By Tawanda Musarurwa

HARARE – Line ministries and Government departments have developed innovative ways to circumvent the 2002 Presidential directive that all Government institutions should buy their vehicles locally, which has left the sector reeling.

The directive was introduced to support the local industry and conserve scarce foreign reserves, but local motor vehicle manufacturers claim that the directive has not been adhered to.

Appearing before the Par-liamentary Portfolio Com-

mittee on Transport and Infrastructure Development,

Quest Motors CEO Mr Tarik Adam said the firm has had

to significantly cut down its production as uptake for locally manufactured vehicles has been decimated by high level of vehicle imports – not least in Government.

“My factory, when it was working at full capacity on a single eight-hour shift we were producing between 12 000 and 15 000 vehicles a month, and was employ-ing close to 15 000 people. Today, my production level is below 1 percent, I am employing 150 people.

“We have tried at times to kick-start it ending up with 12 000 vehicles sitting in my plant and without being able to pay the suppliers for it, it has created major problems.

News Update as @ 1530 hours, Monday 04 April 2016

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Quest Motors production capacity below 1pc......as Govt defies 2002 Presidential directive

And the irony of it is we have had the vehicles sitting there but Government departments have continuously imported vehicles - even the models that we are manufacturing,” said Mr Adam.

In a circular published in the Government Gazette on Octo-ber 11 2002, then secretary to the president and cabinet, Mr Charles Utete, declared: "It is hereby notified that in terms of Section 20 of the Procurement Act chapter (22:14), the president has given the following directions to the SPB (State Procure-ment Board) to conserve the nation's scarce foreign currency resources; (and) promote development of the domestic automotive industry and provide support thereto at a time of considerable challenge for that industry.”

He alleged that the Govern-ment departments and para-statals were using ‘unscrupu-lous’ means to skate around buying locally manufactured

vehicles. The latest problem is that we started producing the Foton Tunland at Mutare last year, and Government has imported 600 units from China. They could have said let’s get the kits and get Quest to go and build it.

“Now when I say Government I must be honest we have had extremely strong support at the highest level, and by that I mean the 2002 Pres-idential directive. The 2002 directive was worded that it closed all the loopholes....we were also given the dispen-sation that they (Government departments, parastatals and all institutions) could go through the tender board, but they could come directly to us to get prices and that the tender board would consider those and give the greenlight.

“They were also told to put their specifications according to the peers being manu-factured. We manufacture pick-up if it ’s a 2.5 Diesel,

the departments would say we want to 2.8 Diesel. When we do a 2.8 Diesel, they say we want to 2.5 Diesel, or they would say they want a 2.2 Petrol engine or particu-lar product that has got to be imported.

“The directive was not only given but it was gazetted as law, but it has been totally ignored by the various line ministries and parastatals.”

Mr Adam also claimed that some Government depart-ments were coming to get quotations from Quest or Willowvale, then get a State Procurement Board (SPB) number, which they would then use to import vehicles.

We have the capacity to run a three-shift, we could be producing between 20 000 to 30 000 vehicles a year at Mutare, which would take care of the country’s require-ments and drive up the com-pany’s employment figures.●

2 NEws

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BH244

By Funny Hudzerema

HARARE -Tobacco farmers have earned $ 761 029 from the sale of 518 255 kilogrammes of Virginia tobacco sold during the first two days of the selling sea-son which began on Wednesday last week, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has said.

TIMB statistics show that the volumes sold on the second day this season increased by 41, 47 percent from the 366,348 kilogrammes of the crop worth $ 542,345 sold during the corre-sponding period last year.

This season tobacco vol-umes are expected to decline by 20 percent due to the El Nino induced drought which affected the crop. Average prices declined from $1,48 per kg offered last year to $1,47 this year. A total of 4 541 bales were laid at the three auction floors Tobacco sales Floor, Boka Tobacco Floors and Premier Tobacco Floors during the period under review and of these, 3

887 went under the hammer which compares favourably with the 7 451 bales that were laid and 5 926 sold during the same period last year.

Tobacco Industry and Mar-keting Board public relations manager, Mr Isheunesu Moyo said sales went well during the first two days of the selling season although there were some challenges with some farmers who wanted to resist the new payment method. This season, farmers will not be paid cash but will have their money deposited into their bank accounts.

