more Quotes
Connect with us

money markets

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Silo expansion can have many benefits – The Herald

The decision to put Silo Food Industries back on the map by tripling the output of maize meal from the dominant maize supplier, cutting out all possible middlemen, is positive response by the Second Republic.

The problem that arose was that some millers were feeding supplies to the informal sector, and so getting paid in US dollars and that in cash, avoiding bank controls, taxes and currency conversions. 

At the same a lot of consumers, seeing these artificial scarcities, were panic buying when a delivery did arrive, or “stocking up” as they might express it.

This was enhanced by those consumers, worried about further devaluations of the local currency, decided to at least lock in their basic food by spending their pay as soon as they got it on basics, like mealie meal, so they could sleep a bit easier. The extra demand was not matched by extra supply, rather than by that diversion of supplies.

Silo was set up as part of the Grain Marketing Board, although now is a private company owned by the GMB and so legally separate, with one of the reasons being the need to split the GMB accounts into three: the annual function of getting the summer grains planted, harvested and delivered; the need to build a strategic grain reserve than coped with the carry-over stocks into the next harvest and would be drawn on if there was some severe climatic event like a bad drought and the consumer business in Silo. 

Each of these have separate sources of finance. The annual harvest is a semi-commercial operation where the Government sets the prices for both the farmers and the millers, and the small margin is what the GMB has to use to pay its administration costs and the shorter term storage. 

The strategic reserve has to be funded via the national Budget, a sort of insurance premium the taxpayer funds to ensure we always have enough food.

Silo is now a commercial operation, but one where the GMB is the supplier, no doubt for accounting at price it charges other millers, is the miller and, particularly important, is the retailer. 

The 14 existing shops are in GMB premises, but to these are now added the depots, again on premises owned by the GMB.

This should allow a lower mark-up as the retail costs do not include rent and minimise transport. The Silo sale points can be thought of as factory shops. 

This provides a viable form of price control in a way, since the other millers cannot have retail prices much above those charged by Silo, otherwise they could lose a lot of customers. 

Since Silo has to be self-financing and since GMB cannot lose money by selling Silo maize at below the miller price, this is perfectly fair to the rest of the milling industry. There are no subsidies borne by the taxpayer, but the maximum effort put in place to control costs.

But the most important gain will be that Silo is bound to sell in local currency and sell what it mills, and it has been directed to triple its output so a lot more people can benefit. 

This tripling should also help kill the attempt to create a pure black market in mealie meal in the tuckshop and roadside sectors, by swamping the legitimate market with enough supplies to make artificial shortages difficult or impossible to arrange.

But the main point is that the Government is using market forces to defeat the saboteurs of free markets, rather than trying to control those markets. 

We found out earlier that does not work. This is one reason why consumer subsidies were removed, as the only winners were those who managed to divert the subsidised roller meal to the black market operators. 

Instead it made more sense, in many ways, to give the very poor and vulnerable individual payments so they could afford to buy their groceries.

Those large millers who worry about Silo competition should not complain, even if they were not involved in the skulduggery we now see in some sectors. 

Instead they should be working out how to retain customers, and even expand their market share, by working on product quality and customer service, in other words compete in the market place.

We hope that Silo will also be processing traditional grains, both to supply discerning consumers and to expand the markets for these grains. 

Traditional grains, as their name implies, are indigenous to Africa and have been farmed ever since agriculture developed in the late stone age in Africa. 

As agricultural knowledge drifted down Africa new varieties and new species were added and so the continent became very rich indeed in the variety of these grains. While maize must have entered Zimbabwe 400 or so years ago, the seed moving along trade routes and paths from the coastal trade ports, it was until the 1920s regarded largely as a green vegetable, with most of the moderate harvest eaten soon after being picked and prepared by roasting. That is still a popular snack food and vegetable.

From the 1920s onward maize for a variety of reasons, including ease of grinding and preparation, started to dominate, and traditional grain relegated to beer, stock feed and poor people in arid areas. 

