Zambia expects its maize production to increase this year, pushing stocks into a surplus and reversing earlier warnings of an import need due to drought. Higher crop yields are projected to boost production to 2.87 million metric tonnes from 2.62 million tonnes last year, despite less cultivated land area. This projected surplus of 635,000 tonnes exceeds domestic consumption needs for the 2016-17 marketing season. The agriculture minister provided the updated production outlook to legislators, in contrast to concerns raised as recently as March about a shrinking harvest due to erratic rains.

1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – Zimbabwe remains
a largely agro-based economy
if latest private sector credit
statistics are anything to go
by.
According to the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s
latest monthly report, the
agricultural sector received
the biggest chunk of credit
to the private sector at 21,1
percent of total credit in Jan-
uary 2016.
The manufacturing sector
received 17,5 percent of
credit, while services, includ-
ing tourism got 15 percent
and the distribution sector
received 13,9 percent of total
credit.
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Wednesday 04 May 2016
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
Agriculture gets biggest chunk of private sector credit

2. Mining and construction
received 5,8 percent and
1,3 percent, respectively.
However a rather concerning
stat for the economy, is that
credit to households stood
at a significant 19,6 percent
during the previous month,
showing the consumptive
nature of the economy.
With Zimbabwe largely facing
the challenge of a high import
bill and a prolonged trade
imbalance, the major concern
with consumer spending is
that if locals continue buying
imports, such a state of affair
does not encourage domestic
investment.
Broadly, during the period
under review, credit to the
private sector rose 4,9 per-
cent in January 2016, from
0,9 percent in December
2015.
On a monthly basis, banking
sector credit decreased 1,1
percent in January 2016 to
$5,4 billion while year-on-
year growth in total banking
sector credit rose to 28,7
percent in January, from 26,4
percent in December 2015.
According to the RBZ, annual
broad money supply was at
9,6 percent in January 2016,
reflecting a 1,4 percent rise
from the parallel period last
year.
On a monthly basis, broad
money supply declined to
-0,2 percent, from 0,4 per-
cent in December 2015 as
money supply declined from
$4, 765 billion in December
2015 to $4,754 billion in
January.
Demand deposits accounted
for 53 percent of total depos-
its, while long-term deposits
accounted for 18 percent,
short-term deposits 15 per-
cent and savings deposits 14
percent.●
2 news

3. BH243

4. BH244

5. By Tawanda Musarurwa &
Funny Hudzerema
HARARE-The African Capacity
Building Foundation (ACBF)
should help to curb brain drain
on the African continent, Vice
president Phelekezela Mphoko
has said.
He was speaking while officially
opening the 25th anniversary
of the ACBF in Harare today.
ACBF is an institution that
functions to builds human and
institutional capacity for good
governance and economic
development in Africa, and
to date the Foundation has
empowered governments, par-
liaments, civic society, private
sector and higher education
institutions in more than 45
countries and 6 regional eco-
nomic communities.
But there has been concern
that the continent has been
losing significant human capital
due to the problem of brain-
drain.
“You will all agree with me that
building the capacities as such
is not enough…To my friends
from the ACBF team and its
network, you need to continue
building capacities, but more
importantly, support countries
and institutions in avoiding
brain drain by retaining, har-
monising and utilising capacity
built on the continent,” he said.
Addressing the issue of brain
drain will help ensure that
Africa retains its skilled pro-
fessionals, loss of which is
estimated to cost the continent
billions of dollars in terms of
productivity and economic
activity, mainly in the fields of
science and technology.
According to a United States
Census Bureau report entitled
“African-born population in
US increases since 1970”, the
foreign-born African popula-
tion growing rapidly. These
migrants are also more edu-
cated compared to those from
other continents.
The report also noted that dur-
ing the last 40 years, Africans
have increased from about 80
000 in 1970 to about 1,6 mil-
lion with the largest increase
happening from 2000 to 2008-
2012.
This accounts for 4 percent of
the total US foreign-born pop-
ulation with Nigeria, Ethiopia,
Egypt and Ghana making up
41 percent of the Africa-born
total.
These immigrants had a higher
level of educational attainment
than the overall foreign-born
population: 41 percent of those
Africa-born had a bachelor’s
degree or higher compared
with 28 percent overall.
And the World Economic
Forum’s Global Competitive-
ness Report 2014-2015 noted
that Burundi is the African
country least able to hold on to
its top talent.
Algeria, Mauritania, Chad and
Guinea made up the list of top
five countries.
Zimbabwe has had its own
issues with brain drain par-
ticularly during the hyperinfla-
tionary period and post-hyper-
inflationary period due to the
economic challenges, although
little research has been carried
out locally.
Meanwhile VP Mphoko also
thanked the ACBF for the role
it has been playing in the
country.
“Specifically for Zimbabwe,
amongst other notable reas,
ACBF supported the creation
of the Zimbabwe Economic
Policy Analysis and Research
Unit (ZEPARU). This think-
tank has been instrumental in
providing strategic studies that
contributed to policy formula-
tion in order to address various
development challenges we
are facing. As Zimbabwe, we
greatly appreciate and value
the support from ACBF,” he
said.●
5 news
ACBF should help curb brain drain: VP Mphoko

