Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup, a Japan-claimed island at the end of the Kuril chain ‌near the island of Hokkaido, Russian media said on Thursday, ‌a day after major naval drills and a missile firing by ally North Korea.

Moscow ​and Tokyo never signed a formal World War Two peace treaty as the main hurdle was the unresolved territorial dispute over the islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories.

On the trip, which state news agency ‌TASS described as Putin’s ⁠first in person to the island chain, he visited the Yasny fish-processing plant on Iturup, after overseeing ⁠the navy drills in Russia’s far east.

Japan’s foreign minister protested against Putin’s visit on X.

“The northern territories, including Etorofu, are Japan’s inherent territory both ​historically and ​based on international law,” said ​Toshimitsu Motegi. “Japan strongly protests this ‌visit.”

Vesti TV channel images showed Putin in a dark suit, standing in a room looking at two large tuna and halibut on a table, as two officials spoke about fishing and the migratory behaviour of fish. He also stopped to try local fish roe.

“What lovely ‌weather you have there, just like ​a resort!” Putin told a group of ​Iturup locals. “And we thought you ​arranged this!” a woman, who appeared to be ‌in her 30s, joked back.

The visit ​follows Wednesday’s firing ​of a ballistic missile by ally North Korea, towards waters off the east of the Korean peninsula, days ahead of ​major joint military exercises ‌by Seoul and Washington long denounced by Pyongyang.

Source: Reuters

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VICTORIA FALLS — Old Mutual Limited’s first trading session on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange delivered a striking early test of market efficiency, with the insurer closing just 0.75% below its Johannesburg Stock Exchange equivalent after a wide-ranging opening session.

The US dollar-denominated, according to Equity Axis, Old Mutual counter closed at US$0.7817 on Wednesday after 55 trades involving 46,402 shares generated turnover of US$36,274.44.

The session average of approximately US$0.7817 was virtually identical to the official closing price, suggesting that trading activity converged rapidly around a common market valuation despite substantial volatility during the initial price-discovery process.

Wide opening range tests investor appetite

Old Mutual traded between US$0.75 and US$1.20 during the session, representing a 60% difference between the day’s lowest and highest traded prices.

The unusually wide range was facilitated by VFEX’s decision to suspend its normal price limits for the counter on its first trading day.

With no previous VFEX closing price following Old Mutual’s return to the domestic market, the unrestricted opening session allowed buyers and sellers to establish an initial market-clearing price.

The normal 20% daily price limit will apply from the second trading session.

The volatility was therefore less an indication of an established valuation and more a reflection of the market’s attempt to determine where the Zimbabwean order book should initially price a security whose primary market is in Johannesburg.

Old Mutual had been suspended from trading in Zimbabwe since 2020, meaning Wednesday’s session represented the first opportunity in several years for local investors to establish a fresh domestic price.

Market converges with Johannesburg valuation

The most significant feature of the debut was ultimately not the intraday volatility but the closing convergence with Johannesburg.

Old Mutual closed at R12.75 on the JSE on Tuesday, its final session before the VFEX debut. Using the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Wednesday mid-market exchange rate of R16.1887 to the US dollar, the JSE price translated to approximately US$0.7876.

Against that benchmark, the VFEX closing price of US$0.7817 represented a discount of only about 0.75%.

The relationship remained similarly close after Wednesday’s JSE trading session. Old Mutual fell 1.49% to R12.56, translating to approximately US$0.7759 at the same exchange rate. The VFEX closing price was consequently about 0.75% above the corresponding JSE valuation.

For investors, the narrow differential provides an early indication that arbitrage considerations and cross-market valuation are already influencing price formation on VFEX.

Liquidity becomes the next test

While the price relationship was encouraging, the more important question for the market will be whether sufficient liquidity develops around the Old Mutual counter.

The final transaction on Wednesday was completed at US$0.76, below the session’s average and roughly 2% below the dollar equivalent of Old Mutual’s JSE closing price.

That divergence illustrates why Wednesday’s closing level should not yet be interpreted as a definitive long-term valuation.

The first session involved only 46,402 shares, while Old Mutual traded approximately 19.9 million shares worth R251.8 million on the JSE during the same session.

The enormous difference in trading volumes highlights the structural gap between VFEX and the company’s primary market.

For VFEX, however, the significance lies not in matching JSE liquidity immediately but in establishing a credible local US dollar price around which deeper trading can develop.

Old Mutual makes an early impact on VFEX

Despite the relatively modest capital value traded, Old Mutual generated the second-highest number of equity trades on VFEX during the session, recording 55 transactions compared with 60 for Innscor Africa.

