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1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – Mobile telecom-
munications giant Econet
Wireless says it is working
on enhancing its tap and go
payment system to be able
cater for airtime vending in
view of a pending ban on
airtime vouchers.
Last December Environment,
Water and Climate Minister
Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri
urged mobile telecommuni-
cation companies to adopt
electronic recharging sys-
tems
CEO Douglas Mboweni said
the company was working
on a number of strategies
- including the tap and go
payment facility - that would
ensure that the company’s
25 000 airtime vendors
would not be left stranded by
the ban.
“We need to be able to
ensure that the 25 000
airtime vendors are able to
dispense electronic vouch-
ers. Currently we have 4
000 vendors sampling it out
but we still need to build a
perfect eco-system around
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Wednesday 11 May 2016
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Econet to introduce electronic airtime vending system by June
Mr Mboweni

2. it. Another option is to have
such a facility (electronic air-
time vending) on our Ecocash
platform.
“But in respect of all these
developments they have
to be done in a phased
approach because many
people’s lives depend on it.
These are the submissions
that we made to both the
Postal and Telecommunica-
tions Regulatory Authority
of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) and
the Environmental Manage-
ment Agency (EMA),” said Mr
Mboweni.
The CEO was speaking dur-
ing a tour of the company’s
headquarters in Harare by
the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Youth Develop-
ment and Indigenisation this
morning.
Econet’s tap and go payment
system (more commonly
known as Ecocash Ta!) was
launched earlier this year.
It uses technology called
Near Field Communication,
which enables the firm’s cli-
ents to tap their cell-phone
against a merchant or ven-
dor’s enabled micro point of
sale device and the value of
the transaction will be auto-
matically deducted from the
client’s Ecocash account.
Added chief operating officer
Mr Fayaz King: “The tap and
go facility is already in play,
but we also need to improve
the latency (speed of trans-
action) of the facility, say for
instance when a person who
is driving wants to purchase
airtime.
“Basically we are re-in-
venting the business model
around airtime vending. We
are targeting to rollout the
new solution by June.”●
2 news
Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri

3. BH243

4. BH244

5. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE -The People’s Own
Savings Bank (POSB) recorded
a 52 percent jump in profits
to $7,91 million inthe year
ended December 31, 2015, up
from $1,25 million in the prior
year due to effective utilisa-
tion of existing products to
earn revenue.
POSB acting general manager
finance and administration
Ms Maria Gunde told share-
holders that the favorable
performance was a result of
effective utilisation of existing
products to earn revenue and
effective cost optimisation
initiatives.
“The profit was derived by a
number of initiatives which
the bank introduced during
the year and the reduction of
non-performing loans,” she
said.
Total net interest income
for bank during the period
increased by 27 percent to
$9,5 million from $7,5 million
the prior year due to growth
in lending business and an
increase in lending interest
income which grow by 57
percent.
Chief executive Admore
Kandlela said the group was
targeting a profit of $4 million
profit but they got more than
that through different initia-
tives the bank introduced.
“The targeted profit was $4,
million, but we ended up at
$7,91 million and if it wasn’t
for the provision of $2,2 mil-
lion relating to the Zimpost
debt, profit could have been
at $10 million,” he said.
He said the Bank has since
engaged Zimpost’s parent
Ministry of ICT to have the
debt secured with assets.
The loan book grew 26 per-
cent to $71,091 million from
$56,304 million in 2014 and
Mr Kandlela said the growth
in loan book was due to a 42
percent increase in individual
loans.
The group also declared a
dividend of $1,7 million to
its shareholders. Mr Kandlela
said the bank’s capital level is
currently at $33 million and
this follows a capital injec-
tion from the shareholder of
$12,28 million in the form of
10 year treasury bills with
maturity value of $20 million.
“The bank will put more
emphasis on the deposit
mobilisation and business
development with more effort
on the mass market and the
small to medium sector,” he
said.
The bank has since moved
from manual money transac-
tions to electronic with effect
from March 1 this year.
During FY 2015, net interest
income increased 27 percent
to $9,5 million compared to
$7,514 million in 2014 with
the growth largely on growth
in lending business where
individual lending interest
income increased 57 percent.
Total income was 37 per-
cent up at $32,9 million from
$24,07 million in prior year.
In his remarks Finance and
Economic Development Minis-
ter Patrick Chinamasa said the
bank has the capacity to grow
considering the profit it is
making and $20 million capi-
tal injection through Treasury
Bills.
“Last year you made a small
profit when your capital
position was constrained, now
that you are in a more favora-
ble position, we expect more
in terms of creating value and
as Government we are looking
at other means to provide
additional capital.
“In terms of creating finan-
cial inclusion the bank is the
best bank comparing to other
banks,” he said
.●
POSB profit up 52pc
5 news

