Business

HARARE – Government plans to hike minimum capital requirements for insurance firms, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa indicated in his 2015 National Budget. He said after having been last revised in 2013, “the minimum capital requirements will further be reviewed upwards.” The move, the Treasury chief said, would “improve underwriting capacity and contain insurance business being…

HARARE – Treasury has issued $110 million eight-year bonds to raise funds to capitalise the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said. This comes as the central bank has been failing to perform the key role of lender-of-last-resort since 2009 after government ditched the inflation-ravaged local dollar to adopt a multi-currency…

HARARE – The Indigenisation ministry and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) have approved Guernsey-based resources firm, Centar Plc, to partner Meikles in its mining venture. This comes as the joint venture, Meikles Centar Mining, plans to invest $100 million in chrome mining after acquiring a 75 percent stake in an undisclosed company that owns chrome…

HARARE – Zimbabwe has tweaked its indigenisation policy, a recent announcement by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa following his 2015 National Budget has indicated. This comes as the empowerment law compelling foreign investors to cede 51 percent shareholding to black locals — has been widely viewed as the greatest obstacle to attracting capital into the investment-starved…

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s economic blueprint, ZimAsset, cannot be funded in its current form and needs to be reviewed to make it practical, Japanese ambassador Yoshi “Tendai” Hiraishi says. In an interview with businessdaily this week, Hiraishi noted that while the document lays out government’s economic targets for the next five years, it fails to specify…

HARARE – Tight liquidity conditions coupled with the deteriorating economy continue to hit the property sector’s growth, latest realtor’s financials have indicated. According to listed Dawn Properties (Dawn) and Mashonaland Holdings (Mash Holdings), property market players’ revenues have significantly declined due to a decrease in occupancy levels. Tenants are also struggling to pay rentals resulting…

HARARE – Japanese companies are attracted to invest in Zimbabwe but remain cautious of the political and economic uncertainty in the country, a top official has said. Yoshi Tendai Hiraishi, the Japanese ambassador to Zimbabwe told businessdaily that the southern African nation has a tough task of normalising its business environment to attract foreign investors….

HARARE – Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa must drastically cut government expenditure — particularly the civil service wage bill — in his 2015 National Budget, renowned economist Tony Hawkins said. The Treasury chief is expected to present the budget today on the back of shrinking revenue while government’s recurrent expenditure is gobbling nearly 80 percent of…

HARARE – Steward Bank (Steward) — a subsidiary of telecoms group Econet Wireless Zimbabwe — has introduced “agent banking”, a concept that allows non-financial businesses to carry out transactions on its behalf. The initiative, Steward Bank’s head of segments Ben Muchina said, “will bring banking to the doorstep of many Zimbabweans”. “…we are determined to…