Was Nigeria the victim of a 419 fraud, or advance fee fraud?

We’re shocked, shocked we tell you to find that an African country appears to may have been the victim of a scam. Our faith in capitalist enterprises seeming not to be models of virtue, rectitude and probity in their dealings with capitalist states has been deeply shaken. To take advantage of a government like that goes far beyond the pale.

For new readers to SOYMB, let it be noted that the above is sarcasm. Capitalism as a whole is a cut-throat social system that would leave seventeenth and eighteenth pirates gasping at its audacity.

‘ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A London judge on Monday overturned an arbitration award that would have required Nigeria to pay $11 billion over a failed gas project, finding the contract was obtained through fraud.

The High Court ruling by Justice Robin Knowles reverses the award to the British Virgin Islands-based Process & Industrial Developments Ltd. over the 2010 gas deal. The payment would have dealt a massive blow to Nigeria’s ailing economy.

The judge said although he did not accept all of Nigeria’s allegations discrediting P&ID and the contract, “the awards (of the contract) were obtained by fraud … and the way in which they were procured was contrary to public policy.”

Knowles said three things showed the case as an “irregularity”: P&ID providing evidence it knew was false in a witness statement, the company’s bribery or corrupt payment to a Nigerian civil servant and the company’s ”improper retention” of Nigeria’s legal document which it received during arbitration.

P&ID in 2017 secured the compensation award, which originally was $6.6 billion but is now estimated to be $11 billion with accrued interest. The company’s main claim in the arbitration was for loss of profit for the 20 years the agreement covers.

The contract signed with Nigeria’s government in 2010 was for the company to build a gas processing plant in the south eastern port city of Calabar. The project collapsed not long after it was signed, and P&ID took the Nigerian government to arbitration, alleging a breach of contract.

Nigerian officials said the contract was signed under questionable circumstances while late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was critically ill and Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy, was acting president. Officials accused P&ID of bribery and corruption in securing the contract and during arbitration, which the company denied.

https://qz.com/a-british-court-ruling-frees-nigeria-from-paying-11-bi-1850949923

There are many posts on SOYMB about the arms trade. The Underwoods continue to benefit from capitalism’s wars and conflicts fought on their various behalf by the working class. General Dynamics boast of their Stakhanovite efforts. Do shareholders in these companies smile happily at their breakfast table at the rising share prices and the thoughts of the increased dividends to come? The solution, the only solution to this insanity is the replacement of capitalism by socialism. What’s it going to take before the majority understand and implement that?

‘The largest Western military and defence corporations have seen revenues spike due to orders linked to the Ukraine conflict, third-quarter earnings. The surge in revenues is attributed to the sharp increase in military spending by Western countries in order to supply weapons to Ukraine and rearm their own militaries.

US-based Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and RTX (formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corp) all reported better than expected results and guided that they expect still higher revenues in the upcoming quarters.

Lockheed Martin said that its third quarter results “were at or above our expectations across the board” and that the backlog remained “robust at $156 billion as both domestic and international orders were strong.” The company’s net earnings for the past nine months amounted to roughly $5 billion, against $3.8 in the same period last year.

The combat systems branch of General Dynamics saw its revenues spike by nearly 25% in the third quarter against the same period in 2022. The unit makes the armoured vehicles, tanks, and artillery that are sent to Ukraine.

“[Artillery] has been a big pressure point up to now with Ukraine, one that we’ve been doing everything we can to support our [US] Army customer,” the company’s chief financial officer, Jason Aiken, said on a call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday, as cited by Reuters.

Revenue for Boeing’s Defence, Space & Security unit for the quarter totalled $5.5 billion, up 3% from the same time last year. The company has supplied to Ukraine armaments including ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles and Harpoon and Hellfire missiles. It also recently delivered its first T-7A Red Hawk jet to the US Air Force.

RTX reported a 12% rise in adjusted revenue in the third quarter. In an earnings call this week, the company revealed it had received $3 billion worth of orders since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, and expects more in the near term.

The defence systems unit of Northrop Grumman posted 6% higher earnings on demand for ammunition and the rocket motors used in guided multiple-launch rocket systems, the company said.

Across the Atlantic, Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab raised its sales outlook for the year this week amid high demand. Germany’s Rheinmetall is due to report third-quarter earnings next month, but preliminary results unveiled this week show that the company expects operating profit to top estimates by 15% and amount to roughly $202 million on strong demand for weapons and ammunition.

Defence contractors also expect a boost in orders due to the recent escalation of hostilities in Gaza, which already sent their stocks surging this week.

