Posts by Alastair Tempest
The Post-COVID Blues – Shopify Continues to Lay-off Staff
As this Newsletter has reported previously, all the Big Tech, and some important (for ecommerce) “Smaller Tech” increased their staff during COVID and are now reducing their employment levels. We…
Read MoreBig Tech News from around the Globe
One of the first sectors to feel the AI squeeze is online education. In the US a number of high-profile schools have banned the system and online teaching companies are…
Read MoreA Patchwork of Privacy Laws in the USA and the Battle Over Encryption Continues
We reported recently on a proposal to introduce a Federal privacy law in the USA. A number of States, principally California and a couple of others have applied their own…
Read MoreWill Twitter Fly Off Into The Blue Skies?
Twitter has again U-turned over its verification policy, restoring the “blue tick” free of charge to celebrity users of the social network. Meanwhile a serious rival is emerging with Bluesky, created by former Twitter…
Read MoreTradeExperettes is examining the gender impact of the WTO´s moratorium on the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions.
TradeExperettes, is a network of women trade experts from around the world. It notes that while research has been done on the economic and broader social impact of the moratorium, this…
Read MoreSA’s Chairing of BRICS
As this Newsletter has reported recently, SA took over the chair of BRICS this year. The trade alliance has become increasingly popular, with Saudi Arabia joining, and 4 countries joining…
Read MoreMiscellaneous
EFA is Concerned by Moves to Remove/Reduce the de Minibus Rule for Customs Duties in the EU and USA Years ago, UN agencies set up a system to ensure that customs duties…
Read MoreUNCTAD’s Ecommerce and Digital Economy (ECDE) Programme
This recently published the “Year in Review 2022 – Looking beyond current crises: Boosting digital readiness in developing countries” (https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/dtlecdeinf2023d1_en.pdf). The report highlights the support provided to better manage the…
Read MoreThe African Free Trade Area Holds 1st Business Forum
The AfCFTA Secretariat held its first Business Forum from the 16th to the 18th in Cape Town. The SA Dept. of Trade and Industry minister, Ebrahim Patel opened the Forum and the…
Read MoreApologies to Readers
The end of April and beginning of May brought a very long weekend followed by bad weather and some of the worst power outages (load shedding) experienced in SA. Therefore…
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