digressed but William Dalrymple then tweets
''Exactly- what Iranian threats?''
The US has deployed B-52 Bombers to the Middle East, the Lincoln
Strike Group and The Pentagon announced Friday that it is deploying an
amphibious assault ship and a Patriot missile battery to the Middle
East to bolster an aircraft carrier force sent to counter alleged
threats from Iran. The USS Arlington, which transports marines,
amphibious vehicles, conventional landing craft and rotary aircraft,
and the Patriot air defense system will join the USS Abraham Lincoln
Carrier Strike Group and a B-52 bomber task force headed toward the
Gulf after intelligence reports suggested Iran was planning some sort
of attack in the region.
The deployment is "in response to indications of heightened Iranian
readiness to conduct offensive operations against US forces and our
interests," the Pentagon said in a statement.
Iran has not been able to sell a single barrel of Oil since the
beginning of May as Not a single ship has been seen leaving Iran's oil
terminals so far this month [HelenCRobertson] They once sold 2.5m bpd
which equated to $100m a day. Since the beginning of May, their daily
income has been $0.00 from Oil sales. This level of financial and
coercive sanction warfare is simply unprecedented. President Trump has
been a big proponent of coercive, financial and sanction warfare and
its expression vis a vis Iran is its apogee. Marwan Bishara wrote
''These [US] demands basically constitute total Iranian surrender, not
only to the US but also to Israel and Saudi Arabia''
MK BhadraKumar writes ''If there can be a lethal game of Russian
roulette in international politics, this is it''
Russian roulette is a game of chance where players spin the cylinder
of a revolver with a single bullet in turns, put the muzzle against
their head and pull the trigger.The player has 16.67% chances of
firing a bullet into his head if there is one bullet in the 6-chamber
revolver. Each player starts by spinning the cylinder, thus each
player has an equal chance of being killed by the bullet. Quite
obviously, it’s an insane game that US President Trump started on May
8 last year. A big question can be put whether Trump himself wants
another Middle Eastern war.
The Price of Oil has surged +34.173% in 2019 and in big part because
of the ratcheting higher of tensions with Iran. No number of Trump
Tweets will dampen down the price. The Iranians will surely manage to
shutter the Straits of Hormuz even if after an asymmetric fashion.
What we know is this. Iran is at the Hunter S. Thompson[Ian] edge
"The edge... There is no honest way to explain it because the only
people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over,"
If the US thinks that Tehran will just roll over, which appears to be
the case, then they are exhibiting the same deluded ideas that they
exhibited a day before the Peacock Throne got plucked.
Iran is a Geopolitical Bleeding Edge.
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Regaining control of the narrative on price today is critical to the price of Bitcoin tomorrow. @bopinion World Currencies |
Regaining control of the narrative on price today is critical to the
price of Bitcoin tomorrow. This is an asset with no cash flows backing
it and extremely limited real-world application, and one that is
uncorrelated to financial markets. As such, it is driven by the
madness of crowds, not fundamental analysis. A study by Yale
economists last August found that gains beget gains: A
one-standard-deviation increase in the current day’s Bitcoin return
predicts a 0.33% increase in the next day’s. And getting people
talking on the internet helps enormously. A one-standard-deviation
increase in the Twitter post count for the word “Bitcoin” yields a
2.5% increase in week-ahead Bitcoin returns.
As you’d expect, bad news has the opposite effect. The Yale study
constructed a ratio between Google searches for the phrase “Bitcoin
hack” and searches for the word “Bitcoin,” and showed that a
one-standard-deviation increase of the ratio led to a 2.75% decrease
in Bitcoin returns the following week. Considering the string of grim
headlines recently, from the hack at the Binance exchange to
allegations of an $850 million cover-up at Tether and Bitfinex (which
said the the assertions were false), the bulls have even more reason
to shout louder on Twitter to dominate the conversation.
Indeed, talking up the next surge on the Bitcoin index appears to be
the only tactic left to the boosters. There are no other new stories
left to tell to convert the masses. Bitcoin is not a convenient global
spending currency, as retailers found out when transaction fees surged
in 2017. It’s not a reliable store of value, at least judging by the
price drops of more than 80% that have occurred twice in the last six
years. And it is not a get-rich scheme for the masses, despite those
carefully parked supercars on New York’s streets. While more than 2
million Bitcoin addresses hold more than $1,000, only about 118,000
have more than $100,000, according to data on people’s crypto
“wallets.”
