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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107268892-1688996618217-gettyimages-1513200328-kaluthotage-notitle230707_npKjG-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-427707" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107268892-1688996618217-gettyimages-1513200328-kaluthotage-notitle230707_npKjG-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107268892-1688996618217-gettyimages-1513200328-kaluthotage-notitle230707_npKjG-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107268892-1688996618217-gettyimages-1513200328-kaluthotage-notitle230707_npKjG-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107268892-1688996618217-gettyimages-1513200328-kaluthotage-notitle230707_npKjG-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107268892-1688996618217-gettyimages-1513200328-kaluthotage-notitle230707_npKjG.jpeg 929w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Thilina Kaluthotage | Nurphoto | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Meta’s Threads real-time messaging app is struggling to attract new users like it did during its blockbuster July debut.



The Twitter clone now ranks near the bottom of the most popular social media platforms, ahead of only Tumblr, as measured by the number of U.S. users, according to Insider Intelligence’s first Threads forecast, published Tuesday.



Insider Intelligence said it expects Threads to have 23.7 million U.S. users in 2023, far behind Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which have 177.9 million, 135.2 million and 102.3 million users, respectively. Its closest rival, X, will have 56.1 million U.S. users in 2023, the forecast said, which means that Threads will have less than half of the U.S. user base of the messaging app formerly known as Twitter.



For the U.S. market, the analyst firm said Threads will continue to “rank second-to-last among social networks” through 2025.



Meta did not respond to a request for comment.



The new forecast joins a growing list of third-party estimates from mobile analytics firms such as Sensor Tower and Similarweb that have recently documented declining usage of Threads.



When Threads debuted, it rapidly gained millions of users due in part to its easy sign-up process for existing Instagram users. The messaging app also benefited by being a mainstream alternative to X, which several analyst firms including Insider Intelligence have said is losing users amid the ownership of Tesla chief Elon Musk.



“Threads received an initial boost from Twitter’s missteps, but it can’t rely on X defectors to continue to grow,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said in a statement.



If Musk decides to charge all X users a monthly subscription fee, as he said during a recently livestreamed talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Meta could have a “clearer avenue to monetize Threads,” Enberg said.



“Assuming Musk doesn’t backtrack, the move will likely alienate more X users and potentially increase advertiser interest in Threads,” Enberg added.



Still, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously said that the company has no plans to monetize Threads until it’s bigger and more established.



The social networking giant has been releasing several new features for Threads intended to make it more compelling, such as a desktop version and a search tool. Indeed, both advertisers and creators have previously told CNBC that Threads needs certain features such as analytics tools to become a more robust platform that they will invest time and money into.



Enberg said Threads needs to establish an identity that’s “more than an extension of Instagram or an alternative to X” in order to become a major player in the social media market.



“TikTok was able to break through largely because it offered users a unique new social experience,” Enberg said, referring to the ByteDance-owned short-video app’s rise to prominence.

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107294106-1693425707245-gettyimages-1634692350-AFP_33U32J4-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-427581" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107294106-1693425707245-gettyimages-1634692350-AFP_33U32J4-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107294106-1693425707245-gettyimages-1634692350-AFP_33U32J4-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107294106-1693425707245-gettyimages-1634692350-AFP_33U32J4-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107294106-1693425707245-gettyimages-1634692350-AFP_33U32J4-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107294106-1693425707245-gettyimages-1634692350-AFP_33U32J4.jpeg 929w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (L) and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (R) look on as President Joe Biden speaks about the government response and recovery efforts in Maui, Hawaii, and the ongoing response on Hurricane Idalia, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Aug. 30, 2023. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



President Joe Biden will address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, where he plans to promote democracy and advocate for increased support for Ukraine.



For Biden, it’s another opportunity to advance the ideas of diplomacy and democracy against those of aggressive autocracies, as he did at the recent Group of 20 summit earlier this month.



″[Biden] will lay out for the world the steps that he and his administration have taken to advance a vision of American leadership that is built on the premise of working with others to solve the world’s most pressing problems,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a briefing Friday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biden-s-meetings-speech"><a></a>Biden’s meetings, speech</h2>



Leaders from at least 145 countries are slated to attend with a few notable exceptions: France, the United Kingdom, China and Russia will all be absent, meaning four of the five countries that hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council will not be in attendance.



The absence of China and Russia gives Biden an opening to advance ties between the United States and smaller, developing nations.



Biden is slated to meet Wednesday with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, a key leader in the Global South who has also been a proponent of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Lula has argued the U.S. and other Western nations are prolonging the war with their defense support.



The president will also meet with the leaders of the five central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, marking the first time a U.S. president has done so jointly. He will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the  first time the pair have met since the prime minister won reelection last fall.



This will be the first time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has attended the U.N. summit in person since the war began in February 2022. He gave a prerecorded speech to the body at last year’s session.



“President Biden looks forward to hearing President Zelenskyy’s perspective on all of this and to reaffirm for the world and for the United States, for the American people, his commitment to continuing to lead the world in supporting Ukraine,” Sullivan said.



A “substantial section” of Biden’s speech will be devoted to the war in Ukraine, Sullivan said.



“He will talk about the fundamental fact that the United Nations Charter &#8230; speaks to the basic proposition that countries cannot attack their neighbors and steal their territory by force,” Sullivan said, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “That was also a proposition that was at the core of the G20 statement last weekend.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>U.S. support for Ukraine</h2>



Biden’s message of support for Ukraine is complicated by the fact that a handful of hard-line Republicans in Congress are actively opposing more funding.