“Sales went well on the first and second days and growers were paid through their bank accounts. Most growers who did not have accounts managed to open them at the auction floors. However payments on the first day were delayed because some farmers were not compliant with regulatory requirements such as registrations, submission of esti-mates and opening of accounts,” he said.

Mt Darwin farmer, Mr Brighton Samson said he was hoping that his crop would fetch a good price for him to be able to cater for his family and return to the field.

“This crop is our only hope. We are hoping that prices will continue firming to as high as $5 per kg at the auction floors,” he said.

Agriculture has remained the mainstay of the economy which is projected to grow by 3,4 per-cent in 2016, mainly anchored by tobacco production.●

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Tobacco sales off to as good start

BH246

BH24 Reporter

HARARE –The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has called on all stakeholders to reduce the importation of foreign products to reduce the level of money exported on yearly basis.

RBZ Deputy Governor Dr Kupukile Mlambo said sup-porting the domestic market can reduce the importation of money and this will reduce the cost of production of local products which are expensive on the interna-tional market.

“Every year we are exporting cash up to $3 bill ion dollars through importation of goods from other countries and that is the major reason we don’t have cash in the economy,” he said.

“Some of the things we import like water and cereals are not necessary because they are being manufactured

here. There is need to do things which brings money in the country than things which send money out. We also need to support the domestic market to ensure that our foreign currency continues to circulate in the economy,” he said.

Currently the country is importing products which are manufactured here because of low prices and high prices in local produced goods.

“We need to deal with domestic cost of produc-tion or internal devaluation because a bottle of water is costing 35cents while the imported one cost $0, 15 each. We need to clean up the business sector by looking back at our policies, legal instruments and regu-latory conditions that govern business in this country,” he said.●

7 NEws

RBZ calls for imports reduction

Dr Kupukile Mlambo

BH248

HARARE–CBZ Holdings Lim-ited has announced the Mr Elliot Mugamu as its incom-ing chairman, following the retirement of Mr Richard Vic-tor Wilde as board chairman.

The appointment will take effect on May 1, 2016

Prior to this new appoint-ment, Mr Mugamu was an independent non-executive deputy chairman of CBZ Holdings since April 2012 and an independent non-execu-tive chairman of CBZ Bank Limited since February 2014.

He is presently, the MD of Owik Fit Motor Center.

“Elliot, a Rotarian and entre-preneur with hands on expe-rience at executive direc-tor level of over 30 years, brings strong board oversight responsibilities and expertise in strategic business man-agement and corporate gov-ernance,” said CBZ Holdings in a statement.

A PHD Candidate at the Uni-versity of Lusaka in Zambia, Elliot holds, among other qualifications, a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of South Pacific (Fiji Islands), a Post grad-uate Diploma in corporate strategy and marketing and a Master of Business Admin-istration from Thames Valley University (UK).

He also is a fellow Member of institute of Chartered Secretaries and Adminis-trators having satisfied the educational requirements for associate membership in

December 1981 with the New Zealand division. His inter-ests includes public Sector reforms in particular, pri-vatization and performance management of state owned enterprises.

Mr Richard Victor Wilde - a non-executive director of the company - has provided notice of retirement from the position of board chairman as well as from membership to the boards of CBZ Holdings Limited. He will not put put forward his name for re-elec-tion at the upcoming Annual General Meeting April 28.

Meanwhile, the elevation of Mr Mugamu has also seen CBZ Holdings appointing Dr Ruvimbo Mabedza-Chimedza as a chairperson of the CBZ Bank Limited board.

This will also take effect on May 1, 2016.

Prior to this appointment, Dr Mabedza-Chimedza sat on CBZ bank limited board as an independent non-executive director since May 1, 1998.

She holds - amongst other qualifications - a Bachelor of Arts in international Devel-opment and Master of Arts in international Development from Clark University (USA) a Postgraduate Diploma in Agricultural economics from the University of Reading (UK) an MSc in Agricultural Economics from Oxford Uni-versity and a PHD in agricul-tural economics and Exten-sion from the University of Zimbabwe.●

9 NEws

Board changes at CBZ

HARARE -The mainstream industr ia l index opened the week on a low note los ing 0.08 to sett le at 97.72 as trading act iv i ty cont inued to be low.

