Author: Kuda Pfende

Banks provide working capital for the day to day running of the majority of corporate Zimbabwe. Most suppliers work on a 30 to 90-day credit facility where supermarkets get access to products and then pay for the merchandise later. With no line of credit, there has been a shock to the supply chain. A few days after the announcement, companies started issuing press statements stating their failure to honour pre-standing contracts. Within a week, certain products started disappearing from shelves.

Cooking oil, cornmeal, and sugar have vanished from supermarket shelves. A precedent that echoes the dreaded year 2008 when another policy inconsistency made supermarkets into ghost towns. Zimbabweans know the signs of a dying economy and remember how tough life became in 2008.…

Prices of essential and non-essential commodities will increase as fuel and gas prices skyrocket due to dwindling supplies. Air and marine freight prices have increased significantly. As a result, customers should brace for price increases caused not by the government’s actions but by direct and indirect conflict repercussions.

Numerous businesses have been forced to reduce or halt output due to the economic crisis. Zimbabwe is in danger of exhausting what remains of its productive capability unless drastic measures are taken to pique the interest of foreign investors.

Russia is the world’s second-largest supplier of petroleum products. Now that they are embroiled in a conflict with Ukraine, they cannot supply numerous markets, resulting in supply limits. When supply falls far behind demand, prices tend to rise, which is our situation.…

There are still questions about Africa’s ability to serve as a viable interim option for natural gas while Europe confronts Russia’s military offensive. According to experts, a historical lack of investment in gas infrastructure has harmed Sub-Saharan Africa’s energy business compared to Northern Africa.

For example, Algeria’s Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline connects Algeria – Africa’s largest natural gas exporter – to Spain and Portugal via Morocco, and Algeria’s Medgaz pipeline connects Algeria directly to Spain. However, a decline in gas output caused the decline due to a breakdown in relations with Morocco; Algeria declared last October that it would immediately begin delivering gas straight to Spain.

It is critical to remember that [North] Africa already had a developed gas export market with Europe [pre-Ukrainian crisis]. The projected expansion of the Medgaz pipeline capacity [in Algeria] is to boost shipments to Europe.…

The agreement places a premium on the expansion of the collaboration, particularly in renewable energy. Additionally, collaboration opportunities will be discovered in the areas of energy efficiency, energy technology, the hydrogen economy, flexible energy systems, storage solutions, integration technologies, hydrogen and Power-to-X, and research and development. 

The two ministries will endeavor to expedite the formation of partnerships between bilateral agencies and businesses to execute cooperative initiatives in innovation, research, and development. Renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy systems are critical components of a prosperous society. Finland has established considerable expertise in these domains, and it makes sense to foster this practical cooperation with Morocco. …

Once again, Heijin was at the centre of another dispute. This time around, it was displacing more villagers in Murehwa. Murehwa is a village in Mashonaland East province.

This time around, it affected up to 100 families. As with the example above, the company received a special mining grant to mine black granite in the area. The mining claim sits on a densely populated place covering between 200 & 300 hectares.

Due to the presence of granite in the area, Chinese companies are laying siege on the province. All this to get their hands on the rare and lucrative stone. Heijin’s newest intrusion follows another bloody battle between Mutoko and Shanghai Haoying Mining Investments villagers.

They have claims to mine black granite, which was. At the same time, Shanghai Haoying has compensated households who would lose their home due to mining activities. The Chinecompany’sy’s plans to establish operations in the …

If you received your salary on the 1st of January in ZWL, you would struggle to pay for goods and services in February. This volatile situation results in consumers seeing value eroded from their bank balances at an astonishing rate.

We see wages struggle to keep up with inflation, a phenomenon similar to 2008. Most people buy USD from the black market to retain some semblance of value in these balances.

Zimbabwe has a currency crisis, and the Authorities seem to be struggling to deal with it. The rate at which the Zimbabwe dollar is depreciating signifies the state of the economy. Much of this is being blamed on the countries foreign currency auction system.…

• Varun Beverages has become one of the country’s biggest beverage firms in Zimbabwe
• Delta has had a firm grip on the Zimbabwean drinks market and is home to international brands of soft drinks and beers
• Varun is on an aggressive urban assault to capture more market share and challenge the drinks giant.

Varun Beverages has become one of the country’s bigger soft drinks firms in Zimbabwe within a relatively short period.

Bottlers of Pepsi, 7up and Mirinda brands, Varun has established itself as one of the soft drinks companies to reckon with in the soft drinks market.

This is an impressive achievement given it is going toe-to-toe with long-established Delta, Zimbabwe’s most prominent beverage firm with big brands such as Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite.

Since the colonial era, Delta has had a firm grip on the Zimbabwean drinks market and is home to international brands of soft …

The search for Congo’s cobalt has shown how the clean energy revolution has taken a turn. It is to save the planet from rising temperatures in an age of enlightened self-interest. But it has become mired in a familiar cycle of exploitation, greed, and deception. This often benefits Africa little or not at all.

On November 24, 2021, a group of G7 countries, including Japan and the US made a decision. They stated they will withdraw crude oil from their Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (SPR). The SPR was an underground salt tank in Utah, turned into a recession and warproof facility. It was in reaction to the twin World Trade Center explosions on September 11, 2001.…

The lender stated during the conference that the country’s economic objectives were still under threat from unsustainable debt.
The government announced last week that external debt grew to US$13.7 billion in September, up from roughly US$10.7 billion the previous year.
Zimbabwe’s debt accounts for more than half of the country’s GDP.…

Zimbabwe chastised the West for averting Harare’s breakdown by denying “access to markets for Zimbabwe’s diamonds sector” and causing “disinvestment, corporate closures, and a currency collapse” in a document titled “Economic Impact of Sanctions on Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe, which is thought to hold 25% of the world’s diamond reserves, has sunk deeper into international turmoil following revelations that over USUS$14 billion had been taken by oligarchs in the Marange highlands, where the US has expressed concerns about forced labour and human rights abuses.
Security forces mercilessly attacked illegal miners around the end of 2008 to gain sole ownership of the mines for the state, prompting the West to label Harare’s jewels “blood diamonds.”…