“We’ve gone from 14,000 [artillery] rounds per month to 20,000 very quickly. We’re working ahead of schedule to accelerate that production capacity up to 85,000, even as high as 100,000 rounds per month. And I think the Israel situation is only going to put upward pressure on that demand,” General Dynamics’s Aiken was cited as saying.’

Indian capitalists want to extract more surplus value from the Indian working class.

It is reported that, ‘Narayana Murthy, the founder of tech giant Infosys, sparked controversy this week when he suggested that youngsters in India should work at least 70 hours every week, as he lamented the country’s “low work productivity.”

“Our youngsters must say: this is my country, I want to work 70 hours a week,” Murthy said in a podcast. This is “exactly what Germans and Japanese did” after World War II, he noted, adding that young people in India have a habit of “taking not-so-desirable habits from the West and then not helping the country.”

Unless India improves its work productivity, reduces corruption in the government, and reduces the delays in the bureaucracy in making decisions, it will not be able to compete with countries that have made “tremendous progress,” Murthy said.

“This is the first time that India has received some respect,” the Infosys founder claimed, adding that now is the time “to consolidate and accelerate the progress.”

Murthy’s comments triggered debate on social media, which highlighted the stark contrast in the expectations of the country’s young workforce and the corporate leaders who have witnessed India’s emergence as a powerful global player, particularly in sectors such as IT development and business process outsourcing.

While some business leaders expressed support for Murthy’s views, many people criticized them, raising concerns about disparities in earnings and work-life balance.

“Billionaires agree to have cheap labor and long working hours (in other words, low-cost slaves)! They are probably praying for an even worse job market to make this a reality,” Amitranjan Gantait posted on X (formerly Twitter). According to Forbes, Murthy has a net worth of $4.3 billion.

“Youth unemployment in India is 45%,” S.L. Kanthan wrote. “Perhaps, we can employ 2 workers who work 40 hours a week?”

India’s Infosys founder #NarayanaMurthy: “Young IT workers should work 70 hours a week. A new work culture is needed.”Umm… youth unemployment in India is 45%. Perhaps, we can employ 2 workers who work 40 hours a week?Let’s reject Neoliberalism & America’s cruel capitalism. pic.twitter.com/QlRntWEjKf

— S.L. Kanthan (@Kanthan2030) October 27, 2023

Millions of Indians have left the job market without even looking for a new job, Indian media outlets reported last year, citing data from a Mumbai-based private research firm, the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, which showed that between 2017 and 2022, the overall labor participation rate dropped from 46% to 40%.

Prominent members of India’s corporate sector who came to Murthy’s defense included Bhavish Aggarwal, the co-founder of Indian cab company Ola, a rival to Uber. He said he “totally agreed” with the billionaire’s views. “It is not our moment to work less and entertain ourselves,” he replied on X. “Rather it is our moment to go all in and build in one generation what other countries have built over many generations.”

Sajjan Jindal, the chairman of JSW Group, also came to Murthy’s defence: “It’s not about burnout; it’s about dedication. We have to make India an economic superpower that we can all be proud of in India 2047.”

Jindal added that “a 5-day week culture” is not what a rapidly developing nation of India’s size needs, as the country’s “circumstances are unique and its challenges distinct from those of developed nations.”

Journalist Chandra R. Srikant said, “To disparage the Indian IT industry and Infosys with terms like sweatshop and coolie is uncalled for.”

“These companies put India on the global map,” she wrote on X, adding that these firms “created superb outcomes for the Indian middle class and shareholders.”’

AUTUMN DELEGATE MEETING AND WORKSHOP

A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that ‘Almost four million people, including more than a million children, in Britain experienced the most extreme form of poverty last year.

‘According to the charity, the number of Britons experiencing ‘destitution’ surged 61% between 2019 and 2022, with 3.8 million people going through these levels of poverty.

‘Destitution’ is defined as the inability to meet basic physical needs, like staying fed, warm, clean and dry either due to lack of essentials – such as clothing, heating, shelter and food – or because an income is so low that people cannot afford to buy these items.

Household income dropped below a minimum level after housing costs, ranging from £95 ($115) a week for a single adult to £205 ($249) a week for a couple with two children. Over half of destitute households had a weekly income of less than £85 after housing costs, the study concluded, adding that a quarter reported no income at all.

The number of ‘destitute’ children has nearly tripled since 2017, marking a dramatic increase by 186%.

Adults from across the country reported a frequent inability to have more than one meal a day, saying that they are often forced to go without to ensure their kids could eat. Around two-thirds of respondents (61%) said they had gone hungry in the past month, having relied on food banks or relatives for groceries.

Over half of destitute adults (51%) regularly went without hygiene and cleaning products, along with toiletries like shampoo and toothpaste, reporting heavy reliance on food banks for these items.

