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1. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE – Meikles Hospital-
ity Limited has invested $9
million in the refurbishment
of its flagship Harare hotel,
but is currently facing chal-
lenges in occupancy mainly
due to depreciation of the
South African rand.
Meikles borrowed $9 million
from PTA Bank in 2013 to
renovate the hotel to meet
international standards.
Meikles Hospitality commer-
cial director Mr Tham Mpofu
said the level of occupancy
which the group was expect-
ing after renovations is not
what the group is seeing.
“We have acquired $9 mil-
lion from PAT bank for the
renovations of the South
and North wings but the
returns from the renovations
are not bearing fruits as we
expected.
“But we are still in the pro-
cess of repaying the money
to the bank at the moment,”
he said.
He said this during a media
tour of the renovated wings.
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Wednesday 13 April 2016
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
Meikles occupancies dwindle on weak rand

2. “Particularly we invested
large amounts of money on
the refurbishment of the
hotel that by now we should
see more visitors coming to
the hotel.
“What have made the prob-
lem worse is the depreciation
of the rand has weakened the
South African market which
is our key source market
thus where our business
comes from traditionally,” he
said.
Mr Mpofu added that with
the weakening of the rand
the visitors coming into the
country using strong cur-
rency which is the United
States dollar presents
challenges on both business
people and tourists and thus
another dimension that we
must try and manage.
“In terms of where business
sits at the moment when we
compare with the same time
last year we are tracking by
the same suit, we haven’t
seen the growth that we
would like to see.
“Currently our occupancy is
about 30 to 34 percent at
the moment and we were
expecting something above
50 percent to be comforta-
ble,” he said.
Currently the group is tar-
geting to do another project
of renovating the other wing
of the hotel but the project is
being limited by the finished
projects which are being
affected by low level occu-
pancy and other challenges.
“As a country we need to
market the destination and
we are working together with
our regulatory authorities the
Ministry of Tourism and the
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
to try and support marketing
efforts to bring tourists and
visitors into the country.
“From our perspective as
Meikles what we have done
is that we have increased our
marketing and sales teams,
so we have recruited addi-
tional people so that we get
a big market on the ground
to try and ensure that our
marketing reach a wide audi-
ence,” he said.
This includes participation on
trade shows and international
trade fairs in the country
marketing the hotel.
“We are looking at how we
can promote domestic tour-
ism since the hotel business
is being currently affected by
the growth of the informal
sector,” he said.
Meikles Hospitality General
Manager Mr Tinashe Mujoma
added that the group is
looking at alternatives to
get back the South African
market.
“We want to put a structure
for South African visitors
which will benefit the hotel
due to rand depreciation at
the moment,” he said. ●
2 news
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3. BH24
TAA:DI251386-Y22
3

4. BH244

5. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE - – Dutch business sup-
port organisation, PUM, will this
year send 40 missions to Zimba-
bwe targeting to provide business
expertise to small-to-medium
enterprises in various sectors, the
Netherlands ambassador to Zim-
babwe Gera Sneller has said.
PUM, which was founded in 1978
by the Confederation of Nether-
lands Industry and Employers in
conjunction with the Dutch Min-
istry of Foreign Affairs promotes
entrepreneurship and sustainable
economic growth in developing
countries and emerging markets.
Speaking to BH24 on the sidelines
of the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding between PUM
and ZimTrade that will see the
former provide expertise to small
and medium-scale farmers in the
horticultural sector, Ambassador
Sneller said more missions to
Zimbabwe have been lined up for
this year
“Today’s MoU is about the agricul-
ture sector and how to improve
the value chain, but of course the
Zimbabwean economy is much
broader as is the Dutch economy,
so there are many experts within
other sectors that can come and
share their expertise in basically
any sector in Zimbabwe.
“The PUM representatives have
said they will easily hit the num-
ber of 40 missions this year, and 6
of them will be in the agricultural
sector with ZimTrade, but there
will be 34 others within many
different sectors,” she said.
“The PUM programme (with
Zimbabwe) started last year,
and there have already been 11
missions over the past months.
There are 16 that are already
on the books, but the others will
come soon.”
PUM’s senior experts are affiliated
to the Confederation of Nether-
lands Industry and Employers.
The scope of the Dutch organi-
sation covers numerous sectors,
including: building, construction
and trade; banking and insur-
ance; healthcare; food and
beverages production; chemical
and synthetic materials; metal
industry; paper and packaging;
trade; transport and logistics;
electro-technical industry and
engineering, tourism; textile and
leather and wood trade and pro-
cessing, among others.
Added Ambassador Sneller: “PUM
can assist Zimbabwe’s entre-
preneurs to go out there on the
international market because that
is what is so important for this
country.”
She said Zimbabwe can draw
lessons from Netherlands, which
has exports accounting for 30 per-
cent of its gross domestic product
(GDP), with the majority of these
exports coming from their SMEs.
Meanwhile, the ZimTrade-PUM
agreement is expected to boost
Zimbabwe’s horticultural exports,
especially into the European Union
market.
Zimbabwe’s horticultural exports
have decline to $23,5 million in
2014/2014 from a peak of $143
million in 1999/2000.●
Dutch business support organisation to send 40 missions to Zim
5 news

