A digital copy of the Business News 24 (23 June 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.

1. News Update as @ 1530 hours, Monday 23 June 2014
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
By Elita Chikwati
Government is contemplating re-intro-
ducing the price control measure on
grains to protect farmers from middle-
men who are offering unviable prices
for maize and small grains.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irriga-
tion Development Minister Dr Joseph
Made said some buyers were offer-
ing farmers as low as $200 per tonne
because they were offering cash.
“Iamweighingthepossibilitiesofre-in-
voking the price control measure. Cab-
inet approved a floor price of $390 for
maize and small grains and that is the
price that should be used by all people
buying from farmers. No one should
offer less.
“It is unacceptable and I am warning
buyers against taking advantage of
farmers or else I will be left with no
option but to re-invoke the price con-
trol,” he said.
Hesaidsomefarmersweresellingtheir
grain at low prices out of desperation.
“I want to tell farmers that it should be
their choice to sell maize at low prices
as the set price is $390. In the interest
of the Strategic Grain Reserve, I urge
farmers to deliver their grain to the
Grain Marketing Board since Cabinet
has been assured by Finance Minister
Patrick Chinamasa that he is mobilising
funds to pay farmers,” he said.
Made also ordered the GMB to speed
up the setting of mobile grain pur-
chasing units in farming areas espe-
cially in remote areas where farmers
were being approached by middlemen
because as a an entity, GMB should
save people.
He said some of the middlemen were
buying grain from farmers to later sell
at the GMB where prices were high.
Small scale farmers in remote areas
where there are no banking facilities
will be paid in cash.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union
president Walter Chabikwa said it was
disturbing that farmers were being
exploited by middlemen.
“Farmers are in desperate need of cash
for school fees and food and buyers
are trapping them by offering instant
cash. Maybe the control of prices was
removed prematurely,” he said.
Government liberalised the marketing
of maize in 2009. Initially the GMB had
the sole mandate of buying grain from
farmers to ensure adequate stocks of
the strategic grain reserve.
Currently private buyers compete with
GMB to buy grain from farmers. The
parastatal takes long to pay and farm-
ers end up selling their crop at give
away prices. •
Govt mulling price control measures on grains

2. By Tawanda Musarurwa
Construction and building materials
firm Turnall Holdings' diversification
strategy has come to fruition today
with the official launch of the compa-
ny's new product - the Ravenna con-
crete tiles and pavers.
Additionally, the company has indi-
cated plans to scale up its Galvanised
Corrugated Iron Sheets business. The
new cement products business is a
significant shift from the company's
traditional business of asbestos prod-
ucts, fibre cement proofing, piping and
accessories.
Turnall chairman Herbert Nkala said
the company will benefit from the
"expanded revenue streams". "In addi-
tion to our traditional AC business, we
are now active in concrete roofing and
paving products, and we will soon be
scaling up our game in galvanised cor-
rugated iron sheets and IBR to offer
themarketacompleteroofingcovering
solution," he said.
Nkala said the coming on stream of
the concrete roofing tiles and pavers
represented new revenue streams for
the business and their contribution to
the business performance would be
strongly felt during the current financial
year. The decision by Turnall manage-
ment to diversify into the concrete tiles
business was necessitated by - among
other things - the bans of asbestos by
South Africa and Mozambique in 2008.
The two countries were the company's
largest traditional export markets.
Management now expects to aggres-
sively pursue regional market devel-
opments by offering the full range of
non-asbestos products.
On the local market, Turnall marketing
director Caleb Musonza said "the order
book has been very encouraging".
Musonza said to date they had roofed 1
000 houses since August last year.
The new plant, which was installed at a
cost of $2,5 million, has the capacity to
produce 45 000 tiles a day is expected
to go a long way to cater to the local
concrete tiles market, which - prior
to the establishment of Turnall's new
factory - had a projected supply gap of
around 10 million tiles per year.
Government has commended Tur-
nall for diversifying and reiterated its
commitment to improve the business
operating environment. Said Industry
and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha:
"Government is aware of the difficult
business environment that is prevail-
ing in the country. We are aware of the
tight liquidity position in the market,
the limited lines of credit, the inconsist-
ent power supplies among a plethora
of challenges that have contributed to
the retardation of industrial recovery
and growth.
"However, as Government we are
working tirelessly to address these
challenges." •
2 NEWS
Turnall scales up diversification

