Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Brett Chulu
Zimbabwe: Milk and Tomato Shortages Explained
AGRICULTURE matters have been quite topical for a while now. The past two weeks have seen the shortage of milk persisting. The price of tomatoes has spiked to extremely high levels, with these anomalously high price levels persisting. Milk and tomatoes form part of the Zimbabwean household's dietary needs. Let us examine the drivers behind the milk shortage. There is one certain driver and two other drivers that are rather speculative.
Zimbabwe: Pfumvudza an African Free Trade Area Deal Opportunity
The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into being on January 1, 2020. It carries with it risks and opportunities. This article will focus on one opportunity -- the Zimbabwean birthed Pfumvudza technique. Pursuing sustainable agriculture will result in the shaping of agro-value chains in Zimbabwe. The Pfumvudza concept that has been popularised is a compromise of the original sustainable farming model that did not use synthetic inputs. The original model was 100% organic.
Zimbabwe: Provincial Developmental Agenda Crucial
The provincial production data released by government recently provides insights that should help us refine our National Development Strategy agenda. The data released by government is divided into two parameters, gross domestic and per capita (per person) product. GDP is the value of new products made and exchanged (bought and sold) during a specific period of time in a specific geographical area.
Zimbabwe: Pfumvudza Mindset the Future of Global Agric
Let me simplify the idea of Pfumvudza. Pfumvudza belongs to those applications that initially are simple and affordable. After some time, these initial simple applications are improved while maintaining affordability.
Zimbabwe: Dissecting the Compensation Question
In 2018, I was invited by the Compensation Steering Committee (CSC), the official body tasked by affected farmers (over 90%), to spearhead negotiations with the government on compensation and to brainstorm on a win-win solution. The CSC gave me express permission to write an article where I lobbied the government to consider the ideas that emerged from the discussion.
Zimbabwe: Monetary Policy Merry-Go-Round
On June 8, we woke up to a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) statement released by the central bank. Curiously, it took two weeks to have the deliberations of the MPC made public. The statement creates monetary policy confusion, in my opinion. Exchange rate confusion The statement announced the abolition of the fixed ZW$:US$ exchange rate of 25:1 in favour of a "free float". This comes at a time the central bank's X-factor theory is being shattered.
Zimbabwe: Private Schools Must Diversify Income
The statement released on May 8 by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Cain Mathema, is a serious poser for the operations of private schools. Education, as an economic sector, contributes more than 10% to the gross domestic product of Zimbabwe. Private schools have had to be strategically alert and agile to respond to the extremely high inflationary environment in order to keep their operations afloat.
Zimbabwe: IMF's Over-Ambitious Wheat Plan
THIS week, the focus of this installment is on two developments: The full International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV report released last week and the special winter wheat programme recently announced by the government.
Zimbabwe: Questions On IMF, Zim Optimism
MEDIA reports on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV Consultation with Zimbabwe which were deliberated upon by the executive board of the international financial institution last week on February 24 missed the fact that the IMF is optimistic of an economy that is better this year than last year. The business of making economic forecasts is not an exact science due to analysts' differing underlying economic philosophies and ideologies that inform their assumptions.
Zimbabwe: Mealie-Meal Black Market Economy Parable Part Two
The black market for maize-meal produced by registered millers is being openly sold in the streets at a heavily inflated price, 75% above the subsidised retail price. This phenomenon is a parable of our struggling economy. Cannibalisation As the output, productivity and area under maize declined since 2010, the same three variables improved for tobacco.
Zimbabwe: Ncube's Inflation Hypocrisy Baffling
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube (pictured) cannot sustain the argument that the reason for banning the publication of year-over-year inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In the 2020 budget statement, on Page 54, Ncube gave us forecasts and projections for real GDP. Real GDP measures the monetary output of the economy based purely on volume changes. Real GDP tells us whether an economy is growing or shrinking. Inflation and GDP are politically sensitive numbers.
