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Former opposition Member of Parliament Eddie Cross believes that Nelson Chamisa, the former leader of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), missed a golden opportunity to advance his political career by declining an offer to become the leader of the opposition in Parliament.
Following the disputed 2018 presidential election, reports indicated that President Emmerson Mnangagwa offered Chamisa the position, which he reportedly rejected.
In an online podcast, Cross said accepting the role could have elevated Chamisa’s profile and increased his chances of eventually defeating ZANU PF, but he displayed arrogance by turning it down. Said Cross (via <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/mnangagwa-ally-rebukes-chamisa-for-declining-job-offer-to-be-leader-of-opposition-in-parliament/">NewZimbabwe.com</a>):
<blockquote>
I said to him he (Mnangagwa) has offered you the leader of the opposition post, he has offered you the status, he has offered you a place on the front bench in the House of Assembly.
…he has offered you an office, drivers, security, a salary, take it and sit there for 10 years, (perhaps) five years… because you are very, very effective, television-wise and so on and establish yourself. Learn.
</blockquote>
Cross also accused the opposition of running down cities and towns where they dominate councils, saying this demonstrates how they would govern the country.
He said unlike, South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA), CCC activists have created a mess in the cities and towns they control. Said Cross:
<blockquote>
Look at the mess our cities are in. Has Chamisa made any difference to the administration of our cities, and to the quality of life of our people?
At least the DA in South Africa has made the Western Cape a success, but here every city run by CCC is just as rotten as it would have been under ZANU PF.
If Chamisa had any sense, whatsoever, he could have turned his power base into a real weapon of change.
</blockquote>
However, the opposition attributes the poor state of cities and towns to the central government, accusing the Ministry of Local Government of undermining local authorities by interfering in their affairs.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

Nelson Chamisa, a former opposition leader, was offered a big job in Parliament but he said no. Eddie Cross thinks he made a mistake because he could have become more popular and strong. Cross said that Chamisa should have taken the opportunity to learn and grow. Cross also criticized the opposition for not doing a good job in running cities and towns. The opposition blames the central government for this. Chamisa could have used his power to make big changes.

Cross Criticises Chamisa For Rejecting Leader Of Opposition In Parliament Position

Outspoken local economist Eddie Cross, who also serves as an adviser to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has issued a stark warning to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mushayavanhu: the new Zimbabwe Gold currency (ZiG) is heading towards failure unless the central bank alters its current approach.
In an open letter, Cross disagreed with Mushayavanhu’s assertion that the central bank’s strategies are effective, saying if the current trajectory continues, the ZiG is destined for disaster. He wrote:
<blockquote>
<h2>No, Mr Governor, that will not work.</h2>
I have a deep respect for the intellectual and institutional capacity of our Reserve Bank. That is based on what I know of the new man on the block and his staff at the Bank.
But I listened to him carefully last week when he defended his position on the new currency. He was emphatic – what we are doing is working and will work. The ZIG is here to stay!
I disagree. If you stay your course Mr Governor, your new currency is doomed, and more quickly than you think. I was at breakfast a week ago with some major figures in the mining industry.
They were recounting that since April, they had been getting ZIG denominated treasury bills as payment for the 25 per cent of export earnings that they were selling to the Bank. Two-year TBs at 6 per cent interest.
Our Exports are running at a US$1 billion a month. So, 25 per cent liquidation into local currency involves about US$250 million a month or US$3 billion a year. For exporters this translates into ZIG17 billion over the past 5 months.
That week the Governor had devalued those TBs by 84 per cent – wiping out ZIG 14 billion with the stroke of a pen. But that represents a gross deduction from the earnings of all Exporters.
At the same time, it gave the Ministry of Finance access to US$1,250 billion to use as it deemed fit, now devalued by 84 per cent.
Great for the Secretary for Finance who must look after the affairs of Government – cheap currency for anything they might want. What happens next is that they announce an increase in Civil Servants hard currency allowances, in complete contradiction to the stated policy of dedollarisation. But it’s not good economics or even business, in fact it’s the very opposite.
Then the Deputy Minister of Finance came out and said we have to move towards dedollarisation. Anything else is suicide for our productive economy. But everything they are doing is the very opposite of what is actually needed.
I simply do not see how any sane Government can take away from its exporters 25 per cent of their gross earnings and pay for it with pieces of paper called Treasury Bills with a totally artificial face value at 6 per cent interest over 2 years. How do you expect anyone to survive?
They are doing this so that they can claim they are not printing money. Of course they are, all they are doing is differing payment in the new paper currency.
They are printing money to pay the Civil Service and some suppliers in local currency and the evidence of this is the very fact that in the past 5 months, the formal economy has gone from 85 per cent in USD transactions to 25 per cent.
All formal sector firms are holding huge balances in ZIG and in a desperate attempt to prevent these balances going into the market to buy hard currency at any price, they increased the percentage of all bank balances that had to be held in the Reserve Bank.
None of this makes any difference to the future of the ZIG. The word on the street is that it is worthless. Can we really disagree?
When our Reserve Bank was printing Nostro dollars back in the period from 2014 to 2018, we ended up in 2019 with US$23 billion in our bank accounts.
At that time, we did not even have a name for it – that came later when our new Minister of Finance said that those dollars, were not real, they were RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement dollars).
I was a Member of the MPS at that time and I said in a RBZ Meeting, that if I took 1000 ‘dollars’ down to the tellers on the ground floor and was given US$1000 in exchange, that in 15 minutes the news would spread, and we would have a queue outside the building kilometres long.
When finally, the new Minister ordered that our accounts be differentiated into real US$ balances and RTGS dollar balances, we had a short period of stability and then the latter crashed and in 8 months our RTGS balances were down to 15 per cent of their former value, by inflation. God help us if we start printing Nostro dollars again, but the ZIG is a totally different matter.
I have seen references to the ZIG as a ‘gold backed currency’. That is of course complete nonsense. The Governors reference to ‘sufficient reserves’ to protect the currency is also nonsense.
The ONLY test of a currency is its convertibility on demand. Surely any street kid knows that. It’s a piece of paper with printing on it and if you can read English, it says it has a value which is printed on its face. It also has security features so that it is difficult (but not impossible) to counterfeit.
However, the only test which it has to meet to be of any value is its convertibility on demand. Fail that test and it is dead. I remember Gono’s 100 trillion-dollar notes, lying on the street and people walking over the stuff in 2008.
So how to get there. Its not a question of resources, we are swimming in US dollars. It’s not a question of the macroeconomic fundamentals – we are not printing money to cover a fiscal deficit. It’s just how to make the local currency freely convertible into a currency with which we can trade.
The biggest threat of the present set of policies is that we are again feeding Government with hard earned foreign currency at undervalued exchange rates. Remember Dr Gono handing out tractors and luxury cars to everyone.
Today the ‘Father Christmas’ in Government is the Secretary for Finance, a very comfortable position to be in and very powerful. But completely wrong.
There is no reason why this should be tolerated. If Government wants hard currency for something, they should buy it off the market like everyone else.
Then the stuff would have real value, and the real cost would be reflected in how Government spent its tax dollars.
The only way to restore sanity to our economy and stability to our money market is to increase the flow of hard currency to the interbank market where all those who need foreign exchange for whatever purpose, can buy it at a real market price or exchange rate.
If we cannot introduce all the measures required to achieve this in a short period, then what we must do is take the currency being liquidated on a compulsory basis, and allow the banks to sell that currency, in ZIG on the interbank market, without restraint.
In the event that this does not satisfy demand, then increase the liquidation threshold until the currency stabilises.
I would go the whole way in this process until the value of the ZIG is restored to about 12 to 1 against the US dollar in the market and then start buying hard currency off the market at 12 to 1 and putting the currency into national reserves.
Even better would be to take this currency and buy gold, hold our reserves in gold rather than paper dollars in electronic form.
I would convert the national budget to ZIG in its new form and make all taxes payable in ZIG. Eventually you could dedollarise and use the ZIG as the sole means of exchange.
Leave free funds in Nostro accounts and allow owners to use these funds at their discretion. Sorry to be so blunt John, but it is the only way to go forward.
Eddie Cross 
Harare, 14th October 2024
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Economist Eddie Cross warns that the new Zimbabwe Gold currency (ZiG) is heading towards failure. He disagrees with the RBZ governor's approach and believes the ZiG is doomed unless changes are made. Cross criticizes the policy of paying exporters with treasury bills that get devalued, hurting the economy. He suggests making the local currency freely convertible, increasing hard currency flow, and stabilizing ZiG's value. Cross recommends buying gold with the currency and eventually using ZiG as the sole means of exchange. He believes these changes are necessary for the economy to move forward.

