Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

The controversial black ownership law in Zimbabawe is dead. The requirement that black Zimbabweans own majority stakes in foreign owned business – that has hurt investment in the country for more than a decade -is going out of the window. So says the finance minister Mthuli Ncube in an exclusive interview with CNBC African.

Source: Zimbabwe’s indigenisation policy is dead – FinMin Mthuli Ncube – CNBC Africa

 

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Source: Zesa starts fixing damage from Idai | Herald (Business)

Golden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
ZESA has started fixing the extensive damage inflicted on its power infrastructure by Cyclone Idai in Manicaland, but bringing hardest hit areas, such as Chimanimani, back on the grid might take a bit of time, group acting chief executive Patrick Chivaura has said.

The tropical cyclone has claimed nearly 200 lives since it struck mostly the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe, as it swept through parts of Southern Africa that included Beira in Mozambique and the southern areas of Malawi.

In Zimbabwe the cyclone also left a trail of destruction on key infrastructure and properties such as roads, houses, power lines and sub-stations in the affected areas.

The devastating tropical storm cut accessibility, communication and power supplies to homes and industries in affected areas with services still to be restored in most areas.

In an interview on the sidelines of the 46th executive committee meeting of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) last Friday, engineer Chivaura said restoration of supplies had started in parts of Chipinge and Mutare.

He, however, pointed out that the extent of devastation on the power infrastructure in Chimanimani would require significantly more time, as some equipment that include sub-stations had been uprooted by the tropical storm.

“We have total blackouts in Chimanimani; that was the worst affected area and then Mutare and Chipinge. We are already on the ground, correcting the distribution system, which has been affected, replacing the transformers.

“From my estimation, this week (last week) we might round up Chipinge, probably by the end of the week we should be up and running. Chimanimani might take a little longer because the extent of the damage is quite high,” he said.

Companies in Manicaland have since appealed to Government for temporary relief measures such as duty free fuel after power supplies were disrupted by the tropical cylone, which has left dozens dead and scores missing.

The cut power supplies will force businesses to switch to generators to power their operations. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries says it will lobby for temporary suspension of duty on fuel to help keep businesses running. Energy and Power Development Deputy Minister Magna Mudyiwa said some sub-stations in the worst affected parts of Chipinge had been swept away, cutting power supplies. Bridges and roads as well suffered extensive damage.

“Actually, some of the areas are in total darkness, but we haven’t got a detailed report from ZESA (yet) on the extent of the damage, but what we know is that there was quite some damage (on the power infrastructure),” she said.

After the tropical cyclone ravaged parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said the economic cost and social impact to the affected countries and region was immeasurable. President Mnangagwa has committed to revamping the national disaster management plan, hoping to help make Zimbabwe better prepared to tackle any climate-related extreme events, such as Cyclone Idai, in the future.

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Source: Praise from British envoy, SA club tweeting in Shona | Herald (Top Stories)

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
THE Warriors’ success story in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers has charmed a world, fascinated by the colourful names of the coaches and players, while a British envoy has joined those who are praising the team for defying the odds to secure a ticket to the Nations Cup finals in Egypt.

From their coach called Sunday, an inspirational captain called Knowledge, whose five goals were the third best tally in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers, a towering centre-back called Teenage to a flying winger called Talent, the catalogue of the names of these Warriors has caught the attention of the world.

And, it’s a pity, a horrible accident dented the chances of a good right-back called Hardlife, who was part of the team’s 2017 AFCON finals squad in Gabon, from bidding for a place in the side that defied the odds and topped their tough group to win a slot in Egypt this year.

These Warriors are led by a coach, Sunday, whose name is also generating as much interest as those of his two assistants, Brenna and Rahman, whose real name is Allan Tutani Gumbo, but has always been known as Rahman in the domestic game.

‘‘In an unbelievable collection of names on the roster, Zimbabwe subbed out the 28-year-old captain Knowledge Musona for the younger Talent Chawapiwa late in their 2-0  victory over Congo. #TalentOverKnowledge,’’ beINsports, the global network of sports channels which, recently, staged a coup by recruiting Portuguese coach, Jose Mourinho, as one of their pundits, noted in a tweet.

What, beINsports didn’t tell their readers and followers was that it’s a Warriors team that has a history of fielding stars with some colourful names like Ovidy, Shackman, Size, Friday, Mercedes, Memory and Ocean while the domestic game has also had its fair share of stars with such names.

Footballers like Have-A-Look, Danger, Limited, July, Newman, Salad, Fresh, Master, Melody and Honey, to name but just a few, have also graced the domestic Premiership in the past.

The Warriors finished top of a group that featured the DRC, provided the third best goal-scorer in the qualifiers with Knowledge Musona scoring five times, while only Senegal (16), Mali (14), Nigeria (13), Egypt (13), Uganda (13),South Africa (12), Guinea (12), Angola (12) and Mauritania (12), reaped more points than Chidzambwa’s men (11).

And, their feat has been hailed by British Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Milaine Robinson, who became the latest high-profile figure to congratulate the Warriors, with the envoy even signing off her Twitter message with the phrase, Go Warriors Go!

‘‘Congrats from the UK for (Zimbabwe) #Zimbabwe Warriors #GoWarriorsGo #AFCON2019Q (Qualifiers),’’ Robinson tweeted on Monday.

