LATEST POSTS
Elections, politicians and a bag of maize
IN PREPARATION for the next elections, the two main political parties, Zanu PF and MDC-T have tabled diverging economic policies on how they intend to improve the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans if voted into office. The people they seek to … Read more
Wanted: a government with a jobs strategy
IF STATISTICS are to be believed, eight in 10 Zimbabweans are unemployed. As at 2010, only 0,9 million people were recorded as being in formal employment. To put it in perspective (using a rather dramatic example), the total number of … Read more
Indigenisation policy: sharing the crumbs of a cup cake
WHEN it comes to populist policies such as indigenisation, you cannot question the craftsmanship and frothing passion of its most avid political proponents. It’s a zero sum game; foreign shareholders and the private sector have been bullied and marched into … Read more
New bank capital requirements: a red herring
IN THE recent Mid-Term Monetary policy statement, the central bank has proposed a 10-fold increase in bank capital adequacy requirements (CAR) to US$100 billion. Whilst the chronic fragility within the Zimbabwean banking sector requires urgent redress, the proposed adjustments are … Read more
Interfin: Want to rob a bank? Own one!
THE closure of Interfin and Genesis Investment Bank in the last couple of weeks makes for grim reading. The collapse of the two private indigenous banks due to recurring liquidity challenges raises serious questions regarding the fragility of the Zimbabwean … Read more
Economy operating below capacity
IN FEBRUARY 2009, Zimbabwe’s bickering political parties formed a three-party coalition government underwritten by the African Union, a marriage of convenience following a disputed election. The economy, described then by Economist’s Economic Intelligence Unit as ‘the worst in the world’ … Read more
‘Under-the-mattress’ banking cause of liquidity crisis
ZIMBABWE is again enduring a liquidity crisis, this time of the mighty US dollar. In an attempt to deal with the crisis, regulatory authorities introduced, then rescinded a cash withdrawal limit policy and forced banks to repatriate 75 percent of … Read more
Gonomics and the crafty Yuan deception
RESERVE Bank Governor, Gideon Gono’s repeated call to replace the US dollar with the Chinese Yuan alongside the Zimbabwe dollar is either superbly feckless, crafty deception or economic emotionalism. There is no denying that the ‘Look East Policy’ is bearing … Read more
Government should support ethanol production
RECENT news that Green Fuel, a pioneering Zimbabwean ethanol processing company, is currently sitting on 8 million litres of ethanol (E10) in their storage facilities due to a slow uptake by the market sounds like irresponsible economic suicide. By all … Read more
European economic crisis: Is it time to head home?
AN EMERGING trend within the diaspora community in the UK points towards a gradual increase in the number of people who have, or are considering returning to Zimbabwe or emigrating to other countries as a result of the global economic … Read more
The futility of bankers’ prosecution
NICHOLAS Vingirayi, an alleged ‘rogue’ banker with an international arrest warrant, was extradited to Zimbabwe and arraigned before the courts on fraud charges dating back to the 2003 banking sector crisis regarding the collapse of Intermarket Holdings Limited. Another pointless … Read more
The case for a Zimbabwe Diaspora bond
ZIMBABWE’S Finance Ministry should be commended for launching a consultation programme intended to seek stakeholder participation in the drafting of a broad-based 2012 budget. Faced with a projected year end fiscal deficit of $700 million and a debt overhang of … Read more
RBM collapse: a failure of regulation
THE recent problems at ReNaissance have no doubt reignited sad memories of the 2003 financial sector crisis in which 13 indigenous banks collapsed. Between December 2003 and June 2004, five banks were placed under curatorship, two were liquidated and four … Read more
Between a pizza and a hard place
Why every emigrant should prioritise their financial planning A FEW days ago, a patently healthy colleague with no history of any medical problems collapsed at a Birmingham City gym and was rushed to a local hospital. Despite the doctors finding … Read more
