By Rosemary Mirondo

Dar es Salaam — Tanzania is lagging behind many Sub Sahara Africa countries in terms of accessing credit as East African countries are reported to ease monetary policy.

Tanzania is ranked 13th out of the 15 economies, according to the latest Economic Insight: Africa Q3 2016 report launched by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) yesterday.

The accountancy and finance body points out that Rwanda and Zambia and Kenya top for ease of credit financing. The report, commissioned by ICAEW and produced by partner and forecaster Oxford Economics, provides a snapshot of the region’s economic performance focusing specifically on Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Angola.

“Access to finance is a vital driver of economic growth, so this is great news for Kenya. The interest cap enacted in Kenya benefits customers by both keeping the rates regulated, as well as spurring greater competition amongst banks. It could also further incentivise more accurate credit scoring. All of these measures should help Kenyan businesses in the longer term,” said Michael Armstrong, Regional Director, ICAEW Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

According to the report, Rwanda performed the best in Sub Saharan Africa after making several reforms to facilitate access to credit in the past 6 years. In second place was Zambia followed by Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius, Uganda, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Angola. Kenya too has made gains in access to credit by enacting a law prohibiting banks from lending at rates higher than 4 per cent over the Central Bank rate.

Angola, which came in the bottom of the rankings, has only seen one reform made in the past 6 years regarding access to credit. Despite the country having the third largest banking system in Sub Saharan Africa after Nigeria and South Africa, only a small portion of the population is banked and few business apply for loans.

By Taurai Mangudhla

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has professed ignorance over the existence of a US$200 million facility from the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) which the Zimbabwean government claims will be used to back soon-to-be-introduced bond notes.

Government officials say the surrogate currency is meant to avert a biting cash crisis while promoting exports,as fears abound that the authorities are using bond notes as a ruse to re-introduce a fully-fledged local currency.

Asked whether or not the IMF knew anything about the fate of the US$200m facility which Zimbabwe has repeatedly announced it will get from Afreximbank to back the bond notes, IMF press officer Andrew Kanyegirire said he had no information on the subject.

“I don’t have any information on the Afreximbank loan either,” said Kanyegirire, according to a transcript of an October 8 IMF African department press briefing.

This comes amid fears Zimbabweans could have been hoodwinked by government to believe the existence of a US$200m facility to back the surrogate currency when in fact the authorities will just be printing money into circulation.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is preparing to launch bond notes amid questions over the legality of the surrogate currency and the lack of a term sheet for the US$200 million Afreximbank facility.

Government sources told the Zimbabwe Independent last week that there is no term sheet between the RBZ and Afreximbank on the US$200m facility backing the bond notes, raising eyebrows over the monetary issue.

“The term sheet of the US$200m is unknown to the public and that ordinarily raises a lot of questions on such a facility. The salient features such as the tenure and how the regional bank will benefit from this facility has largely been shrouded in secrecy,” a source said. “What role did parliament play in this? All these questions beg for answers, given the quantum involved.”

A term sheet serves as a template to develop more detailed legal documents. Once the parties involved reach an agreement on the details laid out in the term sheet, a binding agreement or contract that conforms to the term sheet details is then drawn up.

Afreximbank regional manager for Southern Africa, Gift Simwaka, last week declined to comment on the facility, referring questions to the RBZ.

Suspicion over the facility has been heightened by the fact the regional bank has not posted on its website anything to do with the US$200m export facility, raising more questions on its transparency. Tellingly, other loans extended to Zimbabwean institutions by the Cairo-based bank are openly listed.

Last week, Vice President Emmerson Mnangwanwa said Zimbabwe is finalising legal provisions to introduce the bond notes with a view to having a mode of transaction which the country can control. His remarks have stoked fears that the authorities will print more than the US$200 million, especially given pressing recurrent expenditure items that have seen 97% of the US$4 billion national budget being gobbled up by salaries, resulting in successive budget overruns.

By Margaret Matibiri and Faith Mutema

Government has called for the tightening of the country’s borders to curb the spread of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) viral disease affecting small livestock in the SADC region. The Government met with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and SADC representatives in Harare last week and discussed strategies to eradicate and control PPR. PPR, also known as sheep and goat plague, is a highly contagious animal disease affecting small ruminants.

The disease kills 30 to 70 percent of infected animals. Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development (Livestock) Paddy Zhanda said the unofficial trade of sheep and goats with other countries was a cause for concern.

