BH24 is Zimbabwe's premium online business news platform published by Zimpapers Ltd

1. By Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – TelOne contin-
ues to make inroads in the
internet services sector, but
Liquid Telecom Zimbabwe
– although sliding - contin-
ues to dominate with 41,8
percent of the local Internet
Access Providers (IAPs) mar-
ket share.
An analysis of the fourth
quarter of last year shows
that Liquid Telecom lost 11,6
percent of market share to
41,8 percent from 53,4 per-
cent in the prior quarter, the
latest POTRAZ report shows.
At the same time, TelOne`s
market share jumped by
15 percent to 32,7 percent
to close in on the market
News Update as @ 1530 hours, Tuesday 22 March 2016
Feedback: bh24admin@zimpapers.co.zwEmail: bh24feedback@zimpapers.co.zw
TelOne closing in on Liquid Telecom’s market dominance

2. leader.
The gain/drop in market
share for the two companies,
respectively was due to their
performances revenue-wise.
TelOne`s revenues bumped
114,3 percent to $14,1
million in the period under
review from $6,6 million in
the third quarter.
The State-owned TelOne has
been gaining a lot of traction
in the local internet services
industry, largely due to the
introduction of its Fibre to
the Home (FTTH) and WiFi
Hotspots services in April
last year.
For the year ended August
31, 2015 the pararstatal
posted a 187,1 percent
increase in profit before tax
from 2014’s $6,2 million to
$17,7 million.
Revenue for the year was
also up 7 percent to $162
million from $152 million in
the previous year.
Observers credit TelOne’s
positive financial perfor-
mance to an enhanced focus
on internet services, mainly
the FTTH and Metro Wifi ser-
vice, but also to a strength-
ening of its traditional ADSL
suite.
On the other hand, Liquid
Telecom (which part of the
Econet Wireless Group)’s
revenue declined 9,3 percent
from $20 million recorded in
the previous quarter to $18,2
million.
Last year, the firm secured
$150 million for the expan-
sion of its fibre network
throughout Africa, part of
which was aimed at its exist-
ing FTTH rollout programme.
Liquid Telecom Zim is the
largest data, voice and IP
provider in Zimbabwe, sup-
plying wholesale fibre optic,
satellite and international
carrier services to telecom-
munications operators in the
country, and also owns inter-
net service provider, Zimba-
bwe Online (ZOL).
In terms of Zimbabwe’s other
IAPs, Powertel comes in third
with a 15, 6 percent market
share, followed by Dande-
mutande with 4,4 percent
and Africom with 3,8 per-
cent.
Telco, Aquiva and Aptics have
market share of 1,5 percent,
0,1 percent and 0,05 per-
cent, respectively.●
2 news

3. BH243

4. BH244

5. By Munesu Nyakudya
HARARE -Total Zimbabwe
has said the price of its fuel
will remain ‘one or two cents
higher than other fuel prices’
due to the “better” quality
product it offers.
Total Zim health safety secu-
rity environment and quality
director Mr Thomson Midzi
told BH24 that its fuel tends
to be more expensive due
the certification process that
it has to undergo.
“On quality issues, our fuel
is leading in terms of qual-
ity, from the refinery; we
have the refinery certificate
which tells us where this fuel
came from. It also goes to
Beira for testing and it gets
another certificate and it
comes to us,” Mr Midzi said.
“What happens with ULP, you
are supposed to put 5 per-
cent ethanol and 95 percent
ULP. But sometimes people
won’t do that, they can put
20 percent ethanol and 80
percent ULP and they are
able to sell at 6 to 7 cents
lower.”
“In real sense they are
selling more expensive oil,
because if we give you 5 lit-
ers, it is not 5 liters in actual
sense and it won’t take you
anywhere,” he said.
He said Total will remain
‘fuel price setters’ in the
economy
“Because we are the only
remaining global company in
Zimbabwe, people use our
pricing. Other people become
price leaders and the rest
will be followers,” said Mr
Midzi.
“It’s not like we want to be
very expensive but if we
reduce our prices to 98 cents
you will see that the follow-
ing day our competitors will
be at 96 or 97cents.
It is a natural reaction,” he
said.●
5 news
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Total Zim defend higher fuel prices

