Aurelia Butler

Starlink, the satellite unit of SpaceX, operates in several African countries but has faced regulatory challenges in others and resistance from state telecom monopolies.Starlink has submitted an application for a telecommunications service license in Namibia, however the regulator has not issued the license as the application is under review.”Following an investigation, CRAN has established that Starlink is operating a network within Namibia without the required telecommunications license,” CRAN said in a statement.”On 26 November 2024, the Authority issued a cease-and-desist order to Starlink, instructing the company to immediately cease all operations in Namibia.”SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The regulator also advised the public not to purchase Starlink terminal equipment or subscribe to its services, as such activities are illegal in Namibia.Its investigators have already confiscated illegal terminals from consumers and have opened criminal cases with the Namibian Police in this regard, it added.Earlier this year, Cameroon ordered the seizure of Starlink equipment at ports as it was not licensed. More

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The spirits business suffered a humdinger of a hangover when the pandemic-era cocktail boom unravelled. Trade wars threaten to make the headache considerably worse. This week US president-elect Donald Trump, who had already mooted tariffs of between 10 and 20 per cent on non-Chinese imports, threatened to put a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office. Meanwhile China has slapped duties of up to 39 per cent on EU brandy, in response to levies on Chinese electric vehicles.It is a nasty cocktail for Europe’s drinks companies. Those with tequila brands such as the UK’s Diageo and Italy’s Campari are exposed to US-Mexico tariffs. Diageo also faces higher tariffs on Crown Royal whisky shipped from Canada to the US. Those companies along with Rémy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard, both based in France, would also be hit by tariffs on imports from the EU and UK. For some, the impact would be hard to swallow. Imposing a 25 per cent tariff on US imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 per cent on those from the EU and UK would cut earnings per share for Pernod, Campari, Diageo and Rémy by 3 per cent, 8 per cent, 8 per cent and 19 per cent respectively, according to Deutsche Bank.It might not happen. In 2019, Trump’s tariff threats roiled the market for months but were eventually watered down to cover just single malt scotch and Irish whiskey made in the UK, says Ed Mundy of Jefferies. The industry is lobbying hard on the impact on consumers and hospitality job losses.Chinese tariffs are already proving disruptive. Hennessy, owned by French luxury group LVMH, briefly considered bottling its brandy in China to avoid import tariffs. But it suspended the plan after hundreds of workers went on strike. Rémy Cointreau is particularly exposed. On Thursday it said the proposed US 10 per cent tariff “is not going to kill us for sure” but acknowledged that the Chinese tariffs were a concern. It plans to cut costs and adjust prices to mitigate the impact, though weak demand will make it hard to pass on extra costs.Even before Rémy feels the hit from Chinese tariffs, its sales this year will drop by more than analysts expected. There are, however, some early signs of stabilisation in the US market. Thursday’s 3 per cent share price rise is a sign that some investors think the fall in the shares — down by 70 per cent since 2021 — has gone far enough. If tariffs are watered down, investors can start to look ahead to a time when the party gets going again. For now, however, the threat of higher duties is a big dampener on high spirits. vanessa.houlder@ft.com More

LONDON (Reuters) – French borrowing costs effectively matched those of Greece on Thursday for the first time, as Michel Barnier’s government teetered on the brink of collapse, underlining a dramatic shift in how lenders view the creditworthiness of euro zone members.Far-right and leftist opposition parties have been threatening to bring down Barnier’s government over its budget that includes 60 billion euros ($63 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts.Bond investors worry that the collapse of the government would mean any effort to cut borrowing is jettisoned.”A no-confidence vote would reset the progress made with the current budget proposal and trigger a new period of political limbo,” said Michiel Tukker, senior European rates strategist at lender ING.In the middle of the euro zone sovereign crisis in 2012, Greece’s borrowing costs, as measured by its 10-year bond yield, shot to more than 37 percentage points above those in France, as Greece looked destined to default on its debts.Fast forward 12-1/2 years and Greek debt on Thursday morning traded within 0.02 percentage points of France at around 3%.France’s rising debt levels have been slowly eroding its advantages in the bond market for years. Then, the risk premium investors demand to buy French debt compared to its neighbours shot higher in June when President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election that resulted in a fragile hung parliament.Meanwhile, the countries once at the centre of the 2012 crisis and labeled the PIGS – Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain – have cut their debt levels and become more attractive to bond investors.Greek public debt was already running at 100% of GDP before the euro zone crisis and surged to more than 200% as COVID-19 hit in 2020. But it has since fallen to around 160% of GDP and economists expect it to continue to fall. French debt is historically elevated at 112% of GDP and rising. The state has spent heavily in response to the shocks of COVID-19 and the Ukraine war, while tax receipts have lagged expectations. “Even if the government did achieve its planned consolidation, France would still have a pretty elevated budget deficit,” said Max Kitson, rates strategist at Barclays (LON:BARC).”If you look at Greece’s debt-to-GDP profile, you have a downwards trajectory which contrasts with France’s upwards trajectory.”Similar efforts to rein in debt – as well as years of bond purchases by the European Central Bank – in Ireland, Portugal and Spain have seen those countries’ borrowing costs fall below those of France.On the plus side for France, its bond yields have not risen sharply in absolute terms and are in fact down around 16 basis points since the start of the month.Friday evening will prove a test, when S&P Global Ratings will update its assessment of France, after Fitch and Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) downgraded their outlooks on the country last month. More

The investment will fund projects promoting economic growth, tackling poverty and addressing the impacts of climate change, the government said in a statement.The IDA fund, which mainly provides grants and very low interest loans to the poorest countries, is replenished every three years, and a pledging conference is scheduled for Dec. 5-6 in Seoul.World Bank President Ajay Banga is aiming for a record amount exceeding the $93 billion refunding in December 2021, amid rising demands from poor nations that are struggling with crushing debts, climate disasters, conflict and other pressures.U.S. President Joe Biden pledged a $4 billion U.S. contribution to the IDA fund last week.Britain used to devote 0.7% of its gross national income to overseas development aid, but the previous Conservative government cut that level to 0.5% in 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, in office since July, has pledged to restore the aid budget to the previous level but has not set a timeline for it.($1 = 0.7897 pounds) More

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