- South Africa posted its biggest trade surplus in 4 years in December 2015, which helped strengthen the rand currency. - The rand gained against the US dollar to trade below R16 per dollar for the first time since January 7th. - South Africa's trade surplus in December widened to R8.2 billion from R0.7 billion in November, driven by a 13% drop in imports and 5% fall in exports. - However, the improvement in trade figures may only be temporary as commodity prices fall and food imports rise due to drought conditions. The current account deficit is also expected to widen.

1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE - Zimbabwe Plat-
inum Holdings has spent
$12,2 million on the on the
refurbishment of the Selous
Metallurgical Complex base
metal refinery project as the
miner moves to comply with
the Government's beneficia-
tion policy.
The project is expected to be
completed at a total cost of
$100 million.
"A total of $12,2 million was
spent on the refurbishment
of the Selous Metallurgical
Complex base metal refinery
project and $9,9 million was
committed as at 31 Decem-
ber 2015," said Zimplats in
its second quarter to Decem-
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Monday 01 February 2016
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
Zimplats commits $12,2 million to refinery project

2. 2 news
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ber 31 report.
Beneficiation is one of the
four main clusters under
ZimAsset, with more than $3
billion required to complete
a fully fledged strategic and
critical precious metals refin-
ery for the country.
Zimplats currently sends
platinum concentrate to
South Africa for processing,
a development economic
experts argue has prejudiced
the country of potential rev-
enue and jobs.
The country exports raw
platinum despite the fact
that it has the second big-
gest platinum reserves after
South Africa, which process
the precious metal produced
in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, for Q2 Zimplats
slipped to a $1,8 million net
loss an after tax profit of $6
million in the previous quar-
ter.
Management attributed the
dip in performance to weak
international mineral prices.
The Impala Platinum subsid-
iary's ore production and 4E
production during the period
were one percent up respec-
tively, revenue declined 11
percent to $96.3 million.
“Revenue decreased by 11
percent from the previous
quarter, mainly due to the
drop in metal prices com-
pounded by a two percent
decrease in 4E sales vol-
ume,” said Zimplats.
“Operating costs were well
managed and only marginally
increased in comparison to
the previous quarter.”
And the fall in international
commodity prices compelled
the miner to put on hold
some of its capital expansion
projects.
For Q2, Zimplats paid to gov-
ernment royalties amounting
to $2,3 million down from
$2,7 million in the previous
quarter.
The platinum producer said
re-development of its biggest
underground operations at
Bimha Mine, which collapsed
in late 2014, was “progress-
ing well” and expected to
reach full production as
planned in April.●

3. BH243

4. HARARE – The National
Social Security Authority
(NSSA) said on Friday it has
appointed an expert to scru-
tinise all of its future invest-
ments after it lost millions of
pensioners funds in botched
deals.
The move is part of a raft of
restructuring efforts being
carried out by the new
board, chaired by chartered
accountant Mr Richard Vela,
appointed by Public Service,
Labour and Social Welfare
Minister Priscah Mupfumira,
last year.
Mr Vela said in an update the
board had appointed Zimba-
bwean, Mr Fungai Ruwende
as the pension fund’s invest-
ment expert with effect from
December last year.
“All decisions of the Invest-
ment Committee that do
not carry the Investment
Expert’s favorable opinion
will be explained in writing,”
Vela said.
Mr Ruwende is a former mem-
ber of the Public Investment
Corporation of South Africa’s
Investment Committee for
Africa, which manages funds
in excess of $100 billion and
a former partner at emerging
markets equity firm Actis,
which manages funds of over
$7 billion.
He holds an MBA from Har-
vard Business School and is
also an electrical engineer-
ing graduate from the Univer-
sity of Zimbabwe.
Mr Vela said the restructur-
ing exercise, which has seen
five top managers being
retrenched was targeted at
improving corporate govern-
ance, reducing operational
costs, improving transpar-
ency, service delivery and
accountability at NSSA.
“The board remains commit-
ted to its promise to take
back the Authority to its
members. This means putting
members first through man-
aging funds responsibly and
making decisions in the best
interests of our members,
stakeholders and the nation
at large,” he said.
The pension fund, he said,
had enlisted the services of
an international firm to audit
its assets and confirm its
balance sheet and was also
engaging firms in which it is
invested to ensure they per-
formed and delivered value
for pensioners.
NSSA is one of the cash rich
government institutions and
has seen some of its previous
managers being dismissed for
abusing pension funds for
personal benefit and failing
to re-invest the funds for its
growth and benefit of mem-
bers. - New Ziana●
4 news
NSSA appoints investments expert, engages international firm to audit assets