It is now making a come back, although the full range of processed meals derived from traditional grain is largely found in the supermarkets in the wealthier suburbs. 

Silo can help fill the gap between what is harvested and those wealthy suburbs with a range of products to suit more pockets. 

Old recipes are being rediscovered, and new recipes are being developed, but there are a lot of gaps as well and far more needs to be done to connect cooks with the grains. There is obviously need to collect the recipes, old and new, and have these at the same retail points with the grains and processed meals and Silo seem ideally suited to putting product and cooking instructions in the same place, so more people will try out and use the grains that the GMB are now encouraging farmers to grow. 

In one sense, the Silo expansion is to ensure that those huge harvests of grain are available, but that innovation can also be used to create markets and ensure that these markets are viable and healthy.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

money markets

Global stocks sink before US Congress votes on deal to avoid debt … – The Zimbabwe Mail



BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets sank Wednesday ahead of a vote by the U.S. Congress on a deal to avert a government debt default, while a downturn in Chinese factory activity deepened, adding to signs that the world’s economic activity is weakening.

Markets in London, Shanghai, Paris and Tokyo retreated. Oil prices declined.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index edged up less than 0.1% on Tuesday as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the House of Representatives tried to line up votes to raise the amount the government is allowed to borrow. Officials warn the Treasury will run out of money as soon as next week, which would roil the economy and financial markets.

“Any upcoming obstacle to a smooth pass-through of the deal could still trigger some de-risking,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a report.

On Wednesday, an official Chinese survey of manufacturers found activity contracted in May on weak global and domestic consumer demand.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.1% to 7,514.18 and the CAC 40 in Paris sank 0.4% to 7,178.13. The DAX in Frankfurt retreated 0.3% to 15,868.35.

On Wall Street, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off 0.2% ahead of a vote by the full 435-member House on raising the government debt limit. Some legislators object to spending cuts in the plan while others want bigger reductions.

On Tuesday, the Dow slipped 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6% to 3,204.56 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1.4% to 30,887.88. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong tumbled 1.9% to 18,234.27.

China’s economic recovery has been weaker than some businesspeople and investors hoped.


A monthly purchasing managers’ index issued by the national statistics agency and an industry group declined to 48.4 from April’s 49.2 on a 100-point scale in which numbers below 50 show activity declining. Manufacturers have been hurt by weak global demand and a slower-than-expected recovery in Chinese consumer spending.

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.3% to 2,577.12 and the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney fell 1.6% to 7,091.30.

India’s Sensex lost 0.7% to 62,514.88. New Zealand advanced while Southeast Asian markets declined.

Uncertainty about U.S. government debt adds to market anxiety over signs global economic activity is slowing following interest rate hikes.

Even without a default, all the partisan brinkmanship in Washington could erode faith in the U.S. government. That could trigger another downgrade to its credit rating, following Standard & Poor’s rating cut in 2011.

Traders are bracing for another possible increase in the Federal Reserve’s key lending rate at its next meeting in two weeks but hope that will be the last in this cycle.

A report Tuesday showed confidence among American consumers is falling and is well below where it was before the pandemic.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude gained 36 cents to $69.10 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $3.21 on Tuesday to $69.46. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, shed 44 cents to $73.32 per barrel in London. It sank $3.53 the previous session to $73.54.

The dollar declined to 139.81 yen from Tuesday’s 139.87 yen. The euro retreated to $1.0663 from $1.0719.


Continue Reading

money markets

Zimbabwe summons US deputy ambassador over meddling election tweets – Zee Business

Zimbabwe’s foreign ministry has summoned the United States’ deputy ambassador over a series of tweets the embassy sent calling for a peaceful election in a country that has a history of violent and disputed votes.

The ministry accused the embassy of election-related social media posts bordering on activism and meddling in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs.

