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1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – Government is
expediting the digitalisation
of the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (ZIMRA) and other
border agencies in line with
the wider goal of establish-
ing Smart Corridors within
SADC.
Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Ambassador Joey Bimha
said technological enhance-
ment of the country’s border
systems will boost intra-re-
gional and international
trade.
“Reducing the time spent at
SADC borders can have a
significant impact on trade
growth in the region. The
additional number of days
spent waiting for customs
clearance at the borders
directly affects the cost and
competitiveness of most
African commodities on
international markets.
“Our vision therefore has
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Wednesday 20 April 2016
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ZIMRA gets digitalisation boost

2. been to have Smart Corri-
dors where agencies along
the length of the corridors
employ electronic submis-
sion of documents, neces-
sitating a formal system of
pre-clearance and pre-pay-
ment,” he said.
He was speaking at the
handover of information and
communication technology
(ICT) equipment to ZIMRA.
The equipment was sourced
by the African Capacity
Building Foundation (ACBF)
in partnership with the Min-
istry of Foreign Affairs.
“We are confident that the
new equipment will assist in
the enhancement of border
management systems to
promote integration and the
implementation of the single
window concept, aimed at
bringing all border agencies
together to simplify customs
clearance procedures.
“The modern customs
administration must strike
a balance between control,
facilitation of trade and
maximising revenue collec-
tion,” added Ambassador
Bimha.
In 2012, the ACBF and the
Ministry of Finance and Eco-
nomic Development signed
the MoRIIC-P Grant Agree-
ment Number 269, which
was aimed at supporting the
former Ministry of Regional
Integration and Interna-
tional Cooperation (MoRIIC)
project.
The MoRIIC – whose main
objective is to enhance
regional integration - is now
based on the Ministry of For-
eign Affairs
Experts contend that
increased use of ICTs at
borders can lead to single
window applications and ulti-
mately to the development
of Smart Corridors where
most clearance procedures
are done electronically while
the vehicles are in motion,
or even in post-clearance
audit as opposed to the long
waiting periods at some bor-
der posts.
The idea of Smart Corridors
is in line with the SADC
Regional Infrastructure
Development Master Plan
(RIDMP).
ACBF senior program officer
Mrs Folasade Ayonrinde said
the digitalisation of the
country’s border posts can
boost State revenues by at
least 25 percent.
“Improving border posts and
customs procedures will not
only reduce the cost and
delays incurred by commer-
cial companies, and enhance
trade competitiveness, but
will also boost Government
revenues potentially by up
to 25 percent and accelerate
economic development in the
continent,” she said.
. ●
2 news
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4. BH24
TAA:DI251386-Y22
4

5. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE - The Competition Act
Amendment Bill will soon be
presented before Cabinet, the
Competition and Tariff Commis-
sion (CTC) have said.
The Competition Act is being
reviewed to meet international
best practices. CTC chairman
Mr Dumisani Sibanda said the
country’s competitiveness is still
very low compared to other coun-
tries due to shortages of policies
which enforce rules and laws of
competition.
“The most arduous task of
amending the Act - the Com-
petition Act [Chapter 14:28],
enacted in the year 2001 is still
in progress.
“The document is in the process
to go to cabinet for approval and
it will go to other stages such
awareness for people to know the
new law,” he said.
“The Act, enacted almost two
decades ago, is below obtaining
international best practices, and
therefore needs to be modern-
ised.
He said this during a Parliamen-
tary workshop on competition
policy that was organised by the
European Union aimed at looking
for measures to increase the
country’s competitiveness on the
international market.
“The notable areas of weak-
nesses include the definitions
particularly of mergers, enforce-
ment mechanisms, inclusion of
later developed mechanisms of
bursting cartels namely leniency
programmes and more elaborate
coverage of various provisions.
“The revision of the law was long
overdue because of the evolving
of the playing field of economic
players and the gap between
current law and international best
practice was now too wide,” he
said.
He added that economic forces
are dynamic and efficient policies
should be kept in context of
prevailing realities to achieve
intended results.
In his remarks during the same
event United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development econ-
omist Cameron Mr Yves Kenfack
said reviewing of competitiveness
policies is critical towards eco-
nomic development of a nation.
“Competition policy is vital for
economic growth and develop-
ment and addresses the impact
of anti-competitive practices
restricting access to markets by
firms located in developing coun-
tries. He added that firms facing
vigorous competition have strong
incentives to reduce their costs,
to innovate, and to become more
efficient and productive than their
rivals.
“This process motivates firms to
offer competitive prices, higher
quality, and new and more varied
goods and services.
“Healthy competition and
well-functioning markets improve
the economy and deliver benefits
to businesses and citizens.●
Competition Act amendment set for Cabinet
5 news