Giant insurer Old Mutual eased $0,0025 to c lose at $2,2000, whi le Barc lays lost $0,0010 to trade at $0,0270 and Ar iston decreased by $0,0007 to $0,0045.

On the upside, two counters traded in the posit ive terr i-tory. Seed producer SeedCo gained $0,0050 to c lose at $0,6450 whi le construc-t ion f i rm Masimba edged up

$0,0001 to trade at $0,0071.

The mining index opened the new week f lat at 19.53 as Bindura, Falgold, Hwange

and RioZim al l maintained previous pr ice levels at $0,0100, $0,0050, $0,0300 and $0,1040 respect ively.

.- BH24 Reporter ●

ZsE10

Industrials open week in bearish form

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MovERs CHANGE TodAy PRICE UsC sHAKERs CHANGE TodAy PRICE UsC

MASIMBA 1.42 0.71 ARISTON -13.46 0.45

SEEDCO 0.78 64.50 BARCLAyS -3.57 2.70

OLD MUTUAL -0.11 220.00

INdEx PREvIoUs TodAy MovE CHANGE

INDUSTRIAL 97.80 97.72 -0.08 points -0.08%

MINING 19.53 19.53 +0.00 POINTS +0.00%

11 ZsE TABlEs

ZsE

INdICEs

stock Exchange

Previous

today

12 dIARy oF EvENTs

The black arrow indicate level of load shedding across the country.

PowER GENERATIoN sTATs

Gen Station

04 April 2016

Energy

(Megawatts)

Hwange 519 MW

Kariba 460 MW

Harare 30 MW

Munyati 15 MW

Bulawayo 25 MW

Imports 0 - 400 MW

Total 1255 Mw

Upcoming AGM

• Falgold, KPMG Building, Corner 14th Avenue/Josiah Tongogara Street, Bulawayo,13 April, 1000hrs

THE BH24 dIARy

CoNAKRy — Guinea and Burkina Faso are taking back hundreds of unused min-ing permits for re-auction, ministers said this week, as governments try to reignite interest in the sector amid a downturn.

Permits awarded in recent years that are not being used for exploration or production should be made available to other companies, the two West African countries said in separate statements this week.

Both countries’ mining min-istries said that the changes were brought about to clean up their outdated land reg-istries. But they also come as resource-rich African countries struggle to attract investment amid a global slump in commodities prices.

In Guinea, Africa’s largest bauxite producer, 142 of 2 500 permits covering baux-ite, gold, diamond and ura-nium prospects were recently made void, the Guinean minister of mines Abdoulaye Magassouba said on Wednes-

day.

The companies that held the licenses had been informed, one source in the ministry said. They include some bauxite blocks abandoned by major miner BHP Bill iton in Boffa in the west of the country, the minister said. BHP was not available to comment.

"This is a normal process when we see that licensees do not put them to use after a time defined by the law. This also helps give way to other companies," Magas-souba said.

In gold-producing Burkina Faso, the ministry of mines has published a list of 356 permits that have become

available to lease, some dat-ing back years.

"To be able to update the register, it is important that we have a clean register from the beginning with valid research and exploitation permits," Alpha Omar Dissa, Burkina Faso’s minister of mines and energy, said on Thursday- Reuters●

REGIoNAl NEws 13

Guinea and Burkina Faso to auction unused mining permits

PARIs — An explosive leak of 11,5-million tax documents on Sunday exposed the secret off-shore dealings of aides to Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin, world leaders and celebrities including Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

An investigation into the docu-ments by more than 100 media groups, described as one of the largest such probes in history, revealed the hidden offshore dealings in the assets of about 140 political figures — includ-ing 12 current or former heads of states.

The vast stash of records was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sued-deutsche Zeitung and shared with media worldwide by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) (Panama Papers).

The investigation yielded 11,5-million documents from about 214 000 offshore enti-ties, the ICIJ said. The leaked documents came from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm with offices in more than 35 countries.

Though most of the alleged dealings are said by the ICIJ to be legal they are likely to have a serious political impact on many of those named.

