NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Microsoft Corp will invest $100 million to open an Africa technology development centre with sites in Kenya and Nigeria over the next five years, the company said on Tuesday.



Global tech giants, including Alphabet Inc and Facebook, have been increasing investment on the continent in recent years to take advantage of growing economies with rising access rates to the internet by a youthful population.



Microsoft will hire more than 100 local engineers to work in the new Africa facility in both countries to customise its applications for the African market and to develop new ones for the continent and beyond, it said in a statement.



“In addition, it is an opportunity to collaborate with partners, academia, governments and developers, driving impact and innovation in sectors important to the continent,” the company said, citing financial technology, farming technology and off grid energy.



Engineers at the new Africa development centre will build applications using artificial intelligence, mixed reality and machine learning, Microsoft said.



The company already has six other development hubs located elsewhere in the world. The new Africa development hub will also support Microsoft’s established businesses such as Office, Azure and Windows, the company said.



Reporting by Duncan Miriri, editing by Louise Heavens

Microsoft is planning on spending $100 million on Kenya, Nigeria tech development hub, what you need to know

Press Release provided by Stats SA.



Highlights of the results 



The working-age population increased by 149 000 or 0,4% in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. Compared to Q1: 2018, the working-age population increased by 605 000 or 1,6%. The number of employed persons decreased by 237 000 to 16,3 million in Q1: 2019, while the number of unemployed persons increased by 62 000 to 6,2 million compared to Q4: 2018, resulting in a decrease of 176 000 (down by 0,8%) in the number of people in the labour force. The absorption rate decreased by 0,7 of a percentage point to 42,6% and the unemployment rate increased by 0,5 of a percentage point to 27,6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2018. 



Employment decreased in all four of the sectors in Q1: 2019; with the Formal sector recording the largest employment losses of 126 000, followed by the Informal sector (68 000), Private households (31 000) and Agriculture (12 000). The number of discouraged work-seekers and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 156 000 and 169 000, respectively, between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, resulting in a net increase of 325 000 in the not economically active population.



Compared to a year ago, employment decreased by 0,5% (86 000), while unemployment increased by 3,7% (220 000). The number of persons who were not economically active increased by 3,1% (470 000). 







Unemployment and Not in employment, education or training (NEET) 



After a decrease of 70 000 in the number of unemployed persons in Q4: 2018, the number of unemployed persons increased by 62 000 in Q1: 2019. The number of unemployed persons has increased in every first quarter of each year since 2013. The largest increase was recorded in Q1: 2015 (up by 626 000), followed by Q1: 2016 (up by 530 000) and Q1: 2017 (up by 433 000).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Unemployment-table.png1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-336029"/></figure>



The official unemployment rate increased by 0,5 of a percentage point in Q1: 2019 compared to Q4: 2018. The official unemployment rate increased in six of the nine provinces, with the largest increase in Mpumalanga (up by 2,2 percentage points), Limpopo and Free State (up by 2,0 percentage points each), and Eastern Cape (up by 1,3 percentage points). 



KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Gauteng were the only provinces that recorded decreases in the unemployment rate (0,5 of a percentage point, 0,2 of a percentage point and 0,1 of a percentage point, respectively). Year-on-year, the official unemployment rate increased by 0,9 of a percentage point. The official unemployment rate increased in six of the nine provinces; the largest increase was observed in KwaZulu-Natal (up by 2,8 percentage points), followed by Free State (up by 2,1 percentage points), Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape (up by 1,8 percentage points each). 



The expanded unemployment rate increased by 1,0 percentage point from 37,0% in Q4: 2018 to 38,0% in Q1: 2019. The largest increase was recorded in Limpopo (up by 4,3 percentage points), followed by Northern Cape and Mpumalanga (up by 2,9 percentage points and 1,9 percentage points, respectively). The expanded unemployment rate for Gauteng remained unchanged, while Western Cape was the only province that experienced a decrease in the expanded unemployment rate (down by 0,4 of a percentage point). Compared to the same period last year, the expanded unemployment rate increased by 1,3 percentage points in Q1: 2019. All provinces recorded an increase in the expanded unemployment rate except for Gauteng where it remained unchanged. The largest increase was recorded in Limpopo (up by 5,5 percentage points), followed by North West and Eastern Cape (up by 2,6 percentage points and 2,3 percentage points, respectively).

South Africa’s unemployment rate rises to 27,6% in Q1

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Somalia’s economy continues to recover, with growth expected to strengthen to 3% in 2019 from 2.8% last year, while inflation could ease to 3% from 3.2% over the same period, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.



Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Over the past decade it has been hit by famine and sporadic terror attacks by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab.



“Somalia’s economy continues to recover, supported by vigorous activity in the construction, telecommunications, and financial services sector in 2018,” said Allison Holland, who lead an IMF team discussing Somalia’s Article IV programme, in a statement.



“But the outlook remains vulnerable to the still fragile security situation, climate shocks and the still developing institutional capacity, and more is needed to improve economic resilience, increase employment and reduce poverty.”