5. BH245

6. By Munesu Nyakudya
HARARE - Local FMCG player
Probrands group says it will
this year expand into long-
life milk production.
In an interview last week,
Probrands Co-founder and
managing director Mr Calum
Philp said the multifaceted
agribusiness company was
targeting to enter the long-
life milk production market.
We already have got a big
focus into manufacturing and
this year we are entering into
the long life milk category,”
Mr Philp said.
Probrands currently manufac-
tures a number of products
including, value rice, pre-
mium rice and the superior
rice range (basmati, jasmine,
par boiled, 100% thai rice
and brown rice), milk pow-
der, sweetened milk powder
and tea and coffee creamer,
candles and maize meal (both
refined and roller).
The company also produces
pasta (spaghetti and mac-
aroni), sugar beans,snacks
- popcorn & korn kurlz, kap-
enta, salt, 100% fruit juices
and cultured milk (masi)
Mr Philip said that their com-
pany now rank in the top 10
suppliers to most of the retail
chains.
“Our target is to achieve $30
million in sales this year."
Probrands was established
in 2007 as Prostores, down
packing basic commodities
for NGOs and private organ-
isations wishing to provide
foods for their employees
during the hyperinflationary
period, pre-2009.
In 2009, it was renamed Pro-
brands and started operating
on a commercial scale. Pro-
brands covers procurement,
down-packing and manu-
facturing, with a capacity of
over 2 500MT.●
6 news
Probands ventures into long-life milk production

7. BH24
Fly Harare
to Johannesburg
FROM DAILYFLIGHTS
*Exclusiveof $50governmenttax.Onewayperperson.
Fullterms&conditionsapply.Visitfastjet.comfordetails.
7

8. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE –The European
Union (EU) has remained a
significant consumer of Zim-
babwean peas with Nether-
lands has purchased $1, 8
million worth of the produce
between 2010 to 2014.
This is according to the lat-
est Zimbabwe Farmers Union
Weekly Market Guide.
“The European Union is the
biggest market for peas with
Netherlands being the lead
importer of locally grown
peas.
“Netherlands has imported
$1, 8 million in value of peas
from Zimbabwe between 2010
and 2014,” said ZFU.
The $1,8 million worth
of locally produced peas
exported to the EU - specifi-
cally Netherlands - compares
with the $1,8 million worth of
Zimbabwean peas exported to
the rest of the world during
the same period.
Although the EU typically
has some rather 'stringent'
requirements for fruits and
vegetables coming into its
market, Zimbabwe seems to
have made some strides in
tapping into that market.
The EU indicates that fruits
and vegetables which are
intended to be sold fresh to
the consumer may only be
marketed if they are sound,
fair and of marketable quality
and if the country of origin is
indicated.
To tap into the EU peas mar-
ket, suppliers need to adhere
to these classes of marketing
standards; quality require-
ments, maturity require-
ments, tolerance and mark-
ing.●
8 news
Netherlands tops as Zim peas importer

9. BH24
MANYAME RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL
TENDER INVITATION
Tenders are invited from registered companies for the tenders listed below:
TENDER NO. DESCRIPTION TENDER COST
HRD 1/2016 Service of computers, printers, laptops and photocopiers $50
HRD 02/2016 Tender for delivery, Management of Wide Area Network, Internet services, Website and $50
Manyame Domain
FIN01/2016 Insurance $50
RW01/2016 Vehicle Service tender $50
RW02/2016 Earthmoving Equipment service tender $50
Tenders must be enclosed in sealed envelopes and clearly endorsed on the outside with the advertised tender number. Tender documents
can be obtained at Manyame RDC Beatrice offices upon payment of a non-refundable tender fee of $50.
Manyame Rural District Council does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender and reserves the right to accept the whole or part of any
tender.
Tenders should be accompanied by the following:
Ÿ Company Profile
Ÿ Certified Copy of Current VAT Clearance Certificate and Certified VAT Registration certificate
Ÿ Physical and Postal address
Ÿ Proof of registration with State Procurement Board
Ÿ Certified copy of Certificate of Incorporation
Ÿ CR14
th
Your submission should be hand delivered to the following address by 0900hours on 29 FEBRUARY, 2016.
The Chief Executive Officer Manyame Rural District Council
Manyame Rural District Council Beatrice Head Office
P. O. Box 99 54km along Harare/Masvingo Road
Beatrice
OR
TARI-DI353390-D2
9

10. HARARE -The local bourse
opened the week lower
today with the mainstream
industrial losing 0.30 to
102.74.
Contributing to the down-
turn in the market was
cement producer PPC,
which lost a signifi-
cant $0,0625 to close at
$0,8975, while Simbisa
eased $0,0085 to $0,1500.
Conglomerate Innscor
shed $0,0070 to trade
at $0,2000 and TSL
was $0,0025 weaker at
$0,1350.
On the upside, NMBZ
added $0,0024 to close
at $0,0384 and bever-
ages giant Delta jumped
$0,0011 to settle at
$0,5300.
The mining index was flat
at 19.53 as Bindura, Fal-
gold, Hwange and RioZim
all maintained previous
price levels at $0,0100,
$0,0050, $0,0300 and
$0,1040, respectively
- BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE10
Equities market buck Friday's gains
Peace of mind is good
www.sc.com/zw
Registered Commercial Bank
A member of the Deposit Protection Corporation
underwritten by
Standard Chartered Bank keeps you covered in more
areas than one with our array of Bancassurance products.
To get the optimum home, motor, life, funeral or business
cover, get in touch with us today.

11. BH2411

12. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
NMBZ 6.66 3.84 PPC -6.51 89.75
Delta 0.20 53.00 Simbisa -5.36 15.00
Innscor -3.38 20.00
TSL -1.81 13.50
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 103.04 102.74 -0.30 points -0.29%
Mining 19.53 19.53 +0.00 points +0.00%
12 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange

13. BH2413

14. 14 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
01 February 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 428 MW
Kariba 285 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 27 MW
Bulawayo 23 MW
Imports 0 - 300 MW
Total 1259 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 Board-
room, 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 Holdings Limited; Place: Tanganyika
House, 6th Floor Boardroom, Harare; Time: 0900 hours...
25 February 2016 - The 49th Annual General Meeting of Mashonaland Holdings Limited; Place: The Boardroom, 19th Floor, ZB Life
Towers, 77 Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare; Time: 1200 hours...
THE BH24 DIARY

15. JOHANNESBURG - South Afri-
ca’s rand firmed on Friday to
trade below the psychological
level of R16 to the dollar for the
first time since January 7, as
South Africa posted its biggest
trade surplus in four years.
The rand gained 18c to R15.9928
per dollar by 5pm, breaching a
barrier that traders say could
help the currency firm further.
“It’s a combination of improved
global risk sentiment, and the
currency also received an addi-
tional boost from the 50 basis
point interest rate increase
yesterday,” said ETM Analytics
economist Jana van Deventer.
The rand’s rally came in the
wake of the SA Reserve Bank
pushing up interest rates on
Thursday in a bid to stem infla-
tion after the rand fell by nearly
14 percent since December.
A shock decision by the Bank
of Japan to cut interest rates
sparked a rally in emerging
markets.
December saw the biggest trade
surplus as factories cut back on
imports of machinery and equip-
ment during the year-end holi-
day period. The trade surplus
widened to R8.2 billion from a
revised R0.7bn in November, the
SA Revenue Service said. The
consensus expectation was for a
surplus of R4.9bn.
“December usually delivers a
surplus largely driven by the
seasonal slump in imports,” Car-
men Nel, an economist at Rand
Merchant Bank, said. “Some of
it relates to the slowdown in
domestic demand, which should
curtail imports, and also the lag
impact of the lower oil price.”
Imports plunged by 13 percent
to R80.6bn in the month, led by
a 16 percent drop in machin-
ery purchases and 35 percent
decline in equipment compo-
nents. Exports fell by 5.1 per-
cent to R88.8bn, mainly due to
a 28 percent plunge in vehicle
shipments.
Short-lived
The improvement in the trade
figures may be short-lived
though. Reserve Bank gover-
nor Lesetja Kganyago said on
Thursday that the deficit on
the current account, the broad-
est measure of trade in goods
and services, might widen
as commodity prices fall and
food imports climb because of
drought.
The deficit widened to 4.1 per-
cent of gross domestic product
in the three months to Septem-
ber. “The financing of the defi-
cit will also be more challenging
in an environment of persistent
capital outflows from emerging
markets,” Kganyago said. The
monthly trade figures are often
volatile, reflecting the timing of
shipments of commodities such
as oil and diamonds.
Kamilla Kaplan, an economist
at Investec, said: “That exports
grew 3.8 percent year on year
despite the marked deprecia-
tion in the rand exchange high-
lights that deteriorating global
demand dynamics served to
limit the potential growth of
exports.”
Credit demand rose at the fast-
est pace since 2009 in Decem-
ber, expanding to 10.3 percent
from a year ago and compared
with 9.4 percent in Novem-
ber. While there was marginal
improvement in mortgage lend-
ing, borrowing by businesses
contracted, reflecting weak
growth. The Reserve Bank’s
latest hike may further put a
brake on any recovery in credit
demand.
Nedbank economists Dennis
Dykes and Busisiwe Radebe
said the stronger private sector
credit extension numbers were
unlikely to be sustained as inter-
est rates were on an upward
swing and economic activity was
still expected to be subdued.
“In such a low growth environ-
ment, corporates are unlikely to
borrow and consumers will find
it difficult to increase their bor-
rowing.”
The value of outstanding
household mortgage balances
increased to R864.6bn in the
12-month to the end of Decem-
ber, recording growth of 4.4
percent year on year, compared
with growth of 2.3 percent at
the end of 2014, said Jacques
du Toit, a property analyst at
Absa Home Loans.
“The higher lending rates will
contribute to further financial
strain for consumers, with the
view that households’ credit bal-
ances, including mortgages, are
to remain in single digits this
year.” - IOL/Bloomberg●
regioNAL News15
Surprise trade surplus buoys the rand

