Sir Nigel's Journey…

Highlights: -

Point 16 – vital to note this bit right here: -

Specific key concerns highlighted by stakeholders during the consultations for the attention of the Budget included the following:

• Guaranteeing uninterrupted power supply.
• Reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads infrastructure.
• Guaranteeing clean water supply and improved sanitation services.
• Improving health and education social service delivery, among others.
• Social protection and safety nets, including for people living with disability.
• Support for agriculture and household food security.
• Continued stability in the price level, including sustainable wage levels.
• Positive Interest rates on bank deposits, and Access to affordable lines of credit.
• Employment creation.
• Abuse of public resources and corrupt practices.
• Perceptions of exclusion in development programmes.
• Political discord in the Inclusive Government and Absence of National healing.

Manufacturing – erratic power supply and absence of medium to long term capital continue to adversely impact on domestic industrial cost of production, compromising competitiveness of the manufacturing industry and limiting growth to the anticipated modest 2.7% in 2010.

Mining: - mining has been the fastest growing sector since 2009, with growth up from 33.3 % in 2009 to an estimated 47% in 2010.

Significant realisation of the potential of the country’s mining industry will require up to US$3-5 billion investment towards the recapitalisation of mining houses over the next 3-5 years broken down as follows:

Gold – 1.000

Platinum – 1.200

Ferrochrome - 0.250

Nickel - 0.110

Coal - 0.280

Diamonds -  0.300

Tourism: – Tourist arrivals are expected to increase to 2.2 million this year, from 2 million in 2009. Reflecting this, tourism receipts are estimated to realise growth of 47% to US$770 million, from US$523 million in 2009. Tourism is anticipated to grow by 6% in 2011, benefitting from the continued recovery in both global and domestic economic activity, and also on the back of targeted marketing strategies.

Financial Sector: - As at 30 September 2010, sixteen out of twenty four banking institutions (excluding the POSB) were in compliance with the minimum paid-up capital requirements. Most banking institutions’ balance sheets showed resilience to shocks with respect to all the risk assessment factors, which include credit, sovereign, foreign exchange, interest rate and liquidity risks. Against this background, bank deposits continue to grow by a monthly average of US$82 million from US$1.3 billion recorded in January 2010 to reach US$2.3 billion in September 2010, signifying improved confidence in the sector.

External Sector: - the latest balance of payments forecasts to year end show total exports growing by 25% in 2010, from US$2 billion in 2009 to US$2.5 billion. Projected mineral exports to year end of US$1.159 billion account for 46% of this, followed by agriculture, US$456.3 million; and manufactured exports, US$393.3 million.

External Debt Development: - notwithstanding the green shoots on the economic recovery front, the country remains saddled with an unsustainable external debt amounting to US$6.9 billion which is some 103% of GDP. About 75.3% of this debt is medium to long term and is owed to official creditors. ‘…About 75.3% of this debt is medium to long term and is owed to official creditors’.

Of the public and publicly guaranteed debt of US$6.4 billion, total external arrears comprised US$4.7 billion by 31 October 2010 and are owed to:

• Multilateral Financial Institutions – US$1.469 billion

• Paris Club – US$0.386 billion

• Non Paris Club - US$0.072 billion’

Recurrent Expenditure Developments

The 2010 National Budget provided for recurrent expenditures of US$1.26 billion. Cumulative recurrent expenditures to October 2010 amounted to US$1.2 billion, representing 82% of the actual expenditures.

The bulk of the current expenditures were on employment costs, goods and services, grants and transfers.

Government is still meeting 100% medical aid contribution to Premier Medical Aid Society for all civil servants in 72 view of low remuneration in the Public Service. To date, about US$23.4 million has been disbursed for this purpose.

Foreign Travel: - foreign travel remains unsustainably high relative to other critical services.

To October 2010, foreign travel expenditures amounted to US$29.2 million, against an original budgetary provision of US$24.2 million, representing 3% of total recurrent expenditure.

Education: - Government also supported 34 000 local and foreign based students through payment of tuition fees and stipends at a cost of US$8.4 million

In 2010, Government in partnership with cooperating partners supported 5 575 primary schools with a package of four textbooks per pupil, stationery and steel cabinets valued at US$52 million. This intervention is set to reduce the textbook to pupil ratio from 1:30 to 1:1.

Health: - Improving health services delivery was also prioritised in 2010 in line with the Millennium Development Goals.

Government disbursed funds amounting to US$115 million to cater for health institutions operations.

This was further augmented by US$12 million for the resuscitation of Gwanda, Masvingo, Ngomahuru, Ingutsheni, Gweru and Karoi hospitals. This intervention has seen an increase in patients receiving treatment at the institutions

Social Protection: – To contain school drop-out rates at both primary and secondary level, Government and development partners availed US$30 million towards the payment of school fees and examination fees for vulnerable children, targeting 625 000 primary school pupils and 160 000 secondary school pupils.

Agriculture: - Productivity in agriculture still lags behind that of many other countries. For example, average maize yields stand at less than one ton per hectare.

