COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF
Local opposition to Luderitz port expansion
VOICE OF AMERICA
Namibia's port authority, Namport, has proposed a port expansion on Shark Island, a heritage site that is sacred to the indigenous Nama ethnic group of southern Namibia.
The expansion is designed to facilitate green hydrogen production and export to Europe by a German energy company, Hyphen.
However, some locals view the port expansion as a new form of colonization, where African resources are extracted for the benefit of European markets.
Germany once ruled Namibia, then known as German South West Africa, and in the early 1900s German authorities ran a concentration camp on Shark Island where around 3,000 locals were killed.
Sima Luipert — a community activist and member of the Nama Leaders Association of Namibia, which has opened talks with the port authority — said the Nama consider the island as sacred ground.
"Shark Island has got historical meaning to the Nama and the Ovaherero people, and it should have the same historical meaning and heritage meaning for the entire Namibia and for the world," said Luipert.
"This is where genocide took place; this is where genocide was executed," said Luipert. "It was the first genocide of the 20th century and for that, the site needs to be protected."
Netflix now has nearly 270 million subscribers after another strong showing to begin 2024
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Netflix gained another 9.3 million subscribers to start the year while its profit soared with the help of a still-emerging expansion into advertising, but caught investors off guard with a change that will make it more difficult to track the video streaming service’s future growth.
The performance announced Thursday demonstrated that Netflix is still building on its momentum of last year, when a crackdown on free-loading viewers relying on shared passwords and the rollout of a low-priced option including commercials revived its growth following a post-pandemic lull.
The strategy resulted in Netflix adding 30 million subscribers last year — the second largest annual increase the service’s history.
Netflix’s gains during the January-March period more than quadrupled the 1.8 million subscribers that the video streaming service added at the same time last year, and was nearly three times more than analysts had projected. The Los Gatos, California, company ended March with nearly 270 million worldwide subscribers.
UAE giant eyes majority stake in Vedanta's Zambian mines in expansion drive
REUTERS
The mining investment arm of Abu Dhabi's most valuable company has offered to buy a majority stake in Vedanta Resources' Zambian copper assets, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in its drive to build an African copper mining empire.
The unit of International Holding Company recently made an offer of more than US$1 billion to buy a 51% stake in Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) from Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta, the sources said.
The unit - International Resources Holding (IRH) - is racing to broaden its burgeoning copper mining business in Zambia after buying a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in a deal worth US$1.1 billion. IRH said last month it planned to bid for a stake owned by EMR Capital in Lubambe Copper Mine, which is also for sale.
The deals spree is part of a push by oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to secure critical metal supplies from Africa, a move that could also help them participate in the transition to green energy.
The IRH offer for a controlling stake is non-binding and talks are ongoing, one of the sources said. Vedanta might balk at giving up a majority interest in KCM as it has always wanted the assets on its balance sheet, the source added.
"IRH is deeply committed to strategically expanding its presence in the copper mining sector, exemplified by our interest in multiple assets," IRH said in reply to a request for comment. It declined to comment on "ongoing discussions".
Local opposition to Luderitz port expansion
VOICE OF AMERICA
Namibia's port authority, Namport, has proposed a port expansion on Shark Island, a heritage site that is sacred to the indigenous Nama ethnic group of southern Namibia.
The expansion is designed to facilitate green hydrogen production and export to Europe by a German energy company, Hyphen.
However, some locals view the port expansion as a new form of colonization, where African resources are extracted for the benefit of European markets.
Germany once ruled Namibia, then known as German South West Africa, and in the early 1900s German authorities ran a concentration camp on Shark Island where around 3,000 locals were killed.
Sima Luipert — a community activist and member of the Nama Leaders Association of Namibia, which has opened talks with the port authority — said the Nama consider the island as sacred ground.
"Shark Island has got historical meaning to the Nama and the Ovaherero people, and it should have the same historical meaning and heritage meaning for the entire Namibia and for the world," said Luipert.
"This is where genocide took place; this is where genocide was executed," said Luipert. "It was the first genocide of the 20th century and for that, the site needs to be protected."
Netflix now has nearly 270 million subscribers after another strong showing to begin 2024
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Netflix gained another 9.3 million subscribers to start the year while its profit soared with the help of a still-emerging expansion into advertising, but caught investors off guard with a change that will make it more difficult to track the video streaming service’s future growth.
The performance announced Thursday demonstrated that Netflix is still building on its momentum of last year, when a crackdown on free-loading viewers relying on shared passwords and the rollout of a low-priced option including commercials revived its growth following a post-pandemic lull.
The strategy resulted in Netflix adding 30 million subscribers last year — the second largest annual increase the service’s history.
Netflix’s gains during the January-March period more than quadrupled the 1.8 million subscribers that the video streaming service added at the same time last year, and was nearly three times more than analysts had projected. The Los Gatos, California, company ended March with nearly 270 million worldwide subscribers.
UAE giant eyes majority stake in Vedanta's Zambian mines in expansion drive
REUTERS
The mining investment arm of Abu Dhabi's most valuable company has offered to buy a majority stake in Vedanta Resources' Zambian copper assets, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in its drive to build an African copper mining empire.
The unit of International Holding Company recently made an offer of more than US$1 billion to buy a 51% stake in Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) from Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta, the sources said.
The unit - International Resources Holding (IRH) - is racing to broaden its burgeoning copper mining business in Zambia after buying a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in a deal worth US$1.1 billion. IRH said last month it planned to bid for a stake owned by EMR Capital in Lubambe Copper Mine, which is also for sale.
The deals spree is part of a push by oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to secure critical metal supplies from Africa, a move that could also help them participate in the transition to green energy.
The IRH offer for a controlling stake is non-binding and talks are ongoing, one of the sources said. Vedanta might balk at giving up a majority interest in KCM as it has always wanted the assets on its balance sheet, the source added.
"IRH is deeply committed to strategically expanding its presence in the copper mining sector, exemplified by our interest in multiple assets," IRH said in reply to a request for comment. It declined to comment on "ongoing discussions".
Local opposition to Luderitz port expansion
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