6. BH246

7. BH247

8. By Funny Hudzerema
HARARE– All is set for this
year’s tobacco marketing
season which begins at the
end of this month
Sales will start at the auction
sales on March 30 followed
by contract sales a day later.
A tour of both auction and
contract floors including
Boka Tobacco Sales Floor,
Tobacco Sales Floors, Premier
Tobacco Auction Floors and
Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco Com-
pany by the Tobacco Industry
and Marketing Board officials
revealed that preparations
are now complete
Officials from all the floors
assured the TIMB officials
that banks have adequate
cash to pay growers. They
also promised that security
will be tighter this year with
the number of people allowed
on the floor being limited to
one person per crop.
“Previously we had a situa-
tion where the whole family
would accompany bales when
they are delivered to the
floors and the whole family
would be allowed onto the
floors to witness sales but
this year we are limiting the
number to just one person,”
said one official.
Speaking after the tour
TIMB board chairperson Mrs
Monica Chinamasa said this
year farmers are not allowed
to collect their money at the
floors but in the banks so
that they can build rela-
tionship between banks and
farmers to work together.
“We want to create a finan-
cial inclusion through acquir-
ing money from the farmers
to the banks since banks
are not contributing enough
towards economic develop-
ment.
“Currently 70 percent of
the money produced in the
country by different peo-
ple is circulating among our
people, while 30 percent is
in the banks so we need to
support our banks such that
they will support us farmers
with loans,” she said.
Mrs Chinamasa said that
the issue of paying farmers
through banks will reduce
issues such as side market-
ing and the time that farmers
spend at the floors.
She added that TIMB has
negotiated with local banks
to reduce their requirements
for opening bank account,
which will also see the banks
charging negligible or no
charges at all.
This year a total of 75 000
tobacco farmers has regis-
tered to grow tobacco this
year as compared to 85 000
registered during the same
period last year.
At least 18 class A buyers
and 18 contractors were
licenced by the TIMB last
year.●
8 news
All set for tobacco marketing season
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9. BH249

10. BH2410

11. HARARE – Farmers in Zim-
babwe should adopt agro-
forestry for its numerous
advantages in light of the
ravages of climate change,
an expert said on Friday.
Agro-forestry is a land use
management system in which
trees or shrubs are grown
around or among crops or
pastureland. It combines
shrubs and trees in agri-
cultural and forestry tech-
nologies to create more
diverse, productive, profita-
ble, healthy, and sustainable
land-use systems.
Forestry Commission of
Zimbabwe (FCZ) spokesper-
son Stephen Zingwena said
agro-forestry was worth
adopting because of several
advantages.
“Advantages include mois-
ture conservation from tree
canopies, exchange of nutri-
ents from roots of nitrogen
fixing plants and biomass.
“Also reduced evapotran-
spiration on agricultural
crops because crops are not
exposed to intense direct
sunlight, increased produc-
tivity of land due to multiple
products and services, hence
achieving greater economic
benefits and household
food security,” he said. Mr
Zingwena added that only
nitrogen fixing trees were
suitable for the practice and
farmers should be cautious
when choosing the right
trees.
“Not all trees are suitable
for agroforestry but only
nitrogen fixing plants like
Faiderbia albida, a wide
variety of other Acacia trees,
Leucaena spp., and pigeon
pea, among others,” he said.
He said the Forestry Com-
mission was in the process of
breeding drought resistant
species which are likely to
face extinction.
“ Our Forestry researchers
are currently working on six
indigenous tree species on
propagation methods (with a
view to domesticating them),
sixteen more on provenance
trials, while three are being
bred for multiplication as
they are threatened with
extinction,” he said.
Those that are being tar-
geted for domestication are
fruit trees, namely, Mupfura,
Mutohwe, Munyii, Muzhanje,
Mutunduru and Muhacha.
He said the commission was
also carrying out a program
of cross breeding Eucalyp-
tus trees to come up with
high breeds that are drought
tolerant, which would benefit
tobacco farmers.
“There is also a program for
breeding pines to a shorter
rotation as well as drought
tolerance,” he said.
He said the commission had
introduced some of the pro-
grams in high density sub-
urbs and around the country
as part of food security.-
New Ziana●
11 news
Agroforestry answer to climate change