Zimbabwe: Economic Deception Has Its Limits
THERE is a limit to deception - the numbers on the economy are telling the real story, not the utopian view painted by our monetary and fiscal authorities. The most widely accepted definition of hyperinflation from an economics viewpoint is a monthly rate of 50% which is sustained over a period of 30 consecutive days. This is the definition hyperinflation authority Steve Hanke applies.
Zimbabwe: Cat-and-Mouse Economics
So much has happened in our economy in the past week. The state media went to town about a consignment of agricultural equipment said to be worth US$20 million that is docked in Durban pending its freight to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe: Economy Under Cobra Effect
The cobra effect is upon us. In an article carried in this column on July 12 titled Upward exchange rate pressure, in the conclusion leased the cobra effect. The article signed off in this fashion: "Legend has it that once in colonial India, there was a plague of cobras. The government of the day looked to its economists for help. Typical of economists, they proposed an incentive; anyone catching a cobra would be rewarded monetarily. Holy cow, the cobra population dipped.
Zimbabwe: Economy Nears Bermuda Triangle
The current economic turmoil is concerning. We know the socio-economic indicators of this turmoil well. Broad money supply is increasing -- in the official books, at least ZW$5 billion was poured into the economy, taking our broad money supply to at least ZW$15 billion.
Zimbabwe: ZSE Outperforms African Bourses
It is totally ironic that for all the negative macro-economic and social indicators we are accustomed to when it comes to Zimbabwe, our Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) is the best performer in Africa. This column is read by people from various backgrounds, including financial and non-financial. Looking at a stock exchange from the perspective of a farmer can help those not familiar with its workings get as much as possible from this article.
Zimbabwe: Mechanics of Corruption III
EMPIRICAL data show that the lower the per capita gross domestic product of a country the higher the levels of corruption in that country. Zimbabwe is no exception -- we suffer from debilitating levels of corruption due to a dysfunctional economy. Corruption is a topical issue in this country at the moment.
Zimbabwe: Open Letter to the President (Part I)
opinion By Brett Chulu It is with a heightened sense of urgency and patriotism that I write this letter to you. I am the man who interfaced with you at the recent Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce congress in Victoria Falls three weeks ago.
Zimbabwe: Govt's Economic Web of Delusion
analysis By Brett Chulu Economic and financial indicators simply do not square with and justify government's bullishness on the economy. That is a big puzzle. The most basic definition of economics puts production as its foundation. President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the weekend indicated that the proposed fully-fledged currency expected before year-end would only come in after production has been improved.
Zimbabwe: Pfumvudza Innovation Can Revive the Economy
column By Brett Chulu Last week's instalment hit at old, tired, staid and fusty economic revival ideas. This week, an alternative idea is supplied. Today's instalment unpacks a simple but profound agricultural innovation, developed by a white Zimbabwean -- it is called the Pfumvudza maize and soya plot -- with a serious macro-economic development potential. It is a disruptive innovation.
Zimbabwe: Helicopter Mangudya and Ncube's Freudian Slip Up
column By Brett Chulu This remark by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya in an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent last week sent chills down my spine: "You are aware that the economy was growing, let us be fair, as a result of the high expansionary fiscal policy. "The economy has been expanding on the back of an expansionary fiscal policy . . . As a result of government's expansionary fiscal policy, it also took the country out of deflation in February 2016.
Zimbabwe: Why Forex Rate Should Drop to 60%
column By Brett Chulu The eagerly anticipated Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for 2019 was finally delivered by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya on Wednesday this week, the same day the budget statement of South Africa (SA) was being presented. The rand fell during SA finance minister Tito Mboweni’s budget presentation by 2,27% against the United States dollar from 14,04 to 14,36, recovering to 14,07 by the end of his budget speech.
Zimbabwe: Ncube, Mangudya Policy Tussle On Monetary Policy Statement
column By Brett Chulu Policy efficacy doubts - both fiscal and monetary - in supporting a liberalised foreign currency market, effectively discarding the 1:1 US dollar-bond note/RTGS dollar peg, have arguably been the main reason behind the undue delay in announcing the 2019 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS).