The White House is seeking $24 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, which it hoped would be passed alongside a continuing resolution to keep the government open while budget negotiations continue. The measure has bipartisan support in the Senate but is held up in the House of Representatives, where some members, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have said they will not support any additional aid.



GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is in a precarious position on the issue of Ukraine as his slim majority places him at the whims of every member of his caucus. Conservatives balked at McCarthy’s proposal last week to pair Ukraine aid with additional border funding.



Zelenskyy will travel to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to meet with Biden at the White House and speak with lawmakers. Unlike his visit in December, Zelenskyy will not address a joint session of Congress. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, the chair of the House intelligence committee, said Zelenskyy will be “very, very persuasive.”



“Zelenskyy is a great spokesperson,” Turner said on CBS News on Sunday. “He really makes the case better than anyone.”



It’s a position the White House agrees with.



“He has proven over the course of the past 18, 19 months, that there is no better advocate for his country, for his people, and for the urgent and continuing need for countries like the United States and our allies and partners to step up to provide the necessary tools and resources that Ukraine needs,” Sullivan said.

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="540" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OC2PVVRQ6NOYLFNQOHVPDORUKI-1-820x540.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427539" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OC2PVVRQ6NOYLFNQOHVPDORUKI-1-820x540.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OC2PVVRQ6NOYLFNQOHVPDORUKI-1-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OC2PVVRQ6NOYLFNQOHVPDORUKI-1-137x90.jpg 137w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OC2PVVRQ6NOYLFNQOHVPDORUKI-1-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OC2PVVRQ6NOYLFNQOHVPDORUKI-1-1536x1012.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OC2PVVRQ6NOYLFNQOHVPDORUKI-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bob van Dijk, CEO of e-commerce group Naspers, poses for a photograph in front of the company logo after holding a media briefing in Johannesburg, South Africa, October 9, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File photo</figcaption></figure>



The immediate and mutually agreed departure of Naspers and Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk underscores a complicated few years for a firm seen riding on the coattails of its holdings in Chinese tech giant, Tencent.



In June, the Dutch-based e-commerce investor, Prosus, which is majority-owned by South African multi-national Naspers won shareholder and regulatory approval to unwind its complex ownership structure.



The South African Reserve Bank gave Naspers the greenlight to begin buying back more of its shares from Prosus.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-getting-rid-of-the-cross-holding"><a></a>‘Getting rid’ of the cross holding</h2>



Prior to the current structure, Naspers (headquartered in South Africa) owned a third of Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. This was an investment made by current chairman and founder of Naspers, Koos Bekker, as early as 2001, when he paid $34 million for a 46.5% stake in the business.



Van Dijk oversaw the decision to split off its holding of Tencent and other tech holdings into Prosus in 2019. In the meantime, Tencent’s market capitalization rocketed close to $1 trillion as the stock boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic. This meant Naspers made up nearly a quarter of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange which was a problem for some fund managers.



Then in 2021, Naspers developed a crossholding using a share swap deal. Prosus issued new shares to buy a 45.4% stake in Naspers, and this effectively moved a slice of Naspers from the Johannesburg exchange to Amsterdam’s Euronext.



But that crossholding offered little value to investors with van Dijk telling Reuters at the time: “They [shareholders] said we don’t like this cross holding, it creates complexity. We’ve listened to them. And we’re basically getting rid of that now.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stepping-up"><a></a>Stepping up</h2>



On Monday the business also announced, on a call with investors, that the unwinding of the crossholding had officially been completed with the business now aiming to maintain profitability going into the first half of the 2025 fiscal year.



Erwin Tu, Prosus’ group chief investment officer has been named interim CEO, with Citi saying in a research note that it sees “a good chance of him becoming permanent CEO.



“We suspect the decision has not been sudden, but rather one the company preferred to announce following the completion of the unwind of the cross-holding process,” the Citi analysts said.



Tu was previously a managing partner at the SoftBank Vision Fund where he also co-led M&amp;A and corporate finance for SoftBank Group International. He was also managing director in the technology banking group at Goldman Sachs.



On the Investor call, Bekker said that while Tu had only joined the business in 2021, he was now stepping up and would enjoy the same autonomy as van Dijk, despite this only being a temporary appointment. Bekker also said that the process of finding a new CEO was not one that focused only on internal applicants or candidates but that the lengthy process would also look at external leaders as well.



Tu said the business will continue to “invest in a disciplined way” and that the share repurchase will remain in place for as long as the discount on the net asset value of the companies remained elevated.



Shares of the Naspers slipped 3% Monday in South Africa on the back of the news of Van Dijk’s departure, despite an initial rise of 2% in early deals.



Van Dijk has agreed to remain as a consultant until September next year but has stepped down from the board of both businesses. The company said the group’s strategic goals “remain unchanged and it is on target to deliver on its commitments.”



Van Dijk’s recent pay had come under fire with shareholders objecting to how it was tied to the growth and performance of Tencent. Eighty-percent of Naspers’ decision-bearing shareholders voted against the company’s remuneration policy. Van Dijk reportedly earned 13.5 million euros and 14.2 million euros in 2021 &amp; 2022 with his pay slashed to 5.5 million euros over the last year.

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