A digital copy of the Business News 24 (12 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, Tuesday 17 June 2014
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
President Robert Mugabe returned
home on Tuesday from Santa Cruz,
Bolivia where he was attending the
50th Group of 77 developing countries
and China summit held over the past
weekend.
He was met at the Harare International
Airport by Vice President Joice Mujuru,
Service Chiefs and Cabinet Ministers
who included Media, Information and
Broadcasting Services Minister Profes-
sor Jonathan Moyo.
The summit adopted a number of dec-
larations including the need for urgent
restructuring of the international finan-
cial architecture and reform of the
United Nations system, in particular
the Security Council. Themed “A New
World Order for Living Well,” the sum-
mit also pushed for the post 2015
development agenda that prioritised
poverty eradication, food security and
gender equality among other matters
of global concern.
President Mugabe, who was accompa-
nied by Foreign Affairs Minister Sim-
barashe Mumbengegwi, told the sum-
mit that it should leverage on its status
as the single largest bloc in the UN to
influence changes in global political
and financial systems.
Other leaders who attended the sum-
mit are Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro, Equatorial Guinea President
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Zambian
Vice President Guy Scott, Cuban Pres-
ident Raul Castro and Iranian Vice
President Es’haq Jahangiri. The summit
this year was also focusing on creating
sustainable ways to protect the earth.
The G77 was established in 1964 and
now comprises 133 countries, mostly
developing nations. At its formation,
the G77 & China members declared
their unity under a common interest
and defined their Group as “an instru-
mentforenlarging theareaofco-oper-
ative endeavor in the international field
and for securing mutually beneficent
relationshipswiththerestoftheworld.”
While the initial mandate of the G77
& China was to accentuate the trade
and development related issues of its
members, the focus of the group has
since evolved and today, it is a suc-
cessful lobby group within the United
Nations structures. ― New Ziana •
Africa should lead in global political and financial systems: President
President Mugabe

2. 2 NEWS
By Munyaradzi Musiiwa
Essar Holdings has agreed to imme-
diately inject money into Lancashire
Steel and production is expected within
the next six months, deputy Minister
of Industry and Commerce Chiratidzo
Mabuwa has said.
Lancaster Steel is a subsidiary of
NewZim Steel. It closed in 2010 due
to the shortage of raw materials after
the mother company Zisco indefinitely
suspended operations.
Speaking at the Confederation of Zim-
babwe Industries (CZI) workshop on
the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustaina-
ble Socio-Economic Transformation
on Monday, Mabuwa said Essar would
soon inject money into Lancashire for
the importation of feed stock.
“Essar is going to inject money into
the project, particularly towards Lan-
cashire Steel for the immediate revival
and to commence operations using
imported feed stock over the course of
six months,” she said. Mabuwa said the
resuscitation of NewZim Steel was also
imminent following the completion of
the revival plan.
“There have been problems that were
not clear to Essar at the time of the
signing of the deal. There was, how-
ever, the reconsiderations of all the
grey areas that had not been looked at
initially and Essar representatives met
President Mugabe and recommitted
themselves. They agreed on three spe-
cific implementation issues which are
revising the revival plan, immediate
relief to workers and plans and modali-
tiesforthesettlementoflocalcreditors.
Essar has agreed to implement the
interim measures,” she said.
Mabuwa said Essar had already
engaged Chinese and Indian engi-
neering procurement and construction
contractors to commence work on the
ground based on the adjusted revival
plan. “The date of the first production
remains unchanged. Essar has also
commenced the construction of a ther-
mal power plant. They have also given
support to workers by availing money
for schools fees for the workers’ chil-
dren,” Mabuwa said.
“The company had also inherited the
debt of loans that were extended to
workers by the Commercial Bank of
Zimbabwe (CBZ) following reports that
workers’ properties were now being
attached.” Mabuwa said the skills
review assessment was already under-
way to evaluate the number of workers
that could be taken onboard. Ziscosteel
stopped operations in 2008 because of
viability challenges and debts. •
Essar to revive Lancaster Steel

