TSA Press – Page 2990 – Thompson Stevenson & Associates

Children suffer from Zimbabwe’s economic turmoil – The Zimbabwean

Posted on 13th August 2019 by TSA Press

“I am not a street kid. I come here to sell my things, go home and use the money to buy food,” said Tanyaradzwa, who did not give his last name to protect his privacy.

With power cuts lasting 19 hours per day, debilitating water shortages, inflation at 175 percent and many basic items in scarce supply, Zimbabwe’s children are the silent victims of the once-prosperous southern African country’s debilitating economic downfall.

For his family of six to eat, Tanyaradzwa must hang around the bar at the popular Elizabeth Hotel in hopes of cashing in on afternoon drinkers and passers-by who want to buy cigarettes, he said.
His parents run a small vegetable stall in Glen View, a working class residential area, but what they make is hardly enough to pay the bills, let alone buy food, he said.
Many people can no longer afford to put food on the table without the help of their children — no matter how young.

Children are forced to juggle between school demands and supplementing the family income through street vending or selling at small stalls.
“These holidays just mean more work. There is no break, because I now have no excuse not to work every day,” said Tanyaradzwa.

On the adjacent, busy street named after former longtime ruler Robert Mugabe, children joined elders pushing fruit and vegetable carts. Some kids held cardboard boxes selling items ranging from cigarettes, cell phone airtime, sweets and clothing.

According to Mercy Mpata, a teachers’ representative, the demands are taking many children’s focus away from school.

“There is a lot of absenteeism because the children have a lot on their plate,” said Mpata, the spokeswoman for the Association of Rural Teachers of Zimbabwe.

“Even if they come (to school), they are either sleepy or, instead of concentrating on school work they are busy thinking ‘Where will we get the next meal if I don’t sell enough items after school today?’“
Teachers have their own grievances. They are paid the equivalent of about $50 a month and, like the rest of the civil service, say they cannot live on those wages, which they call “slave salaries.”

“We live in the community. We interact with these children and their parents. They are like family. That’s why we always try to give it our all … but hungry teachers teaching hungry children, that’s tough,” said Mpata.
The food situation is dire in Zimbabwe, with about a third of the country’s 17 million people being food insecure due to drought and the worsening economy, according to a report released this month by UN agencies, international aid organizations and the government.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the drought a national disaster on Tuesday. On the same day, the UN launched a $331 million appeal to mitigate the unfolding disaster. Children, according to the appeal, are some of the hardest hit. Close to 160,000 children and adolescents will need welfare and child protection services, according to the UN.

“There is a risk that children and adolescents will increasingly experience psychosocial distress as some are likely to drop out of school, pushed away from home to seek employment,” said the UN in its appeal for funds.
Expectations were high that Zimbabwe’s economy would grow following Mugabe’s departure at the end of 2017. But the economy did not take off and will contract 3 percent this year, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, said this month.
After inflation reached a decade-high of 175.6 percent last month, Ncube suspended the country’s monthly inflation reports, saying that last year’s prices were in US dollars and now they are in Zimbabwe’s currency, introduced in June, so they are not comparable.

However, that has not stopped schools from feeling the pinch of rising prices and eroding incomes. For the coming school term, some boarding schools are asking parents to provide food instead of paying school fee increases.
But that’s just for the fortunate children who still have parents and guardians able to afford such boarding facilities.

For many children such as Tanyaradzwa, juggling between school and eking out a living takes a toll, even as they desperately hold on to bouts of hope.

“I have dreams, big ones,” he said, smiling. “I want to be a lawyer.”
To achieve that dream, he is sacrificing much of his childhood.
“There is no time to play with friends,” he said. “The work, the school, it takes all of my time.”

Zimbabwe businessman: My shelves are empty – The Zimbabwean

Posted on 13th August 2019 by TSA Press

13.8.2019 8:36

by BBC

Victor Gurajena’s business in Zimbabwe is struggling in a dire economic environment.

Victor Gurajena

He imports cosmetics and medical supplies but with limited access to foreign currency, his warehouse remains empty.

Fuel shortages and a lack of power also make life very difficult for the Harare-based businessman.

Video producer: Tendai Msiyazviriyo

Post published in: Business

Zimbabwe gets loans to boost electricity supplies – The Zimbabwean

Posted on 13th August 2019 by TSA Press

Since May, many children have been doing their homework by candlelight because of blackouts

The government announced that the finance minister had concluded the loan agreements in the last few months, the paper says.

But the $23m and $19.5m loans obtained from the Export-Import Bank of India are unlikely to immediately ease rolling blackouts.

The paper says the loans are for upgrading power plants in Bulawayo and Hwange.

Since May, power has only been available in Zimbabwe for seven hours each day, coming on late at night.

Business representatives believe the blackouts have cost the country $200m in lost revenue.

