 | MARKETING & MEDIA Zim banks to import foreign cash[Sam Hungwe] Zimbabwe's central bank has ordered banks to start importing foreign currency from their nostro accounts as banks began grappling with increasing demand for foreign cash, bankers said. A nostro account is a bank account established in a foreign country for the purpose of holding that country's currency. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Brand torn by wrangling[Sam Hungwe] John Moxon, chairman of Kingdom Meikles Africa (KMAL), has fallen out irretrievably with Nigel Chanakira, the group CEO whose banking group, Kingdom Financial Holdings (KFHL) merged with Meikles Africa to create KMAL, triggering the specification of Moxon and family members by Robert Mugabe's government. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zim government cuts mobile airtime VAT[Sam Hungwe] Local newspapers have been flooded with letters from agitated telecommunication users complaining over unfair charges by the country's three mobile networks. The Zimbabwe government has now cut punitive tax on mobile airtime, admitting this had affected “talk time” by mobile phone users. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zim newspapers sold in foreign currency[Dumisani Ndlela] The country's mainstream newspapers this week began retailing in foreign currency after being granted exchange control approval by the country's central bank. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Ad agency in dire straits[Sam Hungwe] One of the country's biggest advertising agencies, Imago Young & Rubicam (IY&R), has fallen in trouble after failing to pay for President Robert Mugabe's re-election campaign advertisements. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA PowerTel rolls out 3G network[Sam Hungwe] Zimbabwe's cable telecommunication firm, PowerTel, has rolled out a 3G network after the country's telecommunications regulator granted 3G licences to all telecommunications players in December. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: No jingle bells, just a hopeless Christmas[Dumisani Ndlela] What used to be a festive season full of spending has turned out to be a time of grief for both shoppers and retailers in Zimbabwe. Shops which used to burst with customers scrambling for bargains are desolate, and newspapers, which used to struggle to cope with advertorials on retail specials, are battling to fill advertising space. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Telecel's appeal still unheard after 15 months[Dumisani Ndlela] The Zimbabwean government is yet to decide on an appeal by Telecel Zimbabwe on the suspension of its operating licence, a move that has created uncertainty within the country's telecommunications industry. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Illegal internet and data operators surge in Zim[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's internet service providers have denounced "illegal" internet and data operators, calling on members of the public to report them to the police for prosecution. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Newsprint shortage hits newspaper industry[Dumisani Ndlela] An unprecedented shortage of newsprint has hit the newspaper industry after the local paper producer shut down its plants over “technical problems.” |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Econet grows subscriber base[Dumisani Ndlela] Econet Wireless has anchored its place as Zimbabwe's largest mobile network after growing its subscriber base by 41% during the six months to August 31, 2008. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Retail business now a pain for operators[Dumisani Ndlela] Alex Peterson has been in the retail business all his life. His family has run a fleet of businesses, which include supermarkets, beer outlets and butcheries, for over 45 years. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Politics haunts Econet's 3G network rollout: industry players[Dumisani Ndlela] The launch of third generation (3G) services by Zimbabwe's Econet Wireless, has been frustrated by delays in the allocation of frequencies by regulatory authorities, group chairman Tawanda Nyambirai said. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Regulator gives cellular networks new lifeline[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) has given the country's three cellular networks the right to charge for international calls in foreign currency. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Cash crisis ruins newspaper sales[Dumisani Ndlela] The Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers) group has revealed that its newspaper titles have suffered significant sales losses due to an arduous cash crisis, devastating the country's newspaper publishing industry. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Abnormal phone usage stunts cellular network growth[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's largest cellular network operator, Econet Wireless says its network expansion had been stunted by abnormal phone usage on its network, with the subscriber base growing by a mere 3% during the 2008 financial year. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Hotels defy govt as crisis escalates[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's hotels and leisure operators this week defied a moratorium on price hikes, threatening to close operations if government went ahead with threats to force prices down. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Central bank dispels fears of dollarisation[Dumisani Ndlela] The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has unveiled a foreign currency-denominated strategic commodities imports bond (SCIB), while also opening up the scarcity-ridden domestic market to trading in foreign currency. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Zimbabwe: Retailers hit hard by tough cash terms[Dumisani Ndlela] Zimbabwe's retail outlets are facing a fresh crisis as manufacturers and other product providers demand cash for supplies. |
| MARKETING & MEDIA Britain eases travel warning on Zim[Dumisani Ndlela] The British foreign office has lowered its warning to citizens against traveling to Zimbabwe, relieving the hotel and leisure operators in the southern African country of its major marketing nightmare. |
