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Many are deliberating whether a coup has taken place in Zimbabwe. This is what Xhanti Payi, economist and head of research at Nascence Advisory had to say.

Has Zimbabwe experienced a coup?

South African President Jacob Zuma expressed hope on Wednesday that there would not be unconstitutional changes of government in Zimbabwe after the military seized power in Harare.
<div id="attachment_290368" style="width: 833px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290368" class="wp-image-290368 " src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Zuma_hand_Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="823" height="557" />DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 27JAN10 &#8211; Jacob G. Zuma, President of South Africa, speaks at the Opening Media Lunch &#8216;World Cup 2010 &#8211; before the kick-off&#8217; during the Annual Meeting 2010 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 27, 2010 at the Central Sport Hotel. Copyright by World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by Michael Wuertenberg</div>
Zuma also called for the Zimbabwean government and army to resolve their differences amicably and said the Southern African Development Community, on whose behalf Zuma was speaking, was ready to help resolve the impasse in Zimbabwe.
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Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by James Macharia
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S.Africa’s Zuma says Zimbabwe takeover should not lead to unconstitutional govt

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Reuters Africa Bureau Chief Ed Cropley explains the events behind the army’s seizure of power in Zimbabwe.

Behind the army’s seizure of power in Zimbabwe

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Reuters Africa Bureau Chief Ed Cropley discusses what weight the Zanu-PF’s youth wing carries.

How much power does Zanu-PF’s youth wing carry?

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What was the final straw that broke the camel’s back? Political Analyst Trust Matsilele discusses what led the military to seize power in Harare.

Why Zimbabwe’s military moved into the capital

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Political Analyst Trust Matsilele shares his views on who is likely to run Zimbabwe after the army seized power this morning.

Who is likely to rule Zimbabwe?

A trip to Beijing last week by Zimbabwe’s military chief was a “normal military exchange”, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, after the military in the southern African nation seized power.
<div id="attachment_290718" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290718" class="wp-image-290718 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GettyImages-873637260_Zim-Army-Gen_RZ1.jpg" alt="" width="850" height="566" />Zimbabwe Army General Constantino Chiwenga Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces addresses a media conference held at the Zimbabwean Army Headquarters on November 13, 2017 in Harare. Zimbabwe&#8217;s army chief on November 13 demanded a &#8220;stop&#8221; to the purge in the ruling ZANU-PF party after the sacking of vice president Emmerson Mnangangwa, and warned the military could intervene. / AFP PHOTO / Jekesai NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
Zimbabwe’s military took control targeting “criminals” around President Robert Mugabe but gave assurances on national television that the 93-year-old leader and his family were “safe and sound”.
General Constantino Chiwenga met Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan in Beijing on Friday, where Chang expressed a willingness to promote relations with Zimbabwe, China’s Defence Ministry said in a short statement last week.
The ministry showed a picture of the two men, both wearing military uniform, shaking hands, and another one of officers from both countries sitting opposite each other holding a meeting at the People’s Liberation Army headquarters in Beijing.
Asked whether Chiwenga had briefed China on plans to seize power, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the Defence Ministry had already released information about his trip and that he didn’t have an understanding about the specifics of his reception in China.
“I can only tell you that his visit to China this time was a normal military exchange mutually agreed upon by China and Zimbabwe,” Geng said, referring other questions to the Defence Ministry, which has yet to respond to a request for comment.
“As a country that is friendly with Zimbabwe, we are paying close attention to developments of the situation in Zimbabwe,” Geng added.
“Maintaining peaceful and stable development accords with the fundamental interests of Zimbabwe and regional countries, and is the common desire of the international community. We hope the relevant parties in Zimbabwe appropriately handle their internal matters.”
In contrast to his elevated status on the continent, Mugabe is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa’s most promising states.
China and Zimbabwe have a close diplomatic and economic relationship and Beijing has stood with Mugabe’s government in the face of Western economic sanctions.
In August, Zimbabwe’s government said a Chinese company planned to invest up to $2 billion to revive operations at Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO), which ceased production in 2008 at the height of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown.
That same year, China vetoed a proposed Western-backed U.N. resolution which would have imposed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and financial and travel restrictions on Mugabe and 13 other officials, saying it would “complicate”, rather than ease, conflict.
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Reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie
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Zimbabwe military chief’s China trip was normal visit, Beijing says