6. BH246

7. BH247

8. BH24 Reporter
HARARE - The European Union
and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United
Nations (FAO) have signed a new
agreement aimed at improving
food and livelihoods security and
resilience of smallholder live-
stock farmers in Zimbabwe.
This agreement comes at a time
when crop and animal produc-
tion prospects in Zimbabwe have
been dampened by the El Niño
weather phenomenon that has
been characterised by low and
poorly distributed rainfall and
increased temperatures.
The expected reduced agricul-
tural output in 2016 follows on
last year's disappointing season,
which has already contributed
to higher food prices and left
almost a third of the population
food insecure.
The 650 000 euro project
directly responds to the drought
situation in most parts of Zim-
babwe and is set to benefit 300
000 individuals in the country’s
southern districts of Masvingo
and Mwenezi known for their
dependence on livestock produc-
tion.
Director of Operations at the
European Commission's Human-
itarian and Civil Protection
department (ECHO) Mr Jean-
Louis de Brouwer, said the
European Union is committed
to assist the country through
different projects towards food
security.
“With the ongoing El Niño
phenomenon gravely affecting
tens of thousands of people in
Southern Africa, and projec-
tions for 2016 showing that the
worst is not over yet, the EU is
committed to responding to the
emergency needs of the people
in affected countries.
We are pleased to partner with
FAO in this project which will
directly benefit thousands of
people and help them to deal
with the effects of the harsh
weather conditions, and protect
their livestock,” he said.
FAO Sub regional Coordinator for
Southern Africa and Represent-
ative in Zimbabwe, David Phiri
lauded the partnership.
“Globally, the EU is FAO's largest
resource partner. In Zimbabwe,
we are already partnering on
various other initiatives, and
this new timely action, in direct
support to the FAO’s Drought
Mitigation Programme, itself a
response to the Government’s
call for emergency support, fur-
ther demonstrates a commitment
to expand this collaboration for
the benefit of Zimbabwe's small-
holder farmers”.
In particular, the project aims
to control the spread of foot
and mouth disease (FMD) and
Anthrax through vaccinations
and treatment.
This EU – FAO partnership is
part of a larger initiative for the
greater Southern Africa region,
in which the EU allocated about
€12 million (including €4,1
million for Zimbabwe alone) to
respond to El Niño. ●
EU, FAO sign EUR650 000 project for Zim livestock
8 news

9. BH249

10. BH2410

11. BH24 Reporter
HARARE - Local tele-
coms firm, Econet Wireless
Zimbabwe’s EcoSchool has
partnered with the Associ-
ation of Chartered Certified
Accountants (ACCA) in a
development that will enable
Zimbabwe students study-
ing towards ACCA to access
online introductory ACCA-X
courses for free.
The partnership, the first
of its kind with an institu-
tion offering professionally
accredited tuition, will poten-
tially benefit all Zimbabwe
students enrolling for ACCA.
Said Econet chief executive
Mr Douglas Mboweni: “The
idea behind EcoSchool goes
beyond simply making books
available at a cheaper price,
but is part of our larger
strategy to help learners and
educators to gain access to
materials and courses from
across the globe.
“Leveraging on our respec-
tive mutual core compe-
tencies we have zero rated
access to the introductory
ACCA-X courses thereby
opening a brighter future for
Zimbabweans to enjoy access
to online study material
without the burden of data
costs,” he said.
“At Econet we believe that
one will never go wrong with
education. Free access to
ACCA-X is only the first of
many initiatives between us
and ACCA as we endeavour
to equip Zimbabweans with
financial literacy skills of
benefit at both personal and
professional levels.
“In line with EcoSchool’s
mandate we will continu-
ously work towards making
education affordable and
accessible.”
Econet has been aggressively
growing its digital educa-
tion footprint in the country,
adding two more initiatives
namely the programming
school Muzinda Hub and
Ruzivo an online learning
platform for primary school
children in Zimbabwe.
EcoSchool, the first initiative
from Econet Education, is a
digital education platform
that provides scholars and
educators with on-the-go
affordable and reliable
access to world-class educa-
tional content.●
11 news
Econet partners ACCA
Mr Douglas Mboweni