ZiG Is Doomed, Eddie Cross Warns RBZ Governor

Former Member of Parliament Eddie Cross, who is also President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s biographer, has criticised the high levels of corruption in both the Zimbabwean government and private sector.
In a post on his website, Cross asserted that this level of corruption cannot be allowed to continue.
Cross also criticised the exorbitant taxes that Zimbabweans are required to pay, particularly the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on foodstuffs and the 30% VAT tax on live cattle sales.
Furthermore, Cross claimed that the young people rioting in Nairobi, Kenya, sparked by a now-shelved controversial finance bill, had a legitimate grievance.
He suggested that the Kenyan protesters’ actions were justified in light of the economic challenges they were facing. Wrote Cross:
<blockquote>
<h2>Serious Issues Facing Us in Zimbabwe.</h2>
I have been involved in the Zimbabwean economy for over 60 years and have seen just about everything during that period. The Federation, UDI, the liberation war, the transition to Zimbabwe, the total collapse in the years up to 2008, the MAT in 2017. In this period, we have made many mistakes, some deliberate, others just because we felt we had to and others forced on us. However, right now there are some things that need our attention!
Perhaps the first is corruption. Despite the formation of the Corruption Commission and many declarations, we still suffer from massive leakages of economic output and income. When I was in Parliament in 2012, I raised the wholesale theft of diamonds from the newly discovered Marange diamond fields. These covered nearly 100 000 hectares and in that year I estimated that we produced more carats than Botswana.
Production from this alluvial deposit started in 2006 and continues today. It was discovered by De Beers and then a small public company in London, was taken over illegally by the Ministry of Mines and then exploited by 6 companies, all linked to powerful elements in the Government, including the State President. My personal estimate is that Marange has produced nearly US$30 billion in raw diamonds since then. A third was probably absorbed in costs but the rest has disappeared. Mr Mugabe famously asked where US$15 billion had gone since mining had started. He knew the answer to that as I think he personally took US$1,3 billion.
Then the ongoing corruption in the fuel industry. This started soon after Independence with the formation of a State trading organisation for importing and distributing fuel. This was dismantled in the GNU from 2009 to 2013 by an MDC Minister but was reinstated soon after Zanu took back power in 2013. These corrupt practices peaked in 2014 to 2017 when world market prices tanked but prices in Zimbabwe were held at a higher level. During this period the President was again a major beneficiary.
Since the Second Republic, this network of corruption has largely been dismantled by the new Government, but if you are as puzzled as I am as to the hundreds of new filling stations opening up – all as independents and wonder why? I am told they are money laundering but I think there are millions of litres of fuel entering the country and not paying taxes or levies. The loss to the Exchequer must be almost as much as we spend on health each year.
Largely because the Minerals Marketing Corporation was disabled by US sanctions, under pricing of exports has become endemic. The CEO of the Corporation was killed in mysterious circumstances and I am convinced it was because he was threatening illegal or under valued exports. The murder of the head of the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Authority was in similar circumstances.
Then there is the whole culture of corruption in every sector of the Governments activities. The news that a Clerk in a Ministry had used her senior signature to falsify imports of 3000 vehicles duty free, the loss to the exchequer must have been US$20 million. She has done a runner. In 2022 the State collected just US$484 million in custom duties at our borders, we imported US$1,4 billion in cars alone and over US$7 billion in all imports. Just do the math, the tax revenues should have been several times that amount.
It is well known that in certain Ministries if you want a decision of any sort, you have to pay for it. I was approached by a senior Civil Servant for a bribe to sign a letter, I said but surely that is your job. I was told ‘do you think we do this sort of thing for nothing’? I did not pay the bribe and did not get the letter. It has become a culture just as the former head of the Kenyan Anti-Corruption Agency wrote ‘it was our time to eat’.
This scrouge soon also infects the private sector. The statement by the Dubai Gold Exchange that in 2023 they bought nearly 450 tonnes of gold from informal origins in Africa. That is US$32 billion dollars’ worth, a third from Zimbabwe. No wonder we are awash in US dollars in cash. Right now, up to 700 000 small scale informal miners are out there mining gold to feed their families, that is why we do not really have a food crisis in what has been a disastrous season. But much of this huge flow of cash never comes home.
Add all this together and you can see why I argue we are a rich country, made poor by bad governance in both Government and the private sector. Just look at our informal sector, we are probably the most informalised economy in the world. That whole system does not pay taxes, does everything to avoid its obligations leaving the formal economy to support everything else.
But then also you have to try to understand why those companies who paid for foreign currency on the RBZ auctions have not been paid back after the auction was closed down. I understand all exporters are having 25 per cent of their gross export earnings liquidated, but no consequential payments in local currency are being made. How long can these vital companies to our economy survive? I simply do not understand this situation.
Surely also the State must understand that our tax system has far exceeded the level at which tax proceeds start to decline. The VAT on basic foods? Are we crazy? 30 per cent VAT tax on live cattle sales when the sellers (90 per cent rural peasants) do not have a current valid tax certificate? I think the young people rioting in Nairobi had a real case. The response by Ruto was measured and quick. We simply accept this totally unacceptable situation and go on with life as usual. Our Government needs to recognise that this situation simply cannot go on.
Eddie Cross
Harare 7th of July 2024
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Eddie Cross, who wrote about President Mnangagwa, is upset about corruption in Zimbabwe. He thinks it's too much and needs to stop. Cross also said that taxes in Zimbabwe are too high, like the 30% VAT on cattle sales. He talked about problems in mining, fuel industry, and government. He mentioned how much money is being lost because of corruption. Cross thinks the situation is very bad and can't continue like this. He believes the government needs to change things before it's too late.

"This Situation Simply Cannot Go On" - Mnangagwa's Biographer, Eddie Cross, Decries Corruption In Zimbabwe

Economist Eddie Cross, who is also President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s biographer, said the “gold-backed tokens” issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), is “a currency without any real support”.
The central bank recently availed the gold-backed digital currency, also known as Zimbabwean Gold (ZiG), for domestic transactions and also to be used as a store of value.
But writing on his <a href="https://www.eddiecross.africanherd.com/231015.html">website</a>, Cross, a former member of the RBZ’s Monetary Policy Committee, said Zimbabwe does not have any significant gold reserves to back the currency.
Cross said he has gathered that the first sale of the tokens was taken up entirely in local RTGS dollars.
He said he agreed with President Emmerson Mnangagwa that no country had been able to develop its own economy without using its own currency.
Mnangagwa recently said Zimbabwe will ditch the multi-currency regime and revert to the use of a local currency but for Cross, “The question is how to affect the transition from what we have now and what has to prevail once the deed is done….” He wrote:
<blockquote>
First, we have to have an alternative… In my view, we will have a new currency printed and this must be equal to about 15 percent of all such transactions in the market.
We should still encourage the use of electronic means to settle, but as a developing country with a large informal economy, we need cash.
Secondly, we need to protect the Nostro account system and allow people to bank real dollars into these accounts which should then be accepted as ‘free funds’ and to be available for individuals and companies to settle external liabilities.
This will allow people with US in cash to bank this and not lose access to USD or Rand for specific purposes. These balances should not be touchable.
Thirdly, we need to abandon exchange control on all current account transactions. This was done in 2009 when we dollarised but we need to recognise that exchange control is not appropriate in a free market economy.
Fourthly, we have to have a completely free market for all hard currency needs. Any Zimbabwean who needs currency should be able to buy what they want at their banks and Bureau du Changes, at the market price of the day.
All hard currency inflows, except personal transactions such as remittances, must be converted by the Banks into the new local currency at a real market price, based on supply and demand.
Fifthly, we need to demonetise all foreign currencies for local transactions. That means that foreign currencies will no longer be acceptable in local markets, taxi fares, hotels, service payments, taxes and all other local payments people have to make must be conducted in local currency.
That means that retailers and all others are going to have to have confidence in our currency and that means discipline in the monetary system. It also means that our local currency must be convertible into hard currency on demand.
That’s a tough list of basic decisions that need to be made to support the basic decision to re-introduce our own currency.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe currently uses a multi-currency monetary policy regime, which allows the use of foreign currencies namely the US dollar and South African Rand in domestic transactions alongside the Zimbabwe dollar.
According to Statutory Instrument (SI) 118A of 2022, the local currency and a basket of foreign currencies shall be in use until December 2025.
The SI which introduced the multi-currency regime is titled Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Exchange Control Act) Regulations 2022.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Reintroduction Of A Local Currency: Tough Decisions Have To Be Made, Says Eddie Cross

