By Tawanda Musarurwa

HARARE – Zimbabwe says an arrears clearance plan should be ready by at least the third quarter of this year.

But prior to that the board of the International Mone-tary Fund (IMF) is expected to receive the Article IV mis-sion's report on Zimbabwe's concluded Staff Monitoring Programme (SMP).

The IMF board is set to meet on May 2.

Minister Chinamasa said to the extent that the mission's report is received positively, that wil l pave the way for

the country to start work-ing on a arrears clearance strategy.

"The IMF board is going to sit on May 2, to receive the report of the mission

which is positive. It's just to receive and not to do anything else, the report on

News Update as @ 1530 hours, Friday 22 April 2016

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Zim to craft arrears clearance plan by Sept/Oct: Chimamasa

Minister Chinamasa

Article IV consultations and our expectation is that that report is positive....and we cannot envisage a situation where the board wil l query the mission with respect to their report so we are quite optimistic that the report wil l be received well by the board.

"Now there after we now begin the process of put-ting the elements together towards an arrears clearance and we are envisaging that this wil l be around Septem-ber-October this year," said Minister Chinamasa.

Earl ier in March an IMF dele-gation headed by Mr Domen-ico Fanizza announced that Zimbabwe had successfully completed its f inal leg of the SMP.

The SMP was a succes-sor plan to the init ial reform programme that was approved by IMF in June 2013.

It was init ial ly supposed to end in December 2013, but was extended by another six months to allow Zimbabwe to meet set targets. The 15 months’ plan was approved in October 2014.

The Minister added that in the interim, Zimbabwe wil l continue engaging its mul-ti-lateral lending agencies, the IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) as the crafting of the arrears clearance strategy goes ahead.

"Meanwhile we are going to have to put in place the necessary documentation for us to be able to get into a position where the respec-

tive boards of the three multi-lateral institutions can sit down and hopefully by November to adopt or accept or strategy for arrears clear-ance.

"Also between now and then we are going to work feverishly to come up with a financing programme on the basis of which we hope, if we clear our arrears in tandem, in reciprocation we hope to get new financing to support those sectors of our economy which have a transformative impact on the recovery of our economy and primarily we are looking at agriculture and private sec-tor growth," he said.●

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HARARE - Zimbabwean bakers will next month hold a congress which is expected to set up the Zimbabwe Wheat board, an official has said.

National Bakers Association president Givemore Mesoem-vura said setting up of the board was decided at a con-ference held last month.

“In March we held a confer-ence which made a resolu-tion that we come up with a board that regulates the activities of our value chain.

“We were given permission to set up that board for the value chain,” he said.

Mr Mesoemvura said the Zim-babwe Wheat Board was in the process of being set up.

“So we will be having a con-gress in May that will launch the Zimbabwe Wheat Board,” he said.

He said the board had an immediate task of coming up with beneficial bread value chain decisions.

“This one will focus on wheat to bread value chain and try to come up with amicable positions and harmony for the whole value chain for the baking industry,” he said.

About 107 bakeries closed shop over the past five years due to the harsh operating environment which precip-itated by il legal sanctions that Western countries imposed in retaliation for agrarian reforms which the

Government imposed to address a colonial legacy.

The bakery industry is a crit-ical part of the Zimbabwean economy, accounting for 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product.

It directly employs 3 500 people. In 2014, bread out-put grew by over 20 percent mainly driven by capacity revamping and expansion of local bakeries.

Bakeries which raised capac-ity include Bakers Inn, which added two bread lines, and Lobels.- New Ziana.●

Bakers’ congress to set up wheat value chain board

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By Funny Hudzerema

HARARE -Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA)’s high water rates have undermined the growth of the irrigation sector and deject efforts by Government to improve agricultural productiv-ity, farmers have said.

Farmers’ Unions Chairman Joint Presidency chairperson Mr Stan-cilous Goredema said the agricul-ture sector has potential to boost if the irrigation sector gets the much needed support through reducing the cost of water.

“It is therefore in light of the above that as key stakeholders in water resources management as farmers we feel that there is need to be more complementary in the diagnosis and evaluation of institutional and regulatory arrangements determining or undermining the success of agriculture through water and irrigation management.