3. BH24

4. By Kay Kaseke
A high-powered delegation from the
Eastern and Southern Africa Trade and
Development Bank (PTA Bank) will this
week tour the country in a fact-finding
mission aimed at financially assisting
distressed companies.
Africa Corporate Advisors managing
director Mike Nyamazana said officials
from the PTA Bank arrive in the coun-
try tomorrow and were scheduled to
tour a number of companies in Harare
before proceeding to Bulawayo.
He said the financial institution had tar-
geted to issue out loans on a minimum
threshold of $5 million to the country’s
struggling large firms.
PTA Bank provides project and infra-
structure finance and trade finance as
its core products and services.
“The bank is meant to advance
regional economic integration and
growth through trade and investment
and also promote the development
of infrastructure, exports and enter-
prises in member States. All they
require is a summary of the project for
the company to qualify for the loan,”
Nyamazana said.
He said efforts were under way to
ensure that the financial institution
extended its funding facility to Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
“They are currently targeting big com-
panies since their minimum loans are
$5 million. The amount is just too
much as most of the businesses espe-
cially SMEs are not making that much
but need loans to improve production,”
Nyamazana said.
“They are directly giving the loans
to the companies that have projects
worth $5 million and above, only a
few companies in the country currently
have projects amounting to that run-
ning,” he said.
Association for Business in Zimbabwe
chief executive officer Lucky Mlilo said
there were a number of companies in
Bulawayo and the country as a whole
in dire need of recapitalisation and
the loan facility would go a long way
towards improving production at these
entities.
“The pledge by PTA Bank is a good
move. We hope it will benefit a number
of companies. For instance, there are a
number of companies especially in the
foundry sector that might make use of
this facility.
“We also hope that they will take pro-
posals from the clothing and textile
industry because most of the compa-
nies need capital injection of such a
nature,”Mlilosaid.―SundayNews•
4 NEWS
PTA Bank delegation on Zim fact-finding mission
Mr Nyamazana

5. AdM-DI156506-
BH24

6. 6 TECHNOLOGY
Telecel introduces Whatsapp bundles
Netone targets increased subscribers
BH24 Reporter
Telecel has improved its broadband
services with an introduction of their
own WhatsApp bundles, three weeks
after Econet introduced the same ser-
vice.
Priced for daily, weekly or monthly
unlimited access the WhatsApp service
allow subscribers to chat and share
videos, voice notes and files with peo-
ple on any network without having to
worry about running out of data. “The
WhatsApp bundles allow unlimited
messaging. Even if the ordinary data
has been used up, it will still be possible
to use WhatsApp,” said Telecel market-
ing Director Octivius Kahiya. The daily
bundle is set at 29 cents, the weekly
bundle costs 89 cents and the monthly
bundle is set at $2,85.
Telecel is likely to experience the same
success with the new service as Econet
has since introducing these Whatsapp
bundles.
The number of people using social
media has been growing incessantly
and mobile operators have been devis-
ing ways to tap into that potential
revenue. That they will be successful
is guaranteed considering that Zimba-
bwe’s internet penetration rate is now
sitting at 40 percent, one of the highest
in Africa. •
State owned mobile services provider,
NetOne,istargetingtoincreaseitssub-
scriber base to three million people by
the end of this year, an official said on
Monday.
NetOne has been lagging behind its
competitors, Econet and Telecel, in
terms of attracting subscribers and
upgrading network infrastructure due
to financial constraints.
Chief executive officer Reward Kangai
told the Parliamentary Portfolio Com-
mittee on Information Communication
Technology that the firm currently has
between 2,7 and 2, 8 million subscrib-
ers. “We are targeting three million
subscribers by December 2014. I think
we are on course to meet that target,”
he said.
Kangai said products such as One Wal-
let, which allows customers to access
crucial services including purchasing
electricity units as well as provision of
various data and voice services promo-
tions, would drive subscriber growth.
“We have already put on order an addi-
tional one million simcards so that we
do not have any shortages.”
He said due to the envisaged growth,
the company was also targeting to
increase its network capacity to cater
for six million subscribers by the end
of the year.
Kangai, however, said the firm was fac-
ing various challenges in its efforts to
increase network coverage. ― New
Ziana •