Eddie Cross said that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is planning revenge against self-styled prophet Uebert Angel for embarrassing him through incriminating comments contained in the “Gold Mafia” documentary aired by Al Jazeera recently, <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/gold-mafia-cross-says-mnangagwa-plots-angel-retribution-for-embarrassing-him/">reported ZimLive</a>.
Angel told undercover Al Jazeera journalists that he could use his diplomatic status and links to the First Family to launder over US$1.2 billion on behalf of the journalists who posed as criminals.
The controversial preacher also told the Al Jazeera journalists that Mnangagwa has stashed US$240 million in personal funds for general elections expected this year.
Cross, who is Mnangagwa’s biographer, recently featured in a local podcast interview where he claimed that if Angel, who is based abroad returns to Zimbabwe, will face “consequences.”
Cross, who is a former MDC MP, said Mnangagwa lived up to his moniker, “crocodile”. He said:
<blockquote>
Eubert Angel embarrassed the government of Zimbabwe; worse than that, he embarrassed the President and I want to tell you, when that happens there are consequences.
A small cabinet committee has been informed and they have reviewed the programmes; all four and appropriate action has been taken and if I was Eubert, I would stay in the UK, look after his British passport and burn his Zimbabwean passport.
Because he is not coming back. If he comes back here, there will be consequences.
… Crocodiles attack fast and when they do attack, it’s often fatal but you don’t see it coming.
He (Mnangagwa) is not a man who makes his views public.
He is a very reserved man as a matter of fact.
</blockquote>
The Government said recently it has frozen the assets of those implicated in the Gold Mafia documentary including Angel.
However, in a statement made through his lawyer Lovemore Madhuku last month, Angel said he was not involved in illegal gold dealings and money laundering.
He said he cooperated with the journalists as part of a covert national intelligence operation investigating if the “investors” were genuine.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Eddie Cross Says Mnangagwa Planning Angel Retribution Over "Gold Mafia" Comments

Economist <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Eddie_Cross">Eddie Cross</a> has claimed that Zimbabwe incurred a massive deficit during Robert Mugabe’s reign, and money was printed to cover the shortfall.
The former opposition MDC Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South said Zimbabwe’s fiscal deficit was 40% of the budget, prompting Mugabe’s administration to continue printing money. 
According to Investopedia, a deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenues, imports exceed exports, or liabilities exceed assets in a particular year. Governments and businesses sometimes run deficits deliberately, to stimulate an economy during a recession or to foster future growth.
Cross (82) claimed that after defeating MDC-T leader <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Morgan_Tsvangirai">Morgan Tsvangirai</a> in the 2013 elections at the conclusion of the four-year <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Government_of_National_Unity">inclusive government</a>, Mugabe regained total control of the government and ran up a crippling economic deficit.
Addressing a <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200006828/grace-funded-chamisas-2018-campaign-cross">Chief Executive Officers Roundtable</a> meeting in Harare last week, Cross said:
<blockquote>
By 2017, the fiscal deficit was 40% of the budget, how do you run a country like that? We had US$23 million in our bank accounts which we called United States dollars but it wasn’t United States dollars. It was there because Mugabe was printing money to cover the deficit. We were headed for the rocks again and that was when Mnangagwa decided the change of government was necessary, and on the 17th of November, the transition took place. I was actually still in Parliament. I sat at the Harare International Conference Centre waiting to impeach the old man, and then in walked a messenger with Mugabe’s letter of resignation.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe’s fiscal deficit has been increasing due to reduced tax revenue, high government spending, and an increase in debt repayment obligations. The country has been struggling to address the deficit and stabilize its economy.
Economists have been urging the government to implement the following measure to address the fiscal deficit in Zimbabwe:
<blockquote>
i). Increase revenue (taxes, better administration)
ii). Reduce government spending (austerity measures)
iii). Diversify economy
iv). Improve financial management &amp; reduce corruption
v). Encourage foreign investment/trade
vi). Implement structural reforms
vii). Seek international aid, if needed. 
</blockquote>
Finance Minister <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Mthuli_Ncube">Mthuli Ncube</a> claims that Zimbabwe has recorded “cash-based “surpluses since 2018 when Mnangagwa’s government took over.
<a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a>

"During Mugabe's Era, We Had US$23 Million But It Wasn’t USD" - Economist

Zimbabwe has been ranked one of the 12 most advanced countries in Africa in 11th position, due to its gross income from the informal sector which sustains the country’s economy.
In a recent survey by Yahoo Finance, global economic analysts noted that Zimbabwe followed South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Botswana, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Namibia, Senegal and Tanzania.
The survey stated that Zimbabwe’s economy has been mainly boosted by the informal sector due to high rates of unemployment in the country, according to <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200005543/zim-ranked-one-of-the-most-12-advanced-countries-in-africa">NewsDay</a>. Said the survey:
<blockquote>
The Republic of Zimbabwe is a landlocked South African country with a $38 billion gross domestic product (GDP). Its economy is primarily fuelled by the services sector, due to low levels of industrialization. These are economies that remain undocumented as their transactions are generally conducted outside the formal banking system, which keeps them off of the authorities’ radar.
</blockquote>
The findings are consistent with the views of economist <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Eddie_Cross">Edward Graham Cross (Eddie Cross)</a> who said the informal sector “constitutes the majority of the Zimbabwean economy, and without this informal sector, our social economic situation would be much worse.” 
<ol>
<li><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/mudenda-urges-govt-to-expedite-formalisation-of-informal-sector/">Mudenda Urges Govt To Expedite Formalisation Of Informal Sector</a></li>
<li><a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2022/02/10/mnangagwa-offers-title-deeds-to-informal-settlers-just-ahead-of-by-elections/">Mnangagwa Offers Title Deeds To Informal Settlers, Just Ahead Of By-elections</a></li>
</ol>
Statistics by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that Zimbabwe is the world’s second-largest informal economy, consisting of 64.1% of the economy, and second to Afghanistan. 
Economist Vince Musewe, however, told NewsDay that an advanced economy cannot be fuelled by the informal sector, adding that a country’s economy should be measured by its citizens’ standards of living.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

Zimbabwe Ranked Among 12 Most Advanced Countries In Africa

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s biographer, Eddie Cross, says he warned him about a power crisis.
Cross claims that in January this year, he told Mnangagwa in a private meeting if the power generation crisis was not addressed, Zimbabwe’s economic prospects would diminish.
Cross, a former member of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said later, the same day, Mnangagwa invited him back to his office.
He said this time, in the president’s office, were four ministers from energy, commerce, agriculture, and finance.
They were joined by the chairman of the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), the head of the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) boss, according to Cross.
Mnangagwa told them what had been said by Cross and asked what was being done to deal with the power crisis. Said Cross at a business seminar in Harare on Thursday:
<blockquote>
There was no plan. The president turned to Dr [Sidney] Gata [the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority boss] and asked him, ‘Sidney, what are you going to do about it’?
</blockquote>
He added Gata told the president ZESA had no money to fix this problem.
Cross said the current power crisis affecting the SADC region was caused by poor planning by post-colonial governments. He said:
<blockquote>
The electrical power crisis that has enveloped southern Africa has its roots in our post-liberation history. Before that, the utilities created by the states of southern Africa exhibited considerable foresight and planning. 
This was led by the power utility of South Africa which had visionary leadership at the time and like China in the past 50 years, turned their huge coal reserves into a cheap source of electrical energy.
They installed enough power generation capacity to feed their own markets and to supply the deficit in their neighbours,
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a power crisis, with the country generating 500MW against a peak demand of 2 300MW per day.
As a result, Zimbabweans are getting an average of five hours a day of electricity, in most cases late at night or early in the morning. | <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/i-warned-zim-president-about-power-crisis-mnangagwas-biographer-claims-20221209">News24</a>

