A digital copy of the Business News 24 (29 July edition). Zimbabwe's premier business news free sheet published by the Zimpapers Newspapers Group (1980) Limited and available every week day from 1530hrs to give a summary of the day's business news.
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Mwana Africa to sustain Zim operations despite tough environment
1. News Update as @ 1530 hours, Tuesday 29 July 2014
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London Stock Exchange listed mining
giant Mwana Africa PLC says it will con-
tinue operating in Zimbabwe despite
unfriendly operating environment for
businesses.
“The single biggest challenge to oper-
ate in Zimbabwe is liquidity. The pool
of money is very limited. And when
you do raise money it is always very
expensive,” Mwana Africa chief execu-
tive officer Kalaa Mpinga said.
“But when you go to a pub for a drink,
there is always lots of noise. But the
noise, doesn’t stop you from having
that drink,” he added.
The Government of Zimbabwe recently
implemented laws which require for-
eign owned mining companies to cede
51 percent to locals.
Mwana Africa PLC is a pan-African,
multi-commodity resources company
focused on the production, develop-
ment and exploration of gold, nickel,
copper and diamonds. It has been
operating in Zimbabwe for more than
10 years running the Bindura Nickel
Corporation (BNC).
It also has operations in South Africa,
and a broad range of exploration pro-
jects and interests in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola,
Ghana and Botswana.
In October 2005, Mwana Africa
became the first African-owned, Afri-
can-managed resource company to be
listed on the London Stock Exchange’s
Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Mwana Africa recently posted a
US$100m turnaround in bottom line
fortunestoa$50millionfull-yearprofit.
― Ventures Africa •
Mwana Africa to sustain Zim operations despite tough environment
3. It’sbeenreportedthattheGovernment
is planning to step up its revenue col-
lection efforts with a crackdown on all
informal traders.
This blitz will also rope in the numerous
airtime vendors who have become a
permanent feature of street side entre-
preneurship.
This move is going to be the latest
effort to increase revenue for State
coffers which have come under strain
from a tough economic environment.
It is aimed at tapping into the informal
economy which, by some estimates,
handles up to $7 billion of the currency
in circulation.
The new levy is actually not surprising.
It’sevidentthatalotofmoneychanges
hands through street vendors who
seem to be selling everything these
days. At the same time the airtime
vendors are also a major channel for
the movement of hard currency.
Someone in the corridors of power was
eventually going to come up with a
suggestion to get a piece of the action.
Earlier this year a 5 cents charge was
attached to every mobile money trans-
action after the huge revenue poten-
tial of mobile money was observed as
something worth tapping into.
What remains to be seen is how effec-
tively this street levy is going to be
collected from the vendors and street
merchants.
The municipal police has enough sto-
ries to tell about the cat and mouse
relationship they have with street ven-
dors. This time the chasing is going to
include the airtime vendors who make
a tidy sum weaving through traffic at
every intersection.
For the airtime vendors this is going
to be an added cost to business that
they cannot push onto the customer
through a price increase.
With airtime sold at face value, any
tax or levy just means smaller profits
for them. This could force vendors to
evade authorities or drive them out of
business, essentially killing the prover-
bial goose for State revenue.-TechZim
•
3 NEWS
Airtime and street vendors to pay $1 a day State levy
4. By Lynn Murahwa
The successful co-hosting of the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation
(UNWTO) general assembly in 2013
was not a smooth ride as Government
did not have adequate resources for
the event.
Ministry of Tourism permanent secre-
tary Florence Nhekairo yesterday told a
parliamentary portfolio Committee on
Public Accounts that Government had
to work with limited resources.
"I would not say Government was
ill-prepared to host the UNWTO, I
will say Government did not have
resources in terms of the budget out
lay that was put on the table.
"The hosting of the conference was no
small matter. The crisis management
comes from the fact that the finances
availedatthelastminuteandyoumust
then run around," she said.
She said the need for her ministry to
bypass normal procedures in acquir-
ing assets during that time was due to
limited finances and a large amount of
pressure to perform.
Nhekairo also said the delayed release
of necessary funds by Treasury left the
ministry with extremely limited time to
procure assets and issue formal ten-
ders. "Treasury released our envelope
for December 2011 on 28 Decem-
ber 2011, which the ministry then
accessed on 30 December and that left
two days in which to use the money for
procurement of vehicles.
