By Bloomberg News Africa’s continent-wide free-trade area, if successfully implemented, could significantly boost economic growth and improve living standards at a time of rising geopolitical tensions and climate change, the International Monetary Fund said in a study. “Greater trade openness would help countries adapt to climate change and to strengthen food security, including by improving
By Staff Reporter & Associated Press THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is set to roll out gold backed digital tokens on May 8 amid market expectations that the instrument will ease the current exchange rate volatility. The initiative comes at a time black market premiums have breached US$1: ZWL2,000 with the local currency also
By Bloomberg News The greenback has replaced the Zimbabwean dollar as the most-used currency in the southern African nation for a second time, almost four years after the re-introduction of the local unit. US dollars were utilized for 77% of transactions this year, surpassing the proportion that were conducted in the local currency for the
By Xinhua HARARE: Zimbabwe’s sovereign credit risk profile is improving as shown by a number of foreign banks that are extending loans to the country, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Wednesday. He said Zimbabwe this month successfully negotiated for a 193-million-U.S.-dollar sovereign loan facility from two South African banks, Standard Bank and ABSA, and Zimbabwe’s
By Alois Vinga THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has hailed Zimbabwe for implementing the recommendation to establish the Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) which is used to publish essential macroeconomic and financial data. The e-GDDS also known as the National Summary Data Page will serve as a one-stop publication for disseminating the data recommended under
By Alois Vinga THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Foreign Exchange Auction this week allotted a total US$20 million amid expectations that the commencement of the 2023 tobacco selling season will boost foreign currency liquidity and further strengthen the local currency. A trading update released at the close of trading Tuesday shows that a total
By Bloomberg News Zimbabwe has offered to settle a $3.5 billion land compensation deal over 10 years, the latest change to an agreement signed in 2020 with former White farmers ejected from properties more than two decades ago. The southern African nation initially wanted to offer payment terms of 20 years but has since decided
By Xinhua HARARE: Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Wednesday launched a 10-million-U.S.-dollar revolving facility to support value addition and beneficiation by artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM) who account for the bulk of gold produced in the country. Ncube said at a press conference that 5 million dollars will go to the construction of
By Alois Vinga EXPORT earnings received by Zimbabwe in 2022 reached US$7,4 billion anchored on mining and tobacco farming with the manufacturing sector registering slow growth. Data contained in the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) 2023 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) shows that cumulative export earnings or proceeds as at 31 December 2022 were US$7,42 billion
By Staff Reporter & IRNA TEHRAN: Iranian Labor and Social Welfare Minister Solat Mortazavi has said annual trade between his country and Zimbabwe is expected to exceed $500 million considering new agreements signed by the two countries. “In the agreements [reached between the two sides], the level of trade between the two countries is seen
By Omar Ben Yedder I African Business Speaking to African Business at WEF, Zimbabwe’s finance minister said the country’s economic fundamentals were sound and forecast healthy growth in the next five years. At the end of 2022, Zimbabwe announced a ban on the export of raw lithium, a key component used in the making of
By Reuters HARARE: Zimbabwe’s central bank on Thursday said it will allow exporters, including miners, to keep 75% of their export earnings in foreign currency after the current cap of 60% drew complaints from the industry. The new measure, however, falls short of miners’ demands to keep 80% of their export earnings in foreign currency.
By Xinhua HARARE: Trade between Zimbabwe and China surged 29.2 percent year-on-year to a record high of 2.43 billion US dollars in 2022, the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe said Thursday. Zimbabwe exported 1.3 billion dollars worth of goods to China and imported 1.13 billion dollars worth of goods from China, the embassy tweeted. China mainly
By Xinhua Zimbabwe’s gold mining sector is targeting to raise production to 40 tonnes this year, up from 35.38 tonnes last year, an official said Tuesday. Last year’s output was a record high, spurred by new mining projects, timely payments, and incentives to miners. Out of the 35.38 tonnes produced last year, small-scale and artisanal
By Agencies Zimbabwe’s special release of gold coins to fight inflation is seeing strong demand, with coins selling for over $2,000 an ounce each for the first time since their release back in July. The country’s central bank began selling gold coins in the summer to try and tame inflation by providing a store of
By Xinhua HARARE: Zimbabwe’s gold output reached a new record high of 35.38 tonnes in 2022, spurred by new mining projects, timely payments and incentives to miners. The output was 19.5 percent up from the previous year’s output, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported Tuesday, citing statistics from the country’s sole gold buyer, Fidelity Gold Refineries.
By Xinhua HARARE: Zimbabwe’s tourism sector attracted 300 million U.S. dollars worth of investments in 2022, as the sector continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said Friday. Local and foreign investments increased in the tourism industry after the removal of global COVID-19 restrictions, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) reported, citing Zimbabwe Tourism
By Reason Razao Zimbabwe continues to lead the 10 countries with the highest food price inflation globally, a World Bank report has revealed. According to its latest report on food price inflation, there was an increase in almost all low- and middle-income countries, with Zimbabwe clinching first position. Domestic food price inflation measured as year-on-year
By Alois Vinga DOMESTIC credit extended to local companies and other entities increased 80,2% in the month of September 2022 in the face of high interest rates headwinds, Reserve Bank Zimbabwe (RBZ) latest data has revealed. In the year’s first half, the RBZ hiked interest rates by 200% in a bid to block speculative borrowing
By Alois Vinga THE Tripartite Negotiation Forum (TNF) recently approved a five years long Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) which is poised towards employment creation , strengthening labour and social protection among other benefits. The DWCP for Zimbabwe covering 2022 – 2026, was signed recently in the resort town of Victoria Falls by the tripartite
