The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on Friday announced new measures to address mobile banking deficiencies in its Monetary Policy Statement (MPS). The Central Bank issued a directive to the effect that, with immediate effect, all mobile money operators have to close all multiple wallets and allow just one wallet per individual. This entails that it is no longer permitted for an individual to have more than one EcoCash account or with other mobile money operators for that matter. The RBZ said: Following the suspension and freezing of agent and bulk-payer wallets on 27 June 2020, mobile money operators have allowed illegal foreign currency dealers to use multiple individual wallets as a means to bypass the transaction limits and continue with their illicit transactions. However, th
Remember when the Minister of Finance Announced that he will be seeking a way to tax businesses on Facebook, Amazon and Twitter? Well, he was not joking. In an email addressed to all Zimbabwean Business Accounts, Facebook wrote, Due to implementation of a value-added tax (VAT) in Zimbabwe, Facebook is required to charge VAT on the sale of ads to all advertisers in Zimbabwe. All advertisers with a business country of Zimbabwe will be charged an additional 14.5% VAT on advertising services purchased on or after September 1, 2020. You don’t have to enter a Zimbabwe Tax ID. However, if you’re registered for VAT and provide your Tax ID, your Tax ID will show up on your ads receipts. This may help you recover any VAT you paid to Zimbabwe tax authorities if you are a VAT registe
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Kudakwashe Regimond Tagwirei (Tagwirei) for providing support to the leadership of the Government of Zimbabwe, as well as Sakunda Holdings for being owned or controlled by Tagwirei. Today’s action corresponds with the second anniversary of the Zimbabwean government’s violent crackdown against its citizens who were protesting flawed government elections and the delayed results of the election, which resulted in the deaths of at least six civilians on August 1, 2018. “Tagwirei and other Zimbabwean elites have derailed economic development and harmed the Zimbabwean people through corruption,” said Deputy Secretary Justin G. Muzinich. “The United States s
Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa has blamed what he called dark forces for the economic crisis in the country. At a time his government is terrorizing opposition members, Mr Mnangagwa has called for unity, love and tolerance. Below is part of Mr Mnangagwa’s brief SONA: We will defeat the attack on our economy. We make no apology for fixing our economy across the political, social and economic spectrum. We wil continue to strike a balance between peace and stability and protection of civil rights on the other hand. Reforms that will open up the economy and help entrepreneurs are bearing fruits. Corruption at all levels must stop. The dark forces inside and outside our borders have tempered with our growth and development for too long. Let us embrace patriotism, accountability,
FORMER Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere has challenged ex-Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono and presented evidence that he settled his debt under the Farm Mechanisation Programme. Kasukuwere was forced to absolve himself after a State-owned daily claimed that he did not pay back the loan under the programme after United Kingdom-based Zimbabwe lawyer Alex Magaisa disclosed the full list of top Zanu PF bigwigs and their cronies who benefited from the controversial scheme in 2007/8. In a statement, the former Zanu PF national commissar blamed top party and government officials for hiding behind the finger, by claiming that the programme was not a loan in order to avoid paying back. “It is with great disappointment that I learnt the RBZ and some former ex
The 4 000 white commercial farmers who lost their farms during land reform will now be getting US$3,5 billion compensation for improvements after Government and the farmers’ representatives yesterday signed a series of agreements in a ceremony presided over by President Mnangagwa at State House. President Mnangagwa described the agreements, bundled as the Global Compensation Deed (GCD), as a “milestone” that demonstrates the Second Republic’s commitment to reengagement and constitutionalism. Presiding over the signing ceremony of the GCD at the State House, President Mnangagwa described the event as “historic” in as much as it closed the land reform chapter and sealed its irreversibility, sentiments echoed by the representative of the farmers who s
Zimbabwe’s president has picked a fight with the country’s most successful businessman. The economy may be the loser. Under pressure from a plunging currency and 737% inflation, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration on June 27 restricted almost all mobile-money transactions in a country where 90% of commerce is conducted on handsets because of cash shortages. On July 17, the police accused Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Ltd., which dominates mobile-cash transfers, of money laundering. The battle pits Mnangagwa, who came to power in a November 2017 coup, against Strive Masiyiwa, the businessman who founded and controls Econet. The company’s mobile-money unit Ecocash has 11.4 million customers and a 98% share of the market. Its platform is used for everythi
Ginimbi’s gas company, Piko Trading, was fined $36 000 and ordered to pay $2 512 149,80 that it owes the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority ZIMRA in taxes after it failed to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) between February 2009 and May 2016. Ginimbi real name Genius Kadungure, appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mr Crispen Mberewere yesterday. Magistrate Mberewere also fined Piko Trading, which was represented by Kadungure, $9 000, and ordered it to pay $355 559 in outstanding company taxes that it failed to pay after recording sales amounting to $24 187 026. Ginimbi’s company was ordered to settle the amounts by August 31, 2020 and to pay the fines immediately Piko Trading pled guilty to two offences. Ginimbi waa acquitted of failing to declare income returns to ZIMR
Zimbabwe’s central bank has announced that Zimswitch is now the designated national payment platform for all mobile money providers with immediate effect. In a statement, Governor John Mangudya of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said all money transmission agents should be connected to Zimswitch no later than August 15, 2020. “In accordance with the provisions of the National Payment Systems Act [Chapter 24:23] and the Banking (Money Transmission, Mobile Banking and Mobile Money Interoperability) Regulations, Statutory Instrument 80 of 2020 (the Regulations), the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (the Bank) wishes to advise the public that it has designated Zimswitch as a national payment switch with immediate effect. “All mobile money transmission providers and mobile banki
202 people have so far been arrested for rejecting and labelling Zim dollars as “bond notes”. It is reported that fifty-one people have so far been brought to court, while five others have been fined between $200 and $500. The arrests come after the launch of “Operation accept Zimbabwe currency as legal tender” by the police on June 26. Apparently, there have been many mischievous reports circulating on social media platforms informing people that bond notes would soon be demonetized. A s a result, a number of businesses, especially manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers, are refusing to accept payment in local currency in preference for US dollars and Rands. The reason why there are rejecting the Zim currency is because is of the persistent volat