7. By Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Tobacco sales have continued to
increase, though marginally, despite
the announcement that auction floors
will close early this season. Accord-
ing to latest figures from the Tobacco
Industry and Marketing Board, 198
million killogrammes of tobacco worth
$629,8 million have so far been sold.
This is a 14 percent increase from $552
million sold at the same time last year.
This season was characterised by slow
deliveries and low prices for auction
tobacco while contract tobacco fetched
higher prices. As a result, TIMB last
week issued a statement announcing
the end of the2014 flue-cured tobacco
selling season instead of the usual
month of July. However, contract sales
will remain open until further notice
since deliveries are still pouring in at
contract floors.
According to TIMB, more than 149 mil-
lion kg worth $496,3 million have so far
been delivered to contract floors while
auction floors have only managed to
purchase 49million kg worth $133,5
million. The average price for contract
tobacco was $3,33 per kg and $2,73
for auction tobacco. Since the begin-
ning of the season, 2,5 million bales
have been sold at all floors, a 24 per-
cent increase from last year’s figure of
1,9 million bales. A total of 129 344
bales were rejected.
Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) received a
total of 24,8 million kgs worth $70 mil-
lion. At least 386 203 bales were laid at
TSF and of this figure, 345 971 bales
were sold while more than 40 000
bales were rejected.
Boka auction floors received 12,3 mil-
lion kg of tobacco worth $31,89 million.
At least 206 849 bales were laid and
181 718 bales sold. Almost 25 131
bales were rejected.
Premier received close to 12 million kg
worth $32 million. The number of bales
laid amounted to 198 585of which
172 940 were sold and 25 645 were
rejected. This season, tobacco sales
are expected to reach 200 million kg
from last year’s 166 million kg. •
Zimbabwean clothing giant Power
Sales has scaled down operations in
the southern Africa nation as the eco-
nomic crunch bites even harder, saying
it has shut-down more than 25 cloth-
ing shops due to increased flooding of
cheap Chinese goods in the local cloth-
ing industry.
“The prevailing economic condi-
tions have caused the closure of our
non-profitable stores in Zimbabwe. As
a result, the company embarked on
a downsizing exercise operation that
has seen us shedding non-performing
stores off,” said Power Sales spokes-
man Fanuel Mahachi.
Cheap substandard Chinese products
have flooded the Zimbabwe clothing
market in past recent years under the
country’s government’s Look East pol-
icy. Under Look East policy most Zim-
babwe companies are encouraged to
trade more with countries in Asia and
Middle East than the western world.
This has seen several clothing com-
panies shutting down due to viability
problems, throwing over 20,000 work-
ers onto the streets, according to a
report by labour federation, the Zimba-
bwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
and a non-governmental organisa-
tion, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and
Development titled “De-industrialisa-
tioninZimbabwe.-VenturesAfrica•
NEWS7
Power Sales closes 25 clothing shops amidst heightened Chinese competition
Tobacco season to end on high note

8. The equities market has started the
week sustaining the bullish trend that
has characterised trading on the mar-
ket over the past three weeks.
The gains reflect growing investor con-
fidence as the Government has been
making concerted efforts to revive
bi-lataral and multi-lateral ties. The
market was up 0.34 percent following
today's trades. The industrial index
gained 0.63 points to close at 188.03
points on the back of positive perfor-
mances by key heavyweight counters.
Cigarrete manufacturer BAT was up
15 cents to 1 250 cents. Other heav-
yweights, giant beverages producer
Delta and conglomerate Innscor both
pushed up 0.99 cents each to settle at
125 cents and 81 cents, respectively.
Mash rose 0.10 cents to 2.40 cents,
while Old Mutual went up 0.01 cents
to 260.01 cents. In the negative, Nat-
foods retreated 5 cents to 210 cents
and seed producer SeedCo lost 0.21
cents to trade at 71 cents. The mining
index was flat at 59.00 points as Bind-
ura bucked its positive streak to trade
at Friday's levels.
Similarly, Falgold, Hwange and RioZim
maintained previous trading levels —
BH24 Reporter •
8 ZSE REVIEW
Equities begin week on high note