12. BH2412

13. BH2413

14. HARARE - The equities mar-
ket slipped into negative
territory following today’s
trades after the mainstream
industrial index retreated
0.04 to close at 99.89 on
a couple of heavyweight
losses.
Cigarette producer BAT
shed $0,0500 to trade at
$10,7000, while Dairibord
slipped $0,0080 to close at
$0,0600 and beverages giant
Delta retreated $0,0052 to
$0,5598.
Padenga inched down
$0,0001 to settle at
$0,0605.
On the upside giant insurer
Old Mutual increased by
$0,0173 to trade at $2,0807
and telecoms giant Econet
added $0,0092 to close at
$0,2405.
The mining index was
unchanged at 19.53 as Bind-
ura, Falgold, Hwange and
RioZim all maintained previ-
ous price levels at $0,0100,
$0,0050, $0,0300 and
$0,1040 respectively.` -
BH24 Reporter ●
ZSE14
Equities slide

15. Movers CHANGE Today Price USc SHAKERS Change TODAY Price USc
Econet 3.97 24.05 Dairbord -11.76 6.00
Old Mutual 0.83 208.07 Delta -0.92 55.98
BAT -0.46 1,070.00
Padenga -0.16 6.05
Index Previous Today Move Change
Industrial 99.93 99.89 -0.04 points -0.04%
Mining 19.53 19.53 +0.00 points +0.00%
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
21 March 2016
Energy
(Megawatts)
Hwange 420 MW
Kariba 475 MW
Harare 30 MW
Munyati 0 MW
Bulawayo 20 MW
Imports 0 - 300 MW
Total 1120 MW
• Thursday 24 March 2016 - Annual General Meeting of Willdale Limited; Place: Boardroom, Willdale Administration Block,
19.5km peg Lomagundi Road, Mount Hampden; Time: 1100 hours...
• Analyst briefing - Old Mutual Zimbabwe, Steward Room, Meikles Hotel, March 30, 1430hrs
THE BH24 DIARY

17. JOHANNESBURG - South
Africa's rand steadied
against the dollar in early
trade today but traders said
it remained vulnerable to a
political crisis and fears of
a sovereign credit ratings
downgrade.
At 0700 GMT, the rand
traded at 15,2025 per dollar,
not far off its Monday's New
York close of 15,2150.
"The rand will still remain
fragile as the political devel-
opments continue to unfold.
Local markets have another
short week ahead and we
could expect liquidity to
remain thin," Nedbank ana-
lysts said in a note.
The rand has come under
pressure following allega-
tions that a family close
to President Jacob Zuma
influenced the firing of the
finance minister in Decem-
ber, but South Africa's ruling
party said on Sunday that it
had full confidence in Zuma.
Investors, however, fear
further political uncertainty
could hasten a credit ratings
downgrade, potentially into
"junk" territory, sharply rais-
ing South Africa's borrowing
costs.
On the stock market, the
Top-40 index was down 0,47
percent, while the broader
all-share fell 0,49 percent in
early trade.
In fixed income, the yield for
the benchmark instrument
due in 2026 was down 2
basis points to 9,265 per-
cent. - Reuters●
regioNAL News17
Rand steady, stocks open lower