“High water charges have resulted in decline of the irrigated

land annually and it is under-mining Government’s initiatives to boost the agricultural sector, especially horticulture,” he said.

“Currently local horticulture prod-ucts are very expensive on the market due high cost of produc-tion through water costs being the major contributor of costs.

Mr Goredema added that there is need to review water policies for farmers to produce more with the current climate change.

“We therefore ask ZINWA to find ways to rebuild its tattered image with farmers and recon-sider to lower the cost of water

to agriculture because it is the major economic driver which if taxed through high water charges that will trigger skyrocketing of all costs in the value chain of pro-duction,” he said.

“At the moment the cost of irrigating 1 hectare of wheat is at $450 up to the harvesting period which is very expensive. There is need to continually review these legislative instruments espe-cially with the advent of climate change.

“Adequate mitigatory measures must be adopted so that farmers are incentivized to produce,” he said.●

ZINwA rates affecting irrigation

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Harare- The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) says introduction of pre-paid meters in August 2012 has transformed the behavior of consumers in their power con-sumption habits, resulting in a reduction in energy use of between 21 and 27 percent.

The ZETDC said the pre-paid electricity meter project had brought major benefits, such as forcing customers to avoid wasting power.

“Customers have been empowered to manage their electricity usage. The major-ity of customers have cut back consumption by between 21 and 27 percent leading to considerable savings in both electricity and money,” it said.

The first phase saw the instal-lation of about 40 000 pre-paid meters to both residen-tial and industrial properties.

ZETDC said it was awaiting

delivery of 130 000 new pre-paid meters to reduce the backlog and cater for new connections in new residential areas.

“The prepaid meters have reduced domestic electricity demand, thus contributing to the elimination of load-shed-ding.

“Customers’ habits have changed, as they now avoid wastage and use electricity efficiently. Capacity in the range of 110 MW was released as a result of the deployment of prepaid meters,” it said.

Regarding new connections, ZETDC said, “There is a boom

in new housing developments countrywide.

This has resulted in a high demand for pre-paid meters. The utility has managed to reduce the waiting list for new service connections from over 35 000 to below 10 000 fol-lowing stop-gap measures.”

To date at least 520 000 cus-tomers have been migrated to the pre-paid platform whilst 43 000 new customers have been added to the platform, making a total of 563 000 customers countrywide now on pre-paid metering over a period of 43 months

.- New Ziana●

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Pre-paid metering has transformed customers’ behavior

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HARARE -The mainstream industr ia l index jumped 0.93 (or 0,95 percent) from the previous week after record-ing a number gains in the week.

Industr ia ls added 0.27 to sett le at 99.28 in today's trades as conglomerate Innscor shi f ted up $0,0092 to c lose at $0,2005, whi le g iant insurer Old Mutual rose $0,0068 to $2,2444.

Also on the upside was Hippo, which gained $0,0045 to trade at $0,2350, bev-erages giant Delta which

was $0,0041 higher to $0,5943 and Turnal l which

was $0,0010 stronger at $0,0120.

On the downside, SeedCo was the sole counter, and i t lost $0,0200 to c lose at $0,5600.

The mining index was steady at 20.16 as Bindura, Fal-gold, Hwange and RioZim al l maintained previous pr ice levels at $0,0102, $0,0050, $0,0300 and $0,1100 respect ively.

On a week-on-week basis, the mining index was unchanged

- BH24 Reporter ●

ZSE14

Industrials close week on a high

BH2415

MOvERS CHANGE TOdAy PRICE USC SHAKERS CHANGE TOdAy PRICE USC

TURNALL 9.09 1.20 SEEDCO -3.44 56.00

INNSCOR 4.80 20.05

Hippo 1.95 23.50

DELTA 0.69 59.43

MEIkLES 0.55 7.30

OLD MUTUAL 0.30 224.44

INdEx PREvIOUS TOdAy MOvE CHANGE

INDUSTRIAL 99.01 99.28 +0.27 points +0.27%

MINING 20.16 20.16 +0.00 POINTS +0.00%

16 ZSE TABlES

ZSE

INdICES

Stock Exchange

Previous

today

17 dIARy OF EvENTS

The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.

