EMOJI SENTIMENT INDEX
BACK TO WORK BLUES
Fresh from firing about half of Twitter’s workforce, new owner Elon Musk emailed those who were still employed late on 9 November to prepare them for difficult times ahead. He also banned remote work unless he personally approved it on a case-bycase basis, Bloomberg reports. Under the new rules, which take effect immediately, staff will have to be in the office for at least 40 hours a week. Before he took ownership, Twitter had established a permanent work-from-anywhere arrangement. Musk told staff in his email that he wanted subscriptions to account for half of Twitter’s revenue.
REDUCED GROWTH RATES
Economic growth in Africa could be slashed by two-thirds by the end of the century unless investments are made in climate adaptation, Bloomberg reports, citing a study by Christian Aid, the UK charity that fights global poverty. Temperatures will probably exceed the preindustrial average by 2.7°C under current climate policies, curbing African growth rates by 20% by 2050 and 64% by 2100. Even a 1.5°C rise in temperatures would reduce growth rates by 34% by the century’s end. Between 1991 and 2010, warming temperatures cut growth rates in Africa by
13.6%. Nigeria’s economic growth could decline by 75%.
PAINT MERGER HALTED
The Competition Commission has put the kibosh on the merger of AkzoNobel, the Dutch maker of Dulux paints, and Japanese-controlled Kansai Plascon Africa Limited and Kansai Plascon East Africa, which make Plascon paints.
Kansai Plascon Africa owns
Plascon, a South African paint brand founded in Joburg in
1889. The commission said the deal would cut competition in the making and supply of paint, so reducing consumer choice. Kansai has operations in 12 African countries, and AkzoNobel said in July that it wanted to buy Kansai’s African businesses. There are Plascon and Dulux manufacturing plants in South Africa.
FINANCING FUND
First National Bank has launched its fourth Vumela fund, worth R200-million.
The fund will offer financing to 150 black-owned businesses and create 1,000 jobs, it says. The Vumela Enterprise Development Fund was established in 2009 by the bank and venture capital and private equity firm Edge Growth. Vumela 4.0 has two products. Its accelerate loans, aimed at filling the gap in seed financing for SMEs, are offered to businesses with an annual turnover of up to R50-million at a 5% interest rate. The four-year venture debt loan is for techenabled scale-ups, and has a fixed rate of between 10% and 15%.