6. BH246

7. BH247

8. HARARE -The Central Afri-
can Building Society (CABS)
says cross border payments
destined for countries whose
currencies are tradable inter-
nationally will be settled in
the currency of the receiving
country with effect from June
1 this year.
CABS managing director Simon
Hammond said the measure
was meant to cope with the
current cash shortages and in
turn reduce delays in settling
international payments.
Recently Zimbabwe has been
hit by cash shortages due to
a number of reasons including
the depletion of bank nostro
balances and the dysfunction-
ality of the multi-currency sys-
tem because of the pre-domi-
nant use of the Unites States
dollar.
The US dollar has virtually
substituted all the other cur-
rencies including the South
African Rand, the Pula and the
Euro that were in use at the
adoption of the multi-currency
regime in 2009.
Mr Hammond said various
measures would be put in
place to address the cash
shortages at CABS.
“In line with this, from 1st
June 2016 all cross border
payments which are destined
for countries whose curren-
cies are freely tradable on the
international foreign exchange
markets, will be settled in the
currency of the destination/
receiving country,” he said.
“As such, we will require that
all invoices presented as sup-
porting documents for cross
border payments be in the
relevant currency of the coun-
try from which the invoice has
been issued. Currencies in this
category that we are currently
able to clear include USD,
ZAR, GBP, EUR and BWP.”
Hammond added: “We further
advise that payments to SADC
countries, other than South
Africa, can also be paid in ZAR
through the SADC Regional
Electronic Settlements System
(SIRESS), which is a more
efficient payment system.
“In the circumstances, we
encourage you to consider this
option for payments destined
for the SADC region, by being
invoiced in ZAR. The coun-
tries that are currently on this
regional payment platform
are South Africa, Namibia,
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi,
Lesotho, Swaziland, Mauritius
and Tanzania.”
For local payment trans-
actions, he said clients
should make greater use of
CABS cards on Point of Sale
machines deployed country-
wide as well as mobile and
internet banking facilities.
The Reserve Bank of Zimba-
bwe is expected to announce
policy measures that seek to
restore the fundamental prin-
ciples of the multi-currency
system soon to ensure that
the burden of demand for cash
is spread among various cur-
rencies that include the Rand,
Euro and others within the
multi-currency basket.-New
Ziana●
CABS introduces new international payment system
8 news

9. BH249

10. HARARE-The Parliamen-
tary Portfolio Committee on
Finance and Economic Devel-
opment on Tuesday said the
Special Economic Zones Bill
is a tool for promoting both
local and foreign investment
in the country.
The Bill was gazetted last
November and it seeks to
provide for the establishment
of Special Economic Zones
(SEZs) and a SEZ Authority,
among other issues.
In its report presented to
the National Assembly, the
committee said the Bill was
welcome as it was one of the
several efforts being imple-
mented to attract investment
into the economy.
“Other countries such as
India and China have made
significant economic break-
throughs by establishing
SEZs. For example Shen-
zhen, Zhuwai and the coastal
port cities have contributed
significantly towards success
of the Chinese miracle,” the
Committee said.
It however said it was not
necessary to establish a new
authority and board in view
of the current economic sit-
uation.
“It was suggested that
the Zimbabwe Investment
Authority could be used with
slightly amended responsibil-
ities and the necessary pow-
ers to implement and service
the new Bill.
“It was pointed out that cre-
ation of the Authority would
require funding from fees
and charges and that these,
in themselves, might become
a disincentive,” said the
Committee.
The committee said during
public hearings, expectations
were high that the Bill would
provide for demarcation of
the SEZs and the incentives
that went with investments
in the declared zones.
“The Committee had a far
and constructive engage-
ment with stakeholders on
the SEZs Bill and therefore
submits the above recom-
mendations for consideration
and approval by the House,”
it said.
Debating on the motion,
Masvingo Urban legislator Dr
Daniel Shumba said the ease
of doing business should be
addressed first instead of
heaping expectations on the
SEZs.
Chegutu East legislator Web-
ster Shamu commended the
Bill saying it went a long way
in attracting Foreign Direct
investment while Mabvu-
ku-Tafara legislator James
Maridadi said the country
should focus on repairing
infrastructure such as roads
before expecting serious
investments.
MDC-T deputy president
Thokozane Khupe said for
the Bill to be acceptable, it
should include application
of the Labour Act to guar-
antee the rights of workers
with Mufakose MP and former
Labour Minister in the inclu-
sive government, Paurina
Mpariwa siding with her.
Uzumba legislator Simba-
neuta Mudarikwa said for
special economic zones to
attract investors, various
licence fees charged to pros-
pecting investors should be
scrapped.-New Ziana●
10 news
Parly debates Special Economic Zones Bill

