HARARE – Zimbabwe has improved in information communication technology (ICT) access and use, moving up four places to rank 115th out of 157 in the ICT Development Index (IDI) 2012. New data from the 2013 edition of Measuring the Information Society (MIS) — by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) — revealed that the country also…
HARARE – Government is considering increasing electricity tariffs to make the price of power more “cost reflective”, Energy ministry’s permanent secretary Patterson Mbiriri said. Zimbabwe is currently grappling with acute power cuts — as long as 18 hours a day — which have crippled both commercial and domestic consumers. Mbiriri said the move is also…
HARARE – Listed beverages maker Delta Corporation (Delta) says its lager beer volumes remain depressed, slumping 12 percent in the quarter to September 2013. The brewer — about 40 percent owned by South Africa-based SABMiller — said consumer demand has continued to be subdued, “a trend that has been evident since the beginning of the…
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s year-on-year inflation rate shed 0,42 percentage points to settle at 0,86 percent in September on the back of easing food and non-alcoholic beverages prices, Zimstats said yesterday. The national statistics agency said prices, as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI), “increased by an average of 0,86 percentage points between…
HARARE – Government plans to unveil yet another economic blueprint titled the “Zimbabwe Programme for Socio-Economic Transformation” (Zimpset). This comes as the Cabinet – appointed over a month ago – has not made any major policy or strategy pronouncements, keenly awaited by both foreign and local investors. Market analysts argue that the President Robert Mugabe-led…
HARARE – Many people often wonder how Zimbabwe was able to adopt the US dollar as its official currency and, conversely, how it could re-establish its own currency. The answers begin with an understanding of what money actually is. In modern financial systems, notes and coins make up a very small part of the money…
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s financial services industry is shifting from traditional transacting methods towards digital banking systems, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says. According to the central bank’s monthly economic review for August 2013, the value of mobile and Internet-based transactions increased by 4,93 percent from $303,20 million to $318,16 million between July and August….
HARARE – Trade between Zimbabwe and South Africa (SA) has marginally increased from R18, 5 billion in 2011 to R18, 8 billion last year. SA ? the continent’s largest economy ? is Zimbabwe’s biggest trading partner. Elizabeth Thebethe, SA’s Trade and Industry deputy minister, yesterday said trade between the two southern African countries “indicated steady…
HARARE – Zimbabwe has approved Canada-based New Dawn Mining Corporation (New Dawn)’s indigenisation plan. The junior gold miner — which owns and operates several mines in three gold camps in Zimbabwe — last week announced that the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment ministry had approved the company’s proposal. “The implementation of the plan will require a…
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s economic revival is subject to an unusual degree of uncertainty associated with President Robert Mugabe’s re-election, a research firm Invictus Capital (Invictus) has said. “Following the July 31 elections, Zimbabwe is at the crossroads,” said Invictus in its latest quarterly analysis of the economy. “Over the next few months, the new administration…
