NewsDay

Asa Resources has concluded the sale of its controlling interest in Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC), the country’s largest nickel producer said in a statement yesterday.
BNC said the buyer of Asa’s controlling 74,13% stake is “a Zimbabwean based mining entity with interests in the mining and production of ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals and precious metals”.

While BNC does not disclose the buyer, reports have suggested that one of the leading bidders was Sotic International, a company linked to businessman Kuda Tagwireyi, who already holds interests in Africa Chrome Fields and has been involved in bids for ferrochrome producer Zimbabwe Alloys.

“Shareholders are referred to the Cautionary statement published on 1 October 2019 advising that the ultimate holding company of BNC, Asa Resource Group plc (currently under administration), has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with a third party in relation to the 74,73% shareholding in BNC,” BNC said in a cautionary.

Landela Mining Venture, another subsidiary of Sotic International, has recently emerged as the local joint venture partner in Great Dyke Investment, the Russia-Zimbabwe platinum project being developed near Darwendale.

BNC: good time to buy?

The new owner of BNC is making the buy at a good time for nickel prices, but also a time the company needs a large injection of capital to ramp up production.

Nickel prices rose to US$18 850 per tonne in September after Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of the metal, announced it would ban ore exports. Indonesia’s nickel miners agreed on Monday to stop nickel ore exports immediately.

BNC’s buyer will need to invest additional capex into the business, if it is to increase output.The company suspended a project to revive its smelter, which is 83% complete, because nickel prices were too low to justify the investment. Since the project began in 2015, nickel prices have averaged US$12 000 per tonne, according to the company’s last earnings report. For the smelter to make sense, BNC has said it needs a nickel price of US$16 200 per tonne.

While prices are expected to ease – some believe the metal is now overpriced – nickel is already above BNC’s forecasts of US$12 000 per tonne this year, US$13 000 per tonne up to March 2020, and US$16 625 per tonne by March 2021.

According to BNC chairman Much Masunda, the company needs at least US$500 million of capex to raise production. But, he said, Zimbabwe’s poor credit score and isolation means the company cannot access that money from global markets.

In 2017, Asa had planned to incorporate the Trojan mine into the Bindura complex, but missed its deadlines due to weak nickel prices and rising costs.
The battle for Bindura

The latest BNC sale adds to dramatic ownership changes at the mine.BNC was founded in 1966. In 2004, Mwana Africa, owned by businessman Kalaa Mpinga, acquired 53% of the asset from Anglo American Corporation for US$8 million. Mpinga, however, lost control of the company in 2015, after a hostile takeover by China International Mining Group Corporation, an Asa associate, which had invested US$21 million in 2012 to rescue Trojan Mine.

Asa gained control of 74,3% in BNC and 85% in Freda Rebecca gold mine. But claims of fraud and externalisation soon crippled Asa. In 2017, warrants of arrest were issued on chief executive Yat Hoi Ning and financial director Yim Kwan over allegations that they had illegally shipped out ore and stolen US$4,3 million from the company.

Asa was soon after placed under the administration of Duff and Phelps in London, who immediately began talks with various suitors to sell-off the company. Asa then faced a hostile takeover from Rich Pro, a Chinese firm allegedly tied to the sacked executives.

In June 2018, a year after it was suspended from the AIM board over the fraud, Asa cancelled its London listing after delays in fixing a deep cash flow crisis.

In 2018, London and Johannesburg-listed Pan African Resources announced that it was in “exclusive negotiations with the joint administrators of Asa Resource Group” for the acquisition of “certain of the assets and liabilities of the (Asa) group”. The talks were cancelled early
2019. — newZWire

Paidamoyo Muzulu

FIDEL Castro’s Cuba and Ian Douglas Smith’s Rhodesia remain etched in the United States psyche as two countries that survived to tell the tale after sanctions were imposed on them.

Sanctions are the US’s first priority to deal with those it disagrees with, but they have not been successful when applied to countries that had good and ideologically grounded leaders.

The newly-established communist republic of Cuba, just 90km off the coast of Miami, was the first to deal with American wrath, but has lived to tell the tale 59 years later.

