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Liquidity: Managing Cash Flow When Revenue and Funding Dry Up

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Join Top African Business Leaders Online for Four-Part Webinar Series

Africa.com has convened the largest ever gathering of Africa’s CEOs, managing directors, finance directors, private equity and venture capital investors, bankers, asset managers, corporate law partners, senior executives and diplomats.  Over 8,000 business leaders from 81 countries – 41 countries on the continent and 40 countries throughout the world, registered for Africa.com’s “Crisis Management for African Business Leaders,” a four-part webinar series hosted by Africa.com and faculty from Harvard Business School.

The next session of this weekly series will take place on April 22, 2020 at 15:00 South African time, on the topic of Liquidity: Managing Cash Flow When Revenue and Funding Dry Up.

Speakers include:      SimTshabalala, Chief Executive, Standard Bank Group

KunleElebute, Chair, KPMG, Africa

WelelaDawit, CFO, GE Africa

AdmassuTadesse, Chief Executive, TD Bank

Teresa Clarke, Chair & CEO of Africa.com said, “When we surveyed the 8,000 registrants for the webinar series, liquidity was the number one concern.  Business leaders are worried about how they will fund their companies when their revenues have plummeted.  African business leaders are also very concerned about how they can support their employees, their communities and their nations when their own resources are drying up.”

The webinar series features panel discussions led by faculty from Harvard Business School, in conversation with African business leaders including:

  • Sola David-Borha, Chief Executive, Africa Regions, Standard Bank
  • WelelaDawit, CFO, GE Africa
  • KuseniDlamini, Chair, Massmart
  • KunleElebute, Chairman, KPMG Africa
  • NolithaFakude, Chairman, Anglo-American Management Board
  • Foluso Phillips, Chair, Phillips Consulting
  • FunkeOpeke, Founder and CEO, MainOne
  • Jay Ireland, Former President and CEO, GE Africa
  • AdmassuTadesse, Chief Executive, Trade and Development Bank
  • Fred Swaniker, Founder & CEO, African Leadership Group
  • SimTshabalala, Chief Executive, Standard Bank Group
  • Rob Shuter, President/CEO, MTN Group Ltd.

 

More information and free registration at virtualconferenceafrica.com.

Prices slump as corona virus hits market

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The Addis Ababa city administration is disinfecting cattle to decrease the transmission of the virus at Addis Ababa Abattoir pictured above. The abattoir is taking precautions so that the corona virus don’t spread.
The World health Organization recommendations to reduce risk of transmission of emerging pathogens from animals to humans in live animal markets or animal product markets states that anyone visiting live animal markets or animal product markets should practice general hygiene measures, including regular hand washing with soap and water after touching animals and animal products, avoiding touching eyes, nose, or mouth with hands, and avoiding contact with sick animals or spoiled animal products. Stay safe. 

 

Easter is one of the major holidays that Ethiopians celebrate. Most of the time a holiday marks an increase in market prices and a shortage of commodities.
But as COVID-19 spreads around the globe, governments everywhere face a trade-off between economic well-being and containment.
Ethiopia also faces a greater and more dangerous challenge than many other places, given that interrupting daily economic life would threaten fragile livelihoods for tens of millions of people already living in precarious conditions.
In Ethiopia where more than half of the population is assumed to be the follower of orthodox and catholic churches, celebrating Easter after eight weeks of fasting is kind of a must.
On Easter eve, Ethiopian Christians participate in an hours-long church service that ends around 3 a.m on Sunday, after which they break their fast.
Mostly people start preparing for the celebration beginning from the last two weeks before the holiday. Unlike this year because of limited travel restrictions most products did not enter to the city market as they used to be.
In the city after the first case of corona virus was announced price of certain commodities increased. Vegetables, red pepper powder and onions have shown a ridiculous increase.
This week of Easter has a somber atmosphere and church services were not held as it was before. Previously on the holy week followers go to the church for a daily prayer, however, on March 24, 2020 the government ban public gatherings including religious worship aimed at preventing the spread of covid19.
Most large markets are moving to other areas to minimize the gathering, before a couple of weeks the city administration has decided to move the largest piazza vegetable market to Janmeda.
In Addis Ababa, in the last two or three weeks before the holiday it was familiar to see the city crowded by shops, exhibitions, bazaars and different small sheds of markets selling commodities for the holiday and these places crowded by thousands of shoppers.
Three months ago on Christmas there were two huge exhibitions opened at millennium hall and exhibition center and stayed until the eve of Christmas. Such kind of events were preferred because they gather consumers, retailers and producers together and anyone can get the products with cheaper prices than the normal market. But currently there are no bazaars and exhibitions as the city administration have changed the exhibition center and the millennium hall to isolation centers.
“Even if we are doing our best to do the same as we do before, this year is a little bit difficult, many businesses are slowing down, our income is low,” said Nunu who is a mother of two kids, and owns an electronic shop.
Mostly butter, eggs and chicken come to the city from various parts of the country, mainly from Harer, Gojjam, Arbaminch and Jimma. However according to Semahegn Yalew, a trader in Merkato, because of the virus most of the cities were restricting movements from one city to other and also the people were fearing to come to the central part with the fear of getting infected. “The price of some products are increasing and some are staying as they were at the time of the fasting season.”
From most markets of the city Capital observed the price of chicken and egg is quite lower than the price during the Christmas market.
Traders were selling an egg for 3.50 to 5.00 birr- the price is lower than the price during the Christmas festivity, whereas a chicken would set consumers back between 300 birr to 500 birr. Most are also selling a kilo of butter for 250 birr and 320 birr and the market has shown a decrease in price than it was on Christmas.
Kera, Akaki, Shegole, Bercheko are the largest cattle markets receiving cattle from different parts of the country, mainly from Harer, Wellega, Bahirdar, Jimma, Gonder and Wolayita among others. Usually, sale of livestock inside the center reflects significant seasonal variations on demand and supply. According to the traders, usually, the price is based on the type, size and origin of the cattle. “However this year the global situation of the virus and the travel ban cattle is more cheaper than it used to be, “plus people are not that much interested to buy cattle like they used to buy,” said on cattle seller at Kera.
The Addis Ababa city administration is now disinfecting cattle to decrease the transmit ion of the virus.
“Restriction of some part of the country make big change on the price of the cattle,” another trader at Kera said. According to him the Easter market shows around 2000- 3000 birr increase in price in comparison to similar holidays over the years. But it is showing a 3,000 birr decrease from last Christmas’ market.