Still, social media remains fertile territory for those looking for
suckers. Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have watered down
their ban on crypto promotional ads, and Facebook is said to be
working on its own cryptocurrency. There might be time for another
spin of the Lambo before the next regulatory crackdown.
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Alibaba and Tencent will offer glimpses into China's economy when they unveil earnings this week. Here's what to watch fo International Trade |
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., China’s most
valuable corporations, will offer glimpses into the world’s
second-largest economy when they unveil earnings this week.
Their enormous sprawl will likely help investors take the temperature
of everything from the U.S.-China trade war and consumer spending to
global technology investment. Here are a few things to be on the
lookout for when the pair take the lid off quarterly results on May
15.
1. An ebbing tide lowers all boats
China’s economy is slowing -- or at least growing in fits and starts.
That’s sapping growth for all of China Inc. even as Alibaba and
Tencent tap new veins of revenue beyond their main businesses:
e-commerce and gaming, respectively. While they have managed to
sustain a break-neck pace of expansion over the years, that changed in
2018 when the deceleration grew more pronounced (Tencent also had
specific issues around a gaming crackdown).
China’s vaunted tech industry is now undergoing a period of
unprecedented pain as companies from Tencent to JD.com Inc. lay off
executives and tighten their belts, while startup investment fizzles
out. Investors may glean clues to the health of both the industry and
the economy from key numbers such as e-commerce revenue.
2. Whither new business?
Alibaba and Tencent have -- more or less -- a lock on their main
businesses at home. But in a quest for growth, the two are
increasingly butting heads in markets from cloud computing services
and entertainment to online finance. Upstarts like Bytedance Ltd. and
Meituan Dianping are also giving them a run for their money in areas
as diverse as food delivery and travel.
That means intensifying competition as both companies expand into
peripheral businesses, and likely more pressure on profit margins.
Investors will want to know in particular how Alibaba is progressing
in cloud computing, and how Tencent is faring on social media
advertising.
Speaking of advertising, both companies have rapidly become players to
be reckoned with in a field dominated by American firms such as
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. But Tencent remains
under-represented despite a social media footprint that rivals just
about any other competitor’s. That’s because its honchos remain
ultra-sensitive about how a surfeit of ads could tar the all-important
user experience. Advertising remains pivotal to Alibaba’s
bottom-line, because they get the bulk of their revenue helping
merchants reach consumers. In Tencent’s case, punters will be
interested in how far Tencent can pull that lever to juice growth --
particularly as gaming revenue expansion tapers off.
4. Yet, it’s all about the money
Ultimately, for investors, it’s about the share-price trajectory. Both
companies -- which tend to move in lock-step given they’re bellwethers
for the domestic tech industry -- got walloped in 2018. That’s when
concerns mounted around the Chinese economy, a backlash against Tech
Inc. globally, and how escalating tensions with the U.S. would affect
consumption and investment flows.
Hopes for a resolution on trade as well as growing confidence in
Alibaba and Tencent’s ability to weather the storm have anchored a
bounce-back in 2019, but the market remains very sensitive to global
macroeconomic and political headwinds and will pick apart their
comments on the outlook Wednesday.
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Six shot dead as Sudan sees breakthrough in civil rule talks @AFP Africa |
Khartoum (AFP) - Five Sudanese protesters and an army major were shot
dead Monday in the capital, hours after protest leaders and the ruling
generals reached a breakthrough agreement on transitional authorities
to run the country.
The latest developments came as the prosecutor general's office said
ousted president Omar al-Bashir had been charged over the killings of
protesters during anti-regime demonstrations that led to the end of
his rule last month.
The major and a protester were killed at a sit-in outside the army
headquarters in Khartoum where thousands of protesters remain camped
for weeks, demanding that the army generals who took power after
ousting Bashir step down.
Three soldiers and several protesters and civilians were also wounded
when "unidentified elements" fired shots at the Khartoum sit-in, the
ruling military council said.
