Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

Almost any textile you can think of — from cotton to leather to nylon — has social and environmental impacts risks at every level of its supply chain: from the growing or extracting of its raw material inputs, to the processing it takes to turn those inputs into the materials we recognize. But when it comes to managing risk and replacing harmful materials with preferable ones, it can be tough for companies to know where to begin. Through Textile Exchange’s Material Change Index (MCI), we track the apparel, footwear and home textile sector’s progress toward more sustainable materials sourcing as well as alignment with global efforts such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the transition to a circular economy. This week, Textile Exchange proudly launched the fourth edition of the MCI, which featured the voluntary participation of more than 170 companies (some covered subsidiaries) including major brands such as Adidas, C&A, Gucci, IKEA, Inditex, Nike,...

The way we produce, (re)use and dispose of or recycle our materials has an impact on nearly every one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 global 2030 goals introduced by the United Nations in 2015. Also known as the Global Goals, the SDGs were designed to be universal (for both developed and developing countries), holistic (people-centered and planet-sensitive) and measurable. They include 169 targets and aim to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. For the textile industry, "SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production" is a gateway to many of the other SDGs. More sustainable cultivation of cotton, wool, wood and other natural raw materials aligns with the "Zero Hunger" and "Life on Land" goals. Converting to renewable energy and deploying cleaner technologies in the fiber processing stages have a positive effect on the "Clean Water and Sanitation," "Industries, Inno...

Artificial Intelligence is helping increase financial aspects in the business world It is also helping growth and productivity. Artificial intelligence, among other things does change the economy and jobs in related fields. Top app development companies are working to continually improve machine learning. By using the human expertise in different fields, they can separate the large and complex problems into smaller sections, then give the machine a few models for learning to find the important information that will solve the problem in a quicker fashion. Machine learning tries to garner knowledge from humans, instead of just using the knowledge from sets of data alone. For example, the human will break apart a bigger problem into smaller portions then input lessons to aid the algorithms in finding the solution. Machine learning enables top app development companies or experts in different subject matter to teach and input information that is critical for ...

Cryptocurrency is taking another step towards the mainstream as mobile carrier AT&T announced it would accept payments in crypto today, according to a  release from the company. Customers can pay their mobile bills via BitPay when they pay online or in app. BitPay is one of the largest cryptocurrency payment processing firms, processing bitcoin transactions. AT&T hasn't gone all in on crypto yet, as of now the option to pay through BitPay is only extended to bill transactions. Though the move may seem positive for crypto users, Joe McCann, a former crypto hedge fund  manager at Passport Capital, told The Block the move seemed to come out of left field and speculated that perhaps the company has internal data showing more millennials utilizing crypto payments. "What upside does AT&T have in supporting crypto payments?" he asked. McCann's questions of internal data may not be off-base, as Kevin McDorman, vice president, AT...

  By Moris Beracha .- Different companies that manufacture computer hardware and electronic components have launched campaigns to offer their users, a kind of “passive” mining that will allow them to make profits in cryptocurrencies with very little effort. The decision is basically due to the resounding fall in the prices of the main digital currencies, which have hit hard the assets of these companies. Given this reality, the Taiwanese company Asus, has decided to take action on the matter, specifying an alliance with Quantumcloud to develop a software that allows users of its gaming equipment, to mine cryptocurrencies while our GPU is at rest. To date the Asian technology giant has not offered details of how this tool will work and they have not explained which cryptocurrencies can be mined through it. Although the Quantumcloud website ensures that users of their application “will not get rich quickly,” they argue if they can get some money w...

One of the critical aspects of AI is how it can be utilized to enable individual knowledge workers, boosting their performance and feeding them timely information furthering key business objectives By Pooja Singh The way we work is fast changing, and a lot of credit for it goes to artificial intelligence. Two years ago, Gartner reported that "7 per cent of top-performing companies rank AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) as a game-changing technology.” But within a year, that figure swelled to 40 per cent.   A Gartner report mentions that the augmentation of AI technology will generate $2.9 trillion in business value and recover 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity in 2021. One of the critical aspects of AI is how it can be utilized to enable individual knowledge workers, boosting their productivity and feeding them timely information furthering key business objectives. Know Full Potential To understand the benefits of AI for knowle...

By Moris Beracha .- A large number of companies that have significantly invested in the production of cryptocurrency mining hardware may be throwing in the towel, driven by the stagnation of the market. Some portals such as Amazon have had to sell mining machines, video cards, and power sources, among other equipment, at discounted prices to exhaust the existence of these equipment and of course avoid excess of inventory. In early 2018, these products were sold at profitable prices, but the sharp drop in prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies led to a major beating in prices for these products. In a press release, the Japanese consortium GMO Internet Inc., a competitive cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer in the market, announced its decision to cease operations in its cryptocurrency mining business. The company, specializing in Internet infrastructure, reported that the losses of its business related to cryptocurrency mining...