11. BH2411

12. BH2412

13. HARARE -The mainstream
industrial index gained a
further 0.34 to settle at
106.22 as beverages giant
Delta led the risers with a
$0,0086 bump to close at
$0,7111.
Also on the upside was con-
glomerate Innscor which
added $0,0050 to $0,2300
and telecoms giant Econet
which rose $0,0049 to trade
at $0,2549.
Colcom added $0,0025 to
$0,1525 and giant insurer
Old Mutual was $0,0021
higher at $2,2021.
Trading in the red was
retailer OK Zim which slipped
$0,0030 to $0,0420 and
Barclays came off $0,0025
to trade at $0,0270. Nico-
Diamond and Powerspeed
were each $0,0010 weaker
at $0,0150 and $0,0220
respectively.
The mining index shed 0.16
to close at 20.00 after a
$0,0002 loss in Bindura to
trade at $0,0100.
Falgold, Hwange and RioZim
maintained previous price
levels at $0,0050, $0,0300
and $0,1100 in that order. -
BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE13
Equities extend gains

14. BH2414

15. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Innscor 2.22 23.00 Barclays -8.47 2.70
Econet 1.95 25.49 OK Zim -6.66 4.20
Proplastics 1.81 2.80 NicozDiamond -6.25 1.50
Colcom 1.66 15.25 Powerspeed -4.34 2.20
Masimba 1.36 0.74 BNC -1.96 1.00
Delta 1.22 71.11
Hippo 0.74 20.20
Old Mutual 0.09 220.21
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 105.88 106.22 +0.34 points +0.32%
Mining 20.16 20.00 -0.16 points -0.79%
15 zse tables
ZSE
Indices
Stock Exchange
Previous
today

16. 16 DIARY OF EVENTS
The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.
POWER GENERATION STATS
Gen Station
04 May 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 579 MW
Kariba 399 MW
Harare 19 MW
Munyati 19 MW
Bulawayo 29 MW
Imports 0 - 400 MW
Total 1341 MW
• African Sun EGM, Holiday Inn, 09 May, 1400hrs,
• Innscor EGM, Royal Golf Club, 10 May, 0900hrs
• 05 May - Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe AGM; Place: Meikles Mirabelle Room; Time: 1500hrs
• 18 May - ZB Building Society AGM; Place: 21 Natal Road, Avondale, Harare; Time: 12:00hrs
• 18 May - The 76th AGM of Astra Industries Limited; Place: Auditorium at Astra Park, Corner Ridgeway North/Northend
Roads, Highlands, Harare; Time: 12:00hrs
• 19 May - The Fifth Annual General Meeting of Padenga Holdings Limited; Place: Royal Harare Golf Club, 5th Street exten-
sion, Harare; Time: 08.15am
• 19 May - NMBZ AGM; Place: Unity Court, Corner 1st Street Kwame Nkrumah Avenue; Time: 10:00am
• 19 May - Turnall Holdings AGM; Place: Jacaranda Room, Rainbow Towers; Time: 12:00
THE BH24 DIARY