People are still defying authorities’ orders

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Even though the regulation of the state of emergency (SoE) stated that using face mask is mandatory at public areas to prevent the outbreak of COVID 19, the law is not properly applied at the current situation.
Police also warn abusing the laws has a punishment up to death.
According to Capital’s observation in different corner of Addis Ababa the use of face mask is rare especially in crowded places.
The trend, at major busy areas like Merkato and public bus transportation areas, continued as usual, even though the state of emergency enforce the use of any kind of mouth and nose coverage at public places.
The regulation of SoE article 4 sub article 6 indicated that using masks or face coverage at banks, market places, public transport and terminals, shops, drug stores, public service areas and other mass gathering areas is a mandatory. The same article sub article 7 clearly states that the mask can be any type including homemade or any kind of scarves.
Commander Fasika Fanta, Public Relation head of Addis Ababa Police Commission, said that the city Police Commission observed the use of face mask is rare. “We evaluated the situation of applying the SoE on covering the face is not being properly followed and we will work on correcting it immediately,” he told Capital.
He said that to narrow the gap the Addis Ababa Police Commission in collaboration with Federal Police and representatives of Ministry of Peace is taking strict measures as of Wednesday April 15.
“Due to the holiday season in the past few days the security has been highly focusing on religious areas to make sure that the public did not gather at churches,” he said. “Thursday prayer and Good Friday we have focused on church areas at the same time alerting the public at big market areas and insisted the public to use face mask besides keeping the social distance.”
“We also evaluated the situation at Merkato and Janmeda and we decided that it should be corrected regarding using face masks,” Fasika added.
Jeylan Abdi, Public Relation Head at Federal Police Commission, said that the public is not using the mask as per the expectation, but the public is cooperating and listening the orders of the federal police members who are in duty.
“So far we understand that the public does not internalized the situation and we also get information that there are members of the community that never have heard about the measures that they have to take to keep themselves safe from the virus,” he said.
“We have got such kind of less informed community members that does not have access for media such as those who are engaged on the daily laborer work at the highly congested market place at Merkato,” Jeylan told Capital.
To expand the awareness and address those who are far from media the Federal Police will start sharing information on megaphone in those mass public gathering areas, according to Jeylan.
“Mainly we are focusing on alerting the public to keep their social distance and if it is difficult we advise them to cover their faces,” he said.
Jeylan said that the regular criminal code like article 514 gives a right for attorney general to sue those that disregard the law to punish them from simple imprisonment to death penalty.
He said that “a simple example is that an individual that transported dwellers against the regulation of the SoE was punished 1,500 birr on Thursday.”
“Others that might consider to go against the law of the country and the SoE will face serious punishment according to the country’s laws,” he added.
He advised the public to keep its health by properly applying the recommendations and orders from the policy force.
“The SoE is issued to keep the health of the society itself due to that we have to respect and apply or else face the consequences,” Fasika advised. He recommended the public to act like security force to keep the general public’s health.
Several countries ordered their citizens to wear face masks in public area to cut the transmission of the coronavirus.
Scientists are also advising that the face mask whether it is professional or not will significantly reduce the transmission of the virus.
Currently most of the textile industries are shifting to the production of face masks and several homemade masks are also available in the market.
The government has also recommended the public shall use any fabrics to cover the mouth and nose areas.

