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<p>There has been a huge call for Zimbabwe to engage in a national dialogue to resolve the country’s economic crisis. The country’s reserve bank governor recently introduced a new currency known as Real Time Gross Transfer dollars or ‘RTGS dollars’ as a measure to address its currency problem.  For more on the dialogue issue, the newly introduced currency, and role South Africa and SADC should play in resolving Zim crisis; CNBC Africa spoke to Former Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara.</p>


Zimbabwe needs bold reforms, productivity not a new currency – Arthur Mutambara

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<p>Zimbabwe has been struggling with a knock to the price of food and other goods as inflation has increased massively. For more on the impact of the dire situation In Zimbabwe CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters spoke to people on the ground who have been affected the most by the economic crisis.</p>


How Zimbabweans are surviving exorbitant food prices

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<p>Former Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara says Zimbabweans need to put their differences aside, and engage in a genuine national dialogue to resolve the country&#8217;s worsening economic crisis. For more on the dialogue process and the newly introduced local currency Professor Mutambara spoke to CNBC Africa’s Daniel Sango.</p>


Ex-Zimbabwe Deputy PM Mutambara lambasts Mnangangwa dialogue, calls for genuine talks to resolve crisis

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<p>As the Business Unity South Africa held its Business Economic Indaba aimed at developing at developing strategies of a transformed and inclusive economy, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko joins CNBC Africa’s Lubabalo Mashiqana for a discussion on WEF, SA/India relations and SA’s intentions to aid Zimbabwean economy.</p>


Presidency on SA/India relations and plans to help Zimbabwe

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<p>The recent high risk security incidents that have occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe have seen the government temporarily shutting down the internet. Social media and cell phone reception had not been working during a critical time of political and economic turmoil in each of these countries. CNBC Africa is joined by Michael Power, Director of ALT Advisory for more on the legality of internet shut downs.</p>


Internet shutdowns violate human rights, says ALT Advisory’s Michael Power

<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/roger-southall-296862">By Roger Southall</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-witwatersrand-894">University of the Witwatersrand</a></em></span>

<p>Cries of moral outrage have greeted the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-needs-to-be-done-to-stop-zimbabwes-violent-meltdown-110193">brutal crackdown</a> by the Zimbabwean security forces on nationwide protests sparked by a sudden, massive, government-ordained <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2019/01/13/anger-as-mnangagwa-raises-fuel-prices-in-zimbabwe">hike in the price of fuel</a>. Naturally enough, the demand is that “something must be done” to stop the brutality. Twelve people have <a href="https://worldjusticenews.com/news/2019/01/20/twelve-dead-as-zimbabwe-crackdown-continues/">already died</a>, hundreds have been injured and there have been <a href="https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zimbabwe-crackdown-children-shackled-and-caged-in-security-round-up/?PageSpeed=noscript">mass round ups</a>. </p>

<p>In South Africa, demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government should take <a href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/why-south-africa-must-intervene-in-zimbabwe-20190124">firm action</a> are fuelled by two factors. The presence of a large Zimbabwean <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/millions-of-zimbabweans-living-in-sa-must-help-resolve-conflict-back-home-anc-20190122">migrant community</a> within the country is one. The second is a widespread sense that Pretoria’s policy towards its errant neighbour has always been one of light wrist-tapping rather than a vigorous twisting of arms. </p>

<p>Inter-liberation movement solidarity is widely said to have strangled serious South African criticisms of Zimbabwean governments. This “quiet diplomacy” has been <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017-11-15-south-africas-quiet-diplomacy-towards-zimbabwe-must-end-maimane/">regularly dismissed</a> as a strategy of doing nothing. If South Africa got serious, say the critics, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime would have to comply with its demands. Democracy in Zimbabwe could be given a real chance.  </p>

<p>Many South Africans are concerned by the position Ramaphosa has taken towards the present crisis. South Africa is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-politics-safrica/south-africa-turned-down-zimbabwe-request-for-12-billion-loan-in-december-idUSKCN1PF0IG">reported</a> to have turned down a request from Zimbabwe for a loan of US$1.2 billion to ease its desperate foreign currency shortage. Yet Ramaphosa was vocal at the recent meeting of global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos in calling for <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/ramaphosa-says-lift-zimbabwe-sanction-20190122">an end to sanctions</a>. He argued that these were damaging Zimbabwe’s prospects of economic recovery. </p>