17. LUSAKA — Zambia expects
maize production to increase
this year, pushing stocks into
a surplus and reversing an
earlier warning that it may
need to import the food sta-
ple amid an El Nino-induced
drought.
Higher crop yields would
help to boost production to
2,87-million metric tonnes
from 2,62-million tonnes last
year, even with a smaller
area of cultivated land,
Agriculture Minister Given
Lubinda told legislators on
Tuesday in Lusaka. That
was about 635 000 tonnes
more than was required for
domestic consumption in the
2016-17 marketing season,
he said.
Mr Lubinda had as recently
as March predicted a shrink-
ing harvest this year due to
erratic rains, while President
Edgar Lungu in January said
the government was con-
sidering importing maize to
cover a potential deficit.
Zambian agriculture is faring
better than other nations in
Southern Africa, where the
driest season in 35 years
has pushed up prices and hit
poor households the hard-
est, according to the Famine
Early Warning Systems Net-
work’s website.
As many as 14-million people
in the region faced hunger
because of the drought, the
World Food Programme said
in January.
"There were fears that the El
Nino phenomenon would lead
to a very low crop produc-
tion, especially for maize,"
Mr Lubinda said. "However,
the rainfall situation in most
parts of the country did
improve significantly from
January up to the end of the
rains in April."
Stocks review
Zambia’s government in
April ordered a review of
the country’s maize stock-
piles and suspended cereal
exports for a week to clamp
down on food smuggling
into neighbouring nations.
Prices for maize meal that is
used to make porridge have
climbed by more than a fifth
compared with a year ago.
In SA, the continent’s big-
gest maize producer, out-
put would fall to 7,05-mil-
lion tonnes this year from
9,96-million tonnes in 2015,
the Crop Estimates Com-
mittee said last week. The
country might need to import
3,8-million tonnes of the
grain this year to supplement
domestic supplies, Grain SA
said.
Zambia’s increased maize
production will help boost
economic growth, which
slumped to the slow-
est pace in 17 years last
year.-Bloomberg●
regioNAL News17
Zambia expects surplus maize stocks

18. NEW YORK-Seven of the
world's biggest banks have
agreed to pay $324 million to
settle a private U.S. lawsuit
accusing them of rigging an
interest rate benchmark used
in the $553 trillion deriva-
tives market.
The settlement made public
on Tuesday, which requires
court approval, resolves anti-
trust claims against Bank of
America Corp, Barclays Plc,
Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse
Group AG, Deutsche Bank
AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co
and Royal Bank of Scotland
Group Plc.
Several pension funds and
municipalities accused 14
banks, including those that
settled, of conspiring to rig
the "ISDAfix" benchmark for
their own gain from at least
2009 to 2012.
Companies and investors
use ISDAfix to price swaps
transactions, commercial real
estate mortgages and struc-
tured debt securities.
The alleged illegal activity
included the execution of
rapid trades just before the
rate was set each day, called
"banging the close," causing
the British brokerage ICAP
Plc to delay trades until they
moved ISDAfix where they
wanted, and posting rates
that did not reflect market
activity.
Under the settlement, pay-
ments would include $52
million from JPMorgan; $50
million each from Bank of
America, Credit Suisse,
Deutsche Bank and RBS; $42
million from Citigroup and
$30 million from Barclays.
The remaining defendants
are BNP Paribas SA, Goldman
Sachs Group Inc, HSBC Hold-
ings Plc, Morgan Stanley,
Nomura Holdings Inc), UBS
AG, Wells Fargo & Co and
ICAP, lawyers for the plain-
tiffs said.
Spokespeople for BNP Pari-
bas, HSBC, Morgan Stanley
and UBS declined to com-
ment. The other non-settling
defendants did not immedi-
ately respond to requests for
comment.
Tuesday's accord came five
weeks after US District Judge
Jesse Furman in Manhat-
tan refused to dismiss the
lawsuit. US and European
regulators have also exam-
ined whether ISDAfix was
set properly, and Barclays
agreed last May to pay a
$115 million fine to settle a
US Commodity Futures Trad-
ing Commission probe.
The private lawsuit is one of
many pending in Manhattan
federal court accusing banks
of conspiring to rig rate
benchmarks, securities prices
or commodities prices.
The case is Alaska Electrical
Pension Fund et al v. Bank of
America Corp et al, US Dis-
trict Court, Southern District
of New York, No. 14-07126..
– Reuters●
internatioNAL News18
Seven big banks settle US rate-rigging lawsuit

