BY FREEMAN MAKOPA
AFROPOP artiste Tamy Moyo yesterday said she had a highly successful run last year, courtesy of her hard work and a strong team whose support helped buoy her fortunes in the cutthroat local music industry.

The youthful and sultry songbird told NewsDay Life & Style that there were many ways for artistes to realise profits and attain success in the industry.

“The local industry is profitable in so many ways. It really depends on how strong your team is and how well you work, too. It does come with its own challenges,” she said.

“The best strategy forward in our environment is to continue to network with the right people and grow your connections in order to push boundaries.”

Although Tamy said she found it tough to conquer new territory last year, she was happy to have secured opportunities to perform alongside some of Africa’s finest music acts.

She opened for Burna Boy in Lusaka, Zambia in March and featured at the BET JoziTese Fest in South Africa.
She was also part of Jazz on The Lake with Sjava in the same country before headlining the Victoria Falls Carnival.

“The challenges were all sorts but the hardest was conquering new territory in all the international events I attended. The journey to do so still continues,” she said.

Tamy said her goal was to make more music and work towards regional recognition and hinted on releasing an
album.

She said she was shifting her focus to international collaborations, and expressed hope that the projects she was working on would hit the streets soon.

Talk has been going on for almost 15 years as to whether targeted sanctions imposed on the Zanu PF officials must be lifted or not. The sanctions must stay as a reminder to President Emmerson Mnagagwa that the international community is still concerned about reforms in Zimbabwe.

By Innocent Tapo, Our Reader

In the aftermath of the 2008 general elections, if there were no European Union and United States-imposed sanctions, the then Zanu PF government could have resisted the formation of a government of national unity (GNU).

But with the election results of the June 2008 presidential run-off dismissed by both the Africa Union and Sadc as not free and fair, Zanu PF agreed to form an uneasy GNU. So sanctions really worked and can still work.

The present situation where few people are not allowed to go to the United States or Europe to shop, wine and dine is meant to make these people use their influence to implement the much-needed reforms at home.

If they want these sanctions removed, let them open up democratic space in the country. There is need for real reforms, not petty ones.

We have a new Constitution, but our laws and statutes have not been realigned to it, making it ineffective.
Opposition parties are still complaining that the playing field is tilted in Zanu PF’s favour.

State security agents are allegedly dabbling in politics in favour of Zanu PF, negating or compromising their constitutional duties.

The argument that sanctions have hurt our economy sounds comic because even before the Western sanctions were imposed, our economy was going downhill.

As long as human rights abuses persist and reforms remain far-fetched, sanctions must remain in place.

BY Brenna Matendere

Kwekwe’S central business district (CBD) has been hit by rolling 18-hour power cuts during working days, a development that is threatening the viability of businesses.
This comes as Zesa has extended load-shedding from the residential suburbs into the CBD.

City centres in most parts of the country were previously spared from lengthy power cuts in order to promote the ease of doing business.

A snap survey by Southern Eye revealed that several companies and small businesses in the Midlands city were now recording losses due to the power cuts.

Other companies were now relying on diesel-powered generators, which are proving expensive to run due to high fuel costs.

Kwekwe-based Anti-Corruption Trust for Southern Africa (ACT-SA) director Obert Chinhamo said his organisation, together with other small to medium business enterprises, have since started engaging Zesa over the power cuts.

“We have written to Zesa complaining about the incessant power cuts. We are continuing to talk to them to (highlight that) if the city centre (is) in darkness and without electricity (for such extended periods), the town is going under. We heard that Zesa is prioritising a certain electricity line where the people connected along it are said to be paying in forex, but we can’t confirm that,” he said.

Recently, dairy products company, Dendairy, reported that it recorded losses for the year 2019 due to the increased costs of fuel due to the rolling power cuts.

The company’s director, Daryl Archibald said: “The country’s power utility has been rolling power outages which last up to 18 hours. This has increased production costs for companies as they are forced to use generators or risk long hours of downtime.”

Kwekwe district manager for Zesa, Raphael Rupere, was unavailable comment.

BY FIDELITY MHLANGA

RESPECTED United States-based stockbroking firm, Morgan & Co Research, has urged Zimbabwean authorities to join the Rand Monetary Union (RMU) to resolve the prevailing currency volatility and stabilise the southern African country’s economy.

