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Zimbabwe to revive Economic Crimes Court
1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE -The Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe has moved to
spearhead the resuscita-
tion of an Economic Crimes
Court as the local economy
continues to be prejudiced
of billions of dollars through
white-collar crime.
In the recent past efforts by
the RBZ to combat economic
crimes such as the external-
isation of foreign currency
or financial sector corruption
seem to be coming to nil.
In the financial sector, for
example, several banks have
closed as their owners have
mismanaged depositors'
funds, yet not major convic-
tions have been made.
But while presenting the Jan-
uary Monetary Policy State-
ment today RBZ governor Dr
John Mangudya said the policy
proposal is rather based on a
broader need to plug leak-
ages in the wider economy. At
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Thursday 04 February 2016
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Zimbabwe to revive Economic Crimes Court
Dr John Mangudya
2. 2 news
a symposium last month, the
governor lamented limited
financial wherewithal that
was being accrued from the
local resources sector, espe-
cially diamonds.
"There is urgent and com-
pelling need for Govern-
ment to resuscitate an Eco-
nomic Crimes Court in order
to ensure that the “plugging
the leakages approach” advo-
cated in this Monetary Pol-
icy Statement is legally sup-
ported," said Dr Mangudya
today.
"The investigation and pros-
ecution of crimes involving
strategic minerals like gold
and diamonds, for example,
necessitates the seizure by
the state of the recovered
minerals which are then kept
as exhibits to be used in the
trial.
"The current congestion in the
criminal resolution system,
results in protracted pro-
cesses before finalisation of
economic crime cases. During
this process the country lacks
access to the resources which
could be generated from the
liquidation of the looted prod-
ucts or exhibits." The RBZ
governor lamented the pres-
ent cumbersome processes
in dealing with resources
crimes.
"The problem is further com-
pounded by the fact that both
the Precious Stones Trade Act
[Chapter 21:06] and the Gold
Trade Act [Chapter 21:03]
provide for elaborate proce-
dures to be followed upon the
conviction of a felon before
the precious stones are for-
feited to the State.
"The minerals concerned
have to be delivered to the
Secretary for Mines who has
to publicise their existence
by way of publication in the
Gazette. The Secretary has
to wait for any claims to the
minerals for two months. If
a credible claim is received,
then the minerals are sur-
rendered to the claimant. If
there is a disputed claim, the
matter is referred to the High
Court after twenty one days,"
he said.
"What this calls for therefore,
is the institution of a mech-
anism which expedites the
disposal of economic crimes
involving minerals so that the
exhibits are quickly put at the
disposal of the State.
"As was the case when Eco-
nomic Crimes Court were
first introduced in 2003, the
specialised Economic Crimes
Court would be administra-
tively set up using existing
legislation.
"They would be introduced
using the existing court
structure, that is, as a divi-
sion within the Regional Mag-
istrates Courts and as a Divi-
sion within the High Court."
Other countries in sub-Sa-
haran African have such-like
institutions. For instance
in 1999, neighbours South
Africa set up the specialised
Commercial Crime Court, and
Nigeria established the Eco-
nomic and Financial Crimes
Commission in 2002 to curb
white-collar crime.●
4. HARARE - Finance and Eco-
nomic Development Minister
Patrick Chinamasa yesterday
dismissed the World Bank
projection that the Zimba-
bwean economy will this year
grow by 1,5 percent, insist-
ing it will grow by 2,7 per-
cent on the back of concerted
efforts the government was
making to stimulate the pro-
ductive sectors.
The World Bank is argu-
ing that the El Nino induced
drought will choke the per-
formance of the economy.
Launching its first Zimba-
bwe Economic Update mag-
azine, the World Bank said
the economy would continue
to grow by an average of 2
to 3 percent inspired mainly
by the growth in the services
sector.
“A poor growth and wors-
ening external environment
contributed to a decelera-
tion in 2015 and growth is
projected at 1,5 percent in
2016,”
said World Bank senior econ-
omist Mr Johannes Herder-
schee.
“The GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) growth rate slowed
from 3,8 percent in 2014 to
1,5 percent in 2015 and 2016,
due largely to the impact of
an on-going drought, which
is taking a heavy toll on agri-
culture production.”
