<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="574" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HJTEOAVY5FMF7IXGXS6VBIZ754-820x574.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-421202" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HJTEOAVY5FMF7IXGXS6VBIZ754-820x574.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HJTEOAVY5FMF7IXGXS6VBIZ754-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HJTEOAVY5FMF7IXGXS6VBIZ754-128x90.jpg 128w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HJTEOAVY5FMF7IXGXS6VBIZ754-768x538.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HJTEOAVY5FMF7IXGXS6VBIZ754-1536x1076.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HJTEOAVY5FMF7IXGXS6VBIZ754-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A truck is seen loaded with rocks for processing at an open pit at Dorowa mine in Hwedza, Zimbabwe October 22, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, May 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s only operating nickel mine was on Thursday placed under administration, according to a government notice, seven months after halting production due to equipment failure and low prices.



Zimbabwe&#8217;s government owns 70% of Bindura Nickel Corporation&#8217;s&nbsp;BIND.VF&nbsp;Trojan Nickel Mine which employs about 1,100 people according to Bindura&#8217;s latest annual report.



The reconstruction order was published on Thursday in the Government Gazette which also announced the appointment of an administrator.



Trojan is Zimbabwe&#8217;s only primary nickel producer, though the country&#8217;s platinum miners also produce the metal which is mainly used in steelmaking.



Nickel prices have fallen from record levels above $100,000 in 2022 when they were driven by expectations of reduced supplies from major producer Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, to around $19,000 per ton in the currently oversupplied market. Prices are currently 25% down on their levels a year ago.



Low prices have forced top global producer BHP Group&nbsp;BHP.AX&nbsp;to review its nickel business,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL3N3FW078&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warning</a>&nbsp;that 30% of Australian mine capacity had gone offline and another 30% was in trouble due to the squeeze on margins.



Trojan mine&#8217;s nickel concentrate output plunged to 1,314 metric tons in its last financial year, which ended in March 2024, down from 3,180 metric tons the year before.



This was after the mine suspended operations last September following the damage suffered by its ore hoisting equipment during a seismic event. The mine has capacity to produce 5,500 metric tons of nickel concentrate annually.



On April 29, the company said while it had managed to install new ore hoisting gear, it would delay restarting mining operations due to low prices and high costs of inputs such as electricity.



&#8220;BNC needs to mobilise the requisite capital for retooling, with particular emphasis on increasing the availability of



underground mining mobile equipment and the processing plant,&#8221; it said on Thursday.



Trojan mine started production in 1964 under the Anglo American group which sold the asset in 2003.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Nelson Banya and Elaine Hardcastle)

A truck is seen loaded with rocks for processing at an open pit at Dorowa mine in Hwedza

Zimbabwe’s sole nickel mine placed under administration

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="549" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-820x549.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-425202" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-820x549.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-134x90.jpg 134w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South African Rand coins are seen in this photo illustration . REUTERS/Mike Hutchings</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The South African rand strengthened on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected and reiterated inflationary concerns.



At 0742 GMT the rand traded at 18.5050 against the dollar&nbsp;ZAR=D3, 0.68% stronger than its previous close.



The dollar index&nbsp;=USD&nbsp;was last trading down 0.1% against a basket of currencies.



The Fed on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3H31SH&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wednesday</a>&nbsp;signalled it is still leaning towards eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but it placed a red flag on recent inflation readings that could delay any cuts to interest rates.



The focus for South African investors on Thursday will be a manufacturing sector purchasing managers&#8217; index and April vehicles sales data.



An absence of load-shedding (power cuts) in April would have boosted manufacturing, ETM Analytics said in a research note.



On the stock market, the Top-40&nbsp;.JTOPI&nbsp;index and the broader all-share&nbsp;.JALSH&nbsp;index were both up about 1% in early trade.



South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2030 government bond&nbsp;ZAR2030=&nbsp;was stronger in early deals, with the yield down 6 basis points at 10.615%.



(Reporting by Bhargav AcharyaEditing by David Goodman)

South African Rand coins are seen in this photo illustration

South African rand strengthens as Fed keeps rates on hold

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3956" height="2632" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/VQAZCQXPCFMLTANSLSXV7JVCKA.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-481603"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A man poses with a handful of Zimbabwean dollars at a bank in central Harare, June 15, 2015. Zimbabweans began exchanging old notes of local dollars for U.S. dollars, as President Robert Mugabe&#8217;s government seeks to officially bury the worthless currency. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/FILE PHOTO</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, April 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s new gold-backed currency came into general circulation on Tuesday amid promises by monetary authorities to keep the money supply in check as they struggle to contain inflation.



The southern African country dumped the Zimdollar earlier this month after it lost more than 70% of its value against the U.S. dollar.



The new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), is backed by gold, other precious minerals and the U.S. dollar. It was trading on Tuesday at 13.4 to the dollar, little changed from previous levels on the formal market.



Long queues formed outside banks and at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) while others used the new currency to buy goods in supermarkets.



While some Zimbabweans have expressed mistrust over the new currency, others such as Melda Mudavanhu, a 50-year-old civil servant, remain optimistic.