POwER GENERATION STATS

Gen Station

21 April 2016

Energy

(Megawatts)

Hwange 409 MW

kariba 460 MW

Harare 30 MW

Munyati 13 MW

Bulawayo 22 MW

Imports 0 - 400 MW

Total 1189 Mw

• 26th April 2016 - The Fifty-Sixth Annual General Meeting of the shareholders of British American Tobacco Zimbabwe (Hold-ings) Limited; Place: British American Tobacco Zimbabwe Offices, 1 Manchester Road, Southerton, Harare; Time: 10.00 hours...

• CBZ, Stewart Room, Meikles, 28 April, 1500hrs.

• 05 May 2016 - Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe AGM; Place: Meikles Mirabelle Room; Time: 1500hrs

THE BH24 dIARy

The International Monetary Fund has suspended aid and cancelled a trip to Mozam-bique, after revelations that the country has been hiding debt of about $1 billion.

Mozambique’s prime minister Agostinho do Rosario travelled to Washington DC on Tuesday and confirmed the debts were not reported to the IMF, accord-ing to AIM, the national news agency.

While the finance minister pre-viously dismissed the reports as “confusion,” the prime minister essentially admitted to failing to declare the hefty loans. The extent of Mozambique’s debt is still unclear. Last week, Mozam-bican finance minister Adriano Maleiane told journalists in Washington DC that Mozam-bique’s public debt was at $11 billion. Back home, his spokes-man told state television that it was $8 billion, according to local reports.

Once buoyed by discoveries of natural gas deposits, Mozam-bique has now become high risk, and the yields on the bonds it took out to save state-

owned companies have soared since the IMF’s announcement, according to Bloomberg.

“The undisclosed borrowing exceeds $1 billion and signifi-cantly changes our assessment of Mozambique’s macroeconomic outlook,” Anotionette Sayeh, director of the IMF’s Africa department said on Friday. The Mozambican government borrowed the money from Swiss multinational financial services firm Credit Suisse and the Russian VTB bank, she said. The IMF was tipped off by reports, later confirmed by the country’s finance minister.

Before the loans made head-lines, the IMF approved a $282,9 million credit facility for Mozambique, with $117,9 million paid out in December to help the southern African government reduce poverty and preserve stability in the face of lower commodity prices, the IMF said in a statement on Dec. 18.

Praising Mozambique’s struc-tural reforms, the IMF said that while the country’s per-capita income remained low, the econ-omy remained robust with a

projected medium term growth of more than 7 percent. The IMF did, however, warn that Mozam-bique needed an action plan to ensure the profitability of EMA-TUM, the state-owned fishing company, before it became a risk to the national budget.

Fishy business

That fishing company is now at the center of what is becoming a financial scandal. In 2013, global investors lent money to EMATUM to upgrade its tuna fishing fleet, only to learn that some of that money was diverted to build expensive military speedboats, according to a Wall Street Journal report (paywall).

In that same year, EMATUM made a loss of $25 million. Last year, the fishing company refused to hand over its books after numerous media requests, according to AIM. The country’s attorney general is now investi-gating the fishing company, and opposition parties have accused the ruling party of using it as a front to boost military spending, according to AIM.

Some reports suggest that the Mozambican government sold the bonds on an estimated catch of 200,000 tons of tuna worth $200 million, but that year a catch of only 6,000 tons was recorded.

Facing default, the Mozam-bican government restructured those bonds, due in 2020, to a longer term. It was only after a downgrade triggered further disclosures that bondholders—and then the IMF—learned that Mozambique had another loan, adding to its already strained debt burden.

In 2013 Credit Suisse and VTB lent $622 million to another state-owned company to pur-chase navy equipment, a loan which was later expanded to as much as $900 million, according to the WSJ.

The bonds and loans amounted to least $1.47 billion in 2013 alone, representing a 25 per-cent increase on the roughly $6 billion national debt reported at the end of 2012, according to the WSJ report. Credit Suisse declined to comment.- Quartz●

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Mozambique could lose hundreds of millions in funds over a hidden $1 billion debt

Asian stocks retreated from an almost five-month high as a stronger yen weighed on Japanese shares and inves-tors assessed earnings.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0,6 percent to 133.41 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo. The measure is headed for a 0,9 percent gain this week, its third straight such advance. Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. missed estimates when they reported profits after regular US trading, while stalling global demand for smartphones made a dent on Sony Corp.’s results. Earn-ings are the next test for an equity rally that this week pushed global shares to the highest level since Decem-ber.

