BH24 is Zimbabwe's premium online business news platform published by Zimpapers (1980) Ltd....

1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – The World Bank
says the Rapid Results
Approach (RRA) will help
Zimbabwe find an expedient
solution to the current cash
shortages.
The RRA is an increasingly
popular method for improv-
ing performance within large
organisations and multi-sec-
toral partnerships, which
utilizes specially structured,
100-day goals to accelerate
change and capacity devel-
opment.
And Government has just
completed the second phase
of an RRA programme focus-
ing on improving the coun-
try’s ease of doing business
climate, which has recorded
a number of major mile-
stones.
World Bank country manager
for Zimbabwe Ms Camille
Nuamah said the country
can expedite a much-needed
transition to e-commerce if
they use the methodology.
“One of the outcomes of (the
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Friday 17 June 2016
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
Apply RRA to deal with cash shortages: World Bank

2. rapid results approach) is
the broad linkage between
the private sector and the
Government, and across the
Government between the
agencies.
“As you go forward you can
take this beyond the doing
business, you can take this,
for example, what is the big
challenge of today? The big
challenge the country is fac-
ing today is the cash short-
age and an issue with moving
gradually towards electronic
payments,” she said at a
recent workshop.
Local banks have been forced
to limit the amount of cash
they supply to customers to
cope with the cash short-
ages, which have arisen
out of a cocktail of factors
including capital flight,
money laundering and low
exports and rising imports.
Among some of the meas-
ures that the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe has done to
limit the impact of the cash
shortages is to reduce bank
charges and costs associ-
ated with usage of electronic
money.
The central bank has also
placed a limit on daily cash
withdrawals to curb money
laundering. It will also
introduce a $200 million
bond note facility backed by
Afreximbank in the fourth
quarter of this year, aimed at
incentivizing exporters.
But the World Bank coun-
try manager for Zimbabwe
believes more can be done:
“There is nothing stop-
ping the Government from
taking this kind of collabo-
rative exercise through to
the banking sector, to the
utilities, to the retailers to
understand how to build
and move quickly and doing
business on linking electronic
payments.
“This is something, we are
hopeful, that you can take
this kind of energy and
attack other problems espe-
cially that are really current
in our society today.”
Meanwhile, Ms Nuamah said
results from the country’s
first 100-day Rapid Results
Action Plan (in respect of
the ease of doing busi-
ness reforms), which was
launched in September last
year was well received by the
World Bank.
“That first round of effort
was a very remarkable feat
and was noted in the bank
and in our senior man-
agement as a really good
example of an effort to pull
together a whole Government
around these reforms.”
The RRA was developed
by Schaffer Consulting, a
management consulting firm
based in the United States.
The model has since been
adopted by the World Bank,
and a number of national
programmes under it are
largely funded by the bank’s
Institutional Reform and
Capacity Building project.●
2 news

3. BH243

4. BH244

5. HARARE -The Zimbabwe
government will soon table
before Parliament the draft
National Competitiveness
Bill, which Cabinet approved
recently, a senior official has
said.
The Bill seeks to establish
the National Competitive-
ness Commission (NCC),
which will replace what used
to be known as the National
Incomes and Pricing Com-
mission (NIPC).
Industry and Commerce
Deputy Minister Chiratidzo
Mabuwa said: “Cabinet has
now approved the draft bill
which will come to Parlia-
ment.”
“It (the Bill) has just gone
back to the Attorney Gen-
eral’s office for a clean-up
before it comes to Parlia-
ment,” she added.
The NCC is part of several
initiatives the government
is carrying out to improve
the ease of doing business in
the country. Zimbabwe was
last year ranked number 155
out of 189 economies in the
World Bank’s Ease of Doing
Business report and has for
years been stuck in the bot-
tom half of the rankings.
The NCC will be responsible
for reviewing all new Govern-
ment business, continuously
scanning the environment,
monitoring the cost drivers
and advising on measures to
be taken to address emerg-
ing challenges.
The Government, with sup-
port of institutions such as
the World Bank, is imple-
menting a comprehensive
“ease of doing business
reform” process.
This week, the government
marked the end of a 200-day
stretch since the beginning
of the program, a process
which is continuing and has
so far registered noticeable
results. Achievements made
so far include reduction of
the number of days it takes
to invest, register and oper-
ate a company from 90 days
to 13 days, with targets to
further reduce the process to
less than 24 hours.
Cutting of bureaucratic red
tape has also been fast-
tracked through adoption of
information communication
technologies.- New Ziana.●
5 news
National Competitiveness Bill to be brought before Parly
Deputy Minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa

6. BH246

7. BH247

8. BH24 Reporter
HARARE –Former managing
director of British American
Tobacco (BAT) Zimbabwe Mr
Lovemore Manatsa has been
appointed as the cigarette
maker's new chairman.
Mr Manatsa retired from BAT
Zimbabwe earlier in January.
He now comes in to replace
former chairman Mr Kennedy
Mandevhani whose resignation
took effect last month.
In a statement BAT Zimbabwe
said Mr Manatsa’s appointment
would provide a seamless tran-
sition in view of his knowledge
on ongoing projects.
“During his tenure as MD,
Mr Manatsa was involved in
various key strategic initiatives
and projects. Some of these
initiatives and projects are still
ongoing. It is expected that
the appointment of Mr Manatsa
to the position of board chair-
man will assist in a seamless
leadership change management
and transition,” said BAT.
Meanwhile, the exit of Mr
Mandevhani from BAT Zimba-
bwe’s board of directors was
also accompanied by that of
non-executive director Mr Gary
Fagan.
BAT Zimbabwe manufactures,
distributes and markets ciga-
rettes to a network of inde-
pendent distributors, wholesal-
ers and retailers.
Earlier in February, the com-
pany reported a $13, 4 million
after tax profit for the full-year
to December from $3, 7 million
in prior year.●
8 news
Manatsa appointed chairman of BAT Zimbabwe
Mr Lovemore Manatsa

9. BH249

10. BH2410

11. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE -The retail sector has
welcomed the soon-to-be-in-
troduced bond notes and usage
of plastic money to reduce the
current cash shortages, Confed-
eration of Zimbabwe Retailers
(CZR) president Mr Denford
Mutashu has said.
Recently the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe slashed charges for
electronic payment transac-
tions.
Mr Mutashu said the use plastic
money is increasing in the retail
sector which shows that the
sector is increasingly becoming
compliant with Government’s
move towards the use of elec-
tronic payments.
“The retail sector is geared up
to embrace the bond notes as
soon as they are introduced
and also the multicurrency sys-
tem where Government wants
to promote the use of plastic
money.
“In most of the retail shops
there is an increase in the use
of plastic money from about 3
percent to 55 percent.
“We are facing challenges with
the fuel industry as far as the
use of plastic money is con-
cerned; some fuel dealers are
refusing the new measure in
their businesses,” he said.
He said this in an interview
after meeting the Vice President
Emmerson Mnangagwa during a
courtesy call to his offices.
“One of the areas that we
discussed is the retail sector’s
commitment on supplier devel-
opment, most of the retailers
under the CZR have got a local
supplier development pro-
gramme where they are supply-
ing local firms to improve the
capacity of the local industry.
“We are geared up to ensure
that we regularise the retail
sector.
"We want the tuck shops, all
the retailers to be accountable
somewhere so that we know
the producers of goods, we
know what they sell and also
for them to meet certain mini-
mum retail standards that will
protect the interest of the gen-
eral public in terms of health,”
he said.●
Retailers embrace e-commerce
11 news
02 03
ADD TO CART
Save big on selected
Products of your choice
PAYMENT
You can purchase
whenever, wherever
using:
DELIVERY
Spend $30 or more
on your purchases
and get free
delivery
01 Hello Convenience
www.hammerandtongues.com
BIG CONVENIENCE+
BIG SAVINGS+
BIG OPPORTUNITIES
= BIG HAPPINESS
SHOP ONLINE!!

12. BH2412

13. BH2413

14. HARARE -The mainstream
industrial index was down
by 3, 23 percent from prior
week as the equities market
closed today.
In today’s session, industri-
als dropped 0.27 to 93.39
after telecoms giant Econet
and CFI Holdings shed $0,
0097 to $0, 2000 and $0,
0070 to $0, 0730, respec-
tively.
On the upside, giant insurer
Old Mutual, TSL and BAT
Zimbabwe added $0, 0001
to $2, 3126, $0, 0005 to $0,
1455 and $0, 1000 to $11,
9500, respectively.
The mining index was flat at
26.24 as Bindura, Falgold,
Hwange and RioZim were
unchanged on previous price
levels at $0, 0120, $0, 0050,
$0, 0300 and $0, 1700 in
that order.
On a week-on-week
basis, the mining index
was unchanged - BH24
Reporter ●
Industrials slide 3,23pc in week
14 zse