19. By Georgia Wells
GOPRO has a smartphone
problem. The action-camera
maker burst onto the scene a
decade ago with small, light
cameras that surfers, skiers,
mountain bikers and other
extreme-sports athletes
could take anywhere.
Now GoPro is trying to
expand into the mainstream.
But the trouble is most
people already have smart-
phones that are nearly as
small and light as GoPro’s
devices and come with cam-
eras just as good.
Last year, GoPro bungled
its attempt to reach main-
stream customers by setting
the price too high on its first
everyman camera and not
resolving kinks that make it
difficult to use.
It is now trying again, urging
other companies to integrate
GoPro cameras into products
from cars to baby bouncers.
The stakes are high: GoPro
expects its sales this year
could fall as much as 17 per-
cent after rising to $1,62bn
last year, its first decline
since it started selling its
flagship product in 2010.
GoPro could swing to a
$167m loss this year after
reporting $36m in profit last
year, according to S&P Global
Market Intelligence analysis.
"The vision for GoPro was
never just to be in extreme
sports," says GoPro president
Tony Bates. "There are only
so many base jumpers in the
world."
GoPro’s challenge illustrates
the problem independent
hardware makers face when
competing against do-it-all
smartphones from companies
such as Apple and Samsung
Electronics. Fitness trackers
Fitbit and AliphCom ’s Jaw-
bone have lost market share
to the Apple Watch, which
integrates with iPhones.
An older generation of cam-
eras that only took photos
seem quaint in comparison
to smartphones that can do
many other things including
take photos and videos.
"Is the person who was
going to buy a GoPro to
take pictures of their baby
going to, now that they can
use their iPhone? Probably
not," says Charles Anderson,
senior research analyst with
Dougherty & Co. "Smart-
phones have caught up with
the video quality that GoPro
cameras had."
When GoPro started selling
its first camera system in
2004, cellphone cameras
also were beginning to hit
the market, but they weren’t
very good.
GoPro’s sales took off in
2010 with its first big hit,
the HD Hero, which pack-
aged high-definition filming
19 analysis19 analysis
Smartphone cameras pose huge threat to GoPro’s growth

20. in a palm-sized waterproof
device, perfect for users
from surfers to skiers.
It became a best seller, cap-
turing roughly 70 percent of
the US video-camera market,
according to market-research
firm NPD Group. The com-
pany says it has sold more
than 20-million cameras.
In the ensuing years, the
quality of smartphone cam-
eras significantly improved.
Samsung introduced a
water-resistant smartphone
in 2014.
Apple integrated 4K
high-resolution video, using
a higher density of pixels,
into its iPhones beginning in
September, like other smart-
phone makers.
Having saturated the adren-
aline market, GoPro turned
to more sedate consumers.
Last July, GoPro launched the
Hero 4 Session, a stripped-
down, ice cube-sized camera
with two buttons. The cam-
era didn’t sell well.
GoPro priced it at $399, the
same price as its Hero 4 Sil-
ver, a more advanced camera
with a touch screen, analysts
say.
During the next five months,
GoPro slashed the Session’s
price in half, first to $299 in
September, then to $199 in
December, costing $40m in
lost revenue, according to a
company filing.
CEO Nick Woodman went
on home-shopping network
QVC in December to boost
the Session’s sluggish sales.
He pitched the camera at
its new price and threw in a
tripod and other accessories
free.
During the 20-minute seg-
ment, GoPro sold about 5
000 units, according to com-
pany spokesman Jeff Brown.
GoPro sold more cameras
on QVC than it had during
the three days of the Black
Friday shopping period, he
noted.
Some of GoPro’s poor sales
can be attributed to its
complex video uploading and
sharing options.
The Session, like GoPro’s
entire line of cameras,
still trails smartphones in
the ease of using footage
recorded on them.
GoPro users must upload
their videos to computers
and then watch the foot-
age to edit and share them
— several more steps than
smartphone users need.
To address this, GoPro in
April acquired two video-ed-
iting software companies.
Also in April, GoPro launched
a developer programme to
reach more consumers.
Companies such as BMW and
Fisher-Price, part of Mattel,
signed on to be able to inte-
grate GoPro’s hardware and
software in their products,
such as Fisher-Price jumper-
oos, with plastic casing that
can hold a camera to capture
baby’s first bounces. It also
has a consumer drone in the
works, which it is struggling
to bring to market by June.
GoPro’s drone will be less
advanced than other con-
sumer drones already availa-
ble, according to people who
worked on the device.
GoPro’s Mr Brown declined to
comment.
GoPro is still courting
its niche. Last month, it
unveiled a six-camera rig to
shoot virtual-reality video.
The next version of its flag-
ship camera, the Hero 5, is
expected to debut later this
year.
GoPro’s core clientele could
represent sales of four-mil-
lion cameras a year, says Mr
Anderson, the analyst.
"They could probably build
a very profitable company
around it. It would probably
be a very unexciting pub-
lic company, like Canon or
Nikon."- The Wall Street
Journal●
20 analysis20 analysis