&#8220;If we support the currency, since it&#8217;s the first one of its kind, this currency will succeed. Getting rid of the money changers is also welcome because they were a menace,&#8221; Mudavanhu said.



Ahead of the ZiG&#8217;s introduction, authorities moved to arrest illegal foreign currency dealers, accusing them of charging a premium on the ZiG against the greenback.



The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on Monday set ZiG 3,000 as a daily withdrawal limit for individuals as it tries to contain the money supply.



A total of ZiG 80 million is currently on the market, according to the central bank.



The central bank&#8217;s Monetary Policy Committee pledged on Monday to support a tight monetary policy stance.



The ZiG, Zimbabwe&#8217;s fourth attempt at currency reform in a decade, has remained stable on the formal market since its introduction.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono, Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Gareth Jones)

VQAZCQXPCFMLTANSLSXV7JVCKA

Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed currency enters circulation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="550" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/B25KXAJZWJJYDPDZ7LAMYMVWNE-820x550.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-480246" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/B25KXAJZWJJYDPDZ7LAMYMVWNE-820x550.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/B25KXAJZWJJYDPDZ7LAMYMVWNE-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/B25KXAJZWJJYDPDZ7LAMYMVWNE-134x90.jpg 134w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/B25KXAJZWJJYDPDZ7LAMYMVWNE-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/B25KXAJZWJJYDPDZ7LAMYMVWNE-1536x1031.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/B25KXAJZWJJYDPDZ7LAMYMVWNE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">File photo: Local residents walk past the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) ahead of the launch of a gold coin, in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 25, 2022. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, April 26 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe is arresting black market forex dealers they accuse of distorting exchange rates as the country prepares for its new gold-backed currency to enter circulation next week.



Two weeks ago, black market traders would openly solicit customers at street corners but constant police raids since have driven the thriving alternative forex market underground.



Zimbabwe, which launched a new gold-backed currency called Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) in early April, dumping the troubled Zimdollar, fears that a black market which thrives on charging premiums will weaken the new currency.



While the ZiG has enjoyed stability on the formal market since its introduction, trading at ZiG 13.3 to a dollar, black market traders are already charging a 65% premium to the dollar.



Keen to establish trust in the new currency to bring down high inflation and secure a new IMF programme by demonstrating sound economic management, the government has threatened brute force to shut down the street currency traders.



&#8220;We wouldn&#8217;t want you to end up being crippled after being attacked,&#8221; Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said in a message to black-market dealers at a political gathering on Tuesday.



Secretary for finance George Guvamatanga said Zimbabwe&#8217;s treasury classifies any illegal forex dealing as money laundering.



More than 70&nbsp;black-market&nbsp;forex dealers arrested in the southern African country&#8217;s capital Harare last week have been refused bail.



&#8220;My colleague was taken in last week and that was the last we heard from him. I hear he was denied bail. It is no longer safe out here,&#8221; one dealer told Reuters.



&#8220;I don&#8217;t pick up unknown calls anymore, or entertain clients that I do not know. These police officers are coming here undercover and in plainclothes. If you entertain them, you will be gone in no time,&#8221; said another dealer.



However, economists questioned whether the police crackdown will be enough to restore confidence in the local currency.



&#8220;I think for a currency, its a matter of confidence. People need to be confident in that currency and also need sustained stability in order for them to accept it,&#8221; said independent economist Happiness Zengeni.



Zimbabwean authorities hope the new currency will help shore up an economy that has suffered severely from low commodity prices and the impact of the El Nino-induced drought.



The central bank will put new ZiG banknotes and coins into general circulation on April 30.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Mark Heinrich)

Local residents walk past the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe pounces on illicit forex dealers ahead of new currency debut

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="595" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5XI6ICZ6JRKC7A43NJRHTXVLBI-820x595.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-474665" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5XI6ICZ6JRKC7A43NJRHTXVLBI-820x595.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5XI6ICZ6JRKC7A43NJRHTXVLBI-300x218.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5XI6ICZ6JRKC7A43NJRHTXVLBI-124x90.jpg 124w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5XI6ICZ6JRKC7A43NJRHTXVLBI-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5XI6ICZ6JRKC7A43NJRHTXVLBI-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/5XI6ICZ6JRKC7A43NJRHTXVLBI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A wilted maize crop is seen in Mumijo, Buhera district east of the capital Harare, Zimbabwe, March 16, 2024. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, April 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Mandisireyi Mbirinyu, 70, and her 13-year-old grandson Tinotenda sit in the blistering sun, shelling the few maize cobs they managed to retrieve from land parched by a drought ravaging southern Africa.



&#8220;The grain I have is only enough for the next two months. It is going to be hunger from here on,&#8221; Mbirinyu told Reuters at her farm in Shamva, 90 km (56 miles) north of Zimbabwe&#8217;s capital Harare.



Mbirinyu considers herself lucky. She at least managed to harvest a few bags of maize from her sparsely irrigated plot &#8211; most crops around this area were a write-off.