15. BH2415

16. BH2416

17. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
BAT 0.84 1,195.00 CFI -8.75 7.30
TSL 0.34 14.55 Econet -4.62 20.00
Old Mutual 0.00 231.26
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 93.66 93.39 -0.27 points -0.29%
Mining 26.24 26.24 +0.00 points +0.00%
17 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange
Previous
today

18. BH2418

19. 19 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
17 June 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 360 MW
Kariba 565 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 0 MW
Bulawayo 22 MW
Imports 0 - 400 MW
Total 1193MW
22 JUNE 2016 -- Zimre Holdings Limited 18th Annual General Meeting; Place: NICOZDIAMOND Auditorium, 7th Floor Insur-
ance Centre, 30 Samora Machel Avenue, Harare; Time: 1430 hours...
22 JUNE 2016 -- GB Holdings Limited Annual General Meeting; Place: Cernol Chemicals Boardroom, 111 Dagenham Road, Wil-
lowvale, Harare; Time: 11.30 hours...
23 JUNE 2016 -- Zimpapers 89th Annual General Meeting; Place: Zimpapers Ltd Boardroom, Sixth Floor Herald House, Cnr. G.
Silundika/Sam Nujoma Street, Harare; Time: 1200hrs…
24 JUNE 2016 -- Dawn Properties Annual General Meeting; Place: Great Indaba Room, at the Monomotapa Hotel, 54 Parklane,
Harare on Friday; Time: 10:00 hours...
22 JUNE -- Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe Annual General Meeting; Place: Manresa Club, Arcturus Road, Harare; Time: 10:30hrs
30 JUNE -- African Sun Annual General Meeting; Place: Inyangani Room, ground floor at Holiday Inn Harare, Corner 5th
Street and Samora Machel Avenue; Time: 12:00hrs
THE BH24 DIARY

20. WASHINGTON - The Inter-
national Monetary Fund said
on Thursday it welcomed the
decision by Nigeria's central
bank to abandon its cur-
rency peg and adopt a flex-
ible exchange rate policy,
saying this was important to
reduce fiscal and external
imbalances.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice
told a weekly news brief-
ing the Fund wanted to see
how effectively the naira
exchange market functions
once the new float system is
put into effect next Monday.
Nigeria's central bank
governor said in a letter
to President Muhammadu
Buhari the bank expects the
naira to settle at around 250
to the dollar after it aban-
dons the peg of 197 to the
dollar it has supported for
16 months.
"I think the announcement
yesterday to revise the
guidelines for the operation
of the Nigerian interbank
foreign exchange market is
an important and welcome
step," Rice told reporters.
"It will provide greater flex-
ibility in that market, the
foreign exchange market."
Senior IMF officials, includ-
ing Managing Director
Christine Lagarde, have
urged Nigerian officials to
allow the naira to fall to
absorb some of the shock to
the economy from a plunge
in oil prices and revenues.
OPEC member Nigeria is a
major oil producer. IMF offi-
cials have said that Nigeria
has not requested IMF finan-
cial assistance, but has been
in consultation with the
Fund on dealing with budget
shortfalls.
"As we have said before, a
significant macroeconomic
adjustment that Nigeria
urgently needs to eliminate
existing imbalances and
support the competitive-
ness of the economy is best
achieved through a credible
package of policies involv-
ing fiscal discipline, mon-
etary tightening, a flexible
exchange rate regime and
structural reform," Rice
said. "Allowing the exchange
rate to better reflect market
forces is an integral part of
that." - Reuters●
20
IMF welcomes Nigeria's decision to end currency peg
regioNAL News

