Business

Press Release:- The Public is hereby notified that in keeping with changes in international oil prices and Government’s application of the modified market pass-through petroleum pricing mechanism, the retail price of kerosene, diesel, LPG 20, 22 and 100 lb cylinders has changed. The retail price of gasoline remains unchanged. The price change takes effect from Monday, […]

This article Price Hikes Announced For Diesel, Kerosene & LPG appeared first on St. Lucia Times News.

Saint Lucia

Caribbean

Remittances in Nov. jump 27% to US$707.5M

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 13:20:01 +0000

Remittances in Nov. jump 27% to US$707.5M admin Mon, 12/14/2020 - 13:20

Monday, December 14, 2020

Original Publisher

Economy – Dominican Today

Original Article

Remittances in Nov. jump 27% to US$707.5M

Santo Domingo.- The country received US$707.5 million in remittances last November, a 27% jump in relation to the US$557.1 million that arrived in the same month of 2019, the Central Bank revealed Sunday.

Between January and November 2020, the flow of remittances to the country was US$7.3 billion, a net increase of US$916.6 million compared to the US$6.4 billion received in the same period of 2019, or a 14.3% jump.

It highlighted that during 2019 the country received US$7.08 billion in remittances, which means that that sector of the economy will close 2020 with positive numbers.

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Dominican Republic

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56 Taiwanese Enterprise To Participate In 2020 Virtual Expo

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:20:01 +0000

56 Taiwanese Enterprise To Participate In 2020 Virtual Expo admin Mon, 11/23/2020 - 16:20

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Original Publisher

BUSINESS – Leadership Newspaper

Original Article

56 Taiwanese Enterprise To Participate In 2020 Virtual Expo

TAITRA has launched an online platform “Taiwan Virtual Expo” for Taiwanese enterprises in order to display their innovative products to meet the high demands of Nigerian companies for possible business cooperation and integration. Due to the effect of the so sudden COVID-19 pandemic outbreak that essentially shut down all world institutions, which included border control […]

Nigeria

Africa

Business

MTN Nigeria Appoints Toriola As CEO Designate

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:10:02 +0000

MTN Nigeria Appoints Toriola As CEO Designate admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 20:10

Monday, October 26, 2020

Original Publisher

BUSINESS – Leadership Newspaper

Original Article

MTN Nigeria Appoints Toriola As CEO Designate

BY CHIMA AKWAJA, Lagos MTN Nigeria today announced the appointment of Mr. Karl Toriola as the chief executive officer (CEO) designate. His appointment is effective 1st March 2021, providing enough time for an orderly handover. Mr. Toriola is currently the vice president, West and Central Africa (WECA), excluding Nigeria and Ghana, a position he assumed […]

Nigeria

Africa

Business

How tech can make small tea farms more lucrative

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 18:30:02 +0000

How tech can make small tea farms more lucrative admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 18:30

Monday, October 26, 2020

Original Publisher

Business

Original Article

How tech can make small tea farms more lucrative

What you need to know:

One of the reasons the tea sector is ailing is the high cost of production at the farm and factory levels.
With machine picking, a farmer first does hard pluck by hand, then lightly skiffs (prunes) the field to ensure that a good table is formed from where to carry out continuous normal plucking.
Technology can lead to redundancies but it creates other value jobs in the long run.
With the machine, one is guaranteed timely plucking during flush times when labour is a constraint and this in turn will increase productivity.

Ben Lang is the chief executive of Mobile Edge, a technology company that has come up with a tea-picking gadget for smallholder farmers dubbed Mchai.

He spoke to Brian Okinda on how to boost production and fortunes of the troubled sector

Q1. The country’s tea sector is among the most profitable earners for the economy, yet it is facing numerous challenges. Is technology the panacea for the sector’s challenges?

Yes. One of the reasons the tea sector is ailing is the high cost of production at the farm and factory levels.

Technology can help reduce costs by more than 70 per cent. For instance, hand-picking yields an average of 40kg per plucker per day at Sh10-Sh13 depending on the region.

If a farmer picks 1,000 kilos per month, it costs him between Sh10,000 and Sh13,000 in labour alone. Machine plucking, on the other hand, can yield an average of 40kg per hour or 240-320kg per day at a cost of Sh3-Sh5 per kilo. The saving is enormous.

Q2. When should a farmer start picking tea leaves and how effectively and often should the picking be done?

Manual picking is done two to three times a week. For machines, it is a nine-day cycle, which is the same as three times a week.

