18/08/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News with Sally Bundock

Companies from China and Hong Kong have until today

to convince Australia to sell them its largest electricity

But will the Australian government continue to block the deal?

Live from London, that's our top story

The clock is ticking as the business day is nearly over in Australia -

so why has the government there now got cold feet on a deal

to sell its main electricity network to investors in China or Hong Kong?

Also in the programme, Olympic bonuses for medal winners

at the Rio Olympics, some countries are paying

But in the US, the tax man takes a cut.

And financial markets are unsure where to go today

thanks to a less than clear report from the US Federal Reserve.

As ever we'll talk you through the movers and shakers.

And we'll find out how one organisation is helping women

in Africa to rise the ranks in the boardroom -

The co-founder of She Leads Africa will discuss the group's

And on that cash bonus for medals story -

If you win a gold for Singapore - they'll

pay you three quarters of a million bucks.

Should countries be incentivising their athletes with bonuses

for winning medals at the Rio Games - or should it be

Companies from China and Hong Kong have until today to convince

Australia to sell them its largest electricity network - Ausgrid.

In a preliminary decision last week, the Australian government blocked

China's State Grid corporation and Cheung Kong Infrastructure

of Hong Kong are after a controlling stake.

China is the world's third biggest international investor -

having spent $123 billion overseas in 2014.

That number is set to rise - and while projects need funding,

some Chinese practices have proven unwelcome.

In the last month, the British government decided

to postpone final approval of a nuclear power station

at Hinkley Point - reportedly over concerns

about Chinese investment and involvement.

And across the pond, similar concerns led technology firm

Fairchild Semiconductors to reject a $2.5 billion bid

from a Chinese firm - in lieu of a lesser offer

Fairchild said it was worried about getting congressional approval

Thanks for coming in. Australia said the clock is ticking, the Australia

is on deciding, whether they will or won't. But this is not just China

and Australia, China has been on a buying spree of power around the

world, not just Australia. Yes. Chinese overseas investment

initially was for raw materials. All the things China needs to keep its

economy going, it is very resource poor and people rich. That has

changed and Chinese companies are increasingly buying into foreign

utilities, partly because prices are controlled at home in China but

often the inputs, coal, for instance is going up, and they can make

better margins by buying elsewhere. So they are getting better returns

around the world for buying these power things. To countries like

Australia... China is Australia's biggest trading partner. Countries

like Australia, the UK here with Brexit, possibly leaving the EU in a

couple of years' time and Britain will have to rely on China in some

ways I guess for trade. Do these sorts of countries have to tread

carefully in rejecting certain deals by going, but we want your money and

we want your trade? You want trade with China, you want Chinese

investment in a world where there is a lot of liquidity around but it is

sometimes difficult to get international investment into these

kind of big infrastructure projects. The Chinese are keen on that. There

are long-term investors as such. And they are an important trading

partner. On the other hand, what has happened in the last few years, the

Chinese economy has slowed down, we are no longer in turbo-charged

double-digit growth, it is six or 7%. And also China is making more

things itself and importing less. There are some long-term exporters

to Germany, -- to China, Germany for example. But everybody else is still

trying to get on the bandwagon and finding it harder and harder, and

you are getting national security concerns coming up. How is this

likely to play out? On the one hand the commerce Department in China

says this action is protectionist, they are not treating us fairly.

You've got the likes of Donald Trump who could be getting quite icky job

in November, who has his views against China. Certainly Europe, I

think there are 15 potential steal actions against China from the EU,

plus the Hinkley point issue here in England. I think it's sentiment

changes here. Three or four years ago everybody wanted to do deals

with China. There was this feeling that China will dominate the world

and so on. Well, it won't, and people have woken up to that. You've

had internal hiccups in China, stock market fiasco last year,

uncertainties about the currency, foreign companies finding it

increasingly difficult to operate in China. Partly simply because the

Chinese are doing things themselves that they used to buy in. And this

general feeling of rising protectionism in Australia, which

the Prime Minister denounced in a speech yesterday, and secondly the

whole tension in East Asia which has come up over Chinese sovereignty

claims and so on. Australia is on the edge of that. Great stuff, we

really appreciate your time and your input, Jonathan.

When we hear how it works out for Ausgrid we will update you.

Two of Australia's largest lenders have been named in a US lawsuit

related to the bank-bill swap rate, along with 17 other

According to a report by Bloomberg, Australia

New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank -

both confirmed in statements that they were subject

The world's biggest personal computer maker, Lenovo,

has reported strong earnings - with its profit rising

by almost two thirds in the three months to June.

Net profits grew to $173 million - far beating analysts expectations.

US tech giant Cisco is slashing up to 7% of its global workforce.

It's estimated the plan to cut 5,500 jobs will cost the company

But the number is far less than what had been feared

after reports earlier suggested 14,000 jobs would go.