6. BH246

7. BH247

8. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE-The Government is
working in partnership with
the United Nations Industrial
Development Organisation
(UNIDO) to revive the coun-
try’s pharmaceutical sector.
Zimbabwe’s struggling phar-
maceutical sector is teetering
on the brink due a number of
challenges including unfa-
vourable policies and high
levels of importation of for-
eign-manufactured drugs.
The Ministry of Industry
and Commerce’s director
responsible for enterprise
development Ms Florence
Makombe they were working
with UNIDO to capacitate the
sector to produce generic
drugs, mainly anti-retrovirals
(ARVs).
“The Government, in con-
junction with UNIDO is
working on a capacity-build-
ing programme that seeks to
strengthen local manufacture
of essential generic medi-
cines.
“The objective of the pro-
gramme is to enhance access
of the poor to these drugs at
affordable prices,” she said.
She said this while appear-
ing before the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on For-
eign Affairs yesterday.
Official estimates indicates
that over $400 million worth
of basic drugs are imported
Zimbabwe annually, which is
threatening the viability of
local producers.●
8 news
Govt engages UNIDO to revive pharmaceutical sector

9. BH249

10. BH2410

11. BH24 Reporter
HARARE-The Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority is hoping
to complete the fiscalisation
process it started in 2010,
which will put it in good
stead to meeting its revenue
collection targets for the rest
of the year.
This comes as the author-
ity again failed to meet its
target for the first quarter of
the year with
Collections coming in at
$724,89 million against a
target of $861,83 million
Zimra board chairperson
Mrs Willia Bonyongwe some
taxpayers were not paying
their taxes in full, and others
were not paying their tax at
all and this would be partly
resolved through full auto-
mation that is underway.
“ZIMRA will in the second
quarter enhance measures
to improve taxpayer com-
pliance. It will also soon
complete the Fiscalisation
process it started in 2010.
The old fiscal gadgets are
being linked to the new and
versatile Tax Management
System (TMS). The TMS is
being rolled out fast. “This
is a smart system which
collects an incredible variety
of information about transac-
tions and taxpayers. Already,
the system has revealed
some interesting insights
about taxpayers, including
gross understatement in the
returns to ZIMRA.
“The system has also
revealed a lot of businesses
that have hitherto been oper-
ating outside the tax net.
The reality now is that as
long as one is trading in Zim-
babwe, as the roll out contin-
ues, it will be impossible to
hide from ZIMRA. Therefore,
the prudent thing to do is for
all taxpayers to regularise
their businesses with ZIMRA.
“Automation will, therefore,
enable ZIMRA to meet its
2016 targets by Q3 or Q4 at
the latest, all things being
equal,” she said.
Apart from failure to
automise, Mrs Bonyongwe
attributed the decline in rev-
enue collections to depressed
economic activity and widen-
ing tax debt.
Individual tax continued
to contribute the most to
revenue collected during the
period under review at 23,10
percent followed by Excise
Duty (22,13 percent), VAT on
Local Sales (18,08 percent)
and VAT on Imports (11,55
percent).●
11 news
Zimra to expedite automation as revenue collection remain

12. BH2412

13. HARARE -The local bourse
finally broke a prolonged
winning streak today as the
mainstream industrial index
retreated 0.13 to close at
107.12 points.
Two counters lost ground,
namely Meikles which slid
$0,0030 to $0,0700 and
Zimre Holdings shed $0,0018
to trade at $0,0160.
There were no trades in the
positive.
Conglomerate Innscor,
PPC, Willdale and Zimplow
were all were unchanged at
$0,2320, $0,6500, $0,0020
and $0,0200 respectively.
The mining index was steady
at 21.55 as Bindura, Fal-
gold, Hwange and RioZim
maintained previous price
levels at $0,0100, $0,0050,
$0,0300 and $0,1300 in that
order. - BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE13
Industrials break positive run
02 03
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14. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Zimre Holdings -10.11 1.60
Meikles -4.10 7.00
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 107.25 107.12 -0.13 points -0.12%
Mining 21.55 21.55 +0.00 points +0.00%
14 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange
Previous
today

