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1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE -Zimbabwe's infla-
tion rate could start hit-
ting an upward trajectory by
March this year, according to
a leading local think-tank.
The country has been experi-
encing deflation - or at least
disinflation in some observ-
er's perspectives - since the
effective dollarisation of the
local economy.
The Zimbabwe Economic Pol-
icy Analysis and Research Unit
(ZEPARU) however said any
possible upturn in inflation in
the short-term will be based
on the success of some the
policy measures announced
in the 2016 National Budget. Said ZEPARU executive direc-
tor Dr Gibson Chigumira:
"We forecast that inflation
will slightly rise from about
-2,47 percent in December
2015 to about -2,10 percent
by March 2016.
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Friday 05 February 2016
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'Zim inflation to rise by March'

2. "But this is assuming that
some of the measures that
were put in place by the Min-
ister (of Finance and Eco-
nomic Development) in his
2016 National Budget will
come to fruition and also that
there might be stabilization
of the South Africa rand,"
said Dr Chigumira.
He however cautioned that
a weak rand remains the
greatest threat to a positive
inflationary outturn for Zim-
babwe, especially insofar as
South Africa is Zimbabwe's
largest trading partner.
"But if it continues on a
free-fall that could affect us
adversely."
On a month-on-month basis,
the country's inflation rate
for December 2015 stood at
-0.11 percent, shedding 0,27
percentage points from the
November rate of 0,16 per-
cent.
Non-food inflation stood at
0,22 percent, shedding 0,28
percentage points from -0,06
percent in November 2015,
while food and non-alco-
holic beverages inflation also
declined by 0,26 percentage
points from 0,04 percent in
November 2015 to -0,21 per-
cent in December 2015.
Zim inflation reached its low-
est in Oct at -3,9 percent.
The country's use of the
multicurrency system - but
effectively the United States
dollar - has hamstrung mon-
etary officials in effecting
traditional tools for economic
stimulus through monetary
policy (that is, interest rates
adjustments).●
2 news
Dr Gibson Chigumira

3. BH243

4. HARARE - The Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe said on Thurs-
day it is mobilizing long
term affordable financing for
miners in the gold and dia-
mond sectors as it seeks to
increase contribution of the
minerals to export earnings.
RBZ governor Dr John Man-
gudya said the two minerals
were key to the recovery of
the struggling mining sector
and of the overall economy.
Zimbabwe has slowly pushed
up gold production in the
last few years, surging to
13.9 tonnes in 2014 to $18.6
tonnes last year and earning
the country nearly $700 mil-
lion. The target for this year
is 24 tonnes.
Dr Mangudya said about $25
million was availed in the
second half of last year to
the gold sector in support of
production activities.
“The bank is increasing
access to long term financ-
ing by continuing to source
affordable long term financ-
ing for the mining sector. The
bank is therefore targeting to
deploy more resources to the
gold sector,” he said.
Through its gold buying and
processing subsidiary, Fidel-
ity Printers, Dr Mangudya
said small-scale gold miners
would also be provided with
equipment. Small-scale min-
ers last year upped their con-
tribution to production of the
yellow metal to 40 percent
from 25 percent the previous
year.
The RBZ said it was also
pushing for decriminaliza-
tion of gold possession which
would allow individuals to
freely sell the mineral to
Fidelity on a “no questions
asked” basis. Monitoring of
players in the sector will also
be tightened to curtail illegal
activities, Dr Mangudya said.
The RBZ governor once again
expressed displeasure at
failure of the diamond mining
sector to make any meaning-
ful contributions to the econ-
omy.
“Unlike gold and tobacco
which have significantly con-
tributed to the liquidity in
the economy, diamonds have
been a great disappoint-
ment,” Dr Mangudya said.
Unlike in neighbouring coun-
tries such as Botswana and
Namibia, Zimbabwe’s dia-
mond mining ventures have
failed to impact on economic
activity as largely antici-
pated raising serious ques-
tions on issues of transpar-
ency and accountability as
well as leakages.
The central bank was sup-
portive of efforts to merge
operations of the sector into
one company called the Zim-
babwe Consolidated Diamond
Company (ZCDC), Dr Man-
gudya said.
He said about $30 million for
working capital was being
mobilized for the ZCDC to
enable it to reach the target
of six million carats that the
Government has set for this
year.
“The bank’s great desire is to
ensure that the ZCDC grows
and becomes what Fidelity
Printers is to the RBZ. The
two, Fidelity Printers and
ZCDC should become the
agents for economic transfor-
mation in Zimbabwe.”-New
Ziana ●
4 news
RBZ targets increased gold, diamond production

