Five fascinating business facts – Part 11

40%

In this age of artificial automation, AI, a staggering forty per cent of the entire United States workforce is at high risk of automation over the next fifteen years according to a new research by PwC.

The survey shows that the workforce in the world’s largest economy is dominated by service jobs that can be automated. It appears that the more you go into the creative set of jobs and those involving movement, the harder it is to replace such jobs.

It is not all bad news though. AI revolution will also create some jobs. Some have described AI as perhaps the most significant transforming trend for the modern labour force. The evidence is all around us – Amazon is expanding its test of parcel deliveries by drones while the use of drones to deliver bombs is proving to be a potent force in Syria and Iraq.

$850m

Capital continues to pour into Ethiopia’s already well-developed hydropower sector, with ambitious private concessions joining a spate of large state projects.
Two British firms, Contingent Technology and Globeleq, have jointly bid on the 257MW Genale Dawa VI plant, the fourth hydroelectric project in the Genale Dawa River basin (with two projects having focused on irrigation). The $850 million bid is backed by the UK’s CDC Group and Norway’s Norfund and would be the first privately-managed hydroelectric plant in the country: under the terms of the bid, the firms would operate the plant under private ownership or in a PPP for up to 25 years.

Genale Dawa VI would not be the first Ethiopian venture the firms have been involved in.

$7bn

South Africa’s rand is a free fall against major currencies as the nation responds to the shock news that widely respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had been axed and replaced by the disgraced former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba.

A massive sell off hit bank shares early Friday with the banks losing near $7bn in their share price.

In a fall reminiscent of that witnessed in the wake of Nenegate in December 2015, when Zuma replaced then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene with the relatively unknown Des van Rooyen, the rand plummeted, losing almost 3% against the dollar, pound and euro in opening trade.

The local currency reached intraday worst levels of R13.6282 to the dollar, R14.5501 against the euro and R17.0017 against the pound before managing to claw back some of the losses.

$25.4bn

As the week closed on Friday, Kenya, the East African economic power house, announced a federal budget of twenty five and half billion dollars for fiscal 2017-2018, the last before crucial national elections in August, which may be the reason why the budget was announced some two months before time.

The budget dwarfs Nigeria’s federal budget of N7trn and answers to those who in Nigeria continue to believe that theirs is an enormously rich nation.

Of the budget, $8.9bn will be financed by borrowing, while government revenues were projected at a staggering $16.5bn.

Senior citizens and low-income earners emerged the biggest winners in the year while heavy taxes were slapped on gamblers.

7%

Hotels and airlines in the US are cutting prices as tourists avoid the country in response to Donald Trump’s immigration policies, according to the world’s biggest travel company.

Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Expedia, the largest online travel agent by gross bookings, warned the US travel industry is preparing for a turbulent year amid falling international interest in visiting the country.

Airline bokking to the US have fallen by almost 7% since Trump first announced his controversial travel ban in January.

“I think that because of some of the perceived positions coming out of the current administration, the US as a destination is potentially looking less attractive as a product,” said Mr Khosrowshahi, speaking to the Financial Times during a visit to London. “One of two things is going to happen.