A doctors' committee linked to the protest movement later said four
more protesters had been shot dead, but did not specify if they were
actually killed at the sit-in.
The military council said in a late night press conference that it had
"noticed some armed infiltrators among the protesters".
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Zimbabwe faces worst power cuts in 3 years, mines hit @ReutersAfrica Africa |
Zimbabwe’s state power utility imposed the worst rolling blackouts in
three years on Monday, with households and industries including mines
set to be without electricity for up to eight hours daily.
The power cuts are bound to stoke mounting public anger against
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government as Zimbabweans grapple with
an economic crisis that has seen shortages of U.S. dollars, fuel, food
and medicines as well as soaring inflation that is eroding earnings
and savings.
Many Zimbabweans say life is getting harder and that Mnangagwa is
failing to deliver on pre-election promises last year to rebuild an
economy shattered during Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company
(ZETDC), citing reduced output at its largest hydro plant and ageing
coal-fired generators, said power cuts would start on Monday and last
up to eight hours during morning and evening peak periods.
The country last experienced such serious blackouts in 2016 following
a devastating drought.
Isaac Kwesu, chief executive of Chamber of Mines, which groups
Zimbabwe’s biggest mining companies said critical industries like
mining should be spared from the black-outs, locally known as load
shedding.
“Mining requires electricity for both operations and safety. It will
be very costly to have production stoppages, that is why we will be
engaging ZETDC to find ways to minimize any costly disruptions due to
the electricity cuts,” Kwesu told Reuters.
Mining accounted for more than two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s $4.8 billion
in total export earnings last year and any power cuts in the sector
will affect production and exports.
In the past, some of the big mines, including platinum and gold
producers, have resorted to directly importing electricity from
neighbouring countries like Mozambique and South Africa.
“The power shortfall is being managed through load shedding in order
to balance the power supply available and the demand,” ZETDC said in a
public notice.
Zimbabwe is also experiencing shortages of fuel, forcing motorists to
queue for hours and the government has so far failed to deliver on
previous promises to end the shortage.
The southern African nation, which is producing 969 MW daily against
peak demand of 2,100 MW, is entering its peak winter power demand
season, which will increase electricity consumption.
Energy and Power Development Minister Joram Gumbo was quoted by a
local newspaper saying he would travel to Mozambique this week to try
to agree an electricity supply deal with that country’s power utility
Hydro Cahora Bassa.
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Tanzania's Coffee Output May Drop 23% Next Season on Drought @markets Africa |
Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-biggest coffee producer, said output next
season may drop 23% because of a drought and lower crop cycle.
The crop for the season that starts in July may decline to 50,000
tons, the Tanzania Coffee Board said Monday in an emailed response to
questions.
It said last month that the country had experienced dryness in many
growing areas, and that farmers would start collecting crops in May in
the Kagera and Mara regions.
After missing earlier targets to boost production, the country has
said it’s considering distributing seedlings to farmers in an effort
to double supply in five years.
Arabica coffee accounts for more than half of Tanzania’s output, and
it mainly ships coffee to Japan, Italy, the U.S. and Belgium.
A lower cycle will follow a bumper harvest this season. Auctions for
the 2019-20 crop will start in Moshi at the end of July, the board
said.
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Indian Ocean oil and gas: Africa's next energy frontier @AfricanBizMag @thomashcollins1 Africa |
There have been substantial discoveries of oil and gas in East Africa
and the Indian Ocean in the last decade, but the full potential of the
region has yet to be realised, as Tom Collins reports.
Africa’s Indian Ocean sits directly opposite the energy-hungry Asian
markets of India, Southeast Asia and China.
With liquefied gas able to ship directly from source to port across
the ocean, the positioning acts as a huge draw for investors looking
to minimise their transport overheads and reach their Asian customer
base.
Ed Hobey-Hamsher, senior Africa analyst at global risk consultancy
Verisk Maplecroft, argues that oil and gas potential in the region is
vast.
“I don’t think anyone wants to be left behind,” he says.
“It’s not an easy place to do business but that certainly doesn’t mean
that IOCs can afford to overlook it.”
Two substantial discoveries over the last decade – gas in northern
Mozambique and oil in Uganda – have directed the industry spotlight
towards the East African and Indian Ocean regions, with many believing
these finds are just the tip of the iceberg.
