HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops and the law society have criticised the government for alleged human rights abuses and a crackdown on dissent, adding to growing concerns over authorities’ treatment of opponents amid a worsening economic crisis.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government swiftly hit back, saying the “evil” accusations were baseless.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="407" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-899231420-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352505" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-899231420-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-899231420-594x594-1-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-899231420-594x594-1-100x70.jpg 100w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-899231420-594x594-1-218x150.jpg 218w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>Zimbabwes former army commander and newly appointed vice president General Constantino Chiwenga (L) and Zimbabwe&#8217;s president Emmerson Mnangagwa (R) sit as they attend the swearing-in ceremony in Harare, on December 28, 2017.
Zimbabwes former army commander who led a military takeover that helped end Robert Mugabe&#8217;s 37-year rule sworn in as one of the country&#8217;s two vice presidents. General Constantino Chiwenga, 61, took the oath of office in Harare, pledging to be &#8220;faithful&#8221; to Zimbabwe and to &#8220;obey, uphold and defend the constitution&#8221;.
 / AFP PHOTO / Wilfred Kajese (Photo credit should read WILFRED KAJESE/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Inflation running at more than 800% is the clearest sign of the worst economic crisis in over a decade and has evoked memories of hyperinflation under Robert Mugabe, whose 37-year rule was ended by an army coup in 2017.



The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference said in a pastoral letter that the country had a multi-layered crisis, including economic collapse, deepening poverty, corruption and human rights abuses.



“Fear runs down the spine of many of our people today. The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented,” the bishops said in the letter, read out at Catholic churches on Sunday.



“Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a different opinion does not mean to be an enemy.”



In response, information minister Monica Mutsvangwa criticised the head of the bishops conference, Archbishop Robert Ndlovu, and described the pastoral letter as an “evil message” meant to stoke a “Rwanda-type genocide”.



“His (Ndlovu’s) transgressions acquire a geopolitical dimension as the chief priest of the agenda of regime change that is the hallmark of the post-imperial major Western powers for the last two decades,” Mutsvangwa said in a statement.



Critics accuse Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former deputy, of resorting to authoritarian tactics like those seen under his predecessor. Like Mugabe, Mnangagwa says Western countries are funding the opposition to topple his government.



The Law Society of Zimbabwe said in a statement that the human rights situation was deteriorating and that lawyers were also under attack from government agents.



“The law society further condemns the abduction and torture of citizens across the country by state security agents and individuals allegedly unknown but aligned to the state,” it said.

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Zimbabwe Catholic bishops, lawyers criticise alleged government abuses

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s inflation was 837.53% year-on-year in July compared to 737.26% the previous month, state statistics body Zimstat said on Saturday.



On a monthly basis, prices increased by 35.53% compared to 31.66% in June.



Zimstat did not give a reason for the increase but the local currency, which was reintroduced in June last year without sufficient reserves to back it, has been relentlessly depreciating against the U.S. dollar.

Zimbabwe_$1000_2007_Obverse

Zimbabwe’s July y/y inflation at 837.5%

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s businesses were shut and streets deserted in the capital Harare early on Friday as security forces increased patrols to stop anti-government protests called by activists over corruption and economic hardship.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is under pressure to revive a stricken economy, has said the protests constitute an “insurrection” by the opposition.



In central Harare and nearby Mbare township &#8211; a hotbed of past protests &#8211; businesses, including banks and supermarkets, were shut as police and soldiers patrolled the streets.



“Workers were told not to come today just in case there was trouble,” said a security guard, who identified himself as Martin, having a meal of tea and sweet potatoes at a bank.



Security forces increased check points on roads leading into central Harare.



A journalist in the second biggest city Bulawayo said businesses were also closed with few cars on the road.



Scores were killed during a crackdown on the last major protests in January 2019 and the government shut the internet.



Zimbabwe’s worst economic crisis in more than a decade is marked by inflation running above 700%, acute shortages of foreign currency and public hospitals crippled by strikes and a lack of medicine.



Critics say Mnangagwa is exploiting a COVID-19 lockdown to stifle dissent. Mnangagwa imposed an overnight curfew and restricted free movement last week to curb coronavirus infections.