"Failure of which Treasury would take
back the funds into the Consolidated
Revenue Fund, it was therefore not
possible at all for the ministry to go
through the normal tender procedures
and to observe the regulations that we
were very much aware of," she said.
According to Nhekairo, the ministry did
not comply with regulations because
there were no funds, not because of
the UNWTO. •
4 NEWS
Bumpy ride for UNWTO
6. 6 NEWS
BH24 Reporter
Zimbabwe needs to increase support
to the Small to Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) through capacity building and
encouraging more input from the pri-
vate sector in order to grow the econ-
omy, a report has said.
According to the African Economic Out-
look 2014 Report commissioned by the
Macroeconomic and Financial Manage-
ment Institute of Eastern and South-
ern Africa (MEFMI), Zimbabwe lacks
Global Value Chain (GVC) participation
because of issues surrounding infra-
structure, liquidity, economic empow-
erment regulations and the costs of
doing business.
"The major constraints to effective
participation within the GVCs are poor
infrastructure, liquidity constraints,
deindustrialisation, technology gaps,
lack of competitiveness, the high cost
of doing business and uncertainties
related to indigenisation and economic
empowerment regulations.
"The government needs to build capac-
ity and support private sector participa-
tion, especially in SMEs. It also needs
to develop an institutional framework
for public-private partnerships, in par-
ticular to develop world-class infra-
structure," the report said.
The report also recommends that gov-
ernment should take advantage of
the potential for growth and economic
recovery found within the mining sec-
tor and create new industries con-
nected to the sector.
”Thedevelopmentpotentialofthemin-
ing sector can be maximised through
building resource linkages with the rest
of the economy. This includes revenue
linkages, backward linkages, forward
linkages and knowledge and spatial
linkages to create new industries asso-
ciated with mining. This is particularly
important in that economic recovery in
Zimbabwe hinges on the mining sec-
tor." •
Zim should increase support to SMEs - report
8. The equities markets let up slightly on
its negative run adding on 0,42 per-
cent as several heavy weight coun-
ters experienced gains.
The industrial index was up 0.77
points to close trade at 184.37 points
with Natfoods gaining 5 cents to
trade at 200 cents and Old Mutual
moving up 2 cents to close at 260
cents. Tobacco processor BAT traded
a cent higher at 1301 cents whilst OK
Zimbabwe and Starafrica both rose
by 0.50 cents to trade at 16.50 cents
and 2 cents respectively.
Two counters traded in the negative
territory; Econet retreated a cent to
71 cents and GBH lost 0.01 cents to
0.04 cents.
The mining index maintained
increases surging by 22.45 points to
close at 97.45 points. Bindura rose
by a significant 2.45 cents to close at
9 cents and RioZim went up a cent
to 21 cents. Falgold and Hwange
remained unchanged at previous
trading levels.-
― BH24 Reporter •
8 ZSE REVIEW
ZSE in marginal increases
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AND SERVICE EXCHANGE FOR COMPLETE AXLES, ENGINES AND GEARBOXES.
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No. 17033 CEDORA ROAD, P.O. BOX GT 1244,
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Website: www.propshaftscenter.co.zw
TEL: 770638-43, 086 4406 8386
CELL: 0772 470665, 0712 204396,
086 44068386, 0712 749578
Email: sales@nationalpropshafts.co.zw
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12 A RIVERSIDE DRIVE
P.O.BOX 1869, MUTARE, ZIMBABWE
Website: www.propshaftscenter.co.zw
Tel: 66084, 086 4406 8385, Fax: 68597
Cell: 0712 204396,
0772 715388, 0773 782502
Email: sales@mpc.co.zw, mpc@mweb.co.zw
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COMPRESSORS UNIVERSAL JOINTS
TA 1919 PUMPS, WATER PLATES &
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MT643 TRANSMISSIONS
STEERING COUPLINGS
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PROPSHAFTS SPARES
SPIDER BEARINGS
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PROPSHAFTS & DRIVE SHAFTS
TRACK RODS &
DRAGLINKS
BH24
10. It is no secret; Government has
stepped up its efforts to collect as
much money as humanely possible
from Zimbabweans to support the
fiscus. Not only has the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority launched a blitz on
companies that have been neglecting
their duty to ‘give unto Caeser’, it is
now moving on to the small fish in the
sea.
It’s been reported that the taxman
plans to come down heavily on the
multitude of informal traders includ-
ing airtime vendors who have become
a permanent feature of street side
entrepreneurship.