Italian oil major ENI along with US explorer Anadarko (which was
acquired by Chevron in April for a total cost of $50bn) made a series
of discoveries in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin in 2010, in what was
billed as the biggest natural gas find in recent decades.
With proven reserves of 100 trillion cubic feet (tcf), and resource
estimates of 150 tcf, the Rovuma field holds enough gas to supply
Germany, Britain, France and Italy for 15 years.
If these reserves are exploited effectively, experts predict that
Mozambique could become the world’s third largest exporter of
liquefied natural gas (LNG).
In 2006, Uganda discovered oil in the Albertine Rift Basin near its
border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Reserves are estimated at 6bn barrels, with production expected to
begin in 2022 and plateau at 230,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The Rovuma field extends into Tanzania, but the latter country’s
political climate is retarding investment and activity in a sector
with an estimated 55 tcf of gas reserves.
In many respects, Tanzania was first out of the blocks in terms of
developing its gas fields, with the shallow offshore fields of Songo
Songo and Mnazi Bay feeding gas into places including Dar es Salaam
since the start of the millennium.
However, under the presidency of John Magufuli much of the foreign
capital needed to continue developing resources has dried up.
Verisk Maplecroft’s 2019 Resource Nationalism Index puts the country
in the “extreme risk” category.
According to seismic surveys conducted by Spectrum Geo and Soma Oil
and Gas, Somalia could hold as much as 100bn barrels worth of offshore
potential.
Most of the large oil and gas finds thus far have hugged east Africa’s
coastline, meaning that maritime borders – extending 200 miles (321km)
according to the United Nations Law of the Sea – are extremely
important in ownership disputes.
Outside this limit, the Indian Ocean gives way to a number of tiny
African island nations that have been at the centre of much
speculation and exploration since the gas bonanza in Mozambique.
Sitting just 300km opposite Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region and its
lucrative gas fields, the Comoro Islands are perhaps the next in line
for a major discovery.
According to initial data from London-based exploration firm Discover
Exploration, the archipelago – with a population of just 850,000 –
could be sitting on as much as 7bn barrels of oil and 1.1 tcf of
associated gas.
To put this into perspective, the US has 36.5bn barrels worth of oil
according to 2017 data from the CIA World Factbook – only around five
times more than the Comoros.
The Comoro Islands and the surrounding region, however, are perhaps
the most compelling area due to their strategic positioning in
relation to neighbouring markets.
“It’s a direct line to the energy-hungry Asian markets,” he says.
“It’s literally a straight line and you don’t have to pass through
major conflict areas which exist around the Suez Canal.”
As Aly-Khan Satchu, CEO of Nairobi-based investment advisory firm Rich
Management, says:
“The East African seaboard is the last great energy prize going.”
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"We will not be distracted from executing on our strategy and carrying out our mission by those who seek to create doubts to profit at our expense and that of our long-term stakeholders," Jumia co-chief executive officer Sacha Poignonnec Africa |
Jumia Technologies AG tumbles 18% in early trading after first-quarter
operating losses widened compared to the year prior.
The increased loss in the first three months of the year came in the
company’s first results since going public and less than a week after
Citron Research attacked it as a short target. Those comments wiped
off more than a quarter of the company’s market value in the three
trading sessions prior to Monday’s market open.
“We will not be distracted from executing on our strategy and carrying
out our mission by those who seek to create doubts to profit at our
expense and that of our long-term stakeholders,” the company’s
co-chief executive officer Sacha Poignonnec said on the call with
analysts.
While company management defended its platform and referred to the
results as “excellent,” Wall Street analysts remained quiet
immediately following the publication of the latest quarter’s figures.
The company that has been dubbed the Amazon.com Inc. of Africa
reported first-quarter revenue of 31.8 million euros compared to 28.3
million euros the year prior.
Jumia remains up more than 35% from an April public offering, despite
shedding more than half of its market value during an eight-day slump.