I Warned Mnangagwa About A Power Crisis But There Was No Plan, Says Cross

A former member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Eddie Cross, on Wednesday warned that the current exchange rate stability on the parallel will be short-lived.
Cross said the stability of the Zimbabwe dollar is largely a result of its shortage in the market and once the government starts paying contractors and suppliers, the local currency will respond.
He said the only solution to the local unit’s volatility is to liberalise the market for the local currency. Said Cross:
<blockquote>
The current shortfall of domestic supplies of the local currency has been due to the measures adopted by the government where the government has halted payment to suppliers of services and goods. The government has also tightened up money supply through the reserve bank.
This has resulted in a shortage of local currency and electronic currency. This has had an immediate effect on slowing down speculation in the Zimbabwe dollar against the US dollar (US$) and as a result, the local currency has strengthened on the parallel market.
However this is not going to be long-lived, the government has to return to meeting its obligation of paying contractors and suppliers, and it is in the process of doing that.
Once these payments resume we are going to see a resumption of activity on the parallel market for the local currency.
The only serious solution to this problem is to liberalise the market for the local currency.
This will, in fact, provide a long-term solution to the problems we are confronting.
Anything else, we are just dealing with the symptoms and not the fundamentals.
</blockquote>
Africa Economic Development Strategies executive director Gift Mugano also said the stability of the Zim dollar is false and unsustainable. He said:
<blockquote>
The shortage has managed to hold the rate at a stable position but this shortage of the Zimdollar is false stability.
It is false stability because it is fragile and dangerous since it cannot sustain, and soon the rate will run away.
We are also fast dollarising as a number of companies in the private sector have begun pricing in US$ and the Zimdollar has already been relegated.
Even local councils and some government departments such as the passport offices are pricing strictly in USD.
Demand has taken a nosedive as customer traffic has declined.
</blockquote>
The latest foreign exchange weighted average rate announced by the RBZ on Tuesday is Z$604 per dollar, with businesses allowed to add a 10% markup in pricing goods and services.
This brings it close to the parallel market rate of between Z$650 and Z$800 per greenback. | <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200000494/exchange-rate-stability-false-economists-warn">NewsDay</a>

Economists Say Zimdollar Exchange Rate Stability Is False

Economists warned yesterday that the fast depreciating Zimbabwe dollar could further push up prices of basic goods and trigger fresh inflationary pressures on the economy.
The economic experts noted that these were the same factors that triggered the 2007/2008 economic meltdown, which ended with a record 231 million per cent inflation, as per official statistics, and the collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar.
Zimbabwe’s currency lost much ground against the United States dollar on both the official and parallel markets in recent weeks partly due to the backlog at the foreign exchange auction system.
This Tuesday, the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Reserve_Bank_of_Zimbabwe">Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)</a> said the currency traded at US$1:$105 6965, a 5.8% decline from late week’s US$1:$99 9301 exchange rate on the formal market.
Parallel market rates soared to between US$1:$180 and US$1:$200, from between US$1:$160 and US$1:$170 the previous week.
CEO Africa Roundtable chairman Oswel Binha said the real market is the parallel market which is currently trading at over $200 against the US dollar. He added:
<blockquote>
If the situation remains like this, inflation will be way on top of the roof in Zimbabwe, which will see business profitability being affected.
This will erode salaries and affect disposable incomes. The continued depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar is the manifestation of the insufficiency of the US dollar in the market.
</blockquote>
He added that another problem is that costs of production are pegged at the parallel market, but revenue is pegged using the official exchange rate. 
Economist <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Eddie_Cross">Eddie Cross</a> said the inflation had exceeded reasonable levels adding that a certain percentage of it was being imported from abroad because there is high inflation throughout the world. 
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Denford_Mutashu">Denford Mutashu</a> said the rise collapse of the local currency will affect prices both pegged in ZWL$ and US$ as the US dollar prices have also been going up once the local currency sheds value. 
A snap survey conducted by NewsDay showed that by Thursday, prices of basic commodities had increased by between 30% and 50% in the past month. 
More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/2021/11/currency-crisis-spirals-out-of-control-as-forex-auction-system-faces-collapse/">NewsDay</a>

Inflation Rises As The Local Currency Sheds Value

Former Finance Minister <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Tendai_Biti">Tendai Biti</a> says the foreign currency parallel market will spiral out of control as the year draws to an end.
Biti told The NewsHawks during an interview that the rate could hit 400 by December and the only way to avert an economic collapse is through full dollarisation of the economy.
Biti contended that full dollarisation will deal a heavy blow to rent-seeking behaviour by elements that take advantage of a crisis. Said Biti:
<blockquote>
The only thing they need to fight is to dollarise, bring back the Zim dollar surrendering requirements, but they cannot do that because they are making money from the US dollar.
So politics of the stomach, politics of arbitrage will guarantee that we will continue having this distorted rigged auction rate because that is Zanu PF. They do not disturb their eating line.
The thing is right now, if we hit 400 by December then it is a no-go area. If you hit 400 it means that your month-on-month inflation will exceed 80% and that is hyperinflation.
So we are heading there slowly and surely. I would urge anyone sitting on RTGS to dispose of them as a matter of urgency.
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, a former member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Monetary Policy (MPC), Eddie Cross said the government’s foreign currency auction system had been hampered by shortages in foreign currency, forcing companies to seek forex on the parallel market at a premium.
He said the demand for foreign currency had tripled in the past two years, making it difficult for the authorities to cope with the surge. Said Cross:
<blockquote>
In the past six months, the auction conducted by the Reserve Bank has run into some difficulties as a consequence of inadequate funds driven by domestic demand.
Over the past two years, demand on the auction has risen from about US$15 million a week to the present demand of well over US$50 million a week.
The Reserve Bank has not been able to procure that amount. As a consequence, people have turned back to the informal sector for the balance of their requirements.
And this together with pressure from a growing economy has meant that the informal rate has risen dramatically to about 185 about two weeks ago.
The reality today is that the informal sector is now down to about 165, which is a decline of 20 cents in the dollar in the past two or three days and that is largely because of the steps the government has taken to try and control runaway devaluation of the dollar.
</blockquote>
The Zimbabwe dollar continues losing ground against the US dollar, with the official exchange rate weakening from US$1:ZW$88.55 to US$1:ZW$90.07 last week.
On the parallel market, the rate ranges between US$1:ZW$175 and US$1:ZW$200.
<h4>More: <a href="https://thenewshawks.com/zimdollar-plunges-into-death-spiral/">The NewsHawks</a></h4>

"Parallel Market Forex Rate Could Hit 400 By December"

Former MDC member of Parliament Eddie Cross says soon after the November 2017 military coup, President Emmerson Mnangagwa asked him for his opinion on how the country could be fixed.
Cross recently wrote President Mnangagwa’s controversial 130-page biography, A life of Sacrifice: Emmerson Mnangagwa, with copies worth US$755 700 reportedly sold on the day of release.
The outspoken former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was still an MDC MP when he drove to Mnangagwa’s farm in Kwekwe at his invitation where he met July Moyo (Minister of Local Government and Public Works) and other three cabinet ministers.
Cross revealed this during an interview on Trevor Ncube’s “In Conversation With Trevor” programme recently. He said:
<blockquote>
It’s a really strange story. When they mounted the coup against Robert Mugabe in 2017, I was still a member of Parliament in those days. I had been part of the process to remove him from power.
I was having lunch with friends in Bulawayo and I got a phone call from Kwekwe. A young voice said to me, ‘Mr Cross, the President would like to see you’, and it was Emmerson Mnangagwa.
I said, well, I’m in Bulawayo. He said, ‘well, he wants to see you this afternoon’.
</blockquote>
Watch the video below for more:

Mnangagwa Asked Me How He Could Fix Zimbabwe, In 2017 - Cross

Outspoken former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member, Eddie Cross, said that he was warned by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 1983 against lobbying for an end to Gukurahundi atrocities.
Speaking on Trevor Ncube’s “In Conversation With Trevor” programme recently, Cross said soon after Gukurahundi started, he made contact with three Heads of State in Europe to put pressure on the then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, to stop the massacres.
Cross claimed he got a warning from Mnangagwa not to do it again as it was none of his business. Said Cross:
<blockquote>
The last time I had direct contact with him was in 1983 when I was the General Manager of Dairiboard and Gukurahundi had just started.
We have had a couple of thousands of people murdered at Lupane and the Catholics in Lupane had called me and given me a report on what was happening.
I contacted the secretary to the Prime Minister Charles Utete… subsequently I sent reports to three Heads of State in Europe asking them to put pressure on Mugabe.
When I did that, when I came back home, I got a warning from Emmerson (Mnangagwa) not to do it again and [he said] this is none of your business.
</blockquote>
Watch the video below:
<div class="wp-video" style="width: 640px;">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" controls="controls" height="360" id="video-214570-1" preload="metadata" width="640"><source src="https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Eddie-Cross-speaks-to-Trevor-Ncube.mp4?_=1" type="video/mp4"/><a href="https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Eddie-Cross-speaks-to-Trevor-Ncube.mp4">https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Eddie-Cross-speaks-to-Trevor-Ncube.mp4</a></video></div>
<h4>More: <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a></h4>

