Carte Blanche with Perry

This undoubtedly is a question that most people have asked themselves at one point or another. “The monthly income I get is barely enough to cover the essentials”, I have had people say. In an environment characterised by low disposable incomes, it is not conceivable how people would be expected to have any meaningful savings. In any case, the basic living expenses have to be covered first. While all this may be true, the importance of savings cannot be overemphasized. As individuals, we all have goals and ambitions, and their attainment hinges upon having a solid financial plan. Herein lays the fundamental tenet of savings. One has to lay out a plan detailing what they want to achieve financially and what it will take to achieve it. Warren Buffet, the renowned Billionaire American Investor, is famous for advocating that people should not save what is left after spending, but rather, they should spend what is left after saving. This principle flies in the face of the seeming...

Zimbabwe has witnessed a significant outflow of her citizens over the years. This was one of the effects of the so called ‘lost decade’ where Zimbabweans migrated abroad in droves searching for greener pastures. These now constitute a Zimbabwean Diaspora community scattered around the globe. It would be remiss to fault the thousands who left the country at a time when the country was starring down the barrel; hamstrung by hyperinflation and chronic unemployment. The allure of brighter prospects offered by distant lands was simply irresistible to close the eyes to. The negative upshots this massive drain of skilled human capital has had on the economy have been all too apparent. The nation has been shorn of the expertise of those who could have contributed to the progress of the nation. This argument has steadily gained traction over the years, with the general consensus being that had the Diaspora community been around, they would have positively applied themselves to build a better...

  The elections have come and gone, albeit contentiously so.   Yet what still unites us as a nation is our common desire to see this nation advance for the good of all Zimbabweans. As the nation waits to see if ZANU PF will deliver on its electoral promises, the question of what it will take to get this country working again still remains. Thirty three years after the liberation struggle, we still find ourselves suffering from the liberation war hangover. It goes without saying, that the war of independence was key and indeed necessary to unshackle the country from our oppressors at the time. However when we as a nation, cannot move on to focus on issues that are vital to our development, the essence of the liberation struggle comes to naught. When do we as a nation take a long hard look at ourselves and not blame our past for where we are? If not, we run the risk of being a people who excel at majoring in the minors. Yes, the importance of the war and our history...

Throughout history, very few people have had the rare ability to conjure up such a concoction of emotions in people when they speak. Hate him or love him, President Barack Obama has distinctively set himself apart as an orator of note throughout his presidency. This has been more evident on his recent tour of Africa, in the speeches he has been delivering especially to the young people. Whether his speeches are filled with platitudes or mere political rhetoric, the American President has managed to highlight fundamental issues affecting the African continent and its people. Africa rising has been the catchphrase in the last couple of years, following the blistering pace of economic development the continent has been enjoying, especially in   sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, research has shown that, six of the world`s ten fastest growing economies of the past decade are in sub-Saharan Africa. Zambia and Rwanda are some of the countries that have capitalised on this phenomenon thr...

Youth unemployment continues to be a major problem in Zimbabwe, where youths who constitute a large proportion of the population are still without gainful employment. While several explanations have been offered to explain this phenomenon, I believe these reasons, no matter the supposed justification, are red herrings that do not adequately address the issue of youth unemployment. In the last couple of years, the story of Africa rising has been well documented, as the emerging markets outperformed most established western markets. With an annual inflation rate which is lower than her regional peers, as well as a relatively higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate than regional counterparts, Zimbabwe too has in a sense, been rising. The unfortunate paradox that the largest population sub-group in the country still represents the largest strata of those unemployed, however still exists. This renders whatever positive strides that have been made irrelevant in the grand sch...

That China has emerged as a global economic powerhouse especially in the aftermaths of the global financial crisis cannot be disputed. In fact, it is credited as having been the key driver of global economic growth, in a period where the western economic markets were largely subdued. Africa has benefitted immensely from the growth of the Chinese economy in the recent past. Statistics show that by the end of 2012, China`s Foreign Direct Investment in the continent approached the $20 billion mark. For all intents and purposes, this is a significant amount of investment which goes to show the prominence with which the so called ‘sleeping giant’ is rising. Zimbabwe has increasingly become more reliant on China, on the back of the ‘look east policy’ being pursued by the Zimbabwean government. Chinese owned Anjin investments invested $400 million to form a joint venture with the Zimbabwean government to mine diamonds in the Marange fields. Furthermore, various companies in the count...

Abstract Following the dollarization of the Zimbabwean economy in 2009, the country has seen its economic fundamentals improve. Inflation has been reigned in, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has been on an upward trajectory. However, Zimbabwe`s total external debt overhang continues to stifle the recovery of the country`s economy, as investors are not willing to lend to the country, and this has had adverse effects on the country`s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. Zimbabwe`s external debt overhang is currently estimated at around US$10.7 billion, which is a gigantic, 111% of the country`s GDP. IMF Report, (2012) To circumvent the problem of external debt, which continues to be a major impediment to the economic recovery of the country, various scholars have put forward several solutions which include, declaring Zimbabwe as a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC), and securitisation of the country`s mineral resources. This study looks at securitisation of...