Southern Africa is reeling from its worst drought in years, owing to a combination of naturally occurring El Nino &#8211; when an abnormal warming of the waters in the eastern Pacific radiates heat into the air leading to hotter weather across the world &#8211; and higher average temperatures produced by greenhouse gas emissions.



Weather across the world produced record-breaking extremes in 2023 as climate change amplified the impacts of El Nino.



A study in October last year even suggested that climate change may now be as significant a factor in triggering El Nino conditions as natural causes like sun rays.



Aid agency Oxfam warned last week that more than 24 million people in southern Africa face hunger, malnutrition and water scarcity because of the drought.



Last season Mbirinyu harvested 14 tonnes of maize and sold some to the national grain company; this year she&#8217;s wondering whether there will be enough to feed her own family.



In neighbouring Malawi, crop theft has become a problem as food sources dry up. In Kuntaja village, near the airport of the commercial capital Blantyre, Osten James makes a living for his family of five by guarding other people&#8217;s maize gardens, after his own were torched by heat.



&#8220;The owners are trying to save the little maize that survived the heat from thieves,&#8221; said James.



Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe have all declared a state of disaster.



&#8220;The maize has failed,&#8221; Ulaliya Radson, a Malawian farmer said. &#8220;Last year I harvested 10 bags and as you can see in this field, I won&#8217;t even manage half of that,&#8221; she added, gesturing towards a parched patch.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono in Shamva and Frank Phiri in Blantyre; Editing by Tim Cocks, William Maclean)

FILE PHOTO: Villagers collecting food aid in rural Zimbabwe

Southern Africa faces hunger as el Nino drought kills crops

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="600" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/7EUCZ6RKSVIQDGLZGVKYD2BO74-820x600.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-474643" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/7EUCZ6RKSVIQDGLZGVKYD2BO74-820x600.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/7EUCZ6RKSVIQDGLZGVKYD2BO74-300x220.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/7EUCZ6RKSVIQDGLZGVKYD2BO74-123x90.jpg 123w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/7EUCZ6RKSVIQDGLZGVKYD2BO74-768x562.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/7EUCZ6RKSVIQDGLZGVKYD2BO74-1536x1124.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/7EUCZ6RKSVIQDGLZGVKYD2BO74-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A woman walks past the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe building in Harare, Zimbabwe March 1, 2024. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/FILE PHOTO</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, April 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s new gold-backed currency started trading on Monday amid doubts that the country&#8217;s third such re-launch in a decade will have any more success in ending repeated, crippling bouts of high inflation.



The Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) was announced on Friday by the central bank with an initial rate of 13.56 to $1, replacing the Real Time Gross Settlement Dollar (RTGS), which had lost about 80% of its value this year and had been trading at 28,720 to $1 before the change.



Bank balances were transferred into the new currency over the weekend while their customers will have 21 days to do so, and the new banknotes will enter circulation at the end of this month, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.



The RTGS, also known as the Zimdollar&nbsp;ZWL=, was launched in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation, which included so-called bond coins and bond notes, notionally pegged to the U.S. dollar and introduced in 2014 and 2016 respectively.



However, the Zimdollar struggled to gain trust and this year&#8217;s precipitous slide pushed annual inflation above 55% in March&nbsp;ZMBCPY=ECI, raising fears of a return to the 2007-2009 era of hyperinflation under former president Robert Mugabe.



&#8220;There was dire need for drastic change in the Zimbabwean monetary system,&#8221; Jacques Nel at research firm Oxford Economics said in a note to clients.



The central bank statement on Friday correctly identified the most pressing problems, said Nel.



&#8220;A lack of credibility in both the domestic currency and the framework that governed it &#8211; but it is that same lack of credibility that casts doubt over the effectiveness of these new measures,&#8221; he added.



Commercial banks were using the new official exchange rate on Monday, according to Reuters enquiries. It was not immediately clear whether the currency, which the central bank described as &#8220;structured&#8221; and &#8220;anchored by a composite basket of foreign currency and precious metals (mainly gold) held as reserves&#8221;, would be able to retain this value.



Nor was it given that companies and citizens would accept it as a form of payment and a store of value. Some 80% to 85% of transactions are currently carried out in foreign currencies, according to the central bank.



&#8220;Zimbabwe has an insufficient $285 million of hard currency and gold reserves,&#8221; Hasnain Malaik of research firm Tellimer said in a note. &#8220;To fix the economy, Zimbabwe needs to address these root causes of its problems.&#8221;



These problems include central bank funding of government, unsustainable fiscal deficits, debt arrears and Western sanctions, and Malaik said it was not clear whether any would be addressed under the current ruling ZANU-PF party.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono and Rachel Savage, Editing by Karin Strohecker and Tomasz Janowski)

A woman walks past the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe building in Harare

Zimbabwe’s new ZiG currency starts trading, credibility doubts linger

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="575" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-820x575.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-454022" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-820x575.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-128x90.jpg 128w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A man shows off Zimbabwean currency notes outside a grocery store in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Zimbabwe says it will re-launch its currency for a sixth time next week, in a bid to reign-in inflation after the latest collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar.



New Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu said the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), would replace the last incarnation of the Zimbabwe dollar, and would be backed by a select group of foreign currencies, gold and other precious metals the country produces. The new currency will be introduced next Monday at 13.56 per U.S. dollar.



&#8220;With effect from 5 April 2024, banks shall convert the current Zimbabwe dollar balances into the new currency which shall be called Zimbabwe Gold to foster simplicity, certainty, and predictability in monetary and financial affairs,&#8221; the central bank said in a monetary policy statement. &#8220;The new currency will co-circulate with other foreign currencies in the economy.&#8221;



Zimbabwe’s dollar had lost almost three quarters of its value against the dollar since a relaunch last year, stoking inflation which was measured at 55.3 percent in March versus 47.6 percent the month before. The country has battled to tame inflation since it hit a record 500 billion percent in 2008 when it was forced to abandon the Zimbabwe dollar.



Mushayavanhu replaced John Mangudya as governor last month.



To protect the value of the new currency, Mushayavanhu said he would limit central bank lending to the government &#8212; a key source of the inflation that engulfed the economy in 2008 &#8212; and ensure that reserve money would be fully backed by the country’s equivalent gold and foreign currency reserves.



A strict monetary policy would also be implemented he said, setting the new benchmark rate at 20 percent, down from the current rate of 130 percent. Exporters would be requested to surrender half of their forex receipts for the foreign exchange market with the balance going to the government.



&#8220;The Bank will use 50% of the foreign currency proceeds from surrender requirements for strategic interventions in the foreign exchange interbank market,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The remaining foreign currency will be available to satisfy the Government&#8217;s foreign currency obligations in exchange for ZiG and to build foreign exchange reserves for the Reserve Bank.&#8221;

FILE PHOTO: Zimbabwe’s poor feel the impact of far away Ukraine war

Zimbabwe relaunches currency in latest inflation fight

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="596" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2CJFTVWIVVM6BOJKJGSWI5BMOM-820x596.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-472906" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2CJFTVWIVVM6BOJKJGSWI5BMOM-820x596.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2CJFTVWIVVM6BOJKJGSWI5BMOM-300x218.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2CJFTVWIVVM6BOJKJGSWI5BMOM-124x90.jpg 124w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2CJFTVWIVVM6BOJKJGSWI5BMOM-768x558.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2CJFTVWIVVM6BOJKJGSWI5BMOM-1536x1116.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2CJFTVWIVVM6BOJKJGSWI5BMOM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Nyasa Manonoke, 69, collects her monthly allocations of food aid provided by the World Food Program (WFP) in Mumijo, Buhera district east of the capital Harare, Zimbabwe, March 16, 2024. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, April 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday declared Zimbabwe&#8217;s drought a national disaster and said the country needed more than $2 billion in aid to feed millions facing hunger.



Mnangagwa&#8217;s statement follows similar announcements by Zambia in late February and Malawi in March, as drought induced by the El Nino global weather pattern triggers a humanitarian crisis in southern Africa.



More than 2.7 million people in Zimbabwe will go hungry this year, Mnangagwa told journalists at the state house in Harare, adding that 80% of the country had received poor rains.



&#8220;Preliminary assessments show that Zimbabwe requires in excess of $2 billion towards various interventions we envisage in our national response,&#8221; Mnangagwa said.



He said the government would prioritise winter cropping to boost reserves, and work with the private sector to import grains.



El Nino is a naturally occurring weather phenomenon associated with a disruption of wind patterns that means warmer ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific.



Most provinces in Zimbabwe have experienced crop failure since November, with hotter areas declaring grains such as maize a write-off.



Humanitarian agencies including the World Food Programme, which fed 270,000 people between January and March in four districts, have described the hunger situation as &#8220;dire&#8221;, calling on donors to provide more aid.



The drought in southern Africa has reached crisis levels with Botswana and Angola to the west, and Mozambique and Madagascar to the east also facing hunger.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono, Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Barbara Lewis)

Villagers collect monthly allocations of food aid provided by WFP in Mumijo

Hunger grips southern Africa as Zimbabwe declares drought a disaster

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="542" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/LYNXNPEB7U0I5.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-468376" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/LYNXNPEB7U0I5.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/LYNXNPEB7U0I5-300x203.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/LYNXNPEB7U0I5-133x90.jpg 133w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/LYNXNPEB7U0I5-768x520.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A worker drives a vehicle at Zimplats&#8217; Ngwarati Mine in Mhondoro-Ngezi May 30, 2014. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



March 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Impala Platinum&#8217;s&nbsp;IMPJ.J&nbsp;Zimbabwe unit Zimplats&nbsp;ZIM.AX&nbsp;said on Wednesday it is offering voluntary job cuts in a bid to protect the business from the impact of a sharp fall in platinum group metal (PGM) prices.



Zimplats did not say how many of the 8,000 permanent and contract jobs were targeted under the planned cuts.



The company, which swung to a rare $8.8 million loss in the six months to December 2023, from a $159.6 million profit previously, said it was &#8220;critically reviewing its business&#8221; amid declining metal prices.



&#8220;Regrettably, labour optimisation initiatives must be implemented urgently to secure the business, and the bulk of jobs in the company,&#8221; Zimplats said in a statement.



