Zim Govt wrong to allow invasion of timber plantations, to evacuate settlers says Chinamasa – The Source
MUTARE, February 17 (The Source) – Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa says government made a mistake in allowing landless blacks to invade timber plantations in the east of the country at the height of the controversial land reform exercise 17 years ago and will now remove them in an effort to revive the once vibrant sector.
Producers lost about 30,000 hectares of prime timber to plantation occupations during the government’s land seizure drive that started in 2000 and led to the industry losing 20 years of its reserves by end of 2012, which affected the performance of the sector. It also lost over $2 billion in potential revenue and over 3,000 jobs due to deforestation by the settlers.
“We should admit our faults as government in areas that we have erred. It was never a good idea to allocate forestry to individuals. These people had no capacity to run timber plantations. The industry requires huge capital investments, huge loans with soft interests over a long period of time.
Kenya Airways to launch Nairobi-Victoria Falls flight – The Herald
Kenya Airways says it will in May launch a direct flight between Nairobi and Victoria Falls which will also link to Cape Town, South Africa. The route will be operated by an Embraer E190 three times a week. “This new route highlights our strategy to continue winning in Africa which is driven by opening up of the region and ensuring our value proposition meets the demands for our customers,” said chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze in a statement.
“We have seen increased demand for Cape Town, and had to increase our frequency in December. The route via Victoria Falls offers our guests two leisure holiday options.”
Kenya Airways already has three daily services out of Nairobi to Harare, direct, as well as via the Lilongwe in Malawi and via Lusaka, Zambia
Indian Businesses Set Terms For Investments – Newsday
Indian businesses need to have confidence in the market in long term projects if they are to invest in Zimbabwe, the Asian giant’s National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) has said.
NSIC chairperson, Ravindra Nath told NewsDay on the sidelines of the official proceedings after the visiting Indian business delegation met local businesses that collaborative ventures depended on policies, the ease of doing business and terms of agreements.
“We need to build confidence amongst the two sides such as the ease of doing business, the laws that will be prevailing and how collaborative ventures could be. The projects should be good, viable and be something that is long lasting,” he said.
“Indian businessmen are overreaching overseas. I believe that the world is becoming a global village, so collaborations are the call of the times and I am sure they will last. We need to create more enterprises and that is where the concept of the incubation of entrepreneurship development lies.” Nath said Indian businessmen wanted viability in projects before investing. NSIC is a branch of the Indian ministry of Small-to-Medium Enterprises. The call by Indian businesses comes as the Zimbabwe Investment Authority reported foreign direct investment from India to be just under $60 million in 2016 up from $10 million in the previous year. The visiting delegation had representatives from 16 companies drawn from technology, manufacturing, textiles, handicrafts, meat, agriculture and electronic small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) sectors among others.
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