The president’s opponents say he has failed to unite a deeply divided nation after much hope when he took over from Robert Mugabe, who was removed in a coup in 2017. Mnangagwa, like Mugabe before him, says the economic crisis is the result of sabotage by businesses and an opposition funded by the West.

Zimbabwe tightens coronavirus lockdown in capital Harare as cases hit 203

Zimbabwe businesses closed, streets deserted on day of protests

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s security forces on Thursday cleared people off streets of the capital Harare and forced shops to close, a day before planned anti-government protests during the worst economic crisis in more than a decade.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa has struggled to keep his promise to revive the economy, with many Zimbabweans complaining they are worse off than when he replaced the autocratic Robert Mugabe after an army coup in 2017.



Activists have called for street rallies across the country on Friday over corruption in government and economic hardships. Soaring inflation has eroded salaries and pensions.



On Wednesday, Mnangagwa said the protest would constitute an “insurrection” by the opposition.



Melanie Johnson, the ambassador from former colonial ruler Britain, called for restraint from both sides, saying on Twitter she was concerned by “toughening language on and off social media in Zimbabwe.”



In central Harare, armed soldiers and anti-riot police patrolled on foot and in trucks, telling people to leave, while checkpoints blocked roads in.



“Why are they forcing shops to close before the stipulated time?” asked one nervous motorist, asking not to be named.



After midday, downtown Harare was largely empty.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘FULL ALERT’</h3>



A police statement said no demonstrations would be allowed.



“All security arms of government are on full alert and will deal decisively with any individuals or groups fomenting violence and sending threats or provocative messages through the social media or any other means,” it said.



Scores were killed during a crackdown on the last major protests in January 2019 and the government shut the internet.



Activists said they would press on and people would demonstrate in their neighbourhoods. “The protest is fluid. It will take whatever form that will disable the regime, and would be the beginning of many more in future,” Promise Mkwananzi said by Twitter from a secret location where he was hiding from police.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



“The regime has already been shaken to the core. We have disrupted their comfort zones.”



Critics say Mnangagwa, like other authoritarian leaders round the world, is exploiting the coronavirus lockdown to stifle dissent.



Illustrating the crisis, senior doctors at government hospitals said they stopped work on Thursday over poor conditions, joining thousands of nurses who quit work last month.



Seven babies were stillborn in one night at a major hospital this week because their mothers did not get adequate medical care due to the nurses’ strike.

zimuuu

Zimbabwe’s security forces clear streets ahead of planned protests

At a signing ceremony in Harare on the 29th July, the Commercial Farmers Union President, alongside other former Commercial Farmers signed a deal with the Zimbabwe Government to say that a compensation amount of 3.5 billion US dollars would be sought to pay compensation to commercial farmers who had been evicted from their farms.



 On the face of it, it all sounds quite hopeful; except for the fact that the Zimbabwe Government hasn’t got any of the 3.5 billion to pay.&nbsp; &nbsp; There is a solution here though: a joint team of Commercial Farmers and the Zimbabwe Government is launching an offensive to head off to raise the money from wherever they can. Zimbabwe commercial farmers, now spread across the globe, are itching to get sight of the agreement.&nbsp; Only a few have so far been allowed to see it, despite many calls for it to be scrutinised independently.&nbsp; This has created a high degree of mistrust as to what is really happening.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1110" height="834" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1110x834.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-377703" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1110x834.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1536x1154.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-2048x1539.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-696x523.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1068x802.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-1920x1442.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_0910-1-600x451.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /><figcaption>Ben Freeth</figcaption></figure>



 One lawyer I spoke to did manage to go around to the Commercial Farmers Union and look at the agreement.&nbsp; He came away shaking his head.&nbsp; He told me that the agreement [that has subsequently been signed] was outside the framework of the Zimbabwe Constitution and Zimbabwe law.&nbsp; The laid down procedures for compensation in Zimbabwe’s own Constitution have been bypassed. Secondly the exchange control act doesn’t allow money to be paid in US dollars, particularly of its paid outside the country to farmers scattered far and wide.&nbsp; There have many cases already where contracts in US dollars have been converted to Zimbabwe currency at hugely prejudicial rates.&nbsp; Thirdly, parliament hasn’t given any assent to seeking a loan agreement of this magnitude;&nbsp; and fourthly the agreement seems to lock the title deed owner in to just getting money for improvements and nothing for the land or stolen crops, livestock, machinery or other losses associated with the forced evictions.



