Author: Albert Nangara

The PAE – Economic Acceleration Stimulus Package consists of 22 measures divided into two sets of reforms, the first being fiscal and economic stimulus and the second the improvement of its business environment, transparency, governance, and the acceleration of strategic infrastructure.

The fiscal and economic stimulus interventions include the reduction of selected taxes with a direct impact on the main productive sectors.

The measures announced lower the IRPC from 32 per cent to 10 per cent in agriculture, aquaculture, and public transport, and VAT from 17 per cent to 16 per cent and include a VAT exemption on imports for agriculture and electrification to boost renewable energy.

The Mozambican head of state also signalled the introduction of tax incentives for new investments over the next three years but did not mention the rates of these incentives.…

The government later resolved that the state would use the city’s devolution funds forcing the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) to approach the courts. The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) also cited the city of Harare (CoH) and Geogenix B.V as a respondent in an urgent chamber application filed through Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).

CHRA is seeking to bar an order issued by Moyo on July 7 ordering CoH to stop all investigations into the Pomona deal and reverse its suspension.

They want the courts to declare that the directive by Moyo as well as the utilization of devolution funds to pay Geogenix B. V contractual obligations unlawful.

In a letter by Scanlen and Holderness addressed to Moyo dated July 18, the residents’ lawyers said the council had a right to govern its affairs in line with the Urban Councils Act.…

The underlying constituents of the new 1nvest ETF, which will track the MSCI World SRI Select Reduced Fossil Fuels Index, are companies that mitigate risks posed by climate change and exhibit high levels of the environment, and social, and governance (ESG) performance.

According to an article published by the JSE on July 28, 2022, to qualify for inclusion in the index, companies are required to have an MSCI ESG rating of ‘A’ or above.

The ETF has an investment mandate that excludes companies in industries related to goods and services such as nuclear weapons, tobacco, civilian firearms, conventional weapons, alcohol, gambling, adult entertainment,   genetically modified organisms, thermal coal, and oil & gas.

Director of Capital Markets at the JSE, Valdene Reddy, said that the listing of the latest 1nvest ETF demonstrates the JSE’s commitment to remain a capital-raising platform of choice. As this segment grows, a listing on the JSE …

Phishing is a strong attack method because it is done on a large scale. It stressed that by sending massive waves of emails under the name of legitimate institutions or promoting fake pages, malicious users increase their chances of success in their hunt for innocent people’s credentials.

The article explained that phishers deploy a variety of tricks to bypass email blocking and lure as many users as possible to their fraudulent sites, adding that a common technique is HTML attachments with partially or fully obfuscated code. It stressed that HTML files allow attackers to use scripts, and obfuscate malicious content to make it harder to detect and send phishing pages as attachments instead of links.

According to a recent Interpol report, about 90 per cent of African businesses are operating without the necessary cybersecurity protocols and, therefore, are exposed to cyberattacks. The report also noted that there were more than …

• Organic agriculture is the use of green manure, compost, biological agriculture, and biological fertilizers derived from animal waste.
• To promote the organic sector in Africa, countries should implement the African Heads of States Decision EX.CL/Dec.621(XVII) on Organic Farming which was made following the report of the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture held in Lilongwe, Malawi in 2010.
• The organic farming market size is expected to grow from $150.63 billion in 2021 to $169.04 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.2%.

In addition to existing agricultural challenges, pandemics and wars such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war created issues such as the increase in prices of fuel, food commodities, and particularly agrochemical input.

A shortage of chemical fertilizer, is driving up food costs and creating a crisis for countries in Africa and has many farmers desperate and looking for alternatives. According to The Conversation …

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will collaborate with Botswana Rail (BR) to fix parts of the 126 km rail line between Swartruggens, in South Africa’s North West province, and Mafikeng, on the border with Botswana, helping South Africa’s landlocked northern neighbor get its minerals, including thermal coal, to market.

According to an article by Reuters published on August 5, 2022, the rail revamp will enable heavy haul trains to travel from Botswana to South Africa’s ports of Richards Bay and Durban, TFR said. The project aims to be up and running in the next 24 months. However, financial terms were not disclosed.

TFR and BR will also build a rail line from Mamabula in Botswana to Lephalale in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

The two rail companies will work together to fight the “scourge of cable theft and infrastructure vandalism” that is impacting rail services, TFR said, adding this was a “rising …

ZAMBIA and Tanzania last week agreed to revamp and recapitalize the TAZARA railway and expand the TAZAMA pipeline following a change in objectives from the transportation of crude oil to finished products.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the agreement to revive TAZARA was reached when she held talks with visiting Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

According to Zambia Daily Mail, TAZARA was constructed as a turnkey project between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China, with commercial operations starting in July 1976, covering 1,860 kilometres from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

President Hassan added that the two leaders have also agreed to work closely in promoting trade and investment through the revival and renovation of key joint post-independence infrastructure projects that were built to link the two nations, including the Tanzania-Zambia Crude …

De Beers also said the ship’s state-of-the-art dynamic positioning system optimizes its performance in changing weather conditions to minimize energy use. It also generates fresh water through its heat recovery systems and a reverse osmosis plant.

“The Benguela Gem is the first of its kind and represents an outstanding feat of engineering design, technology innovation, and sustainability performance,” said De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver.

The vessel was designed and built in Europe, and the mission equipment was designed and built in Cape Town in large modules parallel to the vessel built in Europe. The mission equipment was then integrated into the vessel in Cape Town by De Beers Marine.

In terms of performance, according to an article by The Namibian dated July 29, 2022, South Africa, Botswana, and Canada all saw diamond production levels dipping at 4%, 4%, and 24%, respectively.…

• When the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on March 2 to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, African countries accounted for almost half of the 35 abstentions including South Africa.
• The conflict triggered by Russia’s invasion has complicated the challenges and sources of stress already facing Southern Africa.
• A few countries are sensing long-term growth opportunities from the crisis. Specifically, Africa’s natural gas could reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the existing world order and with it the global energy, production, distribution, and financial systems. Russia and China are openly challenging the Pax Americana. But the question of what the next world order will look like remains wide open.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, its neighbour to the southwest, marking a dramatic escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014, Putin announced a “special military operation” in …

According to an article by BotsCrew, a WhatsApp chatbot is an automated software powered by rules or artificial intelligence (AI) and runs on the WhatsApp platform. People communicate with WhatsApp chatbot via the chat interface, like talking to a real person. It’s a set of automated replies that simulates a human conversation on WhatsApp.

In May 2022, WhatsApp opened the API for businesses of any size. Previously, it was available only for medium and large businesses, so smaller companies had to contact other providers to access WhatsApp API.

Today, any business can directly sign up or get started with one of the business solution providers to access a New Cloud-based API.…