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<p>Retailer Pepkor will be exiting the Zimbabwean market after the country’s economic crisis has hurt the business making a loss of about R70 million. The company also cut its earning per share by a quarter due to an impairment charge in its building company business. Headline earnings for the retailer grew by 14.5 per cent and revenues from continuing operations grew by 9 per cent to R69.6 billion. Pepkor CEO, Leon Lourens joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Retailer Pepkor exits Zim market as economic conditions worsen

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<p>Due to weak macro-economic fundamentals in Zimbabwe, Volumes of Fast Moving Consumer Goods have declined. Joining CNBC Africa to unpack more of this and their research of ZImbabwe&#8217;s GDP growth for 2019 is Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co.</p>


Zim sees decline in volumes of Fast Moving Consumer Goods as economy contracts

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<p>Cement company PPC looks to build a wall to recovery as the company works on cost-saving efforts to find composure after it reported a 12 per cent decline in revenue to about R4.95 billion due to a decrease in building activity in SA and hyperinflation in Zimbabwe.  The cement producer’s headline earnings per share dropped 71.4 per cent to 6c. PPC CEO, Roland van Wijnen joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How new PPC boss plans to turn the company around


<p>By Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe </p>



<p>Two years ago, on November 18<sup>th</sup>, 2017,
hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans took to the streets in the spirit of
peace, unity and hope, calling for a new start. For a new Zimbabwe.</p>



<p>Coming into office a few days later, we committed to saying goodbye to the ways of the past, and to doing things differently. </p>



<p><strong>Read: </strong><a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2019/11/17/op-ed-two-years-on-since-mugabe-was-zimbabwes-president-whats-changed/">Op-Ed: Two years on since Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s president, what’s changed? </a></p>



<p>I immediately moved to give the people their voices
back, opening new channels of communication between the people and their representatives.</p>



<p>Criticism of the government and the presidency would
no longer be taboo, but welcomed, even encouraged. I answered tough questions
on my Facebook page, as I promised to be a listening president.</p>



<p>We immediately went into an election, in which
opposition parties were free to campaign wherever, whenever and however they
liked. Even when I narrowly survived the Bulawayo bombing attack weeks before the
election, nothing changed. The campaign continued unimpeded.</p>



<p>On July 30<sup>th</sup> 2018, eight months after
coming to office, we held the freest and fairest elections in the country’s
history. While no electoral process is perfect, all international monitors
noted the new and free environment of the campaigns, and the vast improvement
in the electoral process. </p>



<p>And we will continue to work closely with our partners
in the international community to improve and refine our democracy. To build a
resolute and open society, a free and fair country for all its citizens. </p>



<p>Part of this is reforming antiquated
legislation and opening up the political space. We are repealing AIPPA,
replacing it with three new laws, consistent with the ethos of the new Zimbabwe: The
Freedom of Information bill, the Protection of Personal Information bill and
the Zimbabwe Media Commission bill.</p>



<p>Developed in consultation
with a diverse range of stakeholders, these laws meet international media
freedom standards and ensure the right to freedom of expression and freedom of
media. </p>



<p>Just last week we removed the much maligned POSA, a remnant
of the old Zimbabwe that limited the right to protest, and replaced it with a new
Maintenance of Peace and Order Bill, devised with input from civil society and
our friends around the world. </p>



<p>These have been key demands of the international community,
and should be interpreted as a sign of our commitment to reform. Yet the
impetus for change and reform comes from within. We are not reforming to
appease the nations of the world, but because reform is necessary to build the
future our people desire. Of course, there is still much work to do, but we are
heading in the right direction.</p>



<p>In November 2017, we also found ourselves mired in an
economic mess. A dark and dangerous fiscal tunnel, with no apparent light at
the end of it.</p>



<p>Today, we have a balanced budget for the first time in
living memory, and we have restored our own currency, enabling us to take
control of both our fiscal and monetary policy.&nbsp;
</p>