Southern African PGM miners, including Zimplats&#8217; parent company Impala, Sibanye StillwaterSSWJ.J and Anglo American PlatinumAMSJ.J have scrambled to cut costs, and thousands of jobs, after profits slumped as metal prices plunged over the past year due to weak auto production and concerns about a global economic slowdown.



Zimbabwe&#8217;s other PGM mines, Unki mine, owned by Anglo American Platinum, and Mimosa, a joint venture between Impala and Sibanye Stillwater, are also implementing job cuts.



Mimosa has also halted its $100 million North Hill expansion project, while Impala, which announced a 10-year $1.8 billion expansion project at Zimplats in 2021, is deferring long term schemes such as sulphur abatement and renewable energy.



Tharisa Plc THST.L has delayed by a year the commissioning of its $361 million Karo platinum mine in Zimbabwe, which was scheduled for June 2024, due to the low metal prices.



(Reporting by Nelson BanyaEditing by Ros Russell)

A worker drives a vehicle at Zimplats’ Ngwarati Mine in Mhondoro-Ngezi

Zimplats to offer voluntary job cuts after platinum price rout

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="570" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SRCAXMTQ4FKLPJC5HUFDMXXQAE-820x570.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-467592" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SRCAXMTQ4FKLPJC5HUFDMXXQAE-820x570.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SRCAXMTQ4FKLPJC5HUFDMXXQAE-300x208.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SRCAXMTQ4FKLPJC5HUFDMXXQAE-130x90.jpg 130w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SRCAXMTQ4FKLPJC5HUFDMXXQAE-768x534.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SRCAXMTQ4FKLPJC5HUFDMXXQAE-1536x1067.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SRCAXMTQ4FKLPJC5HUFDMXXQAE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A villager arrives to collect her monthly allocations of food aid provided by the World Food Program (WFP) in Mumijo, Buhera district east of the capital Harare, Zimbabwe, March 16, 2024. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



BUHERA, Zimbabwe, March 18 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Residents of the Zimbabwean village of Buhera stood in groups at a primary school waiting to be called by name to receive life-saving handouts of grain, peas and cooking oil.



&#8220;We are grateful, but the food will only be enough for one month,&#8221; said Mushaikwa, 71, who lives with her elderly husband, as she trudged away with her bag of grain. &#8220;My crops are wilted.&#8221;



Zimbabwe has failed to feed itself since 2000 when former president Robert Mugabe seized white-owned farms, disrupting production and leading to sharp falls in output, leaving many Zimbabweans reliant on food aid for survival.



The crisis has been exacerbated by an El Nino-induced drought that has hit many southern African nations. The government has estimated that 2.7 million people will go hungry this year, although the real number could be higher.



The government is considering whether to declare a state of emergency, a government minister told Reuters.



El Nino is a naturally occurring weather phenomenon associated with a disruption of wind patterns that means warmer ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific.



It occurs on average every two to seven years, typically lasts nine to 12 months and can provoke extreme weather such as tropical cyclones, prolonged drought and subsequent wildfires.



&#8220;When you drive around, you will see that many crops have wilted,&#8221; said World Food Programme acting country director Christine Mendes in Buhera, about 220 km (140 miles) southeast of the capital, Harare.



Zimbabwe&#8217;s staple maize harvest is expected to halve to 1.1 million tons this year.



WFP has helped 270,000 people in four drought-prone districts between January and March but will need additional funds to feed more, said Mendes.



In Buhera, 47-year-old Mary Takawira assessed her crop, which dried up before maturity.



&#8220;I do not remember the taste of (corn) anymore,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This is going to be a tough year.&#8221;



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Nellie Peyton and Nick Macfie)

Zimbabwe goes hungry as crops wither amid El Nino drought

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TAQBB7LBMNPSFNKLQIHOTWTOJM-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-462971" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TAQBB7LBMNPSFNKLQIHOTWTOJM-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TAQBB7LBMNPSFNKLQIHOTWTOJM-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TAQBB7LBMNPSFNKLQIHOTWTOJM-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TAQBB7LBMNPSFNKLQIHOTWTOJM-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TAQBB7LBMNPSFNKLQIHOTWTOJM-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TAQBB7LBMNPSFNKLQIHOTWTOJM-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A view shows solar panels at the green hydrogen proof-of-concept site in Vredendal, Western Cape, South Africa, November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Esa Alexander</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, March 5 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and investment advisers Climate Fund Managers on Tuesday launched a new $1.3 billion target fund to build&nbsp;high-voltage transmission lines linking countries in the region.



The Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF) starts with $20 million in commitments from SAPP, and aims for a first close of $500 million in 2025 in a bid to overcome a key obstacle constraining growth in an evolving energy sector.



Finance will be raised from public and private sector investors locally and internationally, a joint statement said.



Despite an abundance of energy sources in Africa, a lack of connections between countries has hampered integration and trade among SAPP&#8217;s 12 members, which include regional economic heavyweight South Africa and top copper exporter Zambia.