Agriculture is dubbed the
mainstay of the Zimbabwean
economy, with its perfor-
mance having ripple effects
on the rest of the economy.
Low production and a slide in
international mineral prices
is expected to minimise con-
tribution of the mining sector
t growth.
But Finance and Economic
Development Minister Pat-
rick Chinamasa insisted the
economy would grow by 2,7
percent this year on the back
of efforts that government
was putting to boost produc-
tivity in the manufacturing
and mining sectors.
“I do not think the 1,5 per-
cent growth (projection) is
correct,” he said, adding:
“We are not sleeping trying
to make the productive sec-
tors work.”
“We are optimist that we
will achieve the 2, 7 percent
growth by year end through
implementation of the pol-
icies which will boost the
mining, agriculture and man-
ufacturing.
“I a m very happy that we
are in the right direction and
the major policies that are
meant to move our country
forward are now in place and
what left is implementation,”
he said.
Minister Chinamasa said
agriculture, mining and man-
ufacturing would make sig-
nificant contributions to the
4 news
Chinamasa dismisses World Bank economic growth projection of 1,5 percent
Minister Patrick Chinamasa
5. 5 news
economy’s growth. While the
World Bank said low invest-
ment would also impact on
overall economic output,
Minister Chinamasa said
efforts were on-going to
improve the environment.
“It is not an event but a pro-
cess. Any issues that demean
the attractiveness will be
addressed,” he said, while
calling on investors to speak
out on issues they have res-
ervations about.
Minister Chinamasa said the
Zimbabwean economy was
resilient as a number of peo-
ple had long predicted its
demise, which never came to
pass.
“Everyone who has com-
mented on Zimbabwe has
said we should be finished
by now. Even when I was
appointed as Finance Minis-
ter they said the economy
would be on its knees,” he
said. Mr Herderschee said
it was imperative that the
country addressed its neg-
ative balance of trade, which
has been averaging $3 billion
in the last few years.
He said the country’s growth
rate could surpass expecta-
tions if it also progressed
with efforts to mend strained
relations with international
finance institutions and the
western world.
“Fundamentals for growth are
still strong but the headwinds
are increasing,” he said, add-
ing that the country’s literate
and hard working population
was a key factor in efforts to
boost recovery and growth.
Meanwhile, the World Bank
extended a $32 million grant
to Zimbabwe under the Zim-
babwe Reconstruction Fund
(ZimREF) to finance imple-
mentation of a number of
projects.ZimREF is a pool of
donor funds from Denmark,
European Union, Norway,
Sweden, Sweden and the
World Bank, managed by the
World Bank for developmen-
tal programmes.
The $32 million will specifi-
cally go towards improving
water and sanitation in seven
small towns, modernising the
country’s public procurement
system, strengthening trans-
parency and accountability in
public finance management
and expanding innovations
in maternal and child care
financing.-BH24 reporter/
New Ziana ●
7. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE – The Government
and the World Bank-managed
Zimbabwe Reconstruction
Fund (Zimref) has launched
a $32 million facility to fund
several programmes such
as the water and sanitation,
public financial management
(PFM) and maternal and child
health.
The $32 million will be funded
by provided by Denmark,
the European Union, Nor-
way, Sweden, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom and the
World Bank’s State and Peace
Building Fund.
The World Bank said the
Public Procurement Modern-
isation Project will receive a
$1,3 million grant and a $0,6
million technical assistance
from ZIMREF to support the
reform of the public procure-
ment system and prepare for
the introduction of e-procure-
ment in Government.
A second phase of $2,0 mil-
lion is programmed to support
the roll-out of an e-procure-
ment pilot in key ministries
and agencies said the bank.
“Zimref will also provide a $10
million grant for the national
water project and a comple-
mentary technical assistance
grant from the water and san-
itation programme. This grant
is the first phase of a planned
$20 million project which
aims to improve access and
efficiency in water services in
selected growth centres.”
The project which is to be
implemented by the Ministry
of Water, Environment and
Climate Change and the Zim-
babwe National Water Author-
ity will rehabilitate the water
systems in Lupane, Madziwa,
Zimunya, Gutu, Nembudzi-
yana, Guruve and Mataga.
