Pan African News Hub

By John Njoroge, NAIROBI  The government of Tanzania has stood firm to protect its sovereignty, just a day after the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam had issued a security alert based on rumor mongers that turned out to be fictitious. US Senior Dar Embassy Official Ann Marie Warmenhoven –Tilias responded to a summon by the Permanent Secretary, Tanzania Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Faraji Mnyepe. The alert that was posted on the Embassy website went viral in seconds only to push out social media panic with the government mostly observing silence to verify the news. Later on, an Instagram post from the Regional Commissioner of Dar es Salaam then calmed down the people on confirmation that there were no verified reports of any pending security quagmire. Today, Thursday 20 th June, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tanzania summoned the Embassy officials to explain on the dubious statement. Represented by its senior diplomatic official, the Embassy bowed down to co

By MacDonald Dzirutwe File picture: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters Harare - Zimbabwe's interim currency fell to a new low on the black market on Thursday and local firms were demanding payment in U.S. dollars as a hedge against inflation, which is running at its highest in a decade. The RTGS dollar has plunged 60% against the US dollar since its introduction in February, and public sector workers' demands for a second pay rise this year could undermine a government drive to convince lenders of its fiscal discipline. President Emmerson Mnangagwa won a disputed election last year on a promise to revive a Zimbabwe economy shattered by decades of mismanagement by his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe. But a year later daily life is harder. Ordinary Zimbabweans are enduring a severe shortage of US dollars, fuel, medicines, bread and daily power cuts that last 10 hours. The RTGS dollar, introduced by the government on February 22 as the first step towards a ne

By AFP - 20 June 2019 - 13:12 People arrested during protests wait to appear in the Magistrates court in Harare, Zimbabwe in January 2019.   Image: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo The United States on Wednesday pressed Zimbabwe for political reforms after it cracked down on protesters, in a rare high-level meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa, said he met Mnangagwa in Mozambique on the sidelines of a US-Africa business meeting. "I stressed the urgent need to hold security forces accountable for acts of violence committed against Zimbabweans including in August 2018 and January/February 2019 and the importance of real political and economic reforms," Nagy wrote on Twitter. At least 17 people were killed at the start of the year after troops intervened in widespread rioting and looting triggered by Mnangagwa's anno

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA In what many Members of Parliament considers to be the historical anti-poverty and business boosting budget, Tanzania’s next financial year budget has clearly indicated that the country is in the accelerated mood towards achieving its middle income status by 2025.  Like in other East African countries, Tanzania Minister for Finance and planning Dr. Philip Mpango, on Thursday presented to the National Assembly the estimates of government Revenue and Expenditure the budget for 2019/2020 that totals sh 33.1trillion ($ 14.5m).                                    Implementing the Blue Print The budget estimates took bold steps in accommodating recommendations included in the National Blueprint that seeks to improve ease of doing business in the country in a bid to boost and stimulate business in the East Africa’s fastest growing economy according to the World Economic Forum (WEF2018).   Towards that end, the budget estimates proposes to cut down over 1

Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Finance Henry Rotich with his briefcase outside the Parliament Buildings on June 13, 2019 before going to read the 2019/2020 Budget. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NATION MEDIA GROUP. The legality of the 2019/20 budget-making process in Kenya may come to haunt the National Treasury after it emerged that it failed to comply with a High Court ruling of 2018. The ruling by Justice Winfrida Okwany on September 19, 2018 made it mandatory that Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) must present both the budget estimates and Finance Bill to the National Assembly. PETITION However, when National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Mr Henry Rotich presented the Sh2.81trillion budget estimates in April this year, there was no Finance Bill. The estimates would later be varied by the National Assembly Committee on Budget and Appropriations to Sh3.02 trillion. The Public Finance Management(PFM) Act, which guides the current b

By Staff Writers, Nairobi and London. NEWS that telecom giant Bharti Airtel had agreed to end its investment row with the government of Tanzania   and has now started to honour its promise by disbursing first dividend to the government after 19 years, is another Dr. John Pombe Magufuli gain and a new master class for African leadership. In January this year, news broke out that after a protracted discussion, the government of Tanzania and Bharti Airtel had reached a consensus that would see a free carried increase of stakes owned by the Government of Tanzania in Airtel Tanzania from 40 to 49 percent. The move came after the reformist President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Magufuli, met with the Chairman of Bharti Airtel, Mr Sunil Mital, at State House in Dar es Salaam, whereby they held talks on the development of discussions on the disputed ownership of the Airtel Tanzania. President Magufuli expressed his willingness to see the end of the dispute that p

By Felix Njini , June 9, 2019, 1:00 PM GMT+3     South Africa’s struggling gold industry has suffered yet another humiliation, losing its status as continent leader to Ghana. The country that led global gold production for a century and extracted about half the bullion ever mined is now Africa’s second-largest gold producer. Output is shrinking as operators capitulate to stubbornly high costs, regular strikes and the geological challenges of tapping the world’s deepest mines. Meanwhile, Ghana, a country whose gold mining industry dates back to the 19th century, is benefiting from lower-cost mines, friendlier policies and new development projects. Golden Crown Ghana's output has grown as South Africa shrinks Source: The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Minerals Council South Africa South African industry stalwarts Anglo

MORE than 17,000 dubious business firms are in trouble in Tanzania and have 30 days to refund to the government billions of money illegally secured through forged tax returns. The ultimatum was issued by President of the United Republic of Tanzania; Dr. John Pombe Magufuli in his meeting with business community few days ago. The President holding a folder with all dubious tax return firms "In checking through some official records, I found that many traders have been evading taxes – with some of them subsequently claiming refunds of Value Added Tax” (VAT) on which they had never transact any business to secure the refunds,” said the President holding a folder containing the names.   He named the tactics which business operators of dubious probity have been using to illegally claim VAT refunds as including lodging false documents on non-existent ‘exports,’ and claiming to have used ‘ghost inputs’ in their production activities from ‘ghost suppliers.’ Dr.  Magufuli