18. Oil traded near $41 as OPEC
said prices will rebound to a
“moderate” level even if Iran
doesn’t join other producers
in freezing output.
May futures in New York
were little changed after ear-
lier climbing as much as 0,7
percent. The April contract
expired Monday after gaining
1,2 percent. The drop in out-
put outside of the Organisa-
tion of Petroleum Exporting
Countries and a decline in US
drilling shows OPEC’s strat-
egy of letting the market
rebalance itself is working,
Secretary General Abdalla
El-Badri said. American
crude stockpiles are forecast
to rise, keeping supplies at
the most since 1930.
“The market is potentially
moving closer to a more
balanced situation,” Ric
Spooner, a chief analyst at
CMC Markets in Sydney, said
by phone. “US production is
heading in the right direc-
tion. We still have very large
inventories, a significant and
continuing supply overhang
and a period of possible sea-
sonal weakness, so there’s
scope for volatility.”
Oil slumped to a 12-year
low this year before rising
on speculation that stronger
demand and falling US
output will ease a global sur-
plus. While all OPEC mem-
bers have been invited to
the freeze talks in Doha next
month, not all will attend,
El-Badri said in Vienna on
Monday, predicting about 15
or 16 nations will participate.
West Texas Intermediate
for May delivery traded at
$41,49 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange,
down 3 cents, at 7:58 a.m.
London time. Total volume
traded was about 38 percent
below the 100-day average.
The April contract increased
47 cents to close at $39,91 a
barrel on Monday.
Moderate Prices
Brent for May settlement was
5 cents lower at $41,49 a
barrel on the London-based
ICE Futures Europe
exchange. The contract rose
34 cents, or 0,8 percent, to
$41,54 Monday. The global
benchmark crude was at a
1-cent premium to WTI.
Iran has some “conditions”
related to its own production
and it’s up to them whether
they participate in the
accord, or even opt to join
in at a later date, El-Badri
said at OPEC’s headquarters
in Vienna. Oil prices will con-
tinue to rebound to moderate
rather than high levels, he
said.
US stockpiles and oil price
impact:
• US crude inventories
probably increased by 2,45
million barrels last week,
according to a Bloomberg
survey before an Energy
Information Administration
report Wednesday.
• Petroleo Brasileiro SA
reported a fourth-quarter
loss after writing down the
value of assets because of
the collapse in oil prices.
• Iraq ordered North Oil Co.
to maintain a suspension on
exports from fields in Kirkuk
to Ceyhan in Turkey until
new settlements are reached
with the Kurds, Iraqi Oil Min-
ister Adel Abdul Mahdi said
on Facebook.
- Bloomberg●
internatioNAL News18
Oil trades near $41 as OPEC sees moderate gains amid output drop

19. By George Rautenbach
RECENTLY Cape Town hosted
the first Bloomberg Africa
Business and Economic
Summit. The presentations
focused on the validity in
the argument that Africa is
booming. While it certainly
was worth the effort to
attend, I was surprised and
perplexed at our ignorance as
South Africans of the world in
general and our continent in
particular. This was reflected
throughout the summit.
Why was this event important
and what can be learned from
it? Strangely enough we can
draw conclusions from both
the content and the absence
of content. A summit that was
supposed to answer many
questions turned out to raise
more questions instead.
The noble idea was quite
well orchestrated with the
obligatory American fanfare
so familiar from their politi-
cal campaigns, as one would
expect from Bloomberg. We
cannot blame Americans
for living their culture. The
problem lies with us South
Africans. It was disheartening
to see so many white faces in
the audience even today, and
the black ones were mainly
from Nigeria and Kenya. Apart
from the limited participation,
discussions by the panellists
gave the impression that
sub-Saharan Africa consists
mainly of Nigeria, Kenya, SA
and to a lesser extent Bot-
swana and Rwanda.
The discussions gave some
insight into how business is
doing in Africa, albeit from a
statistical point of view that
we all know can be manipu-
lated to suit the audience. In
sum the summit boiled down
to the "African narrative"
being at a pause or "lull" in
what was earlier perceived to
be the continent’s boom time.
The subjects ranged from the
continent’s challenges and
future perspectives to the
influence of demographics on
aspects of economic growth.
According to International
Monetary Fund (IMF) pro-
jections for 2016 and 2017,
overall sub-Saharan Africa is
growing much faster than the
US, Europe, Japan, the Mid-
dle East, North Africa, Latin
America and the Caribbean.
In all of this SA, in terms of
its trade policies with Africa,
remains an enigma. Perhaps it
is the only country that does
not take growth in Africa seri-
ously or in simple terms does
not want to do business with
Africa. Only about 15 percent
of our total trade is with the
rest of Africa.
Other countries, especially
those that are traditional
partners of SA, don’t think
this way; for them the conti-
nent merits far more atten-
tion. The French parliament
established a special com-
mittee in 2014 to re-evaluate
its relationship with Africa,
concluding that it is the new
Eldorado of the world.
The European Union (EU) is
channeling most of its devel-
opment aid to Africa, and we
know development aid is a
political tool that opens doors.
The US established the African
Growth and Opportunity Act,
while China is all over the
continent to the frustration
of many. SA remains largely
absent, has no strategy and
no well-defined vision for its
relationship with the conti-
nent.
Let us look at how interests
in Africa play out in real
life. From own experience
France will serve as a perfect
example of how government
and business should work
together. In 2011 France
made an enormous contribu-
tion to peace and stability in
the Ivory Coast. The rightful
democratically elected presi-
dent was inaugurated as head
of state after a short civil war.
Nicolas Sarkozy, at the time
president of France, came in
person to the inauguration of
President Alassane Dramane
Ouattara.
His entourage included the
CEOs of Bolloré, Orange and
Bouygues. These companies
19 analysis19 analysis
SA’s ignorance of Africa does everyone a disservice

