Various markets have been in existence for centuries dating back to the first Stock Exchange that was established in 1585 in Amsterdam. A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a place where people meet to buy and sell shares of company stock. Some stock exchanges are real places (like the New York Stock Exchange), others are virtual places (like the NASDAQ). In fact, the first stock exchange in Zimbabwe opened shortly after the arrival of the Pioneer Column in Bulawayo in 1896. However, it only operated for about six years. Other stock exchanges were established in Gwelo (Gweru) and Umtali (Mutare). The Mutare Exchange, also opened in 1896, thrived on the success of local mining, but with the realization that deposits in the area were not extensive, activity declined and it closed in 1924. After World War II a new exchange was founded in Bulawayo by Alfred Mulock Bentley and dealing started in January 1946. The primary purpose of an exchange is provide capital for companies who then issue out “stock “ in return for investment. The exchange that was set up in Bulawayo in 1946 was the primary reason why Bulawayo then developed into an industrial hub as various textile companies were readily able to list and get access to capital.

Back then trading happened via telephone. You would call in your broker and ask them to represent you on the Stock Exchange by either buying or selling a particular stock you had interest in on your behalf. Today, however, with the advent of technology, trading is being increasingly done online. Brokers now offer trading platforms that can be accessed online without the need to ‘call in’ your broker. Not only has trading moved online, there are now new types of markets that have emerged in this century where trading can take place. Virtually anything can now be traded. In addition to stock exchanges, there are now commodity exchanges where commodities like wheat and maize are traded, metals exchanges where metals are traded, currency markets where currencies are traded, bond markets etc. The core function of an exchange is to allow for efficient and fair price discovery which happens when traders bid for various instruments on the exchange or market.

Trading is done by traders. Traders can be classified broadly into two different types of traders. These are investors and speculators. Investors are usually interested in owning a particular stock in the long run usually for hedging and preservation of value. Speculators are interested only in making returns from the short term price movement of an instrument. World over, there are 5 times more speculators than investors. Without speculation in fact, price discovery would be extremely difficult as having more people buy and selling an instrument aids in establishing the true price for that instrument.

Almost 90% of speculators now trade online. They are known as retail traders and make a living doing so. They connect to brokers who now offer online trading platforms and also offer a variety of instruments that retail traders can speculate in. Some of the most popular speculators on earth are multi billionaires like Paul Tudor Jones and George Soros who both made over a Billion Dollars in one day trading the currency markets. Professional speculators are usually housed on bank trading floors or in hedge funds and manage over 2 Trillion Dollars in money collectively. This is more money than the physical cash that exists on the planet. Trading has now evolved to be the most lucrative profession in the world. A simple Google search on ‘trading jobs in London” will reveal that on any given day there are over 1,000 trading jobs available in London.

So what is the case for trading in Zimbabwe? Can Zimbabwe produce billionaire traders? Can Zimbabwean speculators make a living trading online? According to the Modern Trader Report, 1 in 781 people in the world are traders. Because of technology and the ability of people to trade online, surprisingly there are now 1.3 million traders in Africa while America and Europe have 1.5 million traders each. Africa now has the fourth largest number of online traders in the world. Most Egyptian young adults can be found at internet cafes trading online. The Forex Traders Association of Zimbabwe which was established to recognise and assist online traders in Zimbabwe estimates that over 45,000 people in Zimbabwe are trading or have traded in Zimbabwe. This information is easily accessible from brokers who are surprised by the high proportion of traders in Zimbabwe. A quick survey done at the major Universities in Zimbabwe shows that approximately 25% of students at NUST and UZ have traded before or are currently trading. Zimbabweans have taken to trading because it allows them to trade the international markets and earn Forex if they make a profit. This is an attractive offer for Zimbabweans and is an endeavour that deserves the recognition and support of government especially because so many youth are now actively trading to supplement income and in some cases pay their own university fees. A story run early this year by the Independent interviewed a young man by the name of Munashe Maziwhananga who was able to pay his own fees at NUST from trading.