Since government made a surprise announcement of the return of the Zimbabwe dollar as the sole legal tender last year albeit with inadequate foreign currency and mineral backing, the unit has been on a freefall.

With traders increasingly shunning the Zimbabwe dollar, especially the coins, Morgan & Co said this was enough indication that the local currency has failed to ignite confidence in the market.

“Our advice to the government of Zimbabwe in 2020 is to undo Statutory Instrument 142. This policy has not helped businesses in any way as it does not solve the fundamental problem which is the lack of forex. The timing of a return of an unbacked Zimbabwe dollar was premature given the lack of confidence in the monetary system.

“In our view, a more practical way to boost confidence in the Zimbabwe dollar, while the new administration works on economic reforms would be joining the Rand Monetary Union. Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho all use the South African rand alongside their own currencies. The model has worked and has restored confidence in currencies such as the Namibian dollar,” Morgan & Co Research said.

The stockbroking firm noted that the reintroduction of the Zimbabwean dollar last year, after it was scrapped in 2009 at the height of hyperinflation, was ill timed and disastrous.

“There is clear evidence on the ground that the ZWL has failed as traders and merchants continue to charge in United States dollars despite the effects of Statutory Instrument 142.

This trend is not only evident in urban areas, but has become a norm in rural parts of Zimbabwe,” Morgan & Co said in its market intelligence report.

Analysts see the benefits of adopting a dual currency, especially taking into cognisance the fact that South Africa is also Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner with more than 60% of imports coming from the neighbouring country.

Economist Kipson Gundani pointed out that Zimbabwe could use the rand without necessarily joining the Rand Union.

“I think technically in terms of joining the Rand Union, there are certain benchmarks that the South African government expects from us. That is we need to have a certain budget deficit and this can be difficult to adhere to. However we can adopt the rand by default without joining the Rand Union like what we did with the US dollar in 2009. Government can pay civil servants in rand, businesses can pay tax in rand, but this will just provide a temporary relief to our problems. We might have the rand, US dollar in circulation but that will not wish away serious indiscipline, corruption and appetite for spending the money we don’t have,” Gundani said.

Apart from currency volatility, the economy is ravaged by power shortages, market confidence dearth, looming drought and runaway inflation recorded at 430% last November.

By Sindiso Dube

AFTER confirming Mark Harrison (pictured) as the club’s new coach earlier this week to replace Hendrikus Pieter De Jong, Highlanders have declared him as the right man to help them reclaim past glory.

Club chairman Kenneth Mhlophe described the appointment of the Englishman as the best for the club.

“I am glad to announce that the club has agreed terms with Mark Harrison to fill the position that has been existing in our technical team. Harrison, who is not new to Zimbabwean football, is the Highlanders technical manager with immediate effect pending granting of a work permit by the authorities. He will be officially unveiled as soon as he arrives in the country to take up his duties,” said Mhlophe in a statement.

“Considering our philosophy as a club, and his style of football, he emerged as the best institutional fit candidate to take up the huge responsibility. He signed a two-year contract which will run up to December 31 of 2021.”

Harrison comes in as a direct replacement to Dutchman De Jong who decided not to renew his contract at the end of the season before resurfacing at three-time champions FC Platinum where he was unveiled on Monday.

Harrison once coached Harare City FC and Caps United.

Harrison will work with the existing club technical structure which includes assistants Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu and Bekithemba Ndlovu.

He will also oversee the juniors and the club’s developmental team.

Harrison will be faced with a huge task of trying to fill the gaps that have been left by some key players in the squad.

Star striker Prince Dube is in China where he is club hunting, and a move is said to be imminent, while midfielder McClive Phiri is linked with a move to South Africa.

Goalkeeper and club skipper Ariel Sibanda has also been rumoured to be on his way out, with reports linking him with moves to South Africa, Zambia and even Mozambique.

Harrison arrives with a wealth of experience. A holder of Uefa A and Caf A licence badges, he has also previously coached Oxford United and Stanford Rangers in his homeland, as well as Mpumalanga Black Aces, African Warriors and Chippa United in South Africa.