A digital copy of the BH24 (04 January 2016 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. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE - The Zimbabwean
economy can benefit from the
re-basing of its gross domestic
product (GDP) statistics, analysts
have said.
There have been concerns that
the country's GDP could be
understated, which may be a
factor that may be dissuading
potential foreign investors.
According to the World Bank,
rebasing is basically a process
of replacing an old base year for
GDP comparisons with a new and
more recent base year or price
structure. This process helps the
data reflect a more current snap-
shot of the economy since econ-
omies are typically dynamic in
nature.
BancABC Zimbabwe group econ-
omist Mr James Wadi told BH24
that a re-jig of the country's GDP
stats will give potential investors
a more accurate picture of the
local economy.
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Monday 04 January 2016
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A rebase of Zim's GDP could benefit economy: analysts

2. 2 news
"In broad terms, it is important
to rebase GDP regularly, to reflect
the new measuring techniques,
changing consumer patterns and
changing economic conditions.
Internationally it is recommended
that rebasing be done every five
(5) years.
"The rebasing of GDP shows a
more representative changes
in the structure of the economy
and may reflect introduction of
new products or sectors. Over
time, some sectors that may not
be fully captured may finally be
accounted for by the new meas-
uring techniques," said Mr Wadi.
"Rebasing Zimbabwe's GDP may
influence certain investment
decision – for instance, there is a
possibility that Zim is underesti-
mating its GDP size. So investors
may think that it’s a small market
yet its huge."
And with the Government mak-
ing inroads to clear its arrears
to the international financial
institutions, notably the IMF, the
World Bank (WB), and the Afri-
can Development Bank (AfDB),
the economist says rebasing
the local GDP may influence debt
ratios.
"This may influence the classifi-
cation of country in the eyes of
international creditors – where
it is heavily indebted country or
not. Hence it may also influence
the country’s risk profile," said Mr
Wadi.
But with a total debt of $8,4 bil-
lion and a GDP of about $13,8 bil-
lion, Zimbabwe's debt represents
around 60 percent of the GDP.
Since 2014 a number of African
countries including Zambia, Nige-
ria, Kenya and Uganda among
others have rebased their GDPs
and experienced rises in the sizes
of their economies.
But economic observer Mr Perry
Munzwembiri says a bump in the
size of the economy is not always
an automatic outcome.
"African countries differ in their
economic structures and it would
be overly simplistic to assume
that the experiences of one coun-
try would mirror another. For
Nigeria and Kenya for instance,
the rise in the size of their econ-
omies was on the back of a ris-
ing middle class as well as more
developed services sectors in
their economies. For Nigeria, for
example, the prices of oil had
rose sharply since the last rebas-
ing in 1990 and its film industry
had become a more active con-
tributor to the economy," he said.
"For a country such as Zimbabwe,
it's economic structure hasn't
really changed that much as Min-
ing and Agriculture continue to
underpin the economy and the
services sector has not really
grown that much. So even after
a rebasing, there might not be an
appreciable change in the size of
the economy."
Mr Munzwembiri however said
the case might be made of the
rise of the informal economy and
the need to account for this.
He added: "Also the effect of
factors such as increased mobile
phone usage by Zimbabweans
would need to be accounted for.
Statistics show that rebasing the
GDP may increase the size of an
economy by at least 25 percent."
But whether or not the size of
Zimbabwe's economy will rise on
the basis of a GDP rebase, other
key benefits are that it will ena-
ble policy makers, analysts and
investors to obtain a more accu-
rate picture of economic struc-
ture; assist authorities to make
appropriate policy decisions and
program design, and in some
cases when GDP is revised, cer-
tain ratios - such as the debt/GDP
ratio - may actually improve.
But more needs to be done to tap
into the small-scale gold produc-
ers sector.
Meanwhile, according to projec-
tions by Finance Minister Patrick
Chinamasa, the mining sector
next year is expected to rebound,
growing 2,4 percent "on the back
of planned investments, and
largely driven by strong perfor-
mance of gold, chrome, coal,
nickel, platinum and diamonds,"
he said in his 2016 National
Budget statement.●