<p>Ramaphosa’s call for an end to sanctions clearly reflects his government’s view that it cannot afford a collapse of the Zimbabwean economy. Zimbabwe remains a <a href="http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/early-days-but-some-sa-firms-responding-to-zimbabwes-open-for-business-pledge-2018-03-23">site</a> for South African investment and a <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/exports/zimbabwe">significant market</a> for South African goods. This is despite the huge difficulties South African firms have in getting profits out of Zimbabwe .</p>

<p>Meanwhile, best estimates suggest that South Africa already hosts up to <a href="https://africacheck.org/reports/how-many-zimbabweans-live-in-south-africa-the-numbers-are-unreliable/">two million Zimbabweans</a>, though the exact number isn’t known. Any further decline of an already shattered Zimbabwean economy could send many more Zimbabwean migrants across the border, adding to the already <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/unemployment-rate">huge pool of unemployed</a> in South Africa. </p>

<p>There are thus very real reasons for the South African position, even if the motivation is self-interested. Yet would it help the cause of Zimbabwean democracy and human rights if the European Union and US were to now bring “sanctions” to an end? </p>

<p>In reality, the answer is extraordinarily complicated.</p>

<h2>The thorny subject of sanctions</h2>

<p>Successive Zimbabwean governments have long been dismissive of efforts from outside the country to effect political change. President Robert Mugabe <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2008-07-16-mugabe-lashes-out-at-uk-as-inflation-soars">routinely insisted </a>that sanctions and other policies designed to isolate Zimbabwe were intended to bring about “regime change”. </p>

<p>These interventions included the round of sanctions first <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/feb/18/zimbabwe">imposed by the European Union in 2002</a> and <a href="https://www.congress.gov/107/plaws/publ99/PLAW-107publ99.pdf">the passage</a> by the US government of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act in 2001. The act encouraged the president to implement travel bans and financial restrictions against people conducting political violence.</p>

<p>The Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) has equally consistently claimed that the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy is a result of the imposition of sanctions. Recently Mnangagwa <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/remove-illegal-sanctions-against-zimbabwe-mnangagwa-pleads-with-the-west-20180929">claimed</a> that the sanctions, which are still in place, are “illegal”.</p>

<p>Setting aside the Zimbabwe government’s reaction – which is to be expected – do sanctions work, which ones work and what conditions are necessary to make them work? </p>

<p>There is enormous controversy, politically and academically, around the issues. Furthermore, what impact do sanctions have, how do you measure this, and does impact measure up to the objectives notionally to be achieved? </p>

<p>In the Zimbabwean case, the US and EU insist that the measures they have taken are “targeted sanctions”. These are designed to hurt individuals identified as members of the repressive ZANU-PF regime rather than the ordinary people of Zimbabwe. For instance, the US Zimbabwe law led <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/us-reforms-first-then-removal-of-zimbabwe-sanctions/4572810.html">to the imposition of travel bans</a> and financial restrictions on members of the ZANU-PF regime. </p>

<p>Yet reliable data on how effective such measures have been is lacking. Critics would argue that the present crackdown on protests demonstrates their manifest failure. There may well be a case for arguing that the imposition of targeted sanctions by both the US and EU are designed to demonstrate to domestic audiences that “they are doing something” as much as to bring about improved governance. </p>

<p>Yet does this mean they should be abandoned?</p>

<h2>The case for keeping up the pressure</h2>

<p>Immediate cancellation of such sanctions would clearly send out an extraordinarily dispiriting message to Zimbabweans who are on the receiving end of regime violence. </p>

<p>There is also a message here for the Ramaphosa government, and for other member governments of the southern African region.</p>

<p>By all means keep the borders with Zimbabwe open, the traffic flowing, and economic exchanges continuing. At the same time, there’s an urgent need to get serious with the Mnangagwa government. The time for diplomatic niceties is long past. South Africa needs to make life as uncomfortable as possible for members of the regime by adopting practical and measurable strategies: stop their travel to and through South Africa, freeze their bank accounts, stop them sending their children to private schools and South Africa’s top universities. </p>

<p>It may well be that if South Africa is to effect change for the better in Zimbabwe its diplomacy must remain “quiet”. If so, it must also be tough.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110578/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/roger-southall-296862">Roger Southall</a>, Professor of Sociology, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-witwatersrand-894">University of the Witwatersrand</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/south-african-diplomacy-on-zimbabwe-can-remain-quiet-but-it-must-get-tough-110578">original article</a>.</p>