An Article IV consultation is part of the IMF’s mandate to scrutinise the economic, financial and exchange rate policies of its members.



The Somali government has broadened the tax base and strengthened tax administration, boosting domestic revenue almost 30% to $184 million in 2018 from a year earlier, and to $54 million for the first quarter of 2019, Holland said.



Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Richard Borsuk

IMF says the economic growth in this East African country could rise to 3% in 2019

HARARA (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s state power utility imposed the worst rolling blackouts in three years on Monday, with households and industries including mines set to be without electricity for up to eight hours daily.



The power cuts are bound to stoke mounting public anger against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government as Zimbabweans grapple with an economic crisis that has seen shortages of U.S. dollars, fuel, food and medicines as well as soaring inflation that is eroding earnings and savings.



Many Zimbabweans say life is getting harder and that Mnangagwa is failing to deliver on pre-election promises last year to rebuild an economy shattered during Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule.



The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), citing reduced output at its largest hydro plant and ageing coal-fired generators, said power cuts would start on Monday and last up to eight hours during morning and evening peak periods.



The country last experienced such serious blackouts in 2016 following a devastating drought.



Isaac Kwesu, chief executive of Chamber of Mines, which groups Zimbabwe’s biggest mining companies said critical industries like mining should be spared from the black-outs, locally known as load shedding.



“Mining requires electricity for both operations and safety. It will be very costly to have production stoppages, that is why we will be engaging ZETDC to find ways to minimize any costly disruptions due to the electricity cuts,” Kwesu told Reuters.



Mining accounted for more than two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s $4.8 billion in total export earnings last year and any power cuts in the sector will affect production and exports.



In the past, some of the big mines, including platinum and gold producers, have resorted to directly importing electricity from neighbouring countries like Mozambique and South Africa.



“The power shortfall is being managed through load shedding in order to balance the power supply available and the demand,” ZETDC said in a public notice.



Zimbabwe is also experiencing shortages of fuel, forcing motorists to queue for hours and the government has so far failed to deliver on previous promises to end the shortage.



The southern African nation, which is producing 969 MW daily against peak demand of 2,100 MW, is entering its peak winter power demand season, which will increase electricity consumption.



Energy and Power Development Minister Joram Gumbo was quoted by a local newspaper saying he would travel to Mozambique this week to try to agree an electricity supply deal with that country’s power utility Hydro Cahora Bassa.



Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Here’s why Zimbabwe faces worst power cuts in 3 years

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/emmie-martin/">Emmie Martin</a> 



The stock market&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/05/traders-brace-for-sharp-sell-off-on-trumps-tariff-threat.html" class="">dropped sharply Monday</a>, following comments from President Donald Trump that the U.S. will increase tariffs on goods imported from China. But although Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett says that an escalation of the U.S.-China trade dispute&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/06/warren-buffett-if-we-have-a-trade-war-it-could-be-very-bad-for-the-whole-world.html" class="">&nbsp;“would be bad for the whole world,”</a>&nbsp;he doesn’t plan to change his investing practices based on the news. No matter what happens, “we will buy the same stocks today that we were buying last week,” he told CNBC’s Becky Quick during an interview Monday on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/squawk-box-us/" class="">“Squawk Box.”</a>



“The cheaper they get, the more I buy,” Buffett said. “I’m not buying them because I think they’re going to go up the next day or the next week. We watch the prices of things we do more than current events.”



That’s because Buffett prefers to invest in companies that he believes will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/warren-buffett-invests-for-the-long-term.html" class="">hold their value for the long term</a>. “In the end, we aren’t buying them because of what’s going to happen next month or next quarter,” he explains. “We’re really buying them because we think they’ll be good business 10 years down.”



Regardless of the tariff situation, “if somebody came to us with a good business today, we’d buy it,” Buffett says.



Buffett decides a company is worth investing in because it will last, not because it’s doing well right now. He purchased See’s Candies with longtime business partner Charlie Munger in 1972 and spent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/19851070" class="">more than $1 billion on Coca-Cola stock</a>&nbsp;in 1988 — both of which turned out to be good bets and both of which he still owns today.



“Put together a portfolio of companies whose aggregate earnings march upward over the years, and so also will the portfolio’s market value,” Buffett wrote&nbsp;<a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1996.html" class="">in his 1996 letter to shareholders.</a>&nbsp;“If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.”



Even when the legendary investor gets bad news about a company he’s invested in, he doesn’t immediately sell his stock. “The stock market is not there to instruct me, it’s there to serve me,” Buffett told Quick during an interview on “Squawk Box” in February.



The topic arose when Quick asked Buffett a viewer’s question about Kraft Heinz. A few days before their conversation, Kraft Heinz, one of Berkshire Hathaway’s largest holdings, had missed on its <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/21/kraft-heinz-tanks-after-disclosing-it-was-subpoenaed-by-sec-over-accounting-policies.html">earnings expectations and disclosed that it had received a subpoena</a> from the SEC. After that news broke, the company’s stock plunged 30% and Berkshire Hathaway’s stake <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/23/warren-buffett-spun-riches-out-of-chocolate-was-burned-by-kraft-heinz.html">dropped in value by more than $4 billion</a>.