&#8220;RTIFF dismantles this by enabling the private sector to work alongside public sector utilities to roll out new transmission lines at scale,&#8221;&nbsp;Victor Mapani, chairperson of the SAPP executive committee, said&nbsp;in a statement.



The facility,&nbsp;with&nbsp;a fund life of between 20 and 25&nbsp;years, is&nbsp;expected to reach a final close of $1.3 billion within two years.



A renewable energy&nbsp;push, including wind, solar and&nbsp;hydro, has highlighted the dearth of connections across the region where projects, often in remote areas, are unable to connect to national grids.



A competitive electricity market with daily trades, SAPP is aiming to connect Angola, Malawi and Tanzania to the platform and has identified eight priority transmission projects, officials said at a press launch.



&#8220;Since Malawi is already being connected to Mozambique and Tanzania is being connected to Zambia, the next key project is the connection of Angola to Namibia,&#8221; Stephen Dihwa, executive director of SAPP told Reuters.



The Angola-Namibia interconnector is estimated to cost $356 million, he said, around a tenth of the total investment needed for transmission lines by 2040 to enhance regional integration.



South Africa&#8217;s debt-ridden power utility Eskom, which requires around 350 billion rand ($18.41 billion) over the next decade to upgrade its transmission network, is wooing the private sector for investment to overcome the country’s worst electricity shortages on record.



&#8220;The lack of investment in grid infrastructure is one of the reasons for ongoing blackouts in many parts of Southern Africa,&#8221; Amit Mohan, head of private credit at CFM said.



($1 = 19.0136 rand)



(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Chizu Nomiyama)

Greener pastures: Is South Africa ready to profit from green hydrogen?

New $1.3 bln energy fund for transmission links across Southern Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427043" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Elect Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks to the media at State House in Harare, August 27, 2023. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, March 1 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Emmerson Mnangagwa abandoned a trip to Victoria Falls on Friday due to an anonymous threat of attack against the country&#8217;s airports, his spokesperson said.



On Friday morning, Zimbabwe airport authorities were made aware of an email sent through Fastjet Airline claiming a &#8220;credible bomb/firearm threat&#8221; targeting Zimbabwean airports, presidency spokesperson George Charamba said in a statement.



&#8220;As a precaution, the country&#8217;s security systems are now on heightened alert following this message whose source and credibility is also being investigated,&#8221; he said.



He said that Mnangagwa was due to address a meeting in the resort town but had suspended his trip to allow for investigations, and urged the public to remain calm.



&#8220;While our country is peaceful, and all our ports of entry are well secured, such alerts on possible terrorist attacks are taken and treated very seriously,&#8221; the statement said.



Local media had reported earlier on Friday that Mnangagwa&#8217;s private plan made a U-turn minutes before landing at Victoria Falls airport, and went back to the capital Harare.



An Air Zimbabwe plane with passengers on board was detained at Victoria Falls, while a Kenyan Airways flight rerouted to land in Livingstone, Zambia, according to local news reports.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Nellie Peyton and Alex Richardson)

Zimbabwe election results announced

Zimbabwean president reroutes flight due to airport threat

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="613" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1-820x613.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-456099" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1-820x613.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1-300x224.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1-768x574.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1-1536x1148.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People queue to withdraw money from a local bank in central Harare, Zimbabwe, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Feb 14 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday encouraged Zimbabwe to speed up currency reforms at the end of a staff visit, saying authorities should move towards a market-driven exchange rate and remove distortions currently in place.



The visit discussed Zimbabwe&#8217;s request for an IMF staff-monitored programme, part of the southern African country&#8217;s efforts to re-engage with the international financial community by demonstrating a track record of sound economic policies.



Zimbabwe has not been able to secure financing from the likes of the IMF for more than two decades due to arrears in servicing its debt to lenders including the World Bank, the African Development Bank and European Investment Bank.



&#8220;The IMF is currently precluded from providing financial support to Zimbabwe due to its unsustainable debt situation &#8230; and official external arrears,&#8221; the IMF said in a statement.



&#8220;An IMF financial arrangement would require a clear path to comprehensive restructuring of Zimbabwe&#8217;s external debt, including the clearance of arrears and a reform plan that is consistent with durably restoring macroeconomic stability.&#8221;



Zimbabwe&#8217;s central bank and finance ministry have said they are working on measures to stabilise the Zimbabwean dollar, which has fallen about 40% against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year.



One option being considered is linking the exchange rate to assets such as gold.



The IMF said policymakers should eliminate a restriction on the 10% allowable trading margin for pricing domestic transactions and narrow the central bank&#8217;s legal mandate to core functions.



Addressing a joint press conference with the IMF, Zimbabwe&#8217;s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said officials agreed the local currency needed to be more reflective of market conditions.



The Zimbabwean dollar was relaunched in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation, but it rapidly lost value and the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions was reauthorised soon after.



Central bank Governor John Mangudya said the focus of an upcoming monetary policy statement would be stabilising the exchange rate.