6. BH246

7. HARARE -A strong United
States currency is adversely
affecting Zimbabwean busi-
nesses as local products
cannot compete in export
markets, an expert said on
Tuesday.
Lighting products firm Euro-
lux regional manager Alan
Squirrell said this at an
exhibition that South Afri-
can based event organizers
Afritex held in the capital
which drew participants from
companies in the region
involved in electrical, instru-
mentation, renewable energy
and telecommunications.
Mr Squirrel said Zimbabwean
companies had difficulties
remaining competitive since
they used the US dollar to
import from Europe and
China.
“The US dollar does become
a factor when we talk about
exports. Businesses in Zim-
babwe use the currency to
bring in parts from China and
Europe for assembling which
naturally raises their costs of
production especially com-
pared to South Africa at the
moment,” he said.
He said the Expo provided an
opportunity for companies to
introduce themselves to new
markets and rid themselves
of negative perceptions.
“When we were organising
the event, some exhibitors
were saying there is not a
lot of business in Zimbabwe,
which is not the way to look
at business,” he said.
“Afritex gives a chance for
those in the industry to
expand and reach different
markets,” he said.
Mr Squirrel added: “This ini-
tiative gives new companies
a platform to find people
that would represent their
business and market their
products in Zimbabwe.”
Electro Mechanica sales rep-
resentative Maven Taripirwa
said local business had
suffered due to company clo-
sures in the manufacturing
sector.
“Since industry has been
closing down in the past two
years, we are feeling the
pinch as we rely on off-
site companies from China,
Europe and South Africa for
key implements,” he said.
Mr Taripira noted that gov-
ernment initiatives such as
the Zimbabwe Agenda for
Sustainable Socio-Economic
Transformation (ZimAsset)
had a positive impact on the
local industry.
Afritex will be staging fifteen
Technical Expos in eight
African countries this year
namely Botswana, Zambia,
Zimbabwe (in Harare and
Bulawayo), Malawi, Tanzania,
Kenya, Swaziland.
- New Ziana●
7 news
Zim exports suffering due to strong US currency