The Rhodesians too survived the United Nations economic onslaught for a good 15 years and left a decent economy at independence in 1980. It is interesting to look into how both Castro and Smith sustained their countries despite the hanging sword of Damocles.

The two, Castro and Smith, had nothing in common, except by a slight hand off chance that the Rhodesian premier’s private residence was next door to the Cuban embassy in Harare.
Castro was clear in his mind and actions that he was communist. His policies were thus geared towards redistribution of State resources to develop his country. On that path, Castro stuck and strove until he relinquished power due to health problems.

In his over four decades in power, Castro built some of the most admired health and education systems in the world.Yes, at given opportunities he would rant against the imperialist US, but he always rolled his sleeves and worked for his country and his people.

The former Cuban leader knew that he had to take sides and he went to bed with the Russians until the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1989. Castro may have badly negotiated some of the deals with Russia, but he was clever enough to know when to renegotiate for the best of his people.

In his speech in Venezuela in 1999, at the 40th anniversary celebration of Cuban revolution titled A Revolution Can Only be Born From a Culture of Ideas, Castro said: “Sadder still: I have seen how they have put many of our countries to compete with one another by favouring who offer more advantages and tax exemptions to investment. They have put many third world countries to compete with one another for investments and free trade zones.”

Castro did not lose his stride in attacking neo-liberalism adding: “There are countries – I know them by name – enduring such poverty and unemployment that they have had to establish dozens of free trade zones as an option within the established world order. It is this or not having free trade zone factories and jobs with certain salaries, even if these mount to only 7%, 6%, 5% or less of the salaries the owners of those factories would have to pay in the countries they come from.”

The former Cuban leader had foreseen the danger of free-trade zones and to whose benefit they were being put up in the first place.“We stated this at the World Trade Organisation, in Geneva, several months ago. They want to turn us into a huge free-trade zone, yes, that precisely, then with their money and technologies they will start buying everything. It remains to be seen how many airlines will remain national property, how many shipping lines, how many services will remain the property of the people or nations,” Castro said.

Thousands of kilometres away in Rhodesia, Smith was having his own revolution. He had just made the Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain and was set to create and sustain his racist Rhodesian State.

In fighting US and United Nations sanctions, Smith turned to what he could control, Zimbabwe’s natural resources and the creation of State-owned enterprises to manufacture the things that Rhodesia could no longer import. Under sanctions, the Rhodesian economy grew by double digits for 10 consecutive years. He established Harare’s Msasa, Graniteside, Workington and Southerton industrial areas to be his bulwark in import substitution.

On the educational front, Smith established polytechnics across the major urban areas to offer skills that were needed in the industry. He further established the Agriculture Finance Corporation (now Agribank) to fund commercial agriculture.

While he may have allowed the development of a national bourgeoisie, Smith was clear that State-owned enterprises would give guarantee and comfort to his ambitions and not be held to ransom by rapacious capitalists. By 1978, the 85 parastatals were contributing 40% of Rhodesia’s gross domestic product.

It may be far-fetched, but both Castro and Smith may have read Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth, particularly where he writes on the creation of a national bourgeoisie that would not be swayed to close shop if things went awry.

These are the hard lessons President Emmerson Mnanagagwa may have missed in his policy of opening Zimbabwe to capitalist vultures, who have no attachment to the country except to make quick profit and leave the country.

The situation has been further compounded by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, who, as part of the solution to Zimbabwe’s economic problems, wants to sell parastatals, create free-trade zones and obtain loans to pay off international arrears.

I wonder why he has not learnt from Smith, who simply defaulted under sanctions and used the meagre resources to build the Rhodesian economy?
Without reading from history, Mnangagwa and his regime will fail dismally if they see Zimbabwe’s recovery through neo-liberal solutions such as privatisation and leaving the State with no role in the economy.

NewsDaY

London — When Joel Stransky dropped the winning goal in the World Cup final in Johannesburg in 1995, Tendai Mtawarira did not have a clue the game was going on. He was 1 127km away in Harare and more interested in football.