 Assuming these legal aspects are able to be sorted out, what about the amount being agreed?&nbsp; Under international law it is unquestionably a very poor deal.&nbsp; Heinrich Von Pezold did a full claim under international law due to a bilateral investment treaty and was awarded a sum of close to 200 million US dollars.&nbsp; Admittedly he was a large Investor,&nbsp; but if the same criteria of international law were used for the rest of the farmers, the bill would be at least 5 times the current amount &#8211; and probably considerably more. &nbsp;



 So what are the chances of money being able to be raised?&nbsp; Zimbabwes foreign debt stands at 7 billion &#8211; but perhaps quite a lot more. Our credit rating is down with the very worst of the defaulters.&nbsp; All recent attempts to borrow more money have been a failure.



 On top of that there is the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act.&nbsp; This is Marshall type plan to rebuild Zimbabwe; but the plan needs Zimbabwe to put the right foundational rule of law parameters in place.&nbsp;



One of these is following the international law judgments of the Southern African Development CommunityTribunal.&nbsp; This lays down how property rights should be respected &#8211; and that fair compensation should be paid according to international law. &nbsp; In a country where the people are hungry, the economy is collapsing and the army and the police are on the streets committing human rights violations against the people, there will be precious little appetite to put money towards compensating a bunch of white farmers.&nbsp; If there was a real will to restore property rights,&nbsp; come back to the rule of law and utilise the skills base that’s currently dormant, it might well be a different story;&nbsp; but it seems that this is simply another propaganda exercise by the Zimbabwe Government to have people believe that all is now well in Zimbabwe. &nbsp;

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OPINION: Inside Zimbabwe’s $3.5 bn deal for farmers- Ben Freeth

Zimbabwe finance minister Mthuli Ncube has told sceptical farmers that his government will pay them out in hard currency for farms taken by violent mobs 20 years ago.



Speaking to CNBC Africa from Harare, Ncube confirmed that the government was negotiating with more than 4,000 dispossessed farmers to pay compensation for improvements to their erstwhile &nbsp;&nbsp;land after a referendum gave the green light to the idea. Many farmers fear that the government will try to pay them out in discredited bonds. &nbsp;&nbsp;



“I can assure you that this agreement is in US dollars &#8211; it will be honoured in dollars, no other currency. In terms of the process of approval there was a referendum of 4,000 plus farmers around the globe who accepted this deal,” says Ncube.



“A lot of this money will make its way back into farming. &nbsp;It is a constitutional requirement the supreme law of the land Zimbabwe wants to follow the law that is what this agreement is going to do.”



Yet many former Zimbabwean farmers remain sceptical, including veteran farmer Ben Freeth. Privately, farmers feel that this is a way Zimbabwe is trying to ingratiate itself with the international finance community by giving the impression that property rights have been restored.



“It is a pie in the sky scheme as far as I am concerned. The government doesn’t have the money. The idea is to portray this as the government and farmers kissing and making up leaving Zimbabwe looking like a great place to invest – it is just an illusion,” says Freeth.



“There is a lot of concern out there no one has actually seen the agreement there is a great deal of secrecy around the deal it is all a bit mysterious.”



Farmers have also questioned the 99-year lease on farms that government is offering in a bid to kick start what was once the bread basket of Southern Africa. Ncube tried to reassure farmers.



“In terms of 99 year leases that is a different matter..the way we will do it is working with farmers &nbsp;and provide a guarantee to banks&nbsp; extending loans &nbsp;to farmers , but we understand it take time for banks to accept 99 year leases,”says Ncube



“It is a big step in the right direction 20 years after the land acquisition was carried out. We will work together to deal with our issues.”