Constitution Making Process: – As part of its commitment to fulfil the provisions of the Global Political Agreement, Government in partnership with cooperating partners availed resources to the tune of US$13.7 million towards the Constitution Making Process.

Of this amount, Government contributed US$4.8 million towards training of teams and the Outreach Programme.

This intervention has enabled outreach teams to fully cover all the Provinces by the end of October 2010.

Maintenance of Infrastructure: – The poor state of many Government buildings remains unacceptable as a result of a number of factors, which include under-funding for maintenance and repairs, negligence, lax security systems and unchecked vandalism.

The US$2 million disbursed towards maintenance of buildings and fixed equipment remains inadequate in light of the above challenges and, hence, the need for the Budget to focus on this.

Energy: - The US$2 million disbursed towards maintenance of buildings and fixed equipment remains inadequate in light of the above challenges and, hence, the need for the Budget to focus on this.

Transport: – An amount of US$10.9 million was spent on rehabilitation of roads and bridge construction, US$8.8 million; upgrading of airports, while US$4.3 million, was on rail infrastructure.

Information Communication Technology: – To improve use of information communication technology,

Government has availed resources amounting to US$7.7 million towards establishment of the communication backbone infrastructure, largely through Tel-One.

The resources were meant for the optic fibre link from Harare to Mutare. To date, 228 km out of the 261 km have been excavated and pipes covering 101km have been laid.

To date an amount of US$50 000 has been disbursed towards the e-Government programme, a development that has seen the development of 28 websites for Ministries.

The target is to create an e-government platform which will enable citizens to obtain Government information and services from their local district offices without waiting in queues and travelling long distances.

So far, Government has availed an amount of US$1 million for the procurement of computers for schools, both primary and secondary. This has seen a total of 330 computers being procured out of a target of 589, for distribution across the Provinces

Entire document: – The 2011 National Budget Statement

This week is going to be an extremely interesting week especially the 25th November when the National Budget for 2011 is announced by Mr Biti – Finance Minister. This video is yet another glimpse of what is actually happening on the ground. 

Please find attached information on the African Enterprise Challenge Fund Zimbabwe Window Round 2. With more funds available (in terms of the SEDF Finance), we would really encourage your organisation to submit a concept note before the end of November 2010, if you have innovative projects impacting on rural Zimbabwe requiring finance.

AECF R2 Information and AECF R2 FLYER

Here is the Seeff 3rd Quarter Real Estate Report: - RESIDENTIAL_PROPERTY_MARKET_3rd_Quarter_Email

08.30:  Registration and refreshments

09.00:  Chairman’s welcome
Adam Roberts, News Editor, The Economist

09.05:  The Economist Group briefing: scenarios for Zimbabwe
Xan Smiley, Middle East and Africa Editor, The Economist

• The future of the power-sharing government
• What current policies are likely to mean for future economic development
• Key players: the roles of South Africa, China and the UK
• When will Zimbabwe be rebuilt? How long will the brain drain last?
• The structure of the economy and the potential for future development
• Are there relevant case studies from elsewhere in Africa?

09.30:  Keynote address
Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

10.45:  Refreshment break

11.05:  The long-term outlook for Zimbabwe: reconstruction and risks

• What is the timeline for economic recovery?
• Assessing the country’s reconstruction needs
• Potential in key sectors: mining, agriculture, tourism
• When will there be significant new FDI beyond the mining sector?
• Zimbabwe’s future role in the southern African economy

Panellists include:
July Ndlovu, Executive Head: Processing, Anglo Platinum
René Snyman, Managing Director, sub-Saharan Africa, Beckman Coulter
Admassu Tadesse, Group Executive, Development Bank of Southern Africa

12.05:  Human capital and the brain drain

• How severe has the brain drain been and is there any realistic prospect of reversal?
• What role can the Zimbabwean diaspora play in rebuilding the country and developing local capacities?
• Will foreign investment help to develop Zimbabwe’s human resources—and when is the right time?

Panellists include:
Kamel Abdallah, Chief Executive Officer, Rani Investment-Aujan Group
John Legat, Chief Executive, Imara Asset Management Zimbabwe
Trevor Ncube, Executive Deputy Chairman, Mail and Guardian

13.00:  Lunch

14.00:  Agriculture and food security

• Repairing the agricultural sector; what needs to change?
• Balancing urban and rural food provision; the roles of aid agencies and the private sector
• The future of land policy and property rights
• Dealing with drought and climate change
• How could Zimbabwe become a breadbasket again?
• Should Zimbabwe grow GM crops for export to markets like Brazil and China?

Panellists include:
Blessing Karumbidza, Fellow, Tshwane University of Technology
Carlman Moyo, Regional Director, DuPont sub-Saharan Africa
Sam Moyo, Executive Director, African Institute for Agrarian Studies
John Worsley-Worswick, Justice for Agriculture

15.00:  South Africa’s relations with Zimbabwe

• How are relations changing under President Jacob Zuma?
• Does South Africa benefit from Zimbabwe’s problems?
• South African investment in Zimbabwe: trends, impact and challenges
• Assessing the impact of Zimbabwean migrants on South Africa’s economy—and what this means for bilateral relations
• Farm seizures and the implications for the bilateral investment treaty

Panellists include:
Kuseni Dlamini, Chief Executive Officer, Old Mutual South Africa
Heidi Holland, Journalist and author of Dinner with Mugabe
Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Assistant Professor, University of South Africa

16.00:  Refreshment break

16.20:  The ethics of investment: is it the time right to invest in Zimbabwe?

