Zida launch alone wonât bring much-needed FDI
December 24, 2020
LAST weekâs launch of the investorsâ handbook 101 by Treasury boss Mthuli Ncube as well as the launch of the Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority (Zida) by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, though commendable, would be exercises in futility if government does not entrench property rights, among other much-needed sweeping reforms crucial towards attracting capital.
Tinashe Kairiza
With Zimbabwe gripped by an intractable economic maelstrom, the southern African country has struggled to attract meaningful foreign direct investment (FDI) largely due to its hostile policies which have spooked investors.
In the face of dwindling investment figures, Mnangagwaâs administration launched the investorsâ handbook and Zida last week in a bid to lure capital into the country.
The Zimbabwe Independent
FIDELITY MHLANGA
ZIMBABWEâs year-on-year inflation rate ended the year 2020 at 348,5% down from a high of more than 800% in July but analysts say it is no cause for celebration as it remains way too high.
âThe year-on-year inflation rate (annual percentage change) for the month of December 2020 as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 348,59%,â the national statistical body, Zimstat revealed this week .
The month-on-month inflation rate in December 2020 was 4,22 % gaining 1,07 percentage points on the November 2020 rate of 3,15 %.
The month-on-month food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation rate stood at 6,54 % in December 2020, gaining 2,63 percentage points on the November 2020 rate of 3,91 %. The month-on-month non-food inflation rate remained at 2,63 % as it was in November 2020.
The Zimbabwe Independent
Taurai Mangudhla
CONFUSION reigns over valuation of the Old Mutual and PPC shares that were suspended from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in June 2020 with auditors having to ponder various possible calculations in the accounts of their clients.
This comes amid a growing push in the market to use prevailing share prices for the two stocks on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), where they are trading, and calculate their local value at the prevailing interbank auction rates.
The share valuation is material to the fees earned by fund managers as well as the asset base of companies who are holding these stocks in this inflationary environment.
The Zimbabwe Independent
November 27, 2020
THE protracted dispute between RioZim and the military, as well as a company owned by Pakistani nationals Falcon Resources over chrome mining claims in Darwendale, Mashonaland West province is a blow to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s drive to lure investment into the country and stem the rapid fall in foreign direct investment.
Kudzai Kuwaza
RioZim won its protracted dispute with the military and Falcon Resources in a recent ruling by the Supreme Court.
The dispute started sometime in August 2018 when Defence and War Veterans Affairs minister Oppah Muchinguri declared RioZim’s mining claims a cantonment area and offered them to Falcon Resource, which was a violation of the law.
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange is expected to continue on an upward trajectory in 2021 in spite of the headwinds currently bedevilling the economy, a leading local asset management firm has predicted.
The equities market, as represented by the ZSE, was the best performing asset in 2020, with the market capitalisation closing the year up 968 percent, at $317,9 billion up from $29 billion at the close in 2019.
In US dollar terms, the market, which was valued at US$1.77 billion using official exchange rate of 16.77 at the end of 2019, closed the year up 115,5 percent to US$3,88 billion using the end of December official exchange rate of $81,78.