3. 3 NEWS
BH24 Reporter
International e-commerce business
PayPal has entered 10 new countries,
including Zimbabwe, starting today.
PayPal executive in charge of the EMEA
region Rupert Keeley told Reuters that
the expansion would bring the number
of countries it serves to 203.
"PayPal has been going through a
period of reinvention, refreshing many
of its services to make them easier to
use on mobile (phones), allowing us
to expand into fast-developing mar-
kets," Keeley said. The extension of
PayPal's services into Zimbabwe will
help strengthen online payments and
money transfer in the country, which
already has a number of local and
regional players currently operating.
But more than anything else, it will
benefit local customers intent on online
purchases and PayPal itself. It has
been noted that for the PayPal's 10
new markets, peer-to-peer payments
and local merchant accounts have not
been enabled yet, which means the
transactions currently allowed for Zim-
babweans through PayPal will be of no
benefit to the country's economy. The
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has said it
is in the process of developing stronger
regulations for all electronic payment
systems. "Financial innovation coupled
with increased penetration rates in the
mobile telecommunications sector has
seen the phenomenal growth in the
use of electronic means of payment.
"Within this context the Reserve Bank
through its oversight and regulatory
mandate, is currently seized with com-
ing up with an electronic-payment sys-
tem regulation.
The regulations will provide for the
effectivemanagementandoperationof
allelectronicmeansofpayments,nota-
bly, cards, mobile, e-banking and inter-
net among others," said then RBZ act-
inggovernorDrCharityDhilwayointhe
Monetary Policy Statement. Regulation
is particularly important for regional
and international money transfer play-
ers operating in the country, so as to
mitigate instances of externalisation of
cash.
At the heart of Zimbabwe's online pay-
ments systems are players like Pesa-
Pal, ZimSwitch's Vpayments, FloCash,
Paynow and Pay4App. In addition are
mobile money payments and money
transfer services provided by the coun-
try's three mobile telecommunication
providers.
The 10 countries that PayPal has
entered span across three continents,
that is, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern
Europe and Latin America. Besides
Zimbabwe, the other countries include
Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco,
Montenegro, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory
Coast and Paraguay. •
PayPal enters Zimbabwe; only allowing for money-out

4. BH24

5. By Lynn Murahwa
The Ministry of Primary and Second-
ary Education is in discussions with the
Microsoft sub-regional office to imple-
ment vernacular languages for the
Zimbabwean context.
Minister of Education Lazarus Dokora
said while in Uganda he discussed
with Microsoft the desire for ICT’s to
be implemented in Zimbabwe and
for the Microsoft Operating System to
incorporate the country’s vernacular
languages.
“I was in Uganda last week at an
eLearning conference and I took the
opportunity to engage with Microsoft
and I said I am trying to get ICT’s
embraced in education in my country.
“The conversation with Microsoft was
merely to say I want the Microsoft
Operating System to also speak the
indigenous languages of this country.
Languages that we can easily relate to
in that exercise be it Shona, Ndebele
andTonga."Microsoftmustspeakthese
languages because it will help me as
I mainstream ICT’s so that the kids
begin to interact with that environment
which is very close to their home base,”
said Minister Dokora. He was speaking
at the launch of eLearning Solutions’
mCourser mobile learning platform this
morning
Besides the popular operating system
Microsoft also offers an e-learning plat-
form - the Microsoft Learning Gate-
way - which brings together a range of
Microsoft server products to deliver a
Web-basedportalsolutionthatishighly
scalable, while supporting deployment
in smaller school scenarios.
eLearning is the use of electronic
media and information communica-
tion technologies (ICT) in education.
eLearning Solutions' new mCourser is
a platform that offers local students
and teachers a mobile space to access
learning material and an interactive
virtual learning system. The platform
has been made available for Windows,
Android and Apple Operating Systems.
The system is a payment based plat-
form and eLearning Solutions has part-
nered with the country’s mobile money
platforms Ecocash, Telecash and One
Wallet to allow users to purchase learn-
ing material. The eLearning Solutions
co-founder Steward Masimirembwa
said that currently their education solu-
tion provider is training 2 000 teachers
in technology skills.
"The problem is teachers do not have
Technology skills and currently we are
training 2 thousand teachers in tech
skills” he said. Minister Dokora said
ICT’s must not be misconstrued as a
tool to replace teachers but rather edu-
cators should be trained in the use of
these technologies.
“I have two tasks for teachers, that is
we need to develop systems and soft-
ware to aid teaching and finding ways
of integrating ICT’s in teaching. No
teacher will be replaced by a computer,
theycanbeversatileintheuseofthese
tools” said the Minister. •
TECHNOLOGY5
Microsoft OS could soon be available in vernacular languages
Minister Dokora