5. BH245

6. By Munesu Nyakudya
HARARE - One of country’s
largest fuel retailer, Total
Zimbabwe says it is targeting
to spend $10 million in capi-
tal expenditure this year.
Speaking on the sidelines of
the official opening of the
retailer's Westgate Service
station earlier this week,
group chairperson Mr Chris-
tian Des Closieres said:
“We will invest $10 million
this year," he said "Infact we
have a regular programme
where we invest 10 million
US dollars per year. The other
thing is that we cannot com-
promise quality, we can never
do that,” he said.
Last year the group chairper-
son said the company spent
over $8 million.
“In 2015 total Zimbabwe
invested over $8 million. We
(Total Zimbabwe) continue to
invest in this market because
we believe in the people of
Zimbabwe with whom we
have walked a long journey
spanning close to 56 years,”
Mr Closieres said.
Total Zim has just over
100 service stations dotted
around the country.
Mr Des Closieres said the
company would remain in the
country for the long-run, and
said they welcomed the indig-
enisation law.
“We feel optimistic to
do business in Zimbabwe
because first of all we know
the market we have been
here for long and we have
gone through different peri-
ods and we know and can
resolve issues with each
other, we know that we can
resolve issues when there is
a good dialogue between the
parties. That is why we have
welcomed the announcement
and the indigenisation pro-
gramme,” he said.●
6 news
Total Zimbabwe to invest $10m in 2016

7. BH247

8. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE – The Zimbabwe
Asset Management Corpo-
ration (ZAMCO) has so far
collected $357 million of the
total non-performing loans
as at December 31, 2015
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) Governor Dr John Man-
gudya has said in his 2016
monetary policy.
Dr Mangudya said ZAMCO
has made a notable progress
in collecting nonperforming
loans during the 2015 period
and they are still putting in
place measures to reduce
the level of non-performing
loans.
“The Zimbabwe Asset Man-
agement Corporation
(ZAMCO) has made notable
progress in fulfilling its man-
date of cleansing banks’ bal-
ance sheets through acqui-
sition and restructuring of
non-performing loans.
“As at 31 December 2015,
ZAMCO had acquired and
restructured non-performing
loans totalling $357 million
from a number of banking
institutions,” he said. Cur-
rently the levels of nonper-
forming loans in the country
are amounting to $750 mil-
lion.
“ZAMCO has acquired and
restructured loans for dis-
tressed companies that have
good turning around pros-
pects.
“These companies are in crit-
ical sectors of the economy
such as mining, agro-pro-
cessing and manufacturing,”
he said.
He added that a total of 18
NPLs amounting to $77,4 mil-
lion are at various stages of
evaluation.
Further, ZAMCO, in conjunc-
tion with judicial managers
is at advanced stages of con-
cluding restructuring transac-
tions of four (4) companies,
with combined value of $31
million.
Currently six companies are
working with ZAMCO to col-
lect the NPLs the companies
include RioZim with $33,7
million NPLS, Cottco $29,8
million, Hwange $14,8, Cairns
$6,9 million, Border Timbers
$6,6 million, CSC $2,1 million
and Global Horizons $1 mil-
lion.
In his monetary statement
the Governor said the first
quarter of 2016, focus will be
on all other eligible NPLs out-
side the top 100 with a mini-
mum amount of $50,000.
“In that regard, banking
institutions are required to
ensure that loan and secu-
rity files as well as business
plans in respect to NPLs they
wish to sell to ZAMCO in the
second phase are in place to
facilitate the due diligence
and asset review processes,”
he said.●
8 news
ZAMCO absorbs $357m non-performing loans

9. BH249

10. HARARE - The main-
stream industrial index
lost 1.37 (or 1,33 percent)
on a week-on-week basis,
despite ending the week
on a positive note.
The index added a further
0.16 to close at 101.67 as
giant insurer Old Mutual
gained $0,0987 to $1,7687
on the back of announce-
ment that fungibility limits
for shares in Zimbabwean
register were increased
from 40 to 49 percent.
Padenga added $0,0010
to close at $0,0700 and
Econet moved up by a
marginal $0,0005 to trade
at $0,2205.
On the downside, Tru-
worths dropped $0,0019
to settle at $0,0081 while
Colcom lost $0,0100 to
trade at $0,1600.
The mining index was flat
at 19.53. It also remained
flat on a week-on-week
basis - BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE10
Equities lose 1,33pc week-on-week
Peace of mind is good
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11. BH2411

12. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Old Mutual 5.91 $1.7687 Truworths -0.19 $0.0081
Padenga 1.44 $0.0700 Colcom -5.88 $0.1600
Econet 0.22 $0.2205
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 101.51 101.67 +0.16 points +0.16%
Mining 19.53 19.53 +0.00 points +0.00%
12 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange
02 03
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13. 13 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
03 February 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 420 MW
Kariba 285 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 29 MW
Bulawayo 24 MW
Imports 0 - 300 MW
Total 1371 MW
—10 February 2016 - Nampak Zimbabwe Annual General Meeting: Venue 68 Birmingham Road,
Southerton, Harare: Time 12:00
—18 February 2016 - 70th Annual General Meeting of the members of CAFCA ; Place: Boardroom
at the company’s registered office at 54 Lytton Road, Workington, Harare; Time: 12:00 hours
—23 February 2015 - 38th Annual General Meeting of the members of Powerspeed Electrical
Limited; Place: Powerspeed Boardroom, Gate 1, Powerspeed Complex, Corner Cripps Road and
Kelvin Road North, Graniteside, Harare; Time: 1100 hours
25 February 2016 - Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) of the Shareholders of Radar Hold-
ings Limited; Place: Tanganyika House, 6th Floor Boardroom, Harare; Time: 0900 hours...
25 February 2016 - The 49th Annual General Meeting of Mashonaland Holdings Limited; Place:
The Boardroom, 19th Floor, ZB Life Towers, 77 Jason Moyo Avenue, Harare; Time: 1200 hours...
THE BH24 DIARY

14. BH2414

15. Moody's, the rating agency that
has been the most optimistic
of the top three about SA, has
changed its tone, bluntly warning
yesterday that weak economic
growth and lower tax revenues
would lead to a credit rating
downgrade.
SA’s low growth was "credit nega-
tive" and would hamper the gov-
ernment’s efforts to raise tax rev-
enues and broaden the tax base,
it said.
That implies a downgrade if
growth and other areas of con-
cern, such as a large budget
deficit, do not improve. A down-
grade will raise the government’s
cost of borrowing, cause capital
outflows and further weaken the
rand.
"Even though the National Treas-
ury has budgeted conservatively
for the current fiscal year and
next … the near-zero growth rate
is a significant further downward
shift in the already narrow tax
base that buoyant tax elasticities
cannot overcome," Moody’s sen-
ior vice-president Kristin Lindow
said.
The Reserve Bank has lowered
its growth outlook for this year
to 0,9 percent from 1,5 percent,
while the World Bank revised its
projection to 0,8 percent from
1,4 percent. The International
Monetary Fund pegs it at 0,7 per-
cent.
Economists still expect Finance
Minister Pravin Gordhan to
announce tax increases in his
budget on February 24, despite
Moody’s saying this could be hard
to do given anaemic growth.
Value-added tax was unlikely
to go up, but the marginal rate
for individuals was likely to be
raised and a special levy could
be applied to companies based
on turnover, head of taxation ser-
vices at Deloitte Africa, Nazrien
Kader said. The challenge was to
generate taxes without jeopard-
ising growth or making inequality
worse, she said.
Tepid growth would hamper infra-
structure investment, lowering
potential long-term growth, con-
tributing to high unemployment
and worsening social tensions,
said Moody’s.
Earlier this week, the World Bank
also warned of rising poverty,
saying SA was flirting with reces-
sion. Moody’s rates SA two levels
above speculative grade or junk
at Baa2 with a negative outlook. -
BDLive●
regioNAL News15
SA: Moody's takes tougher line as it flags higher risk of downgrade

