Standard Chartered accelerates momentum of its digital strategy across Africa

Standard Chartered announce launch of social banking solution for Africa in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania Digital banks now available in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe as part of the Bank’s digital transformation strategy for Africa. Standard Chartered (https://www.SC.com/) today announced yet another multi-market launch of its digital bank in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe as part…

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Informal Economy Matters: An Alliance of Workers in the Informal Economy

Associations representing workers in the informal economy throughout Zimbabwe have formed an alliance under the theme “The Informal Economy Matters”. The associations under the alliance are the Bulawayo Vendors’ and Traders’ Association (BVTA); Vendors’ Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET); Women Alliance of Business Associations of Zimbabwe (WABAZ); Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA);…

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A new digital solution to waste collection sweeps across town

In recent weeks a new Econet business has “swept” the city of Harare — quite literally. Clean City is a digital platform used by private waste collection companies to collect rubbish bins from homes. It uses a franchise business model and is simply providing a digital platform that links companies that collect waste with private…

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Africa pledges to deliver Blue Economy at Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF) 2019

International and Pan-African organisations agree to collaborate on initiatives following successful ABEF2019 The prospect of a fully sustainable Blue Economy for Africa gathered significant momentum following the second Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF2019) (www.ABEF2019.com) held in Tunis on 25-26 June. Fishing, aquaculture, shipping, ports, energy and finance industries all came under the spotlight at ABEF2019,…

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Tourists won’t be affected by currency law SI 142 of 2019: ZTA

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority has assured all visitors to Zimbabwe that the recently promulgated Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (Legal Tender) Regulations, 2019 will not negatively affect the travelling public, specifically foreign visitors. The organisation said the regulations are meant for any transactions carried out within Zimbabwe, where it is now…

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Ecofarmer: Technology playing a powerful role in empowering women

Econet’s innovation, Ecofarmer, a mobile-based insurance services programme epitomises the important role that technology can play in achieving gender equality. Ecofarmer is a mobile technology solution, which delivers weather-based insurance, real-time, location-based weather information and farming tips via cellphone, that is helping producers to combat the effects of climate change. Statistics show that Zimbabwe is…

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Socioeconomic Implications of the Monetary Policy Measures – Statutory Instrument (SI) 142/2019

By ZIMCODD On 24 June 2019, the government abolished the 10-year-old multi-currency regime in the country making the Zimbabwe dollar the sole legal tender. The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) bemoans the apparent policy inconsistency and premature knee jerk reaction. The need for a local sovereign currency is not disputed, however the government…

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AfDB approves USD 24.7 million for Water and Sanitation Development in South Sudan

The Strategic Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project will support the rehabilitation of approximately 50km of the Juba town distribution network and related works The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) on June 20, 2019, approved a proposal to commit $24.7 million to finance the South Sudan Strategic Water Supply and Sanitation…

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New features and unparalleled line-up to drive programme for Africa Oil Week 2019

Over 1500 delegates, including a record-breaking number of 16+ government ministers will attend the event in Cape Town As the leading event for Africa’s upstream, Africa Oil Week (Africa-OilWeek.com) is committed to staying at the cutting-edge of developments in oil and gas. Over 1500 delegates, including a record-breaking number of 16+ government ministers will attend…

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Gendered Corruption Mostly Affecting Women: TIZ

By Tatenda Mujeyi Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) is engaging in a research on the implications of corruption from a gender perspective. This emerged at a breakfast meeting the organization held today in Harare. The gendered challenges of corruption are argued to be affecting mainly women as the patriarchal nature of Zimbabwean society guaranteed male participation…

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Afreximbank Introduces Tunisia-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Central Bank of Tunisia have signed an agreement for a $500-million Tunisia-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme which will be used for providing financing aimed at promoting and expanding trade and investments between Tunisia and the rest of Africa. Under the terms of the agreement sign in Moscow on 22 June, Afreximbank will…

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AfDB welcomes EUR40 million energy investment from the European Commission

The announcement was made to energy sector stakeholders at a sideline event held during the Africa Energy Forum, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) announced a EUR 40 million investment from the European Commission for the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), a new platform for financing small-scale renewables in Africa. The…

