:00:00. > :00:00.and employment laws. Those are the latest headlines from
:00:00. > :00:00.BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news
:00:00. > :00:21.with the World Business Report. The fight over the future of North
:00:22. > :00:26.Sea Oil. The UK and Scottish cabinets hold separate meetings in
:00:27. > :00:32.Scotland to announce their plans. Smartphones, smart watches and smart
:00:33. > :00:35.everything.... The Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona and
:00:36. > :00:42.we are there to give you your latest tech fix.
:00:43. > :00:47.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the
:00:48. > :00:51.programme, the gap between the rich and poor is widening. We look at
:00:52. > :00:56.plans to change taxation in Africa in a bid to bridge that gap.
:00:57. > :01:00.The politicians are out in force in Scotland today. For the UK it is
:01:01. > :01:05.only the second time a full cabinet meeting has taken place in Scotland
:01:06. > :01:09.for 90 years. The reason - the future of north sea oil, an industry
:01:10. > :01:13.worth billions, and one that is at the centre of the debate over
:01:14. > :01:16.Scottish independence. Prime Minister David Cameron says the oil
:01:17. > :01:20.and gas industries would be best served by Scotland remaining in the
:01:21. > :01:22.UK. But Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond argues independence
:01:23. > :01:29.would bring "enormous" benefits to the sector. With me is Lawrence
:01:30. > :01:40.Gossling, Editor-in-Chief at Investment Week. Good morning. Good
:01:41. > :01:45.morning. The debate is getting stronger the closer we get to the
:01:46. > :01:51.vote that will happen later in the year. What is your take on the
:01:52. > :02:02.arguments? It is critical to the future of Scotland's. The G sector
:02:03. > :02:11.is hugely important the UK economy -- energy sector. It has played a
:02:12. > :02:17.huge part in creating new jobs and generating tax revenue. The London
:02:18. > :02:25.based government does not want to lose access to that. Post-
:02:26. > :02:30.devolution, is unclear. Companies like Shell and BP operate from
:02:31. > :02:35.Scotland because the UK is a global place to do business. As the debate
:02:36. > :02:42.continues in this country about the future of Scotland and the UK, many
:02:43. > :02:48.economists are saying they are concerned about this because it is
:02:49. > :02:59.difficult to predict what the outcome will be. In terms of what
:03:00. > :03:01.the UK will be like as a place to invest and do business, there is a
:03:02. > :03:07.cloud of uncertainty surrounds in this vote. Certainly. They want the
:03:08. > :03:14.UK to be the place to do business for international business and the
:03:15. > :03:19.energy sector is a big part of this. We are not sure how easy it is. Who
:03:20. > :03:29.controls what comes out of the North Sea? Is it Scottish? That creates a
:03:30. > :03:32.huge amount of uncertainty and may make BP and Shell want to spend
:03:33. > :03:38.their money in other parts of the world. Thank you Lawrence. He will
:03:39. > :03:43.return to help us review the papers this morning. Let's move on. It's
:03:44. > :03:46.the event mobile phone fans the world over has waited for. Today
:03:47. > :03:51.Mobile World Congress opens in Barcelona, Spain. This year there is
:03:52. > :03:54.more buzz than usual as the great and the good of the industry from
:03:55. > :04:00.Samsung to Nokia are expected to show off their latest gear. One
:04:01. > :04:09.absentee is notable though. Apple will not be at the event. They have
:04:10. > :04:12.their own events. And although it doesn't open officially until today.
:04:13. > :04:15.Some exhibitors jumped the gun, like South Korea's Samsung, that showed
:04:16. > :04:18.of the second generation of it's smart watch, the Gear two. It hopes
:04:19. > :04:25.that by adding some health related features it will be a bigger success
:04:26. > :04:28.than its lack-lustre predecessor. Another was Huawei, the world's
:04:29. > :04:33.third largest mobile phone maker. It showed off its version of wearable
:04:34. > :04:42.tech, the TalkBand. Mark Gregory met up with them at the show.
:04:43. > :04:52.This is the first event of this year 's Mobile world Congress, and the
:04:53. > :04:58.Chinese are coming. This event is being hosted by her Wiley, the
:04:59. > :05:01.ambitious Chinese company that wants to be one of the top makers by 2017.