Op-Ed: What SA should do about Zimbabwe’s crisis

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<p>Old Mutual’s CEO Peter Moyo is attending the World Economic Forum for the first time since the group demutualised, he discussed its FinTech plans and the outcome of his meeting with Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube.</p>


Old Mutual’s CEO Peter Moyo reveals its plans for fintech

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<p>Old Mutual’s CEO Peter Moyo is attending the World Economic Forum for the first time since the group demutualised, he discussed its FinTech plans and the outcome of his meeting with Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube.</p>


Old Mutual’s CEO Peter Moyo met with Zim’s finmin, this is what was discussed

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<p>Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube spoke to CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop about the task of reviving the country’s economy, on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland.</p>


Zimbabwe’s plan to woo investors in #Davos


<p>HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Armed Zimbabwean police arrested activist pastor Evan Mawarire at his home on Wednesday and were to charge him with inciting public violence following protests that left three people dead this week, his lawyer said.</p>



<p>A Reuters witness saw about a dozen heavily armed police officers bundling Mawarire into the back seat of a truck and his lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who was present, told reporters that the pastor would be charged at a police station.</p>



<p>Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Gift Sukhala; Editing by James Macharia</p>


Zimbabwean #ThisFlag activist pastor Evan Mawarire arrested, here’s why


<p>By Chris Bishop, head of programming CNBC Africa </p>



<p>Zimbabwe is boiling over with anger right now. The economy
is crumbling, commodities and currency are in short supply, petrol is expensive
and scarce, the solution to the latter was for the government to double the
price at the pump.&nbsp; This led to hot
headed violence on the streets of Harare, amid burning cars and flying bullets.</p>



<p>Ironically, he man who told the world he was going to sort
out this mess and should be taking the heat is spending the next week, or so,
in two of the coldest countries on earth. As I write he is in Russia and next
week he will land in Switzerland to make another pitch for investors among the
world money heavyweights at the World Economic Forum in the snowy ski resort of
Davos. </p>



<p>President Emmerson Mnangagwa&nbsp;
&#8211; who came to power after a military takeover in November 2017 –
countered criticism that he was one of the Zanu-PF old school by saying he
would take radical steps to throw Zimbabwe open for business. He made all the
right noises and appointed technocrats to his cabinet, instead of party
stalwarts, like economist Mthuli Ncube. </p>



<p>Yet Mnangagwa’s <a href="http://cnbc.africa/zdnl-mc/2018/01/22/zimbabwes-offering/">first pitch to Davos</a> for investment, in 2018, was weak to say the least. It was a vague document talking about tribunals to decide on compensation for farmers and a raft of lukewarm incentives to invest in what was once the food exporting jewel of Southern Africa. </p>



<p>At least one high profile CEO in Zimbabwe has called on
Mnangagwa to cut short his trip to Davos to sort out the chaos and penury at
home. Many struggling Zimbabweans are likely to agree.</p>



<p>Mnangagwa is just one of two new presidents from southern
Africa with a point to prove at Davos this year.</p>



<p>The other is President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa in
his first year in power. He made a sterling appearance at Davos, in 2018, full
of hopeful speeches promising better days. He said corruption would be
investigated and big fish put in court. It was all good tub-thumping stuff as
he stepped up his campaign to take the top job, which happened the following month,
after years of depressing talk of state corruption it was like a breath of
fresh air.</p>



<p>Ramaphosa delivered, to an extent, yet his economy
stubbornly refused to show strong growth and the currency is in worse shape
than it was in the days of his predecessor – the discredited President Jacob
Zuma. </p>



<p>This year Ramaphosa is likely to find it a bit trickier to
catch the ear of investors as he tries to balance being open for business with
an election in May. Voter-friendly talk of land expropriation without
compensation and propping up the economy with taxpayers’ money is unlikely to
go down well with hard-nosed investors. Also the euphoria that greeted
Ramaphosa taking over the reins has died down.</p>



<p>Two presidents; two different, yet equally vital, challenges
in what promises to be a fascinating week in Davos upon which could hinge
millions of dollars in investment . The well-being and future of millions of
African families depends upon it. </p>