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Return of the Zimbabwe dollar

By Alex Magaisa The most significant news from Zimbabwe today is the dramatic return of the Zimbabwe dollar. Zimbabweans woke up to the news of a legal instrument, Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019, which reintroduces the Zimbabwe dollar and ends the multi-currency regime. The purpose of this note is not to assess the legality of…

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Zimbabwe Makes Better Strides In Up-Lifting Nutrition Management

By Nevson Mpofu Zimbabwe has been encouraged and pushed forward to increase its National Budget on Nutrition from 0, 45% to 3%. An Expert in Nutrition Kudakwashe Zombe of Zimbabwe Civil Organisations Society Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance (ZCSOSUNA) speaking in Harare highlighted the need to consider Nutrition Health as the only way-forward to eradicate or…

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How consumers use their buying patterns to signal priorities

By Charles Dhewa As buying patterns signify ordinary people’s priorities, developing countries should invest more in finding pockets of opportunity from micro-markets than pursuing mega deals. In most African countries, much of the overlooked growth is within open food markets from which the majority get food and income. An outside observer may see open markets…

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Africa Oil & Power to Honour Senegal President as “Africa Oil Man of the Year”

The President will be presented the award during the conference, during which he will also present the keynote address Africa Oil & Power (https://AfricaOilandPower.com) will present the award to H.E. Macky Sall at its annual conference in Cape Town; H.E. Macky Sall is renowned for his efforts to revive Senegal’s economy and create an attractive…

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Untapped market for digital services to transform African agriculture worth up to €2.3 billion

Digital ventures already have more than 33 million registered users, according to study by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Dalberg Advisors. More than 90 per cent of the market for digital services that support African smallholders remains untapped and could be worth more than €2 billion (US$2.26bn), according to a…

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Afreximbank Approves $69 million Dividend Pay-out as Annual Meetings Conclude in Moscow

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will pay a total of $69 million to its shareholders as dividend from its 2018 earnings, according to decisions reached during the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) of the Bank which ended in Moscow yesterday. The shareholders also appointed one new member to its Board of Directors and decided…

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Afreximbank Donates $1.5 Million to Support Tropical Cyclone Idai Relief Efforts

Africa’s Output Grew by 3.4% in 2018, Afreximbank’s Africa Trade Report 2019 Shows

Africa’s output grew by 3.4 per cent between 2017 and 2018 despite the slowdown in global growth during that period, a new report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has shown.   The African Trade Report 2019: African Trade in a Digital World, launched today in Moscow during the 26th Afreximbank Annual Meetings, states that Africa’s total merchandise trade in 2018 had…

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AfDB, MFW4A and German Cooperation Host International Workshop on Africa’s Trade Finance Market

The workshop, themed: “The Consolidation of International Correspondent Banking Relationships in Africa,” was attended by representatives of the main correspondent banks operating in Africa he African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) (www.MFW4A.org) and the German Cooperation (BMZ/GIZ) held a two-day international workshop in Frankfurt, Germany, to improve participants’ understanding of trade…

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GetBucks to raise additional capital of up to RTGS$47 million

By Tatenda Mujeyi Microfinance bank GetBucks has held an extraordinary general meeting to notify on resolutions the bank has taken to raise additional capital of up to RTGS$47 million through right issues in Harare today. “At a meeting of Shareholders held this morning, GetBucks Microfinance Bank Limited (GetBucks) shareholders approved resolutions that would allow the…

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New version of Market Access Map provides boost to transparency in trade

The International Trade Centre (ITC) today unveiled a new version of Market Access Map, its popular online trade analysis tool. The revamped portal will further enhance market transparency and facilitate the analysis of trade-related policy issues. Market Access Map responds to users’ specific needs depending on their profile and will continue to provide free and user-friendly access to…

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Pan-African Parliament joins global parliamentary consultations on topical issues

26th annual Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy begins its work in Tbilisi The Pan-African African Parliament (PAP) is among international Parliamentary organisations invited to take part in the 26th Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O) currently underway in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Assembly is being held from 19 to 23 June 2019 under the theme: “The contribution of…

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ACFTA Conference ends with multiple recommendations

