Tanzania-Zambia rail deal to refurbish copper route
Lusaka — China, Zambia and Tanzania signed a $1.4bn deal on Monday to refurbish the Tanzania-Zambia railway, a vital route for shipping copper exports from the region, Zambia’s government said.
The deal aims to rehabilitate the railway and purchase locomotives, passenger coaches and wagons.
Last year China signed an initial agreement to revive the 50-year-old Tazara railway, as it is widely known, while the US was throwing its financial weight behind a rival transport corridor for minerals called Lobito, after an Angolan port.
Tazara offers a way to bypass logistics bottlenecks in SA that have slowed copper and cobalt exports. Reuters
Beta Technologies files for IPO in US
Bengaluru — Electric aircraft maker Beta Technologies filed for an initial public offering in the US on Monday, the latest company to join the rush to tap a record-breaking bull run in the equity market.
Easing trade tensions, robust stock markets and pent-up investor demand have combined to create one of the busiest windows for listings in years, with technology, aerospace and green energy firms leading the charge.
Beta Technologies designs, manufactures and sells high-performance electric aircraft, advanced electric propulsion systems, charging systems and components.
The company said, citing internal estimates, that operating costs for its aircraft were 42% lower than conventional planes, thanks to a simplified design. Reuters
US expected to apply lower tariffs, says Germany
Berlin — Germany expects the US to apply a 15% tariff rate to pharmaceuticals and heavy trucks, a government spokesperson said in a media conference on Monday.
US President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new import tariffs last week, including 100% duties on patented drugs and 25% levies on heavy-duty trucks, triggering fresh trade uncertainty.
A White House official later said the administration would honour 15% caps on tariffs for imported pharmaceuticals under patent for countries with trade deals that specified such reductions. Reuters
$1bn Trump Plaza set for Jeddah
Dubai — Saudi real estate developer Dar Global plans to build a $1bn Trump Plaza project in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah as US President Donald Trump’s family business expands in the Gulf, the company said on Monday.
The project will be the second Trump-branded development in the country after the launch of Trump Tower Jeddah last year, Dar Global said.
Most of the Trump organisation’s business is in the US, but it has significant interests overseas, including in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It has partnered with Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company, on several projects, which include plans for Trump towers in Dubai and Jeddah as well as a real-estate project in Qatar. Reuters
Moody’s affirms India’s ratings
Bengaluru — Moody’s Ratings affirmed India’s long-term local and foreign-currency sovereign ratings on Monday and retained its “stable” outlook, citing sustained strength in its economy and reliable domestic funding for its budget deficits.
India’s long-term local and foreign-currency issuer ratings and the local-currency senior unsecured rating remain at Baa3. The other short-term local-currency rating stands at P-3, it said.
Last month, S&P upgraded India to BBB, its first such upgrade in 18 years, prompting the government to respond that it expected other rating houses to follow suit, while Fitch maintained its ratings, citing high levels of fiscal deficits and debt.
Moody’s said it left India’s credit rating and outlook unchanged as it believed the country’s strengths — such as its large and fast-growing economy, strong foreign reserves and reliable domestic funding for its budget deficits — would remain steady. Reuters
Modella Capital buys 156 Claire’s stores
Bengaluru — Hobbycraft-owner Modella Capital has bought just more than half of US-based jewellery chain Claire’s stores in Britain and Ireland, saving about 1,000 jobs, the administrators of the UK and Irish business said on Monday.
Investment company Modella, which bought WH Smith’s British high street business for $100m in June, will buy 156 Claire’s stores from administrators Interpath Advisory for an undisclosed amount.
The administrators would continue to operate the remaining stores while continuing to assess options for them, Interpath said.
The Birmingham-headquartered UK and Irish operations of Claire’s employed more than 2,150 workers across 306 stores when it entered administration in August, days after its parent filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court.
Founded in 1961 in the US, Claire’s is known for its trend-led accessories and for ear piercings. Reuters
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