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Articles by Cloudine Matola
Zimbabwe: Smuggling Groceries From South Africa New Covid-19 Frontier
FOR most families in Zimbabwe, the days leading to month-end are a painful slog because the meagre salaries people earn do not last the distance. As soon as the funds run out, the rat race begins, money is borrowed on the back of promises that it will be paid at month-end. The amount borrowed far exceeds the expected salary which means families are in perpetual deficit.
Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa Gobbles Over U.S.$11,4 Million On Foreign Trips
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his bloated entourage splashed US$12 million on travel expenses between January and September this year at a time government is battling to contain an intractable economic crisis.
Zimbabwe: Government Should Introduce Higher-Value Denominations
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) should consider introducing higher value denominations than the current ZW$5 in order to reduce seigniorage losses, businessdigest has learnt. This comes after the central bank announced plans to introduce new bank notes and coins by November 11 in an effort to increase the availability of physical money in the country as chronic cash shortages are causing acute economic challenges for ordinary Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe: Zimdollar Needs Two Years to Stabilise - Ncube
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube says it will take at least two years for the Zimbabwean dollar -- which was demonitised in 2009 before being re-introduced in June -- to operate as a stable currency. The local unit has been losing value against the United States dollar and other currencies. The US dollar was trading at 1:15 against the local currency on the interbank market this week.
Zimbabwe: Insurance Policyholders Reel From Price Increases As Inflation Ravages
Funeral assurance policyholders are bearing the brunt of ever-increasing premiums as companies in the sector adjust prices in line with rising inflation. As Zimbabwe slides into hyperinflation, most businesses are struggling to survive and have adopted cost recovery pricing models in order to remain viable. Zimbabwe Association of Funeral Assurers (ZAFA) general manager Taka Svosve said the economic situation in the country is affecting both funeral assurance companies and employees.
Zimbabwe: Massive Layoffs Rock Zim Financial Sector
More than 300 workers in the financial services sector have been laid off in the last two months as companies rationalise their cost structures in a tough operating environment amid economic recession.
Zimbabwe: Agric Crucial to Economic Recovery
The World Bank says Zimbabwe's road to economic recovery will depend on favourable rainfall, which has implications for the success or failure of the agricultural sector. The country depends on agro-based economy and the current drought has deepened an economic crisis characterised by runaway inflation and prolonged power cuts. The power cuts, worsened by the heavily depleted water levels at Lake Kariba, are the culmination of decades of non-investment in the energy sector by the government.
Zimbabwe: Insurance Sector Eyes Real Estate
The insurance sector, which has been hard hit by runaway inflation, is looking to invest in real estate and stocks to hedge against the erosion of insurance policies. Zimbabwe's inflationary environment is affecting all sectors of the economy and the insurance sector has been hit hard since pensions are losing value for the second time in a decade.
Zimbabwe: BAT Registers Its U.S.$22m Legacy Liabilities With RBZ
British American Tobacco (BAT) Zimbabwe says it has registered its US$22 million legacy liabilities with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) as the company anxiously seeks to clear the debt off its books, businessdigest has learnt. The liabilities comprise foreign dividends and other offshore payments. Zimbabwe's private sector is saddled with external loans it has failed to service due to a crippling US dollar crunch, which has seen it reintroduce local currency and ban transactions in forex.
Zimbabwe: Firms Urged to Be Alert to Cost Drivers On the Economic Front
By Cloudine Matola Businesspeople should always be alert to the cost drivers on the economic landscape and keep an eye on the dynamic changes that drive costs such as policy announcements, if they are to survive the current economic meltdown, a business executive has said.
Zimbabwe: No Progress in Re-Equiping Industry
By Cloudine Matola Government says it has not made progress in terms of retooling industry but will now focus on providing companies with funding to boost raw material procurement, a government official has said. Industry requires US$500 million to retool and rehabilitate machinery. Zimbabwe is facing challenges accessing foreign currency owing to a protracted economic crisis.
Zimbabwe: Power Outages Severely Erode Companies' Productive Capacity
By Cloudine Matola Surface Wilmar, one of Zimbabwe's largest cooking oil producers, says power outages, poor industrial policies and lack of competitiveness are hampering the country from attracting investors. Speaking during a tour of the company's plant on Tuesday in Chitungwiza, Surface Wilmar chairperson Narottan Somani said the country was no longer conducive for business due to the power outages and the high cost of doing business.
Zimbabwe: Power Outages Threaten Dairibord
By Cloudine Matola and Lisa Tazviinga Dairibord Zimbabwe Holdings has been hit hard by the nationwide power outages, forcing the company to resort to diesel-powered generators which has proven costly to the locally-listed firm, businessdigest has learnt.
Zimbabwe: Agribank to Maintain Interest Rates
By Cloudine Matola Agricultural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (Agribank) says it will not review its interest rates for now despite the prevailing economic situation which is in the country, businessdigest has learnt. As the economic crisis continues to deepen, some of the banks in the country have reviewed their interest rates to avoid the risk of the rates being eroded by inflation which currently stands at 97,85%.
Zimbabwe: Lack of Confidence Hampers FDI Inflows
By Lisa Tazviinga and Cloudine Matola The country's hopes of attracting meaningful foreign direct investment (FDI) on the back of the 'Zimbabwe is open for business mantra' will remain dead in the water, unless the government addresses the confidence deficit in the country, a respected international businessman has said.
Zimbabwe: Mauritian Firm Mulls U.S.$30 Million Investment
By Cloudine Matola Solar-powered television maker Electronics Manufacturing Limited, a Mauritian company, is ready to invest approximately US$30 million in Zimbabwe if it finds a suitable project, businessdigest has learnt. This emerged in business meetings between a delegation from the Economic Development Board of Mauritius and Zimbabwean captains of industry. The delegation comprised representatives of nine different companies which manufacture detergents, textiles, metal and fabrication.
Zimbabwe: U.S.$1 Billion Steel Project Kicks Off
By CHIPA GONDITII and CLOUDINE MATOLA One of the world's largest stainless steel producers, Chinese company Tsingshan Holding Group, has begun work on setting up of the US$1 billion steel plant in the country that will eventually produce two million tonnes of steel annually, Mines minister Winston Chitando told businessdigest. Zimbabwe signed a US$1 billion deal with Tsingshan for the establishment of a steel plant in Mvuma in June last year.
Zimbabwe: 'Govt Debt Result of Bad Governance'
By Cloudine Matola Zimbabwe's huge national debt -- which stood at US$17,6 billion as at December 31, 2018 and has shot up to US$18 billion -- is largely a creation of bad governance, poor leadership and profligate spending, civil society commentators have said. The country's failure to service its debt has made it difficult to access fresh funding from international financial institutions.
Zimbabwe: Govt's Dodgy Multi-Billion Dollar Deals Illegal, Says Biti
By Lisa Tazviinga and Cloudine Matola Former finance minister Tendai Biti has condemned the majority of deals signed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, describing them as unconstitutional and void as they were not approved by parliament in contravention of the standard procedure of acquiring national debt.
Zimbabwe: Commission Forecasts More Mergers
By Cloudine Matola COMPANIES with strong balance sheets are expected to splash on Zimbabwean acquisitions in the current financial year for growth thanks to lower costs. In emailed responses to businessdigest enquiries last week, Competition and Tariffs Commission director Ellen Ruparanganda forecast more mergers this year after handling a total of 20 mergers and acquisitions in 2018.
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