But although Buffett has admitted that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/25/buffett-says-berkshire-hathaway-overpaid-for-kraft-following-last-weeks-stock-plunge.html" class="">“we overpaid for Kraft,”</a>&nbsp;he told Quick he had no plans to sell his stake. His practice is to keep his focus on, and evaluate, the company overall. “If there’s bad news and the stock goes down, the question I have is: Is the long-term valuation changed?” he says.



It’s possible to recover from a setback. The key thing, according to Buffett in February, is “you gotta make sure that it’s still a fundamentally good business.”



As Buffett told Quick on Monday, “If you think about stocks as businesses that you own little pieces of, why in the world should you sell it based on headlines of any sort?”



“If you expect that business to be a good business over 10 years, its nonsense to get feeling good or bad about what stock prices do in a day,” he added.



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/06/warren-buffett-doesnt-pay-attention-to-the-news-when-he-invests.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/06/warren-buffett-doesnt-pay-attention-to-the-news-when-he-invests.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

What Billionaire Warren Buffett pays attention to when investing instead of ‘current events’

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jennifer-fitchett-317966">Jennifer Fitchett</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-witwatersrand-894">University of the Witwatersrand</a>

The Indian Ocean has made its mark on the global news cycle this year. In March, <a href="https://theconversation.com/tropical-cyclone-idai-the-storm-that-knew-no-boundaries-113931">tropical cyclone Idai</a> made headlines as one of the most severe storms to have made landfall in Mozambique. Current estimates <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2019/04/15/cyclone-idai-s-death-toll-over-1-000-hundreds-of-thousands-displaced">indicate</a> that more than 1,000 people died. This makes it the most deadly tropical cyclone ever to have made landfall on the southern African subcontinent. 

Until Idai, <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/1520-0434%282004%29019%3C0789%3ATCEAIU%3E2.0.CO%3B2">tropical cyclone Eline</a>, which struck in 2000, was the most devastating tropical cyclone to make landfall in Mozambique.

After Idai, Eline was the strongest – though not the deadliest – cyclone to have hit the southern east African cost. This ranking as the strongest was soon after challenged by <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/deadly-cyclone-kenneth-wallops-mozambique-as-life-threatening-flooding-persists/70008064">tropical cyclone Kenneth</a>, a category 4 tropical cyclone that made landfall over the border of Mozambique and Tanzania six weeks after Idai. 

Kenneth, in many regards, took the region by surprise. The storm was the northernmost tropical cyclone to make landfall on Mozambique, and the first to make landfall on Tanzania. It occurred very late in the season. Most cyclones in the region occur from January to March. It was also unusual for the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique-Channel">Mozambique Channel</a> to experience two severe tropical cyclones that made landfall within one season.

The third major cyclone to emerge out of the Indian Ocean came a few weeks after Kenneth, when <a href="https://www.enca.com/news/cyclone-fani-death-toll-rises-42-india-bangladesh">cyclone Fani</a>, a tropical cyclone on the border of Category 5 intensity wind speeds, hit the east coast of India. Category 5 tropical cyclones were only first recorded in the North Indian Ocean <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&amp;pid=S0038-23532018000600018">from 1989</a> so, again, this storm is unusually severe in the context of the longer historical records.

These high intensity storms have been tied to the very warm sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean. Temperatures of 30°C are occurring more often and over longer periods of time. This is a result of gradual warming on a global scale, which has resulted in a net increase in ocean temperatures. 

Warmer ocean temperatures <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03906">allow</a> stronger storms to form. These conditions are exacerbated by global forcing mechanisms including <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/1999GL900072">El Niño</a> and the Indian Ocean Dipole, which concentrates warm ocean waters in smaller geographic areas. 

High intensity storms have been a frequent feature along the coast of the US throughout recorded history. Their increased frequency in the Indian Ocean should be raising alarm bells because countries like the US are much better equipped to help people prepare ahead of time, and to handle the fallout.

<h2>Measuring intensity</h2>

Tropical cyclone intensity is classified according to the <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php">Saffir Simpson scale</a>. Categories are measured on the basis of the sustained wind speed and the storm’s central pressure. Each category is accompanied by estimates of the likely severity of damage and possible storm surge height. 

Tropical cyclones form and intensify due to a combination of seven primary climatological conditions. Among other things, these include warm sea surface temperatures, high humidity levels and atmospheric instability. 

For a storm to intensify, these conditions have to be maximised while the storm remains over the ocean. 

Tropical cyclones require a sea surface temperature of 26.5°C to form, while the highest intensity storms require much warmer sea surface temperatures of 28-29°C. This is important because it’s one of the reasons why southern Africa is experiencing more intense tropical cyclones. 

The South Indian Ocean is <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/309/5732/284">warming rapidly</a>. This means that regions that previously experienced the temperatures of 26.5°C that facilitated tropical cyclone formation are now experiencing temperatures as warm as 30-32°C. 