With these vendors on every corner
of the CBD it is only logical that Gov-
ernment wants to tap into that money
lining their pockets.
Most of these vendors are making
a killing on the streets as they push
large volumes to earn almost as much
as the person sitting in an office,
or even more. This blitz is aimed at
tapping into the informal economy
which, handles approximately $7 bil-
lion. But how effectively can Govern-
ment implement this new levy and not
create more problems for itself? We
appreciate how important it is to col-
lect as much revenue as possible but
we feel there is an invisible line Gov-
ernment must not cross.
In a struggling economy such as ours,
taking away any profits from small
traders is a huge problem. That they
should be paying tax is besides the
matter. To them, Government wants
to make them suffer more than they
already are. So this is a good time
as any to remind Government not to
kill the proverbial goose. The current
stance by Zimra to get the money at
all costs is not going to help with the
vendors.
Either they will start a new cat and
mouse game that will not benefit any-
one, especially not the taxman, or
they will drive them out of business.
Some of the profits these vendors
make are not as big as we want to
believe and taking as much as $1 a
day might push them out of business.
So it would be better if Government
can introduce the tax at source. Ven-
dors will not feel the pinch if it is incor-
porated in the wholesale price but if it
is taken from his profit, he will defi-
nitely cry foul.
As much as we want to formalise the
informal traders, or tax them rather,
we will create more problems for our-
selves if Government is not careful.
Either it becomes more expensive to
sell their wares and they leave the
business or they will evade the tax-
man. It’s the Government’s choice.
Go easy and get more money over
time or get tough and get more now.
The problem with the latter is that the
source of revenue will eventually run
out.
As we have said before, there is no
quick fix to our economic situation and
revenue collection will not answer all
the problems. So Government should
approach the issue to tax, especially
on the vendors, with caution. •
10 BH24 COMMENT
Go easy on vendors or lose them!
12. EMPLOYERS in the metals and engi-
neering sector should expect employ-
ees belonging to the National Union of
Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa)
to be back at work by Thursday.
The union on Monday declared victory
after it secured double-digit increases
and avoided an agreement that would
unduly limit the right to strike.
NumsasaidonMondaythatits220,000
members would begin to return to
work on Tuesday, and that it would
sign a wage deal with employer body
the Steel and Engineering Industries
Federation of South Africa (Seifsa) that
provides a 10 percent increase for its
lowest-paid members for three years.
The union expects to sign the deal
on Tuesday afternoon, but some of
its members may find themselves
locked out of work. Employer body
the National Employers Association
of South Africa (Neasa) said it would
not sign the deal, as it was unafforda-
ble, and would implement lockouts at
workplaces.
Neasa is expected to petition Labour
Minister Mildred Oliphant to not extend
the agreement to its members, and
has said it will challenge in court any
decision to extend the agreement.
Numsa said it expected all employer
representatives to sign the agreement,
and would ask that the agreement be
formally gazetted as soon as possible,
a process that may take weeks.
The end to the month-long strike that
has crippled businesses was welcomed
on Monday, amid fears that the full
picture of its negative effect on the
economy was still to emerge. "The
settlement offer has been overwhelm-
ingly and unanimously accepted by our
members," Numsa general secretary
Irvin Jim said at a media briefing on
Monday.
Partieshadbeenclosetoawageagree-
ment for weeks, reaching a final agree-
ment on pay last week and continuing
talks on a contentious amendment to a
labour peace clause in the agreement
at the weekend.
The parties have now agreed that the
clause that had delayed resolution of
the strike would remain unchanged in
its intent. ― BDLive •
The Communications Authority of
Kenya (CAK) has ruled in favour of Air-
tel after the company accused its rival
Safaricom of anti-competitive practice,
a move coming weeks after Safaricom
had decided to open up the network.
The CAK has also prohibited the mobile
operator from levying extra charges on
competitors using its network.
This brings to an end a long battle
between Airtel and Safaricom over
exclusivity of the service, which barred
M-Pesa agents from engaging in busi-
ness with other mobile operators.
In a letter signed by the CAK, and sent
to Safaricom and Airtel on Friday July
25,Safaricomwasorderedtoeffectthe
directive before July 18.
“All restrictive clauses in the agree-
ments between Safaricom and mobile
money transfer (M-Pesa agents) be
immediately expunged but in any
event not later than July 18, 2014,” the
letter states.
The CAK in its ruling also declared that
Safaricom’s oversight shall be lim-
ited to its business with the agents.