16. Gazprom PJSC, the Russian
natural gas producer preparing
to meet investors in New York
and London this week, seeks to
increase supplies to Europe to
record levels.
The Moscow-based exporter,
which provides about 30 per-
cent of the European Union’s
gas needs, plans to boost flows
to Turkey and the EU bar the
Baltic States by 2 percent this
year to a record, with further
growth through 2018, accord-
ing to its non-public budget
obtained by Bloomberg. That
is more ambitious than public
statements by the company to
maintain supply.
Russia, which relies on pipe-
line gas sales outside the for-
mer Soviet Union for more than
10 percent of its total exports,
has increased its dominance in
Europe as crude’s 30 percent
decline over the past year made
Gazprom’s oil-linked prices
more attractive. The company
will Monday hold an annual
Investor Day in New York for
the first time since 2014 after
last year seeking to woo bond
and shareholders in Asia.
The gas exports to most of
the EU and Turkey are seen at
162.6 billion cubic meters (5.7
trillion cubic feet) this year, up
from 159.4 billion in 2015 and
above a record 161.5 billion in
2013, the budget shows. Sup-
plies are seen at 166.1 billion
cubic meters in 2017, with
166.3 billion in 2018. Most of
the increase is seen in flows
through the Nord Stream gas
pipeline under the Baltic Sea to
Germany.
Gazprom’s press service
declined to comment. The com-
pany has scheduled an investor
meeting in London for Feb. 4
Gazprom budgeted its gas
output at 456.7 billion cubic
meters this year, up from about
420 billion in 2015, a record-
low level for the company. Its
dividend payments set in the
budget match last year’s level
of 7.2 rubles a share and are
in line with public statements
made by Gazprom executives
over the past months- Bloomb-
erg●
internatioNAL News16
Gazprom meets investors as it prepares record exports to Europe