“I was just a primary school kid in Zimbabwe back then,” recalled the veteran Springbok loosehead, who will pack down opposite Kyle Sinckler in Saturday’s World Cup final. “I didn’t watch rugby. I was playing soccer.

“In 2007, though (when South Africa beat England in the final in Paris), I did watch and it was amazing, inspirational stuff.

“To be part of a World Cup final is a dream come true for me. I have worked hard throughout my whole career to get here and I want to make it count.”

Mtawarira – or “Beast” as he is universally known – will be one of South Africa’s key players on Saturday. Aged 34, he may no longer be the physical specimen he once was. The rampaging runs have slowed a bit. The shouts of “Beeeaaast” as he drives over the gain line with two or three defenders hanging off him marginally less frequent.

But there is a reason Rassie Erasmus, the head coach, keeps on picking him. Mtawarira weighs well over 114kg, he is hugely powerful and technically gifted, more than capable of giving Sinckler nightmares if the England tighthead is not on his game.

Just ask Phil Vickery. Mtawarira had only converted from the back row to prop a couple of years before the British and Irish Lions toured South Africa in 2009, having been spotted playing for Zimbabwe Under-19s by the Natal Sharks.

Beast won the first Test at Kings Park almost single-handedly, becoming something of a cult figure in the process. A decade on he has made 116 appearances for his country.

Erasmus’s plan will be to use his heavy front row of Mtawarira, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe to sap England’s energy before sending on his finishers.

Mtawarira says he will give his opposite man the respect he deserves on Saturday, Sinckler having emerged as one of the world rugby’s best tightheads in the past two years.
But he will not be in the least bit fazed by facing a front row of Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Sinckler.

“They’re playing great rugby,” he said. “Mako and Kyle have really been performing well. They’ve definitely formed a great combination. It will be exciting to go up against them.”

Mtawarira said the extra day off England enjoyed following their win over New Zealand on Saturday, before South Africa defeated Wales on Sunday, would “not make a massive difference”. But he did reckon that the comprehensive manner of England’s victory over the world champions made them marginal favourites.

“I’d probably say so,” he said. “They’re playing really well. Their performance was brilliant. Maybe we’re the underdogs. We are going to have to be at our best. They outplayed a really good team (in New Zealand).

“We’re going to have to be very physical. I think it’s going to be a game for the big moments. It’s all about who takes charge of those big moments.”

Mtawarira will certainly not be taking a backward step. Born and raised in Harare, his was a circuitous route to the top – via a full scholarship to renowned rugby nursery Peterhouse Boys’ School, before, in quick succession, Zimbabwe Under-19s, the Natal Sharks and then the Springboks. — The Telegraph

NewsDay

HARDLY halfway through its first five-year term, the so-called new dispensation has fared dismally on the ease of doing business front with two major projects that could have really shored up its profile having fallen through.

First to bite the dust was the US$400 million Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG)/Transnet deal that had been flaunted as the best thing that had visited the rundown National Railways of Zimbabwe this century. Government cooked up some very funny excuses to cancel the deal and has retendered it in a move that has seriously dented its image.

Now we hear the same government has aborted the dualisation of the 971-kilometre Chirundu-Harare-Beitbridge highway and has opted to instead widen it, starting with the 580-km Harare-Beitbridge Highway stretch. Transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza tells us that government has “decided to start by upgrading the road as a first phase, and … then go to the second phase which is dualisation. We expect work to upgrade and widen to be complete by 2023. We are using local contractors and we expect to create employment during construction.

We are using local engineers who are just as competent. The road will be 12,5 metres wide and we have five different companies working on segments of the road. We resorted to local companies to save foreign currency.”

While Matiza tries hard to sound meek in the hope of making us believe that he and his colleagues have made a very logical and prudent decision, the decision is again a serious indictment on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime. Matiza is taking everyone, including the business community, for fools. Was this project being sponsored by government or whoever was given the tender was responsible for raising the funds to dualise the road? Were we not made to understand that the highway would be dualised on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) or build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) arrangement?

