Emerging Markets Daily - July 5
China Escalates Didi Crackdown, UAE-Saudi OPEC Dispute, Latin America's School Shutdown Crisis, Xi's Centenary Speech, UAE Most Vaccinated in World: Bloomberg Tracker
The Top 5 Emerging Markets Stories from Global Media - July 5
China Orders Didi Off App Stores in an Escalating Crackdown
The New York Times
“China’s government ordered the country’s leading ride-hailing platform, Didi, removed from app stores for ‘serious’ problems related to the collection and use of customer data, the latest blow by Beijing to the company, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange just this past week.”
“In its brief late-evening announcement on Sunday, China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, did not explain what problems it had found, only that its decision had been based on information that was reported to it, then tested and verified. The regulator ordered Didi to correct the problems and to ‘earnestly safeguard the security of all users’ personal information.’”
“On Friday, the same regulator had issued another surprise evening announcement, saying that new user sign-ups on Didi would be suspended while the authorities conducted a ‘cybersecurity review.’ The agency did not say what had prompted the review.” Raymond Zhong reports
Opec Impasse Shows UAE’s ‘Flexing its Muscles’ against Saudi Arabia
Financial Times
“A few years ago, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia went as far as secretly drawing a plan for a political union. While a confederation did not materialise, the Gulf’s autocratic states fought rebels in Yemen and stood united in a boycott of Qatar for its alleged support for Islamism.”
“In the past few days, however, cracks in this unity have become apparent as the interests of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi diverge again on issues ranging from oil production, Yemen, normalisation with Israel, and the way to handle the pandemic.”
“…Insiders say debate has been raging in Abu Dhabi at the highest levels of the national oil company about whether to leave the oil cartel. A departure would allow the UAE to fund plans to diversify the economy — from refinery and petrochemicals production to a newly formed commodities exchange and its own crude benchmark that requires access to volumes to make it a success.” Simeon Kerr reports
Latin America’s Long School Shutdown Is Leading to Crisis
The Wall Street Journal
“Paola Hernández, an unemployed single mother of three who lives in a hillside shanty here, doesn’t have a working internet connection for her children’s online classes or the money to print out homework assignments.”
“The result is that for 15 months—since the school nearby closed because of the pandemic—her kids have had no classroom education. Her 16-year-old daughter Wendy will have to repeat the sixth grade. Her 8-year-old son Johan can’t read his own name.”
“Ms. Hernández’s anguish is part of the generational crisis unfolding across Latin America, where children on average have missed more school days during the pandemic than anywhere else in the world, according to Unicef. More than half of the region’s 190 million school-age children remain out of the classroom, many with no viable options for remote learning.”
“The World Bank estimates that some 15%, or 28 million school-age children, will drop out altogether—troubling for a region where students had already lagged behind other parts of the world in math and reading comprehension. Education advocates and economists warn of an unprecedented blow to Latin America’s social and economic development in years to come, likely spurring poverty, violence and migration.” Kejal Vyas reports
Xi's Ambitions and Concerns: 5 Takeaways from Centenary Speech
Nikkei Asia
“Chinese President Xi Jinping used the occasion of the Communist Party's 100th anniversary to hail economic achievements and lay out China's ambitions without failing to warn foreign rivals from interfering in the country's domestic affairs.”
“The CCP's centenary on July 1 was deemed so important that his government in Beijing mobilized some 70,000 people to gather at the capital's Tiananmen Square for a 90-minute event.”
“Here are the take-aways of Xi's hourlong speech delivered on the centenary.” CK Tan reports
UAE Passes Seychelles to Become World’s Most Vaccinated Country
Bloomberg
“The United Arab Emirates has overtaken Seychelles to become the world’s most vaccinated nation, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.”
“The Persian Gulf nation has so far administered 15.5 million doses, enough to cover 72.1% of its mostly expatriate population of 10 million based on a two-dose regimen. The Seychelles has administered enough doses to cover 71.7% of its population of just under 100,000.”
“Daily infections have hovered at around 2,000 since March from a peak of about 4,000 in February. The UAE, though, tests more people per capita than most nations and has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world.” Adveith Nair reports