3. BH243

4. BH24 Reporter
HARARE - Gwanda-based Blan-
ket gold mine’s parent company,
Caledonia Mining Corporation is
seeking to set up a new base in
the Channel Islands from Canada.
The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed
mining firm expects shareholders
to approve the re-domicile, which
it says will benefit the company.
Chief executive Mr Steve Curtis
said in a statement: "The proposal
to re-domicile Caledonia from Can-
ada to Jersey is a further step in
simplifying our corporate struc-
ture, reducing compliance costs
and increasing tax efficiency. .
"The re-location to Jersey, if
approved by shareholders, will
result in Caledonia's head office
being located in Jersey, Channel
Islands, which is more centrally
located within the area of Caledo-
nia's operations in Zimbabwe and
its shareholder base in Europe, the
UK, South Africa and North Amer-
ica.
"The proposed re-domicile will
have no effect on the contin-
ued trading of Caledonia shares
in Toronto, London and on the
OTCQX".
The main reason for the proposal
is the effect of tax on some of the
company's shareholders. Under
Canadian law, shareholders in the
company who do not live in Canada
must pay Canadian withholding
tax on their dividends - something
that would no longer be applicable
should the proposal be approved.
Caledonia stressed its current div-
idend policy to pay 1,5 Canadian
cents per quarter would remain
unaffected apart from the with-
holding tax issue.
However, the company has already
announced it plans to move its
accounting methods from Cana-
dian dollars to US dollars from
2016, meaning its 1,5 Canadian
cent dividend is equal to around
1,09 US cents.
The company also said Jersey is
closer to its operations, with its
primary asset being a 49 percent
stake in the Blanket gold mine in
Zimbabwe, and said there is no
reason to be domiciled in Canada
as it has no operations there.●
4 news
Caledonia eyes new base in Jersey

5. BH245

6. BH24 Reporter
HARARE - Beitbridge Bula-
wayo Railway (BBR) Pvt Ltd
has announced the appoint-
ment of Mrs Thembi Moyo as
its new chief executive officer
Mrs Moyo has served the
organisation in various capaci-
ties since its inception.
In a statement announcing the
appointment, BBR chairperson
Ms Bonigwe Ntuli said: “She
has served the company as
Finance Executive, Acting CEO,
Business Development and
Corporate Affairs Director and
Shareholder Representative.
“She brings with her a wealth
of experience not only from
Neuro-linguistic Program-
ming (NLP) Limited Group that
locally comprised of BBR, New
Limpopo Bridge (NLB) private
limited and NLPI Logistics pri-
vate limited.”
The appointment took effect
on December 1, 2015. Mrs
Moyo has also worked for other
reputable international organi-
sations before joining the NLPI
Groups.
BBR is a privately owned rail-
way company that provides a
rail link in between Zimbabwe
and South Africa through the
Beitbridge border post.
BBR is one of the three con-
nected NLPI railway operations
in Zimbabwe and Zambia that
form a rail link between South
Africa and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.●
6 news
Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway appoints new CEO

7. BH247

8. HARARE -The mainstream indus-
trial index began the new year on
a low note after dropping 0.50 to
close at 114.35 on the back of
some heavyweight losses.
Giant insurer Old Mutual led the
losers with a $0,013 loss to close
at $2,0211, while Fidelity Life lost
$0,0100 to trade at $0,1000.
Delta shed by $0,0084 to close at
$0,6966 and pharmaceutical firm
Medtech lost $0,0003 to close the
day at $$0,0001.
On the upside telecoms giant
Econet and banker NMBZ were
each $0,0001 higher to close at
$0,2110 and $0,0351, respec-
tively.
The mining index added 0.55 to
close at 24.27 after Bindura, went
up a further $0,0007 to trade at
$0,0160. Gold producer Falgold,
Hwange and RioZim maintained
previous price levels at $0,0050,
$0,0300 and $0,1040 respec-
tively
. - BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE8
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9. BH249

10. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Bindura 4.57 1.60 Medtech -75.00 0.01
NMBZ 0.28 3.51 Fidelity Life -9.09 10.00
Econet 0.04 21.10 Delta -1.19 69.66
Old Mutual -0.63 202.11
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 114.85 114.35 -0.50 points -0.44%
Mining 23.72 24.27 +0.55 points +2.32%
10 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange

11. BH2411

12. 12 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
04 January 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 420 MW
Kariba 468 MW
Harare 0 MW
Munyati 15 MW
Bulawayo 0 MW
Imports 50 MW
Total 1115 MW
THE BH24 DIARY