<p>Of course, too many Zimbabweans still suffer, but
austerity is a painful but necessary part of the recovery process. Led by our
internationally recognised Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube, we will
continue to restructure, revamp and rebuild our economy. We cannot and will not
hold up our hands.&nbsp; We must reform or perish.</p>



<p>The people of Zimbabwe know perseverance. Just because
the process is tough, we will never take our eyes off the prize. We must never give
up until we have achieved our goals: A middle income economy by 2030.</p>



<p>We are investing in this process like never
before.&nbsp; A process of wholesale economic,
political and social reforms.</p>



<p>I call on the nations of the
world to help us speed up this process, to support the people of Zimbabwe as we
undertake these painful but necessary reforms.</p>



<p>If the goal of sanctions is
to stimulate the reform process, their effect is the opposite. They slow down
our progress, inhibit our economic recovery and empower those who do not wish
to see Zimbabwe change. </p>



<p>Their removal will therefore
be an important step on the road to a better future for all the people of this
country.</p>



<p>We as leaders have a duty to set a new course for our
people. &nbsp;A course where not only is our
fate in our own hands, but where no one is left behind. A course with a
balanced budget, an open political space, and a thriving economy providing the
jobs and opportunities our people deserve. </p>



<p>I shall never stop working towards these goals and
will never waver in my determination to realise the dreams of all those who
took to the streets two years ago. I am confident that with patience,
perseverance and our unbending commitment to reform, we will get there.</p>


Op-Ed: This is how Zimbabwe has changed since I became president: Emmerson Mnangagwa


<p>By Chris Bishop, Head of Programming, CNBC Africa </p>



<p> It is two years this week since President Robert Gabriel Mugabe stepped down as leader of Zimbabwe. Surely the only question was why it took so long for him the retreat from the ashes of a political career, once so full of promise that left him as arguably one of the most loathed leaders in Africa.</p>



<p><strong>Read:</strong> <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2019/11/17/op-ed-this-is-how-zimbabwe-has-changed-since-i-became-president-emmerson-mnangagwa/">Op-Ed: This is how Zimbabwe has changed since I became president: Emmerson Mnangagwa</a></p>



<p>On November 21, the day of reckoning, tens of thousands were
out on the streets calling for Mugabe to go; in Parliament, many politicians
who had spent their careers on bended knee before the man himself, punched the
air in celebration. Business too had high hopes; the new man President Emmerson
Mnangagwa was more business minded and pragmatic people said &#8211; wasn’t he? Even
though he had been in cabinet, overseeing the steady fall of Zimbabwe, for the
best part of 40 years. Old wine in new bottles, said the cynics.</p>



<p>It didn’t start well. I recall reading Zimbabwe’s first post
Mugabe investment prospectus that the new President Mnangagwa was going to
present to us at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2018. It was a <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2018/01/22/zimbabwes-offering/">thrown
together document</a> talking about how the government was going to compensate
farmers who lost their land – the loss that triggered the country’s rapid
decline – with scarce hard currency. It all seemed a little far -fetched at a
crucial time for the economy when investors were looking for certainty and bold
strokes to usher in revival.</p>



<p>Two years on, most of the Zimbabwe business people I speak
to as the Head of Programming of CNBC Africa appear more pessimistic than they
have been since the dark days of the early 2000s when hyperinflation signalled
the end for the Zimbabwe dollar and any vestige of credibility for the economy.
Inflation is about 300 % and on its way to Weimar Republic proportions, for the
second time in two decades. Even the well-heeled business types I know in
Harare have to struggle &nbsp;through power cuts, shortages and a dearth of
hard currency.</p>



<p>The finance minister economist Mthuli Ncube, bless him, has
been one appointment that stood out, in the Mnangagwa years, like a beacon. He
is a technocrat, with international experience, unsullied by the thuggish
politics of the last desperate years of Mugabe. He was also not a party man and
clearly is more at home looking over the books than standing with fist clenched
at political rallies.</p>