The numbers seem to justify this call for broader support. If 40,000 traders make even $12.50usd profit a week from trading, that works out to half a million dollars a week in Forex generated and coming into the country. If this is scaled up, it is possible to see a future where profits from trading match diaspora remittances. Zimbabweans are primarily trading the ONLINE CURRENCY MARKETS via international brokers. This is where retail traders speculate about the direction of exchange rates. It comes almost as a redemptive story as no one better appreciates currency values and what causes them to appreciate and depreciate perhaps more than Zimbabweans. Most people in Africa have never seen the US Dollar let alone a basket of multi currencies yet a Zimbabwean in the most remote part of Zimbabwe actively transacted with the US Dollar for over 7 years.

There have been calls by various analysts and industry players to scale up this form of trading for the collective benefit of the nation. Almost all international banks have trading floors. These desks are manned by traders who are given trading capital to trade with while trading the spot currency exchange market. FOTRAZ is calling for the establishment of trading floors across the country where 2500 youths per province can be housed in trading rooms and floors and given access to capital. A total of 20,000 youths across 8 provinces can be given the best training and assigned professional supervisors and trading executives who will help them manage and allocate risk professionally for a profit. If each youth is given $1,000 to manage with the mandate to give a 30%/month return on the capital that would translate to over $6 million dollars in profit generated a month. The trading capital would not be given directly to the youths, instead it would allocated to a trust account maintained by an internationally recognised broker. Their trading performance can be monitored and tracked. There is room to scale up the return provided the capital is increased. Pension Funds are declaring surpluses annually and perhaps a portion can be set aside as prescribed assets to these trading floors.

The other secondary benefits are that active traders will be drawn to trade some of the new products ZSE has been introducing and has plans of introducing in the future. Products like Exchange Traded Funds, Futures and Options will continue to receive low take up from the public because they need to be educated about these products first. What is missing is a trading culture and these trading floors can incubate a trading culture.

Trading is risky and even more risky when engaged for speculation. Price changes can wipe away profits and even the initial investment. There are, however, risk management strategies that can be employed such as limiting capital exposure per trade taken and ensuring trades are approved by a senior officer. These are internationally accepted methods of managing risk. The trading floors can be the first phase of rolling out a regional trading hub. London is the largest trading hub in the world with over 2.7trillion dollars being exchanged and traded daily. The benefits to the economy cannot be overstated. Small countries with highly educated citizens can and have been able to take advantage of this high turnover industry. One such example is Singapore. Singapore has a well-established, if not especially long, history as a solid offshore financial center. For a long time, it has been the largest Forex trading center by volume in the entire Asia-Pacific region, and according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, it is the third largest such center in the world, after London and New York. It is widely considered to be well regulated, by the Singapore Monetary Authority. Over 700 million USD flows into its capital markets each day. This can certainly happen in Zimbabwe as we have a very high literacy rate. We can put our literate youth to task to create and engineer the largest financial hub in Africa. All this is possible and a vital proof of concept stage would be to start with trading floors in all provinces.

Asked for comment, one of the key voices behind this initiative, Mr Kudakwashe Manzanga said “trading floors are the only way to really prove to Zimbabweans that money can be generated online. Each trading floor can also house other online business initiatives and partner with other people already thinking in that space. The fourth Industrial Revolution is here and if you ask our youth, they are more interested in doing something online than in working in a factory. Let’s embrace the future and lean towards it, not lean away from it. Zimbabwe is the most strategic place for this initiative, being central in the SADC region. Trading is a Sanctions Buster because it allows us to trade and generate Forex without the need for approval from anyone. We are looking to present these ideas to our leaders at a Trading Indaba mooted for February 2020 with the hope to see our ideas incorporated in the 2021 National Budget. We believe trading can easily become one of the largest Forex generators in the country within 3 to 5 years. What is needed is to formalise the industry and submit it to inspection and interrogation by regulators, our leaders and the public at large. We are willing and open to submit to that process so that we can collectively shape and grow this sector for everyone’s collective benefit.”

Due to the unceasing developments which are entailed to the cannabis industry today, it keeps on growing and setting a new viewpoint in the minds of many people. It can’t be denied that people are investing a lot to utilize these products for some purposes, including medical and recreational needs. That’s why; the demand for cannabis is unsurprisingly increasing, especially when discovery related to its benefits is revealed.

In the present time, the market for legal marijuana is becoming bigger and bigger. A report unleashed that this market is anticipated to grow up to USD 66.3 billion by the end of the year 2025. At this time, various studies are already taken into consideration to be able to legalize marijuana in almost all parts of the globe. The cannabis industry will have an uncompromised spot in the future, for sure.