15. 15 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
11 May 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 323 MW
Kariba 285 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 33 MW
Bulawayo 0 MW
Imports 0 - 300 MW
Total 1245 MW
• 18 May - ZB Building Society AGM; Place: 21 Natal Road,
Avondale, Harare; Time: 12:00hrs
• 18 May - The 76th AGM of Astra Industries Limited; Place: Auditorium at Astra Park, Corner Ridgeway North/Northend
Roads, Highlands, Harare; Time: 12:00hrs
• 19 May - The Fifth Annual General Meeting of Padenga Holdings Limited; Place: Royal Harare Golf Club, 5th Street extension,
Harare; Time: 08.15am
• 19 May - NMBZ AGM; Place: Unity Court, Corner 1st Street Kwame Nkrumah Avenue; Time: 10:00am
• 19 May - Turnall Holdings AGM; Place: Jacaranda Room, Rainbow Towers; Time: 12:00
THE BH24 DIARY

16. JOHANNESBURG- THE
rand appeared calmer on
Wednesday morning but still
retained the weaker bias,
even as commodity prices
displayed signs of recovery
after a recent wobble.
The rand moves have been
fierce and erratic of late: it
slid to lows of 15,37 to the
dollar on Tuesday before
rebounding to end the day
slightly firmer.
"Sentiment is poor, but
underlying fundamentals are
improving," Rand Merchant
Bank analyst John Cairns
said in a note.
"Wall Street had its best day
in two months overnight,
Brent oil has bounced back
to S$45 (a barrel), and risk
aversion has dropped away."
Aside from fanning inflation,
which may lead the Reserve
Bank to raise interest rates
again, the volatility in the
currency affects corporate
profits.
The economic calendar is rel-
atively thin this week, with
not much data on schedule to
guide the markets.
At 8.46am‚ the rand was at
15,1608 to the dollar from
15,1121 at Tuesday’s close.
It was at 17,2692 against the
euro from 17,1914 previ-
ously‚ and at 21,9160 against
the pound from 21,8360
previously. The euro was
at $1,1390 from $1,1372. -
Reuters●
regioNAL News16
Rand calmer after wild swings

17. BENGALURU — The US Attor-
ney’s Office for the Southern
District of New York is inves-
tigating contracts between
drug makers and companies
that manage prescription
benefits, according to regu-
latory filings.
Federal prosecutors have
approached at least three
companies — Johnson
& Johnson, Merck & Co,
and Endo International —
demanding information about
their contracts with phar-
macy benefit managers.
Pharmacy benefit managers,
or PBMs, which administer
drug benefits for employers
and health plans and also
run large mail-order pharma-
cies, have been challenging
the rising cost of new medi-
cations.
When drugs are knocked off
their formularies, patients
may have to pay full price
for them. PBMs often keep or
dump a product depending
on whether they can obtain
favourable pricing.
J&J said in a regulatory filing
on Tuesday it had received a
"civil investigative demand"
seeking information about its
contractual relationships with
pharmacy benefit managers
over some of its products
from early 2006 to the pres-
ent.
Merck said on Monday it had
received a demand for infor-
mation about contracts with,
services from and payments
made to PBMs in relation to
migraine drug Maxalt and
erectile dysfunction treat-
ment Levitra over the same
period.
Endo said last week it was
co-operating with such an
investigation, looking into
its PBM contracts for its
migraine therapy, Frova.
The companies did not dis-
close the name of any PBM in
their respective filings.
Express Scripts Holding is
the largest US pharmacy
benefit manager, followed by
CVS Health.
Merck and CVS were not
immediately available for
comment.
Endo, Express Scripts and
the US Attorney’s Office for
the Southern District of New
York declined to comment.
A J&J spokesman said the
company had nothing more
to add to what it had already
published in its filing.
Last November, a US unit
of Swiss drug maker Novar-
tis agreed to pay $390m to
settle US charges that it paid
specialty pharmacies illegal
kickbacks in exchange for
inducing patients to refill
certain medications.
The sector has come under
intense scrutiny, particularly
after Canadian drug maker
Valeant Pharmaceuticals
International was forced to
sever ties with Philidor Rx
over the specialty pharma-
cy’s billing practices.-Reu-
ters ●
internatioNAL News17
Drug makers face probe in US about relationships with pharmacy benefit managers

