Business and Finance
How attacks on ships in the Red Sea may affect what you buy
WASHINGTON (AP) – Car factories in Belgium and Germany have stopped working. Spring fashion collections at a preferred British department store are delayed. A Maryland hospital supply company doesn’t know when to expect parts from Asia.
Attacks on ships in the Red Sea represent one other shock to global trade, on top of pandemic-related port congestion and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Houthi rebels in Yemen, searching for to halt Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza, are attacking cargo ships plying the waters connecting Asia with Europe and the United States, forcing the movement away from the Suez Canal and around the tip of Africa. Disruptions are causing delays and rising costs – at a time when the world has yet to beat a resurgence in inflation.
“What has happened now is short-term chaos, and chaos drives up costs,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of supply chain management company Flexport. “There are 10,000 containers on each diverted ship. Many emails and phone calls are being made to re-plan each container trip.”
Adding to the confusion in global shipping is what Petersen calls a “double whammy”: passage through one other key trade corridor – the Panama Canal – is restricted by low water levels brought on by drought. And shippers are rushing to move goods before Chinese factories close for the Lunar New Year holiday from February 10-17.
The threat increases significantly as the war in Gaza drags on. A yearlong trade disruption in the Red Sea could push commodity inflation up by as much as 2%, Petersen says, adding to the pain at a time when the world is already grappling with higher prices for groceries, rents and more. It could also mean even higher rates of interest, which have weakened economies.
For now, Man & Machine in Greater Landover, Maryland, is awaiting shipment from Taiwan and greater China. An organization that makes washable keyboards and accessories for hospitals and other customers has suffered setback after setback.
Founder and CEO Clifton Broumand often receives a shipment of components about once a month, but the latest shipment, which left Asia 4 weeks ago, has been delayed. The normal route – a three-week route through the Suez Canal – was closed on account of Houthi attacks.
Redirecting to the Panama Canal also didn’t work – the shipment was hampered by the drought mess. He may must cross the Pacific to Los Angeles and arrive by truck or train in Maryland. Broumand has no idea when the products will arrive.
“It’s annoying and interesting. I feel our customers, all of them understand that. It’s not an issue like, “Why didn’t you plan this?” – who knew?” he said. “We call our customers and say, ‘Hey, that is going to be delayed. That’s why it’s like this. Nobody likes it, nevertheless it won’t kill anybody. It’s just one other frustration.’
Other industries experience similar problems.
Electric automotive maker Tesla must close its factory near Berlin from Monday until February 11 on account of delivery delays. Chinese-owned Swedish automotive brand Volvo was idled on its assembly line in Ghent, Belgium, where it produces station wagons and SUVs, for 3 days this month, waiting for a key gearbox part.
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Production at the Suzuki Motor Corp. plant. in Hungary was suspended for every week on account of a delay in the delivery of engines and other parts from Japan.
British retailer Marks & Spencer warned that the confusion would delay latest spring collections of clothing and homewares, which were on account of be released in February and March. Chief executive Stuart Machin said troubles in the Red Sea “affect everyone and that’s what we’re very focused on.”
About 20% of clothing and footwear imports into the U.S. arrive through the Suez Canal, said Steve Lamar, CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. For Europe, the impact is even greater: 40% of garments and 50% of shoes go through the Red Sea.
“This is a crisis that has global implications for the shipping industry,” Lamar said.
According to Flexport, as of January 19, nearly 25% of world shipping capability is or might be diverted from the Red Sea, adding 1000’s of miles and every week or two to journeys.
The cost of shipping a regular 40-foot container from Asia to northern Europe has increased from lower than $1,500 in mid-December to almost $5,500. According to freight booking platform Freightos, moving cargo from Asia to the Mediterranean is even dearer: almost $6,800 in comparison with $2,400 in mid-December.
But it could possibly be worse. Two years ago, at the height of supply chain backup, it cost $15,000 to ship a container from Asia to Northern Europe and nearly $14,200 to ship a container from Asia to the Mediterranean.
“In terms of supply chain disruptions, we’re not even close to what happened during the pandemic,” said Katheryn Russ, an economist at the University of California, Davis.
In 2021 and 2022, American consumers, reeling from Covid-19 lockdowns and armed with government aid checks, went on a spending spree, ordering furniture, sports equipment and other goods. Their orders overwhelmed factories, ports and cargo yards, resulting in delays, shortages and better prices.
Now is different. After this supply chain mess, shipping corporations expanded their fleets. They have more ships to deal with shocks.
“The market is overcapacity,” said Judah Levine, head of research at Freightos, “which is thing. The capability needs to be sufficient to deal with this disruption.
Global demand has also weakened – partly because the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks have raised rates of interest to combat inflation and partly because China’s powerful economy is weakening. Inflation has fallen over the last 12 months and a half, even though it continues to be higher than central banks would expect.