Simultaneously, regions further from the equator which didn’t previously have sufficiently warm water for tropical cyclone formation, with sea surface temperatures of 24-26°C are more regularly experiencing the threshold temperature. This increases the range in which these storms occur, making storms like <a href="https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/1427761/severe-tropical-storm-heading-to-sa-warns-weather-service/">tropical cyclone Dineo</a>, which made landfall in February 2017 in southern Mozambique, more common. 

These very warm sea surface temperatures are not a factor of global scale warming alone. They’re further influenced by a range of global and local forcing mechanisms. These include <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.3932">El Niño Southern Oscillation</a>, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.3932">Southern Annular Mode</a>. For this particular cyclone season, <a href="https://twitter.com/pppapin/status/1123756048769269760">scientists are seeing</a> the strongest impact from the [Madden-Julian Oscillation]. 

This is a band of moisture in the tropical regions which moves eastward over a 30 to 90 day period. The strong <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-03/madden-julian-oscillation-causing-wa-cyclones-to-vanish/10855032">Madden-Julian Oscillation</a> is also affecting tropical cyclones in Australia.

<h2>Comparing storms</h2>

Ranking storms on the basis of their Saffir Simpson classification is not always the most valuable measure. That’s because it can’t take the characteristics of the location of landfall into consideration.

This results in two key shortcomings. First, it doesn’t take the flooding potential into account. This is difficult to identify for a particular storm, because it’s not only a function of how much rain is experienced and over what period – or even the height of storm surge – but also the nature of the region of landfall. 

Lower-lying, relatively flat areas are more prone to flooding than higher elevation regions or those with rugged topography. This is part of the reason that Idai caused such severe flooding. Some regions will have better suited storm water infrastructure. And when flooding does occur, some regions are better able to warn and evacuate people to prevent or minimise the loss of life. 

Another factor which determines the devastation resulting from a tropical cyclone is the population density of the area of landfall. The higher the population density, the more people who are at threat of losing their life, their homes and livelihoods. 

This also means more people who would need to be evacuated in a short period, and more people who need shelter until the storm’s immediate effects have subsided. This is why Idai and Eline resulted in far greater losses and fatalities than the stronger intensity Kenneth, and why the total damage from Fani is projected to be particularly devastating. We need to start measuring storm destructiveness in addition to climatological metrics.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116559/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jennifer-fitchett-317966">Jennifer Fitchett</a>, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-witwatersrand-894">University of the Witwatersrand</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-indian-ocean-is-spawning-strong-and-deadly-tropical-cyclones-116559">original article</a>.

Here’s why the Indian Ocean is creating strong and deadly tropical cyclones

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s mobile phone operator Vodacom reported a 6.6% drop in full-year earnings due to one-off costs related to a share scheme offered to black investors.



Headline earnings per share (EPS) for the full-year ended March fell to 862 cents from 923 cents a year earlier.



Headline EPS is the main profit measure in South Africa and strips out certain one-off items.



Vodacom, which is majority owned by Vodafone, concluded a broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) ownership deal in September, which saw Vodacom issue additional shares.



Under black economic empowerment rules, South African companies are encouraged to meet quotas on black ownership, employment and procurement as part of a drive to reverse decades of exclusion under apartheid.



It also updated its medium-term capital expenditure target to reflect the IFRS 15 accounting standard and also changed its profitability target to operating profit from earnings before interest and taxes to include the benefits of the Kenyan Safaricom acquisition.



Medium-term group capex is now expected to be in the range of 13%-14.5% from 12%-14%, while the operating profit target is expected to be in the mid-high single digit growth rate.



Vodacom, which competes with MTN group and Telkom, said group service revenue jumped 5 percent, led by a strong performance overseas.



“It was a stellar year for our International portfolio where economic and political environments have improved,” group Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said in a statement.



Vodacom grew service revenue there by 15.6 percent and expanded margins, while in South Africa service revenue inched up by 2.1 percent due to price cuts and a stagnant economy.



South Africa has been considering regulating the price of internet data as well as out-of-bundle charges as part of efforts to bring costs down.



Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Louise Heavens

South Africa’s Vodacom reported a 6.6% drop in earnings, here’s why

PRETORIA (Reuters) &#8211; South African elections officials counted ballot papers early on Thursday, a day after a vote seen as the toughest test yet for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party 25 years after it swept to power at the end of white minority rule.



The elections for a new parliament and nine provincial legislatures are the first barometer of national sentiment since President Cyril Ramaphosa replaced scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma as head of state in February 2018.



Ramaphosa is trying to arrest a slide in support for the ANC, which has won every parliamentary vote since the end of apartheid in 1994 but whose image has been tarnished by corruption scandals and a weak economy in the past decade.



Opinion polls suggest the ANC will again win a majority of the parliament’s 400 seats, but analysts say its margin of victory may fall from the 62 percent of the vote it secured in the last election in 2014 because of frustration with slow progress addressing racial disparities in income and wealth.