Zimbabwe’s military seized power early on Wednesday targeting “criminals” around President Robert Mugabe but gave assurances on national television that the 93-year-old leader and his family were “safe and sound”.
<div id="attachment_290713" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290713" class="wp-image-290713 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GettyImages-874365678_Zim-Military-RZ.jpg" alt="" width="840" height="560" />An armoured personnel carrier stations by an intersection as Zimbabwean soldiers regulate traffic in Harare on November 15, 2017. Zimbabwe&#8217;s military appeared to be in control of the country on November 15 as generals denied staging a coup but used state television to vow to target &#8220;criminals&#8221; close to President Mugabe. / AFP PHOTO / Jekesai NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
Soldiers and armored vehicles blocked roads to the main government offices, parliament and the courts in central Harare, while taxis ferried commuters to work nearby, a Reuters witness said.
“We are only targeting criminals around him (Mugabe) who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice,” Zimbabwe Major General SB Moyo, Chief of Staff Logistics, said on television.
“As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.”
Neither Mugabe nor his wife Grace, who has been vying to succeed her husband as president, have been seen or heard from.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change called for a peaceful return to constitutional democracy, adding it hoped the military intervention would lead to the “establishment of a stable, democratic and progressive nation state”.
The leader of Zimbabwe’s influential liberation war veterans called for South Africa, southern Africa and the West to re-engage Zimbabwe, whose economic decline over the past two decades has been a drag on the southern African region.
“This is a correction of a state that was careening off the cliff,” Chris Mutsvangwa told Reuters. “It’s the end of a very painful and sad chapter in the history of a young nation, in which a dictator, as he became old, surrendered his court to a gang of thieves around his wife.”
Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo, a leading member of the so-called ‘G40’ faction of the ruling ZANU-PF party led by Mugabe’s wife Grace, had been detained by the military, a government source said.
Mugabe, the self-styled ‘Grand Old Man’ of African politics, has led Zimbabwe for the last 37 years.
In contrast to his elevated status on the continent, Mugabe is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa’s most promising states.
Soldiers deployed across the Zimbabwe capital Harare on Tuesday and seized the state broadcaster after Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party accused the head of the military of treason, prompting frenzied speculation of a coup.
Just 24 hours after military chief General Constantino Chiwenga threatened to intervene to end a purge of his allies in Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, a Reuters reporter saw armored personnel carriers on main roads around the capital.
Aggressive soldiers told passing cars to keep moving through the darkness. “Don’t try anything funny. Just go,” one barked at Reuters on Harare Drive.
Two hours later, soldiers overran the headquarters of the ZBC, Zimbabwe’s state broadcaster and a principal Mugabe mouthpiece, and ordered staff to leave. Several ZBC workers were manhandled, two members of staff and a human rights activist said.
Shortly afterwards, three explosions rocked the center of the southern African nation’s capital, Reuters witnesses said.
The United States and Britain advised their citizens in Harare to stay indoors because of “political uncertainty.”
The southern African nation had been on edge since Monday when Chiwenga, Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, said he was prepared to “step in” to end a purge of supporters of sacked vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Only a few months ago, Mnangagwa, a former security chief nicknamed “The Crocodile”, was favorite to succeed his life-long political patron but was ousted a week ago to pave the way for Mugabe’s 52-year-old wife Grace to succeed him.
‘POLITICS OVER THE GUN’
Chiwenga’s unprecedented statement represented a major escalation of the struggle to succeed Mugabe, the only leader Zimbabwe has known since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Mugabe chaired a weekly cabinet meeting in the capital on Tuesday, officials said, and afterwards ZANU-PF said it stood by the “primacy of politics over the gun” and accused Chiwenga of “treasonable conduct &#8230; meant to incite insurrection.”
The previous day, Chiwenga had made clear the army’s refusal to accept the removal of Mnangagwa &#8211; like the generals a veteran of Zimbabwe’s anti-colonial liberation war &#8211; and the presumed accession of Grace, once a secretary in the government typing pool.
Local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, a leading figure in her relatively youthful ‘G40’ faction, refused to answer Reuters questions about the situation in Harare. “I‘m in a meeting,” he said, before hanging up shortly before midnight.
Army, police and government spokesmen refused to answer numerous phone calls asking for comment.
Zimbabwe’s Herald newspaper, another government mouthpiece, ran an article on its front page saying Zanu-PF was “unfazed by Chiwenga”, according to a picture of its front page posted on Twitter.
‘DEFENDING OUR REVOLUTION’
Neither Mugabe nor Grace have responded in public to Chiwenga’s remarks and state media did not publish his statement. The Herald posted some of the comments on its Twitter page but deleted them.

Zimbabwe army launches takeover against ‘criminals’ around Mugabe, says president ‘safe’