“There’s been scant evi-dence of sustained earnings growth,” said Matthew Sher-wood, head of investment strategy at Perpetual Ltd. in Sydney, which manages about $21 bill ion. “Persis-tent yen strength over the medium term will be just another factor weighing on Japanese earnings-per-share growth. It’s too soon

to declare that the earn-ings recession is over in all regions -- things look better in the US, but central bank policy in Europe and Japan appears increasingly defla-tionary and the prospect for strong economic recovery in emerging markets is stil l hard to fathom.”

After a turbulent start to 2016, the rally in Asian shares since mid-February has pushed the dollar-de-nominated benchmark index back into positive territory. It’s now up 1,1 percent for the year, against a 4,4 percent decline for a meas-ure of European shares and a 2,3 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Stil l, Japanese stocks are the second-worst performers among 24 developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, while the Shanghai Composite Index is down 17 percent.

Japan’s Topix index lost 0,9 percent on Friday, sliding from an almost three-month high, after the yen extended Thursday’s 0,4 percent advance to trade at 109,38 per dollar.

South korea’s kospi index slipped 0,3 percent. Austral-ia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.4 percent. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 0,3 percent. Markets in China and Hong kong have yet to open.

Futures on the FTSE China A50 Index dropped 0,3 per-cent in most recent trad-ing, while contracts for the Hang Seng Index slipped 0,6 percent. The Shanghai Composite fell 0,7 percent on Thursday, extending a monthly decline.

The March rebound in main-land equities is reversing amid concern that improving economic data and surging credit will prevent the gov-ernment from adding stim-ulus.

E-mini futures on the S&P 500 slid 0,1 percent. The US benchmark stock index dropped 0,5 percent on Thursday as corporate earn-ings provided little incentive for investors to send US stocks higher.

West Texas Intermediate crude gained as much as 0,9 percent in early Friday trading, poised for a third weekly advance as producers suggest the door is stil l open to agree on limiting supplies after a proposal to freeze output failed on Sunday. – Bloomberg●

INTERNATIONAl NEwS 19

Asia stocks drop as Japan falls on yen, investors weigh earnings

By Anver versi

In a lengthy profile in The Atlantic magazine by journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, Obama broke with convention and laid the blame for the almighty mess that was unleashed, following the bombing and subsequent killing of Muammar Ghaddafi, squarely on Britain’s David Cameron and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy’s failure to plan for the aftermath and the lack of follow-through.

Having stirred up a massive hornets’ nest, Cameron, he said, became ‘distracted’ and Sarkozy, who used the bombing as a macho chest-thumping gesture, lost interest and was, not long after, to lose the French presi-dency.

The irony is that African Union negotiators and political analysts had warned of just such an out-come, but no one ‘who mattered’ was listening. “Those who wear the shoe know where it is pinch-ing,” says a former ambassador based in Libya.

“We know and understand Africa

and we say, please, the issue is here, in this shoe. But the big powers always know better and they rush in and often chop off the other foot!”

At last, the powers that be – or at least, one of them – have had the courage to admit that military might does not equate to ‘know-ing better’ and that precipitate action based on wish-fulfilment, or as Obama reveals so can-didly in The Atlantic, on ‘what is expected’ rather than what is needed, can lead to an explosion of disastrous consequences.

Some of these consequences are washing up on Europe’s shores as countries scramble to put up barricades against the human tide fleeing from brutal wars and the nihilistic destructiveness of the terrorist armies.

While Europe and the Americas search their souls over what to do with the mounting mass of suffering humanity banging feebly at their doors, Africa has had to deal with similar situations for decades. Ethiopia and kenya have some of the largest refugee

camps in the world but the resources at their disposal are shockingly meagre.

In the meanwhile, the mess that was created by the bombing of Tripoli and the brutal, televised murder of Gaddafi is still wreak-ing havoc in Africa.