6. By Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Zimpost is working on a new financial
service platform which will bring more
convenience to banking and payment
of bills in Zimbabwe.
Managing director Douglas Zimbango
said the new product; ‘Financial Switch’
would be connected with all banks and
other service providers.
“We are working on financial switch,
a service which enables anyone to use
their bank card, Visa and Mastercard at
any Zimpost branch to swipe and get
their money. In fact, all the financial
services you can think of will be able
to pass through the switch,” he said.
He said the company had already gone
to tender for a partner and the project
was now at evaluation stage and would
be launched soon.
“This product will drive most our finan-
cial services as most transactions will
go through us. So whether you are
paying any account or a bill, you can do
it through financial switch. It will be the
convergence point for all transactions,”
he added. Zimbango said Zimpost
would take advantage of its already
well established network across the
country as the company seeks to tap
into some of the money that is already
being handled by mobile financial ser-
vice providers.
Mobile financial services and plastic
money are the new banking phenom-
enon with the brick-and-motor branch
networks evolving. Last year alone,
approximately $2 billion was trans-
acted through the mobile financial
system and the figure is expected to
increase this year as the service contin-
ues to be popular.
Zimpost has already ventured into
money transfer services with its Zip-
Cash which has transacted $30 million
since its inception. The service remains
the only money transfer platform
licensed to transfer money outside the
country. Although the service is yet to
gomobile,ithasanadvantageoverthe
other services and could support the
new financial switch. •
6 NEWS
Zimpost ventures into financial services

7. BH24 Reporter
Zimbabwe has so far exported tobacco
worth $122,5 million, with Belgium
remainingthetopbuyerofthelocalcrop.
Latest figures from the Tobacco Industry
Marketing Board shows that 29 million
kilogrammes has been exported, but this
is a 17 percent decline from the 35 million
kgs exported in 2013 prior comparable
period.Belgium currently tops the buyers
of Zimbabwean tobacco, having bought
7,2millionkgsvaluedat$30,3million.
Belgium has been offering an average
price of $4,16/kg. The United Arab Emir-
ates has overtaken South Africa over the
past week, in terms ofmass bought, hav-
ingpurchased4,3millionkgs,whileSouth
Africa is now in third place with 3,4 million
kgs.
China has purchased 3,2 million kgs. But
betweenthetopfourChinahasbeenoffer-
ing the highest average price of $6,87/kg,
whichhasresultedinahighervalueforits
purchasedtobaccoat$22,4million.South
Africa, with an average price of $4,40/kg
has bought tobacco worth $15 million,
while the UAE, with a lower average price
of $2,93/kg has purchased tobacco at a
costof$12,6million.
Malaysia,however,hassofarbeenoffering
thehighestaveragepriceat$8,72/kg.
Meanwhile,intermsofsalesatthetobacco
floors,193millionkilogrammesoftobacco
hasbeensoldtothetuneof$614million.
The country has already exceeded last
season's output target of 180 million kgs.
•
7 AGRICULTURE
Tobacco exports reach $122m as Belgium tops destinations

8. BH24

9. The equities market has bucked a five-
day bullish trend to drop by a marginal
0.01 percent in today's trades.
The industrials index retreated 0.02
points to close at 181.03 points
although today's session was domi-
nated by positive trades.
TSL eased 2 cents to settle at 28 cents,
while seed producer SeedCo lost a cent
to 70 cents. Banker Barclays dropped
0.10 cents to trade at 3.50 cents.
On the upside, cigarette manufacturer
BAT added 10 cents to 1 210 cents,
while giant insurer Old Mutual was up
2.08 cents to close at 253 cents. TA
Holdings gained 0.76 cents to 6.26
cents and Truworths was up 0.70
cents to 2.50 cents. Conglomerate
Innscor advanced 0.50 cents to 77.50
cents even after losing a court appeal
against the decision of the Competition
and Tariffs Commission's intention to
penalise it for breaching the regulatory
procedures in its acquisition of a major-
ity stake in Natfoods. Fidelity Life rose
0.48 cents to close at 8 cents. Bind-
ura continued on a bullish run, today
gaining 0.39 cents to trade at 4 cents.
This pushed up the mining index 3.51
points (or 7.23 percent) to close at
52.08 points.
Falgold, Hwange and Riozim main-
tained previous trading levels. — BH24
Reporter •
9 ZSE REVIEW
Bourse takes a dip