Following is the text of an address made by Zimbabwe Major General SB Moyo, Chief of Staff Logistics, on national television after the military seized power:
<div id="attachment_290699" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290699" class="wp-image-290699 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GettyImages-874340360_Zim.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" />This screen grab taken early on November 15, 2017 from a television broadcast on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting corporation (ZBC) shows Zimbabwe Major General Sibusiso Moyo (R) reading a statement at the ZBC in Harare. Zimbabwe&#8217;s military appeared to be in control of the country on November 15 as generals denied staging a coup but used state television to vow to target &#8220;criminals&#8221; close to President Robert Mugabe. / AFP PHOTO / Dewa MAVHINGA (Photo credit should read DEWA MAVHINGA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
”Following the address we made on November 13, 2017, which we believe our main broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and The Herald were directed not to publicize, the situation in our country has moved to another level. Firstly, we wish to assure the nation that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and commander-in-chief of Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Comrade RG Mugabe, and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed.
”We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice.
”As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy. To the civil servants, as you are aware, there is a plan by the same individuals to influence the current purging that is taking place in the political sphere to the civil service. We are against that act of injustice and we intend to protect every one of you against that.
”To the judiciary, the measures underway are intended to assure that as an independent arm of the state you are able to exercise your independent authority without fear of being obstructed as has been the case with this group of individuals.
”To our members of parliament, your legislative role is of paramount importance for peace and stability in this country and it is our desire that a dispensation is created that allows you to serve your respective political constituencies according to democratic tenets.
”To the generality of the people of Zimbabwe we urge you to remain calm and limit unnecessary movement. However, we encourage those who are employed and those with essential business in the city to continue their normal activities usual. Our wish is that you enjoy your rights and freedoms and that we return our country to a dispensation that allows for investment, development and prosperity that we all fought for and for which many of our citizens paid the supreme sacrifice.
”To political parties we urge you to discourage your members from engaging in violent behavior.
”To the youth we call upon you to realize that the future of this country is yours. Do not be enticed with dirty coins of silver. Be disciplined and remain committed to the ethos and values of this great nation.
”To all churches and religious organizations in Zimbabwe we call upon you and your congregations to pray for our country and preach the gospel of love, peace, unity and development.
”To both our people and the world beyond our borders, we wish to make it abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover of government. What the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is actually doing is to pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country, which if not addressed may result in a violent conflict.
”We call upon all the war veterans to play positive in ensuring peace, stability and unity in the country.
”To members of the defense forces, all leave is canceled and you all to return to your barracks with immediate effect.
”To our respected traditional leaders, you are our custodians of our culture, customs, traditions and heritage and we request you to provide leadership and direction to your communities for the sake of unity and development in our country.
”To the other Security Services: We urge you to cooperate for the good of our country. Let it be clear that we intend to address the human security threats in our country. Therefore any provocation will be met with an appropriate response.
”To the media; we urge you report fairly and responsibly.
“Thank you”
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Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe
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Zimbabwe military’s statement after seizing power

Zimbabwean soldiers and armored vehicles blocked roads to the main government offices, parliament and the courts in central Harare, a Reuters witness said on Wednesday, after the military said it had seized power in a targeted assault on “criminals” around President Robert Mugabe.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-290705 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/zimbabwe_shutterstock_405855385-730x480.jpg" alt="" width="730" height="480" />
Nearby, some Zimbabweans queued for cash outside banks while public taxis ferried commuters to work.

Zimbabwe soldiers, armored vehicles seal road access to government offices

Nov 15 (Reuters) &#8211; The UK and US governments on Wednesday advised their citizens currently in Harare, Zimbabwe, to remain indoors until political situation becomes clearer in the African country.
“Due to the uncertain political situation in Harare, including reports of unusual military activity, we recommend British nationals currently in Harare to remain safely at home or in their accommodation until the situation becomes clearer,” the Foreign &#038; Commonwealth Office said in a statement.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/southern-africa/2017/11/15/soldiers-take-zimbabwe-state-broadcaster-say-not-coup/?preview_id=290660&#038;preview_nonce=a03619caa8&#038;post_format=standard&#038;_thumbnail_id=144619&#038;preview=true">Soldiers Take Over Zimbabwe State Broadcaster, Say Not Coup</a>
The U.S. ambassador in Zimbabwe instructed all employees to remain home on Wednesday due to “ongoing political uncertainty,” the embassy said in a statement on its website .
“U.S. citizens in Zimbabwe are encouraged to shelter in place until further notice,” the statement said, adding the embassy would be closed to the public on Wednesday.
Soldiers were deployed across Harare and seized the state broadcaster on Wednesday after 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party accused the head of the military of treason. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