#WEF19: Ramaphosa vs Mnangagwa. The tough tale of two African presidents

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<p>Sven Richter, Fund Manager at Drakens Capital joins CNBC Africa to look at Zimbabwe’s investment outlook for 2019.</p>


If you have the stomach for risk, this #Zimbabwe company is worth looking at

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<p>Sven Richter, Fund Manager at Drakens Capital joins CNBC Africa to look at Zimbabwe’s investment outlook for 2019.</p>


Why a new currency in #Zimbabwe may not fix the economy

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<p>Zimbabwe&#8217;s financial woes deepen with a row over the use of the US dollar as the trading currency due to collapsing economy there. These challenges coupled with skyrocketing costs of fuel overnight have seen many businesses and other markets in Zimbabwe gravely affected. To zoom in the events unfolding in Zimbabwe CNBC Africa is joined by Sven Richter, Fund Manager at Drakens Capital.</p>


Collapsing Zimbabwean economy cripples markets


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s largest brewing company Delta Corporation said on Wednesday that its beverages subsidiary will accept hard currency only from Jan. 4 to protect itself from a crippling shortage of U.S. dollars in the country.</p>



<p>The African country adopted the use of foreign currencies, mainly the U.S. dollar, in 2009 in an effort to tame inflation, but a severe shortage of physical notes has left Zimbabweans watching the dollars in their bank accounts lose value compared with cash.</p>



<p>The move by Delta is the latest evidence of the strain the shortage of is having on businesses, with some shutting up shop and the government taking steps to ensure others remain viable.</p>



<p>The decision means Delta, which is 40 percent owned by Anheuser-Busch Inbev, will no longer accept electronic dollars known as “Zollars” or a quasi-currency known as “bond notes” at its Delta Beverages subsidiary.</p>



<p>In a letter to customers of Delta Beverages posted on Twitter, the company said it did not have enough foreign currency, prompting foreign suppliers, some of which have not been paid for long periods, to cut off credit and new orders.</p>



<p>“Our business has been adversely affected by the prevailing shortages in hard currency, resulting in the company failing to meet your orders,” it said, adding that soft drinks had been out of stock for prolonged periods.</p>



<p>“To sustain its operations, the company advises wholesale and retail customers that its products will be charged in hard currency.”</p>



<p>The so-called bond notes had been introduced by Zimbabwe’s central bank to address the currency shortage, but the value of these has collapsed.</p>



<p>The currency crunch has also caused shortages of basic goods, medicines and fuel, pushing inflation to a 10-year high in November.</p>



<p>Delta said it had invested $600 million in plant and equipment, vehicles and ancillary services since 2009 and that it needs to protect this investment.</p>



<p>“There is need for wider consultation on policy interventions to build consensus and market confidence among stakeholders to stabilise the macroeconomic environment,” it said in its letter.</p>



<p>Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by David Goodman</p>


Zimbabwe’s largest brewing company has just changed its payment terms, here’s why


<p class="has-background has-very-light-gray-background-color">(Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; The giant solar panels mounted on the roof of Budiriro Polyclinic, a public health centre in Harare, bring a smile to the faces of patients, including 40-year-old Alen Tafirei.</p>



<p class="has-background has-very-light-gray-background-color">The steady power supply from the sun means vaccines can be refrigerated, for example, without disruption from frequent outages as in the past.</p>



<p class="has-background has-very-light-gray-background-color">“We are now no longer inconvenienced with excuses from nurses of the unavailability of electricity to cater for some services,” said Tafirei, who was suffering from a bad headache. “Solar helps us quite a lot.”</p>



<p>So far, 405 healthcare facilities have been equipped with solar systems across Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces, in a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care.</p>



<p>The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is funding the project.</p>



<p>Amid a global trend to equip health facilities in developing countries with solar power systems, Zimbabwe is one of the first to benefit in southern Africa.</p>



<p>Installations under the “solar-for-health” programme started in early 2017.</p>



<p>Then, Zimbabwe had been experiencing power cuts of up to 18 hours a day for about two years as drought shrank water levels for hydro and electricity imports were unable to fill the gap.</p>



<p>The outages were damaging for pharmaceuticals and laboratories that must be kept at certain temperatures, said Emmanuel Boadi, a UNDP programme manager in Zimbabwe.</p>



<p>“It was creating problems, affecting the quality of health products,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>



<p>Barbara Mashonga, a sister-in-charge at Budiriro Polyclinic, said the health centre’s electricity bill had dropped sharply since it started producing its own solar power.</p>



