David Mascott Country School Tops Mashonaland West Grade 7 Results

By Byron Mutingwende   In a record-breaking feat, David Mascott Country School emerged as the school with the best Grade 7 results for 2019 in Mashonaland West province in its inaugural examination sitting.   With such a huge achievement, the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) ranked David Mascott Country School that had a 100% pass…

Read More

Matebeleland laments the absence of Obert Mpofu from Cabinet

By Nicholas Ncube The People of Matebeleland are crying foul over the absence of Obert Mpofu from the executive arm of government as the effects are now being felt across the region. In a press statement Mthwakazi Republic Party, a regional political outfit fighting for equality and opportunity for the people of Matebeleland stated that:…

Read More

Zimbabwe month-on-month inflation wanes

In a developing that is pointing to weakening inflation in the country, latest official figures show that Zimbabwe’s month-on-month inflation rate for December 2019 stood at 16.55 percent shedding 0.91 percentage points on the November 2019 rate of 17.46 percent. According to the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (ZIMSTATS), this development “means that prices as measured…

Read More

Proliferation of Hybrid Computing Models Among 2020 Data Center Trends Identified by Vertiv Experts

Speed of deployment expected to become increasingly critical differentiator As the world charges into 2020, organizations increasingly will forego the enterprise-or-cloud debate that dominated C-level conversations in recent years in favor of hybrid architectures that incorporate public and private cloud models and edge assets around a reconfigured core. This evolving approach to managing data and…

Read More

AfDB signs five-year agreement to use International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) standard contracts

Under the terms of the agreement, FIDIC has granted the Bank a non-exclusive licence to refer to the seven major FIDIC contracts The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) (FIDIC.org) has secured a major agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB.org) that will see the international funding organisation include the use of seven FIDIC standard…

Read More

Shot in the arm for Rimuka Primary School

By Assignments Correspondent Kadoma Central Constituency Member of the House of Assembly (MP) Hon. Muchineripi Chinyanganya put broad smiles on the authorities and learning Rimuka Primary School in Kadoma after he purchased a consignment of 13 bags of cement towards the construction of parts of the education institution which is still work in progress. The…

Read More

Thumbs up to ZRP Mashonaland Central for arresting machete wielding terrorists

By Blessing Togarepi I wish to thank Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) from Mashonaland Central Province following the arrest of the 16 machete wielding terrorists who were in the habit of unleashing serious violence that is affecting genuine small scale Miners and the ordinary people at large in the area. The accused persons were part of…

Read More

The high cost of paying lip service to market research

By Charles Dhewa African smallholder farmers are not the only ones famous for producing commodities before conducting market research. Corporates are not immune to such a disease. Instead of investing in market research, most African corporate companies prefer monopolising the air waves, bill boards along urban roads and mainstream print media with advertisements. The consequences…

Read More

Merck Foundation partners with African Leaders in Sustainable Art and Interiors Initiative

The Merck Foundation sustainability initiative plans to focus on capacity building and raising awareness in order to accelerate sustainable solutions to urban sustainability challenges Merck Foundation Sustainability Initiative dubbed “Sustainability is a Shared Responsibility” is as a critical part of The Merck Foundation Program to address sustainability challenges in the countries of the global south…

Read More

UN Resident Coordinator Meets VP Mohadi On Food Security

By Joyce Mukucha and Anyway Yotamu The newly appointed United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator to Zimbabwe Ms Mario Rebeiro has paid a courtesy call to the  Vice President Kembo Mohadi at his Munhumutapa Offices in Harare to discuss issues concerning food security in Zimbabwe. Speaking to the press on the 10th of January 2020,VP Mohadi…

Read More

Cimas CEO advocates B2B relationships over tariffs

Medical aid societies need to pursue B2B engagements , where they approach individual health service providers to negotiate agreed prices, Cimas Medical Aid Society chief executive officer Vulindlela Ndlovu told journalists today (Thursday). He said resuscitating the past practice of the medical aid industry and service providers agreeing on common tariffs was unlikely to work….

Read More

Nigeria’s Imo State Allocates Land to Afreximbank for Quality Assurance Centre

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has received the certificate of occupancy for a five-hectare plot of land granted to it by the government of Imo State of Nigeria for the development of an internationally accredited quality assurance centre in the state. Afreximbank is supporting the establishment of such internationally accredited African Quality Assurance Centres (AQACs)…

Read More

Punitive measures for machetes wielding gangs

By Anyway Yotamu  and Joyce Mukucha The Mines and Mining Development Parliamentary Portfolio Committee has urged the government to impose stiffer penalties on machetes gangs known as Mashurugwi as part of efforts to deal with the crimes perpetrated by these gold panning criminals. (Mashurugwi) is the term used to refer to outlaws that have become the…

Read More

NetOne extends zero tariff model

  Telecommunications giant NetOne has extended its zero-tariff transaction charges on its mobile money platform – OneMoney – to March 2020. The bold move by NetOne rides on the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ)’s abridged third quarter report for 2019, that saw One Money growing by 27% from 335,132 active mobile subscriptions to…

Read More

NetOne reclaims Market Share

By Business Correspondent The year 2019 has seen mobile telecommunications companies jostle for customers and experience challenges relating to service delivery. The strength of any network provider lies in their ability to deliver on their promise timeously to their subscribers. NetOne has exhibited stealth and grown significantly throughout the year, as documented in the Postal…