Its US$36,274 turnover represented approximately 7.4% of total VFEX equity turnover, although its traded value remained behind Innscor Africa, Axia Corporation and First Capital Bank.

The figures suggest that the counter attracted meaningful investor interest even though the available liquidity remains substantially below that of the company’s JSE listing.

This distinction is important. A high number of transactions does not necessarily translate into deep liquidity, particularly when the volume of shares changing hands remains relatively small.

Thursday becomes the real liquidity test

Wednesday’s unrestricted session effectively completed the first stage of price discovery. From Thursday, investors will be trading within the exchange’s normal price-limit framework.

Based on the US$0.7817 closing price, the 20% limit implies an indicative trading range of approximately US$0.6254 to US$0.9380.

The behaviour of the order book within those boundaries will provide a more meaningful assessment of the counter’s underlying demand and supply.

If trading continues to cluster around the JSE-equivalent valuation, it would strengthen the argument that VFEX is capable of efficiently pricing internationally traded securities in US dollars.

If significant premiums or discounts emerge, however, the divergence could point to liquidity constraints, local investor sentiment, foreign-exchange considerations or differences in the supply and demand dynamics between the two markets.

A significant test for VFEX

Old Mutual’s return is therefore important beyond the performance of a single counter.

The listing provides VFEX with an opportunity to demonstrate whether it can attract liquidity into a globally recognised Zimbabwean blue-chip security while providing domestic investors with direct access to a US dollar-denominated asset.

The first session produced an encouraging outcome: after an exceptionally wide opening range, the market ultimately settled within 1% of the company’s JSE valuation.

That does not yet establish deep or efficient two-way liquidity. But it does provide an early indication that price discovery on VFEX can converge with an external primary market when investors have sufficient freedom to establish a price.

The next challenge is to turn that initial price convergence into sustained liquidity, tighter spreads and deeper institutional participation.

For VFEX, that may prove more important than Wednesday’s headline closing price.

The post Old Mutual VFEX Debut Ends Near JSE Parity After Volatile First-Day Price Discovery appeared first on The Zimbabwe Mail.

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s external sector is showing signs of strengthening, with foreign currency receipts surging nearly 48% in the first half of 2026 while inflation in local-currency terms continued to moderate, pointing to improving macroeconomic stability.

Foreign currency receipts rose 47.8% year-on-year to a record US$10.72 billion in the six months to June, from US$7.25 billion during the corresponding period last year, according to the latest FBC Securities Economic Snapshot.

The sharp increase was driven primarily by stronger export earnings, alongside a significant rise in diaspora remittances and renewed foreign direct investment.

Export earnings drive foreign currency growth

Export proceeds accounted for the largest share of Zimbabwe’s foreign currency earnings, reaching US$7.53 billion, an increase of 90.7% compared with the first half of 2025.

The strong performance highlights the continued importance of mining and other export-oriented sectors to Zimbabwe’s external position, although it also reinforces the economy’s exposure to commodity prices and mineral production.

Diaspora remittances provided another significant source of foreign exchange, rising 41.4% to US$1.55 billion during the period.

Foreign direct investment also strengthened considerably, more than doubling to US$269.9 million, suggesting an improvement in investor appetite despite Zimbabwe’s longstanding challenges around policy certainty, infrastructure and access to finance.

The combined increase in exports, remittances and investment helped push the country’s current account into a surplus of approximately US$616 million, strengthening the availability of foreign currency within the economy.

ZiG inflation continues to fall

The improvement in external liquidity has coincided with a marked moderation in inflation.

Annual inflation measured in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) declined to 3.2% in July, from 4.7% in June, while monthly inflation fell to 0.1% from 0.6%.

The latest reading represents a dramatic improvement from July 2025, when annual ZiG inflation reached 95.8%, underscoring the extent of the disinflation achieved over the past year.

FBC Securities attributed the improvement to a combination of prudent monetary management, fiscal discipline and relative exchange-rate stability.

The moderation in price pressures is particularly significant for businesses, as greater currency and price stability improves the ability of companies to budget, price goods and services and make investment decisions over longer time horizons.

Growth outlook remains positive

Against the backdrop of stronger foreign currency inflows and improving price stability, FBC Securities expects Zimbabwe’s economy to expand by approximately 5% in 2026.

The projected growth rate would reinforce expectations that the economy is moving towards a more stable expansion following years of severe monetary and fiscal volatility.

However, the recovery remains vulnerable to several structural constraints.