9. The move by Government to penal-
ise permanent secretaries and
heads of parastatals who approve
overspending and diversion of
funds allocated to their ministries
and entities in the budget is wel-
come.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs Deputy Minister Fortune
Chasi last week said Government
would enforce the regulations
either through amendment of the
Public Finance Management Act or
introduction of a new Act in line
with Section 308 of the new Con-
stitution.
This is a step in the right direc-
tion for our Government which has
been inundated by numerous inci-
dents of misappropriation of funds
in an economy struggling under
unyielding liquidity challenges.
With revenue collection struggling
to meet targets, any indiscipline
with money is felt throughout the
economy.
Over the years the Comptroller
and Auditor-General’s Office has
unearthed massive irregularities
and misappropriation of funds run-
ning into millions of dollars by min-
istries and Government entities.
But no one has ever been brought
to book over such indiscipline.
So it is high time Government
comes down heavily on those who
waste money on non-essentials to
eliminate poor financial manage-
ment and ‘massive leakages’ in
procurement.
Millions of dollars that can be used
for other worthy purposes will be
saved.
Having said that, it is also worth
mentioning that expenditure is
also being weighed down by a huge
wage bill that government carries.
Civil servants’ salaries account for
75 percent of total expenditure
and there is urgent need to work
on ways to reduce this bill or else it
will keep rising. The recent salary
increase awarded to civil servants
has already made a dent on the
purse as government was in deficit
for the month of April.
Total expenditure was at $1,12 bil-
lion, a figure below the budgeted
$1,17 billion with employment
costs up to a cumulative $671,07
million.
The increase, though welcomed by
the employees, led to an increase
in Government debt as a result of
$40 million loans taken in April.
What this means is that Govern-
ment will have to keep borrowing
to pay salaries every month.
The only way to reduce the wage
bill will be to reduce the workforce.
But this will not happen since it
means an increase in the already
high rate of unemployment.
The other option is to reduce sala-
ries but it will not work considering
that the cost of living is too high
for most Zimbabweans to sustain
themselves on their salaries.
Although Government finds itself
in this catch-22 situation, they still
need to find a way out of this pre-
dicament.
Revenue streams need to go up
and the expenditure needs to go
down. Only then can we feel the
effects of the new regulations on
budget overruns. •
9 BH24 COMMENT
Fiscal discipline measures a step in the right direction
Programme and Duration Entry Requirements
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University of Zimbabwe
P.O. Box MP 167
Mount Pleasant, HARARE
Email: admissions@admin.uz.ac.zw
Tel: 04 303211 ext 11116/11181/11112
You can also download our application form from
www.uz.ac.zw and enclose the application fee.
Internationals. Only cash will be accepted.
Faculty of Commerce The closing date for receipt of application forms is 20th June,
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Masters in Accountancy (MACC) (3yrs P/T) A first degree in Accounting or upon payment of a late application fee of US$70.related field with a 2.1 or
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Applications and further information
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UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE
POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES: AUGUST 2014 INTAKE
AdM-DI155882-C7
Applications are invited for the following programmes commencing in August 2014:

10. BH24

11. The Labour Court has ruled in favour
of gold mining companies AngloGold
Ashanti, Harmony Gold and Sibanye
Gold, making permanent an interim
order preventing the Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union
(AMCU) from embarking on strike
action at some of the companies’
operations.
AMCU had, in January, served strike
notices detailing its intent to strike
at Sibanye’s Driefontein mine, Har-
mony’s Kusaselethu and Masimong
mines, and AngloGold Ashanti’s
South African operations.
The strike was called in respect of
the 2013 wage negotiations that
were concluded on September 10,
when a two-year wage agreement
was reached with the National Union
of Mineworkers, Uasa and Solidarity,
which represented 72% of employees
at that time.
Following the issue of the AMCU strike
notices, the Chamber of Mines (CoM),
acting on behalf of the companies,
made an application to the Labour
Court to declare any strike action by
AMCU on wages and other conditions
of service unprotected.
The Labour Court had initially granted
the interim order preventing a strike
by the union’s members on January
30.
The gold producers, represented by
the CoM, on Monday welcomed the
ruling by the Labour Court, which
made this interdict permanent. “The
decision brings certainty about the
binding nature of the 2013 wage
agreement, which is in the best inter-
est of employees, the industry and
our country. Historically, the gold
industry has always conducted wage
negotiations at a centralised level and
the process has always been inclusive
and fair. “Going forward, we will con-
tinue to bargain in good faith with the
elected representatives of employ-
ees,” CoM chief negotiator Dr Elize
Strydom said speaking on behalf of
the affected gold producers.
Solidarity welcomed the Labour
Court's ruling and appealed to AMCU
to act in the best interests of its mem-
bers and the mining industry at large,
by preventing shafts from being sab-
otaged, as was the case when a simi-
lar provisional injunction was granted
by the Labour Court earlier this year.
“The court ruling will prevent the
damage to the mining industry from
spreading further than the devas-
tating platinum strike.― Mining-
Weekly •
11 REGIONAL News
Labour Court rules in favour of gold miners in AMCU strike case
enjoy the CAIO ride!