Zimbabwe: Qatar a Missed Opportunity
column By Brett ChuluLast week President Emmerson Mnangagwa was on a three-day official state visit to the Arabian peninsula city-state of Qatar, hot on the heels of his regional trips and more recently a state visit to China. The per capita GDP of Qatar is US$61 000 (US$124 000 on a purchasing power parity basis), 61 times that of Zimbabwe - that is the economic gulf between the 2,7 million (population) Gulf littoral state and our 15 million landlocked nation.
Zimbabwe: Forex Improves, National Railways On Track
column By Brett ChuluEver since tanks rolled into the capital in November last year, economically speaking, it has been all thunder and no rain. Patchy economic showers fell this week. For a long time now, the floor of premiums for the United States dollar over our quasi-currencies, the bond notes and electronic balances, has been 25% and 40% respectively. This week the floor of the premiums lowered, the US dollar premium over bond notes dropping by five percentage points to 20%.
Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa's New York Pitch Reveals His Post-Election Game
column By Brett ChuluPresident Emmerson Mnangagwa's op-ed piece he penned for the New York Times, published online on March 11 and 12 in the print version, supplies the chess pieces of how he intends to play the political economy game after elections.
Zimbabwe: Agricultural Revival Lessons From Zambia
Last week, the Commercial Farmers’ Union sounded said the supposedly revamped 99-year lease for Zimbabwe may not be attractive enough to lure back commercial farmers who were hounded out of Zimbabwe at the dawn of the new millennium. This is very concerning, given that agriculture provides the lever for resuscitating our agro-based manufacturing exports. Our northern neighbour, Zambia, hosts the largest number of our former commercial farmers who found refuge in that country.
Zimbabwe: No Economic Uhuru After 100 Days
column By Brett ChuluOne hundred days have just receded into history since President Emmerson Mnangagwa seized the sceptre. It's not yet economic uhuru. Within the first 10 days of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa assuming the leadership of the African National Congress, the rand strengthened against the United States dollar and the cost of borrowing came down significantly.
Zimbabwe: Agricultural Revival Lessons From Zambia
column By Brett ChuluLast week, the Commercial Farmers' Union sounded said the supposedly revamped 99-year lease for Zimbabwe may not be attractive enough to lure back commercial farmers who were hounded out of Zimbabwe at the dawn of the new millennium. This is very concerning, given that agriculture provides the lever for resuscitating our agro-based manufacturing exports.
Zimbabwe: Blind Spots Threaten Recovery
column By Brett ChuluA whirlwind tour by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to our neighbours was capped with a maiden appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week. There is growing optimism that the foreign providers of capital and the big international political players who have treated Zimbabwe like a leper may finally come around. That optimism needs to be balanced with realism.
Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa Must Create a Sovereign Wealth Fund
column By Brett ChuluPRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa, refreshingly, is giving economic matters an inordinate amount of attention. He is hitting the right notes with forward-looking pronouncements such a lean cabinet, promises to respect property rights, re-engaging the international community and boosting agriculture. This is a welcome departure from the over-investment in political melodrama and skulduggery that came to be the signature of the erstwhile era we buried last week.
Zimbabwe: Parastatals - Govt Listens, but Weaknesses Remain
column By Brett ChuluRecommendations on modernising the governance of public entities titled Parastatal performance poser for Moyo carried by the Zimbabwe Independent in July 2010, shortly after Gorden Moyo was appointed minister in charge of public entities (state-controlled companies and parastatals), have been adopted by government. That article lobbied government to adopt a corporate governance code for public entities and make it into law.
Zimbabwe: Political Will Needed to Act On Auditor-General's Report
column By Brett ChuluTHE latest audit findings by Auditor-General Mildred Chiri paint a picture of a shambolic state of financial management and flagrant disregard for corporate governance principles in state enterprises and parastatals (SEPs). Past audit reports by the same auditor-general have been very adverse.
Zimbabwe: Loopholes in the Law Permit Zesa Profligacy
column By Brett ChuluLAST week's second front page headline grabber in the Zimbabwe Independent re-ignited the debate on the quality of our remuneration culture and remuneration governance in the public enterprises sector.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Brett
Contact Brett, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack