Browsing: economy

• Reduced commodity prices will hamper Zimbabwe’s economic growth aspirations in 2024. Commodities produced by Zimbabwe include platinum, gold, and diamonds.
• Over the last two years, the country earned record foreign exchange export receipts due to booming commodity prices. However, exports have started to slow and are expected to continue into 2024.
• Zimbabwe will face a perfect storm of economic headwinds, combining factors such as persistent soft commodity prices, anticipated El Nino conditions leading to reduced agricultural output, and lower power generation, all contributing to a reduction in economic growth.

Zimbabwe’s economic growth in 2024 will face challenges due to headwinds within its economy, compounded by external factors undermining its growth aspirations. Global commodity prices have recently decreased, posing a significant concern for countries dependent on producing these commodities for economic sustenance.

Over the last two decades, mining has increased significantly in Zimbabwe’s economy. While agriculture was once central to the …

• Africa only accounts for one per cent of the global digital economy. The US, China, and Asia hold dominant positions at 68 per cent, 22 per cent, and 27 per cent respectively.
• Ralph Mupita, President and CEO of MTN cites untapped opportunities in Nigeria’s digital economy, tipping that its potential will double by 2050 to $145 billion.
• Businesses must adapt to Africa’s evolving digital economy and embrace key trends to seize the vast opportunities in the continent.

There is a substantial gap between the digital economy of developed and developing countries in Africa. At the moment, Africa makes up one per cent of the global digital economy, while the US, China, and Asia occupy the top three spots with 68 per cent, 22 per cent, and 27 per cent of the total. This demonstrates how crucial it is for Africa to close the digital divide and capitalize on its growth …

Rwanda’s economy displayed strong growth, with a 9.2 per cent expansion in the first quarter of 2023, following an 8.2 per cent growth in 2022. However, recent floods resulted in loss of life and infrastructure destruction, leading to a projected moderation of momentum to 5.8 per cent in 2023, slightly lower than the pre-disaster forecast of 6.2 per cent.…

In recent months, the discourse about de-dollarisation has gained momentum. The sanctions against Russia have exposed the danger of over-dependence on the US dollar in international trade. The recent foreign exchange challenges have also recharged the growing efforts to bolster other currencies.

De-dollarisation could soon become a reality. A BRICS substitute to the dollar could enjoy high prospects for success, a former White House adviser, Joseph Sullivan, has noted. Sullivan served as a staff economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Trump administration. According to him, a potential BRICS currency poses a unique threat to the dominance of the US dollar in international trade.…

• Zimbabwe’s banking and financial industry reflects the overall health of the economy.
• The country has broadly experienced capital flight and negligible foreign direct investment during the last 2 decades.
• Policy inconsistency has undermined Zimbabwe’s banking and financial industry together with its capital account.

Thungela Resources set to diversify beyond coal in South Africa

Zimbabwe has been dubbed the sick man of southern Africa for the past 25 years. The country has seen capital flight and an outflow of foreign investment. There are numerous causes for this result. The primary cause has been policy blunders and so-called “flip-flopping” by government gatekeepers.

Like to the rest of the world, Zimbabwe’s banking system reflects the activity of the actual economy. Banks and other financial services institutions serve as financial mediators for real economy players. This indicates that banks serve as a vital link between surplus and deficit units.

In economic terms, this means …

Because of erratic economic policy, Zimbabwe continues to be the sick man of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The country perennially goes from one economic crisis to the next. Presently Zimbabwe is battling with resurgent inflation after managing to rein it in from the hyperinflationary levels reached in the years 2019 to 2020 and during the early months of 2021, peaking at over 837%.

Currently, Zimbabwe’s inflation stands at approximately 257%. Conventionally, the origins of inflation have been and always will be excessive money supply that outstrips the rate of growth in an economy resulting in too much money chasing too few goods and services. In the case of Zimbabwe, the inflation malaise was compounded by the fact that the economy is virtually stagnant, growing only marginally.

• Zimbabwe’s economic policy has been erratic.
• The government in Zimbabwe has recently adopted a scorched earth policy against inflation by tightening

The continent in the near future will have the largest population in the world. The population of Africa is urbanizing as citizens of the nations of the continent migrate from rural to urban areas.

This addition to its vast natural resources is a potent combination for its rapid economic expansion. The world witnessed first-hand the economic miracle where China transformed itself from a rural backwater in 1949 when the modern Chinese state was founded to an economic and military superpower by 2019. The year 2019 is significant to China because the country celebrated 70 years of its founding as a communist state, and the Asian country gained worldwide recognition as a military superpower.

China put on a military parade that displayed a weapons arsenal that made the United States sit up and take notice. How was this possible? China’s economic transformation was because of several factors. One of the most …

The shrinking economy and resulting unemployment have given birth to an informal economy that has spiralled out of control. Treasury and monetary authorities have been at pains to find ways they can tax the informal sector. The informal economy is difficult, if not impossible, to absorb into the formal economy or to include in the tax pool from which the government can draw revenue.

As the formal economy shrinks, so has Zimbabwe’s effective tax revenue stream, and this problem can only be arrested and mitigated by a growing economy.

An economy characterized by slow or negative growth makes it more difficult for the government to repair its finances. This is because there is a positive relationship between a country’s tax pool and the growth of the economy. A shrinking economy brings with it the added cost of having to provide social safety nets for the vulnerable members of its society.…

The Treasury has directed Cabinet Secretaries and CEOs of parastatals to draft the 2023 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 2023 based on policies implemented by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government, despite uncertainty about when the next Head of State would take office after Raila Odinga filed a petition at the supreme court.…