Among the main claims of the ICIJ investigations:

• Close associates of Mr Putin, who is not himself named in the documents, "secretly shuf-fled as much as $2bn through banks and shadow companies", the ICIJ said.

• The files identified off-shore companies linked to the family of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has led a tough anticorruption campaign in his country.

• In Iceland, the files allegedly show Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his wife secretly owned an off-shore firm holding millions of dollars in Icelandic bank bonds during the country’s financial crisis.

• The law firm of a member of Fifa’s ethics committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, had business ties with three men indicted in the Fifa scandal: former

Fifa vice-president Eugenio Figueredo, as well as Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano who were accused of paying bribes to win soccer broadcast rights in Latin America.

• Argentine football great Messi and his father owned a Panama company, Mega Star Enterprises, a shell company that had previously not come up in Spanish investigations into the father and son’s tax affairs.

Also in the world of football, Francetvinfo named UEFA president Michel Platini as the beneficiary of a Panama-based tax company, adding however that no illegal activity was alleged.

Mr Platini’s communications service said in a statement "all of his accounts and assets are known to the tax authori-ties in Switzerland, where he has been a tax resident since 2007".

At least 33 people and com-panies in the documents were blacklisted by the US govern-ment for wrongdoing, such as North Korea and Iran, as well

as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the ICIJ said.

The leaked data from 1975 to the end of last year pro-vides what the ICIJ described as a "never-before-seen view inside the offshore world". Names also figuring in the leak included the president of Ukraine, the king of Saudi Arabia and the prime minister of Pakistan.

"These findings show how deeply ingrained harmful practices and criminality are in the offshore world," said Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the US-based University of California, Berkeley, cited by the consortium.

The leaked documents were reviewed by a team of more than 370 reporters from more than 70 countries, according to the ICIJ. The BBC cited Mos-sack Fonseca as saying it had operated "beyond reproach" for 40 years and had never been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

It was not immediately clear who was the original source of the leaked documents.-AFP●

INTERNATIoNAl NEws 14

Explosive tax haven document leak exposes world leaders

By Frik Els

Against expectations and in some instances seemingly in defiance of fundamentals, commodities managed to climb a wall of worry during the first quarter of 2016.

While nervousness returned to the sector with a venge-ance this week, many metals and minerals have clung to year-to-date gains.

It's down sharply from an insane 19 percent jump in a single day to above $60 a tonne, but iron ore remains the top performer for Q1 2016. The steelmaking raw material arguably has the biggest oversupply prob-lems of the lot, but despite many bear calls have stayed firmly above $50. Iron ore's rebound is even more impressive considering it's up 44 percent from its near decade low hit in December.

Gold held onto 15 percent gains in the first quarter (its

best showing going back to the 1980s), but the pullback today is re-awakening fears of a replay of Q1 2015 when the price briefly topped $1 300 an ounce only to spend the rest of the year sliding towards triple digits. This time around ETF investors appear more convinced of the robustness of the gold rally however, snapping up more tonnes during the quarter than left funds in 2014 and 2015 combined.

Bellwether copper is in

danger of wiping out its gains for the year, but the red metal can stil l boast of double digit gains from near six-year lows below $2 a pound struck mid-January. Today's drop in oil puts the commodity back to square one for 2016, but like iron ore crude's been swinging wildly – the dip to $26 on February 11 already seems like ancient history.

Among industrial metals tin is the clear winner and while the metal has been

drifting lower recently is up 15,5 percent for 2016 and up 26 percent since hitting multi-year lows of $13 300 a tonne in January. Nickel, last year's worst performer, showed signs of a revival but in February crashed through $8 000 a tonne. The come-back since that 13-year low has been less than convinc-ing and it's astounding to think that the volatile metal peaked at $51 780 a decade ago.

Returning to a six month high this week, coking coal has enjoyed some support from iron ore's advance, but thermal coal's long term decline looks inevitable. Ura-nium, last year's strongest performer –

that is, showing the smallest decline – is being demol-ished this year. Friday's spot price of $27,30 a pound is pushing U3O8 towards its lowest in a decade on a weekly basis. – Mining.com●

15 analysis15 ANAlysIs

Mining's Q1: The best it's gonna get?