The ANC’s biggest challengers at these elections are the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The DA won 22 percent of the parliamentary vote in 2014 and the EFF six percent.



Most polling stations closed around 1900 GMT on Wednesday.



Results from some smaller voting districts started to trickle in on Thursday morning. As of 0330 GMT, more than 1.3 million votes had been processed out of around 26.8 million registered voters.



In the parliamentary vote the ANC was on around 53 percent, with the DA on 28 percent and the EFF on seven percent, with a turnout of 64 percent. Given that less five percent of the potential number of votes had been processed, it was too early to make an accurate prediction about the final result.



A full tally may not be known until Saturday.



Elections officials said voting had in general progressed smoothly but that there had been isolated incidents where bad weather, unscheduled power outages or community protests had caused disruptions. The electoral commission said it was investigating two potential instances of double-voting.



“The Electoral Commission will not allow the potential misconduct of one or two individuals to taint the overall outcome of these elections,” the commission said in a statement.



The ANC achieved its best parliamentary election result in 2004, under former president Thabo Mbeki, when it won 69 percent of the vote. But its support fell under Zuma, and it lost control of big cities like the commercial capital Johannesburg in local government elections in 2016.



The ANC currently controls eight of the country’s nine provinces, with the DA in power in the Western Cape. Analysts predict the provincial races for Gauteng, where Johannesburg and the administrative capital Pretoria are located, and the Western Cape, home to Cape Town, will be close.



Ramaphosa, who became ANC leader in December 2017 after narrowly defeating a faction allied with Zuma, has promised to improve poor public services, create jobs and fight corruption.



But he has been constrained by divisions within his own party, where some Zuma supporters still retain influence and oppose his agenda.



Reporting by Alexander Winning and Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Peter Cooney and Michael Perry

#SAElections2019: Will Ramaphosa’s ANC retain power ?

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/shawn-m-carter/">Shawn M. Carter</a>



Apple&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/reuters-america-apple-results-beat-sets-eyes-back-on-1-trillion.html" class="">shares gained almost 5%</a>&nbsp;Wednesday, following the release of its&nbsp;<a href="https://grow.acorns.com/stock-market-outlook-for-may/" class="">earnings report</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, with the company’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AAPL&amp;amp;qsearchterm=app" class="">current share price</a>hovering around $210.



If you invested in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AAPL" class="">Apple</a>&nbsp;10 years ago, that decision would have paid off. According to CNBC calculations, a $1,000 investment made on May 1, 2009, would be worth more than $13,000 as of midday May 1, 2019, for a total return of more than 1,200%.



Over the same period, the S&amp;P 500 returned just over 300%.



And, thanks to trade-ins,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/01/apple-slashes-iphone-prices-in-china-by-as-much-as-5percent.html" class="">lower prices on iPhones</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/tim-cook-says-the-improved-tone-in-trade-talks-is-boosting-apples-china-business.html" class="">improved trade talks between the United States and China</a>, some analysts seemed optimistic about the company’s stock overall.



“We believe Apple has locked up strong share of the premium tier market and will continue to dominate high-end smartphones sales and capture the vast majority of smartphone profits for the next several years,” according to<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/reuters-america-apple-results-beat-sets-eyes-back-on-1-trillion.html"> financial services firm Canaccord Genuity</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cnbc-apple.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-335595"/><figcaption> CNBC: Apple stock as of May 1, 2019. </figcaption></figure>



Still, while Apple’s stock has ticked up recently and done mostly well over the years,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/30/how-amazon-became-one-of-warren-buffetts-biggest-investment-regrets.html" class="">any individual stock can over- or underperform</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/03/avoid-these-4-investing-mistakes.html" class="">past returns do not predict future results</a>. And even though the company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-boeing-wynn-resorts-cvs-apple-estee-lauder-more.html" class="">reported earnings of $2.46 per share</a>&nbsp;for its most recent quarter, beating estimates by 10 cents a share, it saw its second consecutive overall quarterly revenue decline.



Apple is looking outside of smartphones to increase sales. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/apple-earnings-show-company-moving-beyond-iphone.html" class="">underlined two growing businesses</a>&nbsp;during his call with analysts: Apple Services, which includes things like Apple Music and iCloud, and Apple Wearables, which includes AirPods and the Apple Watch.



“It was our best quarter ever for services, with revenue reaching $11.5 billion,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tim-cook/" class="">Cook</a>&nbsp;said. Services revenue was up 16% from $9.19 billion in sales from a year earlier.



If you’re&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/11/when-the-stock-market-tank-dont-do-these-3-things.html" class="">looking to get into investing</a>, seasoned investors such as Warren Buffett&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/17/warren-buffett-and-tony-robbins-agree-on-the-best-way-to-invest-your-money.html" class="">suggest you start with index funds</a>, which hold every stock in an index, meaning they’re automatically diversified and tend to be low cost. Plus, because they fluctuate with the market, they’re typically less risky than picking individual stocks.



Here’s a <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/markets/">snapshot of how the markets look now</a>.