Cannabis products are known to possess an extensive range of benefits that aid people in many different ways. Whether it’s for industrial, medical, or recreational purposes, marijuana products are a common denominator that can always go along with whatever the specific condition will require. Amazing? Yes, it really is. Check this out to learn more.  

What Makes The Cannabis Industry So Popular Today? 

It can’t be denied that today, there are already many discoveries that redefine the world for specific situations. Not to mention, this is most perceptible in the field of medicine. The brilliant people in the healthcare industry are working so perseveringly to provide people who are in need of the most with the best treatment possible. These come in the line the highly-robust medications, which are all useful in ceasing some specific conditions to progress. However, the chemicals encapsulated within these sturdy tablets and capsules are powerful enough to ignite a reversed result. Worst, such synthetic treatments often bring some side effects which are too difficult to bear. That’s why; many people are diverting to some organic alternatives, like medical marijuana, which can almost serve the same outcome without developing some unbearable side effects. Therefore, it’s no surprise that most people around the globe perceive medical marijuana as a healing agent where they can lean on. Just a quick overview, medical marijuana is known to be effective in dealing with some bodily abnormalities, which include, but not limited to, chronic pain, lung problems, diabetes, depression, seizures, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, and PTSD symptoms. According to numerous studies released through the years, marijuana medication is such a great help in taking the conditions mentioned above on their control. Keeping the symptoms on their hands is their primary edge of living a healthy life like anybody else out there. 

With all the things discussed earlier, it only proves that the cannabis industry is indeed popular today. That’s why; its increasing demand makes the need for additional employees who can work in the dispensary more coveted nowadays. But regardless of urgency, not everyone is still given a chance to have a spot in the said industry. It still takes a set of numerous considerations before finally taking a step forward in this chosen field of specialization. Someone who plans to go over here must possess a lot of things, including a strong sense of responsibility, knowledge, training, and expertise. Handling such kind of sensitive substance has never been a mere spoon-fed tasks.

The sudden burst of marijuana medical products in the global market encourages the related companies to look for potential applicants who can help them in the daily operation within the corners of the dispensary. Adding fuel to the fire, the wide cannabis legalizations are taking place across the globe, which makes the job opening more frequent to be seen. Based on a reliable source, there were about 1,512 job openings recorded in 2018, which was approximately 76 percent higher from the past years. This figure only emphasizes that the said industry is really moving forward in today’s generation. Therefore, it can be stated that since the marijuana industry is now taking the wheel, one who performs the procedures in the dispensary must always put his/her expertise above all. Inevitable mistakes, whether it’s intentional or not, must be committed so rarely. As much as possible, the processes must always go silky smooth in the hands of the employees. It’s essential to take note that the entire life of the patient who’s subjected to this variant of medication lies in the hands of the experts who recommend and perform the operations in the marijuana possibility. 

So before you find the perfect job in this field, make sure to yourself that you’re absolutely, and a hundred percent prepared for whatever it will take you. Be mindful of the possible tips which can really help you find the perfect one. 

Tips You Must Be Aware of

Since trying to find a perfect job in the field of medical marijuana is not a typical job you can ever imagine, there are some helpful tips you can keep in mind. Most of these tips involve self-rebuilding and personal preparation because the success of your upcoming tasks in this field highly relies on your hands.

Listed are the tips you should never overlook before taking a step forward in the field of medical marijuana:

• Self-awareness is the key. Be true to yourself. Reassure that this kind of work has a special room in your heart. 

• Go online and research more about the cannabis and marijuana industry. 

• Appraise the legal matter around your area with regard to the use of this substance.

• Try to go to some events related to cannabis products.

• Provide enough time to widen your knowledge and strengthening your training grounds. 

• Look for many other choices listed from the online job boards. 

• Don’t discard the presence of cannabis staffing agency. 

• Build your connections online. Find some groups of people who are already in this field and try to connect to them. 

• Move forward. With all the risk, make it happen. 

They are all scattered around, especially in various online platforms. The only thing you must do is to choose one and flourish yourself in there. The cannabis industry is not really a bad thing. It helps many people in various. So immersing yourself in there can make yourself grow and save people who are in need. 

BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA

Milka Gwatiringa sighs before narrating her ordeal of carrying a 12,3kg tumour for 11 years of her life and the stigma that she had to endure in her highly superstitious community.

Reflecting on how her dress size changed dramatically and how she appeared pregnant, Gwatiringa can only marvel at her “miracle”.

Last month, Parirenyatwa surgeons set a world record by successfully removing a kidney tumour that weighed 12,3kg from Gwatiringa’s bulging stomach.

She said the tumour was not only uncomfortable, but often drew scorn from her peers.

“I lived my life as best as I could by continuing to work until the day I got admitted into hospital. I was healthy and could do most household chores, though I looked heavily pregnant.

It was heart-breaking that my children always wondered why I was pregnant, but never gave birth,” she recalled.

Gwatiringa had to fight off stigma in her community with some people claiming that she had been cast a spell known as runyoka or rukawo.

Runyoka or rukawo has since attained a modern nickname, “the human central locking system” and is secretly administered to unsuspecting partners, by their jealous or over-protective spouses.

Gwatiringa said she had resolved to accept the condition but her community made it difficult for her and often excluded her from social gatherings.

“I came to accept the new me and some colleagues did the same, but the stigma was traumatic because people could not understand what was wrong with me. Socially, people had their own theories and it was unbearable to me,” she said.

There were also constraints in raising money for scans that provided better body details than X-rays, the operation itself and feeding the family.

“There was a 50% chance of survival and it was impressed upon me that there were high chances of bleeding to death, since the surgery is considered risky and complicated. My family and children went through a stressful period,” she added.

Now she says all is in the past and she is adjusting to a new life, albeit with help of scans and medications which are financially draining.

“I’m on the road to recovery and I’m slowly adjusting to this new me, my wardrobe has completely changed to two sizes downwards, so it’s another big slap financially.

Parirenyatwa consultant urologist, Shingirai Meki explained how kidney tumours develop and how best they can be treated.

“Kidney tumours develop because of loss of regulation of kidney cells, the cells become independent from body signals, hence grow without control” he said.

“The good news is that most kidney cancers are found before they spread (metastasise) to distant organs and cancers diagnosed early are easier to treat successfully. However, these tumours can grow to be quite large before they are detected,” Meki said

Kidney tumours can only be removed by surgical operations and infections can be treated with antibiotics.

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist; they lie in the lower abdomen on each side of the spine. Their main function is to clean blood, removing waste products through urine.

ZIMBABWE is on the verge of a major man-made famine characterised by partisan food distribution, repeated droughts and years of economic and financial decay that have left nearly eight million people, half of the population, food insecure, a United Nations official said
yesterday.

By Everson Mushava/Lorraine Muromo

United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver, yesterday said most households in the country were now unable to obtain enough food to meet their basic needs, with the situation set to deteriorate in the coming months.

Elver was presenting her preliminary assessment on the current situation in Zimbabwe after spending 11 days in the country.

The final report will be released in March next year.

At least 60% of the population was now “food-insecure” Elver said, noting that even though shops stocked food items, many people could not afford
them.
She said the situation demanded urgent attention from President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to “put an end to this spiralling crisis before it morphs into a full-blown conflict”.

“I cannot stress enough the urgency of the situation in Zimbabwe,” Elver said.

“Currently, 60% of Zimbabwe’s population of 14 million is considered food-insecure, living in a household that is unable to obtain enough food to meet basic needs. By the end of this year, in only a few weeks, the food security situation is expected to worsen, with an estimated eight million people requiring urgent action to reduce food consumptions gaps and save lives.”

She added: “Widespread poverty, limited employment opportunities, liquidity challenges, pervasive corruption, economic instability, mismanagement of funds, natural disasters, recurrent droughts, and economic sanctions and conditionalities by the US and the EU, all contribute to Zimbabwe’s current crisis.”

Elver said in rural areas, 5,5 million people were currently facing food insecurity, as poor rains and erratic weather patterns were impacting harvests and livelihoods, while in urban areas, an estimated 2,2 million people were food-insecure and lack access to minimum public services, including health and safe water.

“The currency crisis, a heavy tax system due to the imposition of austerity measures, unpredictable inflation rates, high levels of unemployment and low wages all contribute to the food crisis affecting urban households,” she said.

The UN special rapporteur also said the situation was made worse by allegations of partisan distribution of food by Mnangagwa’s administration.

