Category: zimbabwe

Tawanda Musarurwa Senior Business Reporter

Zimbabwe’s insurance companies and pension funds were largely able to skate around the effects of currency adjustments last year to meet contractual obligations of at least $1,26 billion.

Official figures from the sector regulator — the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) — show that insurance firms paid out claims to the tune of $850 million, while pension benefits amounted to $416 million in 2019.

Total membership to pension schemes closed 2019 at 800 000.

Players in the local insurance industry (short-term direct insurers, funeral assurers, life direct assurers and micro-insurers) totalled 30 over the same period.

Significant fiscal and currency shifts from 2016 through 2019 ushered in conversion challenges, that were particularly felt by the insurance and pensions industry.

But unlike the hyper-inflationary period circa 2008 when the regulator failed to provide guidance, this time around IPEC issued several guidance papers to the insurance and pensions industry on how to deal with some of the conversion challenges.

One of the major criticisms of the Justice Smith Commission of Inquiry Report, was that the regulator failed to intervene in order to correct market failures and guide the industry and thus resulted in failure by the industry to institute financially sound systems and procedures.

But last year, IPEC issued 10 regulatory circulars to guide the industry on supervisory expectations; and developed supervisory frameworks including: The Troubled Institutions Resolution Framework; the Disclosure Guidelines for both Insurance and Pensions; and the Guideline on Adjusting Insurance and Pension Assets and Liabilities in line with Currency Reforms.

These perhaps contributed in protecting — to some extent — the insured and pensioners’ hard-earned savings. IPEC Commissioner Dr Grace Muradzikwa, said the level at which insurers and pension funds met their contractual obligations in 2019 point to a functional sector.

“For insurance claims, the industry paid close to a billion, $850 million to be precise, and in addition, pension pay-outs amounted to $416 million,” she said.

All things being equal, an insurer or pension fund should ensure that monies that are put in at the accumulation phase correspond or are better off at the de-accumulation stage.

However, in so far as these entities operate within the prevailing economic environment, outputs have not been up to par. In respect of the local pensions sector, for instance, the depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar against the United States dollar has affected the imputation of assets held through defined benefit retirement plans.

A defined benefit pension plan is a type of pension plan in which an employer promises a specified pension payment, lump-sum or combination thereof on retirement that is predetermined by a formula based on the employee’s earnings history, tenure of service and age.

To this extent, an inflationary environment such as the one Zimbabwe is presently undergoing affects the purchasing power of the pension.

On the other hand, defined contribution (DC) plans — which are a type of retirement plan in which the employer, employee or both make contributions on a regular basis, and future benefits fluctuate on the basis of investment earnings – have also not been spared by the weakening currency because a significant number of pension funds are heavily invested on the capital markets, which have been under-performing in line with the depressed economic performance.

Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Arts Reporter

Veteran arts practitioner Aaron Chiundura-Moyo has said radio dramas played a pivotal role as they helped shape arts and society in the late ‘80s.

Chiundura-Moyo, who saw some of his books turned into plays, said the arts sector should adopt and adapt to various changes that can see it develop better.

In an interview, he said although back then it was not easy to penetrate the arts sector because it was white dominated, independence opened doors for everyone.

“Radio drama was very popular among the black community for obvious reasons,” said Chiundura-Moyo. “I became popular by writing drama scripts for radio, but never did film and television production at that time.

“It was not easy to get your script published in Rhodesia because there were fewer publishers who operated on less meaningful themes since there was no freedom of speech. Manuscripts had to pass through too many hands before being accepted.

“I remember receiving a lot of rejections until my book, “Uchandifungawo” was accepted for publication in 1974.”

Chiundura-Moyo said it was after independence that more doors started to open for radio, television and book publishing.

“Some of us started submitting drama scripts to radio, television and manuscripts for new books,” he said.

Chiundura-Moyo said he was groomed by a number of natural factors back then.

“Growing up, my father would make us sit around the fire while listening to him narrating a story,” he said. “Later on, he bought a radiogram and made us listen to different programmes. We were also introduced to films by the whites which we could watch three times a week at certain places in our locality.

“I would say my inspiration into writing books came from primary school teachers who read us books while grooming us. As fate has its own way, I started creating my own drama scripts at a farm school called Shoe Shine where I was doing Standard 2, with my first story in Grade 7 at Connemara Government School in 1979.

“I then went to Mambo School in Gweru and submitted my manuscript, then moved to Sandara School for my Form 2 and my short story got read on radio and I won two pounds. I then wrote books, short stories and dramas for radio. Television content was for whites and very few blacks owned a television set at that time.”

Chiundura-Moyo, who is also an actor, said Zimbabwe has witnessed a number of changes since independence, as different forms of arts are now being taught in schools and colleges.

“It is good that Government is taking a serious interest in the creative industry,” he said. “We have the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe which has gone around the country empowering aspiring screen producers and script writers, as well as established ones, and what is left for us artists is to find a sober way of persuading a number of relevant ministries and organisations to help fight piracy.

“Art must be looked at in the same way as other disciplines like sport, hence it is a profession. We should appreciate and respect itn.”

Chiundura-Moyo said so far he has published 19 books covering four different genres, but his favourite book is “Yaive Hondo”, although his taste keeps changing.

“Not less than nine of my books were read at different platforms in schools and six of them were read or serialised on radio and two were dramatised on television. I sincerely believe that I communicated a lot with the society.

“As for television production, “Chiwoko Muhomwe” was my first script and it featured me as the main actor in 1987. In 1989, ZBC appreciated my radio and television dramas and decided to employ me and this changed my world view very much. I also created popular soap Studio 263.”

Chiundura-Moyo pleaded with young people to be proud of their identity.

“They should stop this funny way of thinking that they can successfully market their work of art if they change their local names into English or portray what they are not,” he said.

“If the media is quiet about this, then in 10 years we will have lost the plot as Zimbabwean artists.”