13. JOHANNESBURG - South Afri-
ca's rand was under early pres-
sure against the dollar on the
first trading day of 2016 on
Monday, with pressure on the
currency set to continue as
weak domestic fundamentals
weigh.
The JSE securities exchange's
Top-40 futures index was down
1,25 percent, suggesting the
local bourse would start the
year at 0700 GMT more than
570 points lower.
By 0650 GMT the local unit was
down 0,78 percent at 15,5800
to the greenback compared with
its Dec. 31 close of 15,4600.
"Given that most investors are
expected to still be away on
holiday, we expect rand moves
to prove erratic amid thin trad-
ing this week," Barclays Africa
said in a note.
Government bonds edged
higher in early trade, with the
yield for the benchmark 2026
issue dipping 2.5 basis points
to 9,745 percent.
The local currency lost about a
quarter of its value against the
greenback in 2015, mainly due
to investors dumping emerg-
ing markets in anticipation of
higher US interest rates.
Concerns about weak growth in
Africa's most developed econ-
omy also weighed and the shock
removal of the finance minister
in early December triggered a
heavy sell-off that pushed the
currency to a historic low of
16,0485. - Reuters●
regioNAL News13
Rand off to weak start for the year

14. Gold climbed with silver on the
first trading day of 2016 as ris-
ing tension between Saudi Ara-
bia and Iran spurred a return to
haven assets.
Bullion for immediate delivery
climbed as much as 0,5 percent
to $1 066,04 an ounce and traded
at $1 064,04 at 12:29 p.m. in
Singapore, according to Bloomb-
erg generic pricing. The metal
lost 10 percent in 2015 for a third
annual drop, the longest slump
since 2000.
Gold, traditionally seen as a store
of value during political turmoil,
climbed after Saudi Arabia cut
ties with Iran, a day after its
embassy in Tehran was attacked
to protest the Saudi execution of
a prominent Shiite cleric. While
unexpected incidents last year
such as the Paris terror attacks
lifted prices briefly, gold still fell
over 2015 as prospects for ris-
ing US interest rates boosted the
dollar.
“When you look across the board,
there’s just a little bit of geopo-
litical risk coming back into the
market,” Jonathan Barratt, chief
investment officer at Ayers Alli-
ance Securities in Sydney, said
by phone.
Holdings in gold exchange-traded
products declined 2.56 metric
tons to 1,463.9 tons on Friday,
near the lowest in more than six
years, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg. The assets shrank
8,3 percent in 2015 to cap a third
year of contraction.
Bullion of 99,99 percent purity
rose as much as 0,4 percent to
223.85 yuan a gram ($1 068,84
an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold
Exchange. Spot silver advanced
0,4 percent to $13,8728 an
ounce, platinum dropped 1.2 per-
cent and palladium retreated 1.9
percent. - Bloomberg●
internatioNAL News14
Gold opens 2016 with a rally as Saudi tensions fan haven demand

15. The new climate agreement
adopted in early December has
laid a firm foundation for the
global community to combat
the impacts of climate change
although there is little joy for
Africa as some key expecta-
tions were not met.
African climate change experts
highlighted that the Paris
Agreement adopted by the
21st Conference of Parties
(COP21) to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Cli-
mate Change (UNFCCC) held
on November 30 to December
11 in France failed to give the
issue of agriculture the atten-
tion it deserves.
“Throughout the negotiations,
we have been trying to intro-
duce agriculture so that it is
mainstreamed in the nego-
tiation text,” said Estherine
Fotabong, the Director of Pro-
gramme Implementation and
Co-ordination for the New Part-
nership for Africa’s Develop-
ment (NEPAD).
The lack of attention given to
agriculture in the agreement is
a worrisome development con-
sidering the important role of
agriculture in the developmen-
tal agenda of Africa.
The agricultural sector is
regarded as an engine for
socio-economic development in
most African countries.
According to the African Union
(AU), agriculture accounts for
about one-third of the conti-
nent’s gross domestic product,
and more than two-thirds of
its citizens rely directly on the
sector for their livelihood.
A related item that Africa had
on the list for COP 21 was the
need for clarity on financing for
losses and damage associated
with the adverse effects of cli-
mate change.
Apart from recognizing the
importance of averting, mini-
mizing and addressing losses
and damage and recommend-
ing for the continuation of the
Warsaw International Mech-
anism (WIM),the agreement
lacks clarity on how this would
be financed.
The WIM for loss and dam-
age was established at COP19
in Warsaw, Poland to address
impacts of climate change,
including extreme events and
slow onset events, in develop-
ing countries that are particu-
larly vulnerable to the adverse
effects of the changing climate.
Washington Zhakata, Director
of the Climate Change depart-
ment in the Ministry of Envi-
ronment, Water and Climate
in Zimbabwe, said “developed
countries refused to accept lia-
bility for compensation, thus
resulting in lack of clarity on
financing for losses and dam-
age.”
Article 8.1of the agreement
only states that WIM for losses
and damage “may be enhanced
and strengthened as deter-
mined by the COP,” leaving
Africa at a disadvantage as
there is no guarantee that the
mechanism will in future be
transformed to benefit the con-
tinent.
The agreement only gives ref-
erence to small island states
and developing countries with-
out specifically mentioning
Africa, a continent that has a
large proportion of its popula-
tion severely affected by the
impacts of climate change.
This is despite the fact that
Africa is the least contributor to
greenhouse gas emissions that
cause climate change, yet the
continent is the hardest hit due
to limited financial resources to
adapt to such changes.
Mr Zhakata said Africa pre-
ferred to be particularly men-
tioned in the Finance Article
and vulnerability section.This
was, however, not the case.
On provision of finance, Arti-
cle 9 of the agreement states
that “developed country Par-
ties shall provide financial
resources to assist developing
country Parties with respect to
both mitigation and adaptation
in continuation of their existing
obligations under the Conven-
tion and that other Parties are
encouraged to provide such
support voluntarily.”
15 analysis15 analysis
COP 21 adopts Paris Agreement but little cheer for Africa

