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SELIM BORA has had quite a run. In March his company, Summa, won a contract to rebuild and run Guinea Bissau’s new international airport. Months earlier it had completed a 50,000-seat national stadium in Senegal, after less than 18 months of work—a sprint-like pace for such projects. The company’s résumé also includes convention centres in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, a sports arena in Rwanda, and airports in Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone. “Ten years ago we had no projects in Africa outside of Libya,” recalls Mr Bora, taking in the view from his office in Istanbul. “Today 99% of our work is in Africa.”Turkey’s construction industry is an international heavyweight. Of the world’s 250 biggest contractors, 40 are Turkish, behind only China and America. Many have long had a big footprint in north Africa. Of late they have begun making inroads in the continent’s south. Last year alone the value of projects undertaken by Turkish builders in sub-Saharan Africa was $5bn, or 17% of all Turkish building projects abroad, up from a paltry 0.3% before 2008. The region has overtaken Europe (10%) and the Middle East (13%), and is second only to countries of the former Soviet Union. In parts of Africa Turks are even giving Chinese builders, which continue to dominate construction in Africa, a run for their money.Many of the Turkish construction firms got their African start in Libya in the 2000s, where they locked up billions of dollars in contracts. The toppling of the country’s dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, in 2011 and the ensuing civil war forced them to flee. They found new opportunities south of the Sahara, where their reputation regularly preceded them: many African leaders who had visited Libya and admired Turkish projects there were eager to work with the companies responsible for them.Some assistance for Turkish projects comes from Turkey’s export-credit bank and public lenders from Japan. Both countries are, for their own strategic reasons, keen to check Chinese interests in Africa. Still, the Turks concede that they can rarely compete with Chinese rivals on price. “We cannot match the Chinese, because they come in with their own financing and we have to go to the markets,” says Basar Arioglu, chairman of Yapi Merkezi, another big construction firm.The Turkish firms are therefore stressing other selling points instead. They tend to work faster than Chinese rivals and to offer superior quality. Having completed a big railway project in Ethiopia a few years ago, Yapi Merkezi more recently beat Chinese rivals to build the first section of a Tanzanian railway connecting Dar es Salaam and Lake Victoria. In December it signed a $1.9bn deal to build the third section.The Turks are also happy to comply with African governments’ demands to hire local subcontractors and workers, which the Chinese have been more reluctant to do. This is in large part making a virtue out of necessity: whereas Chinese firms can afford to bring their own skilled workers, including engineers, to Africa, Turkish ones often cannot. Since Turkey lacks China’s resources to be in all places at once, Mr Arioglu observes, “the only way we can survive in the long run is to become local in all the countries we work in.” When Summa began working in Senegal in the 2010s, its workforce was 70% Turkish, remembers Mr Bora. That figure is now down to 30%.Some Africans still grouse about the Turkish presence in their countries. Like the Chinese, “they come and go,” grumbles one official, creating only fleeting jobs. Another complains that the Turks (and other newcomers) invest in construction, mining and ports rather than higher up the value chain, which would do more for Africa’s broader economic development. And they could launch more joint ventures with African companies.Such gripes are, however, outweighed by one last consideration increasingly prized by African governments. “We came at a lucky time,” recalls Mr Arioglu, “when both Ethiopia and Tanzania were looking for alternatives to Chinese companies.” As more sub-Saharan countries follow suit, being non-Chinese is a Turkish trait that China’s builders cannot match. ■ More