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/what-a-1000-in-apple-in-2009-would-be-worth-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/what-a-1000-in-apple-in-2009-would-be-worth-now.html </a>and is republished with its permission.

If you invested $1,000 in Apple in 2009, here’s how much you’d have now

PARIS (Reuters) &#8211; French energy major Total said on Sunday it had reached a binding agreement with Occidental to acquire Anadarko assets in Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa for a consideration of $8.8 billion. 



The firm said the transaction was contingent upon Occidental entering into and completing its proposed acquisition of Anadarko and approval of relevant authorities. The deal is expected to close in 2020.



Total said the assets represented around 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of 2P reserves, of which 70 percent is gas, plus 2 billion boe of long term natural gas resources in Mozambique.



It added that despite the capital investment in Mozambique LNG, the acquisition is expected to be free cashflow positive from 2020 even at a Brent price of less than $50 per barrel and to generate more than $1 billion a year of free cashflow from 2025 onwards after start-up of Mozambique LNG.



The firm confirmed its previously announced shareholder return policy from 2018 to 2020.



Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by Sybille de La Hamaide

What you need to know about Total’s $8.8 billion deal with Occidental for Anadarko’s Africa assets

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-kelly-705777">Daniel Kelly</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/sheffield-hallam-university-846">Sheffield Hallam University</a>

The South African athlete, Caster Semenya, has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/48102479">lost her case</a> against the athletic governing body, IAAF, which means that she will have to take medication to lower her testosterone levels if she wishes to continue competing internationally in running events. 

Last year, the IAAF introduced <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/eligibility-regulations-for-female-classifica">new regulation</a> for female athletes with “difference of sexual development” (DSD). Athletes with circulating testosterone of five nanomoles per litre of blood (5nmol/L) or above and who are androgen-sensitive, have to meet certain criteria if they wish to compete internationally. One criterion is that DSD athlete must use medication to reduce their blood testosterone level to below 5nmol/L for a continuous period of at least six months. 

Semenya felt that the IAAF was targeting her, specifically. She took her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but the court rejected the 28-year-old athlete’s challenge against the IAAF’s new rules. Although CAS found the rules to be discriminatory, it also said that they were “necessary, reasonable and proportionate”.

<h2>Difference of sexual development</h2>

So what exactly is DSD and does a serum testosterone level above 5nmol/L really confer an unfair advantage in running events? DSDs are a group of <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/disorders-sex-development/">rare conditions</a> that are acquired before birth, where the reproductive organs and genitals don’t develop as expected. While the condition can be inherited, it usually occurs at random. 

A person with DSD may have a mix of both male and female sexual characteristics. For example, they may be genetically female, but with reproductive organs that are of the opposite sex (or the other way around), a combination of both male and female, or not clearly either.

As the testes are the primary site of testosterone production, if a female is born with these male reproductive organs, their testosterone level will be high, often reaching <a href="https://theconversation.com/testosterone-why-defining-a-normal-level-is-hard-to-do-113587">male levels</a>. 

Testosterone is involved in many factors that may confer athletic benefit including increased muscle size and strength, along with the ability for the blood to deliver oxygen to those working muscles. This is why elite male athletes are generally faster and stronger than females – and also why males don’t compete against females in most sports. Semenya has high levels of testosterone so she will undoubtedly have at least some associated metabolic benefits.

How much benefit testosterone gives female athletes is difficult to define as women cannot convert testosterone into its more potent form and do not possess the same numbers of testosterone receptors (to carry out its actions) as men. The IAAF level of 5nmol/L is still high for female levels, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/testosterone-why-defining-a-normal-level-is-hard-to-do-113587">normally range from 0.1 &#8211; 1.8nmol/L</a>. Judging the actual benefit of testosterone and where to draw these lines would require a lot more research and investigation.



<h2>Where does it stop?</h2>

However, Semenya hasn’t artificially altered her testosterone levels and while her condition is rare – and gives her a large advantage as a track athlete, they are naturally occurring – so is it not discrimination to make her change her body to compete? Does this take the phrase “all men are equal” to the extreme and try to make everyone the same, even by artificial measures? And where does this stop? Many genetic physical attributes can contribute to athletic performance such as height, muscle composition and aerobic capacity.

Dutee Chand, the female sprinter who was also barred from competing against women in 2014 because her natural levels of testosterone exceeded guidelines for female athletes, publicly expressed her disbelief as to why she was penalised for her natural body when she competes against women who are taller and from wealthier backgrounds, which certainly put them at an advantage.

Cases like Semenya and Chand will always be contentious and generate more questions than solutions, and there will always be disagreement among athletes and fans over the right way to approach this sensitive issue in elite sport.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116391/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-kelly-705777">Daniel Kelly</a>, Lecturer in Biochemistry, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/sheffield-hallam-university-846">Sheffield Hallam University</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/caster-semenya-how-much-testosterone-is-too-much-for-a-female-athlete-116391">original article</a>.

After #CasterSemenya loses case against IAAF, how much testosterone is too much for a female athlete ?

