On October 1st, the re-opening of the Zimbabwe border will enable cross-border trade between the majority of Zimbabwe’s SME’s, enabling access to goods from South Africa.  

 Faced with the drastic impact of Covid–19, Zimbabwe is finally re-emerging from a state of complete lockdown.  

Only recently, Zimbabwean authorities have started reopening the economy in stages, as the country grapples to create economic momentum. A day after the Zimbabwe recorded a rise in COVID-19 recoveries on the 15th of September 2020, the Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced a raft of relaxation protocols. Business operating hours where extended to 18:30 pm up from 16:30 pm, the national imposed curfew was reduced from 6pm -6am to 8pm – 6am.   

The government went further and approved the resumption of inter-city travel in a move to open up the economy following nearly six months of restrictions due to …

Zimbabwe has over the years made headlines for many reasons politically and economically. The country has undergone severe hyperinflation, dollarization, de-dollarization, and recently pseudo re-dollarization. The capital markets have not been spared by this financial rollercoaster as evidenced by the little financial capital raised on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. Plans are at advanced stages for a new bourse to be based in Victoria Falls. 

Understanding Zimbabwe’s Currency Matters and its impact on stocks 

At the height of Zimbabwe’s economic crises, ordinary citizens became poor trillionaires and many corporates shut down or halted operations as they failed to cope with the situation. In 2009 the introduction of the multicurrency regime ushered in a period of stability that saw relative economic progression.  

Companies and individuals could plan and work towards specific targeted goals that had been impossible in the hyperinflationary period. The multicurrency regime was abandoned …

Will Zimbabwe Pay White Farmers Or Not?

The new government of Zimbabwe is hoping to make amends with its white citizens and investors but it may not be as easy as letting bygones be bygones.

While on the one hand, the government was hoping to apiece the said white communities by offering to compensate what they lost during the reign of the past regime that grabbed land and other properties from them, several functions in Zimbabwe will not have it.

As part of its deal with the US to have sanctions lifted, Zimbabwe was required to compensate the white farmers. And so earlier in August of this year, the government had announced that it intends to pay a whopping USD3.5 billion in compensation to white former landowners. Following the announcement, a group of ex-fighter gave the new government a 48 hours ultimatum to rescind the offer.

Also Read: Africa’s Debt

Zimbabwe is on the verge of another economic cramp that is bound to be far worse than what it has been suffering for the last decade.

Already, the nation has been on an indefinite national lock down for the third month running, and now, the pandemic is really taking a dire toll on the economy. Well, it is not the Coronavirus effect that is bound to doom Zimbabwe into an economic crunch (yet again).   Rather, it is the country’s tendency to simply print money whenever it deems fit; if only life were so easy!

Zimbabwe, like all other countries, is looking to cushion its business sector from the coronavirus crunch. However, the way Zimbabwe is looking to fund its proposed US$ 998.34 million (ZW$18 Billion) stimulus package is if anything, questionable, if not downright inadvisable, or to be blunt, shall we just go ahead and call it, rudimentary?

Well, how …

After slow production during the Covid-19 lock down,  Zimbabwe’s gold sector has had a drastic come back reporting gold revenue is up almost 50 percent at least one of its major mines.

The total revenue recorded for the second quarter of 2020 clocked and impressive to USD23. 6 million, that is almost double (48 percent) the revenue brought in during the same period last year.

Having topped last year’s production by USD15. 9 million, Blanket Gold Mine that is based in the Gwanda region, increased production all through the first quarter this despite glitches caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The mine is owned by the Caledonia Mining Corporation and was proud to announce it had produced 14,233 ounces of gold in the second quarter up from the 11,948 produced during the same period last year.

The production level is very impressive given the fact that other miners could not access …

The U.S. has announced that at least two of Zimbabwe’s national banks are now allowed to operate without sanctions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control which operates under the US Treasury Department said Zimbabwe’s Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe and the Agricultural Development Bank of Zimbabwe are now removed from its black list.

It is now almost 20 years of sanctions for Zimbabwe so this development comes as a breath of fresh air for the otherwise economically suffocating country. The U.S., backed by the European Union imposed the sanctions back in 2002.

Ever since then, several state organs like the said banks and a host of several government officials were black listed for sanctions and restriction of movement following allegations of widespread human rights abuse.

Zimbabwe’s economy has ever since been on murky ground, inflation rate has been overboard hitting the highs of 600 percent. Only in May this year …

In an interesting development, while demand for gold is on the rise all over the world, gold output in Zimbabwe has fallen 17 percent in the last four months.

Why? Well, because of Covid-19. Strange because it is a result of the pandemic that world demand for gold is on the rise as people try to store the value of their money in gold.

Yet in Zimbabwe, small scale miners in the country are failing to conduct their mining activities because the country does not have the needed cash to buy mining inputs. Well let’s not say the country doesn’t have cash because it does, its just that no one will accept the Zimbabwean dollar.

Also Read: Barrick Gold back to business with Tanzania

So the trouble is that, Zimbabwe relies on other currencies, like the US dollar to make large and small payments alike like explosives among other things. …

Zimbabwe is on the verge of another economic crump that is bound to be far worse than what it has been suffering for the last decade. 

Already, the nation has been on an indefinite national lockdown for the third month running, and now, the pandemic is really taking a dire toll on the economy. Well, it is not the coronovirus effect that is bound to doom Zimbabwe into an economic crunch (yet again) rather, it is the country’s tendency to simply print money whenever it deems fit; if only life were so easy! 

Zimbabwe, like all other countries is looking to cushion its business sector from the coronavirus crunch. However, the way Zimbabwe is looking to fund its proposed ZW$18 Billion stimulus package is if anything, questionable, if not downright unadvisable, or to be blunt, shall we just o ahead and call it, rudimentary. 

Well how else would you …

While all other agricultural exports are suffering reduced demand owing to the Covid-19 global pandemic, that is not the case for tobacco which has recorded remarkable increase in sales at the beginning of the marketing season.

Reports from Zimbabwe say export of flue-cured tobacco is stable and prices are firm, with tobacco sales having increased more than quadrupled over the cause of the last and the present season. Last season closed with sales of USD232 008 but this season has opened with sales of USD1 598 230 that is a 588 percent increase!

As market season opened at the start of the month, an impressive USD1.6 million was sold. With attractive prices that begun above USD 5 per kilogramme, farmers were more than willing to sell. Only three days after the marketing season opened, farmers had sold almost 700 000 kilogrammes of tobacco.

The country’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board …

Africa has some of the most expensive mobile data services in Africa. With the increase in connectivity via smartphones, people in emerging markets can use their portable devices for more things each passing day. Most of us have a smartphone with mobile data that we can carry anywhere and as soon as we step home we switch to our Wi-Fi not to overuse our mobile data; which is most of the time unfairly overcharged.

However some people do not have the privilege to afford both mobile data and internet at home, so they opt for the more expensive but more portable mobile data. Everyday, people in emerging African countries are forced to take this decision and are sometimes charged the most expensive prices in the world for mobile data. What is important to know also is the dependency and impact of smartphones in lower income communities.

With a difficulty in …