lmakombe

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‘Tariff Commission no toothless bulldog’

What role does the Competition and Tariff Commission (CTC) play in the economy? Has the CTC scored any success since inception? Our reporter Leonard Makombe (LM) talked to CTC director, Alexander Kububa (AK), on these issues. LM: What is the mandate of the Competition and Tariff Commission and which Act of Parliament or any other piece of legislation operationalises this body? AK: The…

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NECF Tackles Economic Challenges

“We have put incentives to generate foreign currency as export earnings have been declining in the last five years. There has been an improvement in foreign currency earned from exports at US$764 million in the first six months of the year from US$715,1 million during the same period in 2004” – Herbert Murerwa. Published 30 June 2005. THE challenges besetting the economy have provided a wake-up…

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Barclays Zimbabwe Suspended From Group

BARCLAYS Zimbabwe has been suspended from Barclays Africa because its poor performance in British pound terms has become a liability to the group.This means the local bank will now operate as an autonomous bank without the obvious benefits that come with being part of the whole group.Its accounting and any other transactions previously handled by Barclays Africa will now be done locally.Although…

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Manufacturers face a daunting future

This was published here on 28 May 2010 and can be read together with a story here on July 2, 2010 and another on the retail sector found here MANUFACTURERS, haunted by hyperinflation, face a daunting future of low productive capacity and expensive finance, financial results released so far have shown. Latest financials show that companies in the manufacturing and retail sectors are yet to reach…

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Zim’s economic recovery stalls

ZIMBABWE’S economic recovery has stagnated and needs major policy measures to move the country forward, the president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Joseph Kanyekanye has said. Capacity utilisation increased from an average 10% in 2008 to an average 32, 3% last year but it has stagnated between 20% and 40%, Kanyekanye said. This was published here on July 2, 2010. This is…

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Bid to oust Telecel duo flops

“The meeting has been postponed,” Mugabe said this week. “There was a problem with calling an AGM as it should be a shareholders’ meeting. As such, we are going to meet as ZWCEC later this week and send another circular.” This story, published on 30 July 2010 (here), was a follow up to this one published on 14 May 2010. A BID by Wealth Creation (WC) to oust business moguls James Makamba and…

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Leo Mugabe eyeing 20% Telecel stake

The enduring challenges at Telecel have a long history. One thorny issue has been the shareholding. It is, however, agreed that as of 1997, Kestrel Corporation, owned by Makamba had 15% while Mugabe’s Integrated Engineering Group owned 10%.Other shareholders including Affirmative Action Group, Magamba Echimurenga, National Miners Association of Zimbabwe, IBWO and the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union had…

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Retail sector wallows in the doldrums

THE retail sector in Zimbabwe is stuttering after an economic downturn lasting close to a decade.  Government quickened the slow death of the retail sector when it announced price controls in 2007 and companies were ordered to slash prices to an uneconomic level. Shelves were left virtually empty, with the only product on display being grain or grain products. I talked to Denford Mberi (DM), the…

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The crucial 11 votes

It can now be drawn from above that potentially Zanu PF has an equal number of seats with MDC-T that is if what professor Moyo has been showing and saying is anything to go by. http://archive.kubatana.net/html/archive/opin/080725lm.asp?sector=elec&year=2008&range_start=31 (Published 25 July 2008) Politics involves a lot of risk and uncertainty. There are times when politicians take issues for…

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Cotton price dispute erupts

Cotton price dispute erupts

By Leonard MakombeA price dispute has erupted between cotton buyers and sellers in a move that is likely to derail the selling of one of the country’s cash crops (24 April 2003) Barely a few days after the beginning of the cotton selling season, the majority of growers are continuing to hold on to their crops and demanding more “realistic” prices. The growers are arguing that the price of…

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Firm sues RBZ for US$35m

Firm sues RBZ for US$35m

AN international minerals auditing firm, Alex Stewart International (ASI), is suing the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for US$34,99 million over unpaid fees for services rendered between 2007 and 2009. (Posted on January 6, 2011) ASI, through its lawyers GN Mlotshwa & Co, in summons lodged with the High Court on December 16 last year also listed Finance minister Tendai Biti as second respondent…

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Mugabe calls the tune, delegates sing along

Mugabe calls the tune, delegates sing along

WATCHING Zanu PF people’s conference from outside, a person can be forgiven for assuming that decisions in that party are made bottom up with resolutions coming from over 4 500 delegates who would have first consulted members at cell, branch, district and provincial levels. (Posted on December 23, 2010) However, this is only a veneer as the decision-making process in the party, even at…

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Rocky start presaged bumpy constitutional process

Rocky start presaged bumpy constitutional process

Tapera Kapuya, another analyst and political activist, said political parties seemed convinced that a new constitution, “no matter how bad the process that gives rise to it or how bad its contents”, was a critical precursor for a general election.

December 9, 2010: FROM the ominous all-stakeholders conference characterised by violence last year, the constitution-making process, which has…

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Candid Comment: Without reforms, the spectre of 2008 looms

Candid Comment: Without reforms, the spectre of 2008 looms

Political parties have, including Zanu PF in 1980, complained of the skewed nature of the electoral framework, perceived as open to fraud and in favour of those administering them. More than three decades later, political parties continue to raise the same issues, arguing that the electoral laws hinder the conduct of free and fair elections, itself a vital process in a democracy.

  January 6,…

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Mutambara’s political star dims

Mutambara’s political star dims

“Politics being usually unpredictable, he (Mutambara) might eventually resurrect politically,” said political analyst, Jack Zaba. “But the chances of him having a political resurrection within the MDC-M formation are highly unlikely. It is increasingly becoming clear that if he decides to get back into politics, he might as well need to migrate to a different political formation like the MDC-T…

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Firm sues RBZ for US$35m

Firm sues RBZ for US$35m

In its declaration lodged with the High Court, ASI said it was claiming US$34 995 200 for the auditing services in respect to the production and export of minerals from the country, a debt RBZ has acknowledged.

  January 6, 2011:AN international minerals auditing firm, Alex Stewart International (ASI), is suing the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for US$34,99 million over unpaid fees for services…