Lower gas prices seen fueling U.S. consumer spending in fourth quarter

Mobius Motors Seeks Investors As It Plans Mass Production For Q2 2015 January 30, 2015 Niyi Aderibigbe General Mobius Share via email inShare Share VENTURES AFRICA – The presence and aid of new investors will see that Kenya’s Mobius Motors begins mass production of its cars in April. Mobius production has been based on pre-orders and by December 2014, delivery of 50 pre-ordered vehicles was set to begin. The vehicle owners had made an initial deposit of Sh50, 000 for a car priced at Sh950, 000. Equity stakes would be sold to both local and international investors and the cash would be used for increased production of Mobius cars. “A number of international investors are expected to sign up. We expect to unveil them in Q1 2015,” says Mobius stakeholder, Darshan Chandaria, director of Chandaria Industries to Business Daily. According to him, a team of local shareholders will also be joining the startup firm, thereby adding to the Mobius capacity to mass produce Mobius has attracted the attention of several investors, including US billionaire Ronald Lauder, who invested an undisclosed sum in the company to aid production of the first 50 units of Mobius cars. Mobius Motors is headed by British social-entrepreneur, Joel Jackson, who gave up a lucrative career in management consultancy to start Mobius. The company’s target market is entrepreneurs operating in remote rural areas and in need of a car that defies bad roads leading to these remote areas. “Mobius aims to empower transport entrepreneurs across Africa not just with more appropriate vehicles, but with the financing and business advice needed to operate a sustainable transport centric business. As well as leveraging the existing privatised public transport model (already proven by auto rickshaws and minivans), entrepreneurial buyers can also use their modular Mobius cars to operate a range of other services such as local school buses, mail delivery or mobile medical care,” reads the company’s statement. The lucrative tourism safari market is also part of the company’s target market.

Read more at: http://www.ventures-africa.com/2015/01/mobius-motors-seeks-investors-as-it-plans-mass-production-for-q2-2015/

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTONt

A man gets gasoline at a BP station in St. Louis, Missouri January 14, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Kate Munsch

(Reuters) - The U.S. economy likely grew at a brisk clip in the fourth quarter as lower gasoline prices buoyed consumer spending, in a show of resilience despite a darkening global outlook.
Gross domestic product probably expanded at a 3 percent annual pace, according to a Reuters survey of economists. While that would be a step down from the third quarter's breakneck 5 percent rate, it would be the fifth quarter out of the last six that the economy has grown at or above a 3 percent pace.
"The consumer did the heavy lifting and I don't think
there is any reason to expect that to change in the first half of this year because of the enormous tailwind from lower gasoline prices," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
The Commerce Department will publish its first snapshot of fourth-quarter GDP at 8:30 a.m EST on Friday, two days after the Federal Reserve said the economy was expanding at a "solid pace," an upgraded assessment that keeps it on track to start raising interest rates this year.
The U.S. central bank has kept its short-term interest rate near zero since December 2008 and most economists expect a mid-year lift-off.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, is expected to have advanced at a pace of at least 4 percent in the fourth quarter - which would be the fastest in four years and an acceleration from the third quarter's 3.2 percent pace.
Gasoline prices have plunged 43 percent since June, according to U.S. government data, leaving Americans with more money for discretionary spending. Lower gasoline prices are expected to add at least half a percentage point to GDP growth.
A strengthening labor market, despite sluggish wage growth, is also seen boosting consumer spending in the fourth quarter.
"The number of people getting a paycheck has gone up even though wages have not accelerated that much," said Guy Berger, a U.S. economist at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut. "It bolsters the Fed's confidence in how strong the bedrock of this recovery is going to be."
The economy so far appears to be largely weathering faltering growth in Asia and Europe, although recent capital expenditure data has shown significant weakness.
Business spending on equipment is expected to have braked sharply in the fourth quarter, which could reflect delays of investment projects by companies in the oil industry. But the slowdown also comes after two straight quarters of strong growth.
"How much of that is due to the decline in oil prices or Europe is unclear," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.   
The growth composition in the fourth quarter is likely to have been mixed. Government spending was likely a drag as a defense-driven burst fades. Residential construction is expected to have contributed to GDP growth.
Both inventory investment and trade also are expected to have added to growth, but are a wild card as data for December is not available and the government makes estimates for the GDP data.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)

DR Congo, Angola In Oil Extraction Deal January 30, 2015 Editor Energy DRCONGO-Angola Share via email inShare Share VENTURES AFRICA – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Angola state oil companies have entered into a joint venture to extract oil in a corridor between the two countries known as the “Common Interest Zone.” The joint venture deal was signed between Angola’s Sonangol and DR Congo’s Congolaise des Hydrocarbures (Cohydro) “The agreement with Cohydro was signed by directors of the two companies on Tuesday and refines the terms of exploration activities and general principles that will govern the future production sharing contract,” said Sonangol in a statement. DR Congo and Angola have common oil interests, including in offshore production between northern Angola and the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, where much of Angola’s production is focused. Oil is the backbone of Angola’s economy. The sector makes up over 90 percent of its exports. The first oil surveys date back to 1906, but it was not until 1955 that the first oil well was discovered. In 1966, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company discovered important oil reserves in Cabinda. From then on, oil started playing one of the most important roles in the Angolan economy, having surpassed coffee in oil exports as of 1973. By George Mpofu

Read more at: http://www.ventures-africa.com/2015/01/dr-congo-angola-in-oil-extraction-deal/