Mnangagwa Told Me To Stay Clear Of Gukurahundi Issue - Cross

Former MDC politician Eddie Cross has revealed why he did not support MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa during the 2018 elections.
Speaking with Alpha Media Holdings chairperson Trevor Ncube on this week’s episode of In Conversation With Trevor, Cross who is one of MDC’s founding members said he could not support Chamisa because of his age. Cross said:
<blockquote>
Yeah. Look I think is a sure Chamisa guy but he is still a kid and I’m not sure, I’m not sure…You know the Chinese have a saying “If you are going to ride the tiger you gotta be able to stay on” and I don’t think he had the wisdom and I don’t think he had the maturity. One thing I loved about Morgan Tsvangirai was his heart for the people. [He] never wavered.
</blockquote>
Cross also went on to say that the late MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai did not do a great job as Prime Minister during the Government of National Unity (GNU) era. Cross however added that Tsvangirai was still popular with the masses despite not doing a great job as Prime Minister.
Cross said:
<blockquote>
I don’t think he did a great job of being Prime Minister. I was disappointed in that but the man himself there is no doubt in my mind that people loved him. You could go with Morgan anywhere in the country and it was just extraordinary. It was a great privilege to work with him and frankly to serve him. It was a real privilege for 17 years.
</blockquote>
Cross also criticised Douglas Mwonzora. He revealed that the MDC leadership did not adopt the manifesto he had worked on for the 2018 elections. Eddie Cross said:
<blockquote>
But the leadership that is coming up. Mwonzora. Look at the mess. Just look at the mess. I had written the manifesto for the 2018 elections they just ignored it, just brushed it aside. I just thought well “They must get on with it. New generation. Let them go. I’m the past. They are the future.” What’s gonna happen in 2023 I don’t know.
</blockquote>
Cross resigned from the MDC and quit politics in August 2018. At the time Cross said his resignation had nothing to do with the ongoing political situation in the country but had been necessitated by his wife’s who had been diagnosed with an ailment he was not at liberty to reveal.
Cross had predicted that Emmerson Mnangagwa would win the July 30 elections. He also declared the harmonised elections as free, fair and credible, saying they were the most democratic since independence in 1980. Since his retirement from politics and the MDC, Cross was a member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). He also authored, ‘A Life of Sacrifice’, the biography of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Watch part of Eddie Cross’ conversation with Trevor Ncube below:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here Eddie Cross tells <a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorNcube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TrevorNcube</a> why he could not support <a href="https://twitter.com/nelsonchamisa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nelsonchamisa</a> – he is still a kid he says. How much does age matter in an election? He also get angry because <a href="https://twitter.com/nelsonchamisa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nelsonchamisa</a> ignored his manifesto in 2018. Watch the entire interviews here <a href="https://t.co/PZGBIgUsaH">https://t.co/PZGBIgUsaH</a> <a href="https://t.co/ocXmQzMTS0">pic.twitter.com/ocXmQzMTS0</a>
— Dhara Blessed Mhlanga (@bbmhlanga) <a href="https://twitter.com/bbmhlanga/status/1438177526690504704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Eddie Cross Reveals Why He Didn't Support Chamisa, Says Tsvangirai Did Not Do A Great Job As Prime Minister

Former member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Monetary Policy Committee, Eddie Cross has said he is excited about the Zimbabwean economy. He made the remarks while talking to Techzim’s Valentine Muhamba in a recent episode of the Technikari podcast. Cross also explored the recently launched <a href="https://www.techzim.co.zw/2021/07/new-zwl-50-note-comes-into-the-market-almost-valueless/" rel="nofollow">ZWL $50 note</a>, the contrast in policy and environment from Rhodesia to present-day Zimbabwe. The forex auction system and if it has been a success, his current capacity in financial policymaking and the general outlook going forward. Pindula News present some of the major points that came off the discussion.
2013 Election Onwards
<ul>
<li>ZANU PF reversed the gains of the Government of National Unity (GNU) by reverting to the old system of spending more than the country was earning.</li>
<li>This was contrary to recommendations by GNU Finance Minister Tendai Biti. He had said we eat what we kill.</li>
<li>We can’t the economy out of nothing</li>
<li>I’m excited about the Economy at the moment – he cited projections by the IMF, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, a boost in mineral exports and a boom in the Agriculture sector.</li>
<li>10 000 new jobs created – records are with NSSA.</li>
</ul>
What happened to the billions of USD Zimbabwe had in 2017?
<ul>
<li>When Mthuli Ncube came into office, Zimbabwe had US$23 000 billion.</li>
<li>Ncube, however, said it was not real money but Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) which was not equal to the physical USD anywhere around the world.</li>
<li>Ncube then devalued the currency to reflect the real value which is way lower than the 2017 figure.</li>
<li>It was a tough call but was necessary since it is premised on turning the economy around.</li>
<li>The measures brought pain to the general populace and Zimbabwe will take a long time to recover fully.</li>
<li>We’re still one of the poorest countries in the world.</li>
</ul>
The Forex Auction
<ul>
<li>The RBZ foreign currency auction diminished the parallel market.</li>
<li>The parallel market used to trade about 70 per cent of the foreign currency but that has since changed due to the formal RBZ forex auction.</li>
</ul>
We don’t need a strong currency
<ul>
<li>The Chinese Yuan is an example.</li>
<li>We should buy the forex from the market to depreciate the local currency.</li>
</ul>
State Capture: Resistance in the Regime
<ul>
<li>There is massive resistance within the government to Mnangagwa’s reforms as insiders will lose if the new system is fully established.</li>
<li>When Mnangagwa took power in 2017, he had no control over the government, the military had control. The anomaly was con=rrected after elections but still, there is massive resistance to date.</li>
<li>US$15 Billion Leak – When Mugabe said USD15 billion was lost in Marange, he never told us he was also a beneficiary.</li>
<li>Chiyangwa at some point said if you want to be a millionaire, join ZANU PF.</li>
<li>Mnangagwa is changing that.</li>
<li>He is reforming the gold sector and the diamond sector despite his family having a direct interest.</li>
</ul>
The Future
<ul>
<li>We need our local currency.</li>
<li>We already have US$1.3 billion in our Nostro Accounts, unprecedented.</li>
<li>If Zimbabwe is to de-dollarise, there should be a roadmap detailing how that is going to be done.</li>
</ul>
More: <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9waW5lY2FzdC5jb20vZmVlZC90ZWNoemltLXBvZGNhc3Q/episode/aHR0cHM6Ly9waW5lY2FzdC5jb20vZ3VpZC8yZjgxZjIwNi02Nzc4LTRhNjAtODQwZi05MDg3Yjk2MzQxM2Q?sa=X&amp;ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjw393B0NXxAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ">Techzim</a>

Eddie Cross: We Don't Need A Strong Currency

Eddie Cross has quit his role as a member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) less than two years into the role, the Zimbabwe Independent reports.
Cross, a former Cold Storage Commission general manager and MDC Member of Parliament confirmed his resignation this week.
He however did not disclose why he quit his role but the Zimbabwe Independent reported banking sector sources this week saying Cross had recently complained about fatigue and frustration at the central bank.
It is understood that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development had attempted to muzzle him from speaking his mind.
Cross had a penchant for disclosing the RBZ’s plans well before the central bank was ready to communicate its decisions officially.
In 2019, Cross revealed that a new currency was to be introduced before the RBZ had made an announcement and he was subsequently censured by Information ministry secretary Nick Mangwana.
Cross would also reveal that the RBZ was introducing a ZW$50, ZW$100 and ZW$200 banknotes, with the RBZ later moving to deny that it intended to release banknotes higher that ZWL$50.
Cross’s openness may also have made him persona non grata at the RBZ after he recently told an Alpha Media online forum, The Big Debate that the RBZ was printing ZW$1 billion (US$12,05 million) weekly, mainly to buy gold.
<h4>More: <a href="https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-local-byo-199676.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Bulawayo24</a></h4>

Eddie Cross Quits RBZ Due To 'Fatigue And Frustration'