Most of the polled adults were not able to afford clothing and footwear, claiming they only purchased new clothes that were necessary, such as school uniforms and trainers for their children.’

Tongue Tied

Self-appointed people’s tribunes shout

And chant that righteous death be visited

On those proclaimed other, who, it’s said,

Challenge righteous certainties with doubt.

Ernest professed defenders of free speech

Then demand banning of hate words they see

As inimical to democracy:

Language isn’t allowed beyond the law’s reach.

All too readily from good intentions

Voices may be silenced, tongues shackled,

Stopping difficult issues being tackled

Through a malignant state’s intervention.

 But then, advocates for better times to come

Can be confounded, arrested; struck dumb!

D. A.

‘The price of artillery shells produced by German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall have soared by more than half since the start of the Ukraine conflict, an investigation by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Confidential documents showed that Rheinmetall, which brands itself as “a strong partner on Ukraine’s side,” raked in huge profits by selling artillery shells to Kiev, paid for by the German government, as ammunition prices have surged since early last year, the outlet said.

According to the document, in July the German Defence Ministry signed a deal with Rheinmetall on the supply of 155-mm calibre shells that can be fired from the self-propelled howitzer 2000 and hit targets dozens of kilometres away. The contract will reportedly serve both German and Ukrainian needs.

Kiev’s troops allegedly used 155-mm calibre shells in a series of artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure in the city of Donetsk in May.

Under the deal, Rheinmetall will supply Kiev with up to 333,333 rounds of the large-caliber ammunition with each shell costing at least €3,600 ($3,813), the outlet noted, adding that shell prices are expected to rise further.

According to the German Finance Ministry, in the “current market situation, Rheinmetall was not prepared to unilaterally set binding order quantities over the entire contract period, specific delivery times or prices.”

Before February 2022, artillery shells were sold at a standard market price of €2,000 per unit.

“You can no longer produce bullets in Europe for €2,000 euros,” a military economist who asked not to be identified told Welt am Sonntag.

Industry experts point to rising raw material and production costs in the EU, that have been driven up by supply chain disruptions and soaring energy prices triggered by the Ukraine conflict.’

Supporters of, or propagandists for, capitalism will holler the benefits of competition to the consumer. Not everyone is in favour of competition of course.

‘French winemakers have been staging a mass protest against Spanish wine imports, arguing that they create unfair competition in the local market, which is already suffering from a surplus.

According to a report from Le Parisien, around 500 protesters gathered on a highway near the French border town of Boulou and stopped several trucks with Spanish products, and destroyed their cargoes. As a result, more than 240 hectoliters of Spanish rosé were poured on the road and 10,000 bottles of Spanish sparkling were smashed.

The demonstrators said they are suffering losses due to cheap Spanish wine entering the French market.

“The problem is the price,” Antoine, a 79-year-old French winegrower, told the news outlet.

“The Spanish have minimum charges, the right to put all the chemicals they want on their vines while we have the right to nothing… As a result, Spanish wine costs half as much as French wine. When their hectoliter costs €40, it is almost €80 with us,” he said.

Aude wine union leader Frederic Rouanet pledged to continue the protests, with a major mobilization of winemakers scheduled for the end of November.

“It is out of the question to accept the situation as it is. Starting from today, we are going to remove the possibility of buyers being able to get cheap wines from elsewhere… We are going to stop Spanish imports. This is the start of an economic war that we are going to wage,” Rouanet said.

Earlier this week, French wine growers gathered in Ferrals-des-Corbieres to discuss the crisis in the industry, which they consider the worst in around two decades. The union prepared a letter to be sent to French wine merchants and importers that called for “a total halt in buying wine from other regions or abroad until the [local] wines are sold at a fair price.”

Renowned for its centuries-old winemaking traditions, France has been suffering from a massive surplus of wine due to a strong harvest in 2022 and low consumption caused by soaring inflation. The French government introduced a drastic plan in August to allocate €200 million ($216 million) to destroy wine surpluses. Officials have also been offering financial incentives to growers to switch to other products.

The drop in the demand for wine has not been limited to France. The European Commission reported in June that wine consumption fell by 15% in France, but it also dropped by 7% in Italy, 10% in Spain, 22% in Germany, and 34% in Portugal. The EU’s wine exports have also been dropping. Between January and April 2023, cross-border sales fell by 8.5% compared to the same period last year.

Some analysts say the drop in EU wine exports partly stems from Ukraine-related sanctions that Brussels placed on Russia last year, banning wine sales that exceed €300 per bottle. As a result, while in 2022 Spain and Italy were among Russia’s top-three wine suppliers, this year they were replaced by Lithuania and Georgia.’