Each mobile money service provider
shall also be responsible for ensuring
compliance with the Central Bank of
Kenya regulations. “We did not rule
on the interoperability and the cost of
transactions because it is an issue that
needs the input of both the Central
Bank of Kenya and the Communica-
tions authority,” CAK director-general
Wang’ombe Kariuki said.― Human
IPO •
12 REGIONAL News
Airtel wins case against Safaricom to open up M-Pesa
Employers at odds over strike settlement
14. 14 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
29 July 2014
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 461 MW
Kariba 720 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 32 MW
Bulawayo 28 MW
Imports 0 MW
Total 1271 MW
1 August - Sixteenth Annual General Meeting
of the members of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe
Limited, Place: Econet Park, 2 Old Mutare Road,
Msasa, Harare, Time; 10.00am
Seed Co Limited 19th Annual General Meet-
ing Venue: Seed Co Administration Block at Sta-
pleford Date: Wednesday 20 August Time: 12:00
hours
National Tyre Services Limited 52nd Annual
General Meeting Venue : Boardroom, Stand
4608, Corner Cripps/Seke Roads, Granite-
side, Harare Date: 20 August 2014 Time: 14:30
hours
THE BH24 DIARY
20. The US should investigate Facebook
Inc. (FB)’s plan to collect the web
browsing activities of its users to deter-
mine if the company is violating an
agreement with the government to
ensure people’s privacy, an advocacy
group said.
Facebook, the biggest social network-
ing site, would routinely monitor the
web habits of its users, contrary to its
prior representations, according to a
letter sent to the Federal Trade Com-
mission by Kostas Rossoglou, senior
legal officer of the European Consumer
Organization and Jeffrey Chester, exec-
utive director of the Center for Digital
Democracy.
The non-governmental organizations,
joined in a grouping they call the Trans
Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, petitioned
the FTC to open a probe into Face-
book’s practices. Facebook last month
said it would try to deliver more tar-
geted advertising by viewing what its
users do on sites other than Facebook.
“Wearewritingtoexpressdeepalarm,”
the group said in its letter to FTC Chair-
woman Edith Ramirez.
Jodi Seth, a spokeswoman for Face-
book, said the company couldn’t
comment on a letter it hasn’t seen.
Facebook in late 2011 agreed to set-
tle complaints by the FTC that it failed
to protect users’ privacy or disclose
how their data could be used. It later
entered into a 20-year agreement with
the agency that requires the Menlo
Park, California-based company to get
clear consent from users before shar-
ing material posted under earlier, more
restrictive terms.
If the FTC finds Facebook has violated
the agreement, the privacy groups
would ask the agency to compel the
company to stop the tracking, Chester
said in an e-mail.
Facebook has been giving people more
control over their settings after years
of criticism over its privacy policies. In
May, the company said that the posts
of new members who begin sharing
on Facebook will only be visible to their
friends, as opposed to the public. The
company also added options for users
to decide what Facebook information
they share with third-party applica-
tions. ― Bloomberg •
20 INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Facebook plan to monitor user web browsing rouses alarm
21. by Joseph Ngwawi
The Sadc region is poised to become
a major continental source of energy
if current plans to boost generation
capacity are implemented.
With plans to build new short-term
generation projects to add more than
21,500 megawatts (MW) by 2017,
southern Africa holds the key to the
continent’s efforts to achieve energy
self-sufficiency.
This region is also in the forefront of
developing renewable, clean energy
sources.
Southern Africa is home to the world’s
largest proposed hydropower scheme,
the Grand Inga, which is the centre-
piece of a grand vision to develop a
continent-wide power system.
Located in western Democratic Repub-
lic of Congo (DRC), about 50 km
upstream of the mouth of the Congo
Riverand225kmsouthwestofthecap-
italKinshasa,GrandIngaisexpectedto
generate 40,000MW when completed.
Based on a feasibility study conducted
between 2011 and 2013, Grand Inga
will be constructed in six development
phases, with the Inga III Dam and
hydropower project being the first of
these phases.
When completed, Inga III will produce
4,800MW of electricity.
The proposed dam is the fourth and
largest of a series of dams that have
beenbuiltorareproposedforthelower
end of the Congo River. The dam site
is on the largest waterfall in the world
by volume, the Inga Falls – a series of
falls and rapids that drop in elevation
via small rapids.