10. All Zimbabwe needs to come out of
the current economic rut is monetary
stimuli.
It has been noted and said from all
directions that the country has all the
right economic fundamentals to be a
success.
But the present reality is that the econ-
omy needs capital.
The present deflation pit we are in
is a reflection of the liquidity crunch
that has hit both ordinary consumers
and industry reflected in depressed
demand for goods and services.
What is required therefore is fiscal
stimuli to whip up demand.
The problem Zimbabwe is having cur-
rently is that people are holding back
on purchases because they fear that if
they lose the money they are currently
holding on to, they will never get it
again.
And it is a cyclical trend that has
worsening consequences each time,
because each time prices fall, busi-
nesses cannot make a profit or pay off
their debts, resulting in lower produc-
tion and job losses, resulting in lower
demand for goods.
To this extent, the basic and most
short-term solution is to boost money
supply into the economy.
Three broad measures are used to
understand money supply in an econ-
omy. First is M1, which is basically a
narrow measure of money's function
as a medium of exchange.
On the other hand M2, more broadly
reflects money's function as a store of
value.
And M3, covers items that may be
regarded as close substitutes of money
(such as gold).
For a start at least, Zimbabwe needs
money supply increase at M1 level.
It's not easy, precisely because one key
problem that we have right now is that
the use of the multi-currency system,
especially the United States dollar -
has constrained the authorities' fiscal
muscle. For instance Zimbabwe cannot
print money, which is one way of stim-
ulating demand.
Zimbabwe also cannot revaluate the
currencies it is using to respond to the
South African Rand, which has a big
impact on our economy since most of
our imports come from that side.
In January the Reserve Bank of Zimba-
bwe tried its hand at improving money
supply by adding additional currencies
to the current multi-currency basket,
but this has not yielded much.
Considering that the fiscal authorities'
scope boosting money supply is limited
one strategy is to raise the level of for-
eign direct investment inflows into the
country.
But that is a more long-term solution.
Another available solution - which is
more short-term - is to borrow. To this
extent it is critical that Zimbabwe nor-
malises its relations with multi-lateral
financial institutions.
It is therefore commendable that
Government appreciates this fact and
Minister of Finance Patrick Chinamasa
has been actively appealing a number
of these institutions as well as Western
countries to re-engage.
Yesterday, following an engagement
with a Swiss delegation Minister Chi-
namasa acknowledged the importance
of re-integrating into the "mainstream
economy".
"It is through those multilateral finan-
cial institutions like World Bank and
IMF that Zimbabwe will regain its posi-
tion into the mainstream of the world
economy. The country has to be in the
mainstream of the world economy and
the Swiss are here to assist is re-inte-
grate," he said.
Mere injection of cash into the econ-
omy will go a long way, if indications
over the past two months are to go
buy.
That is, the deflation has eased, albeit
marginally,overthepasttwowithmost
observers attributing it to the tobacco
revenue inflows.
But we need a little more than passive
tobacco revenue inflows. •
10 BH24 COMMENT
Economy needs capital injection

