Afreximbank wins Debt Deal of the Year Award at The African Banker Awards 2020

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa’s foremost multilateral trade finance institution, was today announced winner of the Debt Deal of the Year Award at the 14th Annual African Banker Awards 2020 held virtually. The awards recognize institutions and individuals driving growth and development in Africa and creating new economic opportunities for citizens and communities across the…

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Digital finance enabling financing of SDGs, providing a lifeline during COVID-19

Unleashing potential of digital finance could have transformational impact on sustainable development says group of financial, business, government and development leaders convened by the UN Secretary-General The unprecedented social and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the role of digital finance in providing relief for millions around the world,…

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COVID19 has worsened the plight of agricultural value chain actors with disabilities

By Charles Dhewa For more than 10 years, Samson Mundodzi a gifted blind farmer from Nyazura in Manicaland province of Zimbabwe used to be accompanied to Mbare market for selling his commodities. Like all other farmers, Samson would have his commodities loaded onto long distance buses that passed through his home and get to Mbare…

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Afreximbank provides $400m to the Export Trading Group to drive agricultural productivity and resilience

Three-year revolving global credit facility will strengthen African agricultural networks and bolster the continent’s food security The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa’s foremost multilateral trade finance institution, has approved a $400-million revolving global credit facility agreement for the Export Trading Group (ETG), one of the largest and fastest-growing integrated agricultural conglomerates in Africa. The agreement will enable…

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Anzisha Prize launches mini-documentary series by educators on African entrepreneurship success stories

Educators can now share the journeys of very young African entrepreneurs in the #ItStartsWithYou series that highlights key moments that led to their success Today sees the launch of a new mini-documentary and case study series about very young African entrepreneurs designed to enable high-school and university educators to engage students meaningfully about entrepreneurship as…

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UN Secretary-General to spotlight digital finance in COVID-19 recovery, SDGs

The unprecedented social and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the role of digital finance in providing relief for millions around the world, supporting businesses and protecting jobs and livelihoods UN Secretary-General António Guterres will join Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, and Maria Ramos, until recently CEO of ABSA Group, as Co-Chairs of his…

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ZB launches the #ZBHelloWorld three-fold campaign that includes the Diaspora Service Hub

One of the country’s leading financial bank ZB Financial Holdings has launched a product “Kesto” a diaspora service hub that provides tailor-made solutions to Zimbabweans living abroad as well as Visa-enabled cards during a spectacular and engaging virtual launch held on Friday 21 August 2020. ZB Financial Holdings Group CEO Ron Mutandagayi said, “ZB has…

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Ride4Rangers cyclists launch a fundraising campaign in support of Tusk Trust

A team of British Amateur cyclists has started the Global 30,000KM Bike ride with Land’s End to John O’Groates Adventure to protect African Rangers and Wildlife. 50+ African Travel professionals doing a joint bike ride Land’s End to John O’Groats Thousands of people around the globe doing their own ‘virtual’ bike ride for Rangers 874…

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Betty Kaseke soldiers on with community development despite damaging rumours

The philanthropy in the “Iron Lady” as Betty Kaseke has come to be known because of her ability to conquer criticism and character assassination has refused to die as she focuses on community development through the Betty Kaseke Foundation. Carrying the poise of a beauty queen that she is, Betty Kaseke yesterday through her foundation,…

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ZHRC on Protection of Human Rights Defenders

ZHRC Statement on Protection of the Rights of Human Rights Defenders in Zimbabwe 1.      Introduction Section 232 (b) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 20 Act, 2013 provides that the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) is one of the five Independent Commissions Supporting Democracy. The common objectives of Independent Commissions are provided for in section…

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Masawara companies come together to help the Chikomba community

Companies in the Masawara Group, which is comprised of the Zimnat Insurance Group, Cresta Group of Hotels, Minerva Risk Advisors, BIC, Dandemutande and Grand Re-Insurance, have come together to “Make Life Better” for the Chikomba East community. As part of the “Simukai Development Project” which is a village initiative started by Hon Dr Sekai Nzenza…

