Emerging Markets Daily - April 14
JP Morgan Downgrades EM Currency, IEA Sees Oil Demand Up, Univision Launches New Spanish-Language Powerhouse, India's De-Urbanization Chapter 2, Nigeria's Second Unicorn, Plus China Noodles and More
The Top 5 Emerging Markets Stories from Global Media - April 14
JPMorgan Downgrades Emerging Market Currencies to 'Underweight'
Reuters
“Investment bank JPMorgan recommended selling emerging market currencies on Tuesday, completing a 180-degree pivot from the start of the year when it was backing them to have a good run.”
“After forecasts of a strong run for emerging currencies at the start of the year, many big banks have since turned more bearish as rising U.S. rates, COVID-19 worries and idiosyncratic risks besetting Turkey and Russia weigh on sentiment.”
“MSCI’s index of emerging market currencies was down around 2% from levels hit two months ago.” Marc Jones and Tom Arnold report
IEA Revises Oil Demand Forecast Higher On Global Economy Rebound
The Financial Times
”The International Energy Agency revised higher its oil demand forecast for this year, but warned of ‘lingering concerns’ over the strength of the recovery in consumption.”“The Paris-based organisation said in its monthly market report on Wednesday that ‘fundamentals look decidedly stronger’ when compared with April last year when oil prices tumbled to multidecade lows. ‘The massive overhang in global oil inventories that built up during last year’s Covid-19 demand shock is being worked off, vaccine campaigns are gathering pace and the global economy appears to be on a better footing,’ the intergovernmental agency said.”
“World oil demand is expected to expand by 5.7m barrels a day in 2021 — an upward revision of 230,000 b/d — with total consumption at 96.7m b/d. Demand declined last year by 8.7m b/d, the IEA said.” Anglo Raval reports.
Univision and Televisa Set Merger Deal to Create Spanish-Language Content Powerhouse
Variety
“Univision and Televisa have come to terms on a merger agreement, a long-awaited deal that will create a Spanish-language TV giant with broad reach in Mexico and the U.S.”
“Televisa is one of the largest producers of content in the world. Last year it produced some 86,000 hours entertainment, news, sports and unscripted shows. The union with Univision allows the two to combine forces to launch a Spanish-language streaming service to serve the U.S., Mexico and the rest of the Spanish-speaking world.” Cynthia Littleton and Anna Marie de la Fuente report
Indian Migrant Workers Rush Back to Villages Amid New Lockdowns
The Wall Street Journal
“As Covid-19 roars back in India, migrant workers who had just started to resettle in the cities they left during last year’s outbreak are packing up to return to their villages again.
“Mumbai and its state of Maharashtra are at the center of the fastest-growing outbreak in the world, with more than 150,000 new cases a day across India. The western state has imposed nighttime curfews and shut down malls, eateries, bars and places of worship.”
“A complete lockdown, with most people required to stay at home, could be coming soon, said Rajesh Tope, the health minister for the state.”
“The trains going to the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the biggest sources of migrant workers, have been leaving Mumbai packed without even much room to stand, said Sanjay Kumar, a security guard of the Railway Protection Force who is in charge of crowd management.”
“‘There’s been a huge rush,’ he said. ‘People are trying to get out because they’re worried the government will stop the trains again.’” Vibhuti Aggarwal and Eric Bellman report.
Meet Nigeria’s Second Tech Unicorn: Flutterwave
African Business
“The new valuation has led to Flutterwave’s designation as a ‘unicorn’ – a privately held startup company valued at $1bn, and the second unicorn to come out of Nigeria. The firm serves more than 290,000 businesses including customers like Uber, Flywire, Booking.com and Facebook. The firm will use the capital to acquire more users, expand into new markets and build an app.”
“Nigeria’s Interswitch became Africa’s first unicorn in late 2019 after US payments technology corporation Visa acquired a 20% stake in the company for $200m.”
“The deals have boosted Nigeria as an African fintech hub to rival Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. Together, the four countries make up about 85% of total fintech investments on the continent.” Dianna Games reports
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What we’re also reading…
Feature Story of the Week: China's Biang Biang Noodles are Taking the World by Storm – Yet the Dish's Name Doesn't Officially Exist
BBC
“Here in Xi'an, the capital of China's Shaanxi province and one of the country's oldest cities, the craft of noodle-pulling is so intertwined with that slapping sound that the distinctive noise ended up inspiring this dish's curious name: biang biang noodles.”
“The ‘biang’ character is onomatopoeic, meant to mimic the sound of dough hitting a counter. It is also more complex to write than any character in the Chinese language, with a whopping 58 strokes (though, depending on whom you ask, this number may vary slightly). Given how much thought must go into writing it, I was surprised to discover that the character doesn't actually exist – at least, not according to official dictionaries. That's because the character is entirely a folk creation. Upon closer inspection of the symbol, I realised that it is also comprised of many distinct elements that, together, paint a picture of Xi'an's rich history.”
“Hiding in this intricate biang diagram, for example, is the Chinese character for silk. Xi'an was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, the vast ancient network of East-West trade routes that facilitated the exchange of goods, ideas and technologies for centuries. Along those roads, horses not only provided a primary means of transport, but were traded as a commodity. It makes sense, then, that the biang character additionally contains the symbol for horse and appears to pay homage to these animals' important historical role in the region. On either side of the horse symbol, the Chinese character meaning "long" or "length" also appears; whether interpreted as a reference to the Silk Road or to the noodles, both would seem appropriate.” [Full article is lengthy but delighfully interesting] Megan Zhang reports
Major Eurasia Trade Development - Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan Break Ground On Trade Hub
Radio Free Europe
“Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have broken ground for a giant trade and economic-cooperation hub, the largest of its kind in Central Asia, along the border of the two neighbors.”
“Kazakh Prime Minister Asqar Mamin told the ceremony that Kazakh and Uzbek officials have a goal of tripling trade between the two biggest economies in the region to $10 billion.”
“The Kazakh prime minister's press service said the new hub will cover a territory of 400 hectares and allow some 35,000 people and up to 5,000 trucks to cross the border from both sides each day after it becomes fully operational.” RFE reports
The Coming EV Wars: Huawei Invests in Self-Driving and Electric Car Tech it Says Surpasses Tesla
Bloomberg
“Huawei Technologies Co will invest US$1 billion on researching self-driving and electric-car technologies, accelerating plans to compete with Tesla Inc and Xiaomi Corp in the world’s biggest vehicle arena.”
“Huawei’s autonomous-driving technology has already surpassed Tesla’s in some spheres, for instance by allowing cars to cruise for more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) without human intervention, rotating chairman Eric Xu told analysts in Shenzhen Monday.”
“The Chinese telecoms giant will partner with three automakers initially to make self-driving cars that carry the Huawei name as a sub-brand, said Xu, one of three executives who take turns to fill the post. It will keep its circle of partners small and get its logo onto cars – not unlike how Intel Corp calls attention to its microprocessors on PCs – that adopt its autonomous driving technology, he added. The mobile giant has so far agreed to team up with BAIC Group, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co.” Edwin Chan, Yuan Gao, and Ying Tian report
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