Business
Chinese Firm Loses Interest In US Economy
Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer, Huawei, has given up its quest to conquer the market for telecom network equipment in the United States, where the company’s sales efforts have been repeatedly blocked by security fears.
“We are not interested in the US market anymore,” Eric Xu, executive vice-president, said at the company’s annual analyst summit recently. The world’s second-largest supplier of network gear by revenue has shifted the focus of expansion away from the US over the past year.
Huawei’s decision ends an aggressive push for business in the world’s largest economy. US security officials and politicians have repeatedly identified Huawei as a threat to US national security — an allegation the Chinese company has consistently denied.
Although Huawei has done business with 45 of the world’s top carriers, it failed to get contracts from any leading operators in the US. Last month, Sprint Nextel, the third largest US mobile network operator, and its Japanese suitor, Softbank, both gave assurances to the House intelligence committee that they would not use Huawei equipment.
In October, a US congressional report officially branded Huawei and ZTE, its smaller Chinese peer, a threat to national security. At the time, Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called on the US Government and private sector companies to shun Huawei and ZTE.
Despite its success in other markets, including the UK, Huawei has struggled in the US for years because of concerns among politicians and security officials about the military background of its founder Ren Zhengfei, a former People’s Liberation Army officer.
In 2008, Huawei retracted a bid for 3Com, a US technology company, after it emerged that the proposed deal would not gain regulatory approval in Washington. Two years later, Huawei bid for a multibillion-dollar contract to supply network infrastructure to Sprint Nextel, one of the top US operators, but lost after the US Government intervened. It also failed to win bids for other US telecom assets and, in 2011, was forced to unwind a $2m deal to buy patents from a US company.
In response to these setbacks, Huawei launched a major US lobbying campaign. It hired a number of senior executives from ailing rivals such as Nortel and Motorola, in an effort to build a big research and development presence.
Ken Hu, a senior Huawei executive, also wrote a passionate open letter calling on the US government to launch a formal investigation, which he believed would clear his company.
But October’s congressional report made it even more difficult for the company to do business in the US, Huawei executives say. As a result, it has halted its expansion there. While Huawei still employs 1,400 people in the US, its R&D headcount has dropped from 800 to 500, and the sales team has shrunk too.
Executives at the company’s consumer and enterprise business-groups said they no longer consider the US to be a strategic market.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
-
News4 days ago
Osun Govt Sets Up Committee To Tackle Fake News, Cyber Bullying
-
Rivers2 days ago
Andoni Stakeholders Endorse Fubara’s Administration
-
Sports2 days ago
African Games: Nigerian Women Athletes Make Country Proud Again
-
Nation2 hours ago
Bauchi Rewards Community With 200 Bags Of Rice For Preventing Looting
-
Maritime4 days ago
NPA To Generate N629bn Revenue In 2024 -MD
-
Politics4 days ago
Ekwueme Could Have Been President, Ganduje Tells S’East
-
News4 days ago
INC Demands Justice For Soldiers Killed In Delta
-
Sports2 days ago
Man Utd To Be Barred From European Competition?