I want to show you this because I liked the look on his face, Sir

Philip Green, the retail mogul as they used to call him, the man

behind top shop and also for our international viewers a chain store

here called BHS, homewares and all that. Which unfortunately had to

shut down, bankruptcy. He bought it, he siphoned off, allegedly, he sold

it for ?1, now it has a big hole in its pension and 12,000 people are

out of work. He was sailing down the Mediterranean on his ?100 million

yacht. He was being harassed by people like us. It was Sky News

actually. He said I'm going to throw your camera into the sea.

Let's take a look round the world at what's business stories

First, let's take at a look at Philippines, which has just

Sarah Toms has been following the story.

What's going on, Sarah? Good news, the economy is soaring. Growth from

April to June hit 7% compared to the last time last year. This figure is

much better-than-expected, the fastest growth reported in three

years, and it also makes it Asia's fastest-growing economy in that

period. It's doing even better in China. So what helped achieve the

target? Strong domestic demand but also massive campaign spending and

public and private investments in the lead up to the elections. You

will note that Roderigo Giteau Tay was voted in as president. Most

analysts are optimistic he will honour his pledges. But exports were

slow so it might be hard to maintain a rate of growth. Really

interesting. The growth seen in the Philippines. And the other big story

in Asia was the massive drop-off in exports coming out of Japan in the

month of July, mainly because the Japanese yen has been strengthening.

Half an hour ago at dollar was buying under 100 yen. That's a huge

headache for the likes of Toyota and Sony. It closed down one and a half

percent, no big surprise. Elsewhere in Asia a fairly good day. You can

see Wall Street, behind me. The other issue traders have been

grappling with is the Federal reserve minutes. What on earth are

they trying to imply when it comes to the cost of borrowing and when it

will go up again? Some are saying we will not see another rate hike this

year in the US and the dollar has been sliding on the news. Slight

gains across the board after Europe closed down yesterday.

And Samira Hussain has the details about what's ahead

Walmart is the biggest employer in the US, and it accounts

for 10% of all retail spending here, excluding automobiles.

So Walmart is seen as a real barometer for middle

So its earnings report will be closely watched

Now, the uptick in consumer spending, along with Walmart's

investment in wages, has led to better stocked shelves,

more staffing at checkout registers, and improved customer service.

Now, Walmart recently acquired the e-commerce start-up Jet.com,

so investors will have questions about that.

And staying with retail, Gap is reporting earnings on Thursday.

Now, sales at Gap have been struggling, so it's been trying

to woo back shoppers from popular fast-fashion retailers by offering

But the unseasonable weather also meant that customers stayed away,

which will have hurt its Banana Republic brand.

editor with the times. Yesterday we were talking about Dudley, this

permanent member, you vote on the board who makes these decisions up

and down, he came out yesterday and said, September, we could get a rate

rise, then we saw the minutes from the meeting overnight, it's as clear

as mud. His reputation will be as sharp as Mark Carney's. They do

appear to be divided. The market very much interpreted the minutes as

meaning we probably aren't going to get a rate rise in September.

Pricing and 18% chance now. They do appear to be divided. But they are

keeping the door open and keeping everyone guessing in a way. They are

not supposed to do that in this brave new world of central banks

letting us know what their plans are. Let's remember that back in

December 2015 when they raised rates for the first time in seven years

they let us know there were going to be four rate rises this year and we

are still waiting for one. Do you think Jana Given will be having a

quiet word with Mr Dudley or are they allowed to say whatever? Maybe

it was deliberate. Any of these policy committee members are allowed

to be divided. Let's talk about oil. $50 a barrel? Nearly at $50. We are

up almost 17% this month. Still cheap as chips, isn't it? It is

cheap but more expensive than a couple of weeks ago. We have a

meeting at the end of September when there is speculation that we could

see some sort of production freeze after years of everybody flooding

the market. That is an Opec meeting? They will be meeting on the fringes,

it is not an official Opec meeting. We have got to move on, you are

going to take us through the papers, we're going to talk about cash for

medals. What do the Brits get?

Zilch! helping women in Africa climb

the corporate ladder - we meet the woman behind

an organisation You're with Business

Live from BBC News. Now, it's later and

softer than expected. But the UK Government has

published the details The measures include

a voluntary sugar reduction Joining us from the business

newsroom is our economics Andrew, the Government, Theresa May,

the new Prime Minister, they kind of did a U-turn, this is a big

softening, isn't it? Yes, the idea of the targets being voluntary is

the kind of thing the industry would like. In fact, they would like to

see an entirely voluntary approach, they have been campaigning quite

vigorously against the tax on sugary soft drinks, which of course they

are still going to get. They argued that it will achieve only a five

calorie reduction in energy intake, and it would be that risk 4000 jobs.

So certainly there is some degree of relief, I think, for the industry,

for the soft drink manufacturers, the businesses involved in retailing

it, sugar processors and indeed farmers who produce the raw

materials, some relief for them. But I think they are still going to have

to live with this tax. They live with the tax, we do not know what it

will be yet, is that right, Andrew? And it is not 100% clear what will

be in this plan, because Theresa May has changed it quite a bit? Sure,

things are undoubtedly are moving, and in particular I think the idea

that these targets should be voluntary, I think, is something

that a lot of people will see as being something that reflects or may

well reflect lobbying by the industry. So a lot still to be

fleshed out, a lot more detail to be filled in in these proposals. Thanks

for joining us, Andrew Walker from the business newsroom.

