FOR the umpteenth time, construction of the country’s largest inland water reservoir, Tokwe-Murkosi Dam, has stalled due to non-payment of the contractor, Salini-Impregilo Joint Venture. Work at the site started in 1998, but was suspended in 1999 due to lack of funds. Construction resumed in 2001 but went through a…

LARGE green PVC water tanks of 1000 litres all the way up to 5000 litres and counting, perched high on overhead reserve stands at various households, particularly those in the middle and low density suburbs of Harare, are not a sign of wealth in a city. They are, in fact,…

GOVERNMENT appears headed for a substantial budget deficit this year, with a Treasury report revealing a US$68 million financing deficit during the first quarter of this year. This emerged as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in its Article IV Consultation on Zimbabwe released last week that fiscal pressure is…

TWO journalists earlier suspected of running the Baba Jukwa Facebook page are filing a US$100 million defamation lawsuit against the State media and New Zimbabwe.com after they carried reports linking them to the faceless internet mole. A Harare lawyer representing the two scribes, Obert Gutu, revealed this week that Mxolisi…

THE City of Harare tap water may not cause any diarrhoeal diseases in the short run but may, in the long term, cause cancers, affect brain development and lower intelligence quotient (IQ), which is a score derived from tests designed to assess intelligence. Of late there have been some contradictions…

EMBATTLED Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, risks becoming irrelevant, politically, unless something dramatic happens to salvage his credibility, which is currently on the line, the Financial Gazette can report. Despite giving in to pressure to hold an early congress in 2015, instead of 2016, Tsvangirai’s approval ratings…

AT least 10 firms have been closing down every month since the beginning of the year, a senior official from the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) disclosed recently. This means at least 60 companies have closed shop since the beginning of the year, and that the count could get to…

THE performance of local banks appears to be under pressure due to a weakening economy, with key indicators like the return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) failing to gain traction at a time overheads and non-performing loans are charging, analysts have said. The banking sector’s combined core…

A CHINESE telecommunications company, ZTE Corporation, has been awarded a US$100 million contract to supply mechanisation and irrigation equipment without going to tender, the Financial Gazette can reveal. The development has courted the ire of several potential bidders and is likely to anger a restive population whose government had pledged…

A BATTLE for top positions has ensued in ZANU-PF as party heavyweights prepare for a do-or-die congress in December amid indications that Simon Khaya-Moyo, the party’s national chairman, and Didymus Mutasa, the secretary general, will move a notch up the ladder from their respective positions if they play their cards…