UK, US tell their citizens in Zimbabwe to stay indoors

Just 24 hours after military chief General Constantino Chiwenga threatened to intervene to end a purge of his allies in Mugabe&#8217;s ZANU-PF, a Reuters reporter saw armoured personnel carriers on main roads around the capital.
Aggressive soldiers told passing cars to keep moving through the darkness. &#8220;Don&#8217;t try anything funny. Just go,&#8221; one barked at Reuters on Harare Drive.
Two hours later, soldiers overran the headquarters of the ZBC, Zimbabwe&#8217;s state broadcaster and a principal Mugabe mouthpiece, and ordered staff to leave. Several ZBC workers were 
manhandled, two members of staff and a human rights activist said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Army statement live on Zimbabwe Broadcast Corporation. <a href="https://t.co/3XOYkVXIw9">pic.twitter.com/3XOYkVXIw9</a>
&mdash; Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorNcube/status/930626421839597568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Live on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation the national army says Mugabe and family are secure. They urge caution and discourage citizens to avoid unnecessary movement. They say targeting criminals around Mugabe.
&mdash; Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorNcube/status/930628067776712704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Today 15/11/17, we salute &amp; applaud the bravery of our ZDF who decisively rejected desperate last minute concessions by an Executive whose sole objective was to create a family dynasty. An Army led transitional phase will now pave way for a peaceful, free&amp;fair democratic election
&mdash; ED Mnangagwa (@ED_Mnangagwa) <a href="https://twitter.com/ED_Mnangagwa/status/930619624122667008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Shortly afterwards, three explosions rocked the centre of the southern African nation&#8217;s capital, Reuters witnesses said.
Despite the troops stationed at locations across Harare, there was no word from the military as to the fate of Mugabe, Zimbabwe&#8217;s leader of the last 37 years and the self-styled &#8216;Grand Old Man&#8217; of African politics.
In contrast to his elevated status on the continent, Mugabe is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa&#8217;s most promising states.
In the only official word from the government, Isaac Moyo, Zimbabwe&#8217;s ambassador to neighbouring South Africa, earlier dismissed talk of a coup, saying the government was &#8220;intact&#8221; and blaming social media for spreading false information.
&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing really happening. They are just social media claims,&#8221; Moyo told Reuters.
The Southern African nation has been on edge since Monday when Chiwenga, Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, said he was prepared to &#8220;step in&#8221; to end a purge of supporters of sacked vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Only a few months ago, Mnangagwa, a former security chief nicknamed &#8220;The Crocodile&#8221;, was favourite to succeed his life-long political patron but was ousted a week ago to pave the way for Mugabe&#8217;s 52-year-old wife Grace to succeed him.
&#8216;Politics over the gun&#8217;
Chiwenga&#8217;s unprecedented statement represented a major escalation of the struggle to succeed Mugabe, the only leader Zimbabwe has known since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Mugabe chaired a weekly cabinet meeting in the capital on Tuesday, officials said, and afterwards ZANU-PF said it stood by the &#8220;primacy of politics over the gun&#8221; and accused Chiwenga of &#8220;treasonable conduct &#8230; meant to incite insurrection.&#8221;
The previous day, Chiwenga had made clear the army&#8217;s refusal to accept the removal of Mnangagwa &#8211; like the generals a veteran of Zimbabwe&#8217;s anti-colonial liberation war &#8211; and the presumed accession of Grace, once a secretary in the government typing pool.
Local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, a leading figure in her relatively youthful &#8216;G40&#8217; faction, refused to answer Reuters questions about the situation in Harare. &#8220;I&#8217;m in a meeting,&#8221; he said, before hanging up shortly before midnight.
Army, police and government spokesmen refused to answer numerous phone calls asking for comment.
&#8216;Defending our revolution&#8217;
Neither Mugabe nor Grace have responded in public to Chiwenga&#8217;s remarks and state media did not publish his statement. The Herald newspaper posted some of the comments on its Twitter page but deleted them.
The head of ZANU-PF&#8217;s youth wing, which openly backs Grace, accused the army chief of subverting the constitution.
&#8220;Defending the revolution and our leader and president is an ideal we live for and if need be it is a principle we are prepared to die for,&#8221; Youth League leader Kudzai Chipanga said at the party&#8217;s headquarters in Harare.
Grace Mugabe&#8217;s rise has brought her into conflict with the independence-era war veterans, who enjoyed privileged status in Zimbabwe until the last two years when they spearheaded criticism of Mugabe&#8217;s handling of the economy.
In the last year, a chronic absence of dollars has led to long queues outside banks and an economic and financial collapse that many fear will rival the meltdown of 2007-2008, when inflation topped out at 500 billion percent.
Imported goods are running out and economists say that, by some measures, inflation is now at 50 percent a month.
According to a trove of intelligence documents reviewed by Reuters this year, Mnangagwa has been planning to revitalise the economy by bringing back thousands of white farmers kicked off 
their land nearly two decades ago and patching up relations with the likes of the World Bank and IMF.
Whatever the outcome, analysts said the military would want to present their move as something other than a full-blown coup to avoid criticism from an Africa keen to leave behind the Cold War continental stereotype of generals being the final arbiters of political power.
&#8220;A military coup is the nuclear option,&#8221; said Alex Magaisa, a UK-based Zimbabwean academic. &#8220;A coup would be a very hard sell at home and in the international community. They will want to avoid that.&#8221;