12. 12 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
23 June 2014
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 485 MW
Kariba 750 MW
Harare 45 MW
Munyati 27 MW
Bulawayo -- MW
Imports 55 MW
Total 1362 MW
26 June - Pioneer 44th Annual
General Meeting of Sharehold-
ers, Venue: Pioneer Corporation
Africa Limited Boardroom, Corner
Hood/Hermes Roads, Southerton,
Harare, Time: 10:00 hrs
26 June - Masimba Holdings
Limited Thirty-Ninth Annual
General Meeting of Mem-
bers for the period ended 31
December 2013, Place: 44 Til-
bury Road, Willowvale, Harare,
Zimbabwe, Time: 12:00
30 June - TA Holdings 79th
Annual General Meeting of the
ordinary members Venue: Miti
Room, Sango Conference Centre,
Cresta Lodge, Harare, Time: 1400
hours
30 June - ZIMRE 16th Annual
General Meeting of members,
Venue: NICOZDIAMOND Audito-
rium, 7th Floor Insurance Centre,
30 Samora Machel Avenue, Time:
1230 hours
THE BH24 DIARY

13. BH24

14. 14 zse
ZSE
Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Mash 4.35% 2.40 Natfoods -2.33% 210.00
Innscor 1.24% 81.00 SeedCo -0.29% 71.00
BAT 1.21% 1,250.00 Dawn Properties 2.30 0.05
Barclays 1.08% 3.75
Delta 0.80% 125.00
Old Mutual 0.00% 260.01
Indices
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 187.40 188.03 +0.63 points +0.34%
Mining 59.00 59.00 +0.00 points +0.00%
Stocks Exchange

15. 15 AFRICA StockS
Botswana 8,664.65 -11.96 -0.14% 12July
Cote dIvoire 246.37 +2.18 +0.89% 07Mar
Egypt 7,949.60 -75.68 -0.94% 06Mar
Ghana 2,356.80 +2.31 +0.10% 20June
Kenya 4,825.52 +28.10 +0.59% 20June
Malawi 12,662.47 +0.00 +0.00% 07Mar
Mauritius 2,074.51 -3.51 -0.17% 07Mar
Morocco 9,544.10 +21.01 +0.22% 07Mar
Nigeria 41,129.29 +60.36 +0.15% 20June
Rwanda 131.27 +0.00 +0.00% 24Oct
Tanzania 2,018.97 +25.40 +1.27% 07Mar
Tunisia 4,624.39 -39.32 -0.84% 07Mar
Uganda 1,503.90 +0.81 +0.05% 10Sep
Zambia 4,242.74 +14.95 +0.35% 10April
Zimbabwe 187.40 +2.54 +1.37% 20June
African stock round up Commodity Prices
Name Price
Crude Oil 1,300.91 -0.21%
Spot Gold USD/oz 1,292.63 -0.26%
Spot Silver USD/oz 19.38 -0.46%
Spot Platinum USD/oz 1,421.25 -0.33%
Spot Palladium USD/oz 798.50 -0.64%
LME Copper USD/t 6,770 -0.18%
LME Aluminium USD/t 1,780 -1.17%
LME Nickel USD/t 18,230 -1.73%
LME Lead USD/t 2,095 -1.41%
Quote of the day —"The secret
of success is consistency
of purpose." - Benjamin Dis-
raeliGlobalshareholder.com