BOT or BOOT project financing means that a private entity receives a concession from the private or public sector to finance, design, construct, own and operate a facility stated in the concession contract; in this case it was the Chirundu-Harare-Beitbridge Road.

According to the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) – albeit the website post being a little outdated, the 971-km project toll involved “the dualisation, upgrading and tolling of the highway.

The road will be divided into three sections namely; Beitbridge-Harare: 570km (8 toll plazas), Harare-Chirundu: 342km (6 toll plazas) and Harare ring road: 59km (3 toll plazas)”. So what foreign currency is Matiza saving when the entire project was supposed to have been sponsored by the company that won the tender? Should we remind Matiza that the same government cancelled, in May last year, a tender to Geiger International to dualise the same highway after it failed to raise the funds to do the job? Should we also remind the minister that the company that was later given the tender to dualise the highway, Chinese firm Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group Limited, told us only last month that it was still mobilising funds for the road? So who, in God’s name, is Matiza trying to fool?

If government was serious about all these projects, the highway would have to be completed by 2022. But now because of their tomfoolery the project and half of it for that matter, will be done in time for the 2023 general elections. Some of these things are simply not adding up. It appears the highway will now be used as campaign material for the 2023 general elections. Can government be serious.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

A LOCAL economist Prosper Chitambara has described Finance minister Mthuli Ncube as a scholar, who is not fit to be Finance minister, because he has an academic and theoretical approach to financial and economic matters.

Chitambara made the remarks in Mutare on Monday while addressing the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe-organised media workshop.

“I think our Finance minister Mthuli Ncube is a scholar. I believe when he came in as the Finance minister he believed that he knew everything and that was wrong. He has not done well as the Finance minister of this country,” Chitambara said.

“At the same time, it is also difficult to judge him because he might be running someone’s vision. If President Emmerson Mngangagwa said no to a policy, what would he say?” he pondered.
When Ncube was appointed to head the Finance ministry in 2018, he promised to turn around the country’s economic fortunes, but has not succeeded.

Chitambara also said the country needs at least US$12 billion for infrastructure development.“The government needs to scale up infrastructure development in the country, mainly targeting rural areas and we will be focusing on agriculture, building roads, irrigation and energy, which is key to any development in the country,” he said.

“We need about US$12 billion to develop our infrastructure into the modern era, but we have a lot of political divisions, we have not yet reached political maturity; leadership should not be feared,” he said

“Development should not divide us, but should unite us. Our resources have not benefited us Zimbabweans.”

Zimbabwe is losing billions of dollars to corruption and has been ranked 160 out of 180 countries in the 2018 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index.

BY TERRY MADYAUTA

FC PLATINUM interim coach Lizwe Sweswe is bracing for a tough Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match against Ngezi Platinum Stars, in which they are eyeing nothing short of a win as they pursue their third league title.

The Zvishavane-based miners sit third on the log table with 46 points, though having the same number of points with second-placed Chicken Inn.Caps United occupy top position, enjoying a four-point cushion with 50 points.

As they play catch up, FC Platinum know that they cannot afford to drop points at this stage with just six rounds of matches left.Their title rivals Caps and Chicken Inn will battle it out with Herentals and Harare City, respectively.

Caps and Chicken Inn’s opponents are also hard-pressed to collect maximum points as they look to avoid dropping to the second-tier league.For Sweswe, today’s match is another test for his pedigree.

The former Tsholotsho mentor told NewsDay Sport yesterday that he is anticipating a tough match against Ngezi Platinum, although he remained positive that his charges will prevail.

“This is a must-win match for us. It is not good to keep dropping points at this stage. If we still want to retain the championship, this match is very important for us, though we have to admit that it will be a tough task,” he said.

NewsDay

Hyperinflation is making an unwanted return to Zimbabwe. We don’t know how bad it is because the government has suspended publishing official figures until 2020. But an IMF mission to the country in August put the rate at close to 300% annually. More recent market estimates based on local currency depreciation imply rates as high as 400%.