Finmin Ncube on who will fund Zim’s $3.5bn compensation to white farmers

EXCLUSIVE: “I can assure you that this agreement will be honoured in dollars” Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube on the $3.5 billion deal with farmers

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe agreed on Wednesday to pay $3.5 billion in compensation to white farmers whose land was expropriated by the government to resettle black families, moving a step closer to resolving one the most divisive policies of the Robert Mugabe era.Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks during his meeting with Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko (not pictured) in Minsk, Belarus January 17, 2019. Natalia Fedosenko/REUTERS/File Photo



But the southern African nation does not have the money and will issue long term bonds and jointly approach international donors with the farmers to raise funding, according to the compensation agreement.



Two decades ago Mugabe’s government carried out at times violent evictions of 4,500 white farmers and redistributed the land to around 300,000 Black families, arguing it was redressing colonial land imbalances.



The agreement signed at President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State House offices in Harare showed white farmers would be compensated for infrastructure on the farms and not the land itself, as per the national constitution.



Details of how much money each farmer, or their descendants, given the time elapsed since the farms were seized, was likely to get were not yet clear, but the government has said it would prioritise the elderly when making the settlements.



Farmers would receive 50% of the compensation after a year and the balance within five years.



Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and acting Agriculture Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri signed on behalf of the government, while farmers unions and a foreign consortium that undertook valuations also penned the agreement.



“As Zimbabweans, we have chosen to resolve this long-outstanding issue,” said Andrew Pascoe, head of the Commercial Farmers Union representing white farmers.



The land seizures were one of Mugabe’s signature policies that soured ties with the West. Mugabe, who was ousted in a coup in 2017 and died last year, accused the West of imposing sanctions on his government as punishment.



The programme still divides public opinion in Zimbabwe as opponents see it as a partisan process that left the country struggling to feed itself. But its supporters say it has empowered landless Black people.



Mnangagwa said the land reform could not be reversed but paying of compensation was key to mending ties with the West.

Zimbabwe agrees to pay $3.5 billion compensation to white farmers

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Tuesday his government would impose a night-time curfew and tighten other measures to tackle rising coronavirus infections, adding that anyone who challenged the rules faced severe punishment.



Critics and the opposition said the new steps were linked to anti-government protests planned for next week.



On Monday police arrested an opposition official and a journalist, accusing them of inciting violence ahead of July 31 demonstrations by activists who say government corruption has exacerbated economic hardship.



“As of tomorrow, Wednesday, &#8230; all our security services must enforce a dusk-to-dawn curfew set to come into force daily between 1800 hours and 0600 hours,” Mnangagwa said in a televised address to the nation.



He said anyone who encouraged actions that undermine the government’s measures “will be liable and severely punished accordingly”.



Under the new measures, from Wednesday, those without jobs will be required to stay at home, except to seek food, water and medical help. Business hours will be limited to 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., apart from those performing essential services.



Public gatherings for social, religious or political purposes remain banned.



“These measures are being taken for our collective safety. As Zimbabweans, we have to win the war against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mnangagwa said.



Zimbabwe has recorded 1,713 coronavirus cases, a relatively small number compared to neighbouring South Africa, but infections have started to rise faster in the last week.



Many citizens in the southern African nation say their economic prospects have worsened since Mnangagwa took over from the late Robert Mugabe following a coup in 2017.



Mnangagwa says the economy is being sabotaged by local and foreign opponents. His government is wary of demonstrations after the last major protests in January 2019 turned violent and scores of people died after a crackdown by security forces.

Zimbabwe tightens COVID rules ahead of anti-government protests

In the last days of President Robert Mugabe the political scene painted British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a pantomime villain. The late President Mugabe railed against Blair at political rallies, in the early years of this century, calling him “B-Liar” and saying famously at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002: “You can keep your England, I shall keep my Zimbabwe.” Blair is unfazed by the years of criticism, in his decade in power at Westminster, and says he is happy to speak to Mugabe’s successor President Emerson Mnangagwa.



More than a decade on Blair – who now runs an institute promoting good governance in Africa &#8211; was asked how acrimonious his not very special relationship with Zimbabwe was, in an exclusive interview with CNBC Africa from London.