“There are some really big forces driving inflation down,” said Russ, who was a White House economic adviser in the Obama administration. “It’s hard to say that (the Red Sea disruption) will significantly offset the declines in inflation that we’re seeing here and there beyond a tenth of a percentage point.”
Many corporations say they’ve yet to see a major impact. Retail Target, for instance, said most of its products don’t go through the Suez Canal and “was confident in our ability to provide guests with the products they want and need.”
BMW said: “All lights are green… our factory supply is secure.” Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara said it was “only slightly impacted” by transit challenges in the Red Sea.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of carmaker Stellantis, said: “So far, everything is fine. Things are going well.”
The rest may not last long. Flexport CEO Petersen warned that if shippers avoid the Suez Canal for a 12 months, “it’s a really big deal.” Higher costs would result in “goods inflation of 1 to 2%.”
Jan Hoffmann, a U.N. shipping expert, warned on Thursday that shipping problems in the Red Sea pose a risk to global food security by slowing the distribution of grain to parts of Africa and Asia that depend on wheat from Europe and the Black Sea area.
It could be even worse if the conflict in the Middle East deepens and drives up oil prices, which are actually lower than the day before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
For now, corporations are hesitant.
The Free People subsidiary of retailer Urban Outfitters imports clothing from India and “ships a lot of it by air,” co-CEO Frank Conforti said at an investor conference this month. However, putting furniture and home items on planes is simply too expensive.
At least home items aren’t as “fashion sensitive” as clothes, Conforti said, so wasting 15 days “sailing around the tip of Africa isn’t the end of the world.”
Business and Finance
First black lottery operator
In a city that pulls thousands and thousands of individuals all over the world, Emmanuel Bailey’s success story began in Washington. He began from humble beginnings, growing up with a single mother and moving from rental to rental throughout town and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for many of his childhood. At the peak of the drug epidemic, he saw his hometown affected by crime and poverty, and when he returned from college, his town was considered the murder capital of the country. Yet despite these adversities, he all the time worked hard and looked to a brighter future – a super his mother instilled in him since he was a small child.
As Bailey began his journey to a brighter future, he realized that to achieve success, he needed to pursue a university education. Through these pursuits, he became the primary member of his family to attend and graduate from college. He enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. While at EKU, he set out to realize the high level of success his mother expected of him in all areas. After graduating from EKU, he obtained an Executive MBA from the Business School. Robert H. Smith on the University of Maryland.
Emmanuel achieved early success within the financial sector. Over the following 25 years, he rose through the ranks, starting as a branch manager at Citizens Bank of Maryland and ending with vice chairman of Fannie Mae. These roles provided him with invaluable experience as a seasoned entrepreneur and leader. After all the pieces he had achieved at Fannie Mae, it was time to strike out on his own.
Seeing the potential within the lottery industry, Emmanuel founded an operations and management services company to run lotteries more efficiently and effectively. Key service providers (VSC) has management experience in all facets of the state lottery contract, including providing direct supervision and management of lottery agents, retail systems, implementation and maintenance of gaming equipment, and oversight of the performance of the central gaming system. He worked in various positions in state lotteries across the country to achieve real institutional knowledge of the ins and outs of the brand new industry he was entering. Combining his latest knowledge with business sense, he decided to win contracts with the most important names within the industry.
The lottery industry is amazingly competitive, and contracts are sometimes awarded to large national firms. However, as Emmanuel grew his business, hiring experienced staff and expanding VSC’s capabilities, he began to make a reputation for himself as a trusted and talented operator within the industry. He soon partnered with titans in the sector and eventually became the one black business owner to operate a state lottery in your entire United States, in his home “state” of Washington.
But his success didn’t end there.
Bailey continued to hone his expertise, turning VSC right into a multi-million dollar company with over 100 employees. He was honored with the 2020 North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) Powers Award, which he won based on nominations from the DC Lottery itself. In its nomination, the District of Columbia said Emmanuel “is far from a stereotypical executive… and will ensure that the DC Lottery continues to operate every day and that our company remains profitable into the long-term future.” It continues to grow its business by opening a VSC office in Maryland and searching to expand its geographic reach.
Despite all his success, Emmanuel never forgot his family and his connection to his community. He stays deeply committed to giving back to DC communities. He has donated a whole lot of 1000’s of dollars to varied local DC-based organizations supporting programs comparable to school athletic and humanities departments, educational support and health care. He also served and continues to serve on the boards of many local organizations.
Now Emmanuel looks to the longer term. Always striving to enhance his business, Emmanuel works to enhance operations and improve the efficiency of the DC Lottery, while also giving back to the community and creating more opportunities for young children growing up in circumstances like his own. While his feet are firmly planted within the DMV, his ambitious and entrepreneurial spirit has his eyes on expansion into additional states. He says his best achievement, above all his other achievements, is that he helped his mother retire.