Very quickly, on our web page, the world's most liveable city goes to

Melbourne, I am from Sydney, I am not picking this up! I think Sydney

is a better city but... You are a little bit biased!

This is done by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Vancouver,

Toronto. The least liveable city is Damascus,

Syria, go figure! You are with business life, our top

story today is that companies from China and Hong Kong are trying to

convince the Australian government to sell a large stake in their

electricity network, Ausgrid. The Australian government, the

question is, will they continue to block the deal, what time is it now

there? You should know! It is late, time is

ticking away. A quick look at the markets, all

headed up slightly, Germany up nearly 0.5%, London lagging behind.

They all closed down on Wednesday, today given a bit of a boost because

oil is higher, energy stocks are doing well.

Today we are getting the inside track on some

of the difficulties faced by African women in the working world.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of female

entrepreneurship across the world, which is still only 27%,

but these are usually one-woman businesses

with no employees or growth potential.

women hold 12.7% of board directorships

in 307 listed companies across 12 African countries.

But an organisation called She Leads Africa

It hosts events, provides training and is creating a global network.

In just two years, it has built a community

of more than 30,000 members across Africa and the diaspora.

The co-founder of She Leads Africa, Yasmin Belo-Osagie,

is in London for a sort of bootcamp for entrepreneurs called SheHive,

Welcome to the programme. Thank you for having me. I think this is a

global problem, right, women on board? We talk about it in the UK,

Australia, Europe. Asia does better than many parts of the world. So is

it the same struggles, in that sense, the same hurdles that you

face in Africa, women face in Africa to get on board be CEOs? Yes, I

think we are focusing on getting more women into these leadership

positions, we are talking about how you motivate young women to aspire

to BBC Alba, the CFO, taking African companies global. -- to be the CEO.

We are talking about creating really dynamic and scalable businesses, why

can't the next Facebook come from a young woman in Africa? You are

talking about that gap, because as we mentioned, there are many women

running small businesses, often helped by micro finance projects,

that kind of initiative, it is about them earning a living to enable them

to, in some cases, just feed the family, enable their children to go

to school. But you are trying to get them to the next level, beyond that,

where they are running larger companies, employing people. It is a

bigger vision. Exactly, and we don't have anything against micro finance,

but the challenge is that there is not just one African female

experience, right? I think there are diverse, the problems are diverse,

and the solutions need to be diverse, so we just see ourselves as

one other provider in the ecosystem which needs to bring African women

fully into the party. SheHive boot camp. Yes... I tried British

Military Fitness, that was torture! But this is why you are in London.

One of the initiatives that we came up with was this boot camp, which we

have called SheHive. They are inspired by fiance, we try to make

everything we do be young and engaging. -- by Beyonce. We post

them on the continent, in the Dyas broke, we have done Abu Dua, like --

diaspora, Abuja, Lagos. Lot of the content is general discussions, but

people want to learn about marketing, about distribution, these

core skills. Do you have to pay? It is easy, you get your ticket, you

show up, we have a group of interesting speakers, really

focusing on people build tangible business kills. But also help them

build a network of other young women. We found that a lot of the

times when young women were coming together, it was around

entertainment or passion, but not many opportunities to talk about

your ambition and be not ashamed about the fact that you want to

build a $1 million company and have people working around you that are

in line with that, supporting what you are doing. Wow! It is

fascinating, thank you for coming in, good-looking fit. Thank you so

much. -- good luck with it. The Business Live pages where you

can stay with all of the day's breaking business use and keep you

up to date with all the latest details, with insight and analysis

from the BBC's team of editors right across the world. And we want to

hear from you, get involved on the BBC web page. We are also on

Twitter, and you can find us on Facebook. Business Live on TV and

online, whenever you need to know. Richard is back, we do not have a

lot of time, straight into it, the US taxman, if you win a medal, he

will take some money back, they get a cash bonus! And they are not the

only ones, the Australians get $15,000. What do the Brits get?

Zilch! It is all about taking part! If you win a gold medal for

Singapore, it is $750,000! It is hardly the greatest argument for

performance related pay, because the Brits, who you will admit, we are

doing quite well... My hat is off, you guys are on fire this year! My

wife is British, come on! Viewers have been sending in their

comments, David said, with all the problems leading up to the Olympics,

it is only fair that athletes are paid for their time and effort.

Caleb said, if they are rewarded, they will compete well. But in the

US, you get taxed on a bronze medal, it is $4. It is based on the value

of the metal. Incidentally, this story is in Money Subscriber, we

found it on their website. What does Italy give? Cashrich Italy(!)

$185,000! Do you think it is right or wrong? It is wrong, it is the

taking part! Says the Brits, good on you!

That is Business Live for another day, we appreciate your company, see

you tomorrow, bye! Good morning, a bigger change in the

way, expect wind and