Botswana has agreed to extend a 95 million U.S. dollars credit line to Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube, said on Thursday.
He told Xinhua on the sidelines of the inaugural session of the Botswana-Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission (BNC) in Harare that the details of the facility were still being worked out.
“I cannot say much because the Presidents of the two countries are still working out the details but I can confirm that Botswana has agreed to extend a 1 billion Pula credit line to Zimbabwe,’’ Mthuli Ncube said.
Earlier, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi confirmed the monetary deal, saying his country had raised the facility from the initial to 1 billion in response to a question during the BNC meeting.
Both Masisi and Ncube did not specify what the credit line will be used for.
The announcement of the credit line came a day after the Botswana government denied media reports that it had extended a 600 million U.S. dollars credit facility to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is currently facing a crippling foreign currency shortage that has affected the importation of essential commodities such as fuel and medical drugs.
In a bid to tame the thriving foreign currency black market that has eroded currency value and competitiveness of the country’s exports, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe earlier introduced a foreign exchange inter-bank market where the local currency can be traded against the U.S. dollar and other currencies at market rates.
The local currency debuted at 2.50 against the U.S. dollar Feb. 22, lower than black market rates of around 3.60.
Zimbabwe could run out of bread in a week after flour stocks dwindled due to the country’s failure to pay for imported wheat, according to a confidential letter written to bakers by the country’s grain millers’ group on Monday.
The country is in the grip of a severe shortage of U.S. dollars that has sapped supplies of fuel and drugs, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa struggles to live up to pre-election promises to quickly revive the troubled economy.
Zimbabwe imports wheat, which it blends with its local crop to make flour for bread, the country’s second major staple after maize meal.
The Grain Millers Association (GMAZ) general manager Lynette Veremu wrote to the National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe (NBAZ) to tell them the country has not paid for 55,000 tonnes of wheat in bonded warehouses in Mozambique and Harare.
“We regret to advise that the current stocks for foreign wheat for bread flour have depleted to 5,800 tonnes and … we are left with less than eight days of national bread flour supplies,” the letter said.
GMAZ spokesman Garikai Chaunza confirmed the letter, saying “this is the situation we are faced with”.
Ngoni Mazango, the president of the bakers’ group, was not immediately available to comment.
The central bank lists wheat among priority imports like fuel and drugs, but has struggled to pay suppliers in the past. GMAZ said in December it owed foreign suppliers $80 million for past wheat imports.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya did not answer calls to his mobile phone.
Former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe who is unable to walk again, has been receiving medical treatment in Singapore over the last two months.
94-year-old Robert Mugabe who is expected to return home next week, ruled the southern African nation for nearly four decades since independence from Britain in 1980, was forced to resign in November 2017 after an army coup.
Speaking to ZANU-PF supporters at a rally in Murombedzi, Mr. Mugabe’s village some 100 km (60 miles) west of the capital Harare, President Emmerson Mnangagwa who did not disclose the treatment Robert Mugabe who is unable to walk had been undergoing, said his predecessor was expected to return on October 15 but that his poor health had delayed the journey.
“We have just received a message that he is better now and will return on November 30.
“He can no longer walk but we will continue taking care of him,” Mr. Mnangagwa said, referring to Mr. Mugabe by his totem name Gushungo.
Zimbabwe’s KFC fast food outlets on Wednesday were shuttered after running out of foreign currency with which to buy chicken, just one sign of a growing new economic crisis in the southern African country.
Zimbabwe, which has long battled economic woes, is experiencing a dire shortage of foreign currency which has forced a spike in prices of basic commodities.
The economic woes have caused people to stockpile goods and have seen long fuel queues at service stations.
KFC said that its six retail outlets would
“be closed until further notice due to the fact that we are unable to source stock from our suppliers as they require U.S. dollars.”
“We are selling in bond notes yet suppliers are demanding their payment in foreign currency.
“This has put us in an awkward position,’’ the chain said in a sign posted on the door of one of its Harare branches.
Due to a chronic shortage of U.S dollars, the government in 2017 brought in “bond notes,” which are officially equal to U.S. currency, but on the black market trade for much less.
KFC was not the only business shuttered, with clothing retailer Jet also feeling the pinch.
The crisis has been exacerbated by the government threatening to revoke licences of retail shops if they increase their prices or demands foreign currency as a form of payment.
Just months after elections were won by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who promised to jump-start the economy, many feared a repeat of the economic crisis in 2008 that saw inflation hit 231,000,000 per cent at one point.
(dpa/NAN)
President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe called for calm on Wednesday as opposition supporters clashed with police in central Harare ahead of the announcement of this week’s presidential election results.
“We must all demonstrate patience and maturity, and act in a way that puts our people and their safety first,” Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter.
Zimbabwe’s long-ruling Zanu-PF party won a parliamentary majority in the country’s election, causing opposition supporters to take to the streets alleging rigging.