Business and Finance
David Shands and Donni Wiggins host the “My First Million” conference at ATL
December is the birth month of David Shands and Donnie Wiggins, friends and business partners. Most people have fun by throwing a celebration. Others imagine it must be catered for. The chosen ones spend the day relaxing in peace and quiet.
Then there’s Shands and Wiggins.
The two decided that the best birthday gift can be to offer individuals with resources for generational wealth through a conference called “My first million”in Atlanta.
It’s a compromise between how their families and family members need to honor them and their desire to proceed to serve others. Shands acknowledges that almost all people won’t understand, and he unapologetically doesn’t expect them to.
“It’s not up to us to convince anyone why we do what we do,” admits Shands.
“I think everyone does what they do for different reasons, and I would just attribute it to a sense of accomplishment that I can’t explain to anyone else.”
He doesn’t need to clarify this to Wiggins because she understands his feelings. Wiggins has had a passion for serving others for so long as she will be able to remember.
“When I was in middle school, there were child sponsorship ads on TV featuring children from third world countries. I was earning money at the time and I asked my mother to send money,” she says BLACK ENTERPRISES.
She recalls how sad she felt for youngsters living in a world with so many opportunities, but at the same time going hungry. Her mother allowed her to send money, and in return she received letters informing her of their progress.
“It was very real to me,” Wiggins says, now admitting she’s undecided the letters were authentic. “I received a letter from the child I sponsored, a photograph and some updates throughout the 12 months. It was such a sense of being overwhelmed and it was something I felt so good about. I didn’t even tell my friends I used to be doing it.”
She carried this sense throughout her life, even when she lost every little thing, including her house, cars, and money. She still found ways to serve and give back, which is the basis of her friendship with Shands.
They each love seeing people at the peak of their potential, and that is what “My First Million” is all about. There can be no higher birthday gift for them than helping others create generational wealth.
What to expect during the “My First Million” conference.
They each built successful seven-figure empires, then train others, write books about it, and launch an acclaimed podcast Social proof.
Now they’re imparting that knowledge through the My First Million conference, an event for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs. Shands and Wiggins need to prove that being profitable is feasible and encourage people to bet on themselves.
“David and I, on paper, are not two people who should have made millions of dollars. Number one, we want (people) to see it,” Wiggins says. “Then we want them to actually get out of that room with practical and actionable steps.”
Both are clear: this just isn’t a motivational conference. This is a conference where people, irrespective of where they’re of their journey, will come away with clarity about their business and what they must be doing as CEOs. Shands and Wiggins want individuals who do not have a transparent marketing strategy or are considering starting a business to also attend the meeting.
“A few areas we will cover are inspiration, information, plan and partnership,” adds Shands. “We will give you 1-2-3 steps because some people get depressed and uninspired. Even if they know what to do, they won’t leave, go home and do it. So we have to really put something into their heads and hearts that they come away with.”
Sign up and enroll for My First Million Here. The conference will happen on December 13 this 12 months. but Shands and Wiggins say it definitely won’t be the last for those who miss it.
Business and Finance
Operation HOPE on the occasion of the 10th annual world forum
Operation HOPE Inc. takes over Atlanta for the biggest game in the country dedicated to financial literacy and economic empowerment, Saporta reports.
The HOPE Global Forums (HGF) Annual Meeting 2024 strengthens the crucial link between financial education, innovation and community upliftment in hopes of finding solutions to the problems that stifle challenges around the world.
Organized by Operation HOPE founder John Hope Bryant, together with co-chairs Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young, the forums, to be held December Sep 11 at the Signia Hotel, will have fun its 10th anniversary with three days of engagement discussions, observations and forward-looking presentations.
Under the theme “The Future,” Hope Bryant says attendees are looking forward to a “powerful moment in history.”
“Over the past decade, we’ve brought together great minds with daring ideas, servant leaders with voices for change, and other people committed to a brand new vision of the world as we realize it. “‘The Future’ is a clear call to action for leaders to help ensure prosperity in every corner of society,” he said.
The extensive program includes influential and well-known speakers who address business, philanthropy, government and civil society. Confirmed speakers include White House correspondent Francesca Chambers, media specialist Van Jones and BET Media Group president and CEO Scott M. Mills.
“John Hope Bryant and his team have been doing this for ten years, and every year HGF raises the bar,” Young said. “Discussions about the FUTURE are important not only for civil dialogue; they are also essential to bridging the economic divide and solving some of today’s most important problems.”
Atlanta is predicted to welcome greater than 5,200 delegates representing greater than 40 countries.
“I have long said that Atlanta is a group project, and through our partnership with HOPE Global Forums, we are inviting the world to join the conversation,” Dickens mentioned. “From home ownership and entrepreneurship to youth engagement and financial education, HGF will offer bold and innovative ideas to ensure a bright future for all.”
It coincided with the organization’s annual meeting launched one other path to enhance financial knowledge with HOPE scholarships. With three tiers of scholarships – HOPE Lite, HOPE Classic and HOPE Silver – clients could have access to free financial coaching and academic resources.
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