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will soon introduce a new set of higher denomination banknotes to increase physical money supply and end cash shortages, an official has said.
New $50, $100 and $200 banknotes will be introduced this year to complement the $2, $5, $10 and $20 notes already in circulation.
A member of the RBZ Monetary Policy Committee, Eddie Cross, said the $50 will be introduced soon. Said Cross:
<blockquote>The only new note which is due to come in shortly is the $50 note and I’m not certain when that is going to be available but it is in the process of preparation.
There are already plans to introduce some higher denomination notes this year.
Some time ago we made a decision in the MPC to introduce new $200, $100 and $50 dollar notes.
I understand that this is being dealt with by the Governor working with the President because the President has to approve the designs and everything else.
But I understand that the $50 note will be available early in the New Year.</blockquote>
Cross added that the new notes will be drip-fed into circulation throughout the year.
The RBZ is also reportedly planning to decommission small denomination coins, whose value has been wiped by inflation with most retailers now refusing to accept them.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/high-value-banknotes-in-the-offing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunday News</a></h4>

RBZ To Introduce $50, $100 & $200 Banknotes

Controversial economist Eddie Cross has said Zimbabwe’s economy is recovering faster than that of Zimbabwe’s neighbors and those of the western powers. Cross was writing on his website when he said:
<blockquote>t has been my view for some time that the average Zimbabwean has not yet grasped the extent to which the ground under our feet has changed. Two years ago we had a grossly over-valued currency, we were running a massive budget deficit even though we were already in default as a country on our debts. We were importing over 70 per cent of our food and 95 per cent of what you saw in a supermarket was imported. Even before the onset of the Covid crisis our GDP was declining.
Correcting those problems required painful and extensive surgery – not palliatives. We have not yet arrived at the point where we can say we are back to normal, but just look around you today. There is no doubt, that unlike our neighbors to the south and the western world, the Zimbabwe economy is now recovering fast. By the end of December, I have no doubt in my own mind that our GDP will have largely recovered to earlier levels of activity. Our inflation rate has been below 4 per cent, month on month, for the past 4 months and I see little chance that it will again spiral out of control in 2021.</blockquote>
Cross said there were no shortages of any kind in the Zimbabwean markets as compared to yesteryear and the year before it:
<blockquote>We have no shortages of any kind in the market, our exchange rate has corrected the imbalances that existed in 2018 and is now stable. Our balance of payments is in surplus and we have foreign exchange savings in our bank accounts. Whenever can any of us remember a time like this? We have had a rough ride in the past 100 years – let alone the past two decades. In my view, for the first time we have the internal capacity to settle our outstanding debts and once again resume a more normal relationship with the rest of the world.</blockquote>
He then detailed the problems the country is facing going into 2021 and said:
<blockquote>What are going to be the major challenges in 2021? There are many but in my mind the major ones are relatively few. On the political front we have to make progress on re-engagement with the global community – not as supplicants but as an independent sovereign State that is trying very hard to find its way in the world. No easy, but I think this is possible.
Then we have to get our growing gold industry under control and management. We are potentially one of the largest gold producers in the world. Our industry is unlike many others in that our gold reserves are located over large areas in small or low value deposits. Our people have discovered this and we have probably 2 to 3 million people actively mining gold, in addition to about 600 formal mines.
Only a small proportion of this output is marketed here – in 2020, probably less than 20 tonnes worth US$1,4 billion. The rest is smuggled abroad and the proceeds either banked abroad or spent elsewhere. The local industry is plagued by criminal elements and armed gangs. This cannot go on. If we did we would enter a new era where we would have the resources to deal with our international debts, and resume normal relations with the global financial community. My own estimate is that we are losing US$2 billion a year.
The third challenge is to fix agriculture. I think we all know the industry is broken but what we fail to appreciate is what it is going to cost us to get our farmers back to work. Although the record is muddled, progress has been made on the ground. In the past winter season, we could have produced close to 300 000 tonnes of wheat and barley had we had the money to finance our farmers. We grew over 200 000 tonnes and this is double what we did in 2019, but we are struggling to pay for it. Still it shows progress.
In fact, my feeling is that the biggest impediment to the recovery and growth of our economy in 2021 is going to be financial. We have to recognize that in 2001/8 and in 2018/9 very high levels of inflation have substantially wiped out the accumulated financial savings of many generations of Zimbabweans. We are now largely debt free, but have no cash. It costs us Z$6 billion a month to import all our basic foodstuffs, it would cost us ten times that to grow the crop and then double that again to buy the crop and store it for eventual sale and consumption.
We have to recognize that the task of our financial industry is very different in a rapidly growing economy than a contracting economy. All the countries that are experiencing rapid growth today, have been able to do so because they could borrow abroad to finance the expansion. We cannot do so on our own and therefore re-engagement is not just an option, it is essential.
I was reminded this past week by the Minister of Foreign Affairs that on the 1st of January Britain leaves the European Union and Africa goes into a new continental free trade zone. I am afraid I think that Britain is in for a hard Brexit and will suffer the consequences for some years to come. The question is what about Zimbabwe in a continental market of over 1,2 billion people and a GDP approaching US$2 trillion, and growing rapidly.
We must recognize the main lessons from the past 50 years in global business. This is a period of historically unparalleled expansion and in the reduction in the global incidence of absolute poverty. 50 years ago China, South Korea and many others were poorer than Zimbabwe. Today they are all middle to upper income countries and the main driver has been access to global markets for goods and services. The combined borrowings of the Asian Tiger economies including the two biggest economies in the world – Japan and China is equal to two and half times their GDP. By contrast African States, including Zimbabwe are significantly under borrowed.
World markets have grown consistently over the same period by 15 per cent per annum and this has created billions of jobs and raised living standards across the globe. Today global financial markets are awash with liquidity and the main problem confronting the banking industry is what to do with that liquidity – how to find profitable and safe outlets for surplus money. Our problem is the opposite. We are swamped by new opportunities, but cannot fund them.
The Continental Free Trade Zone is going to exacerbate this problem because it opens up access to markets on the Continent for countries like Zimbabwe who are competitive and have the skills and the resources to exploit regional opportunities. When I visited Ireland in the late 70’s just after the UK and Ireland went into the European Union, I found a country plagued by rural poverty and conflict. Most farms did not have clean water or modern facilities; they were almost peasants. Today Ireland has one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a first world economic infrastructure and industries.
Zimbabwe stands on the threshold of new opportunities today – we are slowly getting our act together, our economy is expanding, our local currency stable and undervalued and our productive sector starting to appreciate that we can sell into regional markets. In fact, even now, our industrial exports have doubled in the past year and our farm exports are growing strongly. Global commodity prices are recovering and if we can get our mining industry growing, the opportunities are enormous. The challenge is how to fix our infrastructure so that we can supply a growing economy with clean water, electricity at a reasonable price and transport goods to and from our main markets at a competitive cost. All challenges but also opportunities.</blockquote>
Source: <a href="https://www.eddiecross.africanherd.com/201211.html">Eddie Cross </a>

OPINION: The Zimbabwean Economy Is Now Recovering Faster Than Our Neighbors' - Eddie Cross

Eddie Cross, a member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has said Zimbabwe is set to introduce a $50 note in an endeavour to double the cash that is in circulation to $3 billion.
This comes when markets have rejected the $2 note while the $5, $10 and $20 notes are proving to be tiny considering the inflation in the country.
Zimbabweans are exhibiting mixed feelings over the alleged move. Some say the $50 note is still too small urging the government to introduce $200, $500 or have the two of the highest denominations to afford a loaf of bread.
The $50 cannot buy a loaf of bread, which is priced at $70 on average.
Some argue that the move is not addressing the current issues which include lack of change that has resulted in businesses fixing prices.
<a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2020/10/14/zimbabwes-annual-inflation-drops-in-september/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Zimstat says prices have been stable or slightly falling</a> over the recent few months while competition among businesses is coming back.
Some observers believe that having more Zimbabwe dollars in circulation will likely affect the foreign currency exchange rate that has been stable for months.
Others believe the end result would be a 2008 scenario where the central bank ended up printing large denominations including $1 000 000 000 000.
More: <a href="https://twitter.com/happ_zenge/status/1316593481784201217" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Happi Zengeni</a>

