Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

A MAN from Binga fatally axed his wife before killing himself after suspecting that she was cheating on him, police confirmed yesterday. The woman was killed on the day that she returned home after the couple’s three-month long separation and the murder and suicide were allegedly triggered by a phone call and “love” message from an alleged boyfriend. Fandison Mwinde (28) of Bbolobboza

Source: Farm eviction rattles Zimbabwe – Times Live

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Source: In tentative rollout, Zimbabwe banks start trading new currency | Reuters

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s commercial banks started trading the RTGS dollar on Monday, but authorities offered no indication as to how ordinary citizens would interact with the country’s new transitional currency five days after it was introduced.

Zimbabwe ditched a dollar peg for its surrogate bond notes and electronic dollars on Wednesday, merging them into the RTGS dollar in an effort to revive a crippled economy and address a cash crunch that has undermined President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s efforts attract foreign investment.

The central bank sold U.S. dollars to banks at 2.5 RTGS dollars on Friday morning, and on Monday lenders began trading the currency with corporate customers and on an interbank market.

There had been indications that ordinary Zimbabweans would be able to buy U.S. dollars with bond notes or electronic dollars from Monday.

Kudakwashe Mukora, an electrician who had just come out of the branch, said: “At the moment we’re just shooting in the dark. The government isn’t addressing the fundamental issue which is that the black market is in charge.”

On Monday one U.S. dollar was being sold on the black market for four electronic dollars – which have been locked in individuals’ accounts for months due to the chronic cash shortages – compared to 4.20 on Friday, currency traders said.

An employee at a Stanbic branch said the bank was offering U.S. dollars to corporate clients at 2.5625 RTGS dollars and buying dollars at 2.4 RTGS. She said the idea was that individuals would be able to buy and sell dollars at a later date, but she wasn’t sure when.

The central bank has promised a “managed float” of the RTGS – which stands for the real-time gross settlement system banks use to transfer money – but it is not clear how it will control the currency’s movements given that it does not have significant foreign exchange reserves.

“The big players are holding onto their money, that is what is holding rates at the moment. In the next week or two, it should be clear whether the interbank is working or not,” one trader at Harare’s Eastgate shopping centre said.

Zimbabwe’s currency problems date back to the hyperinflation era of post-independence leader Robert Mugabe, who Mnangagwa replaced after an army coup in November 2017.

International attitudes to Mnangagwa’s government have hardened since a violent security crackdown last summer on post-election protests and on demonstrations last month against a major fuel hike.

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Source: Gvt, construction sector ready to cooperate | The Herald February 25, 2019

File pic: The Old Mutual’s Eastgate Metro Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises under construction in Harare

Africa Moyo Senior Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT and stakeholders in the local construction sector have found common ground and are ready to work together in the transformation of the country’s infrastructure.

This was said last week by the permanent secretary for State Enterprises and Corporate Governance Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet Mr Willard Manungo in his address during the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ)-Construction Industry Federation of Zimbabwe (Cifoz) conference in Harare.

Mr Manungo said following intense deliberation during the two-day conference which ended last Wednesday, “Government and the private sector now have a common position in terms of the state of preparedness with respect to infrastructure development in the country.

“This is what is desirable and should be sustained, he said. I also believe that the private sector now has deeper understanding of the objective of Government and in particular His Excellency President E.D. Mnangagwa’s vision of ‘an Upper Middle Income State by 2030.”

The private sector expressed a number of concerns during the conference, which included Government’s desire to award contracts to foreigners, even when locals can implement the projects, in some cases at a lower cost. Mr Manungo said Government had taken note of the contractors’ concerns through Cifoz, which include progressive and committed leadership by both clients and contractors.

He reassured the construction sector that the new thrust of developing infrastructure through local resources would see them getting more contracts. Some of the marquee infrastructure projects lined up include the widening of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway, the Harare-Chirundu Highway and construction of state-of-the-art flats in Mbare and houses for the generality of the population.

The Harare-Beitbridge Highway and the Harare-Chirundu Highway are set to be allocated $500 million in the next three years through the National Budget, which will open opportunities for local players to participate in the implementation of the projects. Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) chief executive officer Mr Nyasha Chizu told the delegates there would be “no procurement when adequate funding is not available”.

Mr Chizu said bidders should specify sources of materials, while deliveries should be done with registered vehicles that have trackers.
The two-day conference ran under the theme: “Towards Vision 2030 National Transport, Housing and Infrastructure projects – harnessing on public and private sector synergies.”

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VICE President Constantino Chiwenga is back from India where he was receiving treatment for an abdominal ailment, a government official has confirmed. Chiwenga travelled to India with his wife Marry and Health deputy minister John Mangwiro about two weeks ago. Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Mangwiro said they had a safe journey back to the country, adding that Chiwenga had recovered.