British and domestic football have had lengthy ties with a number of coaches from the United Kingdom working here while former Warriors goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar is considered one of the most successful African players to play in the English top-flight league.

Peter Ndlovu, the greatest Warrior of all-time, made history when he became the first African footballer to feature in the re-branded English Premiership on August 19, 1992, coming in as a second half substitute for Coventry City in their match against Tottenham Hotspur.

Since then, over 300 African players have featured in the English Premiership.

Ndlovu’s historic appearance came just four days after the opening matches of the English Premiership in which only 13 foreign players – Anders Limpar (Sweden), John Jensen (Denmark), Robert Warzycha (Poland), Eric Cantona (France), Ronnie Rosenthal (Israel) Michael Vonk (Dutch), Peter Schmeichel (Denmark), Andrei Kanchelskis (Russia), Gunnar Halle (Norway), Craig Forest (Norway), Ronald Nilsson (Sweden), Hans Segers (Dutch) and Jan Stejskal (Czech) – took part.

The Warriors success story was also felt in South Africa whose Super Diski provided seven of the players – George Chigova, Teenage Hadebe, Ronald Pfumbidzai, Evans Rusike, Danny Phiri, Khama Billiat and Marshall Munetsi – who started for Chidzambwa’s men in their final battle against Congo-Brazzaville.

When three other players from the South African Premiership – Talent Chawapiwa, Ovidy Karuru and Knox Mutizwa – were introduced as substitutes, it meant there were nine players from Super Diski on the field for the Warriors, with only Alec Mudimu and Tendai Darikwa the only ones not playing there.

South African Premiership side Bloemfontein Celtic, where Pfumbidzai – one of just three Warriors to score in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers with all the other goals coming from either Billiat or Musona – plies his trade, went a step further by tweeting their congratulatory message in Shona.

The Super Diski club wished the Warriors, in general, and their player Pfumbidzai, in particular, all the best at the 2019 AFCON finals in Egypt.

‘‘TOKUSHUWIRA ROMBO RAKANAKA to you (Ronald Pfumbidzai) and The Warriors as you head for Egypt. Congratulations,’’ Celtic said in a tweet.

Warriors captain, Musona, thanked the Zimbabweans for their overwhelming support.

‘‘Thank you Zimbabwe, we appreciate your support, it was a long journey but Thank God we are through.

‘‘Well done to the team. Hello EGYPT @Afcon 2019,’’ Musona tweeted.

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Source: Study names Zim’s HIV hotspots | The Herald March 27, 2019

Bulawayo Bureau
BULAWAYO, Harare, Ruwa and Chitungwiza have been identified as HIV hotspots, with the highest number of infected people not on treatment amid reports that risky sexual behaviour continues to drive the epidemic in Zimbabwe. A study carried out by AVERT, an international evidence-based HIV and sexual health information organisation, shows that a number of women are engaging in early sex in poorer areas which puts them at risk.

AVERT, a UK-based charity, has been providing information about HIV and sexual health worldwide for over 30 years.

In 2017-18, the organisation says it reached over 13,5 million people on various platforms, including social media outreach, digital projects and other civil society partnerships.

It advocates for people to be able to protect themselves and others from HIV and to have happy and healthy sex lives, contributing to the social and individual change.

In the present study, AVERT concluded that areas linked to commercial transport corridors and diamond mining activities are HIV hotspots particularly for men.

“A detailed geographic analysis of Zimbabwe’s HIV epidemic indicates the greatest concentrations of people living with HIV who lack treatment are in the country’s main cities and urban settlements.

“The most concentrated levels of people living with HIV were found in HIV ‘hotspots’, urban settings such as Harare, Norton, Chitungwiza, Ruwa and Bulawayo,” the report revealed.

According to the study released in January, the four areas should be treated as a priority in terms of HIV targeted prevention and care services.

“More than 230 000 men and 350 000 women were found to be lacking treatment and care and a significant fraction of these people (22 percent) live in HIV hotspots.

“The cities of Harare and Bulawayo alone are home to around 113 000 and 33 000 people living with HIV who are not on treatment,” read the same report.

The AVERT analysis also found that HIV is most prevalent in the southwest of the country, between the provinces of Matabeleland North and South, although high numbers of men and women living with HIV were also found in northern and eastern Zimbabwe.

According to the report, behavioural factors such as having a higher number of lifetime sexual partners, low condom use and having sex at a younger age are driving new HIV cases.

Zimbabwe has one of the worst HIV epidemics in the world with about 13 percent of adults living with HIV and about 41 000 new infections annually.

Despite this, the country has made significant progress towards the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets by next year. (Where at least 90 percent of the population should know its HIV status, 90 percent of infected people should be on ART and 90 percent achieve viral load suppression).

According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, 85 percent of people living with HIV are aware of their status, 95 percent are on anti-retroviral treatment and 86 percent of those on treatment are virally suppressed.

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The mystery of the selfless Gogo who donated her pots at a Presbyterian church in Highlands continues to deepen by the hour. Billionaire telecoms mogul Strive Masiyiwa offered her a house anywhere she wanted in Zimbabwe, coupled with a $1,000 monthly allowance for the rest of her life as a thank you for taking action […]