AT least 92% of the available space has been taken up as the regional Mining, Engineering and Transport (Mine Entra) exhibition roars into life in Bulawayo today.

BUSINESS people in Zimbabwe should focus more in the areas of expertise to resuscitate the economy instead of devoting more attention on politics, an expert has said.

ONTARIO – Caledonia Mining has reworked the preliminary economic assessment for the expansion of operations at its Blanket mine in Matabeleland South, after the Ontario Securities Commission asked it to consider expansion below the 750 metre level as a standalone project.

BULAWAYO – Property worth millions of dollars belonging to the state-owned meat processor, Cold Storage Company (CSC) is set to go under the hammer today over unpaid debt to the Bulawayo City Council.

Zimbabwe’s tobacco sales have dropped 8.5% to 188.5 million kgs this year after drought in southern Africa affected production of the country’s top export earner, an official said on Thursday.

MUTARE – Mutare-based vehicle assembler, Quest Motors says it will start producing Japanese models in the fourth quarter of this year after signing franchise agreements with the manufacturers.

Government is set to buy the entire shareholding of Telecel Zimbabwe, the country’s third largest mobile operator, as it moves to increase its influence in the telecommunications sector.

More than 4 000 people are expected to attend the solar fair to be held in Bulawayo on Saturday, an official has said.

State-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) says it narrowed its losses in the full-year to December 2013 by 7% to $49 million but poor business and failure to recapitalise have left the parastatal facing a bleak future.

Civil society organisations in Zimbabwe are holding a two-day conference in Bulawayo aimed at assessing the progress of millennium development goals as well as discussing Zimbabwe’s economic blueprint, ZimAsset.

Premier African Minerals shares added over 6% as the company revealed it expects shipments from its RHA tungsten operation in Matabeleland North to start from July 17.

BULAWAYO — Zimbabwe’s exports of fresh leguminous vegetables (peas and beans) to the European Union (EU) increased by 269% over the past five years, an indication that the bloc is one of the country’s major export destinations, latest data has shown.

BATA Shoe Company workers yesterday went on strike to protest the non-payment of their allowances by the shoe manufacturer.

Zimbabwe’s central bank says the financial services sector is now safe and sound after hitherto weaker Metbank boosted its capital position to $31 million from $24,6 as at December, surpassing minimum capital requirements.

The market capitalisation for Zimbabwe’s Stock Exchange (ZSE) fell 11% to $4 billion in the first half of this year as foreign investors sold shares and the economy stagnated, data from the bourse showed on Thursday.

PPC Zimbabwe says exports to neighboring countries in the first half of the year took a knock due to the weakening of the South African rand against the US dollar.

HWANGE – Zimbabwe’s oldest coal miner Hwange Colliery Company, which has slipped into second place in terms of production, says it will embark on an aggressive drive to grow its market in the region and expects to return to profitability in the third quarter.

Hwange Colliery plans to export 50 000 metric tonnes of coal to neighbouring South Africa this year and its gauging interest from buyers in Europe and Asia, the head of the company said.

Zimbabwe-focused Caledonia Mining has reached certain important milestones as part of efforts to increase production at its 49%-owned Blanket mine to 80 000 oz/y by 2021.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) Matabeleland Chamber has elected Walter Chigwada of Zimplow as new president following the elevation of Busisa Moyo to the national president post recently.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has given Econet Wireless the go-ahead to begin cross-border mobile money remittances to Zimbabwe.

Cement maker Lafarge says a capital injection of $7 million in quarry rehabilitation and maintenance last year is starting to bear fruit, reducing production costs by $7 per tonne and offsetting the failure of the company’s export endeavours.

GLOBAL Shapers Community Bulawayo Hub (GSC Byo), an initiative of the World Economic Forum, has started recruiting shapers for 2015 in Bulawayo as the forum moves to launch a hub in every major city in the world.

Progress in the construction of the RHA Tungsten project, in Zimbabwe, was progressing on schedule, multicommodity resource and development company Premier African Minerals reiterated on Tuesday.

STATE-OWNED meat processor Cold Storage Company (CSC) has been making a loss of $6 million every year over the past 10 years, an official said on Wednesday.

Senior World Bank officials are visiting Zimbabwe to have a first-hand appreciation of the challenges facing the country.