16. 16 analysis16 analysis
This clause has left the conti-
nent doubtful of the commit-
ment of developed countries to
provide funding for adaptation
and mitigation as it is on a vol-
untary basis and the commit-
ment is non-binding.
The agreement states that par-
ties resolved to “enhance the
provision of urgent and ade-
quate finance, technology and
capacity-building support by
developed country Parties in
order to enhance the level of
ambition of pre-2020 action.”
The agreement strongly urged
developed countries to scale
up their level of financial sup-
port, with a concrete roadmap
to achieve the goal of jointly
providing US$100 billion annu-
ally by 2020 for climate change
mitigation and adaptation.
However, past experience has
shown that developed coun-
tries have failed to live up to
this commitment and the pace
at which developed countries
are contributing to climate
financing is very slow.
African countries think that
the major and historic pollut-
ers must take a fair share of
responsibility not only to cut
their emissions but help the
victims to adapt to climate
impacts.
So far accessing money from
the Green Climate Fund has
been a challenge since it was
created due to the stringent
conditions imposed by devel-
oped countries.
Although Article 9.9 of the
agreement aims to ensure
efficient access to financial
resources through simpli-
fied approval procedures and
enhanced support for develop-
ing countries, it still remains to
be seen if this will be the case.
With regard to temperature
increases, the agreement
emphasises the need to keep
global average well below 2°C
in the context of sustainable
development and efforts to
eradicate poverty.
Article 4 of the agreement
states that in order to achieve
the long-term temperature
goal, parties should aim to
reach a peak of greenhouse gas
emissions as soon as possible,
while recognizing that develop-
ing countries will take longer
to reach peak on greenhouse
gas emissions before cutting to
accepted levels.
In this regard, the parties
acknowledged that countries
are at different levels of devel-
opment. Equally important is
the recognition of resilience
to climate change as a global
challenge faced by all at local,
subnational, national, regional
and international levels.
The agreement highlights that
adaptation is a “key component
of and makes a contribution to
the long-term global response
to climate change to protect
people, livelihoods and ecosys-
tems.”
The Paris pact emphasizes
that “adaptation action should
follow a country-driven, gen-
der-responsive, participatory
and fully transparent approach,
taking into consideration vul-
nerable groups, communities
and ecosystems.”
This should be based on and
guided by “the best available
science and, as appropriate,
traditional, indigenous and
local knowledge systems, with
a view to integrate adaptation
into relevant socio-economic
and environmental policies and
actions, where appropriate.”
For Africa, recognition of Indig-
enous Knowledge Systems
(IKS) in resilience is crucial
considering that communities
on the continent use IKS to
adapt to floods and drought,
and other climate challenges.
Parties agreed that the agree-
ment shall be open for signa-
ture and subject to ratification
from 22 April 2016 to 21 April
2017.
The agreement will enter into
force after at least 55 UNFCCC
parties have deposited their
instruments of ratification,
acceptance, approval or acces-
sion - Sardc.net●