“I think acrimonious was probably and understatement!” smiled Blair more than a decade on.



“I am happy to speak to Mnangagwa, but these things are best done in a private way. I was actually thinking about Zimbabwe the other day. I think, at certain points, there were misunderstandings, not genuine disagreements. If Zimbabwe were to get its act together it would be an exciting place to be.”



Blair went further to call for reform in Zimbabwe and was effusive in his praise of the country were the politicians once scorned him.



“Zimbabwe I hope the new leadership there will take the necessary measure and reforms because Zimbabwe is a very wealthy country and I meet Zimbabweans around the world and they are a very talented people. I want the government to succeed; it really is what has to be done. I do think it is what needs to happened there not just opening up political space, but also economic reforms to take the country to a boom. If the government there showed real commitment or reform, it would help in the future because we need Zimbabwe back as a player in the continent,” says Blair. &nbsp;



The former British Prime Minister’s encouraging words contrast the bitterness that the late President Mugabe felt for Blair in return. The ruling ZANU pf party called its 2005 election campaign the “Anti-Blair Vote.”



At the launch of that election campaign, in December 2004, Mugabe set the tone with the words: “Regime change, Mr Blair? Who are you? Who are you to talk of regime change in Zimbabwe? One of us, by what connection sir, do you hear me? Ancestral connection? And who were these ancestors, can we know? No, Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans. And only Zimbabweans can determine who shall rule them and who shall not. Whether there is a situation here of political order, of lawlessness, violation of the rule of law, violation of human rights, lack of democracy, our neighbours would know that better than the British government… It is our land, ancestral land, our sacred land, never an extension of Britain.&#8221;

Tony Blair Gives Pro-Eu Keynote Speech

Blair on Zimbabwe and Mugabe:  the former British Prime minister is far from bitter and ready to meet Mnangagwa.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube said on Monday the country was on track to meet its budget deficit target of 1.5% of GDP in 2020 in a key update that was absent from his mid-term budget last week.



“I am still focusing on a budget deficit of 1.5% of GDP and we are well on our way to achieving that,” Ncube said during a review of the half-year budget held virtually, adding the government will not seek any further funding because it had spent less than 50% of the budget by June.

Zimbabwe on course to meet 2020 budget deficit target -finmin

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s economy is expected to shrink by 4.5% this year owing to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and a brutal climate change-related drought, the finance minister said on Thursday.



The crucial mining sector will contract by 4%, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube added in a mid-term budget speech, although he projected that GDP would rebound to 7.4% growth in 2021.



Ncube added that inflation was expected to gradually decline to 300% by December, compared with 737.36% currently.



Zimbabwe’s economy was in a mess even before COVID-19 struck, with rampant inflation, chronic shortages of food, foreign currency and medicines, all worsened by a drought that scorched crops.



“With regards to the domestic economy, the impact of the pandemic is &#8230; lower commodity demand and&#8230; prices, reduced tourist arrivals due to travel restrictions &#8230; currency volatility, high inflation,” Ncube told parliament.



Exports, however, seemed to remain resilient, despite the COVID-19 shock, declining only slightly to $1.53 billion in first five months of this year against $1.56 billion in the same period of last year.



As is often the case, Zimbabwe’s economic crisis risks spurring renewed social unrest. The opposition is planning street protests on July 31 to demonstrate against government corruption and its handling of the economy.



The Zimbabwe dollar currency, which was re-introduced last year unbacked by any foreign or gold reserves, has plummeted, eroding wages and triggering memories of the 2008 hyperinflation in 2008 — which wiped out savings and forced the government to abandon its previous currency.



Public sector unions want U.S. dollar pay, but the government says that is impossible, offering a 50% pay rise that unions have rejected.

Zimbabwe economy to shrink by 4.5% this year on COVID-19, drought

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s inflation was at 737.26% year-on-year in June compared to 785.55% the previous month, as prices of basic goods continue to rise beyond the reach of most citizens, Zimstat, a state statistics body, said on Tuesday.



On a month-on-month basis, inflation jumped to 31.66% from 15.23% previously. Inflation in the southern African nation is one of the highest in the world.

