Week 22
A weekly selection from Zimbabwean newspapers
AI training for 10 000 teachers annually
(The Herald, state-controlled daily)
More than 10 000 teachers and lecturers will be trained annually in Artificial Intelligence and digital literacy in a partnership that involves Government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Zimbabwe will partner with the UAE on solar energy and digital education as part of broader efforts to accelerate industrialisation and modernisation.
This was said by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere while delivering a post Cabinet media briefing in Harare yesterday.
Chinese miners wreak havoc in Mberengwa, Filabusi
Relations between locals, who include low-level employees, villagers, chiefs, and Chinese nationals have deteriorated in the Dolo and Filabusi areas as workers allege assault and abuse by the Asian nationals, prompting political and traditional leadership to intervene to curb the violations.
Chinese workers descended on the villages bordering Mberengwa and Insiza districts in the Midlands and Matabeleland South districts after a giant mining company engaged Chinese partners to develop chrome mining operations in the area.
The expatriate workers are being accused violence, bribery, corruption and human rights violations.
Zim gets boost for family planning services
The Swedish embassy has unveiled a US$5 million package to scale up the reach and quality of family planning services in Zimbabwe.
The contribution from the Swedish government is primarily focusing on improving services for youth and marginalised populations.
Officials said the initiative was a key pillar of Zimbabwe’s Family Planning 2030 (FP2030) pledge, which aimed to increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate from the current 48% to 54%.
Health and Child Care deputy minister Sleiman Kwidini reaffirmed government’s commitment to ensuring universal access to public health after meeting Swedish officials on Monday.
Kwidini said that was in line with the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action.
European Investment Bank calls for govt, private sector collaboration to secure funding
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has called for increased collaboration between government and the private sector to secure funding for international lenders, amid Zimbabwe requiring US$2 billion in annual infrastructure financing till 2032.
A study by the World Bank and others suggests that Zimbabwe requires US$2 billion annually for economic infrastructure financing until 2032.
Through the European Union’s (EU) lending programmes funded by the bloc’s EIB, over US$100 million had been accessed by Zimbabwean banks such as CABS, First Capital Bank Zimbabwe, Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe and NMB Bank.
Speaking during a panel discussion on day two of the EU-Zimbabwe Business Forum held in Harare this week, EIB regional representative for southern Africa, Jim Hodges, said securing funding for projects was a bit of a race.
Teachers doorstep ED over poor salaries
A group of teachers visited President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s offices on Tuesday seeking his intervention over poor salaries and various challenges bedevilling the education sector.
The teachers, under the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, however, did not meet Mnangagwa, but submitted a petition warning him that the education system was crumbling under his watch.
Teachers are decrying low salaries and are demanding that the government must pay them at least US$540, which they were earning before October 2018.
Some have even bumped up the figure to US$1 200.
Teachers have, over the years, been at loggerheads with the government over low salaries.
Currently, teachers earn an average of US$250 per month and around ZiG3 000, respectively.
IPPs unveil 16 000MW power projects
Intensive Energy Users Group (IEUG) chairperson Eddie Cross says private players are driving over 16 000 megawatts (MW) worth of power generation projects to help bridge Zimbabwe’s widening electricity supply gap.
This comes as the country’s power utility firm, Zesa Holdings, has capital requirements of US$2 billion, which is limiting its ability to provide steady power.
Independent power producers (IPPs), primarily from the mining and industrial sectors, are investing in solar, coal and hydroelectric projects to secure consistent power amid persistent blackouts and rising tariffs.
The IEUG represents Zimbabwe’s largest electricity consumers across the mining, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
Mining profits fuel schools, clinics, and local empowerment in Zimbabwe
(The Herald, state-controlled daily)
In the sun-scorched hills surrounding Gwanda, where golden veins of Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth run deep, Caledonia Mining Corporation is digging for more than just gold. It is laying the groundwork for community transformation — building schools, powering clinics, improving roads, and training a new generation of Zimbabwean professionals.
As Zimbabwe’s mining sector continues to underpin national economic ambitions, attention is increasingly turning to how mining companies are translating profits into shared prosperity.
For Caledonia, the answer lies in a robust Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework — one that goes beyond compliance and reflects a deep commitment to long-term impact.
“In 2024, we committed US$1,326 million across seven strategic community investment pillars, ensuring that our contributions align with local priorities and create tangible benefits.
Zimbabwe’s Polar Bear Club – Cathy Buckle
Come with me to the mountains in Zimbabwe this week. This is the place where the roads wind and curve and bend as you get ever higher and the views are spectacular. Rolling hills and vast green valleys, steep cliffs and deep gorges, silver streams and rushing rivers. The mountains are blue in the distance and you push on, passing sawmills and timber plantations where the trees are immense, reaching for the sky.
The early winter days here in the mountains are of blue sky and drifting clouds which often gather in the afternoon and close in over the mountain tops and drop down into the foothills before dark. The temperature plunges the moment the sun falls behind the tops of the mountains and soon you must go indoors and light the log fire because the nights are very cold here.
PVO law muddies Zim’s debt resolution plan
THE recently enacted Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Act has been flagged as a setback to Zimbabwe’s arrears clearance and debt resolution process amid calls for the country to accelerate governance reforms.
A meeting held on the sidelines of the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings on Monday heard that the legislation has muddied the process.
European Union ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst von Kirchmann told delegates attending the Zimbabwe arrears clearance and debt resolution meeting that stakeholders had hoped that President Emmerson Mnangagwa would not sign the Bill into law.
“Unfortunately, that was done, and in our bush walk, I think we walked a couple of kilometres back, but now we have to look forward. That’s why I said we have to look into where we would like to go, reaching arrears clearance and debt resolution,” he said.
No end in sight to the electricity crisis
Zimbabwe is facing a severe energy crisis, with daily load-shedding lasting up to 16 hours, while neighbouring Zambia is cautiously optimistic about reducing its power outages by August 2025.
Government attributes the energy crisis primarily to the El Niño-induced drought as seen in reduced water levels at Kariba Dam, a crucial source of hydroelectric power for both countries.
Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) public relations and communications manager Selusiwe Moyo said water allocation to Zimbabwe and Zambia remained low as a result.
“Our immediate focus is on rebuilding the dam’s reservoir levels, which were critically depleted by drought,” Moyo said.
“Only after stabilisation can we sustainably increase water allocation to both Kariba North and Kariba South power stations.”
Teachers petition rights commission over labour injustices
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, ARTUZ has filed a complaint with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) over poor salaries among other cases of labour injustices.
In a letter dated 23 May 2005 addressed to Delisa Mazambani, the ZHRC executive secretary, Obert Masaraure, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president said there are systematic violations of the fundamental rights of teachers in Zimbabwe.
“These violations include the denial of fair wages, the right to strike, the right to collective bargaining, and the right to absolute paid maternity leave.
“For an extended period, teachers in Zimbabwe have endured deplorable working conditions and inadequate remuneration that fails to meet basic living standards. Efforts to engage the government in meaningful dialogue to address these grievances have been largely ignored or met with hostility,” he wrote.
Why were Zimbabweans left behind 45 years after independence, in the first place?
Yesterday, I watched a report on the state-controlled broadcaster in which the Emmerson Mnangagwa administration was, once again, patting itself on the back for electrifying a small rural area through its Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
As has become the norm, the authorities wasted no time touting this as a major developmental milestone, proudly presenting it as part of the broader objective of “leaving no one and no place behind.”
To the government, this was clearly a cause for celebration—another victory on their long march to progress.
Yet, I found myself wondering: this is 45 years after Zimbabwe attained independence—why then are we still talking about “leaving no place behind”?
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