• What are the ethical issues around investing in Zimbabwe?
• Are foreign businesses doing more harm than good?
• How are the relations between the EU and Zimbabwe likely to evolve?
• Do targeted sanctions have any impact on the economy or is this just a red herring?
• Reputational risk, corruption and compliance

Panellists include:
Conze Albrecht, German Ambassador to Zimbabwe
Andrew Cranswick, Chief Executive Officer, African Consolidated Resources
Tawanda Nyambirai, Group Chief Executive, TN Holdings
Khadija Sharife, Journalist and author of Aid to Africa: Redeemer or Coloniser?

17.20:  Q&A with Zimbabwean Government Ministers
Elton Mangoma, Minister of Energy and Power Development
Tapiwa Mashakada, Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion

18.30:  Chairman’s closing remarks 

Source: – More info here

This report is useful for those interesting in Zimbabwean real estate.

More info here: – 2nd_Quarter_Property_Email 

Website: – www.seeff.com

I have spoken about the potential of Zimbabwe for some time now and will continue to do so. Despite the reactions of some in my social circle for example, I continue to argue my point – Zimbabwe’s economy is on the way up albeit slower than we anticipated. I fear that our emotions at times cloud the reality and discourage others. 

This video found its way into my hands just 2 days ago. If you have the time (and I suggest you make the time), it is definitely a ‘must see’ video. What we have here is Percy Takunda from Imara Asset Management who simplifies and paints the Zimbabwean economic scenario in a language that I believe most will understand i.e. little complex jargon with great use of simple facts and examples. The guest speaker makes a very valid point regarding the cost of entry and indeed some under-priced assets in Zimbabwe. 

I stumbled across this article as well: – Zimbabwean Economy’s Size May Be Double IMF Estimate, Imara’s Legat Says  

I came across this article almost 2 weeks ago now. I wanted to share it with others and also add my thoughts. The only reason for this was simply because I appreciate and value this way of thinking – to see the end and work towards it (one of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). Here is a story to illustrate this point. If you are currently following the African economy closely, you will no doubt have come across positive stats that illustrate economic growth on the continent and how it continues to reach new heights year on year. This in part is fuelled by the increasing investment from the Far East for example and what I personally like to call the increasing internal entrepreneurial spirit (IIES). This article epitomises the latter. Reading it I couldn’t help but smile. I vividly recall the day the news broke out about the new media licenses in Zimbabwe. I wondered how long it would take for all the newspapers that had been awarded these new media licenses to actually hit the streets. Not surprising NewsDay emerged first – a week after the announcement! I was already following NewsDay on Twitter prior to this announcement. Trevor Ncube himself was talking very openly about the paper itself and their general plans. I ask, how could a newspaper commence publishing as soon as NewsDay did? The simple and easy answer is: planning. As this interview below indicates they started planning on the 15^th of September last year. The management team saw that an opportunity almost a year ago and started planning way back then. Now NewsDay is available daily on the streets and online. Just recently, almost 2 weeks ago now – Alpha Media Holdings (the company that publishes NewsDay) announced that The Southern Edition of NewsDay is now available in Bulawayo. How was this all achieved? Once again I revert to that key word – planning. I have no idea what else lies in store for Trevor and his team but whatever it is, I’m sure that it’s being planned this very minute! There are many lessons to be learned from this case study.

Below is an excerpt of a Gill Moore interview with Trevor Ncube recently: -

‘Bizcommunity: The first South African media folk really knew about NewsDay was that the Zimbabwean Media Commission granted permission for new newspapers in the country and then a week later (on 7 June 2010), you launched NewsDay. I would imagine that you had been preparing for this for quite some time?

Trevor Ncube: Yes, which is why we have basically been able to hit the ground running. We have had over the past 12 months a core team to which we’ve been adding as we thought the prospects were improving for us to be registered [by the commission]. For me, the turning point was the inclusive government [with Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister]. When I saw it being put in place and in it there was a strong component about freeing up of the media, that was the window that I was looking for and I said: “This is our time; we’ve always wanted to do this.” So we started preparations then.

Biz: And this was about a year ago?

Ncube: Yes, on 15 September last year. That’s when we really started putting together a business plan in earnest and asking ourselves: “What do we need?” One of the first things I identified was that we needed was a printing press because we didn’t have one.’

Complete article here

Yet another important find – this time a Zim Salary Survey.

Just in case there are people out there wondering what the salary levels are like in Zim or if anyone is in Zim and would like to gauge their own current salary, this document might be useful. More info located here: – CVPA Salary Survey 2010 and another one here: – Another Zim Salary Survey

I came across this Investment Prospectus recently. If you are interested in investing in Zimbabwe or require more information, I suggest you start with this document: - Zimbabwe_Investment_Prospectus