<p>Mothers no longer have to give birth by candlelight, and vaccines do not need to be sent for storage elsewhere during power cuts, she added.</p>



<p>UNDP’s Boadi said other facilities had also experienced similar benefits.</p>



<p>In a letter to UNDP, the Regina Coeli Mission Hospital in Manicaland Province, for example, said its 10-kilowatt solar system had gone “a long way in supporting and enhancing quality service delivery”, as well as saving on electricity costs.</p>



<p>The solar power supply serves as a back-up for the maternity ward, operating theatre, outpatients, women’s and child health departments, and the administration block, it added.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">SECURITY RISKS</h3>



<p>Despite the benefits of the new clean energy systems, there have been teething troubles, which project officers have sought to address.</p>



<p>Boadi said panel breakdowns and tampering could be detected using remote monitoring systems on rooftops.</p>



<p>Engineer Clive Marimo, director for hospital planning and infrastructure at the Ministry of Health and Child Care, said theft of solar panels was a major issue, as was maintenance. To protect the equipment, metal fences have been provided, and the ministry has also employed security guards at some sites, he added.</p>



<p>Other clinics have hired private guards or are working with local police.</p>



<p>What to do with expired solar batteries, which last for eight to 10 years, is another challenge. UNDP is working with a sustainability consultant to find an environmentally friendly way to dispose of them, said Boadi.</p>



<p>Before the new solar systems were installed, the vast majority of the clinics used grid power, when it was available.</p>



<p>A few without a grid connection had solar systems provided by the Rural Electrification Agency, but those had broken down, forcing them to rely on candles and small petrol generators.</p>



<p>The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, is also now planning to install solar systems in clinics and schools, said UNDP Zimbabwe Country Director Georges van Montfort.</p>



<p>An evaluation of the project in 2019 will be used as a basis to seek funding from private-sector companies to expand the initiative, he added.</p>



<p>Data from 2018 is not yet available but initial feedback from sites with solar power is “very positive”, he noted.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">ONLINE DATA</h3>



<p>For HIV/AIDS activists like 47-year-old Melvin Chinovava, a member of the Mudavanhu support group in Mwenezi district, Masvingo Province, the solar-for-health scheme has made it easier and quicker to get his antiretrovirals.</p>



<p>“With access to solar power, nurses just turn on their computers to see which line of drugs I’m supposed to get as per my medical records,” he said.</p>



<p>In the past, patients had to wait for nurses to go through piles of records manually to find out which treatment regime suited them, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>



<p>The online data system enables patients who need to move for their work to continue treatment uninterrupted at a new healthcare centre, said UNDP spokesman Anesu Freddy.</p>



<p>It was while helping the health ministry computerise its data on HIV/AIDS patients that UNDP understood the need for a constant electricity supply, which was a key driver of the solar-for-health initiative, Freddy added.</p>



<p>Besides improving access to high-quality health services, the project also aims to reduce planet-warming carbon emissions from the health sector, said UNDP’s Boadi.</p>



<p>The solar-for-health programme can help Zimbabwe meet its goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb global warming, which include boosting renewable energy, officials said.</p>



<p>Eventually, UNDP hopes solar systems can be installed to power schools, local government offices, farms and homes too.</p>



<p>“Setting up solar mini-grids for clean energy in communities remains an idea which we will implement on getting more funding,” said Freddy. (Reporting by Jeffrey Moyo; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, women&#8217;s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking and property rights. Visit&nbsp;<a href="http://news.trust.org/climate">news.trust.org/climate</a>)</p>


How solar panels are transforming Zimbabwe’s healthcare facilities

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<p>On Tuesday afternoon Former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe released his commission report about Zimbabwe’s post-election violence. The report suggested that the police and military were the culprits of the chaos that had occurred but Advocate Chadya Tapiwa Diamond believes that the inquiry’s finding was just a waste of tax payer’s money. He joins CNBC Africa to explain why.</p>


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Zimbabwe needs bold reforms, productivity not a new currency – Arthur Mutambara

How Zimbabweans are surviving exorbitant food prices

Ex-Zimbabwe Deputy PM Mutambara lambasts Mnangangwa dialogue, calls for genuine talks to resolve crisis

Presidency on SA/India relations and plans to help Zimbabwe

Internet shutdowns violate human rights, says ALT Advisory’s Michael Power

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