“Throughout my visit, I received allegations about partisan distribution of food aid, favouring those who support the ruling (Zanu PF) party. Individuals or communities, perceived to belong to the opposition or deemed insufficiently loyal to the ruling party, are reportedly deprived of their right to food in the regions most affected by the food crisis,” part of Elver’s report read.

On women and children, the special rapporteur said they were bearing the brunt of the crisis.

She said the majority of children she had met were malnourished, giving rise to child deaths, with 90% of Zimbabwean children aged between six months and two years exposed to minimum acceptable diet.

“I saw the ravaging effects of malnutrition on infants deprived of breast feeding because of their own mothers’ lack of access to adequate food,” she noted.

The situation, Elver said, has forced many girls to drop out of school, into early marriages, prostitution, and sexual exploitation.

She said the effects of the economic meltdown were visible in both rural and urban areas including the capital Harare.

The report comes three days after Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) also said millions of people in Zimbabwe were on the brink of starvation as the country struggles with relentless droughts and the impact of cyclones, against a backdrop of years of economic decline.

“Within weeks, the country may run out of maize, the staple food,” said Verity Johnson of CAFOD.

“At best, there will be further massive hikes in food prices for an already desperate population, who have seen the price of maize meal increase five-fold since the beginning of the year.

“There are severe bread shortages across the country. Where it can be found, a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe now costs up to 15 times more than it did a year ago. In the struggle to feed their children, parents are going without themselves.”

ZIMBABWE football champions FC Platinum will today face a tough tie against Sudanese giants Al Hilal Omdurman in their opening Group B match of the 2019-20 Caf Champions League at the Al-Hilal Stadium.

BY HENRY MHARA

The game kicks off at 9pm.

The Zvishavane-based side, who have been dominant in the local league for the past two seasons, are desperate to make a mark in the continent’s premier club competition.

They have fared below expectations in their previous appearances in this competition, with their last appearance ending in the group stage where they struggled.

While they publicly stated that reaching the group stage in the last campaign was their target and thus an achievement, behind closed doors, the management was reportedly unhappy.

Interim coach Lizwe Sweswe obviously knows the demands of his job, and would want to try and impress his bosses and convince them to give him the job permanently to replace Norman Mapeza.
To impress his demanding bosses, Sweswe will need to guide his team beyond what looks on paper, a very tough group.

But he is unfazed, and is targeting to win his first group match, even though his team is playing away from home.

“The best way to defend when you talk about defensive approaches, is to attack. We did not come here to sit, we will play our normal attacking game because we need a positive result. We can only get a positive result when the team is attacking,” Lizwe said.

The draw for the group stages may have been unkind to FC Platinum, Sweswe and his ambitions.
Besides the Sudanese giants, the group also has other seasoned campaigners in Etoile du Sahel and former champions Al Ahly of Egypt.

But Sweswe is not looking far into the campaign, choosing to focus on the immediate task.
He says he has done some research on Al Hilal, a team that was home to former Dynamos striker Edward Sadomba.

“We have been trying our best in terms of researching to know how they play. What is important at this level is to know their system of play, their culture and all the other things which we think are going to help us.”

Al Hilal have not been impressive on the continent, reaching the group stages just once in the last three seasons.

They have failed to go beyond the first round in the last two campaigns. Last season, they crashed out in the first round, and dropped down to the Caf Confederations Cup, where they managed to reach the quarterfinals.

The last time they had a good run was in 2015 when they reached the Caf Champions League semi-finals, with Edward Sadomba playing a huge part in that campaign when he top scored in the competition.

FC Platinum left for Khartoum earlier this week, and encountered a few problems on the way including losing their luggage.

But that has since been sorted, and Sweswe said his squad was ready for the match.

The team has been struggling with injuries in the last few months, which have seen the team drafting players from their developmental side for league matches.

Their situation has, however, improved of late, and Lizwe said they travelled with a strong squad with almost all their key players including Soccer Star finalist Never Tigere available.

They will also look to the experience and expertise of forward Rodwell Chinyengetere, who has played a key part in their success in the last two seasons.

After Al Hilal, FC Platinum host Etoile du Sahel next week before travelling to Al Ahly in late December.