ACCELERATING DEMISE

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Our hyper complex global existence is facing formidable challenges. These protracted problems might not find their resolutions within the existing world system. Wallerstein’s bifurcation (ascending multi-polarity) is inevitable. To recall; the current world system has been around for over half a millennium. One can take the settlement of the Europeans in the Americas as the beginning of the prevailing world system. The world system analysis, which was developed by Samir Amin (1931-2018), Immanuel Wallerstein (1930-2019), Andre Gunder Frank (1929-2005) and Giovanni Arrighi (1937-2009), asserted that before West European’s incursion into the Americas, the then world system was centered more to the East, around the Arab-Indo-Chinese civilization. Long ago, world system analysis predicted the rise of the East/Eurasia (again read multi-polarity), which was later outlined by Gunder in his last book–‘Reorient’ (1998)!
The current system, which is called the modern world system, (by the above world system analysts) has managed to incorporate all of humanity under its overarching logic of brutal accumulation. The system leveraged gross inequalities, such as slavery, colonialism, ethnic-ism and sexism within the human family to advance its objective. The political organization of the interstate system facilitated groupings that were leveraged for widespread/worldwide accumulation. The proliferation of supra states institutions, still anchored on the nation-states configuration, are now the seats of real power, economic, social, cultural, military, etc. (UN, NATO, EU, WTO, etc.) The ever-expanding technosphere solidified and entrenched the hierarchical world system across the planet. In late modernity, the system, utilizing its supra state institutions and technology has managed to subdue all of humanity’s aspirations under its archaic straight jacket ideology. The cumulative result: a highly complex global system, which was not and is not keen on furthering the welfare of the global sheeple (human mass) or the planet’s ecosystem. Every aspect of collective human existence is now (directly or indirectly) dictated by the old senile system of blind accumulation. This ambition of accumulation at any cost, even at the price of all life/ecosystem, cannot be sustained within the organic human universe, without massive coercion of barbaric proportion!
Consequences of the modern world system are now surfacing all over the planet. Climate change, resource depletion, economic and social inequality leading to increased global disharmony, man-made pestilences, or WMD (weapons of mass destruction) in general, etc., etc. are the most obvious signs of decay. To reiterate: the underlying unsustainable economic order is the main culprit behind the calamities we are currently witnessing. To add insult to injury, this global system is being led by the worst elements/psychopaths of the human collective. In short, global rule is a bona fide kakistocracy. Kakistocracy is a system of government that is run by the worst, least qualified, and/or most unscrupulous citizens. One of the system’s economic gurus described the existing order as follows. ‘Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.’ John Maynard Keynes.
Parasitic structures to benefit only the 1%, at the expense of the 99%, have been in place for quite a while. Everything under the sky has been employed to hide as well as maintain this lopsided global order. Many institutions are created, formally & informally, to this end. The very existence of the ‘deep state’, which operates outside the jurisdiction of democracy and electoral governance, is a case in point. Today, the ‘deep state’ is very effective in secretly executing extreme measures that illude the sheeple’s blurring eyes, severely numbed taste and soft head/heart! In addition, the reigning hegemon continues to exhibit behaviors that holler; ‘the time is nigh’! There are further evidences that clearly show the system is on its final leg. In this times of protracted challenges, what might be surprising, particularly to the left, is the order’s determined move away from its continual project of pacifying the global sheeple. It seems the bosses of the system have decided to boldly move towards feudalism, neo-feudalism to be more precise. The current decision by the US to allow the FED (Federal Reserve Board) to literally buy/own everything under the sun is a new chapter in the brave new world of late modernity! This private institution, which serves as the US central bank, is owned by other western banks. The FED’s new mandate includes, besides its old prerogatives, the followings. To buy government bills/bonds outright, (monetizing debt), to buy/own commercial bonds/papers, including the useless junk bonds, to set up an extensive dollar swap arrangements with all central banks of the world. The FED can also buy shares of companies in the equity market, even though there has always been a law against this. No sweat, the FED and accomplices have come up with proxies to do this, ‘legally’! Here is what world’s largest asset manager said about the new situation. ‘Investing is dead. We can now buy whatever the central banks are buying.’ Blackrock’s Rick Rieder. ‘Fed has carved central planning into the bedrock of the US financial system, and moral hazard is not just universally accepted but a widely expected component of the investing process (or what’s left of it), it probably also means that conflicts of interest are also a thing of the past.’ Rabobank. This is the perfect heist, a stealth steal!
Thanks to Covid-19, what we now have is a situation where the 1% class of banksters are allowed to own all the significant ‘means of production’, free of charge, while the 99% are to toil for pittance that can hardly sustain life. This scheme of disfranchising people will be hastened by the massive introduction of robotics, automation, etc. Don’t forget, as it stands, institutionalized democracy (electoral democracy) is not capable of challenging the basic tenets of the existing economic order, since organized politics is under the diktat of the reigning global kakistocracy. It is the unelected dictatorship of money, led by its human psychopaths that wield all power, economic, political, social, etc.! “We have achieved the Orwellian prediction – enslaved, the people have been programmed to love their bondage and are left to clutch only mirage-like images of freedom, its fables and fictions. The new slaves are linked together by vast electronic chains of television that imprison not their bodies but their minds. Their desires are programmed, their tastes manipulated, their values set for them. ” Gerry Spence, From Freedom to Slavery. Good Day!