<p>Yet, how much power he is going to be allowed remains to be
seen. He is a man who needs to make painful cuts to help revive the economy,
yet, when he did so in the last budget, in the form of reducing MP allowances,
he was soon sent back to the drawing board.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/01/23/zimbabwes-plan-to-woo-investors-in-davos/">Ncube
has told CNBC Africa a number of times</a> that he is prepared to reintroduce
the Zimbabwe dollar as if it were as easy as flicking a switch. But the
reintroduction of the small denomination notes in Harare this week, supposedly
to ease the cash crisis, smacks of tinkering. It is unlikely that the flimsy
notes will make much except for a few headlines. Many Zimbabweans have told me
they won’t trust the new notes and a black market has already sprung up. One
wonders whether it was an economic or a political decision.</p>



<p>All in all, a week may be a long time in politics, but the
last two years have been another grinding time of torpor for the Zimbabwe
economy. Investors appear to be fighting shy, the infrastructure is crumbling
and more and more skilled Zimbabweans are leaving the country in despair.</p>



<p>No more politics, give us business, most in Harare say to
me. That was what the end of the Mugabe era was supposed to mean.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


Op-Ed: Two years on since Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s president, what’s changed?

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<p>Could a digital currency be a solution for Zimbabwe’s cash crisis, by shifting power from central authority’s and creating currency independence for citizens? Joining CNBC Africa for more is Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co.</p>


Could a digital currency be the answer to Zimbabwe’s cash crisis?


<p>HARARE, Nov 4 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe police have given public sector workers permission to march for better pay on Wednesday in what is widely seen as a test of President Emmerson Mnangagwa&#8217;s willingness to tolerate dissent.</p>



<p>A notice received from police by the Apex Council of public sector unions said the protest could go ahead but also warned that police would stop the march if it turned violent.</p>



<p>&#8220;The regulating authority still reserves the right to stop the gathering should it turn out to a public order threat or violent. Police will monitor,&#8221; Oscar Mugomeri, police commander for Harare central district, wrote in the letter.</p>



<p>Mugomeri could not be reached for comment on Monday.</p>



<p>Unions say Mnangagwa&#8217;s government has not responded to demands for U.S. dollar-indexed salaries to cushion public sector workers against inflation that economists say reached 380% in September.</p>



<p>Daily life in Zimbabwe is getting harder, with prices of basic goods, fuel and electricity rising as hope fades for a quick economic recovery under Mnangagwa, who took power after the late Robert Mugabe was ousted in a coup in 2017.</p>



<p>Mnangagwa has banned several opposition protests and faces accusations that he is using Mugabe&#8217;s heavy-handed tactics.</p>



<p>Police have been on high alert since January, when fuel protests turned violent and at least a dozen people were killed during a security crackdown.</p>



<p>Unions want the lowest government employees paid the equivalent of $475 (7,251 Zimbabwe dollars) a month compared to the 1,023 Zimbabwe dollars they earn now.</p>



<p>Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, who projects the economy to contract by 6.5% this year, has said the government cannot meet the workers&#8217; demands.</p>



<p>Charles Chinosengwa, spokesman for the Apex Council, which represents 230,000 workers &#8211; excluding the health and security sectors &#8211; said unions were mobilising members from across Zimbabwe.</p>



<p>&#8220;This is strictly a labour issue. We don&#8217;t need support from politicians, we are saying hands off to politicians,&#8221; he said.</p>



<p>Shortages of foreign currency, fuel and power are among the most visible signs of a crisis that has revived memories of 2008, when hyperinflation wiped out savings and forced the government to abandon its currency.</p>



<p>Mnangagwa says Zimbabweans should be patient while his government pursues economic reforms, including gradually cutting subsidies on fuel and electricity and the re-introduction of the domestic currency.</p>



<p>$1 = 15.2654 Zimbabwe dollars </p>



<p>(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Timothy Heritage)</p>


Zimbabwe police give unions green light for public sector protest, what you need to know…