Read More

In search of authentic salespeople for African agricultural economies

It is one thing to be blessed with natural resources such as fertile soils and water but quite another to be able to explain and convince investors about opportunities embedded in those resources. Given the intensifying competition for investment and influence, the art of articulating opportunities can no longer be a preserve for government officials…

Read More

Oil Castor pledges to eradicate fuel crisis in Zimbabwe

By Joyce Mukucha and Anyway Yotamu Oil Castor Zimbabwe has promised to eliminate the fuel crisis currently prevailing in the nation through producing and supplying bio motor oil extracted from castor bean plant. The company, through its chemistry and engineering department revealed plans to set up a fully-fledged market in Zimbabwe by  releasing 20W40 Bio-motor oil and…

Read More

Chitungwiza businesses construct ZRP base to help curb crime

Members of the business community in Chitungwiza’s Tilco industrial area have constructed a police base there for the Zimbabwe Republic Police in an effort to combat increasing crime within the area. The Officer Commanding Police in Harare Province, Commissioner Bernard Dumbura, officially opened the base at a ceremony on December 6 attended by representatives of…

Read More
Afreximbank logo

Afreximbank Tops Bloomberg 2019 Book Running League Table

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has emerged on top of the Bloomberg 2019 Africa Capital Markets League Tables as the leading Bookrunner in Africa. The 2019 Africa Capital Markets League Tables released today by Bloomberg showed that Afreximbank was the top Bookrunner for Africa Borrower Loans, ahead of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Standard…

Read More

Over 2,000 Participants From 68 Countries Expected at CAX Weekend in Kigali

More than 2,000 participants from 68 countries are expected at the Creative Africa Exchange (CAX) Weekend which opens in Kigali on 16 January in what the organisers are describing as Africa’s first continental event dedicated to promoting exchange within the creative and cultural industry. Organised by Times Multimedia (TMM) and sponsored by the African Export-Import…

Read More

Rural Women and Girls at the Mercy of Climate Change

By Joyce Mukucha As climate change adverse effects persist around the globe, most women and young girls residing in urban-distant communities are becoming more affected as they bear the brunt of the negative impacts. Due to negative impacts posed by climate change, marginalised women and girls encounter violence, financial instability and child marriage among other…

Read More

World Food Programme forecasts global hunger hotspots as new decade dawns

Escalating hunger needs in sub-Saharan Africa dominate a World Food Programme (WFP) analysis of global hunger hotspots in the first half of 2020 with millions of people requiring life-saving food assistance in Zimbabwe, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central Sahel region in the coming months.  The sheer scale and complexity of…

Read More

Cassava reports first set of half year results post demerger from Econet

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Listed entity Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe Limited (CSZL), which has business interests in mobile money, digital banking, insurtech and on-demand services, reported revenue of ZW$946 million for the half year ended 31 August 2019.   The published results are inflation-adjusted, in line with International Accounting Standard 29 on Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies,…

Read More
EcoCash Sets Aside RTGS$5 Million for Small Businesses

Mobile financial services (MFS) wallet to wallet interoperability solution to Mobile Money domination

By Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi Zimbabwe’s cash crisis has created a need for financial inclusion. There is now a need to make banking services accessible and affordable to everyone in Zimbabwe and beyond and has been a buzzword for the last few years. Technology-based financial services have propelled innovation to “bank the unbanked” making daily…

Read More

WFP Provides Cash Assistance in Zimbabwe’s Poorest Urban Area and Plans to Expand in 2020

Last week, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Zimbabwe completed its last cash distribution of 2019, which supported some 19,000 vulnerable residents in Harare’s sub-urban district of Epworth. Those deemed most food insecure have been receiving monthly cash transfers from WFP since June, as part of an urban pilot project funded by the…

Read More

Linear agricultural policy approaches that should not spill over into 2020

By Charles Dhewa A couple of questions can motivate African policy makers to think critically and reflect about possible starting points for transforming African agriculture from 2020 and beyond. There is no longer any doubt that most imported policy recommendations have failed to fully develop African economies. To that end, as 2020 beckons African agricultural…

Read More

2019 in Review: The Highs and Lows of Mnangangwa’s Year

By Farai Chirimumimba For President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 2019 has been a year of constant turmoil. On the economic front, he has presided over perpetual failure as he has increasingly relied on his own instincts and underperforming cabinet. In just the last few months, a massive strike by junior doctors has paralysed the health sector. Lawyer…

Read More

How to Successfully Market and Sell a Controversial Product

Although the mainstream media thrives on controversial headings and subjects, things take a different turn when you start marketing controversial products. Aside from the fierce debate from enthusiasts and critics, some various barriers and requirements make it cumbersome to market contested products adequately. On one end, you need to avoid issues with regulatory authorities for…

Read More

Rethinking the control of transboundary plant pests and diseases

… as we commemorate the International Year of Plant Health 2020 By Mathew Abang   In Africa, transboundary plant pests and diseases are costly to combat because control efforts are usually undertaken after huge crop losses have already occurred. Improving national capacities to sustainably monitor, prevent and reduce crop losses will have multiple advantages, but…

Read More