16. The dollar headed for its worst
week since 2009 as traders boosted
bets the Federal Reserve will keep
interest rates on hold this year.
Demand for government debt sent
Japan’s 10-year bond yields to a
record low.
Asia’s regional stock gauge
resumed its decline, led by Jap-
anese shares, as the yen headed
for its biggest weekly gain in more
than six years.
European and US stock futures
both declined. Japan’s 10-year
yields extended a slide toward zero,
fueled by the central bank’s move
to negative interest rates.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index
has fallen 2,4 percent this week
as economists forecast US govern-
ment data on Friday will show jobs
growth in January was the weak-
est since September. Patchy US
data ignited the dollar’s retreat this
week, while concern the American
economy is vulnerable to global
headwinds fueled the declines.
The fixed-income market is pricing
in no Fed rate hikes this year, as
central banks from Asia to Europe
have mixed success trying to quell
the turmoil that’s roiled markets in
2016.
While a weaker dollar makes com-
modities more appealing in other
currencies, oil is heading for its first
weekly loss since mid-January as
US inventories rise to a record.
“Expectations are growing by the
day that the Fed will not hike again
this year given the weaker growth
picture and tightening financial
conditions,” Jason Wong, a cur-
rency strategist in Wellington at
Bank of New Zealand Ltd., wrote
in an e-mail to clients. “The key
release is US employment data
overnight, which is expected to
show some payback in employment
growth in January.”
Stocks
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0,3
percent as of 7:29 a.m. in London,
bringing its drop in the week to 0,5
percent. The Topix index in Japan
fell 1,4 percent with the local cur-
rency poised for its best weekly
performance since July 2009.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average is on
track for its fourth weekly retreat
in five weeks, sliding 4 percent as
losses among exporters wiped out
gains incurred after the Bank of
Japan unexpectedly bolstered eco-
nomic stimulus on Jan. 29.
“The Bank of Japan has done what
they should, but what they could do
had its limits,” said Juichi Wako, a
senior strategist at Nomura Hold-
ings Inc. in Tokyo. “Until now the
view on the US economy was that
it’s recovering, but the pace isn’t as
fast as hoped. Now there’s some
concern in the market that it may
actually be contracting.”
Japan’s biggest pension fund, the
world’s largest, has been denied
permission to bypass asset man-
agers when doing business in the
local stock market, according to
Kyodo News. The $1,2 trillion Gov-
ernment Pension Investment Fund
had been seeking clearance to act
directly rather than hiring man-
agers in order to reduce operat-
ing costs and boost the size of its
investments.
Australian stocks fell, with the S&P/
ASX 200 Index in Sydney down 0,6
this week. Futures on the Stoxx
Europe 600 Index dropped 0,3 per-
cent on Friday and those on the
S&P 500 Index fell 0,2 percent.
Nasdaq 100 Index futures slipped
0,2 percent as LinkedIn Corp.
plummeted in extended New York
trading after forecasting below-es-
timate revenue.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
added 0,6 percent, while the Hang
Seng China Enterprises Index
gained 1.1 percent. The Shanghai
Composite Index dropped 0,6 per-
cent.
Mainland Chinese markets are
closed next week with Taiwan’s for
the Lunar New Year break, while
Hong Kong is shut for the first three
days, resuming Thursday.
Currencies
The dollar has dropped 3,2 percent
this week to $1,1194 per euro,
poised for its steepest slide since
October 2011. Australia’s dollar fell
0.1 percent after government data
showed retail sales was weaker
than economists forecast and the
central bank reiterated it has scope
to cut interest rates.
Bonds
The rally in Japanese government
bonds set off by the BOJ sent the
yield on 10-year benchmark notes
to an unprecedented 0,025 percent
in Tokyo on Friday.
Nomura Asset Management Co.
stopped accepting investments
into some money-market funds
as the $14,1 billion dollar industry
grapples with the negative interest
rates introduced by policy makers.
- Bloomberg●
internatioNAL News16
Dollar heads for worst week since 2009 on fed; Japan bonds rally