(Editing by Alexander Winning, Kirsten Donovan)

People queue to withdraw money from a local bank in central Harare

IMF says Zimbabwe should speed up currency reforms

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="584" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE-820x584.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-455387" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE-820x584.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE-300x214.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE-126x90.jpg 126w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE-768x547.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE-1536x1094.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/62G224WUNFIBRLU2K6S7VS3YFE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Zimbabwe&#8217;s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube stands with a briefcase at the Parliament Building in Mt Hampden on the day he presents the 2024 National Budget, Harare, Zimbabwe November 30, 2023.REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/FILE PHOTO</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Feb 12 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&nbsp;is working on new&nbsp;measures to stabilise its local currency including linking the exchange rate to hard assets such as gold and creating a currency board, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Monday.



The Zimbabwean dollar has fallen about 40% since the start of the year,&nbsp;hurt by increased foreign-currency demand from civil servants being paid December bonuses and weaker commodity prices denting inflows.



Last week President Emmerson Mnangagwa said authorities were looking to introduce a &#8220;structured currency&#8221;, without explaining how that would work, and the central bank governor said that work was ongoing.



&#8220;The idea going forward is to make sure that we manage the growth of liquidity which has a high correlation to money supply growth and inflation. The way to do that is to link the exchange rate to some hard asset such as gold,&#8221; said Ncube.



&#8220;To do that you have to have some sort of currency board type system in place where the growth of the domestic liquidity is constrained by the value of the asset that is backing the currency,&#8221; he said in a press briefing.



More announcements will come in due course, he said, adding that he believed the new measures would offer &#8220;a lasting solution to the currency volatility&#8221;.



The Southern African country is still scarred by memories of hyperinflation under longtime leader Robert Mugabe.



The government relaunched a local currency in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation, but it rapidly lost value and authorities reauthorised the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions soon after.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Writing by Nellie Peyton, Editing by Gareth Jones and Ed Osmond)

Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube stands with a briefcase at the Parliament Building in Mt Hampden on the day he presents the 2024 National Budget, Harare

Zimbabwe to link exchange rate to hard assets, create currency board

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="575" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-820x575.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-454022" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-820x575.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-128x90.jpg 128w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2YFSNLSNFRP7VNWQPEPCOAWUMU-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A man shows off Zimbabwean currency notes outside a grocery store in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Feb 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s central bank and finance ministry are working on measures to stabilise the local currency, the central bank governor said.



The Zimbabwean dollar has fallen about 40% since the start of the year, hurt by increased foreign-currency demand from civil servants being paid December bonuses and weaker commodity prices denting inflows.



That has caused inflation to accelerate in an economy still scarred by memories of hyperinflation under longtime leader Robert Mugabe.



Earlier this week President Emmerson Mnangagwa said authorities were looking to introduce a &#8220;structured currency&#8221;, without explaining how that would work.



&#8220;What His Excellency the President said is to provide forward guidance to the market on the thrust of the monetary policy statement that the Bank and Treasury are working on,&#8221; Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya told Reuters late on Wednesday.



&#8220;The President would like to see durable stability of prices and the exchange rate in the economy.&#8221;



&#8220;Currently the economy is growing in an inflationary environment, an environment that the Bank needs to appropriately attend to,&#8221; the central bank governor added.



He did not say when the monetary policy statement with the new measures would be released.



The government relaunched a local currency in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation, but it rapidly lost value and authorities reauthorised the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions soon after.



Independent economist Prosper Chitambara said people had little faith in the Zimbabwean dollar.



Chitambara said: &#8220;Economic agents have lost confidence in the local currency and that spurs demand for the U.S. dollar. Restoration of confidence in the currency will take time.&#8221;



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Alexander Winning and Jan Harvey)

Zimbabwe working on measures to stabilise currency, central bank governor says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KF2GGOYQNFOS7EACK4EZNF5B3U-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-452889" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KF2GGOYQNFOS7EACK4EZNF5B3U-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KF2GGOYQNFOS7EACK4EZNF5B3U-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KF2GGOYQNFOS7EACK4EZNF5B3U-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KF2GGOYQNFOS7EACK4EZNF5B3U-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KF2GGOYQNFOS7EACK4EZNF5B3U-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KF2GGOYQNFOS7EACK4EZNF5B3U-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Hage Gottfried Geingob, President of Namibia, speaks during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Feb 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Namibia&#8217;s President Hage Geingob, 82, died in hospital early on Sunday, the presidency said, weeks after he was diagnosed with cancer.



Geingob had been in charge of the thinly populated and mostly arid southern African country since 2015, the year he announced he had survived prostate cancer.



Vice President Nangolo Mbumba takes the helm in Namibia &#8211; a mining hotspot with significant deposits of diamonds and the electric car battery ingredient lithium &#8211; until presidential and parliamentary elections at the end of the year.



A presidency post on social media platform X did not give a cause of death, but late last month the presidency said he had travelled to the United States for &#8220;a two-day novel treatment for cancerous cells&#8221;, after being diagnosed following a regular medical check-up.



Born in 1941, Geingob was a prominent politician since before Namibia achieved independence from white minority-ruled South Africa in 1990.



