Source: ZimFund gets US$145,5m for water, sanitation, power projects – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 27, 2019 ZimFund manager Emmanuel Nzabanita BY COLIN MOYO INTERNATIONAL donors have contributed US$145,5 million towards water, sanitation and power projects in the country, a Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund (ZimFund) top official has revealed. Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with […]
INTERNATIONAL donors have contributed US$145,5 million towards water, sanitation and power projects in the country, a Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund (ZimFund) top official has revealed.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with African Development Bank (AfDB) officials in Bulawayo yesterday, ZimFund manager Emmanuel Nzabanita said the objective of the fund was to improve provision of water, sanitation and energy in the country.
“Our contributing donors include Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom,” he said.
AFDB is the administrator for ZimFund.
Nzabanita said the fund was bankrolling two projects, namely Urgent Water Supply (UWS) and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project (EPIRP).
“The objective of EPIRP is to assist Zimbabwe to improve the availability and reliability of electricity supply through rehabilitation of generation, transmission and distribution facilities,” he said.
African Development Bank country manager Damoni Kitabire said at Marvel substation in Bulawayo, three 60 MVA transformers were installed more than 50 years ago and one of the transformers failed in 2009; in Gweru, the Chertsey substation was decommissioned 14 years ago.
According to Nzabanita, ZimFund is financing the replacement of a 90MVA transformer at Chertsey substation and a 175 MVA transformer at Marvel substation in Bulawayo, to supply approximately
300 000 households in the City of Kings and other surrounding provinces.
“The substation [Chertsey] supplies power to a number of institutions such as hospitals, clinics, colleges, universities and schools,” he said.
About US$8 million was allocated to Marvel and Chertsey projects.
ZimFund traces its roots to the cholera outbreak that hit the country in 2008, during which about 4 000 people lost their lives and 100 000 affected.
ZimFund says the breakdown of water and sanitation infrastructure compounded by unreliable power supply led to inadequate provision of safe and clean water in the country.
The organisation was established to help the country rehabilitate key water and sanitation, and power infrastructure, particularly in municipalities that were most affected by the cholera outbreak.
Source: Stop being cry-babies, aspiring female politicians told | Newsday (News) BY STEPHEN CHADENGA/HAZVINEI MWANAKA ASPIRING female politicians should desist from being cry-babies as public office was not for the faint-hearted, a government official has said. Speaking at a Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) meeting in Gweru last week, Midlands provincial development officer in the […]
ASPIRING female politicians should desist from being cry-babies as public office was not for the faint-hearted, a government official has said.
Speaking at a Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) meeting in Gweru last week, Midlands provincial development officer in the Women’s Affairs ministry, Sithembile Dube, said women who fight for political space should be knowledgeable about the field and develop thick skin for them to survive.
“One of our weaknesses as women is continuing to be cry-babies,” Dube said.
“We should shift from this position and enhance our knowledge and research so that we base our arguments on factual evidence. We should have statistics on women representation in politics and other spheres, where women want space before we go on to fight for that space.”
Dube said fighting for women rights took courageous people who have the capacity to “grab the bull by its horns”.
WCoZ Midlands vice-chairperson Florence Guzha said women needed to fight the patriarchal system that rendered them subordinate to men.
Guzha challenged men to be instrumental in uplifting women as they were the ones at the forefront of suppressing the rights of women.
“Women can be better leaders than men, but due to socialisation and the patriarchal nature of our society, they (women) are made to be inferior,”Guzha said.
“We need men to help us move up the political ladder as they are the ones that are down treading us.”
Padare/Enkundleni/Men’s Forum on Gender Midlands chapter chairperson, Edson Kuregbwaseka, said women needed to support each other and fearlessly fight for political space.
“There is need for women to put more strength when it comes to fighting for positions of authority,” he said.
Gweru Urban ward 8 councillor Notal Dzika said women should not expect softness when it comes to politics as the game was for those with the hearts of warriors.
“As much as men might want to support them women must also understand that the politics is hard turf area and they (women) should come prepared when they want to join the race,” said Dzika.
Addressing a similar gathering in Masvingo, WCoZ Masvingo chapter chairperson Joyce Mhungu said participation of women was far and in-between and that they were working on finding ways to encourage women to take up decision-making positions, starting from community levels.
“We were also looking at the challenges that are hindering women from participating and what can also be done to uplift them,” she said.
“As WCoZ, we launched the ‘Strengthening Women’s Advocacy for Inclusive Governance’ SWAG campaign last year, which is based on Section 56 of the Constitution about equality and non-discrimination; meaning on decision making processes, men and women are equal,” added Mhungu.
She hoped that by 2023 women’s participation would increase, including young women and those with disabilities.
“We hope that through the campaign, come 2023, most women will be educated and will be willing to participate in governance and electoral processes,” she added.
According to sections 17 and 56 of the Constitution, there should be equal representation of women in every sector, politics included.
In previous polls, female political aspirants complained of intimidation, violence, harassment, victimisation, name-calling, body-shaming and cyber-bullying as hindering them from participating in politics. Vote-buying, which creates an imbalance for women who are traditionally under-resourced, was also another hindrance.
Source: Zim accelerates ease of doing business | The Herald February 27, 2019 Minister Mutsvangwa Felex Share Senior Reporter Government says a fully-fledged Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) that will process investment approvals within a day will be fully operational this year. This is part of Government’s public enterprise reform programme to advance President […]
Felex Share Senior Reporter Government says a fully-fledged Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) that will process investment approvals within a day will be fully operational this year.
This is part of Government’s public enterprise reform programme to advance President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 of turning Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy.
The country’s economic reform plan, the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), is underpinned by structural reform measures to mitigate the challenges and risks faced by the economy.