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<p>Zimbabwe’s central bank will be introducing a new currency amid a serious cash shortage in the country. Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co joins CNBC Africa for more on the deliberations of the MPC in Zimbabwe.</p>


Zim central bank introduces new currency

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<p>Zimbabwe is on a public holiday today as the country embarks on a nationwide strike for the removal of sanction imposed by the United States. The U.S sanctions target those who engage in corruption, human rights violations and those who undermine democratic processes. Gauteng ANC Provincial secretary Jacob Khawe and ZANU PF South Africa Spokesperson Kennedy Mandaza spoke to CNBC Africa about the impact of sanctions on Zimbabwe.</p>


Zimbabwe embarks on anti-sanctions crusade

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<p>Zimbabwe is on a public holiday today as the country embarks on a nationwide strike for the removal of sanction imposed by the United States. The U.S sanctions target those who engage in corruption, human rights violations and those who undermine democratic processes. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co.</p>


Zimbabwe sanctions: What you need to know?

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<p>Malaicha.com is an innovative new app that lets you send goods and groceries from South Africa to Zimbabwe. The app delivers to four major cities in the country. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kopano Gumbi spoke to the CEO Moosa Manjra.</p>


This innovative new app lets you send goods and groceries from SA to Zim

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<p>Just months after the World Bank rated Zimbabwe as a lower –middle income country, they have now been downgraded to a low income country. This is yet again another setback for the Southern African country as high unemployment rates, high taxes and limited capital has forced the downgrade. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co.</p>


World Bank downgrades Zim to a low-income country

<figure>
    <img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295966/original/file-20191008-128705-1src4ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;rect=9%2C138%2C3109%2C2546&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip" />
      <figcaption>
        Zimbabwe’s food insecurity is more complex than the headline figures suggest.
        <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
      </figcaption>
  </figure>

By <span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-scoones-117123">Ian Scoones</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sussex-1218">University of Sussex</a></em></span>

<p>Since Zimbabwe’s land reform of 2000 – when around 8 million hectares of formerly large-scale commercial farmland was distributed to about 175,000 households –  debates about the <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/zimbabwes-agricultural-sector-goes-from-bread-basket-to-basket-case-or-is-it-again-a-bit-more-complicated/">consequences for food security</a> have raged.</p>

<p>A standard narrative has been that Zimbabwe has turned from “food basket” to “basket case”. This year, following the devastating <a href="https://www.climate.gov/enso">El Niño</a> drought combined with <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/cyclone-idai-destroys-zimbabwe-farms-deepening-food-crisis-190329142611666.html">Cyclone Idai</a>, some <a href="http://fnc.org.zw/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ZimVAC-2019-Rural-Livelihoods-Assessment-report.pdf">5.5 million people</a> are estimated to be at risk of hunger, with international agencies issuing <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ROSEA_Zimbabwe_HumanitarianAppealRevision_06082019.pdf">crisis and emergency alerts</a>.</p>

<p>It is unquestionable that this season was disastrous – only 776,635 tonnes of maize was produced, more than a third below the five-year average. Nevertheless, the story of food insecurity is more complex than the headline figures suggest.</p>

<p>It’s true that Zimbabwe’s food economy has been transformed over the past 19 years. Aggregate <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=zw&amp;commodity=corn&amp;graph=production">production</a> of maize has certainly declined, and <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=zw&amp;commodity=corn&amp;graph=imports">imports</a> have become more frequent. </p>

<p>But Zimbabwe suffered food shortages, often precipiated by El Niño events, before land reform. These too led to the need for more imports. And surpluses have also been produced since land reform. For example, in 2017, there was a <a href="https://theconversation.com/land-reform-is-a-zimbabwe-success-story-it-will-be-the-basis-for-economic-recovery-under-mnangagwa-88205">bumper crop</a>. Some of it was stored and has been used to keep people going. </p>

<p>Getting behind the headline figures and understanding an increasingly complex food economy is essential. <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/">Our on-going research</a> shows just how complicated the picture is.</p>