The government has blamed a drought that has led to low water levels at the major hydro-electric dam, Kariba.

It also has little financial capacity to import all its power needs.

Post published in: Business

Zimbabwe’s prisoners bear full brunt of economic meltdown – The Zimbabwean

Posted on 13th August 2019 by TSA Press

“I don’t remember when I last ate meat,” says Tobias Gomba, an inmate serving a lengthy prison sentence at Zimbabwe’s main prison, Chikurubi Maximum Prison on the outskirts of the capital, Harare.

“This winter has been the worst for us here as we hardly have any blankets at all. We know we are prisoners, but conditions here make it more than a double punishment for us,” continues the 34-year old who still insist that he was wrongly convicted for a livestock theft charge. He has served three out of the mandatory nine-year sentence that the crime carries.

Gomba is one of the nearly 21 000 citizens of Zimbabwe that find themselves incarcerated at the country’s 46 prisons at a time when the economy is deteriorating so fast that even those citizens fortunate enough to make it into the country’s small working class are now resorting to sleeping at work because their salaries can now barely cover basics.

The government on its part government cannot pay it’s own workers, let alone providing essentials to hospitals, schools and other social services. In such a situation of dire economic crises, one can only shudder to imagine what the plight of the country’s prisoners could be like.

Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, just like all other prisons in the country, is facing serious overcrowding in addition to worsening shortage of medicines, food, clothing and other essentials as the economically-crippled government struggles to fulfil even the most basic of its duties.

Convicts and wardens at Chikurubi prison – where there has been no running water for more than a decade – bemoan packed cells and shortages of food, clothes and bedding are commonplace. In the prison hospitals, basic painkillers and antibiotics are hard to come by for those prisoners unlucky to fall sick, resulting in some of them succumbing too easily treatable conditions.

“We don’t have drugs for… ailments like pneumonia and meningitis. We need a functioning X-ray machine. As of now, our machine is down and yet this is a basic tool required for diagnosis,” Blessing Dhoropa, a doctor at Chikurubi prison hospital, told legislators who toured the facility in June to see for themselves the harrowing conditions under which convicts serve their sentences.

Prisoners murmur about the thin diet of maize porridge without salt or sugar for breakfast, followed by a thicker version of the same porridge, a local staple known as sadza, which is served with boiled cabbage or beans for lunch and dinner. There is no meat protein in the diet.

Zimbabwe is going through yet another round of severe economic hardships similar to that which the poorly managed southern African nation went through over a decade ago when its inflation breached the 500-billion mark, in the process wiping away citizens’ incomes and savings alike.

“If allowed to go unchecked, the situation in the prisons are likely to return to those of 2008/9,” said Tsitsi Fadzaniso, a member of a local religious organization that regularly visits inmates to assist them spiritually and materially. “It should not be allowed to get out of control.”

Zimbabwe’s prison facilities are designed for 13 000 inmates, but they are carrying close to 21 000 people.

A study of the country’s prisons carried out last year by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, an amalgamation of human rights NGOs in the country, concluded that prison conditions in Zimbabwe do not comply with basic local and international standards.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) also condemnedsuch “deplorable” conditions, which it said, “exposes inmates to illnesses and psychological trauma”.

In The Midst Of Economic Challenges, Zimbabwe Finds A New Ally In The UAE – The Zimbabwean

Posted on 13th August 2019 by TSA Press

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa looks on as he arrives ahead of the inauguration of incumbent South African President on May 25, 2019 at Loftus Versveld stadium in Pretoria. (Photo by SIPHIWE SIBEKO / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read SIPHIWE SIBEKO/AFP/Getty Images)

Zimbabwe is going through an unbelievable socio-economic crisis and is slowly reaching a tipping level. With skyrocketing inflation, a biting Forex crunch and failing institutions among the myriad issues the leadership of President Emmerson Mnangagwa is grappling with, many investors are scrambling for safety. And yet, the United Arab Emirates is making bold overtures to invest in the country’s economy and is exploring new areas of partnership with the Southern African country.

Last December, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, issued a decree to establish an Embassy for the UAE in Zimbabwe. The UAE-government has also donated millions of dollars worth of medical equipment to the country and delegations of prominent businessmen from the Arab emirate have been visiting Zimbabwe recently to explore opportunities there.

Zachary Campbell Smith, a Washington D.C.-based, Emerging Market geopolitical analyst has long documented African investment opportunities and in association with Senior Fellows at the Arcadia Foundation, Zimbabwe opportunities and challenges. I recently caught up with him in New York where we discussed the co-operation between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Zimbabwe’s new, struggling government.