The ramifications of the scatter-ing of the former Libyan army, composed in large part of soldiers from neighbouring African states; the disgorging of thousands of tons of arms and ammunition from Ghadaffi’s arsenal; the destruction of all law, order and social norms in Libya; the dismantling of a thriving trading infrastructure centred around Libya and the creation of a fertile environment for the worst of the Islamic State to occupy and thrive in, are still in full flow.

The Sahel is now on fire. Extrem-ism is on the march, sweeping like a scythe with its centre in Benghazi, slicing up countries, institutions, communities.

Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab, both of which had been described

as ‘dying of thirst’ as their energy sources dwindled prior to the 2011 Nato bombing of Libya, appear refreshed and more dan-gerous than ever.

Their appetite for committing atrocities has increased several degrees – while the poor girls kidnapped from Chibok have still not been found, an ever increas-ing battalion of little girls is being sent out to blow up themselves and as many others as possible in a macabre frenzy of death.

This forms just one set of the consequences of poor decisions and precipitate action by forces far removed from the theatres of war over which they hold such sway. The price for someone else’s blunders is being paid by Africa in ruined economies and shattered nations, lost and destroyed lives.

Africa is now saying ‘Enough’! Even before the infamous Berlin Conference of 1884 which carved up Africa among the powerful European nations, the continent was seen as little more than an opportunity to exploit to the hilt

20 analysis20 ANAlySIS

why Africa must sit at the global security high table

and a backdrop against which European power struggles could be projected.

The people, the land, the fauna and flora of Africa mattered not in the least, except in terms of how they could be used for the ‘national interests’ of others.

Hundreds of thousands of Afri-cans were killed and displaced during the two world wars, fought over causes that had nothing to do with the continent, and when this phase ended, a new and perhaps more deadly phase began – the Cold War, as the West and the USSR fought their proxy wars.

The pattern seems set to con-tinue. Throughout, Africa’s voice has been shouted down. The continent is expected to provide the muscle and personnel for peace-keeping operations once the UN steps in, but at the policy level, the critical agenda-setting level, Africa has been politely ignored.

“No longer” say some of Africa’s most prescient leaders. The

theme for this year’s Tana Forum, the fifth, is ‘Africa in the Global Security Agenda’.

The aim is to ensure that Africa finds its place at the international security high table and that it can share its accumulated wisdom on conflict resolution and peace-building with the world.

The format of the Tana Forum (the name derives from the fact that it is held on the shores of Lake Tana in Bahir Dar) is original and very African.

The symbol of the Forum is the baobab tree, the traditional Afri-can meeting place during which conflicts are discussed, ana-lysed and more often than not, resolved.

In addition, there is an Akan and Ewe proverb that says: “Wisdom is like a baobab tree, no one can embrace it”. It takes many people to sit down in a spirit of honesty, discuss candidly and find solu-tions acceptable to all.

This is why the format is informal and the individuals invited, who

range from heads of state to civil society representatives, can examine the issues without feeling national or special interest constraints.

Nevertheless, the discussion level is pegged high, with speakers selected for their outstanding expertise and experience in con-flict resolution and peacebuilding. For example, kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, will deliver the keynote speech this time around.

Other participants will include Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn; Lou-ise Mushikiwabo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rwanda; former presidents Thabo Mbeki (South Africa), Joaquim Chissano (Mozambique) and Pierre Buyoya (Burundi); Dr Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of UNECA; Wolfgang Ischinger of the Munich Security Conference, Germany; Martin kobler, Special Represent-ative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya and Andreas Eshete, Special Advisor to the Prime Min-ister of Ethiopia.

There will also be high-level rep-resentatives from the AU, UN, the International Crisis Group, the Woodrow Wilson Centre, USA and several other organisations and institutions.

“Africa has become too impor-tant,” says Tana Chairman, General Olusegun Obasanjo, “to be discarded from the global security agenda and debate.” The dire consequence of the failure to consult those who know is swirling well beyond the actual theatres of war and threaten-ing to cast a rabid religious and right-wing mantle of darkness over the future.

If Barack Obama is serious about looking for a different matrix for solving the world’s problems, when “dropping bombs on some-one to prove that you’re willing to drop bombs on someone is just about the worst reason to use force”, then perhaps what he is looking for is the traditional African formula of sitting under the baobab and finding solutions based on deep wisdom. - New African ●

21 analysis21 ANAlySIS