<h2>Farming and food</h2>

<p>Since land reform, we have been <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/">tracking livelihood change</a> in resettlement areas in a number of sites across the country. Our research is exploring how people have fared since getting land, asking who is doing well and not so well, and why. Some of our key findings include:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Crop production is higher in the land reform areas compared to the communal lands. Larger land areas allows new settlers to produce, invest and accumulate.</p></li>
<li><p>There are substantial hidden flows of food between land reform areas and poor rural and urban areas, as successful resettlement farmers provide food for relatives, or sell food informally.</p></li>
<li><p>There is a significant growth of small-scale, <a href="https://theconversation.com/irrigating-africa-can-small-scale-farmers-lead-the-way-113692">farmer-led irrigation</a> in resettlement areas. This is often not recognised, as production occurs on disparate small plots, frequently farmed by younger people without independent homes.</p></li>
<li><p>Trade in food across regions and borders, facilitated by networks of traders, often women, is significant, but unrecorded.</p></li>
<li><p>Market networks following land reform are complex and informal, linking producers to traders and <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/small-towns-in-zimbabwe-are-booming-thanks-to-land-reform/">small urban centres</a> in new ways. Outside formal channels, the volume and flows of food through the system is difficult to trace.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Simple aggregate analyses of food deficits, estimating the numbers of people at risk of food insecurity, do not capture these new dynamics. National surveys are important, but <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/food-crisis-in-zimbabwe-2-2-million-a-risk-but-where-do-the-figures-come-from-and-what-do-they-mean/">may be misleading</a>, and local studies, such as ours, often do not match the national, aggregate picture. </p>

<p>So, what is going on?</p>

<h2>Access to food: complex relationships</h2>

<p>Food insecurity is not just about production, it is also about access. This is affected by the value of assets when sold, the ease with which things can be bought and sold in markets, the value of cash as influenced by currency fluctuations and inflation, local and cross-border trade opportunities, and all the social, institutional and cultural dimensions that go into exchange. </p>

<p>When these dimensions change, so does food security. And this is particularly true for certain groups.</p>

<p>Take the case of Zvishavane district, in Midlands province of Zimbabwe. In the communal area of Mazvihwa, there was effectively no production this season. Some got a little if they had access to wetlands, and a few had stores. But compared to 30 years ago, production is focused on maize, which stores poorly, rather than small grains that can be kept for years. </p>

<p>How are people surviving? Some seek piecework in the nearby resettlement areas; others have taken up seasonal gold panning; others migrate to town, or further afield; others get help from relatives through remittances; while others are in receipt of cash transfers or food hand-outs from NGOs. </p>

<p>With small amounts of cash, people must buy food. It’s available in shops, but expensive. So a vibrant trade has emerged, with exchanges of maize grain for sugar or other products. And it’s especially people from the land reform areas who are selling their surpluses. Many have relatives who got land, and some travel there to get food, but there is also a network of women traders who come and sell in the communal areas.</p>

<p>Aggregate surveys almost always <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/food-security-in-zimbabwe-why-a-more-sophisticated-response-is-needed/">miss this complexity</a>. There are sampling biases, as the importance of the resettlements as sites of production and exchange are missed. </p>

<p>There are data problems too, as it is difficult to pick up informal exchanges, and income-earning activities on the margins. The result is that each year there are big food insecurity figures proclaimed, fund-raising campaigns launched, but meanwhile people get on with surviving. </p>

<p>This is not to say that there is not a problem this year. Far from it. But it may be a different one to that diagnosed.</p>

<h2>Economic collapse is causing a humanitarian crisis</h2>

<p>As the <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2019-09-26-zimbabwes-economy-in-steep-contraction-as-inflation-hits-300/">Zimbabwean economy</a> continues to deteriorate, with rapidly-rising inflation, parallel currency rates, and declining service provision, whether electricity, fuel or water, the challenges of market exchange and trade become more acute. Barter trade is more common, as prices fluctuate wildly and the value of physical and electronic money diverge. With poor mobile phone networks due to electricity outages, electronic exchange becomes more difficult too.</p>