16. BH24

17. BNP Paribas SA (BNP) is close to an
agreement to plead guilty and pay $8
billion to $9 billion to settle allegations
it violated US sanctions, according to a
person familiar with the negotiations.
The French bank intentionally hid
transactions amounting to about
$30 billion that violated US sanctions
against countries including Iran and
Sudan, said the person, who asked not
to be identified because the discussions
are confidential. Paris-based BNP Par-
ibas will probably plead guilty in early
July to a criminal charge of conspiring
to violate the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, the person said.
Terms of a settlement aren’t final,
although the two sides have reached
a broad agreement in principle, said
the person. Leslie Caldwell, head of
the Justice Department’s criminal divi-
sion, and bank officials spoke on June
20 about the potential resolution, the
person said.
Cesaltine Gregorio, a BNP Paribas
spokeswoman in New York, declined
to comment. Brian Fallon, a Justice
Department spokesman, didn’t imme-
diately return an e-mail message seek-
ing comment after normal business
hours. The Wall Street Journal reported
thebroadsettlementtermsearlier.BNP
Paribas would be temporarily banned
from handling transactions in U.S. dol-
lars, probably for a matter of months,
and would announce departures of
more than 30 employees, many of
whom already have left, the newspa-
per said.
BNP, which is France’s largest bank, fell
0.8 percent to 50.76 euros at 10:44
a.m. in Paris, extending the stock’s
decline this year to 10 percent.―
Bloomberg •
17 INTERNATIONAL NEWS
BNP said close to $9 billion sanctions accord with US
Analysis
#AFRICA – Inside the continent’s new $14bn social media industry
A decade ago, most Africans would
never have thought that an individual
could bring a corporation to its knees
in just 140 characters. But in June
2012, Japheth Omojuwa, an econo-
mist by training who has become a
prominent Nigerian political advocate
and social media personality, went
to battle over an iPad lost on a flight
with Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest indige-
nous airline. Omojuwa won. Like David
fighting Goliath, he used a simple and
underestimated tool – launching the
“#ArikWhereIsMyIpad” trend from one
of his social media platforms – a Twitter
account with over 100,000 followers.
Other Arik Air passengers sympathetic
tohisplightusedthesamehashtag(#)
to narrate their own experiences losing
valuables onboard Arik Air flights. The
resulting social media campaign dam-
aged the airline’s reputation and ulti-
mately led the company to suspend its
Twitter account. “It eventually became
popular offline but it was because it
became such a dominant campaign
on social media,” said Omojuwa of his
efforts.
Social media – a set of internet-based
applications and websites that allow
users to communicate directly with
friends and strangers alike – are
increasingly changing the way business
is conducted in Africa. Social media is
modifying the way businesses relate
to each other and their customers in
areas from customer relations to entre-
preneurship, content development
and marketing. Their impact on the
African economic resurgence narrative

18. has been nothing short of exponen-
tial. “Lions go digital: The Internet’s
transformative potential in Africa,” a
2013 report by McKinsey & Company,
places the continent’s iGDP – or inter-
net contribution to GDP – at $18 bil-
lion. According to the 2014 “Emerging
NationsEmbraceInternet,MobileTech-
nology” report by the Pew Research
Global Attitudes Project, approximately
78 percent of internet usage in Africa
is for social media. This lays the foun-
dation for Africa’s estimated $14-billion
social media industry. With the internet
expected to contribute a minimum of
$300 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2025,
social media could contribute almost
$230 billion to Africa’s remarkable
growth by that time.
The internet has witnessed a sustained
increase in adoption rates in Africa,
with penetration currently pegged at
16 percent and more than 167 mil-
lion active users across the continent.
“Broadband capacity has probably
quadrupled, in the last five years,” said
Obi Asika, founder of Dragon Africa,
and CEO of Storm 360, a Nigerian
entertainment company. He attributed
most of the increase in internet access
to an influx of new and better mobile
technologies. “Mobile internet access
is now really what’s the key driver,” he
said. But Asika considers the inflection
point for the adoption of social media in
Africa difficult to pinpoint. “You have to
go back to Nairaland, back to the early
chat rooms,” he said, naming a Red-
dit-like online community founded by
Nigerian Seun Osewa in 2005.
For a continent that has experienced
its fair share of censorship and surveil-
lance during long periods of rule by dic-
tatorships and military regimes, social
media is a refreshing and important
tool. Said Tolu Ogunlesi, a renowned
Nigerian political commentator and
journalist with over 61,000 follow-
ers on Twitter: “In the early 90s, the
government took control of almost
everything, but now social media has
changed everything. People have been
able to speak up and pursue causes
against governments.”
#Reshaping Engagements
That social media has become a pow-
erful tool for political and social causes
became obvious in Egypt and Tunisia
during the Arab Spring and during
the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests. But
African businesses and brands have
also taken note of the communica-
tive power and increased reach social
media can give them. “I think social
media is simply new forms of engage-
ment by individuals and brands and
organisations creating and utilising
technology to create new platforms for
engagement and to share,” explained
Asika.
Michelle Atagana, the editor of Meme-
burn, one of South Africa’s leading
tech blogs, believes that social media
in Africa grew in influence alongside
blogging. “For Africans, in terms of
getting online, I would say maybe in
early 2004 and 2006, that was the
emergence of blogging,” she said. “If
you want a magic period, I’ll say 2008
to 2009.”
Jumia is the leading e-commerce
business in Africa, with operations in
Nigeria (Africa’s largest economy),
Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and Cote
d’Ivoire. Social media networks gen-
erate 20 percent of Jumia’s daily traf-
fic. “Because e-commerce was a new
idea, we needed a platform that would
spread the word quickly, where people
would hear and learn about it quickly,
so we used social media to do that,”
Opeyemi Adetomiwa, one of the online
retailer’s social media representatives,
explained. “At the beginning, people
did not really know about e-commerce
but through social media, we were able
to increase traffic and awareness about
the brand, thereby increasing sales
too.” Other e-commerce start-ups such
as Konga and Kaymu have also used
the strategy. Despite Africa’s relatively
low internet penetration, these online
operators are now competing with
brick-and-mortar retailers.
Even financial institutions such as First
National Bank (FNB) – one of South
Africa’s largest banks – and Nigeria’s
Guaranty Trust Bank are also rolling
out technology- driven services on
social media.
Guaranty Trust Bank, arguably one of
the best-known brands in Africa and
one of Nigeria’s larger banks, has lev-
eraged social media networks to reach
out to potential customers. In 2013,
the bank launched its social banking
platform, which enables access to ser-
vices like opening and managing an
account via Facebook. In the same
vein, South Africa’s FNB has exploited
the widespread usage of Mxit, a
South-Africa-based instant messaging
network with over seven million active
users. - Ventures Africa •
18 Analysis