MN: For decades, while under the rule of former President Mugabe, the Republic of Zimbabwe suffered tremendous socioeconomic challenge. Freedoms were stifled, heavy taxation on foreign integration coupled with indigenization policies drove away foreign investment; over the course of years, each election to potentially bring about change to this set of circumstances drew controversial results, keeping his ZANU-PF Party in control. However, you’ve since been following the administration of President Mnangagwa and in particular, his promotion to the world that under his leadership, Zimbabwe is once again open for business. The President is a long-time member of the ZANU-PF. In your opinion, can we expect more of the same or is there real potential for the President’s developmental agenda to bear fruit?

ZS: There’s no question that the international community needs to take a fresh look at the Republic of Zimbabwe. Unlike Robert Mugabe, President Mnangagwa has dedicated his Presidency to redefining ‘business as usual’ in the Sub Saharan African potential economic power player and has been making his rounds internationally to incentivize trade and investment with Zimbabwe. A few intrepid nations such as the UAE have taken note of this tangible difference in leadership, the openness of his Administration to accept the realities of the Republic’s geopolitical situation, his work to rehabilitate the quality of life for Zimbabwean people (putting Party politics aside) while at the same time, acknowledging the Administration’s renewed drive to leverage the nation’s vast natural resources and trade potential that have drawn attention historically.

MN: What are some of the key factors that have influenced the strengthening of bilateral ties between the UAE and Zimbabwe?

ZS: The UAE is clearly setting a milestone in global investment in Africa for others to follow. The strengthening of bilateral ties can, in part, be credited to the economic liberalization policies and policy implementation efficacy of the new Administration of Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The Zimbabwe I see today has rapidly reversed from the indigenization act and longstanding overregulation and financial mismanagement when Zimbabwe’s government overstretched its roles in key economic sectors and created conditions which stifled foreign investment and integration. This hindered their own prospects for mutually beneficial global partnerships and stifled growth.

MN: Can you share some more details with our readers on how this cooperation with the UAE is shaping up?

ZS: Looking at the big picture, there is a myriad of activity right now that should raise eyebrows. Firstly, the UAE are clearly looking for ways they can apply technology and social development to be of immediate use to the Zimbabwean people. They take health care very seriously, and that’s why they recently contributed $2 million in equipment and medicines to Zimbabwe’s National Pharmaceutical Company, NatPharm, with an eye on working together even more directly to open a production facility in-country.

Second and perhaps, as I mentioned, one of the reasons that we find the UAE investing in such a major way in the future potential of this country is due to Zimbabwe’s drive to privatize a huge number of assets. Zimbabwe is making great strides to reduce its budget deficit from 12% to 5% of its GDP, cut bureaucratic red tape and concurrently encourage foreign direct investment (FDI). To accomplish these initiatives, they have recently been privatizing once-nationalized institutions, such as the country’s two main telephone and internet operators, TelOne and NetOne.

Zimbabwe is creating a more conducive climate for open investment and the UAE, quite frankly, have the versatility and political stability to quickly and effectively take them up on the opportunity.

MN: Sounds like a win-win for both countries.

ZS: The UAE are really demonstrating to the government of Zimbabwe and its people what their capacities are and also where their values lie. When the two work in concert, they can achieve great things. The UAE are a major player in global commerce and in step with their 2017-2021 African Investment Agenda, they clearly see tremendous opportunity in working together with Zimbabwean companies. That means building a healthy relationship that works both ways. In 2017, Zimbabwe registered a $307.6 million trade surplus with the UAE. The business interests of companies from the UAE run the gamut, from information technology, to minerals, renewable energy, and – importantly – agriculture, tourism and health. Let me emphasize the fact that the UAE really envisions an opportunity for Zimbabwe to once again become the “breadbasket of Africa” with the right investment and the right technology.

MN: It sounds like you’re envisioning the concept of their economies growing together – quite literally?

ZS: You’re right. The places where the two countries complement each other are the places where they both can succeed. This is a principle that has helped drive Dubai and the wider UAE to become the place it is today.

MN: How has the UAE’s relationship with the relatively new Government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa been so far, in your view?

ZS: I’m told (and can endorse) that the UAE have noticed a tangible difference in the kind of synergetic relations they’ve built with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and everyone in his Administration to date. There’s a new energy in Harare, and a real commitment to more deeply integrate Zimbabwe with key players in the global economy. This comes from the new Government’s visible desire to accelerate the pace of economic improvement in Zimbabwe, and to us, that’s a very good sign. The signing of Double Taxation and Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements has also been instrumental in lifting the bilateral relationship with the UAE.

MN: Is there anything on the horizon you can forecast?

ZS: Expect more cross-sector investment. I don’t want to sound overly optimistic as there are still real challenges in the country, but there is good reason to believe that we will see a doubling, if not tripling of the kind of investment launched by UAE in the very near future. The world should receive the message loud and clear that Zimbabwe is open for business again.

Post published in: Business