The bank also said the fund
will support the preparation
of National Water resources
Master Plan of Zimbabwe the
commercialisation of ZINWA
and the establishment of a
water supply and sanitation
regulator.
ZIMREF will also be provid-
ing a grant of $10 million for
the first phase of the new
Public Financial Management
Enhancement Project.
The project will support
improvements in finan-
cial reporting, internal con-
trols, fiscal transparency and
accountability in Government
finances building on earlier
work that help to resuscitate
Zimbabwe’s financial man-
agement.
The bank added that the bank
will extended an additional
funding of $10 million to the
health sector to complete
Zimbabwe’s ongoing health
sector development project
that supports the introduction
of results based financing in
rural and low-income clinics.
In his remarks during the
signing ceremony of the fund
Finance and Economic Devel-
opment Minister Patrick Chi-
namasa said the World Bank
team was in the country
to brainstorm on a country
financing programme.
“We are working frantically
to produce a country strat-
egy paper to determine funds
required.”
He added that priority sectors
for funding would be infra-
structure, agriculture, mining
and manufacturing, among
others.
Minister Chinamasa said the
Government accepted the
World Bank’s ‘frank’ assess-
ment of the country’s econ-
omy, which has started to
struggle for growth after an
impressive rebound following
dollarisation in 2009.
Before that, Zimbabwe’s
economy had contracted by as
much as 52 percent between
1998 and 2008.●
7 news
Govt, Zimref launch $32 million fund
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9. HARARE – The Zimbabwe
Farmers Union (ZFU) yes-
terday urged farmers to take
advantage of the rains that
have been falling across the
country over the past few
days to replant crops that did
not germinate and those that
wilted under the sweltering
heat.
ZFU president Mr Wonder
Chabikwa said the torrential
rains being received were
affecting farming operations
in some parts of the country
with heavy soils.
“As you know the rains came
late in some areas so plant-
ing was delayed and the cur-
rent wet spell is a welcome
relief to most late planters,”
he said.
“Those farmers with plants
that did not germinate should
replant during this wet spell,”
he added.
Mr Chabikwa said while farm-
ers welcomed the rains,
planting in some areas had
been affected.
“Areas most affected are
tobacco growing areas that
include parts of Zvimba and
Hurungwe in Mashonaland
West and Macheke in Masho-
naland East where heavy soils
are found. He said 70 percent
of farmers had planted crops
while the remaining 30 per-
cent had not, as they waited
for the rains.
Mr Chibakwa urged farmers
who had not planted to plant
early maturing varieties in
case the rains persisted.-New
Ziana.●
9 news
Farmers urged to replant
11. HARARE - The mainstream
industrials returned to
positive trading buoyed
by made an upturn in Nat-
foods, to push the market
0,51 percent up to 101.51
points.
National Foods was the
only gainer, adding 18,18
percent to close at 260c.
On the downside Proplas-
tics fell 4,35 percent to
2.2c.
Heavyweights Delta and
Innscor fell 1,57 per-
cent and 1,25 percent to
52,17c and 19,57c respec-
tively. Zimre dropped 1,54
percent to 1,28c, and Bar-
clays shed 0,7 percent to
3.9c.
Volumes were fair, mostly
on the back of trades in
Delta, Natfoods, and Inn-
scor, to give a turnover of
$654K.
The mining index was
again unchanged
- BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE11
Equities market recovers
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15. 15 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
03 February 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 420 MW
Kariba 285 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 29 MW
Bulawayo 24 MW
Imports 0 - 300 MW
Total 1371 MW
—10 February 2016 - Nampak Zimbabwe Annual General Meeting: Venue 68 Birmingham Road,
Southerton, Harare: Time 12:00
—18 February 2016 - 70th Annual General Meeting of the members of CAFCA ; Place: Boardroom
at the company’s registered office at 54 Lytton Road, Workington, Harare; Time: 12:00 hours
—23 February 2015 - 38th Annual General Meeting of the members of Powerspeed Electrical
Limited; Place: Powerspeed Boardroom, Gate 1, Powerspeed Complex, Corner Cripps Road and
Kelvin Road North, Graniteside, Harare; Time: 1100 hours
25 February 2016 - Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) of the Shareholders of Radar Hold-
ings Limited; Place: Tanganyika House, 6th Floor Boardroom, Harare; Time: 0900 hours...