FOR MOST white-collar workers, it used to be very simple. Home was the place you left in order to go to work. The office was almost certainly the place you were heading to. Co-working spaces were for entrepreneurial people in T-shirts who wanted to hang out with other entrepreneurial people in T-shirts. You could stay at a hotel on a work trip but it was not a place to get actual work done, which is why a hotel’s “business centre” defined all of business as using a printer.The pandemic has thrown these neat categories up into the air. Most obviously, home is now also a place of work. According to a recent Gallup survey, three-quarters of American workers whose jobs can be performed remotely expect to spend time doing just that in the future. And offices are increasingly where you go to put the company into company—through collaborative work as well as through social activities.But the boldest version of remote working extends well beyond these two locations. “Working from anywhere” envisages a completely untethered existence, in which people can do their jobs in Alaska or Zanzibar. Plenty of destinations are keen to blur the lines between business and leisure (“bleisure”, the world’s ugliest chunk of word-vomit). Hotels are revamping some of their rooms as offices and rolling out work-from-hotel offers. Entire countries are reinventing themselves as places to mix play and work (“plork”?): the Bahamas, Costa Rica and Malta are among those that offer visas for digital nomads.The work-from-anywhere world edged a little closer on April 28th, when Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s boss, outlined new policies for employees of the property-renting platform. As well as being able to move wherever they want in their country of employment without any cost-of-living adjustment, Airbnb staff can also spend up to 90 days each year living and working abroad. Mr Chesky has been living out of Airbnb properties himself for the past few months, and thinks this is the future.The idea of a globe-trotting existence sounds wonderful. Nevertheless, plenty of barriers remain. Some are practical. The legal, payroll and tax ramifications of working from different locations in the course of a year are an administrative headache (Mr Chesky admits as much, and says that he will open-source Airbnb’s solution to this problem).Mundane issues like IT support become more complicated when you are abroad. Working from anywhere is only feasible if your equipment functions reliably. If the Wi-Fi at your Airbnb reminds you of what life was like with modems, your options may be limited. If you spill suntan lotion on your laptop, the people on the hotel’s reception desk are more likely to offer you sympathy than a replacement computer.Another set of obstacles is more personal. The carefree promise of working from anywhere is far easier to realise if you don’t have actual cares. Children of a certain age need to go to school; partners may not be able to work remotely and have careers of their own to manage.The option to work from anywhere will be most attractive to people who have well-paid jobs and fewer obligations: childless tech workers, say. For many other people, the “anywhere” in working from anywhere will still boil down to a simple choice between their home and their office. That might be a recipe for resentment within teams. Imagine dialling into a Zoom call covered in baby drool, and hearing Greg from product wax lyrical about how amazing Chamonix is at this time of year.Resentment may even run the other way. Hybrid work has already smudged the boundary between professional and personal lives. Making everywhere a place of work smears them further. Countries that used to be places to get away from it all will become places to bring it all with you. Turning down meetings when you are on a proper vacation is wholly reasonable; it is not an option when you are plorking on a jobliday. Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism slogan, “The beach is just the beginning”, sounds a lot more idyllic if the punchline in your head isn’t, “There’s also the weekly sales review”.Adding to the menu of working options for sought-after employees makes sense. Mr Chesky’s new policies will probably help him attract better people to Airbnb. They are certainly aligned with the service he is selling. But for the foreseeable future, working from anywhere will be a perk for a lucky few rather than a blueprint for things to come.Read more from Bartleby, our columnist on management and work:The case for Easter eggs and other treats (Apr 30th)Startups for the modern workplace (Apr 23rd)How to sign off an email (Apr 16th)For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, business and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly newsletter. More

Bath & Body Works Chief Executive Officer Andrew Meslow is resigning from his role this month due to health reasons.
He will also be leaving his position as a member of Bath & Body Works’ board.
Meslow took over as CEO of Bath & Body works in May 2020, when it was still operating under the L Brands parent company alongside the lingerie maker Victoria’s Secret.

Pedestrians walk past a Bath & Body Works store.
Craig Warga | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bath & Body Works Chief Executive Officer Andrew Meslow is resigning from his role due to health reasons, the retailer announced Thursday in a securities filing.
Meslow will also be leaving his position as a member of Bath & Body Works’ board.

The changes will be effective May 12. The filing did not specify the nature of Meslow’s health issues.
Meslow took over as CEO of Bath & Body Works in May 2020, when it was still operating under the L Brands parent company alongside the lingerie maker Victoria’s Secret. He had been with the business for more than a decade prior.
L Brands split into two publicly traded retailers, Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret, last year.
During the Covid pandemic, Bath & Body Works has been a retail winner thanks to its massive hand sanitizer and soaps business. As consumers have scooped up candles and other self-care items while spending more time at home, its sales have also seen a lift.
For the three-month period ended Jan. 29, Bath & Body Works reported net sales of $3 billion, up 11% from a year earlier.

Following a run-up in 2021, its shares are down about 22% year to date.
Find the securities filing from Bath & Body Works here.