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Kudzanai Vere pens a masterpiece on entrepreneurship

By Lovemore Chazingwa Title: Exceed Beyond The Ordinary: A Step By Step Guide On How To Become A High voltage Entrepreneur Vol. 1. Author: Kudzanai Vere Publisher: Transformational Mindset Institute Category: Business Date Published: April 2020 ISBN: 9781779250995 In rolling out high brick by brick insight into entrepreneurship, Kudzanai Vere shares with his reader personal…

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Saving lives, economies, and livelihoods campaign launches in Africa

H.E. Amira Elfadil Mohammed, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission; H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy; and Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) launched the “Africa Against COVID-19: Saving Lives, Economies and Livelihoods” campaign during the Africa CDC weekly press briefing on…

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EcoSure launches Pamwepo/Sisonke cover for churches and social groups

ECOSURE, a micro-insurance brand from Cassava Smartech, has unveiled a new package called EcoSure Pamwepo/Sisonke in an effort to ensure that churches and other social groups have access to affordable insurance cover. This comes as Zimbabwe’s hyperinflationary environment has significantly wiped out people’s disposable incomes as prices of goods and services continue to rise on…

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Zimbabwean Youths Stand In Solidarity with Marginalized South Korean Church

Zimbabwean youths have joined hands with youths across the world to stand against human rights violations and the discrimination of vulnerable groups through penning a joint support letter to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General and the UN affiliates. Among the 155 youth groups from 62 countries were the Young Peoples Program, Zimbabwe United Nations Association…

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New research will improve early warning of devastating mega storms

For the first time, researchers can predict how extremely large West African storms may behave when, for example, they approach a cityBy Future Climate for Africa and Researchers at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Ground-breaking scientific research will make it easier to predict the path of some of the world’s most powerful…

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4 Hard-To-Ignore Reasons Why You Should Use AI To Make More Intelligent Products

By Bernard Marr Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and advances in sensor technology, a whole host of everyday products are getting smarter. We have smart TVs and smartwatches. We have smart running shoes – or rather, smart insoles – that gather data on your running performance. You can even get smart nappies that send…

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The Glue Virtual Platform, a first by a Zimbabwean

Dr. Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services has hailed the groundbreaking innovation by Zimbabweans who conceived and developed the Glue Virtual Platform. Speaking during the launch today, Dr. Muswere said as a brainchild of Zimbabwean born Professor Richard Chinomona, the Glue Virtual Platform is a proudly African product that…

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New Higherlife Foundation programme to help childbirth

Philanthropist and pan-African businessman Strive Masiyiwa is mobilizing funds to support the maternal, child-birth sections of Zimbabwe’s largest referral hospitals. Masiyiwa’s action follows recent media reports of seven babies that were reportedly stillborn in one night at one of the country’s largest referral hospitals, after urgent treatment was said to have been delayed due to…

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AU Commission inaugurates AfCFTA permanent secretariat as a launchpad for Africa’s economic transformation

The African Development Bank Group provided a $5 million institutional support grant to the AU towards the establishment of the AfCFTA secretariat At a ceremony on Monday to commission the permanent secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo and Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission,…

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ZRBF PROGRESS provides stockfeed for 2250 Households in Beitbridge District

By Anyway Yotamu In Beitbridge District, 2 250 households are receiving supplementary subsidized livestock feed from the Program for Growth and Resilience (PROGRESS) under the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF) in the wake of the drought being experienced in the country. The intervention is being implemented as part of adaptive programming to the resilience-building efforts…

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Communities plunged into vulnerability

By Habakkuk Trust The prevailing harsh economic conditions coupled with the devastating impacts of climate change have plunged communities into the doldrums of vulnerability.  Growing food insecurity is the norm in most rural areas as the Government’s Food Insecurity Mitigation Program seems to fail to cope with increasing vulnerability in rural households. The situation which…

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To Stay Ahead of the Next Insect Outbreak, Harness Available Data Intelligence

Recently, the UK contributed £17 million to support the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to continue their efforts to combat the desert locust surge in East Africa and improve early warning and forecasting systems.  Because of contributions like this and other contributions that have been made by countries including Germany, Saudi…

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What Is The Artificial Intelligence Revolution And Why Does It Matter To Your Business?