25 February 2016 - The 49th Annual General Meeting of Mashonaland Holdings Limited; Place:
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THE BH24 DIARY
17. LUSAKA - ZAMBIA will cut the
sale of treasury bills by half after
yields climbed to a record, as
Africa’s second-largest copper
producer seeks to cut spending
and encourage private borrowing,
Deputy Finance Minister Christo-
pher Mvunga said.
The central bank will offer
450-million kwacha ($40m) worth
of treasury bills at an auction this
week, down from the 900-million
kwacha on offer in January, when
yields on the one-year securities
reached 27 percent, compared
with a rate of 14,49 percent for
similar Kenyan securities.
The bank will also cut the amount
of bonds it will put out to tender
by 40 percent to 600-million kwa-
cha. Zambia’s budget has come
under strain as prices for the
copper that the country depends
on for more than 70 percent of
exports, languish near six-year
lows and a power crisis cuts out-
put.
The government has run consec-
utive budget deficits that it has
financed both locally and exter-
nally, leading to higher borrow-
ing costs. President Edgar Lungu
announced spending cuts in
November as Zambia tries to rein
in the deficit.
"As you reduce expenditure, the
need for borrowing also reduces,"
Mr Mvunga said on Tuesday. "The
reality is we don’t want to crowd
the domestic market. It’s part of
the effort to promote private par-
ticipation in the domestic mar-
ket."
The government is seeking to
borrow 2,5-billion kwacha locally
this year, according to Finance
Minister Alexander Chikwan-
da’s budget speech in October.
That’s about a third less than the
amount budgeted for in the pre-
vious year.
The Bank of Zambia’s treasury
bill auction sizes have gradually
grown since 2012, when it offered
350-million kwacha in January of
that year. The reduction in the
bonds and treasuries the cen-
tral bank is offering is the first
in at least four years, according
to data from the Bank of Zambia
compiled by Bloomberg.
The yields on Zambia’s $1-bil-
lion Eurobonds due 2024 rose
two basis points to 15,47 per-
cent by 11.18am in Lusaka. That
compares with 14,69 percent
for similar-maturity dollar debt
of Ghana, rated a step lower at
Moody’s Investors Service and
Standard & Poor’s.
While Zambia has offered
900-million kwacha at treasury
bill auctions since October 2014,
demand has been weak even
as yields rose. At the last auc-
tion in January, the central bank
sold 900-million kwacha worth
of securities. Two weeks before
that, the sale raised 232-mil-
lion kwacha. Inflation rose to a
12-year high of 21,8 percent last
month.
"Yields across the curve have
been under considerable upward
pressure over the past year, amid
rising inflation expectations, con-
cerns about public sector borrow-
ing requirements and exchange-
rate pressure," Standard Bank in
Johannesburg said in a note to
clients last month. The govern-
ment’s reducing domestic bor-
rowing "could be supportive of
bills and bonds if seen through."
Still, yields may only fall "mar-
ginally as doubts linger over
the government’s ability to
stick to the domestic borrow-
ing target," before general elec-
tions in August, Standard Bank
said.-Bloomberg●
regioNAL News17
Zambia to cut treasury bill sales as yields soar
18. LONDON — Anglo American’s
shrinking market value could
eject the global miner from
London’s blue-chip equity
index at the reshuffle next
month, potentially triggering
a broader sell-off.
Plunging commodity prices
last year shrank Anglo’s mar-
ket capitalisation to $5,6 bil-
lion as its shares fell 76 per-
cent to record lows last year,
making it the worst performer
in the FTSE 100 index. This
compares with a market cap
of £31 billion in 2011 and
more than £9 billion in 1999,
when the stock was listed in
London.
The risk of demotion may
spark a sell-off that could be
worsened by tracker funds
rebalancing portfolios to
account for Anglo’s fall from
grace.
"Anglo has been out of favour,
which may force the issue,"
Macquarie analyst Alon Olsha
said when asked if Anglo
could keep its place in the
index. "Anglo is facing very
challenging conditions and
the market is questioning the
credibility of the restructur-
ing plan."
The company said in Decem-
ber that it would offload
three-fifths of its assets. The
FTSE 100 reweighting, due on
March 18, will be based on
March 2 closing prices. If a
company falls to 111th posi-
tion or below, it is removed
from the index. Anglo is hov-
ering near the bottom of the
list.