8. HARARE - The new Informa-
tion Communication Tech-
nology (ICT) Bill will be
brought to Parliament for
debate soon, as the country
moves to regulate the use of
internet, a Cabinet Minister
has said.
Information Community Tech-
nology, Postal and Courier
Services Minister Supa Man-
diwanzira told a Parliamen-
tary Portfolio Committee that
the ICT Bill, would among
other things, provide security
for local internet users who
at present are vulnerable to
hacking and cyber-bullying.
“We have people hacking into
your accounts and pretend-
ing to be you and sending
negative stuff elsewhere. We
are going to be addressing
these very soon.
“I share the concern that
we need urgency to have
these things passed through
Parliament and getting
approval,” he said.
Minister Mandiwanzira said
the ICT Bill is currently
before the Cabinet commit-
tee.
“Last week it was in commit-
tee of Cabinet, it is coming
again in two weeks within a
committee of Cabinet. Once
it is approved by Cabinet,
it will immediately come
through to Parliament.”
“Within the next 30 days
or so we should have made
some significant progress,”
he said.
The National ICT Policy is
expected to provide for,
among other things, the
establishment of national
information and communica-
tion technology authority,
national information and
communication technology
converged regulator and
e-government.
It also seeks to provide an
implementation medium to
bridge the technology gap
between Zimbabwe and other
countries.
The previous draft ICT Bill
hit a snag after it emerged
that some of its provisions
encroached into other Minis-
tries.
The proposed law will
establish a single regulatory
authority for the sector and
support the ICT Ministry’s
strategic plan for infrastruc-
ture investment and promo-
tion of e-business.
The current ICT policy that
the country is using was
crafted ten years ago and
is no longer in touch with
technological developments -
New Ziana●
8 news
ICT Bill to be taken to Parliament soon
Minister Mandiwanzira

9. HARARE - The mainstream
industrial index slid into
negative territory after a
mini-bullish run, going down
0.46 to settle at 98.01 in
today’s trades.
Cement producer PPC
dropped $0,0500 to
$0,6000, while SeedCo went
down $0,0499 to close at
$0,6000 as telecoms giant
Econet declined by $0,0045
to trade at $0,2555.
On the upside, insurer Old
Mutual rose by $0,0078 to
close at $2,2250, while Pro-
plastics gained $0,0055 to
settle at $0,0235 and bever-
ages maker Delta increased
by $0,0012 to $0,5712.
Also featuring in the black
was Meikles, which gained
a marginal $0,0004 to trade
at $0,0726.
The mining index was steady
at 20.16 as Bindura, Fal-
gold, Hwange and RioZim all
maintained previous price
levels at $0,0102, $0,0050,
$0,0300 and $0,1100
respectively
- BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE9
Equities buck bullish run

10. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Proplastics 30.55 2.35 Econet -1.73 25.55
Innscor 0.68 19.13 PPC -7.69 60.00
Meikles 0.55 7.26 SeedCo -7.67 60.00
Old Mutual 0.35 222.50
Delta 0.21 57.12
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 98.47 98.01 +0.46 points +0.47%
Mining 20.16 20.16 +0.00 points +0.00%
10 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange
Previous
today

11. 11 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
13 April 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 446 MW
Kariba 453 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 13 MW
Bulawayo 22 MW
Imports 0 - 320 MW
Total 1300 MW
• Upcoming AGM - Falgold, KPMG Building, Corner 14th Avenue/Josiah Tongogara Street, Bulawayo,13 April, 1000hrs
• 26th April 2016 - The Fifty-Sixth Annual General Meeting of the shareholders of British American Tobacco Zimbabwe (Hold-
ings) Limited; Place: British American Tobacco Zimbabwe Offices, 1 Manchester Road, Southerton, Harare; Time: 10.00 hours...
• 05 May 2016 - Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe AGM; Place: Meikles Mirabelle Room; Time: 1500hrs
THE BH24 DIARY

12. JOHANNESBURG -South
Africa's rand weakened
against the dollar on
Wednesday as support from
an emerging market rally
ran out of steam, although
positive Chinese trade data
limited the local currency's
losses.
At 0718 GMT, the rand traded
at 14,7500 versus the dollar,
0,3 percent weaker than
Tuesday's New York close.
Prior to Wednesday's retreat,
the rand had notched three
straight gains against the
greenback, as a firmer oil
price boosted emerging mar-
ket currencies.
The rand's losses on Wednes-
day were offset by surpris-
ingly strong trade data from
China, a key commodity
consumer.
"Dollar/rand is caught
between the positive of the
commodity prices and the
negative of the (stronger)
dollar," said Rand Merchant
Bank currency strategist
John Cairns.
"The good Chinese trade data
will spur some rand gains
but the dollar bounce implies
dollar/rand may not be able
to break the key 14,62 level.
Analysts at Standard Bank
said in a note the rand
would likely find support
at 14,6000 and resistance
around 14,80/85.
Elsewhere in South African
markets, government bonds
strengthened slightly, with
the yield for the benchmark
instrument due in 2026
dipping 1.5 basis points to
9,085 percent.
On the stock market, the
Top-40 index was up 1,4
percent in early trade, while
the all-share index rose 1,3
percent. - Reuters●
regioNAL News12
Rand slips, Chinese data limits losses