Power shortages continue to weigh on industrial production, while high debt levels constrain access to international financing. Climate-related shocks remain a significant risk to agriculture, and the economy’s heavy dependence on mineral exports leaves Zimbabwe exposed to fluctuations in global commodity prices.

From stabilisation to sustainable growth

The latest data suggest that Zimbabwe’s immediate macroeconomic picture is becoming more stable, but the next challenge will be converting that stability into sustained investment and productivity growth.

The surge in foreign currency receipts provides the economy with greater external liquidity, while lower inflation improves the operating environment for businesses and households.

However, sustaining the gains will require continued monetary and fiscal discipline, deeper investment in electricity and infrastructure, greater export diversification and policies capable of encouraging domestic value addition.

For Zimbabwe, the key economic test is therefore shifting from stabilisation to structural transformation.

The combination of record foreign currency receipts, a current-account surplus, rising investment and sharply lower ZiG inflation provides a stronger platform for growth. Whether that platform translates into durable industrial expansion will depend on the country’s ability to address its underlying energy, debt, productivity and diversification constraints.

The post Zimbabwe Foreign Currency Receipts Jump 48% to US$10.7 Billion as ZiG Inflation Eases appeared first on The Zimbabwe Mail.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) was prejudiced of approximately US$6.9 million after some of its employees allegedly colluded with clearing agents to manipulate a customs system used to process imported goods, exposing significant weaknesses in the authority’s revenue-collection controls.

The loss comprised ZiG171.77 million, equivalent to about US$6.42 million at the official exchange rate of ZiG26.77 to the US dollar, and a further US$479,684.

The findings are contained in the Auditor-General’s 2025 report on state-owned entities and parastatals.

According to the Auditor-General, the fraud involved unauthorised manipulation of bank-originated credit entries in Zimra’s prepayment-account system, allowing transactions relating to the clearance of imported goods to be processed without the required funds being properly accounted for.

“The authority was prejudiced of US$479 684 and ZiG171,77 million arising from fraudulent system breaches involving staff members in collusion with clearing agents in respect of clearing of goods using the prepayment account,” the Auditor-General said.

The report classified the incident as a financial loss and called on Zimra to strengthen its systems and internal controls.

Zimra acknowledged the breach, saying the prepayment account had been exploited through unauthorised manipulation of credit entries originating from banks.

“The prepayment account within the system was exploited through unauthorised manipulation of bank-originated credit entries in the system,” management said.

In response, Zimra said it had discontinued the use of prepayment accounts with effect from February 7, 2026, replacing them with a cash declaration option for commercial clearances.

“The authority has discontinued the use of prepayments accounts effective February 7, 2026 and introduced a cash declaration option for commercial clearances as a measure to mitigate against the system abuse,” the authority said.

Zimra also said disciplinary measures had been taken against employees and clearing agents implicated in the fraud, while efforts to recover the lost revenue were continuing.

“Corrective action has been taken against the staff and clearing agents involved in the fraud and recoveries of lost revenue are underway,” management said.

The incident comes as Zimbabwe increasingly relies on digital systems to administer taxes, customs duties and other government revenues.

The Auditor-General warned that the breach was inconsistent with requirements for public entities to maintain effective, efficient and transparent systems of financial and risk management and internal controls.

Despite the fraud, the audit found that Zimra had made progress in addressing weaknesses identified in previous audits.

Of 14 outstanding findings followed up from earlier reports, nine had been addressed, while 12 were partially addressed and one remained unresolved, according to the audit findings.

Zimra is also continuing with the automation of its revenue-management systems, with full automation of its processes expected to be completed during 2026.

The introduction of a Risk Management Module into the Tax and Revenue Management System (TaRMS) in 2025 also resolved an earlier problem involving revenue classification.

However, the audit identified other outstanding issues at the revenue authority.

The Auditor-General said Zimra had not yet received all the vehicles it had procured and was still pursuing enforcement of a related contract through a High Court order.

The latest findings highlight the financial and governance risks facing revenue authorities as they increasingly rely on automated platforms, particularly where system access and internal controls can be compromised by insiders working with external parties.

Source – The Independent

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Roki’s viral money dispute revives questions about a career shadowed by controversy A confrontation caught on camera has placed Zimbabwean Urban Grooves star Rockford “Roki” Josphats back at the centre of public attention. The facts behind the video remain incomplete, but the episode has reopened old questions about his relationships, legal troubles and repeated public […]

The post All Private Parts Exposed: Video of controversial musician Roki fighting with a naked woman over non-payment goes viral (VIDEO) first appeared on My Zimbabwe News.