The falls are incorporated into the cur-
rent Inga I and Inga II hydroelectric
facilities, with the volume of the river
diverted some 30 percent of the aver-
age discharge.
The power generated will be double
the capacity of the largest dam in the
world, the Three Gorges Dam in China.
The DRC and South Africa signed a
Memorandum of Understanding in
November 2011 for the development
of Grand Inga and followed that up
with a cooperation Treaty in May 2013
to jointly develop the Inga III Dam.
South Africa will purchase 2,500MW of
the total 4,300MW generated, making
it the principal buyer for Inga III elec-
tricity.
The DRC has commenced the process
of selecting a developer, with a number
of consortia currently bidding for selec-
tion as developers of the Grand Inga.
These include SinoHydro and the Three
Gorges Corporation from China, Activ-
idades de Construcion y Servicios, and
Eurofinsa, both of Spain, and Dae-
woo-Posco from South Korea.
Construction is planned to commence
in 2016 following the conclusion of
social and environmental assessment
studies.
The Grand Inga mega-project is a pri-
ority for a number of Africa develop-
mentorganizations,includingSadcand
the African Union’s New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (Nepad).
Grand Inga dam has been estimated to
cost more than US$80 billion, including
cost of the transmission lines needed
to carry its power across Africa and
potentially to Europe.
Another SADC country, Angola, has
also announced plans to quadruple its
power generation capacity from the
current 2,250MW to about 9,000MW
by 2025.
Energy and Water Minister João Bapti-
sta Borges said most of the power will
come from the Middle Kwanza hydro-
power station, Lauca station and the
Central Cambambe hydro plant.
“Ourultimategoalistoreach9,000MW
by 2025,” he said, adding that “This
means multiplying by four the current
capacity, our great resource is hydro-
21 Analysis
Sadc – Africa’s energy source
22. 22 Analysis
power production.”
At least US$23 billion has already been
investedbyAngolaintheenergysector
to rehabilitee and expand some of the
existing power plants.
“The rehabilitation of power station and
the expansion of the distribution net-
works of these dams are our priorities
because we want to be part of the best
producers of power in Africa, as well
as produce and distribute the energy
to Angolan population,” the Secretary
of State for Water, Luís Filipe da Silva,
said.
Key activities to fall under the invest-
ment include the construction of a
hydropower station at Lauca Dam
which will add 2,060 MW into the
national system whilst another Com-
bined Cycle Station with a production
capacityof750MWwillbeconstructed.
Sadc also plans to launch the proposed
Sadc Centre for Renewable Energy
and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE). This
should be launched by September
2014 under a revised roadmap agreed
by Sadc and development partners.
According to the revised roadmap, a
preparatory phase runs from January
to July 2014.
This would be followed by the first
operational phase running for three
years, which includes the official launch
by September this year.
Sadc is working closely with the
United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation(UNIDO)andtheAustrian
DevelopmentAgency(ADA)toacceler-
ate implementation within the revised
timelines.
The proposed centre would, among
other things, spearhead the promotion
of renewable energy development in
the region.
It is expected to contribute substan-
tially to the development of thriving
regional renewable energy and energy
efficiency markets through knowledge
sharing and technical advice in the
areas of policy and regulation, tech-
nology cooperation, capacity develop-
ment, as well as investment promo-
tion.
It has been agreed that the centre
should be an independent Sadc insti-
tution that should be owned and sup-
ported by Sadc member states for sus-
tainability purposes.
Such a development would give the
centre more authority to spearhead
effortstoincreasetheuptakeofrenew-
able energy sources in the region.
Various cooperating partners such as
UNIDO and ADA have pledged to pro-
vide financial support to the centre for
the first three years. After that, the
centre should be self-sustaining.
The location of the centre is yet to be
decided although a number of Sadc
countries have expressed interest
in hosting it. Establishment of the
SACREE is expected to see a grad-
ual increase in the uptake of cleaner
energy sources that could result in
reduced carbon emissions in line with
the global trends towards clean and
alternative energy sources.
According to the African Develop-
ment Bank (AfDB), the region has the
potential to become a “gold mine” for
renewable energy due to the abun-
dant solar and wind resources that are
now hugely sought after by interna-
tional investors in their quest for clean
energy.
For example, the overall hydropower
potential in Sadc countries is estimated
at about 1,080 terawatt hours per year
(TWh/year) but capacity being utilised
at present is just under 31 TWh/year.
A terawatt is equal to one million meg-
awatts. ― sardc.net •