13. Oil extended declines from
the highest level in more
than four months as specu-
lation swirled over the likely
outcome of a meeting by
major suppliers to discuss
freezing output. US industry
data showed crude stockpiles
expanded last week.
Futures slid as much as 2,2
percent in New York after
climbing 13 percent the
previous three sessions.
Iran’s oil minister Bijan Nam-
dar Zanganeh won’t attend
the gathering of producers
in Doha on April 17 and
will instead send a repre-
sentative, Seda reporter
Reza Zandi said in a Twit-
ter posting. Kremlin press
secretary Dmitry Peskov said
he still sees hope in a deal
to cap production regardless
of Iran’s position, follow-
ing a conversation between
the Russian Energy Minister
Alexander Novak and his
Saudi counterpart.
US inventories rose by 6,2
million barrels last week, the
American Petroleum Institute
was said to report. Gov-
ernment data Wednesday is
forecast to show they gained
1 million barrels, keeping
supplies near the highest
since 1930.
“It is likely that the Doha
resolution has already been
agreed to,” said Olivier
Jakob, managing director
at consultants Petromatrix
GmbH. “The core idea of a
freeze is to let supply and
demand work some stock
draws.”
Oil has rebounded after
slumping to the lowest level
in more than 12 years amid
signs a global glut will ease
as U.S. production declines.
Saudi Arabia said it will
agree to a freeze only if it’s
joined by other suppliers
including Iran, while Kuwait
said a deal can be done
without Tehran’s support. At
least 16 nations will gather
in Doha on Sunday to discuss
keeping output at January
levels.
West Texas Intermediate for
May delivery fell as much as
93 cents to $41,24 a barrel
on the New York Mercantile
Exchange and was at $41,54
at 10:04 a.m. London time.
The contract gained $1,81
to $42,17 on Tuesday, the
highest settlement since Nov.
25. Total volume traded was
about 15 percent above the
100-day average.
US Supplies
Brent for June settlement
lost as much as 93 cents, or
2,1 percent, to $43,76 a bar-
rel on the London-based ICE
Futures Europe exchange.
The global benchmark crude
was at a $1,35 premium to
WTI for June.
Crude stockpiles at Cushing,
Oklahoma, the delivery point
for WTI and the biggest US
oil-storage hub, declined by
1,9 million barrels last week,
the API said Tuesday, accord-
ing to two people familiar the
figures. Nationwide supplies
are at 529,9 million barrels,
near the highest level since
April 1930, according to data
from the Energy Information
Administration.
. - Bloomberg●
internatioNAL News13
Oil extends losses as speculation swirls over Doha output talks