Soldiers take over Zimbabwe state broadcaster, say not coup

Four tanks were seen heading towards the Zimbabwe capital Harare on Tuesday, witnesses said, a day after the head of the armed forces said he was prepared to “step in” to end a purge of supporters of ousted vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
<div id="attachment_91831" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-91831" class="wp-image-91831 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/shutterstock_85467808.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" />Photo: Shutterstock.</div>
A Reuters witness saw two other tanks parked beside the main road from Harare to Chinhoyi, about 20 km (14 miles) from the city. One, which was pointed in the direction of the capital, had come off its tracks. Soldiers at the scene refused to talk to Reuters.
Earlier on Tuesday the youth wing of Zimbabwe’s ruling party accused the military chief of subverting the constitution for threatening to intervene after President Robert Mugabe plunged the country into crisis by sacking Mnangagwa last week.
Mnangagwa, 75, a long-serving veteran of Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation wars, had been viewed as a likely successor to Mugabe before the president fired him on Nov. 6.
His downfall appeared to pave the way for Mugabe’s wife Grace to succeed the 93-year-old president, the only leader Zimbabwe has known in 37 years of independence.
In an unprecedented step, the head of the armed forces, Constantino Chiwenga, openly threatened to intervene in politics on Monday if the purge of war veterans did not stop.
“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in,” Chiwenga said in a statement read to reporters at a news conference packed with top brass on Monday.
Grace Mugabe, 52, has developed a strong following in the powerful youth wing of the ruling ZANU-PF party. Her rise has brought her into conflict with the independence-era war veterans, who once enjoyed a privileged role in the ruling party under Mugabe, but who have increasingly been banished from senior government and party roles in recent years.
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Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Peter Graff
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Tanks seen heading towards Zimbabwe capital: witnesses

We need to quantify and protect Africa’s exported technology because a lot more is going on than many of us realise. 
<div id="attachment_290524" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290524" class="wp-image-290524 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/intellectual-property_the-blue-diamond-gallery.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="782" />Image: The Blue Diamond Gallery.</div>
By Nnamdi Oranye
The complexity of cross-border economics needs to be re-evaluated by those involved. The recent downgrade of aid to Africa from the Trump administration has proved that the relationship Africa has with the developed world is not as predictable as it used to be. The percentage of African emigrants has not plateaued and, with that, comes the tricky business of what belongs to Africa and what belongs to the world.
Recently I was at a tech conference in the United States and one of the speakers presented the extraordinary success Zambia has had in their fight against malaria. What was of interest to me was that this was as a direct result of software developed in Zambia, and by extension, Africa.
<h4>Ambitious goal to eliminate malaria</h4>
Here’s the back-story. The health ministry of Zambia has an ambitious goal of eliminating malaria altogether. Their Visualize No Malaria project has already seen unprecedented success. These advancements indicate that their goal is not unrealistic. They were able to do this through the brilliance of Zambian-based software engineers, which found a way to load intricate geospatial data into an existing database (EXASOL). Having a significant proportion of Zambia’s landmass mapped out, analysts and government were able to send treatment to specific areas, rather than the previously unsuccessful spread-betting.
This collaboration between local and international innovators has made for a noteworthy observation. Watch this. If you do a Google search for the Visualize No Malaria campaign, the success of it is credited to the international collaborators, with little emphasis on Zambia. Just to clarify, I’m a big fan of their work and I do regularly engage with these international collaborators. In fact, in certain instances, I use their product!
So what’s that about, you wonder? So do I. This leads me to ask the question: why is the contribution Africa has on technology never quantified? Steps have been taken to quantify the economic contribution of African migrants but little is being done to quantify the software, intellectual property (IP), and intel being exported by those who have not left Africa, but whose technology is being used abroad.
<h4>Inspired by Zimbabwe&#8217;s car-sharing culture</h4>
Here’s another interesting example. Lyft, now a multi-billion ride-sharing company that operates in 300 cities in the U.S., was inspired by Zimbabwe’s car-sharing culture (which people in Zimbabwe call “lifts”). After Lyft founders Logan Green and John Zimmer returned from a Zimbabwe trip around 2007, they started “Zimride”, which focused on car sharing between U.S. cities. Many people thought it was called “Zimride” because of Zimmer’s surname, but it was actually inspired by a Zimbabwe trip.
How much of this story will be shared in the future? While you can find this info if you go looking for it, you will generally find it as a side-story in Wikipedia entries and the like. We, as Africans, need to be keeping this in the public record. Quantifying African exported innovation, its worth and impact, changes the amount of perceived influence Africa has in the global arena. As Trump has demonstrated, the United States is able to withhold funding and donor aid from Africa as it wishes.
The impact this has on science and technology development is huge. Withholding funding is another way of withholding power. What if it were the other way around? What would happen if Africa were to withhold its own innovation? What if Africa were to not release software and innovation that it developed? What if we patented our ideas? If we were able to quantify African IP, and the return of investment, it would disrupt many of the Fortune 500 companies that benefit from it.
<h4>Africa&#8217;s legacy of innovation</h4>
Africa has a legacy of innovation that many other continents capitalised on. Our issue, perhaps, is we’re not talking about it or documenting it or even thinking about how our ideas can be used profitably. Exploring ways to quantify this appears to be on the backburner of our own agenda. I believe that needs to change.
As I alluded to earlier, the significant impact of African IP is also usually up for grabs because it hasn’t been patented. Experts in patent law need to get involved and offer their skills. It can’t be that the economic and influential impact African IP has is of no benefit to the continent simply because it wasn’t patented. Such a problem is easily solved. Government, the African Union, the African Diaspora, and even philanthropic international investors need to protect African IP and use it as a resource to strengthen the economic growth of our continent.
So let us consider the impact of taking back African IP. Without a doubt, if Africa were not funded by international investment, it would not have many of the technological and commercial advancements that it does. However, receiving funding is no basis for not owning our own IP. Caution needs to be taken in partnerships between African innovators and their international investors.
<h4>Siyavula aims to disrupt traditional education</h4>
Google recently granted $1.5 million to the non-profit arm of Siyavula, an education company based in South Africa. Siyavula has developed a software service called Intelligent Practice, and a model that allows collaborative distribution of content. They aim to disrupt traditional education and this caught Google’s attention. Thankfully, Siyavula had the foresight to protect their technology. Any potential collaborators would need to license their IP as well. Siyavula’s partnership with Google shows us that retaining economic autonomy, and accessing international investment, is achievable.
We are in a situation where there is still inadequate exposure of African innovation and technology. M-Pesa’s expansion into Europe can’t be the only example we know about. As we start to quantify the impact of African IP, we must protect the value and influence it has in Africa and the world. It’s our responsibility, regardless of the contribution that has come from outside our borders.
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Op-Ed: Protecting African Intellectual Property