LOCAL directors of Power Sales, one of Zimbabwe’s largest clothing retail chains, are in talks to buy out South Africa’s Pepkor.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

Pepkor, which controls about 20 local Power Sales retail branches, announced this week that it had decided to exit Zimbabwe after the local operation posted a R70 million loss.

However, in a statement yesterday, Power Sales said the decision by Pepkor would not affect its operations in Zimbabwe.

“Power Sales would like assure our valued customers and business partners that Power Sales is not closing,” the company said.

“Please be assured that while it is a fact that Pepkor is exiting Zimbabwe, Power Sales is not closing. Final negotiations are in place with the relevant parties to conclude terms of sale between Power Sales’ resident directors and Pepkor,” it said.

Power Sales said since July 2019, it had changed its business model by supporting local manufactures.

“This has been a great success. We know our business and we look forward to many years of partnership together,” it said.

Power Sales is one of the oldest clothing retail chains in Zimbabwe, having opened its shop in the country 40 years ago.

IT can only happen in Africa; and it is, indeed, such a shame that the continent has become world famous and synonymous with leaders who are so crass that they will walk with a swagger while their noses point to the sky when their economies are a shambles.

NewsDay Comment

It is, indeed, only in Africa where failed leaders will kill to defend their blatant failures. And, indeed, it is very sad that amid all this mess there are cheerleaders busy ululating and applauding the disastrous mediocrity.

A case in point is the fact that the Zimbabwe dollar has plunged 85% since it was reintroduced as legal tender exactly a decade after it was shunted out of circulation by brutal hyperinflation which officially topped 500 billion percent by December 2008.

As if eternally cursed, the reintroduced local currency is again being mauled daily and increasingly proving useless against other major currencies.

If this were somewhere else where leaders care much about their personal reputations some would have resigned in the wake of such a disaster. Honestly, how can someone who, some 10 months ago, was so confident about the currency weathering the storm still be in office? Midway through the year those who birthed the Zimdollar suddenly decided to stop telling us the rate of annual inflation, ostensibly to help build confidence in the trouble currency. But everything point to the fact that the attempt was a dismal failure. Period!

A more than 500% loss in value of any currency is simply catastrophic and so shocking that it should send someone’s blood pressure to hyper levels. But this is Zimbabwe, which happens to be in Africa, where the strangest of things have become so commonplace that an economic disaster is now being accepted as the norm. If this is yet another new norm for the southern African nation, then little wonder millions have been fleeing into self-imposed exile.

Under such circumstances it is very difficult for anyone in their senses to continue having hope when all the fundamentals that should be raising confidence are absent.

If the people, who reintroduced the Zimdollar back in February assertively telling us that the currency would hold its own, are still insisting that the currency will rise from the intensive care unit, then God, Allah and all the gods help us. We hope and pray that we will be proved wrong in our lifetime.

Cash-strapped budget airline fastjet plc says it is in talks to sell its Zimbabwean unit to a consortium led by its major shareholder Solenta Aviation for $8 million, a deal that it says is necessary to keep its planes in the air.

fastjet said if the restructuring plans do not pan out by the end of February, it would not be able to continue trading as a going concern.

On October 21, fastjet announced it had closed its Mozambique unit amid “ongoing supply and demand challenges”.

The company in November also halted its operations in Tanzania.

fastjet Zimbabwe increased its year-on-year revenue in US dollar terms despite the devaluation of the new currency, which the company says has brought volatility and uncertainty in the Zimbabwean market.

“fastjet Zimbabwe has increased its year-on-year revenue despite the difficult trading conditions following the introduction of a new currency which effectively devalued the existing currency by up to 15 times its previous value at official rates and has pushed inflation rates to above 200%,” fastjet said in a notice on Wednesday.

To continue to operate in its current state, the airline says it needs new funding by the end of February 2020.

It has started talks with 60% shareholder Solenta, based in South Africa, to explore options including raising equity capital and restructuring the company including the disposal of fastjet Zimbabwe.

Debt relief

The disposal would relieve the airline of US$5,4 million in current liabilities and will provide US$3,2 million for future capital expenditure.

The capital received from the disposal would be used to settle remaining debts and be contributed towards future working capital within the group providing sufficient funding into 2021.
The restructured group will turn into a franchise company whose business will be holding the brand and providing airline management solutions.