12. HARARE -The local equi-
ties market bucked the los-
ing trend as the mainstream
industrial index bounced
into the black with 0.32 gain
to close at 98.65.
The upward movement was
driven by giant beverages
firm Delta which moved up
$0,0067 to $0,5800 and Nat-
foods which rose $0,0035 to
close at $2,1000.
Milk processor Dairi-
bord marginally gained by
$0,0002 to trade at $0,0560.
There were no trades in the
negative territory. But ciga-
rette giant BAT, Fidelity Life
and PPC were unchanged
at $10,8000, $0,1030 and
$0,6000 correspondingly.
The mining index was steady
at 20.16 as Bindura, Fal-
gold, Hwange and RioZim
maintained previous price
levels at $0,0102, $0,0050,
$0,0300 and $0,1100 respec-
tively - BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE12
Industrials bounce into positive trading

13. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Delta 1.16 58.00
Natfoods 0.16 210.00
Dairibord 0.35 5.60
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 98.33 98.65 +0.32 points +0.33%
Mining 20.16 20.16 +0.00 points +0.00%
13 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange
Previous
today

14. 14 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
20 April 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 277 MW
Kariba 460 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 17 MW
Bulawayo 22 MW
Imports 0 - 400 MW
Total 1138 MW
• 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

15. JOHANNESBURG - South
Africa's rand weakened
against the dollar on
Wednesday, in line with a
pullback in commodity cur-
rencies as the global oil price
fell one more.
The rand fell to 14,3750
versus the dollar earlier in
the session, and was trading
at 14,3015 by 0656 GMT, 0,2
percent lower than Tuesday's
New York close.
Commodity-linked currencies
such as the rand reversed
the previous day's gains as
a recovery in crude oil prices
stalled after a workers' strike
which had cut output ended
in Kuwait.
The rand had touched a near
five-month high of 14,1900
on Tuesday in the wake of
improved global risk sen-
timent linked to better oil
prices.
"Commodities are off their
highs from yesterday and
trade softer so far; this has
seen the rand get back above
14,3500 with more resist-
ance at 14,4000/4100 likely
to attract offers first up,"
said Standard Bank trader
Oliver Alwar.
Traders and analysts said
the rand could take further
direction from domestic
CPI data due out at 0800
GMT, with analysts polled by
Reuters expecting the main
year-on-year number to
ease to 6,3 percent from 7
percent.
Government bonds also
weakened, and the yield for
the benchmark instrument
due in 2026 rose 4 basis
points to 8,925 percent.
The stock market looked set
to open slightly down, with
the Top-40 futures index
down 0,5 percent by 0656
GMT.
- Reuters●
regioNAL News15
Rand weakens as oil price retreats

16. Oil fell after Kuwait work-
ers said they would end a
strike that disrupted output
in OPEC’s fourth-largest pro-
ducer for three days.
Futures fell as much as 3
percent in New York. Prices
gained 3,3 percent on Tues-
day, the first advance in
five days, after the protest
reduced Kuwait’s production
by as much as 1,7 million
barrels a day. US invento-
ries probably increased by
3 million barrels last week,
according to a Bloomberg
survey before an Energy
Information Administration
report Wednesday. That
compares with industry data
showing a 3,1 million-barrel
gain.
Talks in Doha on Sunday
between the world’s largest
producers about capping
production failed after Saudi
Arabia insisted it wouldn’t
restrain output without com-
mitments from other major
producers including Iran,
which has ruled out freezing
for now. Workers in Kuwait
went on strike to protest
cuts in pay and benefits as
Middle Eastern crude export-
ers reduce subsidies and
government handouts amid
the collapse in prices.
“The size of the disruption,
had the strike persisted,
would have been quite
significant,” Ric Spooner, a
chief market analyst at CMC
Markets in Sydney, said by
phone. “It took quite a lot of
oil out of production.”
Cushing Stockpiles
West Texas Intermediate for
May delivery, which expires
Wednesday, dropped as much
as $1,23 to $39,85 a barrel
on the New York Mercantile
Exchange and was at $40,14
at 7:58 a.m. London time.
Prices on Tuesday rose 3,3
percent to $41,08 a bar-
rel. Total volume traded
was about 37 percent above
the 100-day average. The
more-active June contract
fell 94 cents to $41,53 a
barrel.
Brent crude for June settle-
ment fell as much as $1,22,
or 2,8 percent, to $42,81 a
barrel. The front-month con-
tract on Tuesday gained 2,6
percent to settle at $44,03.
The global benchmark traded
at a $1,57 premium to June
WTI.
Kuwait’s workers will resume
their jobs on Wednesday out
of respect for the country’s
emir after successfully show-
ing the importance of their
role in the economy, KUNA,
the country’s official news
agency said, citing a labor
union statement.
The stoppage of the strike
comes soon after Anas Al
Saleh, the acting oil minister,
said on Alrai television the
government wouldn’t hold
talks with workers as long
as the walkout continued. –
Bloomberg●
internatioNAL News16
Oil declines as Kuwait workers end strike after 3-day disruption