First-quarter operating loss widened to 45.5m euros from a loss of
34.3m euros a year earlier
1Q rev. 31.8m euros vs 28.3m euros y/y
1Q first party rev. 15.6m euros vs 19.8m euros y/y
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@Microsoft Will Spend $100 Million on African Development Center @technology Africa |
Microsoft Corp. plans to spend more than $100 million over five years
to open its first development centers in Africa to work with local
partners and governments, as well as hire engineering talent.
Initial sites will be in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, and Lagos,
Nigeria’s commercial hub. The software giant plans to hire 100
full-time developers at the two sites by the end of this year and
expand to 500 by the end of 2023, Microsoft said in a statement
Tuesday.
The Redmond, Washington-based company plans to use the sites to
recruit African engineers to work in areas such as cloud services,
which use artificial intelligence and applications for mixed reality –
where customers use goggles to project 3-D images onto the real world.
Cloud technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc. and Huawei
Technologies Co. are looking to expand in Africa to take advantage of
growing telecommunications infrastructure and work in areas like
e-commerce and mobile payments.
Microsoft has been partnering and looking for cloud customers in
Africa where it has opened data centers in South Africa.
Microsoft said it is working with Kenyan and Nigerian companies in
areas like financial technology, energy and agriculture.
Cloud rival Amazon, whose Amazon Web Services is larger than
Microsoft’s Azure, is also opening a data center in Africa next year.
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MTN Raising $555 Million in Nigeria This Year for Expansion Africa |
MTN Group Ltd.’s Nigerian unit plans to raise about 200 billion naira
($555 million) this year from a variety of sources including bank
loans and bonds to expand operations in its biggest market.
The funds will enable Africa’s largest wireless carrier to finance
capital expenditure to increase the reach and efficiency of its
network in Nigeria, Chief Financial Officer Adekunle Awobodu said by
phone from Lagos.
MTN has also started the process of listing its shares on the Nigerian
Stock Exchange.
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.@Vodacom Turns to @SafaricomPLC for Higher Operating Profit @technology H/T @mmnjug Kenyan Economy |
Vodacom Group Ltd. is turning to its East African mobile-phone carrier
Safaricom Plc to deliver higher earnings in the coming years.
South Africa’s top wireless carrier forecast “mid-high single-digit
growth rate” in operating profit for the next three years, alongside
the release of full-year financial results on Monday.
The carrier updated its outlook to include Nairobi-based Safaricom, in
which it purchased a 35% stake from its parent company Vodafone Group
Plc in 2017.
The deal expanded Vodacom’s sub-Saharan African operations and
mobile-money offering.
Vodacom, which is struggling with a sluggish economy at home, reported
a 1.1% increase in operating profit in the 12 months through March.
It is also under pressure to lower South African data costs following
an antitrust probe.
Sales growth in the Johannesburg-based company’s businesses elsewhere
on the continent increased 15%, more than seven times faster than that
of South Africa.
While the results weren’t “fantastic,” there was “no more bad news,”
said Nick Kunze, a money manager at Sanlam Private Wealth. “The
outlook was also pretty decent for a change.”
Vodacom shares rose as much as 4.4% and were trading 4.2% up as of
11:14 a.m. in Johannesburg, paring losses this year to 12%.
Crosstown rival MTN Group Ltd. gained as much as 2.9%, extending
2019’s gains to 12%.
Full-year headline earnings per share were 8.62 rand, compared with an
average analyst estimate for adjusted profit of 8.98 rand.
The company took a number of one-time charges related to the sale of
shares to a group of black South African investors as well as
transaction costs outside of the country.
One of the burning issues facing both operators is last month’s ruling
by the Competition Commission that its data prices -- and those of MTN
-- are too high.
Vodacom insists it has cut the effective cost of data by 57% over the
past three years, and that the allocation of more spectrum by the
government would help.
Vodacom hopes to have access to additional spectrum by the end of the
year, Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said on a conference
call.
It has almost been almost 15 years since the industry has had access
to additional spectrum in South Africa.
In the 12 months through March, Vodacom more than 36 million customers
did 11 billion transactions worth 2 trillion rand ($140 billion)
across its financial-services network, he said.
“The Safaricom acquisition has proven to be a catalyst for extending
our mobile-money leadership position on the African continent and in
ensuring that financial services have become a significant contributor
to the group’s revenue,” Joosub said.
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