11. South Africa's rand was largely flat
against the dollar on Tuesday but
could come under pressure ahead of
the Reserve Bank's latest quarterly
bulletin, which is expected to show
a sizeable widening of the current
account deficit.
The rand remains vulnerable to neg-
ative domestic news after falling as
much as 1.3 percent on Friday when
agency Fitch cut its outlook for South
Africa while Standard and Poor's
downgraded its rating outright.
South African markets were closed on
Monday for a public holiday.
At 0644 GMT the rand was trading at
10.7610 to the dollar, barely shifted
from Monday's offshore close in New
York at 10.7565.
Friday's downgrades reflected the
ratings agencies' concerns about
the poor prospects for Africa's most
advanced economy, which contracted
in the first quarter of the year mainly
due to a platinum strike now in its
fifth month.
The leader of labour union AMCU
indicated last week that a deal to end
the strike was imminent but miners
and platinum producers have not yet
reached an agreement.
"The rand remains vulnerable to
South Africa's weak fundamental
backdrop over the medium term,"
Barclays Africa said in a note.
"The fact that the reported wage
deal in the platinum sector has yet to
be signed also detracts from a rand
recovery."
The Reserve Bank's quarterly bulle-
tin due out on Wednesday could deal
another blow to the currency, with
economists polled by Reuters expect-
ing it to show the current account
deficit widened to 6.1 percent of GDP
in the first quarter from 5.1 percent.
Government bonds were slightly
down in early Tuesday trade and
yields for the benchmark 2026 and
2015 issues each added 1 basis point
to 8.25 percent and 6.7 percent
respectively. ―Reuters •
11 REGIONAL News
South Africa's rand flat but vulnerable to more weak data
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
17 June 2014
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 422 MW
Kariba 750 MW
Harare 45 MW
Munyati 27 MW
Bulawayo 22 MW
Imports 200 MW
Total 1466 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
Truworths 38.89% 2.50 TSL -6.67% 28.00
TA 13.82% 6.26 Barclays -2.78% 3.50
BNC 10.80% 4.00 SeedCo -1.41% 70.00
Mash 9.09% 2.40
Fidelity 6.38% 8.00
Padenga 4.65% 9.00
Dairibord 3.66% 8.50
Turnall 2.22% 2.30
CFI 1.35% 2.25
Indices
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 181.05 181.03 -0.02 points -0.01%
Mining 48.57 52.08 +3.51 points +7.23%
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 2,343.98 +9.46 +0.41% 06June
Kenya 4,881.56 +12.30 +0.25% 06June
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 41,529.11 -40.98 -0.10% 06June
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 178.58 +1.54 +0.87% 06June
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. General Motors Co., in the latest recall
related to ignition-switch flaws, is call-
ing back about 3.2 million more vehi-
cles and said recall-related charges
would reach $700 million in the second
quarter.
The latest announcement brings GM's
total recalls this year to 20 million. The
biggest U.S. automaker said it is recall-
ing models including Buick Lacrosse
from 2005 to 2009; Chevrolet Impala
2006-14; Cadillac Deville 2000–05;
Cadillac DTS 2004–11; Buick Lucerne
2006–11; Buick Regal LS and GS
2004–05; and Chevy Monte Carlo
2006–08.
The ignition switch may inadvertently
move out of the "run" position if the
key is carrying extra weight and expe-
riences some jarring event, the com-
pany said in a statement.
GM is aware of eight crashes and six
injuries related to this recall, the com-
pany said. The company is stepping up
the pace of recalls as it faces multiple
investigations for its slowness in deal-
ing with 2.6 million small cars with igni-
tion issues linked to at least 13 deaths.
The carmaker, which also called back
more than 500,000 Chevrolet Cama-
ros Friday for an ignition-related design
flaw, released the results of an inter-
nal probe into its February recall this
month.
The report blamed a lack of urgency in
the company's engineering and legal
departments in dealing with problems,
though no conspiracy to hide facts.
The company agreed last month to pay
a $35 million fine as part of the U.S.
Transportation Department's investiga-
tion into how GM handled the February
recall. The Detroit-based company also
has added about 35 investigators as it
shows a willingness to take vehicles off
the road for a variety of issues.
In April, CEO Mary Barra was called to
testify before two congressional com-
mittees to explain why the company
took years to publicize the faulty igni-
tion switches. Since then, GM has told
owners of millions more vehicles to
bring their cars to dealers for repairs to
shiftcablesandseatbelts,amongother
parts. While Barra was held blameless
in the company's own investigation,
she dismissed 15 employees for their
rolesintheepisode.Thatprobewasled
by Anton Valukas, chairman of law firm
Jenner & Block L.L.C., who served as
a Justice Department-appointed exam-
iner of the downfall of Lehman Bros.
Holdings Inc.
GM's recall total exceeds the 10.7 mil-
lion-vehicle mark set by the automaker
in 2004, according to the U.S. National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
― Philly.com •
17 INTERNATIONAL NEWS
GM recalls this year hit 20 million