17. By Dr Marlon-Ralph
We have been having some
buzzing discussions on the
TechMedicine WhatsApp
group. Since its launch, it
has managed to draw a diver-
sity of talent ranging from
doctors, students and public
health specialists, to startup
founders and award winning
developers.
A recent hot topic we had
touched on advertising of
health services and devices in
Zimbabwe.
Most people are shocked by
the realisation that doctors
are not allowed to advertise.
This includes quite a number
of the budding techpreneurs
that I have had the privilege
of working with.
Take a pause to think. Why is
it that you have never seen
your favorite practitioner on
an advert just before the 8
o’clock news?
Why the surgeon who per-
formed the first ever success-
ful surgical separation of con-
joined twins, doesn’t have his
own jingle on the radio that is
aired every 15 minutes?
Whether they may prefer to
or not, is irrelevant. They are
prohibited by law. This prohi-
bition is not limited to doctors
but extends to every health
professional ranging from
pharmacists to dietitians.
There are also restrictions on
the advertising of medicines
and medical devices. Those
adverts on TV that we may
be familiar with, are only for
non-prescription over-the-
counter drugs like pain killers,
cough mixtures, and anti-ac-
ids.
There are rigorous rules and
regulations that give reason
to why blood pressure drugs
and ARVs are not advertised
on TV even though they are
life-saving drugs.
Startups seeking to venture
into health care seem taken
aback by this realization as
advertising is an integral part
of the success of any company.
What’s the point of developing
a solution you can’t inform the
market about?
To put some of these fears and
questions to rest, I ventured
into a bit of investigative jour-
nalism and accosted the pow-
ers that be.
The Medical and Dental Prac-
titioners Council of Zimbabwe
is the governing body that
was set up by law under the
Health Professions Act (Chap-
ter 27:19). It published a
document called ‘Policy on
Information to the Public’ that
governs the kind of informa-
tion doctors or an institution
or group with which a doctor
is associated can disseminate
to the public.
For those who are developing
health care solutions that will
involve doctors offering their
professional services such as
telemedicine, here are some
quotes from the policy that
I think you may benefit from
considering.
“Advertising of professional
services by a registered prac-
17 analysis17 analysis
How regulation of health services advertising is affecting tech startups in the sector

18. 18 analysis18 analysis
titioner is deemed to be an
act of unethical conduct as
patients are vulnerable to mis-
leading information. Equally,
it is an act of improper con-
duct for a registered practi-
tioner to associate themselves
with an institution that adver-
tises for patients.”
“Information must contain
truthful and balanced rep-
resentations…you should not
make direct comparisons
between the quality of your
services and the quality of
services your colleagues pro-
vide.”
“You must not put pressure
on people to use a service,
for example, by arousing ill-
founded fear for their future
health.”
“The information must not
unduly glamorize products
and services or foster unreal-
istic expectations”
“You must not provide infor-
mation about your services
by visiting, emailing or tele-
phoning prospective patients,
either in person or through an
agent”
“It is not appropriate to offer,
manufacture, promote or dis-
tribute or discount coupons
or gift certificates for medical
treatments.”
“It is not appropriate to offer
medical treatments as prizes
or gifts where this is done to
promote a commercial service
or for financial gain”
Judging from the list above,
spam emailing or pop-up mes-
sages will not be allowed.
Apart from these, there are
also rules governing infor-
mation put on websites, how
entries in the Telephone
Directory should appear and
even how office signs should
look! Violating these policies
is a serious offense that may
lead to a disciplinary hearing
for the registered practitioner.
This intense scrutiny auto-
matically leaves a host of
tech-focused health services
in a very grey area. Examples
include Dial-aDoctor services,
online diagnostics and remote
patient care.
To date, Econet has been the
one entity at the forefront of
using these packages, with
NetOne set to launch its own
mobile health services later
this year.
However, these options will
need to be cleared by the nec-
essary authorities, something
that requires a revision of leg-
islation to reflect changes in
technology.
The regulation may seem
harsh but these policies are
put in place to protect the
public. False and misleading
advertising that creates unre-
alistic expectations endangers
members of the public.
Health tech entrepreneurs
have to be wary
The MDPCZ does acknowledge
the unprecedented opportu-
nities that ICT advancements
are providing to enable better
sharing of health information.
However, they prefer that
information conveyed be the
one that promotes the health
of the population as opposed
to promoting business.
This doesn’t mean that one
cannot advertise nor does
it mean that a healthcare
start-up won’t flourish. It
means that a different strat-
egy is needed from the one
that brands like Coke and Axe
deodorant employ.
If again you may consider
the earlier example of your
favorite GP, even if they
don’t seem to advertise, their
offices always seem full of
people requiring you to wait
in line. This is because of the
high demand that exists for
health services and that the
doctor offers good quality
care.
Therefore as an ecosystem of
entrepreneurs, we should set
our focus on creating gen-
uine products and services
that help people knowing that
healthcare is a big enough sky
for every bird to soar in. -
TechZim●