This, sadly, is not new to Zimbabwe. Between 2007 and 2009, the country experienced one of the world’s worst cases of currency collapse, with inflation rates as high as 90 sextillion percent year-on-year in November 2008.

But there is an important distinction between now and then. This time hyperinflation is hitting an almost fully digitised monetary economy due to the proliferation of mobile payments in the country. EcoCash, Zimbabwe’s equivalent of Kenya’s better-known M-Pesa system, counts as much as 90% of the adult population as customers. It is an open question whether that scale of digitisation will act as a brake or an accelerant on inflationary forces. But so far it is not looking very beneficial.

Last time, the hyperinflation crisis was eventually tempered by an official transition to a multicurrency framework. This amounted to an informal dollarisation of the economy.
By 2016, however, a serious lack of foreign currency in circulation began to threaten the system’s stability. EcoCash, by facilitating demonetisation, may have heightened those pressures.

As it was growing in popularity and serving the unbanked, EcoCash’s nationwide network of agents sucked dollars out of the hands of the population, turning them into digital balances. This amounted to the transfer of foreign cash stock from citizens to the banking system, with the money ending up in the control of the central bank. That is all fine if you trust the core banking system. Not so much if you do not.

The government has also encouraged the demonetisation by paying salaries in EcoCash. As the dearth of dollars intensified over the course of 2016, officials began to experiment with local alternatives to ease pecuniary pressures. The first step was electronic Zim dollars, known as zollars, backed by theoretical US dollar credits on a one-to-one basis. The so-called bond note and bond coin followed. But nobody really trusted the credits were actually there, putting pressure on the dollar peg.

By 2019, the illusion of a peg was long gone. So the government took more drastic action, creating a quasi currency called the RTGS dollar and declaring it official local tender. It also banned the use of foreign currencies except for special-use accounts. All government salaries and official contracts were redenominated immediately.

The exchange rate at that point was set at 8:1 to the US dollar. But the demand for paper US dollars never went away, encouraging a free-market exchange rate that has since reached as much as 21:1 to the US dollar.

And here EcoCash played another destabilising role. As demand for US dollars rose, citizens figured out they could offer EcoCash agents premiums and additional commissions in exchange for hard cash. Outages and glitches became more common.

In September, the government moved to prevent “illegal activities abusing the cash-in, cash-out and cash-back facilities” and the “buying and selling of cash through mobile money agents at high rates above approved charges”. It officially suspended all of EcoCash’s cash-in and cash-out activities. But the move was hugely unpopular, leading the government to reinstate a limited cash-out option with a $100 per transaction cap earlier this month.

Since then, EcoCash’s social media accounts have been inundated with reports of failed transactions and delays. That implies something critical. Mobile money may be a highfalutin fintech innovation, but it’s just as prone to Gresham’s law — bad money drives out good — as the old-fashioned sort.
– ft.com

BY CHARLES LAITON

HIGH Court judge Justice Edith Mushore has ruled in favour of the once exiled businessman James Makamba in a long-drawn Telecel Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd share ownership battle with a war veterans organisation, Magamba eChimurenga Housing Trust.

In the initial application, Magamba eChimurenga Housing Trust, was claiming 24% shareholding in Empowerment Corporation (Private) Limited, the indigenous group that owns shares in Telecel Zimbabwe.

However, in an order granted on October 18, Justice Mushore dismissed the trust’s application with costs.“Whereupon, after reading documents filed of record and hearing counsel, it is ordered that; the application be and is hereby dismissed with costs on an attorney client scale,” she ruled.

Makamba and his firm, Kestrel Corporation (Private) Limited, Empowerment Corporation (Private) Limited, Jane Mutasa, Indigenous Business Women’s Organisation, Selpon Investments (Private) Limited, Carlton Consultancy (Private) Limited, Harare lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa, Telecel and former Information Communication Technology and Cyber Security minister Supa Mandiwanzira were cited as respondents in the matter.

In its founding affidavit, the trust said the government fostered a thrust to empower its citizens through an indigenisation economic policy and the move allowed indigenous groups and entities to take part in the creation of a third cellular network, which resulted in the formation of Telecel.