Zimbabwe’s top general warned on Monday that the military would not hesitate to step in to end purges against former liberation war fighters in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party after Emmerson Mnangagwa was stripped of his vice president’s post.
<div id="attachment_289708" style="width: 604px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289708" class="wp-image-289708 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Emmerson-Mnangagwa_Mugabe_Getty-Images.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="395" />Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (C) holds hands with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L) and First Lady Grace Mugabe (R) during celebrations marking his birthday at the Great Zimbabwe monument in Masvingo on February 27, 2016. / AFP / JEKESAI NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
General Constantino Chiwenga, commander of Zimbabwe Defence Forces and a political ally of Mnangagwa who was also expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF, said instability in the party was causing anxiety in Zimbabwe.
Chiwenga’s statement, read out at a news conference packed with army top brass, comes at a time of a deepening rift within ZANU-PF over who will eventually lead the party after the 93-year-old Mugabe goes.
Mnangagwa’s removal provides a boost for Grace Mugabe, the wife of the president, who is supported by the largely youthful G40 faction of ZANU-PF to succeed her husband.
Chiwenga said ZANU-PF had been hijacked by people who did not fight in the 1970s liberation war, a clear shot at G40 wing and Grace Mugabe who is a vocal critic of Mnangagwa.
“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in,” Chiwenga said in a statement read to reporters at the news conference.
“The current purging &#8230; targeting members of the party with a liberation background must stop forthwith,” he said.
Mugabe’s 37 years in power has been anchored by support from the military, which has always said it will not back anyone for president who did not fight in the liberation war. But the ageing leader has been accusing the generals of taking sides in the succession race.
<h3>RARE MOVE</h3>
It is rare for the defence forces to publicly take sides in the affairs of ZANU-PF. When Joice Mujuru, a war veteran and Mugabe’s deputy of 10 years, was sacked from the ruling party in 2014, the military remained quiet.
Political analysts however say the military stayed quiet then because the beneficiary of Mujuru’s downfall was the 75-year-old Mnangagwa, a war veteran.
Grace, now poised to become a vice president, did not fight in the liberation war.
The party appears split over the succession with the G40 faction supporting Grace and another faction, that includes war veterans, rooting for the ousted Mnangagwa.
Chiwenga said ZANU-PF had since 2015 been rocked by infighting, which had afflicted the economy, causing serious cash shortages and soaring prices of basic commodities &#8211; rare criticism of those in government by the military.
Analysts said if Mugabe responded to Chiwenga’s statement, he would be compelled to choose sides between war veterans and the young turks rallying behind his wife.
“He is in a corner. He has to declare his allegiance. If he condemns that statement, then he is saying therefore I am for the young turks against the war veterans,” said Eldred Masunugure, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
“What we are witnessing is the military saying: ‘We are willing to intervene if the red line is crossed’. It is a warning that the political class in ZANU-PF is about to cross that red line.”
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Editing by James Macharia and Richard Balmforth
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Zimbabwe’s top general ready “to step in” to end purge of ousted VP supporters

