Deutsche Lufthansa AG posted a record U$8.1 billion annual loss and said it will struggle to make money on flights before the end of this year as the covid-19 crisis continues to roil air travel.

Europe’s biggest airline group will dial back capacity plans for 2021 to a level at which it’s unlikely to make money, according to a statement Thursday, while forecasting a lower operating loss for the year.

Network carriers like Lufthansa have seen the long-haul markets on which they depend almost wiped out by the pandemic, with the International Air Transport Association warning that some services may take years to recover.

The German company said demand should begin to pick up on some routes this summer, though only if vaccine rollouts permit an easing of curbs.

“Internationally recognized, digital vaccination and test certificates must take the place of travel bans and quarantine,” Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said in a statement.

“From the summer onwards, we expect demand to pick up again as soon as restrictive travel limits are reduced by a further roll-out of tests and vaccines.”

Lufthansa now expects to deploy between 40% and 50% of its 2019 capacity levels this year, compared with a previous target of 40% to 60%.

That’s bad news for profitability, given that the airline needs to operate with around half of its available capacity to stem cash outflows — leading to the reappraisal of when it might break even.

The 2020 loss was worse than the 6.24 billion euros estimated by analysts, while full-year revenues dropped 63% to 13.5 billion euros.

Bloomberg

Rwanda Development Board, (RDB) and Dubai Ports World (DP World) have launched a new global e-commerce platform, www.dubuy.com, that will market Rwandan products to the global market place.

The launch comes after RDB and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December, 2020 to launch the new global B2B and B2C e-commerce platform to make it easier for Rwandan businesses to engage in international trade.

Dubai Ports World is an Emirati multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It specialises in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones.

Rwanda now becomes DP World’s hub for expanding e-commerce across the East Africa Community and beyond. Rwandan businesses will also benefit from broader DP World services and investment that will help to facilitate and develop trade.

This includes the promotion of Rwandan exports of coffee, tea, and horticulture on Dubuy.com, modernising of Rwanda’s supply chain logistics including in rural areas, and access to digital tools to help businesses save money and expand their reach to local, regional, and global markets.

“We have robust infrastructure to support logistics in Rwanda and we are committed to reducing the cost of logistics, enabling Rwanda to become a regional logistics hub,” Summit Bhardwaj, CEO of DP World Rwanda, said during the launch that was held virtually on Wednesday morning March 3, 2021 between Rwandan officials and DP World Executives.  

RDB Deputy CEO, Zephanie Niyonkuru and Rwanda’s Ambassador to the UAE, Emanuel Hategeka, were part of the launch.

Niyonkuru said that Dubuy.com is a great addition to Rwanda’s local and regional trade activities and as a country promoting the manufacturing of products for export. “We believe it will help us quicken the process of connecting buyers and sellers,” he said. “The real work has now started and we need to make sure that many companies sign up and access global markets. We also hope that through the platform, we’ll be able to reduce the overall cost of trade.”

Ambassador Hategeka who has been instrumental in securing this partnership said that, “We are honored that Rwanda is the first country of launch for http://dubuy.com in the region. E-commerce platforms like this are needed now more than ever before as we respond to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This launch follows also another development where Rwanda’s products are now listed on the most popular e-commerce platforms in Singapore such as Red Mart and Shopee Singapore as well as s major Singapore’s largest grocery retail shops.

In January, this year, the on-going Campaign to promote Rwandan Coffee and other products in Japan, Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo met with Yoshiaki Kawashima, President, Mi Cafeto, and Special Advisor to JICA on Coffee Value Chain Development Project to explore how more coffee could be accessed in Japan.

Sales of Rwandan coffee in China via online platforms belonging to China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba increased by 400 percent in 2020, according to Alibaba.

Last week Rwanda shipped out various tonnes of horticultural products coffee and tea fetching an impressive amount of foreign revenue.

According to National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) mandated to develop and enhance Rwanda’s agricultural exports, Last week Rwanda exported 255,298Kg of horticultural products which earned U$441,679.

Details show the Main Countries of destination of Rwanda’s horticultural products were mainly Holland, United Kingdom, DRC, Germany, among others including USA, UAE, France, Uganda, Belgium, Tanzania and Denmark.

A total of 431,107Kg of Rwanda Coffee worth U$1,383,622 was exported compared to previous week, export quantities and revenues increased by 86.2% and 83.9% respectively. 52.2% of the consignment was fully washed. Destinations: China, UK, Belgium, Russia, Kenya, South Sudan & Nigeria.

Meanwhile, 449,000Kg of Rwanda Tea  were exported generating U$1,146,118. Compared to last week, the average price slightly reduced from U$2.78/Kg to U$2.5/Kg. Main country buyers were Pakistan, and UK among others.