“Of concern is the porosity of some of our borders, the ease with which small ruminants can be transacted through barter, social exchanges and other informal trade mechanisms, as well as the involvement of wild ruminants in the transmission of the virus.

“It is a huge threat especially in places like Mukumbura near the border of Zambia where the first outbreak was reported but is spreading fast into the surrounding areas and it is saddening that our farmers are ignoring the procedures needed to acquire livestock leading to goats dying in devastating numbers.

“But we continue to monitor the situation and control movement of animals without permission from the veterinary services,” said Hon Zhanda. He said ruminants were an important commodity in the countries’ economy and human welfare. “Goats and sheep are an integral part of the livelihood of not less than 90 percent of our main rural populations.

Small ruminants are important in food and nutrition security as well as incomes,” he said.

By Nouakchott

Algeria and Mauritania expressed Saturday in Nouakchott their will to develop cooperation in the fishing industry, by enhancing scientific research and exchange of expertise.

The two countries expressed their will to update and revive twinning agreements between the institutes of scientific research, in both countries, in the fishing field and to develop joint plans and projects when they meet late 2016.

The two sides will held a meeting in December within the framework of a technical committee on fishing, in Nouakchott, to prepare for the 18th session of the Algeria-Mauritania high joint commission.

The two countries agreed on exchanging expertise and biological and economic information, in addition to strengthening material and human resources of research institutes, according to the minutes of a meeting co-chaired by the director of sea and ocean fishing department at the ministry of Agriculture, Omar Keddour, and the planning and cooperation manager at the Mauritanian Fishing ministry.

The committee proposed that the two countries increase efforts to revive the network of Maghreb research institutes in oceanography, aquaculture cooperation.

It also recommended exchange of expertise to ensure sustainable development of resources in both countries, considering their role in boosting food security and combating poverty in rural areas.

Simiyu — Seventy two district councils here have allocated 84,037 acres of land to young entrepreneurs to run businesses. This was revealed here on Sunday by Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled) Jenista Mhagama.

Speaking in Bariadi ahead of this year’s National Youth Day, Ms Mhagama ordered other districts in the country to follow suit.

She also urged the district councils in the country to establish savings and credit co-operatives (Saccos) for the youth.

“Only 113 out of the 185 district councils have established youth Saccos. The government has set aside 3.9 billion to support the youth in the 2016/17 fiscal year,” she said

Simiyu Regional Commissioner Antony Mtaka said that they have already established two industries for youthful small scale entrepreneurs. They include as chalk industry in Maswa District) and a milk processing plant in Meatu.

Ms Mhagama promised to support the youth in Simiyu Region and ensure they prosper in their economic activities.

By Daniel Adugbo

A Chinese delegation will visit Nigeria by the end of this month to discuss investment in the country’s oil and gas industry, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu said yesterday.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had in June said it signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) worth $80 billion with Chinese firms to invest in Nigeria’s oil and gas infrastructure, pipelines, refineries, power, facility refurbishments and upstream.

Agreements were signed with Chinese companies including Norinco, CINDA, CNOOC and Sinopec/Addax.

As part of the deal, the International Cooperation Commission (ICC) of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) was to develop a master plan and bankable projects that will attract Chinese investors to Nigeria’s oil, gas industry.

“I will say we have a one year period to work on this. We expect that some (investment) will come earlier,” he said.

He said the federal government will set up a committee to meet the Chinese businessmen.

By Peter Kamasa

World football ruling body, FIFA, has urged the Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) to ensure the immediate start of the construction of the hotel which FIFA will finance at a tune of $3 million (about Rwf3 billion).

Talking to Times Sport on Monday, Ferwafa president Vincent Nzamwita said that construction of the four-star hotel, worth Rwf4 billion, will commence next month. FIFA will provide $3 million while the other money will be raised from other partners.

“We are working hard to get everything needed to start the construction. I think in the next one month we will be in good position to start work,” Nzamwita told this paper.

He added that, “Football development and building the hotel are some of the issues that I discussed with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. He requested that we start the construction of the hotel as soon as possible.”

Nzamwita admitted that, when completed, the hotel is expected to reduce the expenses for the national teams during residential training camps or accommodation for visiting national teams.

The Former APR FC secretary general further revealed that Ferwafa is also expected to use the hotel for commercial purposes to generate income for different football development activities.

Nzamwita says that $1 million has already been allocated for the first phase of the hotel construction. The hotel will be built in four phases and the first phase will include construction of 40 of the planned total of 88 rooms.