By Bernard Marr As a species, humanity has witnessed three previous industrial revolutions: first came steam/water power, followed by electricity, then computing. Now, we’re in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution, one driven by artificial intelligence and big data. I like to refer to this as the “Intelligence Revolution.” But whatever we call it – the fourth…

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Zimbabwe’s RBZ Farm Mechanisation Scheme and its Contribution to the Public Debt Burden

By Zimcodd Over the last two decades, Zimbabwe has experienced several unprecedented socioeconomic and political shocks and stresses. Consistent shortages of food, pharmaceuticals, fuel, run-away year-on-year inflation rate of 737.26% (June 2020), a 95% unemployment rate, and poverty are some of the indicators of Zimbabwe’s current macroeconomic crisis. With an estimated domestic debt burden of…

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Harnessing the power of needs assessments in African countries

By Charles Dhewa Needs assessments are some of the most under-rated and under-utilized resources in African countries.  Development agencies that often start some work in communities with a baseline study often do so for purposes of getting donor money as opposed to fully informing and guiding their interventions. In some cases, the baseline study is…

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Victory: ZPCS ordered to stop ill-treatment in prison

By Kumbirai Mafunda A Zimbabwean court on Friday 14 August 2020 ordered Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) to stop the persecution of freelance journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Transform Zimbabwe political party leader Jacob Ngarivhume and allow them access to basic rights while in detention at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. Through their lawyers Beatrice Mtetwa,…

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MSF welcomes WHO revision in TB guidelines

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has welcomed the revision made by WHO to its tuberculosis (TB) guidelines, allowing for safe use of a treatment regimen including both bedaquiline and delamanid for patients suffering from drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), while urging a faster uptake in India for patients with extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). The drugs bedaquiline and delamanid…

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Energy provision: An engineer will resolve crisis in Zimbabwe

By Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi Following the energy challenges that Zimbabwe has been going through, there were expectations that the next Minister of Energy was going to be a leading engineer and definitely not an accountant Cde Soba Zhemu who followed the lawyer Cde Fortune Chasi. The true definition of an Engineer is a creative…

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Community Information Centres to address misinformation in the fight against COVID-19

Dr. Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services has said COVID-19 has exposed how misinformation poses one of the greatest security threats of our time. The Minister made the remarks while officially opening the Maphisa Community Information Centre in Matebeleland South Province today. He alluded to the COVID-19 media briefing on 6…

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Awakening the entrepreneurial spirit of every young African is key to the continent’s future

The webinar, themed Investing in Africa’s Future: Youth Empowerment Through Entrepreneurship, invited a range of private and public sector representatives to discuss the challenges young African entrepreneurs face The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) joined a number of development leaders in calling for greater support of youth entrepreneurship during a virtual event organized by the Tony…

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Fascinating Examples Of How Blockchain Is Used In Insurance, Banking And Travel

By Bernard Marr Blockchain technology promises to revolutionize many aspects of how we do business and if you believe the blockchain hype (of which there is plenty), may even be as disruptive as the internet was before it. Despite this, practical, real-world examples of blockchain technology can be a little thin on the ground –…

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Standard Chartered and Airtel Africa form a partnership to drive financial inclusion across Africa

Standard Chartered and Airtel Africa will work together to co-create new, innovative products aimed at enhancing the accessibility of financial services Standard Chartered Bank (www.SC.com) and Airtel Africa have today announced a strategic collaboration to drive financial inclusion across key markets in Africa by providing customers with increased access to mobile financial services. Through the…

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Journalists petition President Mnangagwa, regional and international bodies to restore media freedom and security

Various media lobby groups in Zimbabwe have today petitioned President Mnangagwa, the police, local, regional and international organisations as well as media representative bodies where they registered their concern on the deteriorating freedom and security for the media in the country. Below, Spiked Online Media reproduces the petition: Attention: Zimbabwe President, His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa…

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