For most investors around the world, bitcoin is a volatile and highly speculative bet. For Zimbabweans, however, the cryptocurrency seems to offer rare protection from the onset of hyperinflation and financial implosion.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-290363 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Bitcoin-Flickr..jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="684" />
Some are turning to bitcoin out of desperation as their bank deposits lose value almost by the day, while others are using the online currency for housekeeping such as funding family members studying abroad.
The result is startling. Bitcoin’s global surge to a record high of $7,888 last week &#8211; a sevenfold increase since the start of the year &#8211; has been spectacular enough. But on Harare’s bitcoin exchange, Golix (golix.io), the price hit $13,900, a 40-fold jump in the same period.
Warnings abound internationally that bitcoin may be a bubble waiting to burst. But the dire state of the Zimbabwean financial system under President Robert Mugabe is encouraging risk-taking.
“I have now changed all my reserves to bitcoin because that is the only way I can protect my investment,” said Arnold Manhizwa, who works for an IT and telecoms company in Harare.
The government adopted the U.S. dollar in 2009 after a bout of hyperinflation rendered the Zimbabwean dollar worthless, wiping out savings in the now defunct national currency.
After a period of relative stability, acute shortages of dollar cash have set in, leaving Zimbabweans with electronic units in their bank accounts which are officially called dollars but have a far lower &#8211; and rapidly decreasing &#8211; value.
In January if they wanted to buy $100 in cash they had to transfer $120 out of their account to a seller on the parallel market. Now the price is $180 in what are nicknamed “zollars”.
GRAPHIC: Devalued zollars <a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2mwbtLU">tmsnrt.rs/2mwbtLU</a>
Nearly all domestic transactions are made via debit card or transfers using mobile phones. But some economists estimate inflation is more than 50 percent a month in zollar terms, far from the official, dollar-calculated rate of 0.38 percent.
Zimbabweans are therefore piling into anything they think might retain value. Prices of cars, real estate and stocks have all soared, with the Harare bourse’s main industrial index doubling in the last two months.
For people like Manhizwa, a 34-year-old father of two, bitcoin is almost a safe-haven asset. “If I have $500 in the bank I won’t get it back and I will be losing value, but when I have my bitcoin it is going up every day,” he told Reuters.
Manhizwa, who participates in online chatrooms discussing cryptocurrencies, says he deposited $20 in bitcoin for his newly-born daughter a few months ago. Now it’s worth over $200. “If I put that money in a bank right now in Zimbabwe I will be left with nothing,” he said.
<h3 data-reactid="55">CLEAR RISKS</h3>
Globally, the value of all cryptocurrencies is more than $170 billion and bitcoin, the biggest and best-known, has outperformed all traditional currencies every year since 2011, except for 2014. But many international investors still view it as an opaque instrument used by gun-runners and drug-dealers on the Dark Web that should be avoided.
The risks are clear. After reaching the record peak, the international price of bitcoin slid over $1,000 in less than 48 hours last week. In Zimbabwe, the Golix exchange’s website showed at one point on Sunday that the price had tumbled below $11,000, a drop of around eight percent in 24 hours.
But all this has to be compared with the zollar. “Many people view bitcoin, despite its volatile nature, as a better store of value,” said in-house Golix cryptocurrency analyst Taurai Chinyamakobvu.
The same is true in other financially troubled countries such as Venezuela, where the currency has also been eroded by rocketing inflation, pushing bitcoin prices sharply higher.
In Zimbabwe, bitcoin’s attraction looks set to endure after Mugabe fired vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa last week, paving the way for his wife, Grace, to get to the front of the queue to succeed the 93-year-old. Mnangagwa had been given a mandate by Mugabe in 2015 to steer the economy and had backed former finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, who was trying to re-engage with foreign lenders such as the International Monetary Fund.
FOREIGN PAYMENTS Besides acting as an inflation hedge, bitcoin’s attraction to Zimbabweans lies in the difficulty of making foreign payments due to banks capping or halting transactions by Mastercard and Visa cards. With bitcoin, Zimbabweans can bypass the need to seek foreign currency from the bank, and can even buy goods or services from the growing number of overseas merchants that accept the digital currency.
The central bank, which has to approve official overseas transactions and prioritises necessities such as fuel and medicines, has previously said Zimbabwe had a backlog of more than $500 million in pending foreign payments.
“A software developer that wants to buy a software download would never get that prioritised by their bank. They can use bitcoin to make payments,” Golix said in response to Reuters questions. “Others use it to send funds to their children in schools outside the country.”
Some better-off families send their sons and daughters for secondary and university education in countries such as South Africa or Britain but they are struggling to support them due to the currency shortage.
Golix data shows it handled bitcoin transactions worth $1 million in October.
But it is a market from which foreigners are largely absent. Technically, overseas-based investors could buy bitcoin on the international market and sell them for almost twice the price in Zimbabwe. The snag is that payment would be in zollars.
One analyst who is setting up a bitcoin trading desk at a Harare bank acknowledged that the local price appeared attractive, but added: “Once foreigners sell their bitcoin, they won’t have a way of getting their money out.”
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Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Ed Cropley and David Stamp
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Think bitcoin’s getting expensive? Try Zimbabwe