The hotel is part of the FIFA Goal project development programme aimed at helping developing countries to establish infrastructure and facilities to boost the growth of the game.

The planned hotel has already caused trouble for some officials including Nzamwita, former FERWAFA secretary general Olivier Mulindahabi and a consultant, Eng. Adolphe Muhirwa, who were accused of alleged malpractices linked to the tender for the hotel construction.

While Nzamwita was cleared of any charges, Mulindahabi and Muhirwa were each handed a six-month jail term for mishandling the project. The two men were jailed in February and completed their jail term on August 8.

By Appolonia Uwanziga

MobiCash has appointed Ann J. Camarillo the Group chief executive officer. Camarillo, who currently serves as MobiCash board member will succeed Patrick G. Ngabonziza, the company’s chairman and current Group CEO, according a statement from board of trustees. She has over 30 years of experience in financial services, IT and telecommunications.

The statement noted that Camarillo has over the course of a 20-year career at MasterCard Worldwide held a variety of leadership positions in business development, customer management, debit and prepaid products, operations and technology in the United States and other markets.

She worked in Belgium as CEO of Maestro International, the largest global debit card network, and CEO of Cirrus, the largest global ATM network, and as MasterCard’s chief debit officer, as well as executive vice-president for market development in the US.

“Camarillo’s appointment comes at a point when the organisation is strategically aligning key investors and stakeholders to implement activities geared toward driving the organisation into a mature global company, leveraging the research and development investment, as well as the expansion of the organisation’s operations across various markets in Africa and elsewhere.

This is an exciting new phase for MobiCash; Camarillo has been a successful executive here and elsewhere,” Ngabonziza said while commenting on the appointment.

Camarillo is an innovator, who ensures the company delivers results in the short and over long-term, while at the same time guaranteeing that both existing and new customers receive optimal solutions customised to their needs, he added.

“She brings a depth and breadth of global market experience that is unmatched inside and outside of MobiCash. She is the kind of leader we need to take our history of delivering innovative mobile banking and payment technologies to stakeholders, and raise the bar for our next generation of products,” Ngabonziza added.

Donald Mudenge, MobiCash South Africa chief operating officer, said the experience Camarillo brings to the organisation will enable it meet its goals and objectives at group level and across the various individual markets where MobiCash has a presence.

it’s up to Eskom to say if they can afford it, as it will be funded from the power utility’s balance sheet, said Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson on Tuesday.

The minister and a delegation from her department as well as Eskom briefed the Portfolio Committee on Energy on government’s intended nuclear build programme.

While reiterating that renewable energy remains government policy and part of a balanced energy mix in the country, Joemat-Pettersson said Eskom is well within its rights to say whetherit can afford a renewables programme.

“If Eskom says it can’t find further funding for renewables, we have to listen. That doesn’t mean the CEO of Eskom (Brian Molefe) is making any policy pronouncements. He has an organisation to run to ensure the country has sustainable and stable cost-related energy tariffs,” she said.

Molefe set the cat among the pigeons earlier this year when he refused to sign any further independent power producer deals that related to renewable energy, claiming that the power utility could not afford it.

At the time, National Treasury responded, saying Molefe was not in a position to make statements about energy policy.

At the same briefing on Tuesday, Eskom’s head of generation, Matshela Koko, repeated a previous statement that the power utility would be able to fund nuclear power from its balance sheet. In a letter in Business Day, he previously remarked that there had been a significant improvement in Eskom’s finances and improved revenue emanating from a better operating plant and the completion of the build programme.

He emphasised on Tuesday that Eskom will have cash balances in excess of R150bn and that these cash resources could be deployed to fund the new nuclear build programme. He added that Eskom’s 2016/17 corporate plan has significantly increased the borrowing programme of Eskom to R327bn.

His utterances come after Joemat-Pettersson confirmed that Eskom would be the owner operator of South Africa’s nuclear build programme, as the power utility’s financial situation changed significantly since her department had been assigned the task of procuring the nuclear build programme earlier.

In 2014, in the light of funding constraints and load shedding at Eskom, the board said it could no longer provide funding for any new build power development beyond Medupi, Kusile and Ingula. However, the situation changed. Eskom now has a positive balance sheet, Joemat-Pettersson said.

The energy minister also revealed on Tuesday that her department would not present the Integrated Resource Plan and Integrated Energy Plan to Cabinet as had been the intention.

These two energy plans, which haven’t been officially updated for years, will serve as the guideline for South Africa’s future energy needs.

Source: Fin24