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Zimbabwe inflation at 737.26% y/y in June – Zimstat

Veteran Zimbabwe farmer Ben Freeth poured cold water on a plan that’ll see trainers from the former Soviet republic of Belarus train a thousand farmers to till the soil in the former breadbasket of Africa.



This month a huge load of farm machinery is on its way across the Indian Ocean, in the bowels of a transport ship, on its way to Zimbabwe. A $58 million deal six grain harvesters, 100 tractors, 16 seed drills, five fifth wheel trucks, five semi-trailers are on their way from Belarus to the ports of Beira in Mozambique and Durban in South Africa. The shipment is expected by the end of July. Fourteen grain harvesters and 36 units of seed drills are already in Harare. Ships will bring another 20 grain harvester, 340 tractors and 138 seed drills to Zimbabwe by December 2020.



“Belarus is not known for its agricultural productivity.&nbsp; Their climate, soils, crops, pests and diseases and systems of production are different to ours.&nbsp; It’s difficult to believe how effective they will be in teaching us to farm,” says Freeth, &nbsp;the &nbsp;executive director of the Mike Campbell Foundation and a former regional executive officer of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, in Zimbabwe.



“Belarus tractors have never been known for their quality or power.&nbsp; They were never bought by Zimbabwe farmers in the past. Training up 1000 Zimbabwe farmers isn’t the answer.&nbsp;&nbsp; There are thousands of brilliant Zimbabwe farmers already.&nbsp; What we need is property rights and the rule of law.&nbsp; Sadly this Belarus scheme will fail the same as every other scheme has failed because property rights and the rule of law are so insecure and tenuous.”&nbsp;



The idea has been nurtured by the consul general for Zimbabwe in Belarus &#8211; Alexander Zingman. He is the head of AFTRADE DMCC and spends much time travelling between Zimbabwe and the country of his birth. The project is being financed through the Development Bank of Belarus supported by The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank. The export credit facility has been provided on a long-term basis with competitive interest rates.



&#8220;The aim is to totally mechanize agriculture in Zimbabwe using a comprehensive set of machinery &#8211; tractors, planters, harvesters and trucks &#8211; to cultivate and harvest maize and wheat. This will prevent the harvest losses that Zimbabwe normally faces. It will boost Zimbabwe&#8217;s food security and save the country valuable foreign currency. We will train each farmer who uses this modern equipment. More than 1,000 farmers will get special training courses in Zimbabwe. 10 specialists from Zimbabwe will also be sent to Belarus for two months for training at our manufacturing plants, “he says.



Ten trainers from Belarus are also in Harare, with five more on the way, in a year of training of farmers in Zimbabwe that is hoped will kick start a struggling industry that was once the pride of Africa.



The irony is that 30 years ago such a programme would have been looked upon as an agricultural equivalent of teaching your grandmother to suck eggs. In the 1980s and for most of the 90s Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa with a small, efficient, band of mostly white farmers who fed Southern African and exported food to Europe. It couldn’t last amid the lack of a clear plan for organised land reform and growing political pressure.&nbsp; &nbsp;



When the farm invasions were unleashed by the people in power in 2000, it led to bloodshed and random confiscation that reaped a bitter harvest of lost production and exports that persists until this day. That year, with all of its fumbling fury, fuelled with the idea that to get rich you merely had to own a farm, is always seen as a turning point for the industry. It created a large slice of the country’s GDP and as it fell, so did the fortunes of Zimbabwe.



The World Bank Zimbabwe production figures for maize – that used to feed the region – tell the story. In 1996 Zimbabwe was growing more than 2.5 million mt of maize; by 2016 that figure had dropped to a mere 500,000 mt of maize. A further sign of lean times, according the World Bank, is that the fertilizer industry was at 75% capacity before 2000 and as low as 30% now. In the halcyon days of 1996, many Zimbabweans would have been incredulous at the idea of trainers and combine harvesters making their way half round the world to teach them farming. In difficult times for the Zimbabwe and its economy almost anything is worth a try.

Belarus equipment reaches Zimbabwe 1

Veteran Zimbabwe farmer pours cold water on $58 million mission from Belarus with love.