19. AnalysisBH24

20. When Zesa announced its 2014
winter load-shedding programme
(it sounds so normal now doesn't
it?) Mobster couldn't help but
notice one critical statement
amongst the poppycock.
99,999999 percent of the 2014
winter load-shedding programme
was struggling to say that Zesa
would be load-shedding for eight
hours a day for all the country's
suburbs; and that the suburbs
would be staggered between day
and night for fairness' sake.
But the one little statement
brought it all together.
It read: "However, it should
be noted that the sched-
ules should be treated as a
guide since power supply and
demand are dynamic."
It was simply a roundabout way of
saying "we will try to supply you
with electricity for as few hours as
realistically possible, considering
that you do pay something."
But that's not an issue...at least
not any more. What irked Mob-
ster the most was that she missed
nine world cup games in three
consecutive days.Now, that's say-
ing a lot taking into consideration
that the games start at 6pm in the
evening.
It's also saying a lot considering
that this was not a fault, but sim-
ple load-shedding. Bearing in mind
too that for all the three days,
Mobster was receiving updates on
the games from friends in "better"
neighbourhoods, the situation was
very disconcerting.
Just to be clear, "better' neigh-
bourhoods are not those close to
major referral hospitals, major
water and sewer installations,
national security establishments,
major airports, broadcasting sta-
tions or major Central Business
Districts.
Someone needs to tell Zesa that
they are not in the business of
discrimination. There is nothing
as de-humanising as any sought
of discrimination.
Because even as a whole group
(or the suburb in this case) is tar-
geted, it lessens the individual by
bogging them down in a limited
and limiting framework. And what
essential differences are there
between one person who lives in
Mbare and another living in Glen
Lorne? Such groupings are not
based on any relevant moral dif-
ferences.
It's hard to deny that there are
indeed economic and social (albeit
largely superficial) differences
between communities that have
developed as a result of skewed
circumstances in our history, or
more broadly in the history of
nations.
But the problem is when there
exist economic and social mech-
anisms that perpetuate them. No
one deserves to be in the dark any
longer than any other because of
where they live.
We all know Zesa has lost sight of
its core business, but they should
keep fairness.
(Mobster is a Zimbabwean phi-
losopher who has an opinion
on just about anything. She
however has a particular liking
for business and economics
stuff. However her opinions
are not necessarily represent-
ative of this platform. You can
send your feedback to her on
mobsterzim1980@gmail.com)
•
20 MOBSTER’S MONDAY MUSINGS
Groups don't matter...people do.