These measures include deepening the ease and cost of doing business reforms to improve competitiveness and establish a One-Stop Shop Investment Centre, public enterprise reforms and labour law reforms.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told the media after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that an inter-ministerial committee to provide One-Stop Shop investment services was now fully operational.
“Cabinet also noted that the legislation to underpin the operations of ZIDA is now before Parliament,” she said.
“A fully-fledged ZIDA, which will complete the processing of investment approvals within a day is set to be fully operational by there and of the second quarter of 2019.
“This is bound to significantly improve the investment climate in the country, and thereby stimulate economic development in line with the goals in Vision 2013.”
The ZIDA Bill also seeks to provide assurance to investors about the country’s commitment to property rights.
Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet reconsidered its decision of April 2018 to convert the National Competitiveness Commission into a Department under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
“Following a submission by the Minister of Industry and Commerce and in light of prevailing international best practice, Cabinet approved the recommendation by the Minister that the National Competitiveness Commission should continue to operate as an autonomous entity that is premised on private sector involvement.”
She said Cabinet had also received progress reports on the Implementation of 100-day projects.
She said Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza briefed Cabinet on five priority projects under implementation.
These include dualisation of the road from tollgate to Melfort along Harare –Mutare Road, dualisation of road from Norton to tollgate along the Harare- Bulawayo Road where surfacing of the nine kilometre stretch was completed and work on the rail over is underway and construction of Pembi Bridge approaches.
“The computerisation of the learner’s driver’s licence at VID Eastlea under a Public Private Partnership arrangement is 95% complete,” Minister Mutsvangwa said.
“The procurement and installation of the hardware and software has been completed. What remains is linking the platform to the SAP payment system.”
Under Primary and Secondary education, Minister Mutsvangwa said, 200 units of the proposed 300 Primary Mobile Science Laboratory units are now in place while tendering for science kits for 3000 primary schools is underway.
“Construction work at the 10 Satellite schools in Kariba and Siakobvu District in Mashonaland West and Zvishavane, Mberengwa and Shurugwi Districts in Midlands Province are at various levels of completion,” she said.
Source: Coal production set to surge – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 27, 2019 BY MTHANDAZO NYONI PRIVATE coal miner Makomo Resources says it expects to produce 350 000 tonnes of coal per month this year on the back of an anticipated increase in demand from the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC). The ZPC has taken a stance […]
PRIVATE coal miner Makomo Resources says it expects to produce 350 000 tonnes of coal per month this year on the back of an anticipated increase in demand from the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC).
The ZPC has taken a stance to cut on coal imports due to forex challenges and procure all its requirements locally.
Makomo managing director Raymond Mutokonyi told NewsDay that the year ahead looked bright for the coal miner and would ramp up production to meet the anticipated increase in demand.
“This year looks good for us, looking at what is happening in our region, especially in South Africa where electricity is in short supply. So we will fail to import, which will force everybody to be serious about local production,” Mutokonyi said.
“We project that ZPC will need a lot of coal because they are our biggest customer. So, because they would want to have maximum output, especially as we go towards winter, we are projecting that volumes will start to increase. We will be operating at full throttle, producing between 300 000 tonnes and 350 000 tonnes (of coal) per month,” he said.
Mutokonyi said their production was demand-driven and last year the production was subdued.
“We were marginally down last year,” he said.
He said they were facing challenges such as high inflation and rising costs.
“. . . but we are seeing a bright future. Obviously, industry can’t close because of anything. As long there is a market, we will be there. So, we see the production firming up . . .,” he said.
Makomo Resources is the largest privately-owned coal producer in Zimbabwe, and it supplies the country’s thermal power stations, industrial and agricultural sectors.
Source: ED virtual currency to last 6 months – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 27, 2019 BY BLESSED MHLANGA PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa, using the Presidential (Temporary Measures) Powers Act, introduced a virtual currency, the real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS) dollar, which will remain legal tender for six months if it’s not made substantive through an Act of […]
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa, using the Presidential (Temporary Measures) Powers Act, introduced a virtual currency, the real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS) dollar, which will remain legal tender for six months if it’s not made substantive through an Act of Parliament.
The Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) allow the President to introduce legally binding laws in an emergency without going through parliamentary processes, with the law only holding for six months.
Statutory Instrument (SI) 33 of 2019 also gave powers to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to issue an electronic currency for local use, which will trade as the RTGS dollar.
“In addition to its powers to issue bank notes and coins in terms of this Act and subject to subsection 3, the bank shall have the sole power to issue or cause to be issued electronic currency in Zimbabwe,” the Statutory instrument read.
Former Finance minister Tendai Biti said according to the law gazetted last Friday, Zimbabwe did not have a currency, but virtual money that only existed as factious figures.
“It is not real money. It’s an electronic currency if you read the law; it is factious money, just figures in the bank which is still at par with the USD,” Biti said.
The SI reads: “That the Reserve Bank has, with effect from the effective date, issued an electronic currency called the RTGS dollar. That the real time gross settlement system balances expressed in USD, immediately before effective date shall, from effective date, be deemed to be opening balances in RTGS dollars at par with the US dollar and that such currency shall be legal tender within Zimbabwe from effective date.”
Economist John Robertson said if the currency could be maintained stable for a month or two, it could be declared a new currency and could build for the eventual return of the Zimdollar.
“It is going to be a new currency if we can make it stable and make it acceptable to the nation. There is a little bit of a gap now developing and we have to see how quickly the currency can become stable. At the moment, it’s trading at the banks at 2,5:1, but out on the streets, there are still people saying we can still make a profit because it’s hard to get for the buyers, so a market exists,” he said.