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe should implement sustainable political and economic reforms and successfully complete an IMF monitoring programme in order to normalise ties with international lenders, the Paris Club of creditor nations said in a letter seen by Reuters.



Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube in April wrote to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Paris Club and African Development Bank seeking high-level talks to improve relations with the creditors. He warned that without their help, Zimbabwe faced a catastrophe.



But the Paris Club insisted that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government should first implement “substantive and sustainable political and economic reforms, in particular regarding respect for human rights, especially freedoms of assembly and expression”.



Odile Renaud-Basso, a senior French treasury official who signed the June 12 letter, said a poor performance by Zimbabwe during an IMF staff programme that ended early this year was a missed opportunity to impress creditors.



Harare has admitted to policy missteps during the programme. Ncube did not respond to questions on his mobile phone on Tuesday.



“We encourage you to press forward with a credible reform programme to stabilise the economy and strengthen economic governance,” the Paris Club letter said.



The French treasury declined to comment on the letter.



Schwan Badirou Gafari, Paris Club secretary general, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Zimbabwe will also have to clear more than $2 billion in arrears with the World Bank and African Development Bank to benefit from any debt restructuring from the creditors, their letter said.



Hopes of an economic rebound after the departure of Robert Mugabe in 2017 has turned to despair as inflation soars to nearly 800% amid unemployment above 80%.



Citizens fear the country is returning to the economic horrors of 2008 when Zimbabwe was forced to dump its currency, wrecked by hyperinflation. Workers are agitating for U.S. dollar salaries to protect their earnings and savings.

Implement substantive reforms, Paris Club creditors tell Zimbabwe

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Australian-listed Prospect Resources said on Monday it had picked Renaissance Securities Capital as its exclusive financial advisor for the possible sale of shares in Zimbabwe’s Arcadia Lithium mine to Russian energy firm Uranium One.



Uranium One, a unit of Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm Rosatom, agreed with Prospect last December to start talks towards buying equity in Arcadia and an offtake agreement.



Zimbabwe is pushing lithium as a major draw for investors as it looks to attract capital to its mining sector.



Prospect said in a statement that Renaissance Securities would advise “in relation to the potential sale, directly or indirectly, of the Company’s economic or other participation in, or the whole or part of the licence and/or the assets of, the Arcadia Lithium Project”.



Prospect said discussions with Uranium One were ongoing but there was no guarantee this would lead to a formal binding agreement.



In December, Prospect appointed African Export-Import Bank to arrange and syndicate a $143 million project finance debt facility for the Arcadia lithium project.

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Australia’s Prospect Resources picks advisor for sale of Zimbabwe lithium mine

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s Landela Mining Venture has reached agreements to take over and revive four idle state-owned gold mines and is in talks to buy more assets from a privately-owned bullion producer, its chief executive said on Friday.



Unlisted Landela is majority-owned by Kudakwashe Tagwirei, an adviser to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and one of the most prominent business people in the country.



Commodities trader Trafigura partnered with Tagwirei in the lucrative fuel sector until buying him out earlier this year. Landela has been on a buying spree of local mining assets since 2019.



Chief executive David Brown, former Impala Platinum Holdings CEO, told Reuters that Landela’s takeover of gold mines run by state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) would be funded through debt and equity.



The mines were put up for sale in 2018 but the government cancelled the process last year without giving a reason.



“Agreements are in place, but a close-out of the process is still subject to being finalised with the appropriate authorities,” Brown said in e-mailed responses to questions.



“I would expect it to be completed in Q3 and will be funded through a mixture of debt and equity.”



The four mines have a capacity to produce at least 85,000 ounces a year, according to ZMDC.



Gold is the single biggest forex earner in Zimbabwe and controlling its production gives Landela greater access to dollars, which are in short supply in the country.



Brown said Landela last month restarted operations at the 21,000 ounces a year Shamva mine after buying it from Metallon Corporation, owned by South African businessman Mzi Khumalo.



Landela plans a bigger open pit mine at Shamva and is in talks to purchase Metallon’s three other gold mines, said Brown.



A Metallon spokeswoman declined to comment.