With machine picking, a farmer first does hard pluck by hand, then lightly skiffs (prunes) the field to ensure that a good table is formed from where to carry out continuous normal plucking.

Pruning is done to remove excess foliage, which leads to poor shoot generation. It takes between three and four weeks before plucking.

Q3. What issues stifle the adoption of technology in the tea sector and how can these be addressed?

First, there are quality fears. Kenya upholds two leaves and a bud quality standard, which is a very high bar to beat.

Previous machine technologies could not attain this. The huge number of smallholder farmers (700,000) was also a factor.

Without proper monitoring, the quality tea could suffer. Nonetheless, we must consider the fact that Kenya is the only country that uses 70 per cent manual plucking in the world, with high quality tea yet still they get lower prices in the export market. The solution is in adoption of technology.

Second is unfair trade practices. Large tea estates use very big machines that yield low quality green leaf.

To mitigate this failure, they refuse to support their smallholder out-growers to adopt machine harvesting so that they can use their green leaf to blend with their low-quality leaf before processing.

Third, there is the issue of affordability and return on investment. Most plucking machines are out of reach for small-scale farmers.

But there are newer technologies that are affordable, efficient and cheaper to maintain.

Q4. Tea workers have claimed that plucking technologies could eventually cost them their jobs. What is your take on this assertion?

Technology can lead to redundancies but it creates other value jobs in the long run. Many tea pickers contracted by farmers have created a parasitic relationship that takes away 90 per cent of the producers’ earnings.

The same tea pickers can adopt the machine and use it for contract tea picking all year round. This way, there are no acute job losses.

Q5. You have a new tea-picking technology. Tell us something about this technology and how farmers can benefit from it.

The machine is named Mchai. It is a one user machine that uses a rechargeable lithium battery that will enable one to pick tea for eight hours a day but yields more.

The machine is faster, thus one plucks a bigger area. With the machine, one is guaranteed timely plucking during flush times when labour is a constraint and this in turn will increase productivity.

Lastly, not much crop is lost due to machine plucking as one can pluck an average of two times in a month.

satnation@ke.nationmedia.com

Kenya

Africa

Business

Current Economic Recession: Impact on Market Supplies and Demand

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 13:10:02 +0000

Current Economic Recession: Impact on Market Supplies and Demand admin Tue, 10/13/2020 - 13:10

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Original Publisher

The Zimbabwe Independent

Original Article

Current Economic Recession: Impact on Market Supplies and Demand

Businesses have been struggling worse than ever and the pandemic had a rippling effect on the global economy. Whether there were big guns or small businesses, all are going through tough times to generate profits for themselves, and even preventing losses has been an immense task. Due to this business lockdown situation and travel bans millions of people are laid off from their jobs posing a serious existential threat to economies around the world.

Businesses do all kinds of forecasting to try to maintain that equilibrium between supplies and demand. If anything goes out of order, it has a direct impact on the economy of a region. If the affected industry exists on a large scale, the compound effect is seen in the global economy.

The prime example of this is the recent price trend of oil where it fell to negative due to such extraordinary reduction in demand. This is the rippling effect on supplies and commodity pricing when demand ceases. In recent months, the demand for all major products and services had to see a downfall, and factories weren’t even to operate even due to pandemic fears.

With both the demand and supply cycles disturbed, the economic recession has been experienced worldwide. The effects of this recession are termed greater than the one that occurred in 2009. Trade wars between the world powers are also making matters even worse and the recovery mode is being delayed.

Masses who were always made to believe that their jobs are here to stay forever or governments will always come to their rescue in case of an economic or public health disaster, they have found themselves fooled during all these times. It was just a matter of time where big guns started laying off people or made a reduction in the salaries to accommodate themselves only to the best of their powers.

This had a severe impact on the buying power of people and caused a change in lifestyle preferences too. They are now more rigorously thinking of working towards self-sustainability models and ensure they survive the next crisis without much financial disorder for themselves.

What Lies Ahead?

Well, with the ones who have always been the action takers, they are in a desperate mood to put themselves in the driving seat. With too much impact of political uncertainty and other factors on traditional ways of earning money, there is a dire need to adapt to new ways of thinking.

Firstly, we need to cancel the mindset of the luxury lifestyle until it becomes affordable. There has to be some portion of savings periodically that needs to come to your rescue during bad times. We need to stop falling into the trap of luxurious lifestyles as posed by some social media influencers. Each individual needs to rethink his budgeting and expenses to attain financial stability.