18. By Jade Davenport
South Africa’s phenomenal minerals
revolution, which has its roots in the
last quarter of the nineteenth century,
facilitated not only the establishment
and growth of the largest and most
diversified mining sector in Africa, but
also the emergence of a mining-related
support and supply industry, the likes
of which can hardly be rivalled any-
where else in the world.
The sheer extent of the mineral com-
modities that have been exploited,
coupled with the challenges of access-
ing and mining deep, thin and met-
allurgically difficult orebodies, forced
South African industry stakeholders to
pioneer world-class expertise in mine
construction, extraction and mineral
processing.
Subsequently, these skills are famed
the world over, with many local compa-
nies firmly situated at the very frontier
of global mining technology.
Although the growth and diversification
of South Africa’s mining sector under-
pinned the successful mushrooming
of a local mining- related services and
supply industry, South Africa’s once
mighty and economy-dominating
industry is currently in dire straits and
struggling for its very survival, owing to
subdued commodity prices, increased
working costs, constrained infrastruc-
ture, high labour costs, coupled with
poor levels of productivity, strained
labour– management relations, ongo-
ing strike action and an uncertain regu-
latory environment.
Many mines are facing a precari-
ous future, particularly in the plati-
num-group metals sector, and some
companies are considering selling
off assets. Another inevitable conse-
quence of the challenges facing the
sector is the difficulty of attracting
foreign investment for expansion initi-
atives and greenfield mining projects.
The significant dearth of new capital
expenditure projects being commis-
sioned is having a particularly negative
impact on South Africa-based consult-
ing and project engineering companies
and equipment, procurement, con-
struction, and maintenance (EPCM)
firms.
Consulting engineering and project
implementation firm Hatch Goba
mining and mineral processing direc-
tor Lister Sinclair tells Mining Weekly
that, since the last quarter of 2012,
there has been a noticeable tapering
in the commissioning of large capital
expenditure projects (those exceeding
R10-billion) in the mining sector. The
extent of the tapering has been signifi-
cant.Sinclairstatesthat2013hasbeen
the South Africa-based division’s most
challenging year in terms of securing
new contracts in well over a decade.
“Infact,whileweusedtohavefivecore
mining clients in this country, the con-
traction of the industry has been such
that, today, we have very few of our
traditional clients left,” he says.
South African-headquartered total
technology solutions supplier Tenova
Mining & Minerals president Walter
Küng concurs, elaborating that less
than 5% of the company’s revenue is
currently generated locally.
“The market in South Africa is com-
pletely overtraded. There are many
more suppliers than there is demand
and the pricing levels in South Africa
are, quite honestly, not conducive to
18 Analysis
Constrained SA mining sector forcing contractors to seek opportunities in other parts of Africa

19. survival,” he adds.
Nevertheless, consulting firms are still
actively engaged in executing various
large capital projects across South Afri-
ca’s mining sector, including expansion
initiatives and replacement tonnage
mines.
However, in recent years, engineering
and EPCM firms have, like the industry
itself, been struggling to execute con-
tracts effectively in the face of increas-
ingly difficult circumstances.
Local construction, mining, develop-
mentandengineeringgroupBasilRead
Mining MD Antonie Fourie tells Mining
Weekly that, in recent years, it has
become extremely difficult to operate
and provide a high-quality, value-for-
money service with an ever-increasing
cost base, industrial action and Section
54 stoppages.
“We are now much more exposed to
unforeseen stoppages and inefficien-
cies that negatively impact [on] our
production.
Conditions are significantly different
from those anticipated during our orig-
inal tenders and, although the clients
understand it is not necessarily under
our control, we are still held respon-
sible and they will put pressure on us
to recover lost time and keep to our
production targets, despite the labour
issues at hand.”
Fourie adds that the South African
labourissuesanddifficultmarketcondi-
tions are slowly eroding profit margins
to a point where it is no longer viable to
continue operating in the country.
Expansion into Africa
Given the contraction of the mining
sector and the challenging operating
conditions, South Africa-based compa-
nies have been increasingly compelled
to look north of the country’s border for
new project opportunities.
The consensus of the four major com-
panies interviewed by Mining Weekly is
that there has been a robust move into
the rest of the continent, particularly
into Central and West Africa as well
as the Southern African Development
Community regions of Africa to take
advantage of the substantial growth
of the continental mining sector and to
mitigate the decline of new projects in
South Africa.
Global project delivery and consult-
ing services provider WorleyParsons,
Hatch Goba and Tenova Mining & Min-
erals are all currently involved in, or
have recently completed, projects in
Mauritania, Cameroon, Burkina Faso,
Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Ghana, Guinea,
the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Zambia involving iron-ore, bauxite,
gold or copper mining.
Further, all four companies, including
BasilReadMining,arecurrentlyactively
engaged in Namibia-, Botswana-, Zim-
babwe-, and Mozambique-based pro-
jects across a range of commodities
including uranium, coal, diamonds and
gold.
Most of these projects are feasibility
studies, bank due diligence reports and
stay-in-business- type maintenance
initiatives, among other smaller-scale
contracts.
While this push into the rest of Africa
has certainly been robust for most
companies, the growth rate of this
expansion has not been at an optimum
pace, says WorleyParsons RSA CEO
Digby Glover.
“The global mining industry is, as a
whole, a little gun shy at this stage in
terms of capital expen- diture, which
does not help companies like us who
are accustomed to using that capital to
develop mining assets,” he elaborates.
“Thus, because of the current global
financial constraints, many of the con-
tinental projects we are [currently]
engaged in are prefeasibility-type stud-
ies and there are not many construc-
tion initiatives.”
Glover adds, however, that while
WorleyParsons is seeing a short-term
reduction in some mining capital
spend, the company’s work in deep-
shaft underground mining projects,
which typically run for more than ten
years, is not as susceptible to short-
term market fluctuations.
19 Analysis