Gary van Staden | NKC African Economics
It is tempting to suggest we need shed no crocodile tears over the inevitable demise on Monday, November 6, of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who by all accounts and history was not one of the good guys. But his demise is just part of a political purge that will one way or another plunge the country into a crisis from which escape will be neither swift nor painless.
<div id="attachment_289708" style="width: 604px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289708" class="wp-image-289708 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Emmerson-Mnangagwa_Mugabe_Getty-Images.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="395" />Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (C) holds hands with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L) and First Lady Grace Mugabe (R) during celebrations marking his birthday at the Great Zimbabwe monument in Masvingo on February 27, 2016. / AFP / JEKESAI NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
The sacking of Mr Mnangagwa followed the same Grace Mugabe script as that which saw the dumping of Joice Mujuru – another vice president who was expected to succeed President Robert Mugabe – some three years ago.
But while Ms Mujuru received much sympathy, if not too much actual support, after her sacking, much of the reaction to Mr Mnangagwa’s demise pointed to his own complicity in alleged war crimes during the so-called Gukurahundi massacres of 1983/4 during which thousands of Ndebele-speaking civilians were murdered by Mr Mugabe’s North Korean-trained 5th Brigade on the pretext the victims were planning an insurrection.
The man nicknamed the Crocodile – a title he earned during the liberation war and not from the logo of his ‘Team Lacoste’ faction – may have his support base but apparently not much public sympathy.
An interesting view that was circulating in Harare on Monday night, according to some sources, was that having seen off two powerful challengers, Mr Mugabe himself was next on the Grace hit list. That is not as farfetched as it sounds, but this conspiratorial titbit need not detain us here.
Ms Mugabe has been ramping up the pressure on Mr Mnangagwa for several weeks now with local media reports suggesting the issue came to a head over the weekend when his supporters booed Ms Mugabe during one of her rambling diatribes in which she accused Mr Mnangagwa of several heinous crimes, including plotting a coup in 1980 which would have been very interesting given Mr Mnangagwa was not part of the military.
Mr Mugabe then chivalrously defended his wife’s ‘honour’ and attacked his long-time comrade – suggesting that he would have to sack him because his elevation to vice president had clearly been a mistake.
Ms Mugabe would have been 15 years old in 1980 when the alleged coup plot was afoot, so she clearly had some sources to help her with her fabrications, but the coup claims are palpable nonsense.
They have their source in a dispute that emerged in 1979 at Lancaster House in London where negotiations over the future of the then Rhodesia were being held. Mr Mnangagwa, then a close confident to Mr Mugabe, was among those who urged him to accept some compromises and make a deal that would end the liberation war. Others who also urged that Mr Mugabe accept a deal included Solomon Mujuru, also known as Rex Nhongo, liberation army commander Josiah Tongogara and Edgar Tekere.
The actions of the military men prompted some of the liberation movement delegates to use the word ‘coup’, but it was never going to come to that because there was one voice Mr Mugabe could not ignore – Samora Machel, then president of Mozambique. When Mr Mugabe and his team stormed out of Lancaster House and threatened to go back to the bush, the Mozambique president apparently told Mr Mugabe to return and make a deal because he no longer had bases in Mozambique to which he could return.
The saga indicates the lengths to which the Mugabe clan supporters will go to twist and distort history for their own ends and trash the roles of the real heroes in the liberation struggle – including those of Mujuru, Tongogara and Tekere.
Now Mr Mnangagwa’s demotion is likely to pave the way for Ms Mugabe to assume more political power up to the point of replacing Mr Mnangagwa as vice president after next month’s ruling party conference.
There are very few ways to see the latest developments in Zimbabwe through a positive or even neutral view; not because Mr Mnangagwa was a ray of hope for the country, but because the path the Mugabe faction has set ends any prospect of the country recovering from its terminal decline without much suffering.
Over the short-term, the sacking may generate a measure of instability with the potential to assume larger, more ominous proportions; not because Mr Mnangagwa was badly treated, but because he has support from people with weapons and because lies, deceit, manipulation and the fantasies of Ms Mugabe need to be curbed soon or the prognosis gets even worse.
There is no reason to dismiss the speculation that now that she has rid herself of the two most likely succession candidates, she can target her husband after next year’s elections – possibly from the position of vice president.
We also cannot underestimate the impact of ‘President Grace Mugabe’ or even a docile and disempowered President Robert Mugabe under the complete control of his wife. In these scenarios, Zimbabwe becomes a wasteland of disputed political factions squabbling over less and less and a humanitarian crisis is not off the table.
The future of the country is far darker today than it was yesterday and yesterday was already quite dark to begin with. The entire region can brace for more of the same – just multiplied – regarding the fallout.
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Zimbabwe

Has Zimbabwe experienced a coup?

S.Africa’s Zuma says Zimbabwe takeover should not lead to unconstitutional govt

Behind the army’s seizure of power in Zimbabwe

How much power does Zanu-PF’s youth wing carry?

Why Zimbabwe’s military moved into the capital

Who is likely to rule Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe military chief’s China trip was normal visit, Beijing says

Zimbabwe army launches takeover against ‘criminals’ around Mugabe, says president ‘safe’

Zimbabwe military’s statement after seizing power

Zimbabwe soldiers, armored vehicles seal road access to government offices

UK, US tell their citizens in Zimbabwe to stay indoors

Soldiers take over Zimbabwe state broadcaster, say not coup

Tanks seen heading towards Zimbabwe capital: witnesses

Op-Ed: Protecting African Intellectual Property

Zimbabwe’s top general ready “to step in” to end purge of ousted VP supporters

Think bitcoin’s getting expensive? Try Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe – Mnangagwa burned in Mugabe clan’s political scorched earth policy

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