Secondly, we need to adapt to new technologies and innovative ways of doing trading and business. The virtual economy is now a force on its own and people are leveraged exponential growth opportunities with bitcoin up automating the trading activities. In this digital world, there are extraordinary innovative ways of making extra money while continuing with the day job, people need to look forward to this to address their budgeting issues.

Fortunately, business lockdowns are almost lifted with precautionary measures in place. The recovery mode has started a bit and it is never too late to take any action for your personal growth. Hopefully, it will just be a limited period of struggle before stuff gets back on track.

The post Current Economic Recession: Impact on Market Supplies and Demand appeared first on The Zimbabwe Independent.

Zimbabwe

Africa

‘Serving The Servers’ Last Voucher Distribution

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 12:40:01 +0000

‘Serving The Servers’ Last Voucher Distribution admin Tue, 10/13/2020 - 12:40

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Original Publisher

Bernews » Business

Original Article

‘Serving The Servers’ Last Voucher Distribution

Serving the Servers will make its final distribution this week, having raised $35,350 to assist restaurant staff whose livelihoods were being affected by the pandemic. A spokesperson said, “Serving the Servers, an initiative launched with The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic back in May, will make its final distribution to […]

(Click to read the full article)

Bermuda

Caribbean

Business

Adjustment To Petroleum Prices

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 11:40:01 +0000

Adjustment To Petroleum Prices admin Mon, 10/05/2020 - 11:40

Monday, October 5, 2020

Original Publisher

Business – CBC Barbados

Original Article

Adjustment To Petroleum Prices

Motorists will be paying more for some petroleum products in the coming days.

Effective, midnight Sunday, October 4, the retail price of gasoline and diesel will increase, in keeping with prices for these products on the international market.

As a consequence, gasoline will now be retailed at $3.36 per litre, an increase of 14 cents; diesel will now cost $2.67 per litre, up by 15 cents. Kerosene will now be retailed at 91 cents a litre, an increase of one cent.

The post Adjustment To Petroleum Prices appeared first on CBC Barbados.

Barbados

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Business

KRA raises tax on 31 goods despite firms’ freeze plea

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 11:30:01 +0000

KRA raises tax on 31 goods despite firms’ freeze plea admin Mon, 10/05/2020 - 11:30

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Original Publisher

Business

Original Article

KRA raises tax on 31 goods despite firms’ freeze plea

What you need to know:

Consumers will pay Sh6 more for a litre of beer and products with alcohol content not exceeding six percent while prices for spirits will rise highest at Sh12.50.
The taxman will now collect Sh265.50 per litre of spirit, Sh198.34 per litre of wine and Sh116.08 per litre of beer.
A stick of cigarette will cost Sh0.16 more as the excise duty rose to Sh3.31 per stick from Sh3.15.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has increased tax on at least 31 goods including beer, fuel, bottled water and juice rejecting firms’ petition to freeze the higher duty.

KRA raised excise duty on the products by 4.94 percent in line with the average inflation rate for the year to June, just days after reopening of bars following a lengthy Covid-19 lockdown.

The taxman published the new excise taxes in the Kenya Gazette last Friday, paving the way for manufacturers to adjust prices of the various goods starting October 1.

Legal notice

Under the current law, KRA commissioner-general only needs to issue a legal notice stating the adjustment for new tax to become effective.

Sector lobby, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, had urged the taxman to suspend implementation of the annual inflation adjustment tax that affects excisable goods, citing economic hardships as a result of Covid-19 crisis.

Consumers will pay Sh6 more for a litre of beer and products with alcohol content not exceeding six percent while prices for spirits will rise highest at Sh12.50.

Review of the prices came three days after the State allowed bars and entertainment joints to reopen after a six-month shutdown in what is expected to spur beer and cigarette sales and shore up KRA’s collections from excise duty.

Rate of inflation

The adjustment is in line with the law that demands excise duty be revised upwards in tandem with the cost of living measure or the average rate of inflation in the previous financial year.

“The commissioner-general adjusts for inflation the specific rates of duty set out in the schedule hereto in accordance with the formula specified in Part 1 of the First Schedule to the Act with effect from the 1stOctober, 2020,” KRA said.

The taxman will now collect Sh265.50 per litre of spirit, Sh198.34 per litre of wine and Sh116.08 per litre of beer. A stick of cigarette will cost Sh0.16 more as the excise duty rose to Sh3.31 per stick from Sh3.15.

Super petrol rose by Sh1.03 as the inflation adjusted excise duty to Sh21.95 from Sh20.92. Kerosene and diesel prices increased by Sh0.54.

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Kenya

Africa

Business