20. 20 Analysis
“In fact, in areas outside the South
African geography, the opportunity has
recently significantly increased in deep-
level mining projects,” he says.
Meanwhile, as a result of global finan-
cial constraints, competition to secure
work for other types of new large-scale
projects – whether it be feasibility stud-
ies or infrastructure development – is
particularly buoyant.
Compounding the highly competitive
mining project development scene in
Africa is that Chinese- and Indian-fi-
nanced projects, which form a large
percentage of the capital expenditure
initiatives currently under way, usually
award contracts to Asian engineers and
suppliers.
“Except for investment in South Africa,
not very much of that investment
comes to the typical western firms,”
says Glover.
Thus, South African companies are
being forced to be considerably pro-
active in securing new contracts from
western mining houses operating in
Africa.
Hatch Goba, for instance, is actively
researching all the projects currently
under way in Africa and, to date, has
identifiedmorethan900projectsinthe
mining and infrastructure sectors.
“We have singled out the low-hanging
fruit, and have cold-called and used
our international leverage to visit min-
ing company head offices in Australia,
Canada, and the UK to secure new
contracts on these various projects,”
states Sinclair.
“In addition, we facilitated a big mar-
keting drive into sub- Saharan Africa,
visiting the clients that we do know.
“The net result of those efforts is that
the projects we are currently engaged
in, particularly on the infrastructure
side, have been negotiated off the back
of that research and marketing drive.”
Despite the buoyant competition, the
outlook for the African mining sector
and the ability to secure future con-
tracts is certainly optimistic.
Glover maintains it is not all doom and
gloom for the commodi- ties market
and believes it will not take too much in
terms of an uptick in global demand to
get supply up to prefinancial crisis lev-
els and to facilitate the commissioning
of several new mining projects across
the continent.
Similarly, Küng insists that Tenova Min-
ing & Minerals is bullish about the pros-
pects of mining in Africa.
“If you look at copper alone, many of
the copper mines around the world are
in a mature state and the only large,
unexploited copper deposits now only
exist in Africa,” says Küng.
“Africa will be the showground for
future mineral development, particu-
larly in the copper and uranium fields.”
He adds that South Africa-based firms
are in the best position to assist Afri-
can mines and leverage off the future
boom of the continent’s mining sector.
Outlook for the SA Mining Sector
While local firms may actively be
moving into the rest of Africa, indus-
try stakeholders believe there is still a
future for consulting firms and suppli-
ers in South Africa’s mining sector.
“Existing mines need to continue oper-
ating and we have the skills to opti-
mise and prolong existing assets. We
are certainly willing and do stay-in-
business-type capital projects,” states
Glover.
He adds that South Africa is still
endowed with a “phenomenal array” of
mineralresources–afundamentalthat
is not going to change.
However, there is consensus that,
unless South Africa changes the way
businessiscon-ductedandunlessgov-
ernment positively transforms the way
in which it allows companies to oper-
ate in terms of regulations and labour
policies, there will be little opportunity
for growth and investment in the local
mining sector.
“As contracting companies, we need
to play a more active role, together
with our clients and government, to
improve the relationship with labour.
Similarly, we need longer-term con-
tracts that will enable us to establish
a better [relationship] with our labour
force and our communities.
“Finally, we need to be guided by the
trade unions in their demands and [we
need to] help train and develop unions
to understand the business and labour
aspects of the mining industry,” con-
cludes Fourie. ― MiningWeekly •