COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

OPEC excited about Namibia partnership, offers support



REUTERS



The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is excited about a potential partnership with Namibia and ready to support the southern African country in its oil journey, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said on Wednesday.

The OPEC+ oil producers' group, having lost Angola and other players in recent years, is looking at Namibia for possible membership as it aims to start pumping oil by the next decade following a string of big discoveries.



"We are excited about the potential of the Namibian OPEC partnership and stand ready to offer support at this crucial juncture," Al Ghais said in a pre-recorded message at an international energy conference in Namibia.

"We are enthused by the discoveries in Namibia. Namibian oil and energy will be essential to meeting future demand."



"We encourage potential investors to look at Namibia and the abundance of possibilities here," OPEC's Al Ghais said.

Based on the existing discoveries, Namibia is looking at 700 000 barrels per day (bpd) of peak production capacity by the next decade, according to energy consultancy Rystad Energy.

That is smaller than Angola's output of about 1.1 million bpd, although Rystad noted Namibia's number could rise with more successful exploration. Angola quit OPEC in December last year in a dispute over output quotas.



Paratus Botswana completes Botswana Kalahari Fiber route



TECHCENTRAL



Paratus Botswana has announced that the last leg of its fibre route has now been completed to create the new Botswana Kalahari Fiber (BKF) route.



A total of 840km of fibre was laid between the Namibian border and Lobatse, and was activated at the end of March 2024.



This new fibre route represents an investment of about P70-million in Botswana and is the largest significant investment in its own infrastructure by Paratus Botswana to date.



The BKF completes the last leg of the Paratus-built Trans Kalahari Fiber (TKF) route, which runs from Johannesburg to Swakopmund in Namibia. The new route creates the lowest-latency primary transit path through Botswana and Namibia to Europe. The new BKF will connect Botswana and neighbouring countries to various international subsea cables, and to the rest of the world.



Paratus Botswana and Paratus Namibia have worked closely together in the bid to connect South Africa to the Equiano cable in Swakopmund. By connecting to Equiano in Namibia, the BKF route will assist in enabling more product options and will help stimulate economic growth.



According to the economic impact assessment conducted by Africa Practice and Genesis Analytics, and commissioned by Google, Equiano is forecast to more than double internet speeds and increase internet penetration by 7.5% in the next three years alone, while acting as a catalyst for considerable growth, job creation and sustainability in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.



World Bank suspends Tanzania tourism fund over abuse allegations



REUTERS



The World Bank has suspended new disbursements from a US$150 million fund to expand a national park in southern Tanzania, a spokesperson said on Wednesday, after the lender received allegations of killings and evictions by rangers last year.

Two anonymous complainants have accused rangers from the Ruaha National Park of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, evictions, torture and cattle seizures perpetrated against local villagers, according to the World Bank's independent complaints mechanism.



"The World Bank is deeply concerned about the allegations of abuse and injustice related to the... project in Tanzania," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We have therefore decided to suspend further disbursement of funds with immediate effect."

Government spokesman Mobhare Matinyi said the allegations were false but that the government was investigating "to see if there was any misconduct from any staff so that it takes appropriate action".



He said the suspended final tranche of the loan amounted to $25 million.

Several Tanzanian government initiatives to expand tourism have faced criticism from human rights advocates, including in the north of the country where thousands of Maasai have been evicted from their traditional homelands.

A report last year by the Oakland Institute, a California-based think-tank, accused Ruaha park rangers of sexual violence, and said local communities across Tanzania were bearing the cost of generating tourism revenues under the guise of protecting the environment.



Boeing reports first revenue drop in 7 quarters as deliveries decline



REUTERS



Boeing on Wednesday reported its first quarterly revenue drop in seven quarters, but the U.S. planemaker beat Wall Street expectations that were lowered after a January mid-air blowout of a cabin door prompted it to slow production of its strongest-selling jets.

Boeing said its first-quarter cash burn, a metric closely watched by investors, was US$3.93 billion, better than average analyst expectations of a cash burn of US$4.49 billion.



In March, Boeing indicated it would use between US$4 billion and US$4.5 billion due to a crisis following the Jan 5 accident involving a nearly new 737 MAX 9 jet.

The company's shares, which have sunk 35% year to date, were up 3.6% in volatile premarket trading after its loss per share was narrower than expected.

"Well it could have been worse. While the loss and the cash outflow are not as bad as feared, the company is still clearly facing some serious challenges in the Commercial Aircraft division that will take some fixing," Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard said in a note.



Since the Jan. 5 accident on an Alaska Airlines-operated jet, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed a cap on production of Boeing's strong-selling 737 MAX jets. The FAA also has told Boeing to develop a comprehensive plan to address "systemic quality-control issues."

Before the report, CEO Dave Calhoun, who will step down around year end, said in a letter to employees on that Boeing was "in a tough moment", slowing the system to improve quality and safety.



Google delays Chrome cookie shutdown



BLOOMBERG



Google delayed its plan to phase out cookies, software that lets marketers track users, in its Chrome browser this year, pushing to 2025 a move that will ultimately transform how advertisements are targeted on websites.



The Alphabet Inc. company said in a blog post Tuesday that it’s still working with the ad industry and regulators on the plan, including the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which is conducting a review of Google’s practices.



Google said it hopes to eliminate third-party cookies early next year, provided it can come to an agreement with regulators.



“We recognise that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem,” the company said.



Google has been talking with publishers, marketers and regulators about its plan to replace cookies, the software marketers use to track people’s online activity and tailor ads accordingly, through an initiative known as the Privacy Sandbox.



Google’s decision to phase out cookies echoes moves by Apple Inc., which shook up the digital ad market in 2021 by restricting advertisers’ access to user data in its operating system.