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/cat-clifford/">Catherine Clifford</a> 



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/warren-buffett/" class="">Warren Buffett</a>, who is worth nearly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/#474c49a24639" class="">$89 billion</a>&nbsp;according to Forbes, is famous for spending only&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/warren-buffett-buys-breakfast-from-mcdonalds-for-under-3-point-17.html" class="">$3 a day on breakfast</a>.



So how much cash does the frugal billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/26/what-this-is-us-star-chrissy-metz-carries-in-her-wallet.html" class="">have in his wallet</a>?



“I probably carry maybe $400,” Buffett told Yahoo Finance editor in chief Andy Serwer in an interview published Monday.



“My wife likes to use cash, so I just take home a chunk of cash every now and then and she doles it out,” said&nbsp;Buffett&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/29/warren-buffett-and-mark-zuckerberg-had-low-key-weddings-.html" class="">of&nbsp;wife Astrid Menks</a>.&nbsp;



“She looks at my billfold and sees whether all the 100s are gone,” Buffett said.



Buffett said he uses cash “98% of the time. If I’m in a restaurant, I’ll always pay cash. It’s just easier.”



But he does have at least one credit card: “I’ve got an American Express card which I got in 1964,” Buffett said. (Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, owned 17.9% of American Express at the end of 2018, <a class="" href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2018ar/2018ar.pdf">according to its year-end financial report</a>.)



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Warren Buffett tells us a few of his favorite things — and what he has in his wallet: <a href="https://t.co/Bw84EkJDCt">https://t.co/Bw84EkJDCt</a> <a href="https://t.co/N6HmXbhyGR">pic.twitter.com/N6HmXbhyGR</a>&mdash; Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooFinance/status/1122871295593603072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>




Buffett’s tendency to use cash puts him in the minority among Americans — in 2018, only 18% made “all or almost all of their purchases” with cash,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/12/12/more-americans-are-making-no-weekly-purchases-with-cash/" class="">according&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;PEW Research&nbsp;Center</a>. About half (52%) of Americans made “some” of their purchases with cash and 29% made none of their purchases with cash.



Using cash, however, can actually be a good way to save money. Paying with cash can be <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/24/mark-cubans-top-negotiation-strategy-involves-using-cash.html">used as a negotiation tool</a>, according to Mark Cuban. And researchers have found that physically handing over money <a class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/business/paying-with-cash-hurts-thats-also-why-it-feels-so-good.html?_r=1">feels painful</a>, making you less likely to do it, <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/05/paying-with-cash-can-help-you-lose-weight-and-save-money.html">CNBC Make It previously reported</a>. 



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/how-much-cash-what-credit-card-warren-buffett-carries-in-his-wallet.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/how-much-cash-what-credit-card-warren-buffett-carries-in-his-wallet.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Here’s how much cash Billionaire Warren Buffett carries in his wallet

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand was little changed early on Friday as limited liquidity after a mid-week holiday, closed Asian markets and upcoming national elections kept investors on the sidelines. 



At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.09 percent weaker at 14.5525 per dollar after dipping to 14.5675 overnight, as the market focussed on U.S. job numbers due later in the session.



The dollar strengthened as markets scaled back bets the Fed would cut rates. Some traders speculated the jobs data would come in stronger than expected, putting emerging-market currencies under more pressure.



South Africans vote next week, and while an all-out victory for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress looks certain, the margin of the victory remains uncertain as the country tries to emerge from of a decade-long growth slump.



Bonds were also weaker, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year debt adding 2.5 basis points to 8.635 percent.



Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana, editing by Larry King

South Africa’s rand weakens as country’s presidential elections approach

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s public enterprises ministry on Thursday said that a China Development Bank (CDB) loan to struggling state power company Eskom was not in jeopardy.



Eskom had expected to draw down 7 billion rand ($481 million) from a $2.5 billion CDB loan facility by late March, but South Africa’s finance ministry said in a report to parliament last month that the drawdown had been delayed.



The South African government and Eskom are working to ensure the transfer of funds from CDB to Eskom, the public enterprises ministry said in a statement.



($1 = 14.5500 rand)



Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by David Goodman

Is Chinese loan to South Africa’s Eskom in jeopardy?

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya will cut its budget deficit to 5.6 percent of GDP in its 2019/20 (July-June) fiscal year from a revised 6.1 percent of GDP in this fiscal year, the Treasury said in a draft budget summary sent to parliament this week.



The East African nation will borrow 324.3 billion shillings ($3.21 billion), equivalent to 3.0 percent of GDP, from abroad during the fiscal year and 289.2 bln shillings, or 2.7 percent of GDP, from the local market, the document showed.



The government aims to reduce the overall budget deficit to 3.8 percent of GDP in the 2022/23 fiscal year, the Treasury said.



The government has come under fire for ramping up its borrowing since 2013 to fund a range of infrastructure projects like roads.



The economy was likely to expand by 6.1 percent this year, from 6.3 percent last year, the Treasury said in the budget summary, attributing that benign forecast to stable economic fundamentals and the farming sector.