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Wayfair reported larger-than-expected losses in the first quarter as shoppers scaled back their spending on the home category.
Wayfair reported its count of active customers in the first quarter of 2022 declined 23.4% from a year ago.
Wayfair also announced its chief financial officer, Michael Fleisher, is set to retire early next year.

Niraj Shah, CEO, Wayfair
Ashlee Espinal | CNBC

Wayfair shares tumbled in premarket trading Thursday after the online furniture retailer reported larger-than-expected losses in the first quarter as shoppers scaled back their spending on the home category.
Wayfair also announced its chief financial officer, Michael Fleisher, is set to retire early next year. Kate Gulliver, current chief people officer, will be moving into the CFO role in November. Fleisher will remain at the company for a transition period until next January, it said.

Wayfair co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Niraj Shah said, despite sliding sales, consumer health remains “relatively strong.”
The retailer was a massive beneficiary during the pandemic as consumers shifted their spending to the web and bought up fresh home decor and office furniture. But it’s struggled with supply chain complications that have resulted in order delays and frustrated shoppers.
“The companies that will be most successful in navigating this dynamic environment are those that can act with agility,” Shah said in a press release.
Wayfair reported its count of active customers in the first quarter of 2022 declined 23.4% from a year ago, to 25.4 million. Orders per customer totaled 1.87, versus 1.98 in the year-ago period. Orders from repeat customers likewise fell from 2021, totaling 8.1 million, 26% lower than the year ago.
Active customers represent shoppers who purchased at least once directly from Wayfair in the preceding 12-month period.

For the three-month period ended March 31, Wayfair reported a loss of $319 million, or $3.04 per share, compared with net income of $18 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, the company lost $1.96 per share. Analysts had been looking for a loss of $1.56 a share, according to a Refinitiv poll.
Sales fell almost 14% to $2.99 billion from $3.48 billion a year earlier. That was in line with analysts’ estimates.
Net revenue in the United States dropped 9.9%, to $2.5 billion, while international net revenue declined 31.4%, to $451 million.
Shah said Wayfair is focused on returning to profitability, on an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization basis.
Wayfair shares have tumbled more than 52% year to date.
Find the full quarterly financial release from Wayfair here.

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New York City increased its Covid alert level from low to medium this week as infections surpassed a rate of 200 per 100,000 people, driven by the more contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant.
Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said the city would seriously consider reinstating mask mandates and vaccine checks if hospitalizations trigger a high alert.
Vasan said it’s unclear what the fall will bring for the city, though he’s not expecting an omicron level surge.

Children are seen walking to school, on the first day of lifting the indoor mask mandate for DOE schools between K through 12, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S. March 7, 2022.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

New York City could bring back mask mandates and proof of vaccination status to go to restaurants, bars and other venues if Covid hospitalizations rise to a concerning level, according to the city’s top health official.
The city increased its Covid alert level from low to medium earlier this week as infections surpassed a rate of 200 per 100,000 people, driven by the more contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant. For now, health officials are asking residents to exercise increased caution by voluntarily masking indoors and getting tested before and after gatherings.

However, Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said New York might reinstate mandatory masking and vaccine checks if the city raises its Covid alert level to high.
“It’s clear that if we moved into a high risk and high alert environment, we’d be seriously considering bringing those mandates back,” Vasan told CNBC on Tuesday.
New York City’s alert system is based on the new Covid community levels designed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that trigger safety protocols based on hospitalization rates and the level of infection on a per capita basis. The city would go into high alert if hospital admissions rise to 10 patients per 100,000 people or if inpatient beds reach 10% occupancy as a seven-day average.
Hospital admissions and bed occupancy are rising; about seven out of 100,000 people were hospitalized with Covid in New York City as of April 31 and about 3% of hospital beds were occupied as of that date.
“We would need to see those levels rise to concerning benchmarks in order for us to move into a higher risk category,” Vasan said. “I think the choices we make now are going to be determinative.”