The mining component in the
FTSE 100 fell sharply to 3,6
percent last month from 15
percent at its peak in 2010,
data from the London Stock
Exchange showed.
"The investment proposition
is quite weak at the moment
... some companies are at a
liquidity risk," said PwC UK
mining leader Jason Burkitt.
"You don’t want to (try to)
catch a falling knife." Miners
across the globe now account
for less than 1 percent of
total market cap, the lowest
in 15 years, according to Citi
analysts. Yesterday, Anglo
was the sixth-largest mining
company by market cap.
"The action plan to respond
to this downturn is proba-
bly going to decide whether
they will stay in the FTSE,"
said Hanré Rossouw, portfo-
lio manager at Investec Asset
Management.
Anglo has suspended its divi-
dend until the end of this year
and announced plans to cut
its workforce to 50 000 from
135 000 and reduce its assets
to no more than 25 from
55. It is expected to outline
which mines will be sold or
shut down during its financial
results later this month.
But the turnaround plan has
failed to impress investors,
given the large debt load.
"The case of Anglo is diffi-
cult because they have strong
liquidity, they’ve got bank
facilities and that gives them
the ability to muddle through,
potentially for another four
years," Mr Rossouw said.
"But some investors are ask-
ing them to get capital now
before things get worse …
because for Anglo’s bal-
ance sheet to be sustainable
through the cycle, they need
to reduce the debt level by $3
billion to $4 billion at least."
The cycle will be dictated
by the pace at which miners
cut output to offset slowing
demand in China. Liberum
Capital analyst Richard
Knights said: "We haven’t
even seen negative demand
from China yet, and you still
have accelerating supply in
some of the key commodi-
ties." - Reuters●
internatioNAL News18
Anglo in danger of getting the boot from UK’s blue-chip index
19. LONDON — Rarely has an
industry lost so many jobs
with such little effect. HSBC
has frozen hiring and pay;
Barclays plans to cut 1 200
jobs; and Deutsche Bank will
cut bonuses after posting a
stinging loss last year.
It’s already been a grim year
for bankers’ jobs. But it’s not
been the only one. In all,
half-a-million jobs have been
eliminated across the indus-
try since the global financial
crisis of 2008.
And it’s likely to become
worse in Europe this year, as
revenue stagnates. On Tues-
day UBS reported a slump in
investment banking revenue
during the fourth quarter.
Despite the wave of firings,
costs at investment banks
remain stubbornly high —
both in absolute terms and as
a proportion of revenue. The
cost-income ratio at UBS’s
investment bank was still 93
percent, the company said on
Tuesday.
Front-office headcount at
top global firms tracked by
research firm Coalition has
fallen 23 percent since 2010;
overall costs are down only 8
percent. Revenue fell 12 per-
cent between 2010 and 2014,
according to Coalition. So,
profitability has taken a hit:
returns on equity are below
2010 levels at Deutsche Bank,
Barclays, Credit Suisse, UBS
and BNP Paribas.
European firms were slower
than their US counterparts
to eliminate jobs. Average
compensation per head has
changed little in the past five
years, largely because invest-
ment banks kept faith in an
eventual rebound that would
reward those that had kept
experienced staff.
Many were still hiring in
some areas: the rise in reg-
ulation and risk-management
requirements since 2008
pushed firms to add compli-
ance staff, damping the effect
of cuts elsewhere and doing
little to generate extra reve-
nue.
Non compensation costs —
such as technology and over-
heads linked to new regu-
latory requirements — were
unchanged.
Firms have also had to grap-
ple with fines, costlier capital
charges and taxes.
The good news is the next
round of cuts might have
more of an effect: the bulk of
the investments in regulation
and compliance have been
made, even if nobody would
bet on a drop in regulatory
costs. Even so, the rebound
hasn’t come and the business
model is still broken. Banks
need to cut entire businesses,
rather than simply jobs.
It’s too early to tell if banks
will make tough decisions
when deciding where to wield
the axe. Hiring freezes and
pay cuts are a start — but
they will not be enough. -
Bloomberg●
19 analysis19 analysis
Banking job cuts do little to stem costs