17. By Trudi Makhaya
During my undergraduate
years in the late ’90s, unlike
many commerce students
majoring in economics, I
took a few economic history
courses.
African economic history did
not feature much in the cur-
riculum. Some of what was
there, such as the character-
isation of lobolo as a funda-
mentally economic exchange
for reproductive labour, I
disagreed with.
But there was enough in it
to appreciate the economic
dynamism inherent in preco-
lonial African societies.
Last month, I had a heated
encounter with student lead-
ers from about six universi-
ties. It was a small workshop
with student representative
council members, 20 young
men and one young woman.
I was invited to share my
views about student financ-
ing, as an economist. I have
no firm solutions.
I placed a few ideas for fund-
ing free or heavily subsidised
higher education within the
context of a tight budget
and low rates of economic
growth. I highlighted some
trade-offs. But I also quar-
relled with the notion of
free higher education for all,
especially wealthy students.
Accusations of neoliberalism,
of Western-centric thought,
17 analysis17 analysis
Reclaiming Africa’s history of economics

18. of being the messenger for
my "bosses" were flung at
me. The more we argued
past each other, a picture
emerged of what many,
although not all, of the stu-
dents regarded as African.
Any economic concept or
calculation was dismissed as
thoroughly un-African.
I tried to argue that every
society, African or not,
thinks about trade-offs and
resource allocation and strat-
egies for prosperity.
As the discussions evolved
beyond student financing
over lunch, the image of
Africa that emerged (at least
from the more vocal mem-
bers of the group) was not
very different from colo-
nial caricatures; the kinder
accounts, written by mis-
sionaries, of an Africa of
noble peasants, untainted by
money and trade, living the
simple life.
I was content to disagree
with the students gathered
that day on free higher edu-
cation. It was the group’s
dominant vision of what
being African meant that
bothered me.
An interesting exchange over
the use of eating uten-
sils ensued as one student
explained that he was eating
by hand because that is
the African way. This was
challenged by a lone dis-
senter who argued that some
ancient African societies may
have used utensils.
And also that we don’t know
what inventions may have
arisen had our societies had
the opportunity to evolve
organically. To place such
definitive limits on what
being African is, given that
historical context, is not
wise.
The dissenter also cautioned
that this is not a victim
continent that can only have
dignity if it rejects the rest
of the world. That wasn’t so
in the past and doesn’t have
to be in the future.
As many have written,
including economist Samir
Amin, precolonial Africa
enjoyed thriving and equal
trade with the rest of the
world. It changed with the
European industrial revolu-
tion and its form of colonial
outward expansion, which
changed the terms of trade
for African economies.
It is only at this point that
African societies lost their
autonomy, and innovation
and progress came to a
halt. This impoverished and
oppressed state, and the sur-
vival mechanisms that arose
out of it, are often taken as
"tradition". Our notions of
what is African can be incor-
rectly shaped by this dimin-
ishment.
In a disturbing strain of the
current narrative, authentic
Africans are not econom-
ically savvy, they do not
build empires, they do not
have questionable power
relations in their societies or
diverse economic viewpoints.
The only strategies that are
acceptable are those in which
the African surrenders all
economic agency to a gov-
ernment or central authority.
In decolonising economic
thought, progressive and
radical movements have to
question this limited nar-
rative of Africanhood. They
will also have to grapple with
why their economic solutions
tend towards Western-style
socialism. – BDLive●
18 analysis18 analysis