18. By Mike Cohen and Saul Butera
MORE than two decades on from
a genocide that claimed 800 000
lives, Rwanda is taking another step
towards looking like the closest thing
Africa has to Switzerland.
The tiny, landlocked, mountainous
nation’s economy has outperformed
almost all its continental peers, with
annual growth averaging 7,8 percent
since 2000.
Like Switzerland, which hosts the
World Economic Forum (WEF) in
Davos every year, it is also about to
welcome delegates to the organisa-
tion’s annual African gathering.
"Nurturing an attractive business
environment has become more
important for many African nations
to sustain growth, as commodity
revenue and aid inflows have fallen,"
Mark Bohlund, Africa economist with
Bloomberg Intelligence in London,
said. "Rwanda has led the way by
cutting red tape, providing tax incen-
tives and improving governance,
which has helped overcome the
disadvantages of its small size, lack
of port access and limited natural
resources." However, the Swiss par-
allel of Rwanda’s economic success
story, furthered with a ranking by the
World Bank as mainland Africa’s eas-
iest place to do business, does not
extend to its reputation for upholding
democracy.
Civil-rights groups accuse the
government of stifling opposition
and have criticised a constitutional
change that will allow President Paul
Kagame, who has been in power
since 2000 and taken credit for
Rwanda’s economic success, to stand
for a third term.
Tourism industry
Mr Kagame’s administration has built
the tourism industry into the coun-
try’s biggest foreign-exchange earner
by hosting events such as the WEF
and the African Development Bank’s
2014 annual meeting and luring
visitors to see endangered mountain
gorillas and climb volcanoes.
It has also boosted agricultural out-
put and manufacturing by improving
roads and electricity supply. Rwan-
da’s experiences feature high on the
agenda of the WEF gathering, which
will focus on how African countries
can harness technology and knowl-
edge to spur growth.
"The slump in energy and commod-
ity prices has demonstrated the
urgent need for greater diversifica-
tion and entrepreneurship across
Africa," said WEF’s head of Africa,
Elsie Kanza. Rwanda "stands as a
good example of how long-term
planning and savvy investing can
lead to sustainable and inclusive
growth". Mr Kagame led the rebel
army that ended the 100-day killing
spree in 1994 that targeted minority
Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
He was cleared to stand for re-elec-
tion next year, after more than 98
percent of people who voted in a
referendum backed a constitutional
amendment to extend presidential
term limits. Opposition parties have
very little scope to function freely
in Rwanda, while the government
imposes tight restrictions on freedom
of speech and its views dominate
the domestic media, Human Rights
Watch said in its 2016 global review.
The New York-based group said it
continued to receive information
on people being held unlawfully in
military custody and other unofficial
detention centres.
Growth impetus
The government’s determination to
maintain security and its co-ordi-
nated fiscal and monetary policy
should continue to provide impetus
for growth and new investment, said
Maurice Toriotich, the CEO of Kenya
Commercial Bank’s Rwandan unit.
Foreign direct investment in Rwanda
would probably rise 36 percent this
year to $1,5bn, the nation’s develop-
ment board said in April.
"The government has a good
PR machine," Mr Toriotich said.
"Investment returns continue to be
attractive.”
While global economic recovery was
taking longer than expected and
the slowdown in China limits growth
for commodity-based economies,
Rwanda had decided to focus on
marketing itself as a conference des-
tination to support growth, Finance
Minister Claver Gatete said after
briefing reporters Tuesday in Kigali.
"At conferences like these, we expect
to sign deals during side events in
key areas like energy, science and
technology," he said.-Bloomberg ●
18 analysis18 analysis
Is Rwanda Africa’s answer to Switzerland?