Mayor Eric Adams ended mandatory vaccine checks at restaurants and other indoor venues in early March as Covid infections plummeted from the height of the omicron wave. Adams also lifted the mask mandate for students at public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade. Children under age 5 are still required to wear masks at school, though the mandate has been the subject of a legal battle. Toddlers and preschoolers are the only age group left in the U.S. that isn’t yet eligible for vaccination.
Infections and hospitalizations in the city are still down more than 90% from the peak of the omicron wave in early January. Vasan said the city is transitioning from the emergency phase of the pandemic into an endemic phase where the virus is not as disruptive to society. However, the city needs to see a prolonged period of low Covid transmission before it can truly declare the pandemic over, he said.
“Between the end of the omicron wave and the beginning of this current wave, we had maybe a month of relatively low transmission,” Vasan said. “What I’d like to see is a prolonged period of low transmission.”
Masks are still required on subways, buses and rail in New York City despite a federal court ruling last month that overturned the CDC’s public transit mask mandate. Although New York state controls the city’s public transportation, Vasan said the city will back the mandate until there’s low-to-no Covid transmission.
“Spending extended amounts of time underground with no ventilation, on a bus with limited ventilation, or in an airplane — those constitutes high risk endeavors for a highly transmissible airborne virus,” Vasan said.
When the city might enter a sustained period of low transmission is unclear. Many epidemiologists are expecting a surge of infections in the fall as colder weather spurs people to spend more time indoors. New York City has a high wall of immunity against Covid with nearly 80% of the population fully vaccinated, Vasan said, but that protection will wane over time and a more immune-evasive variant could always emerge.
“We don’t know what the fall will bring,” the health commissioner said, though he’s not expecting an omicron level surge. “I would be very surprised if we’re seeing anything like omicron ever again,” he said.
However, the city does need to be prepared for the possibility of a future surge, Vasan said. He called on Congress to pass additional Covid funding, saying the city is dependent on federal support for additional vaccines and expanded access to antiviral treatments such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid.
“Now is not the time to start rolling that back,” Vasan said. “The pandemic is certainly not over.”

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Sports e-commerce company Fanatics added SoftBank executive Lydia Jett and former Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall to its board of directors.
Fanatics, which has an estimated valuation of $27 billion, wants to transform into a $100 billion company that offers online sports gambling.

A detailed photo of the Fanatics apparel displayed at NFL Hospitality during the 2018 NFL Annual Meetings at the Ritz Carlton Orlando, Great Lakes on March 26, 2018 in Orlando, Florida.
Mark Brown | Getty Images

Fanatics, the rapidly expanding sports e-commerce company, announced Thursday that it added SoftBank’s Lydia Jett and former Airbnb executive Jonathan Mildenhall to its board of directors.
Fanatics’ board now has 10 members, including Fanatics Chair and Philadelphia 76ers minority owner Michael Rubin, Silver Lake co-Chief Executive Officer Greg Mondre and NBA legend Magic Johnson.

Mildenhall, 54, is a former chief marketing officer at Airbnb and co-founder of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, a consultancy firm. Jett is head of global e-commerce at SoftBank Investment Advisers — the firm that manages Softbank Vision Funds.
SoftBank initially invested $1 billion in Fanatics in 2017. That raised Fanatics’ valuation to $4.5 billion. That same year, the NFL invested roughly $95 million, and MLB added $50 million. Now, Fanatics is estimated to be worth $27 billion.
Fanatics wants to transform into a $100 billion company that offers online sports gambling. The company is expected to eventually pursue an initial public offering, although it doesn’t plan to go public this year, people familiar with the company previously told CNBC.
Fanatics said Jett and Mildenhall would play “vital roles” in helping it scale globally.

Sports merchandise company Fanatics named e-commerce and marketing executives Lydia Jett and Jonathan Mildenhall to its board of directors.
Fanatics Board Memebers: Jonathan Mildenhall, Lydia Jett

“Fanatics is in the midst of incredible transformation and the deep expertise and insight that Lydia and Jonathan both bring to the board will be vital as we unlock a new digital experience for sports fans globally,” Rubin said in a statement. “They are both visionaries in their respective fields that will provide invaluable support and guidance as we continue building a revolutionary sports platform.”

Jett started her career at JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to SoftBank’s website. She graduated from Stanford University’s business school and the London School of Economics. She also represented SoftBank on boards, including South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange.
Mildenhall left his position at Airbnb in 2017 and launched TwentyFirstCenturyBrand shortly after in 2018. Fanatics said he serves on the board of companies, including Peloton and GoFundMe.
In a statement, Jett said Florida-based Fanatics is “better positioned than ever” to lead the digital sports consumer products space. In March, the company raised another $1.5 billion, and it anticipates $6 billion in revenue in 2022.