“Thus, several indigenous groups and individuals, responded to the government clarion call and empowerment drive for the upliftment of the indigenous businesses in the telecommunications industry,” the trust said in its court papers. It added that the companies that formed part of the business included Kestrel Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association led by the late Chenjerai Hunzvi, Indigenous Business Women’s Organisation, Leo Mugabe’s Integrated Engineering Group and Philip Chiyangwa’s Affirmative Action Group, among other entities.

The Andrew Ndlovu-led Magamba eChimurenga had further submitted that the indigenous groups responded to the government quest for indigenisation of the economy in 1997 and that these acted as promoters for the birth of the Empowerment Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, an assertion dismissed by the court.

NewsDay

JOHANNESBURG — Faith “Queen Twerk” Nketsi’s new reality television show, Have Faith, is collecting the star more fans than she has ever had before.

The star’s new reality show made its debut on Monday night and gave fans an inside look into her life and what she is all about.

Although she is surrounded by numerous controversies, Faith aimed to show fans just how easy she is on the eye, especially with that figure to die for!

Just two weeks ago, the Instagram influencer and businesswoman teased fans with the trailer for the series and caused all sorts of confusion on the socials. But fans started to see Faith in a different light after Monday night’s episode.The haters were soon congratulating the 24-year-old hottie on her achievements.

Feeling quite chuffed, Faith shared on Instagram that she was proud to be the first woman to have a reality show on MTV Africa, which airs in 43 countries.

“As the first female to have a reality show on MTV Africa airing in 43 countries. I’m done, I can’t, it’s 25 minutes to go till it airs on MTV Africa,” she said in an emotional post.
Over on Twitter, the TLs were packed with reaction to the first episode of the
show.
— TimesLIVE

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

GOVERNMENT has been urged to renegotiate the social contract with its citizens after it failed to reinvest collected taxes into human development initiatives.

Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) revealed that failure by government to rebuild social contract would result in tax non-compliance.

“The issue of the social contract that exist between government as duty bearers and citizens as rights holders is of utmost importance when talking about tax justice issues. When citizens pay tax, they literally expect the government to reinvest that revenue in financing human development initiatives,” the organisation said.

“When the social contract disintegrates, citizens lose trust in the duty bearers and lack of trust and confidence undermines tax compliance much needed in effective taxation. Despite the huge sums of money collected through taxes, the abrogation of citizens’ social and economic rights in Zimbabwe is regrettable and there is need for the government of Zimbabwe to renegotiate the social contract,” Zimcodd said.

The lobby group said there was a strong correlation between sound and transparent public finance management and the enjoyment of basic social services by citizens.
“For example, if government uses the 2% tax revenue to invest in healthcare, housing, water and sanitation as well as improving infrastructure, citizens will be more than willing to religiously pay their taxes,” it said.

“Education which is a basic right guaranteed in section 75 of the Constitution, from a tax justice perspective should be free from early childhood development (ECD) to tertiary level, because taxes should be reinvested in funding these critical social service sectors.”

Zimcodd said revenue collected from taxes must be channelled towards national development.Pension funds, for example, that the State collects through worker contributions throughout a certain working period must be invested in strategic sectors of the economy so that when workers reach retirement age, they won’t struggle to lead normal and sustainable lives.

“However, in Zimbabwe normal and sustainable lives for pensioners have remained a pipe dream, as their lifetime contributions were eroded due to the obtaining fiscal regime. This is a glaring tax injustice on the side of an ordinary citizen,” it said.

As the economic crises continue to deepen, Zimcodd said it was critical for young people to be capacitated in order for them to hold the government accountable in the use of public resources and revenue collected through tax.

“This is important because the misuse and abuse of these public funds is largely felt by the youth who constitute over 60% of the population,” the organisation said.
“Nevertheless, given the technical nature of taxation there is need to capacitate youths for them to engage meaningfully in knowledge-based advocacy and activism towards a progressive, fair and just taxation system,” Zimcodd said.