Zimbabwe Introducing $50 Note - Cross

The Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) board has cancelled all deals it entered into with several companies, among them ZimCoke, saying the agreements were unfavourable to the steel manufacturer.
This was revealed by Ziscosteel board chairperson, Martin Manhuwa on Thursday while briefing a government inter-ministerial team that toured the Redcliff-based steelworks. Manhuwa said:
<blockquote>We are cancelling some agreements that are not favourable to Zisco and the Zimcoke agreement is one that we have cancelled as it was not favourable.</blockquote>
Economist Eddie Cross, who is ZimCoke consultant, told NewZimbabwe.com that the company’s operations have been suspended as the government was prioritising the revival of Ziscosteel. He said:
A Chinese group has approached the government to build a giant steel plant. If they get the nod, OK they have the offer to revive Zisco. If the deal goes through Zimcoke will either participate or have their deal cancelled.
According to <a href="https://www.ebusinessweekly.co.zw/controversy-rocks-zisco-zimcoke-deal-as-board-terminates-us225m-transaction/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Business Weekly</a>, ZimCoke bought Zisco assets related to the production of coke on the understanding that when the steel plant is revived, it will get its coke needs from ZimCoke.
ZimCoke is a Mauritian company involved in the production of coke and related products. Its current portfolio consists of the Coke making assets in RedCliff, Zimbabwe.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/ziscosteel-board-cancels-unfavourable-deals/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NewZimbabwe.com</a></h4>

Ziscosteel Cancels ZimCoke Agreement

Former MDC legislator Eddie Cross said MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa will never talk to President Emmerson Mnangagwa if he insists on his position that the latter is illegitimate.
Cross believes that Chamisa lost a huge opportunity when he rejected Mnangagwa’s offer, to make him the leader of the opposition in Parliament. Said Cross:
<blockquote>Nelson (Chamisa) called me this other day, I hadn’t seen him for about 18 months, he called me and asked me what I think he should be doing and I said you should be talking to Mnangagwa and he said how do we get that started and I said the first thing is you got to accept that he won the 2018 elections end of conversation.
If you don’t accept that the President is legitimate and that he won elections legitimately then you cant start a conversation and that’s the position and nothing is going to change that.
No amount of external pressure is going to change that situation, its something we have to do among ourselves.</blockquote>
Cross, who is a member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said Mnangagwa is under a lot of pressure from ZANU PF and does not make decisions on his own. He said:
<blockquote>I think Chamisa has lost a huge opportunity because I think if he had accepted Emmerson’s (President Mnangagwa) victory in 2018 and accepted his role as leader of the opposition in Parliament, I think the President would have been much more accommodating.
And I think we would have seen the situation in Zimbabwe moving more or less along the lines of a consensual type of government arrangement than what we have got at the moment.
You have to remember too that the President is someone who is also under pressure from his own people and he is a not a free agent and neither is Ramaphosa.</blockquote>
Chamisa has to accept that Mnangagwa was legitimately elected in 2018 as a starting point, else there are no prospects of dialogue between the two Cross added.
<blockquote>He (Chamisa) said the precondition for talks is that he wants the government to accept that it was not legitimately elected.
Therefore the conversation can’t even start, you can’t even begin to dialogue if that is the opening statement.</blockquote>
In spite of Cross’s assertion, it is not clear if Mnangagwa actually extended the alleged offer to Chamisa. A few months after the election, Mnangagwa formed the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD), a dialogue platform that was intended to bring together all the 2018 presidential candidates.
Chamisa, Joice Mujuru, Noah Manyika and Nkosana Moyo are some of the candidates who refused to be part of the “charade”.
<h4>More: <a href="https://openparly.com/chamisa-seeks-advice-on-engaging-mnangagwa/">Open Parly</a></h4>

Eddie Cross Says Chamisa Sought His Advice On  Engaging Mnangagwa

Economist, Eddie Cross while speaking to the Chronicle made sensational claims that the economy has stabilised, fundamentals are working and imports are on the rise.
Speaking about the monetary policy review, Cross, who is an RBZ Monetary Policy Committee member said:
<blockquote>I am quite pleased with the way the fundamentals are working. The economy has since stabilised and exports are on the rise. Local companies that rely on exports have also become so competitive and that is what exactly what we wanted to achieve. We closed down bulk monetary operations and the use of agent lines. Ecocash is not in the banking system so they cannot continue handling money the way banks do. It can be subject to abuse.
We have more USD in our economy than the RTGS. We allowed the use of USD so that it can start circulating. Once Government starts paying civil servants in USD, we should see improvement in the circulation of forex. An increasing number of companies and individuals are depositing forex in banks which is a confirmation of confidence in the banking system.</blockquote>
Cross’s sentiments were echoed by another economist Professor Gift Mugano who said the economy was in the right direction:
<blockquote>Yes, the economy is in the right direction. All the fundamentals are working for the good of the economy but we should guard against foreign companies that might come to loot the US dollars we have in our coffers.</blockquote>
Meanwhile, inflation stands at 756% and the purchasing power of the ZWL has deteriorated while some local businesses are refusing the local currency in favour of the USD.

The Economy Has Stabilised & Exports Are On The Rise - Eddie Cross

Former opposition MDC MP for Bulawayo South, Eddie Cross has said it is not logical to pay civil servants’ allowances in United States dollars.
His remarks come when government has proposed to temporarily pay workers a USD75 allowance and to increase their salaries by 50 percent.
Commenting on the development, the economist who is also a member of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) which advises president Mnangagwa said:
<blockquote>What can you say, it’s crazy, it’s crazy. I don’t think we have the money.
I think the problem is it establishes a precedent for the private sector as workers will demand the same thing.</blockquote>
He added that the move was a blow to the dedollarisation agenda the government embarked on last year.
Meanwhile, nurses have rejected the offer and have since embarked on an industrial action to force the government to pay their salaries in United States dollars.
Workers say the proposed increment will not make any difference considering that the country’s economy is inflationary.
More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zim-move-to-pay-civil-servants-us75-allowances-crazy-eddie-cross/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Zimbabwe</a>

