HARARE – London-listed investment vehicle Masawara Plc (Masawara) recorded a 167 percent surge in profits to $16,1 million in the full year to December 2014 up from a loss of $10,8 million in the corresponding period, despite declining economic conditions in the country. “From an operational perspective, the business environment in Zimbabwe has remained difficult,”…
HARARE – Zimbabwe is willing to compromise on indigenisation stipulations to help the national airline to secure a new investor. Transport minister Obert Mpofu said government was pursuing various efforts to ensure that Air Zimbabwe (Airzim) starts operating on a sustainable basis. “We would be looking at several possibilities out of which a compromise where,…
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s maize production for the 2014/15 agricultural season is forecast to decline by over 500 000 tonnes to 950 000 tonnes due to a prolonged dry spell, a latest Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report has shown. “The 2015 harvest is preliminarily forecast at under 1 million tonnes, about one-third down on 2014,”…
HARARE – The banking sector recorded a low loans uptake as a result of high lending rates as corporate clients in the sector slumped, figures from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe show. In its weekly economic report, the central bank said loans have declined to $3,4 million from $3,6 million in January this year. Lending…
HARARE – Tourism minister Walter Mzembi has unveiled a board of directors for Mosi-oa-Tunya Development Company (MTDC) to spearhead the development of an eco-Disneyland theme park on 274 hectares in the country’s prime tourist destination Victoria Falls. Announcing the new board, chaired by First Mutual Life Assurance managing director Ruth Ncube, Mzembi said the board’s…
HARARE – Zimbabwe has been removed from the international financial blacklist after the country took steps towards improving its role in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, a Cabinet minister said. Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa welcomed the move by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to remove the country from a monitored…
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s broad money supply increased by 11,6 percent between January 2014 and January 2015, from $3,88 billion last year to $4,34 billion, on the back of growth in banking sector deposits, statistics from the central bank show. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) figures show the surge in deposits was mainly used to…
HARARE – Zimbabwe largest platinum producer, Zimplats’ profit in the quarter to March 2015 surged by 133 percent to $6,8 million compared to a loss of $20,5 million in the previous quarter due to increased metal sales. In the period under review metal sales volumes went up four percent from 100 443 ounces to 104…
HARARE – Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) says mobile network operators are not inflating mobile data and Internet services tariffs. Baxton Sirewu, Potraz acting director general, said mobile network operators had no room to inflate the charges as the watchdog organisation kept a microscopic lookout and regulated all tariffs. “We regulate tariffs…
HARARE – Aquarius Platinum Limited (Aquarius) is optimistic Zimbabwe will review the recently-imposed 15 percent tax on raw platinum exports to allow mining companies to remain viable. In the company’s quarterly results to March 2015 released yesterday, Jean Nel, Aquarius chief executive, said the three platinum miners in Zimbabwe are currently engaging government over the…