21. TOil pared the biggest
weekly decline in more than
two months as the dollar
extended its retreat, increas-
ing the appeal of commod-
ities priced in the US cur-
rency.
Futures rose as much as 1,1
percent in New York, trim-
ming a 9,8 percent drop
the previous six sessions.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot
Index dropped for a third
day, heading for its second
weekly decrease in three
weeks. There’s no need for
Russia and Saudi Arabia to
cooperate on influencing
crude markets right now and
low prices may persist for 10
to 15 years, Russian Oil Min-
ister Alexander Novak said
in a Bloomberg television
interview.
Oil’s advance from the lowest
level in more than 12 years
in February has stalled on
speculation higher prices will
encourage more US output
just as global disruptions
ease. ConocoPhillips has
restarted almost three-quar-
ters of oil-sands wells at its
Surmont facility in Canada
after wildfires forced produc-
ers to halt output.
“With Canadian production
returning, prices may have
climbed as far as they could
for now,” Ric Spooner, a chief
analyst at CMC Markets in
Sydney, said by phone. “It’s
likely the correction will
be shallower than it would
have been earlier in the year
because the market is seen
as being closer to balance.”
West Texas Intermediate for
July delivery rose as much as
49 cents to $46,70 a barrel
on the New York Mercantile
Exchange and was at $46,68
at 8:05 p.m. London time.
The contract slid $1,80 to
$46,21 Thursday, the lowest
close since May 13. Total vol-
ume traded was 16 percent
above the 100-day average.
Prices are down 4,9 percent
this week after rising above
$51 on June 8.
Supply Disruptions
Brent for August settle-
ment gained as much as
74 cents, or 1.6 percent,
to $47,93 a barrel on the
London-based ICE Futures
Europe exchange. The con-
tract on Thursday fell $1,78
to $47,19, the lowest close
since May 10. Prices are
down 5,2 percent this week.
The global benchmark crude
traded at a 60-cent premium
to WTI for August.
There are risks that oil
prices will fall if production
in Canada, Libya or Nigeria
rebounds after supply dis-
ruptions in those countries,
Russia’s Novak said Thursday
in St. Petersburg. At current
prices, US shale output will
probably start recovering
early next year, he said. –
Bloomberg●
21
Oil pares biggest weekly drop since April as dollar extends fall
internatioNAL News

22. We have over the past seven
years provided extensive
coverage of the growth and
importance of the geopolitical
and commercial relationship(s)
between the BRICS and Africa.
In the main our coverage
of these relationships has
emphasised the positive attrib-
utes that they have offered
for Africa. The BRICS have
unambiguously contributed
towards a repositioning of
Africa’s long-term commercial
promise.
Recently, however, and
induced by waning economic
prospects in many of the
BRICS, as well as the tell-
ing impact on Africa (and, as
such, on the “Africa Rising”
narrative) of the recent and
precipitous decline in commod-
ity prices, the “thrill” behind
BRICS-Africa engagements
appears to have tapered off, in
some instances quite pro-
foundly.
Much of this has to do with
trade: as we know, flourish-
ing trade levels have been
largely responsible for the
post-2000 dynamism of
BRICS-Africa engagements.
Indeed, between 2000 and
2014, BRICS-Africa trade lifted
by a seismic 1 250 percent.
The trends driving these flows
were such that, five years ago,
we predicted that BRICS-Africa
trade would reach US$500bn
by 2015.
However, a consideration of
2015 trade levels shows this
forecast to have been too opti-
mistic: last year, BRICS-Africa
trade stood at US$299bn, a 21
percent y/y decline, reflect-
ing the slump in commodity
prices, and the moderation
of demand brought about
by slowing BRICS economic
growth.
However, though this trade
slippage is important, and will
have lasting implications for
many African economies, it is
critical to view these recent
developments in context.
Despite trade with Africa
declining last year, China
easily remains the conti-
nent’s largest trade partner;
while Africa’s relationships
with India and South Africa
continue to display robustness
and diversity.
Further, it has not only been
trade that has defined the
BRICS-Africa relationship:
indeed, burgeoning BRICS
investments in Africa, ushered
by stronger geopolitical ties,
have been equally important
in driving the BRICS-Africa
narrative and reframing the
competitive terrain across the
continent. And in this regard,
with the exception of Russia
and Brazil, it is clear that pro-
found and high-level engage-
ments, with commensurate
economic influence, continue.
In this report, we pause within
the general clamour around
the BRICS and Africa’s ongoing
challenges and prognoses to
offer insight into the status
and future of the BRICS-Africa
relationship(s). We find that,
while to quote American Blues
legend BB King, “the thrill is
gone”, it is certainly not “gone
for good”.
Put simply, the pivot from the
belief in Africa’s unequivocally
positive and linear path (as
was the underlying assumption
behind “Africa Rising”) to the
assumption that the conti-
nent’s prospects are implod-
ing, is simplistic and false.
And, to broaden this analogy,
it is unsound to suggest that
the moderation in the pace of
BRICS-Africa trade and invest-
ment growth is suggestive of
the fundamental dashing of
the promise these relation-
ships appear to so clearly
hold.
The BRICS, but more specif-
ically, the “ICS” continue to
present formidable pillars of
competition and cooperation
across Africa.
While the narrative behind
the BRICS and Africa, as with
“Africa Rising”, may now be
less breathless, in the main
the relationships and struc-
tural trends that they refer to
are no less important. – Mme-
giOnline●
22 analysis22 analysis
BRICS – Africa: The hype is gone, but much remains