Author: Laurence Sithole

New Zimbabwe went on to report that the court ruled that in the case of First Merchant Bank failing to reimburse Shah and his company, the Bank of Zambia was held liable and, in the alternative, the Attorney General was ordered to pay if the funds could not be found. The culmination of this dispute is that Shah and his company are in for a particularly large windfall of cash. The reclusive Indian business tycoon is said to have business interests in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and India.

Despite his wins in business Jayesh Shah has never successfully shaken off the controversy that comes from the notable success a person enjoys in any endeavour. Success always breeds as many admirers as it does critics. Tendai Biti, who was Zimbabwe’s finance minister at one time during the Government of National Unity, called Jayesh Shah a “loan shark of Indian descent”.

The opposition leader …

Patrice Thlopane Motsepe has entrepreneurship baked in his bones.

It seems the South African born mining magnate has natural instincts for enterprise.

Looking at his accomplishments in the mining industry and business world its not hard to imagine that he possesses the so called “animal spirits” that renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes said drives entrepreneurs and causes them to see opportunities for value where others cannot.

• Patrice Motsepe is a South African billionaire who has made a fortune estimated by Forbes to be in the region of US$ 2.6 billion.
• His fortune has come from investments in the mining industry through a company he founded in 1997 called African Rainbow Minerals Limited.
• African Rainbow Minerals is involved in the mining of gold, platinum, coal, ferrous and base metals.

According to Forbes, Motsepe’s personal fortune is estimated to be in the region of US$ 2.6 billion. Motsepe founded and …

Conventional finance theory will advise that raising capital on the public markets can be an uphill task when an economy is slowing. A booming economy characterized by low-interest rates with increasing growth rates is the most conducive for an equity offering, more so an initial public offering. A further stroke of genius on the part of Volkswagen and Porsche is that the equity offering comprised preference shares.

The preference shares comprise 12.5% of the issued share capital of Porsche.

This is a stroke of genius in the sense that preference shares, by their nature, resemble fixed income security which would be in high demand in the current environment where interest rates are elevated or are on the upward path. The preferred share component of the IPO must have been appealing and contributed to the offering being oversubscribed.

Preference shares are shares that generally carry with them voting rights and accrue …

In terms of foreign exchange reserves, according to HM Treasury, Britain has net official reserves of US$ 114 billion whereas it plans to embark on an economic plan to pull itself out of the stagflation quagmire by spending no less than US$ 173 billion dollars. If Britain were to use all its foreign exchange reserves to meet the cost of its economic plan it would run short of money and still have a deficit of US$ 59 billion dollars before fully implementing its plan.

Fair enough and granted, governments do not always have to spend cash that they have on hand. They can always borrow if they do not have sufficient cash to finance their operations.

Herein is the problem, the current economic environment does not support borrowing either by individuals, households, or governments. The cost of borrowing is just simply too high either by domestic debt or foreign debt. …

Padenga Holdings Limited fits this description in letter and spirit. During the six months under review, the company achieved US$ 57 million in revenues, which was more than double what the company achieved the previous year. The company increased its revenues by 184% from US$ 20 million in 2021. The company’s mining operations contributed 91% of the revenues.

The crocodile operations contributed a negligible US$ 5 million to the top line. If this trend continues, supported by the elevated gold prices, it would not be unreasonable to surmise that Padenga will soon become a pure-play gold producer or even diversify into other precious metals.

The crocodile business could soon be a thing of the past since gold mining activities have largely eclipsed it. This is all speculation as the company has not made an official statement on the future strategic direction of the company.…

The calls for concrete, concomitant, and substantive actions against carbon emissions are not an exaggeration. The effects of climate change are obvious, even for the casual observer to see. Presently a devastating hurricane, Ian has made landfall on the United States coast of Florida. The tropical storm which tore through Cuba and made landfall in the United States a day ago has reportedly left an estimated 2.5 million people without electricity.

NBC News called hurricane Ian one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the United States. The hurricane it is said, has caused devastation and flooding that has left residents of Miami and Florida trapped in their homes. Hurricane Ian has been described as a category 4 hurricane with speeds of as much as 150 miles per hour or 240 kilometres per hour. Speeds like that make such a storm a threat to life and property. President Joe …