20. 20 analysis20 analysis
need no introduction in the
business world, as they are
some of the wealthiest in
France. From that visit alone
France walked away with
€2,9bn in contracts over a
period of 15 years. The French
have a strategy and vision.
In comparison, how does
SA think and feel about the
continent? The commissioner
of SA’s Competition Commis-
sion, Tembinkosi Bonakele,
during the summit hinted at
the fact that business in SA
is still very much owned by a
few white privileged fami-
lies. During the apartheid
era the world isolated SA and
SA could not do business in
Africa.
This suited the interests of
many Western countries. At
the end of apartheid, there
was speculation internation-
ally that this "new kid on the
block" could pose problems
for Western business inter-
ests on the continent. Some
countries approached SA’s
foreign missions and "offered
assistance". The broader aim
was to gain insights into SA’s
business interests on the
continent.
A few South African compa-
nies ventured into Africa and
burned their fingers, mainly
due to ignorance of the com-
plexities of African culture:
the role of respect, the role of
relationships, and how a hum-
ble approach can make friends
for a life time. Many South
Africans are viewed in Africa
as arrogant and paternalistic.
We now do some business
with Africa but in a very lim-
ited way under the pretext of
"consolidation", "focus" and
"economically unstable". It is
nothing but fear of diversity
and an arrogance that we
"know" Africa. Self-inflicted
isolation.
We played ourselves out of
the equation and the rest
of the world enjoys watch-
ing SA isolating itself from
the continent, SA no longer
poses a threat to traditional
interests in Africa. We need
to be critical and ask: does
SA have a strategy where we
know what we would like to
achieve during, for example,
a state visit? The answer is
simple: no, we don’t, peo-
ple tend to go along as it is
either expected or they are
curious about their continent.
Very little economic benefit
is derived from co-operation
between the government and
the private sector.
In the final analysis it is clear
that SA does not attach the
same importance to Africa as
the rest of the world. SA is
happy to do business with tra-
ditional partners even though
sub-Saharan Africa, according
to the IMF, is one of the fast-
est-growing regions, behind
China, India and south-east
Asia. This means that the sad
state of our internal political
situation, which is driven by
suspicions and unfounded
fears, is playing out in our
foreign policy.
About 85 percent of SA’s
imports and exports are
directed towards the rest of
the world. We are based on
the African continent and
while the EU, the US and
China are making enormous
efforts to invest in Africa and
work on the continent, SA is
mostly absent.
To sum it up we do not trust
our own much less the con-
tinent. SA should be at the
leading edge of summits and
conferences about the conti-
nent. SA should be a gateway,
a knowledge base for those
interested in the continent.
Others should come and learn
from us, but in fact we know
very little about our own con-
tinent.
In this context it is not
surprising that it takes a US
entity such as Bloomberg to
discuss Africa as a whole in
Cape Town. More conferences
about Africa are held outside
the continent than inside the
continent. A quick look at the
agenda of international con-
ferences and seminars in SA
on Africa makes one realise
that we fail the continent dis-
mally. Africa does not appear
to be an interesting continent,
at least not from a South Afri-
can perspective. Our future
lies with the continent, so
perhaps we should start act-
ing that way. – BDLive●