Deputy Ambassador Elaine French was called to a meeting with Zimbabwe foreign affairs acting permanent secretary Rofina Chikava on Tuesday following the posts on the U.S. Embassy’s official Twitter account.

The Zimbabwe foreign ministry said it had a particular issue with a May 26 tweet that called for Zimbabweans to Register to vote and make sure your voice is heard. Another tweet from the embassy said Zimbabwe’s constitution grants citizens the right to choose their representatives in legitimate, credible, & peaceful elections.

The foreign ministry said the tweet urging people to register to vote was against diplomatic protocols.

We stand by our recent social media posts calling for peace during the election season,” U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Meg Riggs said in a statement. Elections are a part of a functioning democracy.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the elections will take place in August, although he hasn’t announced a specific date.

But campaigning has started, with opposition parties already alleging violence and intimidation against their supporters by ruling party activists and security forces. Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF ruling party and the government have denied the allegations but human rights groups have said there is intimidation and Mnangagwa’s government is suppressing criticism amid a currency crisis and a sharp rise in food prices.

Zimbabwe has been under U.S. Sanctions for two decades over human rights abuses, which started under the regime of former president Robert Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe from independence from white minority rule in 1980 until he was removed in a coup in 2017 and replaced by Mnangagwa.

Zimbabwe has had a series of violent and disputed elections since 1980 and this vote is expected to be closely contested.

Catch the latest stock market updates here. For more news on sports, politics follow Zee Business 

Continue Reading

money markets

Zimbabwe summons US deputy ambassador over meddling election tweets – Zee Business

Zimbabwe’s foreign ministry has summoned the United States’ deputy ambassador over a series of tweets the embassy sent calling for a peaceful election in a country that has a history of violent and disputed votes.

The ministry accused the embassy of election-related social media posts bordering on activism and meddling in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs.

Deputy Ambassador Elaine French was called to a meeting with Zimbabwe foreign affairs acting permanent secretary Rofina Chikava on Tuesday following the posts on the U.S. Embassy’s official Twitter account.

The Zimbabwe foreign ministry said it had a particular issue with a May 26 tweet that called for Zimbabweans to Register to vote and make sure your voice is heard. Another tweet from the embassy said Zimbabwe’s constitution grants citizens the right to choose their representatives in legitimate, credible, & peaceful elections.

The foreign ministry said the tweet urging people to register to vote was against diplomatic protocols.

We stand by our recent social media posts calling for peace during the election season,” U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Meg Riggs said in a statement. Elections are a part of a functioning democracy.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the elections will take place in August, although he hasn’t announced a specific date.

But campaigning has started, with opposition parties already alleging violence and intimidation against their supporters by ruling party activists and security forces. Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF ruling party and the government have denied the allegations but human rights groups have said there is intimidation and Mnangagwa’s government is suppressing criticism amid a currency crisis and a sharp rise in food prices.

Zimbabwe has been under U.S. Sanctions for two decades over human rights abuses, which started under the regime of former president Robert Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe from independence from white minority rule in 1980 until he was removed in a coup in 2017 and replaced by Mnangagwa.

Zimbabwe has had a series of violent and disputed elections since 1980 and this vote is expected to be closely contested.

Catch the latest stock market updates here. For more news on sports, politics follow Zee Business 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2021 ZimFocus.

www.luzroyale.ky/

www.1africafocus.com

www.zimfocus.co.zw

www.classifieds.com/

One Zimbabwe Classifieds | ZimMarket

www.classifiedszim.com

www.1zimbabweclassifieds.co.zw

www.1southafricaclassifieds.com

www.1africaclassifieds.com

www.1usaclassifieds.com

www.computertraining.co.zw/

www.1itonlinetraining.com/

www.bbs-bitsbytesandstem.com/

Zimbabwe Market Classifieds | ZimMarket

1 Zimbabwe Market Classifieds | ZimMarket

www.1zimlegends.com

Linking Buyers To Sellers Is Our Business Tradition