Separately, European Union election observers released a report noting “soft intimidation” and an “unlevel playing field” during the leadup to Monday’s historic vote – the first since the ousting of long-time leader Robert Mugabe.
Parliamentary results showed 109 seats for incumbent President Mnangagwa’s Zanu-PF, and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) with just 41. Two additional parties also received one seat each and 58 of the total 210 were still to be announced.
Harare was tense as people waited to find out the winner of the presidential election, and about 150 opposition supporters gathered outside the hotel where results are being released.
Several dozen riot police, along with water cannon trucks, were deployed to block the entrance to the building, while protesters sang songs in favour of MDC leader Nelson Chamisa outside the gates.
“They’ve rigged these elections. Mnangagwa is not popular. I’m defending my vote!” Tererai Matara, 25, told dpa.
Chamisa has said he is confident of victory and has threatened in the lead-up to the polls he will not to accept a Zanu-PF victory.
“We won the popular vote and will defend it!” he tweeted.
However, many analysts have said they expect a win for Mnangagwa, a Zanu-PF veteran who replaced long-time president Robert Mugabe after he was ousted in a military coup in 2017.
“I believe that the parliamentary results were released first as a psychological ploy to dampen opposition expectations regarding the presidential vote,” Prof. Stephen Chan, who teaches African political thought at SOAS University of London, told dpa.
This has been seen as a pivotal election for Zimbabwe, with citizens expressing hope for change after years of economic malaise and political oppression under Mugabe.
As expected, Chamisa did well with urban voters, his party winning 27 out of 28 parliamentary seats in the capital Harare and 11 out of 12 in Bulawayo.
Zanu-PF saw strong results in rural areas.
After vote-rigging allegations in previous elections under Mugabe, Mnangagwa this time allowed EU observers back into the country for the first time in years.
On Wednesday they announced their findings, noting that while the polls were an improvement on previous ones there had been the misuse of state resources and media bias.
Source
NAN
Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe on Monday again failed to attend a parliamentary hearing where he was due to give evidence on corruption in the diamond mining industry.
Lawmakers want to question him over his 2016 claim that Zimbabwe lost $15 billion in revenue due to corruption and foreign exploitation in the diamond sector.
The 94-year-old, who was ousted from office in November after 37 years in power, also failed to attend the hearing last week without giving reasons.
“We were expecting former president Robert Mugabe to appear before us as a result of a letter that had been written to him,”
Temba Mliswa, mines committee chair and an independent member of parliament, told journalists.
“He is not being prosecuted, it is only a matter of us hearing from him and him contributing whatever he has to us.”
The committee has offered to interview Mugabe at his residence, Mliswa added.
Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was ousted from office in November following a brief military takeover.
His authoritarian regime was accused of siphoning off diamond profits.
(AFP)
Zimbabwe game rangers have killed the crocodile which attacked newly-wed, Zanele Ndlovu-Fox, just five days to her wedding and battered her right arm. This was confirmed via a statement released to the media.
“We have since managed to track and kill the crocodile because since it tasted human blood, it was bound to be a problem,” said Tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
The killer crocodile viciously attacked Zanele Ndlovu five days before her wedding to British man, Jamie Fox, as they were canoeing an inflatable boat with other tourists on the Zambezi River above the Victoria Falls.
It is reported that the crocodile punctured their boat and then grabbed Ndlovu’s arm and repeatedly tried to drag her under the water.
She was eventually rescued by her husband and their canoe guides, but her right arm was so badly injured it had to be amputated above the elbow.
Ndlovu’s courage to go ahead with her wedding while still wrapped in bandages just days after the attack made headlines worldwide.
Zimbabwean junior doctors who have been on a three-week strike have turned down a government offer to increase their on-call allowances by 50 per cent and are demanding for further dialogue, Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday.
However, Health and Child Care Minister David Parirenyatwa reiterated his appeal to the doctors to return to work, saying the government had offered what it could afford for now.
He said the health bipartite negotiating forum had been engaging with the doctors while his office would also make efforts to meet and discuss with the doctors.
The most important thing is that what we have offered is what we can afford,” the minister said.
The doctors said they do not agree with the government offer and accused it of misrepresenting facts as if they had agreed to the offer.
The doctors are disagreeing with the government on the number of hours they work per month.
While the doctors claim they work 160 hours per month and are being paid 1.50 U.S. dollars per hour, government negotiators, on the other hand, insists they work 72 hours and are paid five dollars per hour.
The doctors want the 1.50 dollars increased to 10 dollars per hour.
The strike has paralyzed operations at public hospitals and left patients stranded.
In addition to low pay, the doctors are also protesting against insufficient drugs and equipment at the hospitals.
The strike is the first major industrial action by public workers since the new administration led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over in November 2018 following the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe.
As a result of close to two decades of economic decline, Zimbabwe’s public health system has deteriorated significantly with brain drain, poor working conditions and a shortage of drugs and equipment among the major challenges.
Source
NAN
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