Until 2017, Metallon was Zimbabwe’s largest gold miner, producing 100,000 ounces a year. A 2016 estimate showed Metallon had a mineral resource of 8.3 million ounces of gold.



“If we can have time to develop the assets properly with the appropriate amount of capital, this will be a significant business,” Brown said.



Last year Landela became partner of Russia’s Vi Holding in the Darwendale platinum project and bought Freda Rebecca gold mine.

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Zimbabwe’s Landela agrees to buy state-owned gold mines, seeks more assets

As I write this a huge load of farm machinery is lurching across the Indian Ocean in the bowels of a transport ship bringing with it a supreme irony.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="972" height="647" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Belarus-equipment-reaches-Zimbabwe-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-375515" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Belarus-equipment-reaches-Zimbabwe-1.png 972w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Belarus-equipment-reaches-Zimbabwe-1-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Belarus-equipment-reaches-Zimbabwe-1-768x511.png 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Belarus-equipment-reaches-Zimbabwe-1-696x463.png 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Belarus-equipment-reaches-Zimbabwe-1-600x399.png 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 972px) 100vw, 972px" /><figcaption>Farming equipment from Belarus arrives in Zimbabwe</figcaption></figure>



The shipment is part of a plan by a far off country, on the road to Russia, bent on teaching Zimbabwe – a country that could once teach the world – how to farm. In a $58 million deal six grain harvesters, 100 tractors, 16 seed drills, five fifth wheel trucks, five semi-trailers are on their way from the former Soviet state of Belarus to the ports of Beira in Mozambique and Durban in South Africa. The shipment is expected by the end of July. Fourteen grain harvesters and 36 units of seed drills are already in Harare. Ships will bring another 20 grain harvester, 340 tractors and 138 seed drills to Zimbabwe by December 2020.



The idea is being nurtured by the consul general for Zimbabwe in Belarus Alexander Zingman. He is the head of AFTRADE DMCC and spends much time travelling between Zimbabwe and the country of his birth. The project is being financed through the Development Bank of Belarus supported by The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank. The export credit facility has been provided on a long-term basis with competitive interest rates.



&#8220;The aim is to totally mechanize agriculture in Zimbabwe using a comprehensive set of machinery &#8211; tractors, planters, harvesters and trucks &#8211; to cultivate and harvest maize and wheat. This will prevent the harvest losses that Zimbabwe normally faces. It will boost Zimbabwe&#8217;s food security and save the country valuable foreign currency. We will train each farmer who uses this modern equipment. More than 1,000 farmers will get special training courses in Zimbabwe. 10 specialists from Zimbabwe will also be sent to Belarus for two months for training at our manufacturing plants, “he says.



Ten trainers from Belarus are also in Harare, with five more on the way, in a year of training of farmers in Zimbabwe that is hoped will kick start a struggling industry that was once the pride of Africa.



The irony is that 30 years ago such a programme would have been looked upon as an agricultural equivalent of teaching your grandmother to suck eggs. In the 1980s and for most of the 90s Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa with a small, efficient, band of mostly white farmers who fed Southern African and exported food to Europe. It couldn’t last amid the lack of a clear plan for organised land reform and growing political pressure. &nbsp;&nbsp;



When the farm invasions were unleashed by the people in power in 2000, it led to bloodshed and random confiscation that reaped a bitter harvest of lost production and exports that persists until this day. That year with all of its fumbling fury fuelled with the idea that to get rich you merely had to own a farm, is always seen as a turning point for the industry. It created a large slice of the country’s GDP and as it fell, so did the fortunes of Zimbabwe.



The World Bank Zimbabwe production figures for maize – that used to feed the region – tell the story. In 1996 Zimbabwe was growing more than 2.5 million mt of maize; by 2016 that figure had dropped to a mere 500,000 mt of maize. A further sign of lean times, according the World Bank, is that the fertilizer industry was at 75% capacity before 2000 and as low as 30% now. In the halcyon days of 1996, many Zimbabweans would have been incredulous at the idea of trainers and combine harvesters making their way half round the world to teach them farming. In difficult times for the Zimbabwe and its economy almost anything is worth a try.

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