"It's Crazy," - ED's Advisor Speaks On Civil Servants' USD Allowances

Writing on his website, economist Eddie Cross said we are in a mess that has been exacerbated by the pandemic that killed over 365 000 people worldwide and we needed to reset our leadership style. Cross opined:
<blockquote>Did you ever think that it would be a tiny, invisible virus that would bring the world to its knees? Not a third World War, not a nuclear missile strike, not a global famine or meteor strike that knocked our planet off its axis. All that it did was to threaten our health, always a fragile part of our lives, in so doing it acted as an accelerator – accelerating the impact of bad management, poor leadership and global distortions due to our greed and careless policies.
We have been living beyond our means for decades – in the false belief that our ‘way of life’ was a right not just an accident of history or a product of greed and ambition. There is no way that the whole world can experience the living standards that are found in many countries today – if they were applied we would quickly run out of everything. It is time to reset.
The warning signs were all there, the deserts of Africa have been growing steadily for all my life – sand occupying vast areas that were once open savannah. Our rivers are so polluted they are often just open sewers. We are burning fossil fuels unmindful that they were created over the millennia and are finite. The thin skin of breathable atmosphere that we live in and depend on every day, is a totally fragile feature of our world, so thin it could hardly be measured by a telescope on Mars. Our forests, the very lungs of the world, are vanishing every day and being replaced by open farm land that helps feed our overcrowded planet but on an unsustainable manner. Even worse being covered by concrete and bitumen.
Where are the visionaries of the past? The giants that put the world back together after two World Wars? The men who put Japan onto its feet after it had been smashed into the ground by military and nuclear force. The men who reached across the Atlantic and helped Europe rebuild itself. The men and women who fought for justice across the world, dismantling global slavery and creating the multilateral agencies that work today to try and create a more equal world.
I live in a country that was born out of struggle for justice, equality and freedom and walked onto the global stage in April 1980. I was there, among the tens of thousands watching as the flag of the greatest coloniser in global history came down and was replaced by our new flag, the symbol of all our hopes and ambitions. Many of the new leaders were friends and colleagues and they quickly took their places at the centres of power. The world was at their feet, we ran the first conference attended by our friends across the world, anxious to help us get back on our feet after 90 years of domination by the small white Community, mainly of European extraction, 50 years of Nationalist struggle and 15 years of war and global sanctions.
It is now 42 years since that day. During this time China has climbed out of the hole it was in in 1975 when her people were poorer than Africa. South Korea has done even better, lifting her people to high income in a very short space of time. Viet Nam has recovered from the calamity of 40 years of war and conflict. Cambodia is recovering from Pol Pot. The Asian Tiger economies are the industrial heartland of the world today with global trade having grown at a real rate of 15 per cent per annum now for over 60 years – delivering prosperity to the most remote places in the world.
Now we have this pandemic and all its associated problems – the global shut down, the collapse of markets and demand for all the things on which we depended for a living. Hundreds of millions are out of work, the GDP of the biggest economies of the world are shrinking at rates that seemed impossible just a few months ago. Businesses are re-evaluating their business models across the world. Nothing is being taken for granted. The skies have cleared and we can see the stars again. The world breathes once more. It is time to reset.
The key is leadership. It is leadership that determines success in all spheres of life – school, universities, business, national life and international relations. It is the most important part of everything we do.
I watched the Director General of the International Labour Organisation being interviewed on television the other day. What an outstanding exposition of our global challenges. He was interviewed for half an hour and what came across was compassion and understanding and a perspective on the issues we face that I have not heard from any other person of significance.
The one thing we must face up to in Africa, our first post-Independence leadership has failed us – we are poorer than we were before independence and the institutions we created in the first flush of growth and change have failed. Our leaders have concentrated on personal accumulation – both of wealth and absolute power. In the process we have crippled our government’s ability to serve our people and we have stripped our people of the very things they fought for in the struggle for freedom.
We have stripped our former masters of their assets and wealth but failed to put these assets to work and simply made our economies more dependent on external support and less productive. So today, my country imports 70 per cent of everything it consumes. Its currency is worthless and corruption is endemic and completely distorts the exercise of power in the service of the majority. After 42 years of Independence we are again one of the most isolated countries, diplomatically, in the world. How could we screw up so completely – the answer is simply, lousy leadership.
On the 17th November 2017, when we celebrated the military overthrow of the Mugabe dictatorship and gave support to the leadership taking over, in a way it was even more emotional than April the 18th in 1980. We gave our new leadership total support and legitimised what they had done using military force. Perhaps this explains the near total disillusion that has set in across the country today. There is near total lack of confidence in our leadership. We no longer think they have the capacity or the will to do the right things. We have fallen back to the position where we are each just trying to survive. If we get the chance to flee to another country with better prospects we are taking those openings – even at great cost.
In the wider world the same thing is happening, countries are withdrawing from the global system. Companies are reorganising their supply chains and aid to the less advantaged is everywhere on the retreat. Barriers to trade and migration are going up. After many decades when the USA was the policeman to the world and a global source of aid, technology and investment, she is now in full retreat and going back to the pre War era of self-sufficiency and isolation.
We all need to reset our leadership style – go back to basics. In the begging of the Bible in Genesis God gives mankind responsibility for managing this little blue ball in space while it is our home. Later Christ lays down the fundamental laws by which mankind should live – to love and fear God and to serve our neighbours, no matter who they are. Is that so tough? The Bible says that the fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom – who would steal or abuse another if they really understood that everything was being recorded never to be erased and that we would all be accountable?
If we continue to live as if only our own needs deserve attention, then we condemn not only our own communities but the world in which we live and for which there is no replacement.</blockquote>
Source: <a href="https://www.eddiecross.africanherd.com/200530.html">Eddie Cross’s Website </a>

OPINION: What A Mess We Are In - Eddie Cross

Eddie Cross, a member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) monetary policy committee (MPC)has said that the central bank intends to simultaneously address the cash shortages and avoid flooding the market with cash.
He made the remarks in an interview with The Herald during which he observed that there is a direct relationship between money supply, exchange rate and the inflation. Cross said:
<blockquote>But the only way to prevent the increase in base money (total money supply) with new cash in the market and the impact on the exchange rate is for the banks to acquire these notes using their RTGS dollar balances.
What we are doing is that we are swapping existing RTGS cash for cash in another form and so there is no impact on money supply and if we maintain that everything should be fine.</blockquote>
He is speaking when the RBZ has introduced $10 and $20 notes with the former having already the market while the latter is expected to be released in June.
While the move is meant to address the acute cash crisis that has lingered for a sustainable period of time now, some are afraid it might increase inflation in the country.
More: <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/banks-to-swap-rtgs-for-new-notes-rbz/">The Herald</a>

"We're Swapping Existing RTGS Cash For Cash," - RBZ

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will introduce $10 and $20 banknotes worth close to $600 million before the end of this month.
This was said by a member of the RBZ Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Eddie Cross who told the Sunday News that an announcement of the new notes was imminent. He said:
<blockquote>The plans are far advanced and higher denomination notes will be made available to the public sometime later this month. The Reserve Bank will make the announcement.
They (the notes) are being printed and the appropriate date will be announced soon. We had a meeting yesterday of the MPC and the Governor confirmed to us that the rollout will be in stages so it won’t be a full range of notes initially, but it will only be higher denomination notes.</blockquote>
Cross said banks will be required to exchange their electronic balances for physical cash to ensure that no new money is created.
Dirty, torn and worn out notes will be removed from circulation as the new notes are introduced onto the market, Cross added.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/new-bank-notes-out-soon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Sunday Mail</a></h4>

RBZ Printing $10 & $20 Banknotes To Be Released Soon - Cross

Former legislator for Bulawayo South and opposition MDC, Eddie Cross, has said that Africa and Zimbabwe, in particular, is faced with a mammoth but also a necessary task of rebuilding its economy. 

Cross said that the deteriorating state of affairs has resulted in the country losing its human resource that has over the years migrated to other countries in search of greener pastures. He said:
<blockquote>Students studying abroad talk of hunger and terrible living conditions, constant problems with the authorities and racial prejudice.
Those who make it, prefer to stay and just send home a few dollars each month as a sop to their consciences.
Eventually they are lost permanently to their foreign places of work.
Even someone like me, feels like a stranger in those countries, goodness knows how deeply others feel the same thing.</blockquote>
He also said that scores of people go through the rough and tumble of racial discrimination, hunger, abuse while some are killed as they try to escape poverty in Zimbabwe.
Cross said it is incumbent upon every Zimbabwean to find solutions to the problems facing the nation, “to get our countries working again.”
He said that Zimbabweans can make a tough decision, to stay at home and work for a better future for all Zimbabweans adding that “There can be no higher calling.”
More: <a href="https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2020/04/23/eddie-cross-tough-choices-immigrants-make/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=eddie-cross-tough-choices-immigrants-make">Eddie Cross</a>

"There Can Be No Higher Calling," - Cross Speaks On Need To Rebuild Zimbabwe And Africa

Zimcoke which is headed by Eddie Cross is reportedly trying to reviving ZISCO Steel, The Standard reports. This was revealed in an interview Eddie Cross had with The Standard.
Eddie reportedly said:
<blockquote>Their main task has been to stop the continuous theft of assets from the site. We have plant and equipment, scrap iron and cables.
They have cut grass and fire breaks to protect assets and conveyor belts from bush fires. We have also sorted out all spares on-site and have started to prepare the site for the arrival of contractors.
Offices have been renovated and we have had a succession of consultants on-site to look into what was needed to bring the plant back into production. All working drawings have been located and estimates of costs prepared. This has cost us close to US$1 million.
In addition to the above, we have initiated discussions with banks and financial institutions on the needs for the company to undertake the rebuilding and all the investments required in support services, railways, water, electricity and coal.
Detailed discussions have been held on-site and at offices across the world, on how to approach the rebuild and all technical aspects. This will be followed by the negotiation of contracts for the work that is required.</blockquote>
Eddie’s comments come amid reports that <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2020/03/22/ed-sucked-in-the-shady-225-million-deal-meant-to-strip-zisco-steel-of-its-critical-assets/">Zimcoke grabbed machinery belonging to ZISCO Steel</a> and president Mnangagwa knew about it and reportedly knew about it and turned a blind eye because he knew his friend would benefit from the deal.
More: <a href="https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2020/03/29/reviving-zisco-says-cross/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=reviving-zisco-says-cross">The Standard </a>

Eddie Cross Claims Zimcoke Is Reviving ZISCO Steel

Economist <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Eddie_Cross">Eddie Cross</a> writing for the Newsday said the foreign currency shortage in this country is gone. <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/eddie-cross-christmas-wishlists-for-his-country/">Cross was listing his Christmas wishlist</a> when he said:
<blockquote>…We are no longer short of foreign exchange. In 2019, the fundamental reforms implemented under the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Transitional_Stabilisation_Programme">Transitional Stabilisation Programme</a> have given a huge boost to our export industries and official inflows of hard currency has exceeded our needs for the very first time in many years. My estimate is that total receipts this year will exceed US$7 billion while direct imports of all our essentials will only reach US$5,6 billion.</blockquote>
However, fuel, medication and electricity are still in short supply despite Eddie’s declarations.
More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/2019/12/it-cannot-be-business-as-usual-in-2020/">Newsday</a>

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