“This revised strategy allows the group the opportunity to create a single fastjet brand throughout key markets in Africa, leverage its key intellectual property and airline management solutions and invest in viable, already-established airlines where it can,” fastjet CEO Mark Hurst said.

Under the proposed disposal, fastjet will be granted an option to buy back its shareholding in fastjet Zimbabwe on the same terms as it was sold, three to five years after the effective date of the sale.

With its units in Mozambique and Tanzania shut down, fastjet expects a loss-after-tax of US$7 million to US$8 million for the full year 2019.

The company made a loss of US$65 million in 2018.

As at June, Zimbabwe owed US$196 million to international airlines in unremitted ticket sales, prompting the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to warm President Emmerson Mnangagwa that the debt could force operators to reduce flights into the country.

Zimbabwe has since allowed airlines to ticket in forex to stop the debt from growing and to speed up repayments.

In total, according to IATA, African countries owed US$413 million to airlines.

Apart from Zimbabwe, other African countries withholding significant airline funds were Ethiopia, Sudan, Algeria, Angola and Eritrea.

REGISTRAR-GENERAL Clemence Masango is claiming $3,5 million in defamation damages from a Harare man who allegedly called him a corrupt government official.

BY CHARLES LAITON

Masango recently issued summons against Godwin Gumisai Mureriwa accusing him of having defamed him on September 19 this year in front of staff at Harare Central Registry.

In his declaration, quoting Mureriwa, Masango said: “Plaintiff (Masango) is corrupt and habitually abuses his office by allocating emergency passports to his relatives while prejudicing deserving applicants of a timely service and such conduct is deliberately calculated by plaintiff to sabotage the government’s economic turnaround effort and that applicant has and continues to have illegal and unfettered access to the confidential records lodged in the national registry”.

Masango said Mureriwa’s statements were wrong, defamatory, false and were intended to be understood by those present, when they were uttered, to mean that he (Masango) was corrupt, unpatriotic, incompetent, a saboteur and not a law abiding citizen who lacks moral fibre.

“The said statements were motivated by malice and were intended to defame plaintiff and injure his reputation, lowering him in the estimation of his subordinates, his employer, his family, ordinary reasonable persons, exposing him to public ridicule and contempt in his professional and personal capacity,” Masango said.

“Plaintiff was subjected to great defamation and embarrassment by the said utterances and was damaged in his reputation inter alia, as the Registrar General, a civil servant and citizen of Zimbabwe. As a result of defendant’s defamation, plaintiff has been damaged in his reputation and has suffered damages in the sum of $3,5 million.”

Mureriwa is yet to file his response to the claim.

A new writing award — The Lozikeyi Writing Prize — that focuses on developing the skills of high school girls in Zimbabwe has been launched with the winners ceremony set for January 15 next year in the capital.

BY SHARON SIBINDI

The award is being sponsored by Voices for Women Worldwide in partnership with South African/Australian philanthropist and women’s issues advocate Sharon Mather and administered by acclaimed author, poet, playwright and filmmaker Philani Nyoni.

Nyoni recently told NewsDay Life & Style that the Lozikeyi Writing Prize is the first national writing contest with focus on high school students, especially the girl child.

“Statistics prove that when women are afforded the opportunity to write they often outdo their male counterparts. Consider the literary history of Bulawayo alone can hold a candle to Yvonne Vera, No Violet Bulawayo and most recently Novuyo Rosa Tshuma. From that perspective we can be easily accused of attacking what is weak, yet all things must start somewhere,” he said.

Nyoni said entrants must be high school students or of school-going age, defined by the rules as being between 13 and 18 years.

“Each piece of writing must be the original work of the submitter, who must be of Zimbabwean nationality or studying in Zimbabwe, either a registered secondary or high school students between the ages of 13 and 18,” he said.

“We have streamlined the entire process to the website to have a one-stop shop for submissions and everything to do with the prize. We do acknowledge that our formula negates remote areas without computers or Internet access, but that is a cross we must bear and somehow extricate ourselves from as the vision and mission progresses.”

Nyoni said they have received tremendous support from the writing community and advice from people like Lizzy Atree, the former director of the Caine Prize for African writing who has helped set-up literary contests across the continent.

“We had strong reasons and advice to start small, preferably regional to test out our formula and make full use of our limited resources, but as the vision grew bigger we realised we had little time to tiptoe,” he said.