14. Economic activity in Sub-Sa-
haran Africa slowed in 2015,
with GDP growth averaging
3 percent, down from 4,5
percent in 2014. This means
that the pace of expansion
decelerated to the lows last
seen in 2009.
These figures are outlined
in Africa’s Pulse, the World
Bank’s twice-yearly analysis
of economic trends and latest
data for the region.
The 2016 growth forecast
remains subdued at 3,3 per-
cent, way below the robust
6,8 percent growth in GDP
that the region sustained in
the 2003-2008 period. Over-
all, growth is projected to
pick up in 2017-2018 to 4,5
percent.
The plunge in commodity
prices – particularly oil,
which fell 67 percent from
June 2014 to December
2015 – and weak global
growth, especially in emerg-
ing market economies, are
behind the region’s lacklus-
ter performance. In sev-
eral instances, the adverse
impact of lower commodity
prices was compounded by
domestic conditions such as
electricity shortages, pol-
icy uncertainty, drought,
and security threats, which
stymied growth. There
were some bright spots
where growth continued to
be robust such as in Côte
d’Ivoire, which saw a favora-
ble policy environment and
rising investment, as well as
oil importers such as Kenya,
Rwanda, and Tanzania.
The external environment
confronting the region is
expected to remain difficult.
In a number of countries,
policy buffers are weaker,
constraining these countries’
policy response. Delays in
implementing adjustments
to the drop in revenues
from commodity exports and
worsening drought condi-
tions present risks to Africa’s
growth prospects.
“As countries adjust to a
more challenging global envi-
ronment, stronger efforts to
increase domestic resource
mobilization will be needed.
With the trend of falling com-
modity prices, particularly oil
and gas, it is time to accel-
erate all reforms that will
unleash the growth potential
of Africa and provide afforda-
ble electricity for the African
people,” says Makhtar Diop,
World Bank Vice President for
Africa.
Several countries are
expected to see moderate
growth. Among frontier mar-
kets, growth is expected to
edge up in Ghana, driven by
improving investor senti-
ment, the launch of new oil-
fields, and the easing of the
electricity crisis. In Kenya,
growth is expected to remain
robust, supported by pri-
vate consumption and public
infrastructure investment.
The projected pickup in
activity in 2017-2018 reflects
a gradual improvement in the
14 analysis14 analysis
Africa: Low commodity prices continue to impede growth

15. 15 analysis15 analysis
region’s largest economies –
Angola, Nigeria, and South
Africa – as commodity prices
stabilize and growth-enhanc-
ing reforms are implemented.
African Cities as Engines
of Growth
As Africa undergoes rapid
urban growth, there is a win-
dow of opportunity to har-
ness the potential of cities as
engines of economic growth.
The rapid decline in oil
and commodity prices has
adversely affected resource-
rich countries and signaled
an urgent need for economic
diversification in Africa.
Urbanization and well man-
aged cities provide a major
opportunity to offer a spring-
board for diversification.
The growth of cities, when
well managed, can spur
economic growth and pro-
ductivity. But African cities
are currently not delivering
agglomeration economies or
reaping urban productivity
benefits. Instead they suffer
from high housing and trans-
port costs, in addition to the
high cost of food that takes
up a large share of urban
household budgets.
Housing and transport are
particularly costly in urban
Africa. Housing prices are
about 55 percent higher in
urban areas of African coun-
tries relative to their income
levels.
Urban transport, which
includes prices of vehicles
and transport services,
is about 42 percent more
expensive in African cities
than cities in other countries.
Like households and workers,
firms also face high urban
costs.
Cross-country analysis
confirms that manufactur-
ing firms in African cities
pay higher wages in nominal
terms than urban firms in
other countries at compara-
ble development levels.
To build cities that work–cit-
ies that are livable, con-
nected, and affordable,
and therefore economically
dense–policy makers will
need to direct attention
toward the deeper structural
problems that misallocate
land, fragment development,
and limit productivity.
“To ensure growth and social
development, cities need
to become less costly for
firms and more appealing to
investors,” says Punam Chu-
han-Pole, Acting Chief Econ-
omist, World Bank Africa and
the report’s author. “They
must also become kinder to
residents, offering services,
amenities. All of this will
require reforming urban land
markets and urban regula-
tions and coordinating early
infrastructure investment.”
Terms of trade
Commodity price drops have
lowered Africa’s terms of
trade in 2016 by an esti-
mated 16 percent, with
commodity exporters seeing
large terms-of-trade losses.
Across the region in 2016,
the impact of this shock is
expected to lower economic
activity by 0,5 percent from
the baseline, and to weaken
the current account and fis-
cal balance by about 4 and 2
percentage points below the
baseline, respectively.
Moving Forward
Sub-Saharan Africa coun-
tries will continue to face low
and volatile prices in global
commodity markets. Gov-
ernments must take steps to
adjust to a new, lower level
of commodity prices, address
economic vulnerabilities, and
develop new sources of sus-
tainable, inclusive growth.
Africa’s growing urban
centers offer a springboard
for diversification. But they
need better institutions
for effective planning and
coordination that can raise
urban economic density and
productivity, and spur the
region’s transformation. -
World Bank●