A few years ago, I visited a dusty warehouse selling secondhand clothes in Cotonou, Benin. In the back, behind bundles of used Canadian T-shirts, were two pallets of unboxed solar panels. I assumed they were destined for the roof. One of the employees told me otherwise. “Our boss sells them to his customers across the border,” she said, referring to ...

Kamala Harris’ historic visit to Vietnam — the first time a US vice president has visited the country since the end of the war — has got me thinking about the relationship between the two countries. Both nations’ interests would be served by a closer economic partnership. But making such a partnership work will require far-sighted policy changes on the ...

It would normally be awkward asking a group of companies worth more than $4 trillion for help. But the leaders of Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google sat up and listened when President Joe Biden sought their cooperation last week in protecting US infrastructure from cyber threats. They weren’t just being polite. All four firms are ...

Bloomberg From Covid risks to talk of a reduction in US stimulus, there’s been no shortage of bad news for Asian currencies. An upcoming report on China’s manufacturing sector may add to the pressure. Traders are looking to Chinese factory data for clues on the global outlook after the world’s second-largest economy slowed more sharply than expected in July. The ...

Bloomberg OneDegree, a Hong Kong-based insurance technology company, raised $28 million in a new round of funding as the startup looks to expand in Asia. Sun Hung Kai & Co and AEF Greater Bay Area Fund took part in the series B1 round along with six existing investors, according to a statement on Monday. The latest investments take OneDegree’s total ...

Bloomberg Ride-hailing startup Ola has selected banks including Citigroup Inc and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd to manage its Mumbai initial public offering that could raise about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The company, backed by SoftBank Group Corp and Tiger Global Management, has also picked Morgan Stanley for the listing, said the people, who asked not ...

Bloomberg NetEase Inc is in final negotiations to poach Yakuza franchise creator Toshihiro Nagoshi from Sega, a sign of how Chinese games companies are expanding beyond their home turf during a government-led crackdown. The hire from Sega Sammy Holdings Inc would mark the biggest coup in a contest between NetEase and close rival Tencent Holdings Ltd to scoop up video ...

Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s volatile dollar bonds are set to jump the most in Asia this month after its central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates earlier in August in a move that may help boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves. But default concerns remain for the notes, with S&P Global Ratings last week cutting the outlook on its junk CCC+ ratings ...

Bloomberg Koo, India’s alternative to Twitter Inc, has surged past 10 million users to narrow the gap with the US microblogging site after its repeated clashes with the local government over the past few months. The 16-month-old app, which allows users to send tweet-like posts in English and seven Indian languages such as Hindi and Kannada, has seen about 85% ...

Bloomberg The US continued to evacuate people out of Afghanistan despite a rocket attack aimed at Kabul’s international airport on Monday. As the deadline looms for the last US troops to leave and hand over control of the airport to the Taliban, the United Nations plans to take up a resolution proposed by UK and France aimed at allowing exits ...