Africa Briefs

Zim bans mobile cash payouts

In its latest attempt to tackle a chronic cash shortage, Zimbabwe's central bank on Monday banned cash transactions using the mobile money service, amid a surge in prices of goods and services.

Years of economic crisis have left the country short of bank notes and commercial banks have been rationing cash withdrawals to a maximum daily limit of 100 ZWL (US$10) per customer, forcing people to turn to electronic financial transactions.

Most use mobile money transaction through cellphones. But when cash is required for things like bus fares or tomatoes from a street vendor, people have turned to mobile money service operators via their mobile phones.

They are then charged commission fees of around 40% when they go their mobile phone company's offices to receive the cash.

In a statement, the bank said "some economic agents are engaging in illegal activities abusing the cash-in, cash-out and cash-back facilities" by charging exorbitant commissions.

It said the high commission fees "have the negative effect of distorting pricing of goods and services", as it directed all mobile payment system providers "to discontinue cash-in and cash-out with immediate effect". – Nampa/AFP

SA to finalise growth strategy

The South African government will finalise a clear economic growth strategy within the next few weeks, president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday, as the country aims to boost confidence in an economy facing lower growth and job cuts.

In the first of his weekly messages to the nation known as "From the Desk of the President", Ramaphosa said after a decade of low growth and deepening poverty, people were looking for signs of progress.

He said the economy would this year record growth that was lower than expected and much lower than what the country needed, while government finances were stretched about as far as they can go, and several industries were looking at cutting jobs.

"Building on the stimulus and recovery plan, government will finalise a clear economic growth strategy within the next few weeks," Ramaphosa said, in reference to a strategy that includes restructuring state owned enterprises such as power utility Eskom and the establishment of an infrastructure fund.

Without giving specifics of his plan, Ramaphosa said the work was "taking place at a time when government's finances are under great strain, and there is very little room to increase spending or borrowing".

Zambia won’t replace VAT with sales tax

Zambia will not replace its value-added tax (VAT) with a non-refundable sales tax, Finance Minister Bwalya Ng'andu said on Friday, after the proposal met substantial opposition from businesses.

"Government has decided to maintain the Value Added Tax, but address the compliance and administrative challenges," Ng'andu said in a budget speech.

Zambia's mining industry fiercely opposes the tax - just one sore point between the government and the economy's most important sector.

Since being appointed in July, Ng'andu has sought to mend fences with miners, with relations deteriorating following tax changes and an ownership dispute over Vedanta Resources' Konkola Copper Mines. – Nampa/Reuters

Kenya's growth slows to 5.6%

Kenya's economy grew by 5.6% in the second quarter of this year, down from expanding 6.4% in the same period a year earlier, the statistics office said on Monday.

It attributed the deceleration in growth to a slowdown in the key farming sector, which accounts for close to a third of output, manufacturing and transportation.

"Agriculture's performance as well as that of electricity and water supply were mostly hampered by a delay in the onset of the long rains," the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a report.

Farming, which includes forestry and fishing, grew by 4.1% during the period, down from 6.5% a year earlier. – Nampa/Reuters