| 1 | Erratic Rainfall Disrupts Hydropower | Christmas will be dark for Zimbabweans. The hydropower station that supplies over 70% of Zimbabwe’s electricity will be turned off imminently and remain off until Jan. 1, 2023, owing to low water levels. | With climate change, reduced flows into the dam are going to be prevalent. - Byron Zamasiya of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association | This news broke in a letter leaked from the Zambezi River Authority, a corporation jointly owned by the Zambian and Zimbabwean governments, which supplies power to both countries. (Zambia’s power supply will continue undisrupted.) Although the Zambezi River’s Kariba Dam is one of the largest human-made dams in the world, the Zambezi River Authority’s own statistics show that declining dam levels — already dwindling over the past several months — have worsened in recent weeks. “The Lake level has been decreasing steadily on account of low inflows from the mainstream Zambezi River and its tributaries,” the authority said in the leaked letter. Byron Zamasiya of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association noted, “With climate change, reduced flows into the dam are going to be prevalent.” Declining inflows have led to massive utility cutbacks in which the average Zimbabwean consumer has spent several hours without power daily for the past three months. This has also negatively impacted the country’s mining and manufacturing sectors. |
| 2 | Lagos to See Major Infrastructure Upgrade | Nigeria's Lagos state is set to choose Portuguese contractor Mota-Engil and two Chinese firms to construct a $2.5 billion bridge that is expected to ease heavy traffic in the West African nation’s most populous city. The Fourth Mainland Bridge will span 23 miles and include three toll plazas and nine interchanges, says Jubril Gawat, a senior spokesperson for the governor of Lagos state. (Source: Reuters) |
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| | | 1 | Amazon Scales Back in US and Emerging Markets | Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is reportedly scaling down global business operations for the world’s largest e-commerce retailer as part of heavy cost-cutting initiatives. In its third quarter financial report, Amazon posted an international operating income loss of $5.5 billion, leading to the firm shedding jobs, scaling down its meal and grocery store delivery services, and shelving several new products. India is one region where Amazon is implementing cuts, which are also taking place in the U.S. According to Companies Market Cap, Amazon has lost over $500 billion in market capitalization in the first nine months of the year and ended September in an illiquid position, holding about 94 cents for every dollar in liabilities. (Source: Bloomberg) |
| 2 | Latinos Are Fastest-Growing Part of US Economy | Research by global management firm McKinsey & Company has found that Latinos' household spending increased by 6% annually over the past decade, reaching a total market size of $1 trillion in 2021, and that Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic in the country’s economy. “Our research estimates that the Latino consumer base has unmet needs of more than $100 billion currently,” said the company. “Companies that support Latino consumers by optimizing value propositions and tailoring their marketing and sales strategies have a singular opportunity to capture the potential this growing market represents.” (Source: McKinsey & Company) | Companies that support Latino consumers by optimizing value propositions and tailoring their marketing and sales strategies have a singular opportunity to capture the potential this growing market represents. - McKinsey & Company |
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| | | 1 | Chinese Protests Lead to Market Unrest | Protests in the world’s second-largest economy have caused widespread market upheaval in the equities and commodity markets, as Chinese nationals demonstrate against their government’s strict COVID-19 policies. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Widespread protests in China are rare, and some economists are predicting they could lead to stronger Covid measures rather than more relaxed policy as the Chinese government aims for greater control.” (Sources: The Wall Street Journal, The Economist) |
| 2 | Indian Fishermen Block $900 Million Seaport Construction | Protesters have halted the construction of a $900 million port planned for the southern Indian state of Kerala, claiming that the project has contributed to coastal degradation while robbing fishermen of their livelihood. Demonstrations have prompted the port and logistics corporation owned by billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani to pause its work on the proposed Vizhinjam seaport, which is slated to compete with ports in Dubai, Singapore and Sri Lanka. Over the weekend, police arrested some protesters who prevented construction vehicles from accessing the port; on Sunday night, hundreds of protesters, led by Catholic priests, marched on a police station. (Source: Reuters) | Protesters have halted the construction of a $900 million port planned for the southern Indian state of Kerala, claiming that the project has contributed to coastal degradation while robbing fishermen of their livelihood. |
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| | | | | 1 | Catalonia to Spain: Use Recovery Funds to Halt Deindustrialization | Catalonia has requested that Spain’s government utilize its $145 billion in EU recovery funds to support areas where factories have closed, stating that failure to do so risks economic growth. This comes as the Spanish central government has moved slowly in distributing the EU funds, which were part of a larger package for the European bloc. The autonomous community of Catalonia, located in Spain's northeast, is an export-driven industrial zone that accounts for nearly 20% of Spain’s economic activity. Natàlia Mas, the Catalan administration’s top economist, said Spain should concentrate recovery fund spending in areas left vacant by closures. “If you chop up the resources excessively, if you don’t support big transformational projects, it’s doubtful that you’ll achieve a permanent impact,” said Mas. (Source: Financial Times) | If you don’t support big transformational projects, it’s doubtful that you’ll achieve a permanent impact. - Natàlia Mas |
| 2 | Weighed Down by Debt, Italian Companies ‘On Very Thin Ice’ | Italian firms have $127 billion in government-backed COVID-19 credit lines as of June 30, Bloomberg reports, drawing on a report published by the European Banking Authority last month. Such loans were made to firms when the pandemic abruptly disrupted commercial operations, but many Italian companies are now struggling to honor those loan obligations, due to rising interest rates and sluggish growth. “We are on very thin ice,” said Stefano Caselli, dean of the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan. “If the system enters a recession and tensions on energy prices stay high, the debt of companies will become a problem.” (Source: Bloomberg) |
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Factories are closing in Spain and elsewhere. Can COVID recovery funds prevent such closures, and if so, how? | |
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EPISODE 2 NOW STREAMING! Featuring style influencer Marika B (better known as Br00klynBetty) & WOODstack IVY buyer Tianna Weatherspoon | |
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