By Tatenda Mujeyi The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) conference held in Harare ended yesterday with multiple recommendations that Zimbabwe can employ to better the free trade process. Recommendations that the conference made on the Free Trade agreement include capacity building, effective communication, transparency, information flow, renewable energy promotion, improvements on macro-economic environment and…

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EcoSure moves to preserve client value, introduces USD packages

Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe’s EcoSure has unveiled US dollar denominated packages that will give Zimbabweans the opportunity to get insurance cover without worrying about the challenges of value erosion on their policies brought about by economic volatility and currency fluctuations.   Announcing the move, Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe CEO Mr Eddie Chibi said the new packages would…

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RTGS$25,3 million First Quarter Revenue for Zimpapers

By Tatenda Mujeyi Zimbabwe’s only integrated media house, Zimpapers, is experiencing positive first quarter performance, Chief Executive Officer, Pikirayi Deketeke announced at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Harare today. The profits were broadly attributed to the diverse business lines the company operates despite classifying the Newspaper division, radio and the television network ZTN as…

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Thembi Moyo elected president of regional railway body

Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway chief executive Thembi Moyo was yesterday (Wednesday) elected president of the Southern African Railways Association at the first SARA board meeting of 2019. Namibian railway TransNamib chief executive Johny Smith was elected vice-president. Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza, in a speech read on his behalf by his human resources director,…

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Challenges in chrome industry: miners

By Tatenda Mujeyi Chrome miners convened at a consultative workshop organised by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) have aired out the challenges they experience within the industry. This emerged at workshop held in Harare yesterday.The event was commended as a positive step in the coordination of chrome mining considering government’s efforts to implement…

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Econet Wireless, Vaya extends over RTGS$400 000 to Zimbabwe Gems

The Zimbabwe Gems’s quest  to represent the country at the Netball World Cup got a whopping sum of over RTGS$400 000 shot-in-the-arm from Econet Wireless, the biggest mobile network operator and VAYA, an app-based ride hailing service. The Zimbabwe Gems who are ranked 13th in the world sent an SOS for sponsorship and Econet Wireless heard…

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Evangelista Chekera’s Greening Chick Brooding Innovation Impacting Africa

By Byron Mutingwende   Spiked Online Media’s Byron Mutingwende (BM) caught up with Evangelista Chekera (EC), a young entrepreneur whose chick brooding innovation has won her local and continental awards. Below are the excerpts of the interview:   BM: Who is Evangelista Chekera?   EC: I am the first born in a family of two…

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Ecobank named ‘Best Retail Bank in Africa’ at African Banker Awards

Ecobank (www.Ecobank.com) has been named Best Retail Bank in Africa 2019 at the prestigious African Banker Awards. The judges were especially impressed by how Ecobank’s state-of-the-art products, services, functionality and constant innovations provide 24/7 convenience, accessibility and affordability to meet the evolving needs and expectations of its customers across 33 African countries, whilst also successfully…

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Tourism: A Global Force For Growth And Development

UNWTO Executive Council meets in Baku The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has met in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the 110th Session of its Executive Council (16-18 June). At the meeting, Member States endorsed the Organization’s progress and future plans, as outlined Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, and warmly welcomed the participation of the United States as it explores…

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Insurer brings mobile agricultural technology to the field

The AgriShow held at Borrowdale Racecourse from Thursday last week until Saturday was an eye opener for those who attended it for the first time, with an impressive exhibition of agricultural equipment, much of which was large modern sophisticated machinery. The show, held by the Agricultural Dealers and Manufacturers Association (ADMA), attracted not only manufacturers…

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Teachers desert classrooms in protest against under-payment

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has said today is day one of phase 2 of teachers’ job action against ‘slave wages’ which coincides with Teachers’ June pay day. “The peanuts received by teachers have forced them to leave classrooms in protest. Reports filtering from across the country indicate that no learning is…

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Centurion Law Group announces intention to pursue Public Listing

This represents a natural step for Centurion given the group’s strong market share within the oil & gas sector in sub-Saharan Africa and its increased activity Centurion Law Group (“Centurion”) (Centurionlg.com) is set to become the first African legal and energy advisory firm to be publicly-listed this year, as it prepares to join one of…

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