($1 = 101.1000 Kenyan shillings)



Reporting by Duncan Miriri, Editing by Gareth Jones, William Maclean

Kenya to cut its budget deficit to 5.6 pct in 2019/20 fiscal year, what you need to know…

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya Airways reported a rise in annual revenue on Tuesday while trimming its pretax loss.



The airline, in which Air France-KLM holds a 7.8 percent stake, reported revenue of 114.45 billion shillings ($1.13 billion) for the 12 months to December 31, up from 106.17 billion a year earlier.



The company has changed to a calendar year from a financial year ending March 31.



Its pretax loss narrowed to 7.59 billion shillings from 9.44 billion.



The airline was forced to restructure $2 billion worth of debt in late 2017 after a slump in Kenyan travel following militant attacks.



($1 = 101.3000 Kenyan shillings)



Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Jason Neely

Kenya Airways reports higher annual revenue, what you need to know

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/todd-haselton/">Todd Haselton</a>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Google keeps a log of everywhere you go if you use Google apps and services on your phone.</li><li>It has a creepy level of detail that might surprise you.</li><li>Google makes it easy to find this information and limit how it can track you, though. Here’s how to do that.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-plain.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335210"/></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GOOGL" class="">Google</a>&nbsp;knows a lot about you and, if you use Google Maps or other Google apps, it stores a copy of everywhere you go. I recently performed Google’s “Privacy Checkup” to learn a bit more about what it knows about me, and was pretty surprised at the level of detail it had on my exact locations.



I picked a random date: April 16, 2019. It knew everywhere I went, including that I took Interstate 95 to our office in northern New Jersey and that I arrived at 7:58 a.m. It knew that at 1:02 p.m. I drove to Jersey City and took a train in to Manhattan to the New York Stock Exchange before returning home at 4:38 p.m. And it has a copy of the pictures I took at each location.



It’s a creepy level of detail.



Google says it uses location history to “create a private map of where you go with your signed-in devices even when you aren’t using a specific Google service.” It also says the “map is only visible to you.” The data, it says, provides “improved map searches and commute routes, as well as helping you to rediscover the places you’ve been and the routes you’ve traveled.”



I don’t really care about that information. I know the roads I drove on April 16, and I can’t see any reason why Google should store it, even if it’s only for my use. I never know who might be able to access that data, even if Google promises it’s private.



You can stop Google from storing your location history and delete what it has already stored. Here’s how.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-1110x727.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335207"/><figcaption> Google keeps a creepy amount of information on where you’ve been. Todd Haselton | CNBC </figcaption></figure>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>First, go to&nbsp;<a href="https://myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup" class="">myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup</a>. This is a good page to bookmark, since it gives you granular control over lots of privacy settings.</li><li>Next, scroll down to “Location History” and choose “Manage Location History.”</li><li>This is where you’ll see everywhere you’ve been. It’s a freaky level of detail.</li><li>Tap “Manage Location History” at the bottom of the screen again.</li><li>Toggle the button to turn off Location History.</li></ul>



To delete your history, do this:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Tap the settings button on the “Location History” map.</li><li>Select “Delete all location history.”</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335208"/><figcaption> Turn off the option that allows Google to track your location history. Todd Haselton | CNBC </figcaption></figure>



That’s not it, though.



Google will continue tracking your location unless you also turn off a separate “Web &amp; App Activity” tracker. Google says it tracks your location from apps to provide “better recommendations, and more personalized experiences in Maps, Search, and other Google services.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335209"/><figcaption> Turn off the option that allows Google to track your web and app activity. Todd Haselton | CNBC </figcaption></figure>



To turn off web and app activity, do this:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Go to <a class="" href="https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols">myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols</a></li><li>Turn off the “Web &amp; Activity” toggle</li></ul>



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/how-to-stop-google-from-storing-your-location-history.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/how-to-stop-google-from-storing-your-location-history.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

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Special Report

Microsoft is planning on spending $100 million on Kenya, Nigeria tech development hub, what you need to know

South Africa’s unemployment rate rises to 27,6% in Q1

IMF says the economic growth in this East African country could rise to 3% in 2019

Here’s why Zimbabwe faces worst power cuts in 3 years

What Billionaire Warren Buffett pays attention to when investing instead of ‘current events’

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South Africa’s Vodacom reported a 6.6% drop in earnings, here’s why

#SAElections2019: Will Ramaphosa’s ANC retain power ?

If you invested $1,000 in Apple in 2009, here’s how much you’d have now

What you need to know about Total’s $8.8 billion deal with Occidental for Anadarko’s Africa assets

After #CasterSemenya loses case against IAAF, how much testosterone is too much for a female athlete ?

Here’s how much cash Billionaire Warren Buffett carries in his wallet

South Africa’s rand weakens as country’s presidential elections approach

Is Chinese loan to South Africa’s Eskom in jeopardy?

Kenya to cut its budget deficit to 5.6 pct in 2019/20 fiscal year, what you need to know…

Kenya Airways reports higher annual revenue, what you need to know

Google knows everywhere you go — here’s how to stop it from tracking you and delete the logs

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