By Yogita Khatri Crypto exchanges and wallet providers would have to register with regulators under rules proposed by South Africa’s central bank. In a consultation paper published Wednesday, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said that regulatory action on crypto assets needs to be prioritized to protect consumers and investors, stating that consumers “are left vulnerable as sellers of crypto assets are not regulated.” Discussing the possible regulatory approaches that could be taken, and citing the “reputational risk” that is faced if mistakes are made, the central bank proposes walking a middle line between doing nothing and stringent regulation or a ban – a level of oversight it describes as “limited regulation.” “At this proposed level, an official body places specific requirements on providers of certain services in respect of crypto assets, without setting predefined conditions for formal authorisation to provide crypto assets-related product...

By Moris Beracha .- A significant number of companies engaged in apps development are undertaking crypto raffles among all those users who try and get some kind of error in their digital products. This kind of lottery consists of completing small tasks such as captchas or clicking a button to claim free coins every hour without any investment, because it is just about spending time on the platforms and watching ads and completing the tasks. The adult entertainment industry is one of the most emblematic sectors that rewards its customers and users in cryptocurrencies. Currently, a large number of micro earning websites pay you in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency every couple of minutes. Eventually, you can get enough tokens to charge and get a small profit on the wallet or digital wallet. Ripple has also decided to raffle or give away millions of its cryptocurrencies also known by the acronym XRP, but the aforementioned company aims to achieve the u...

Analysing and handling massive amounts of data is a tedious task but blockchain can help add another layer of protection to the big data analytics process. BY  Vikash Kumar      We have already started living in a Big Data generation. Every day, massive volumes of data are generated by different networks in different industries. This large amount of data includes the records, messages sent and received, uploaded videos, GPS signals, online data transactions, and many other sources. For some top valued industries such as healthcare, educational and banking, high-quality security and maintenance should be provided to protect this data from malware or spy. Regular analysis of this large data leads to more innovation and growth for every economic aspect. Organisations analyse the data for an optimised client engagement and individual decision-making process, which allows them to predict future trends among the others. Analysing and handling such massive a...

By Moris Beracha . - PDVSA’s partner companies involved in joint ventures, as well as financial analysts and investment bank economists, including consulting firms agree on questioning President Maduro’s announcement revealing that the Bolivar Soberano’s stability, which will start circulating on August 20, will be anchored to the oil-backed Petro (PTR) digital currency. “There is a very clear executive order issued by the US Government banning transactions involving Venezuela’s Petro and it is applicable to any transaction with the Venezuelan Government or PDVSA related to the use of that cryptocurrency,” said a source from one of the partner companies of Petróleos de Venezuela. “Neither Chevron, nor any of the European companies, including Rosneft, CNPC or Indian companies such as ONGC or Reliance will accept any transaction in Petros,” it said. According to the source, in several meetings, the PDVSA authorities have considered the possibility of using...

By Moris Beracha .-  The company led by Tim Cook beat Wall Street Bull’s expectations and showed that, despite the negative forecasts, maintains its market technology dominance. When everyone believed that Apple’s leadership in the technology market was overtaken by other companies such as Samsung and Huawei, this giant thumped on the table to report its financial results for the fiscal year. The company led by Tim Cook beat Wall Street Bull’s expectations and showed that, despite the negative forecasts, maintains its market technology dominance. Apple posted a net profit of 11.5 billion dollars for the second quarter, or a 32% increase over last year. This helped the company’s shares to rise 3% in a single day and created moments of surprise when it pushed its market cap to $1 trillion, becoming the first company hitting this milestone on Wall Street, as reported by the media. The answer lies in the company’s business strategy In short, Apple...

Political uncertainty has made investors pause By Joice Alves Fundraising for European buyouts has hit its worst quarter since 2010 as the divorce between the UK and European Union has fuelled a sharp decline in investors’ appetite for UK-dedicated funds. Fund managers have struggled to keep pace with the record volumes of cash raised for the asset class last year, writes FN ’s sister publication  Private Equity News.  Both capital-raising and the number of fund closings fell in the third quarter, according to LP Source, a data provider owned by FN and  PEN ’s publisher Dow Jones. Buyout fundraising dropped 68% to $7.9bn across 33 funds in the third quarter, down from $24.6bn raised by 46 funds during the same period last year. Fundraising also declined one-fifth during the first half of this year to $46.6bn, down from $67.8bn in the corresponding part of 2017. The figures represents the worst third quarter for European buyout fundraising sinc...