<p>Collapsing infrastructure has an effect on production also. Fuel price hikes make transport prohibitive and irrigation pumps expensive to run. Desperate measures by government often make matters worse. The <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/private-grain-imports-now-legal-govt/">now-rescinded</a> edict that all grain must be supplied to the state grain marketing board undermined vital informal trade. Meanwhile, the notoriously corrupt <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2019/07/26/missing-us3bn-an-indictment-on-mnangagwas-government/">“command agriculture”</a> subsidy scheme directs support to some, while excluding others from the provision of favourable loans for government-supplied seed, fertiliser, fuel or equipment. </p>

<p>Economic and infrastructural collapse is threatening food security in Zimbabwe. Even if there is good rainfall this season, the crisis will persist. Farmers will plant, produce and market less this year. While food imports are needed for targeted areas and population groups for sure, this may not be the biggest challenge. </p>

<p>Stabilising Zimbabwe’s economy is the top priority, as economic chaos is causing a humanitarian crisis.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124791/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" /></p>

<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-scoones-117123">Ian Scoones</a>, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sussex-1218">University of Sussex</a></em></span></p>

<p>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/economic-chaos-is-causing-a-food-security-and-humanitarian-crisis-in-zimbabwe-124791">original article</a>.</p>

What is causing Zimbabwe’s food security and humanitarian crisis ?

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<p>According to a report by Morgan and Co, Foreign investors are rapidly exiting South African and Zimbabwean markets amid increasing country risk and global recession fears. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co.</p>


Investors in Zim cash in on Old Mutual’s woes. Here’s how

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<p>According to a report by Morgan and Co, Foreign investors are rapidly exiting South African and Zimbabwean markets amid increasing country risk and global recession fears. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co.</p>


Where to find value on the Zimbabwean bourse


<p>HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe has increased the average electricity tariff by 320% to let the state power utility ramp up production and improve supplies at a time of daily rolling power cuts, the national energy regulator said on Wednesday.</p>



<p>Power cuts lasting up to 18 hours have hit mines, industry and homes and, together with a devastating drought, have been cited by the treasury as among the main reasons why the economy is set to contract by up to 6% this year. </p>



<p>However, the jump in power costs will further anger Zimbabwean citizens who have in the last week seen sharp rises in fuel and basic goods prices. Salaries have not kept pace, prompting citizens to blame President Emmerson Mnangagwa&#8217;s policies for the worst economic crisis in a decade.</p>



<p>The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) said it had approved an application by Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to raise the tariff to 162.16 cents (10.61 U.S. cents) from 38.61 cents.</p>



<p>This was the second increase in three months, following one in August.</p>



<p>ZERA said the tariff hike was necessary after inflation soared &#8211; the IMF says it was about 300% in August &#8211; and due to a plummeting Zimbabwe dollar currency, which was re-introduced in June.</p>



<p>The new tariff would allow ZETDC to raise money to repair its generators, as well as pay for imports from South Africa&#8217;s Eskom and Mozambique which cost U.S. $19.5 million every month, the regulator said.</p>



<p>Hopes that Zimbabwe&#8217;s economy would quickly rebound under Mnangagwa, who took over after the late Robert Mugabe was deposed in a coup in November 2017, have faded fast as ordinary people grapple with soaring inflation which has eroded earnings and savings.</p>



<p>(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Toby Chopra)</p>


Here’s why Zimbabwe has quadrupled its electricity prices

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<p>Zimbabwe’s growth forecast has been overshadowed by high levels of debt as its sovereign debt is estimated at $19.7 billion, placing Zimbabwe’s debt-to GDP ratio at 114.6 per cent. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Batanai Matsika, Head of Research at Morgan &#038; Co.</p>


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Retailer Pepkor exits Zim market as economic conditions worsen

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Op-Ed: This is how Zimbabwe has changed since I became president: Emmerson Mnangagwa

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