17. The influx of migrants has
exposed the anti-demo-
cratic bias and the admin-
istrative uselessness of
the EU
By Janet Daley
History offers up another of
its ironies. The Soviet Union
collapsed when great masses
of people simply walked away
from it. You may recall the
blissful faces of those crowds
who strolled peacefully into
West Berlin, and then pro-
ceeded to tear down the wall
which had imprisoned them
for two generations. Now
the European Union is about
to collapse because great
masses of people are walking
into it: very little ecstasy this
time, just lawless despera-
tion. But by sheer numbers,
their progression is as inex-
orable and politically dest-
abilising as that miraculous
exodus which brought down
the great Communist empire
without a shot being fired.
If the principle of cooperative
benevolence, which Europe
designed in response to the
terrible nationalist crimes of
the last century, cannot deal
with a humanitarian disaster
at its doors, what on earth is
it for?
Forget the pantomime "nego-
tiations" over the past week-
end over an emergency brake
- which can’t be used without
prior universal agreement
(rather like a fire alarm that
can’t be activated without
an international committee
being convened), or the tor-
tuous new wording of empty
promises. That isn’t even a
sideshow. It is deliberately
deceptive nonsense.
The only plausible explanation
for this absurd displacement
activity is that the Govern-
ment now believes we must
stay in a failing enterprise
so that we can help to man-
age its closure. There may be
something in this. Perhaps if
the British are there to help
shut down the shop, it will be
done more sensibly and fairly.
But as a political strategy this
is dangerous and profoundly
cynical. The country is about
to be presented with a know-
ingly dishonest choice: it is
not a question of leaving or
remaining in a “reformed” EU.
The logic of the whole project
– the Union as it has been,
and still is, conceived – is
unsustainable. Its contradic-
tions and the consequences
of its failure to live up to the
grand unifying ideals of its
founders, have now become
so glaring that no one is even
attempting to gloss them
over. It is, of course, the great
mass walk-in – the migration
crisis – which has made this
so inescapably clear. The EU
was clearly incapable of cop-
ing in any rational and organ-
ised way with this phenome-
non, even when its staggering
growth had become entirely
predictable.
If the principle of cooperative
benevolence, which Europe
designed in response to the
terrible nationalist crimes of
the last century, cannot deal
with a humanitarian disaster
at its doors, what on earth
is it for? The EU’s calamitous
inability to agree on anything
has actually exacerbated the
problem: the failure to estab-
lish regularised, systematic
ways of coping with the influx
has created total chaos in
which a new form of interna-
tional crime (people smug-
17 analysis17 analysis
Why the migration fiasco spells doom for Project Europe

18. 18 analysis18 analysis
gling) has become entrenched
in a way that will be almost
impossible to root out.
The unilaterla suspension of
established rules on asylum
by Germany, arguably the
EU’s most politically powerful
member, produced an ava-
lanche of incomers with which
poorer member states could
not cope, thus creating a furi-
ous backlash against both the
migrants and the EU authori-
ties. In the vacuum left by EU
institutions, the voluntary,
charitable efforts to give aid
and sustenance were outside
of any properly administered
control, so they inadvert-
ently added to the problem by
encouraging more migration.
Now there is an understand-
able demand for unaccom-
panied children to be given
asylum and generous provi-
sion. But if it becomes known
that unaccompanied children
will be offered unconditional
entry, or that they are the
ticket to families gaining
entry down the line, then
there will be ever-growing
numbers of children exposed
to the terrifying danger of a
journey alone. Then there is
the plan to quarantine Greece
and turn it into a hermeti-
cally-sealed refugee camp,
because it was unable to pro-
cess the thousands who man-
aged to land on its scattered
islands. Poor Greece. You
might have thought it had
suffered enough in the euro
crisis.
If the EU had been united in
its intentions, it might not
have turned an emergency
into a tragedy.
The migrant problem should
not have been insoluble. The
numbers involved may have
been daunting but, in truth,
they were not unmanageable
as a proportion of the whole
EU population. Had the situa-
tion been addressed properly
from the outset, and rigorous
mechanisms put in place for
assessment and re-settle-
ment, this might have been a
success story for Europe: the
humane and fair-minded han-
dling of a painful dilemma.
But it wasn’t – and the rea-
sons for that go right to the
heart of what will cause the
EU to collapse. Each member
state came to this with its
own economic limitations, its
own historical memory and its
own political culture. When it
came to confronting the sight
of those endless marching
columns of strangers, every
country dealt with the expe-
rience in its own way – not
as one small part of an Ever
Closer Union, but as Hungar-
ians or Poles only recently
liberated from the Warsaw
Pact, or as Danes or Swedes
who took pride in their liberal
traditions but were now feel-
ing uncharacteristically alien-
ated.
In the emergency created
by migrant pressure, the EU
simply became visibly what
it should always have been
understood to be: a con-
federation of different peo-
ples whose varying experi-
ences and attitudes cannot
be homogenised. The gov-
ernments of those differ-
ing nations have taken it in
turns to be berated by EU
officialdom: Hungary for its
impromptu barbed-wire bor-
ders, the UK for taking too
few refugees from Calais, and
Denmark for its plan to con-
fisticate valuables from ref-
ugess who will be receiving
state support. Each one of
those governments is, in fact,
doing what its own electorate
demands – which is exactly
what democratically elected
governments are supposed to
do. Unless the EU abolishes
democratic accountability
altogether, this must continue
to be so.
Even those national leaders
who had apparently seized
the moral high ground on
migration were acting out of
self-interest. Angela Merkel
knows that Germany, with
its ageing population, needs
a mass injection of younger
workers to sustain its econ-
omy. Her action made prac-
tical sense, even if it ended
in a shambles. - The Tele-
graph●