He chaired the body that drafted Namibia&#8217;s constitution, then became its first prime minister at independence on March 21 of that year, a position he retained until 2002.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chains-of-injustice">&#8216;CHAINS OF INJUSTICE&#8217;</h2>



In 2007, Geingob became vice president of the governing South West Africa People&#8217;s Organisation (SWAPO), which he had joined as an agitator for independence when Namibia was still known as South West Africa.



SWAPO has remained in power in Namibia unchallenged since independence. The former German colony is technically an upper middle-income country but one with huge disparities in wealth.



&#8220;There were no textbooks to prepare us for accomplishing the task of development and shared prosperity after independence,&#8221; he said in a speech to mark the day in 2018. &#8220;We needed to build a Namibia in which the chains of the injustices of the past would be broken.&#8221;



Geingob served as trade and industry minister before becoming prime minister again in 2012.



He won the 2014 election with 87% of the vote but only narrowly avoided a runoff with a little more than half the votes in a subsequent poll in November 2019.



That election followed a government bribery scandal, in which officials were alleged to have awarded horse mackerel quotas to Iceland&#8217;s biggest fishing firm, Samherji, in exchange for kickbacks, according to local media reports. The resultant outcry led to the resignation of two ministers.



The following year, Geingob lamented that Namibia&#8217;s wealth still remained concentrated in the hands of its white minority.



&#8220;Distribution is an issue, but how do we do it?&#8221; Geingob said in a virtual session at an event organised by international organisation Horasis.



&#8220;We have a racial issue here, a historical racial divide. Now you say we must grab from the whites and give it to the Blacks, it&#8217;s not going to work,&#8221; he said.



His comments came after the government rescinded as unworkable a policy that would have made it mandatory for white-owned businesses to sell a 25% stake to Black Namibians.



Geingob died at Lady Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek, where he was receiving treatment from his medical team, the presidency said.



(Reporting by Tim Cocks in Johannesburg and Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing ; by William Mallard)

FILE PHOTO: Namibian President Hage Geingob

Namibia’s President Hage Geingob, 82, dies after cancer diagnosis

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="806" height="600" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Multichoice-logo-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-417481" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Multichoice-logo-1.png 806w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Multichoice-logo-1-300x223.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Multichoice-logo-1-121x90.png 121w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Multichoice-logo-1-768x572.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 806px) 100vw, 806px" /></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Feb 1 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Vivendi&#8217;s&nbsp;VIV.PA&nbsp;Canal Plus has offered to buy all the shares it does not own in South Africa&#8217;s MultiChoice Group&nbsp;MCGJ.J&nbsp;&#8211; a deal worth roughly $1.7 billion and one that it says would help the pay TV company thrive in a competitive international market.



Canal Plus, the top shareholder in MultiChoice with a 31.67% stake according to LSEG data, said it would likely pay 105 rand in cash per share, a 40% premium to MultiChoice&#8217;s closing share price on Wednesday.



Shares in MultiChoice surged more in Thursday morning trade but were still far below the offer price indicating a lack of investor confidence that the deal would definitely go through. They were last up 23% at 92 rand.



Canal Plus said its current offer, worth 31.7 billion rand according to Reuters calculations, is non-binding and indicative and that once due diligence has been completed, it intends to deliver a letter of firm intention to MultiChoice&#8217;s board.



MultiChoice, which operates in 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, said it has received a letter from the French media company and would update shareholders should there be any further developments.



&#8220;For MultiChoice to continue to thrive in Africa it will require a strategy that enhances its scale as well as strengthened local and global expertise. Our potential offer, if successful, would be an important next step for MultiChoice to realise its full potential,&#8221; Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of Canal Plus, said in a statement.



MultiChoice has over the years invested billions of rand to fight off competition from international streaming giants such as Netflix&nbsp;NFLX.O, Amazon&nbsp;AMZN.O&nbsp;and Disney&nbsp;DIS.N. Netflix, for example, has also been investing in local content.



Saada added that the deal would give MultiChoice the resources to invest in scale, local African talent and stories.



As part of MultiChoice&#8217;s efforts to fight off competition, it partnered last year with Comcast&#8217;s&nbsp;CMCSA.O&nbsp;NBCUniversal and Sky to revamp MultiChoice&#8217;s existing Showmax streaming service, which now offers LIVE Premier League content.



Canal Plus also said that it actively plans to list following proposals by parent company Vivendi to split into four entities and ultimately would like to also list in South Africa.



($1 = 18.7137 rand)



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Additional reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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Southern Africa

Zimbabwe’s sole nickel mine placed under administration

South African rand strengthens as Fed keeps rates on hold

Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed currency enters circulation

Zimbabwe pounces on illicit forex dealers ahead of new currency debut

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Zimbabwe’s new ZiG currency starts trading, credibility doubts linger

Zimbabwe relaunches currency in latest inflation fight

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Zimbabwe goes hungry as crops wither amid El Nino drought

New $1.3 bln energy fund for transmission links across Southern Africa

Zimbabwean president reroutes flight due to airport threat

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Zimbabwe to link exchange rate to hard assets, create currency board

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Namibia’s President Hage Geingob, 82, dies after cancer diagnosis

Vivendi’s Canal+ submits offer to acquire South Africa’s Multichoice

News Tips

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