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GE Renewable Energy says its Hydro and Grid Solutions businesses have signed a contract related to the works, which are set to last 14 years.
Among other things, GE says upgrades to include “equipment and systems of all 20 power generating units.”
Hydropower has its backers, but there are also concerns about the sector’s environmental footprint.

Straddling the border between Brazil and Paraguay, Itaipu commenced electricity production in 1984. The technological upgrades being planned for the site are set to take 14 years.
Tifonimages | Istock | Getty Images

GE Renewable Energy has signed a deal that will see it carry out upgrades to the 14 gigawatt Itaipu hydropower plant, a vast facility straddling the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
In a statement earlier this week, GE Renewable Energy said its Hydro and Grid Solutions businesses had signed a contract related to the works, which are set to last 14 years. Paraguayan firms CIE and Tecnoedil will provide support for the project.

Among other things, GE said the upgrades would include “equipment and systems of all 20 power generating units as well as the improvement of the hydropower plant’s measurement, protection, control, regulation and monitoring systems.”
In 2018, GE said a consortium set up by GE Power and CIE Sociedad Anonima had been selected to “provide electrical equipment for the early stages” of the dam’s modernization project.

Read more about clean energy from CNBC Pro

Itaipu commenced electricity production in 1984. The website of Itaipu Binacional says the facility “provides 10.8% of the energy consumed in Brazil and 88.5% of the energy consumed in Paraguay.”
In terms of capacity, it is the world’s second biggest hydroelectric power plant after China’s 22.5 GW Three Gorges Dam.
According to the International Energy Agency, 2020 saw hydropower generation hit 4,418 terawatt hours to maintain its position as “the largest renewable source of electricity, generating more than all other renewable technologies combined.”

The IEA states that nearly 40% of the planet’s hydropower fleet is at least 40 years old. “When hydropower plants are 45-60 years old, major modernisation refurbishments are required to improve their performance and increase their flexibility,” it says. At 38, Itaipu would appear to be on the cusp of this threshold.

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Hydropower has its backers, but there are also concerns about the sector’s environmental footprint.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that while hydropower generators may not “directly emit air pollutants” other factors related to dams, reservoirs and generators can have an effect.
“A dam that creates a reservoir (or a dam that diverts water to a run-of-river hydropower plant) may obstruct fish migration,” it says, adding that dams and reservoirs “can also change natural water temperatures, water chemistry, river flow characteristics, and silt loads.”
In addition, the EIA states reservoirs could end up covering areas including archaeological sites and land used for agriculture. “A reservoir and the operation of the dam may also result in the relocation of people,” it says.
Toward the end of April, GE reported that its renewables segment had suffered a loss of $434 million for the first quarter of 2022, compared to a $234 million loss in the first quarter of 2021. Revenues for renewable energy were $2.87 billion, down from $3.24 billion in the first quarter of 2021. More

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Bausch Health: “We wanted to buy more today, but we ran out of time. This thing is being put on sale. There are shorts taking it all the way down. It is quite ridiculous. I wanted to be able to buy a huge slug of it today, so that’s how I feel for the [Charitable Trust].”

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Accenture: “They crushed that stock. The business is fantastic. They had a great quarter. I’m saying to people [buy, buy, buy].”

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Celularity: “That’s one of the higher risk stocks out there. The way I’d look at it is, be prepared to lose everything but otherwise make a lot of money if it works out.”

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Manulife: “They take on too much risk, Manulife. I’m not there for the 5% [dividend yield]. I don’t need it. Too much risk in the common stock.”

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Marvell Technology: “You should [keep buying more of it]. This company has two businesses: high-performance computing and 5G. We know those are the two strongest areas. It has no PC business. It has no gaming. Marvell is a stock that we’ve been buying, buying, buying for the Charitable Trust, and I think you should, too.”

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Iron Mountain: “I like Iron Mountain. Good yield, very consistent business. [Buy, buy, buy].”

Disclosure: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of BHC and MRVL.
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