:05:02. > :05:25.Let's see what they have to offer. This is one of the most senior
:05:26. > :05:31.executives in the business division of the company and he will show me
:05:32. > :05:44.some of its new products. What is on your wrist? It is a torque band. So
:05:45. > :06:00.it is not just a smart watch. If I have a phone call, I can put this
:06:01. > :06:06.against my ear. So it is working with the tablet? You can talk on the
:06:07. > :06:14.phone, listen to music, all sorts of things. Another thing is tracking.
:06:15. > :06:25.This will track your sleep, your working... So it is a bit like
:06:26. > :06:33.fitness bands to monitor your bodily functions. You can share it to the
:06:34. > :06:42.cloud it is a talk in and tracking band. Can you consider it yourself
:06:43. > :06:53.is world number one one day western yellow it is our target. He will
:06:54. > :06:56.give us more as it progresses. Unprecedented economic growth in a
:06:57. > :06:58.number of African countries is going hand in hand with soaring
:06:59. > :07:00.inequality, according to a new report from the international
:07:01. > :07:03.development agency Christian Aid. And not only that, the report claims
:07:04. > :07:06.the surge in inequality is not simply the result of the rich
:07:07. > :07:09.getting richer; instead, there is clear evidence that in many cases
:07:10. > :07:13.growth is taking place at the expense of the poor. Tax is one of
:07:14. > :07:15.the most potent tools governments have to address inequality, but tax
:07:16. > :07:26.systems in many African countries currently do not fulfil that
:07:27. > :07:28.function. Instead, taxes have been introduced that disadvantage the
:07:29. > :07:35.poor, while the rich manage to avoid them. With me is Andrew Hogg,
:07:36. > :07:42.Spokesperson for Christian Aid. Good morning Andrew. Please explain how
:07:43. > :07:47.these tax systems are not benefiting the poor. The tax network and
:07:48. > :07:54.Christian aid looks at the tax systems in eight countries in
:07:55. > :08:01.Africa. We discovered that the tax system encouraged by companies has
:08:02. > :08:11.caused the government to lower tax rates on consumption. Those taxes
:08:12. > :08:15.disadvantage the poorest. The revenue authorities are also failing
:08:16. > :08:21.to go after the higher net individuals. That is particularly
:08:22. > :08:25.true in South Africa. The level of exemption being given to
:08:26. > :08:29.multinationals is far too high, and the industries that are benefiting,
:08:30. > :08:35.whereas it used to be the extractive industries that would get the tax
:08:36. > :08:41.breaks, it is now spreading into other sectors. How can this be
:08:42. > :08:47.overcome? Many countries look to the IMF for funding and they need to
:08:48. > :08:56.follow their guidelines in terms of taxation policies. Also, there is
:08:57. > :08:59.the sense in some African economies, those highly net worth individuals,
:09:00. > :09:04.there is a relationship thought to be had between them and government
:09:05. > :09:10.officials. They want to encourage business investment and what is
:09:11. > :09:18.growing. The secret is greater transparency. There are three
:09:19. > :09:25.reforms that introduced at a national level, how they could make
:09:26. > :09:29.a difference. This is beneficial for owners of companies. We want to see
:09:30. > :09:38.that in every country. Automatic exchange of information between tax
:09:39. > :09:45.authorities. The requirements of multinationals to report on the
:09:46. > :09:53.profits they make the tax they pay. We have to leave it there. We talk
:09:54. > :09:59.about this for a long time. Before I say goodbye, I want to show you the
:10:00. > :10:04.markets. We have a tale of two lost cities. That is not the right way to
:10:05. > :10:13.put it, but we have two scenarios going on Asia. In China we have had
:10:14. > :10:20.a rough session. It is mainly on reports that there are property
:10:21. > :10:26.lending curves going in China, to curb lending. That will give you a
:10:27. > :10:30.sense of how things are going. That is all for our business report.
:10:31. > :10:39.Stagings and we will review the papers.
:10:40. > :10:50.-- stay tuned. Many thanks for that.
:10:51. > :10:53.Some of Jimmy Savile's victims say they weren't believed when they
:10:54. > :10:57.first reported the attacks. A joint report from the police and NSPCC -
:10:58. > :10:58.based on interviews with 57 people who reported abuse -