Techzim

Zimbabwe and regional technology news and updates


Steward Bank retrenching workers owing to digitalisation. What does that mean?

The big bank purge continues as Steward Bank becomes the latest to retrench employees. Over the last few years, Zimbabwean banks have been letting employees go for various reasons. The most common being digitalisation rendering some jobs redundant and the tough economic conditions in Zimbabwe, especially in the Covid era. In Steward Bank’s case, they […]


ZIMRA exceeded its own expectations in Q4 2021 with a 48% uptick in collections

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has released its Q4 2021 results and the tax authority went over and above its own projections for the period under review. ZIMRA recorded ZWL$161.08 billion in gross collections which is a 48.91% increase on its target of ZWL$108.17 billion. The net revenue collected was ZWL$157.19 billion because ZIMRA said […]


Full Text: CBZ Bank and CBZ Building Society want to be one business

In a press statement released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), CBZ Bank and sister company CBZ Building Society have applied to be unified as a single entity The statement on the proposed unification reads as follows: PROPOSED AMALGAMATION OF CBZ BANK LIMITED & CBZ BUILDING SOCIETY IT is hereby notified, in terms of […]


Two Econet employees got 9 years for stealing $20 million

Two employees of Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile network operator (MNO), Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Mukai Mapunzure (Sales Consultant) and Gavin Guwu got nine years in prison for defrauding the company of $20 million (ZWL$). The former was facing 108 counts of fraud and got seven years. While the latter had 98 counts and got two years. The […]


2 Zim female-led startups selected for Women Entrepreneurship for Africa accelerator

The Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) has announced that 100 female-led startups have been chosen to join its accelerator programme. Of those chosen, there are two Zim startups Artisanal foods (Consumer Products) and Anaya Investments (Agriculture). The former is a food manufacturing company that is headed by Kudzai Makaza and the latter is a vegetable […]


Strive Masiyiwa appointed to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation board

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has appointed a board of trustees, with Strive Masiyiwa, Baroness Nemat (Minouche) Shafik, Thomas J. Tierney, and Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman joining co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates as members. The board members will work alongside Gates and French Gates, bringing independent and diverse perspectives to help […]


Strive Masiyiwa’s net worth is now at US$2.7 billion – Forbes

Econet Group Founder Strive Masiyiwa’s net worth has been estimated at US$2.7 billion according to Forbes’ latest rankings. Masiyiwa is now in 10th place tied with South Africa’s Jacobus Petrus “Koos” Bekker, the founding director of African Telecommunications giant MTN and later became Chairman of Naspers (DStv’s parent company). “Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, Africa’s […]


Local remittance service Tumai has a 5% extra airtime, ZESA and data promotion

The remittance game, be it for money, goods and or services has blossomed over the pandemic era even when early projections forecasted a decline because of restricted incomes for the African diaspora. Locally we have been inundated with new services coming to the fore and older ones offering discounts and transaction free periods to entice […]


Google appoints Zimbabwean as Senior Vice President

Google has appointed James Manyika as the company’s first Senior Vice President of Technology and Society. Manyika will report directly to Alphabet’s (Google’s parent company) CEO Sundar Pichai and will be working on the impact of technology on society and the environment. “I’m thrilled that James Manyika will be joining Google’s leadership team. He’s spent […]


Deadline for 2021 Return For Tax On Employment Income is 30/01/2022

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has in a statement notified the public that the deadline for 2021 Return For Tax On Employment Income (ITF16) is on the 30th of January 2022. The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) hereby reminds all taxpayers who are employers toextract from their payrolls, prepare and submit ITF 16 return (Return for […]


Entrepreneurs! Applications for ZimTrade Eagle’s Nest are open!!!

ZimTrade has announced that applications for the 2022 Edition of The Eagle’s Nest Youth Export Incubator are now open. The initiative is there to help young export traders by providing them with a platform to pitch their ideas, mentorship as well as operational support. Stand a chance to WIN a ZimTrade Export Development Package that […]


Zim startups! Apply to pitch your ideas at Africa Tech Summit 2022!!

Africa Tech Summit has opened applications to the 2022 edition of Pitch Live at the fourth Africa Startup Summit. Ten start-ups will be selected to present their company’s solution and overall ask on stage to an audience of 500 + leaders in the African tech ecosystem that include investors, corporates, accelerators, and media. The Africa Startup Summit is part of […]


ZIMRA’s portal is “undergoing maintenance”, the yearly tradition continues

No prizes for predicting this one because much like every year in recent memory the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has announced that its online portal will be undergoing maintenance. This comes as the usual rush to acquire Tax Clearance certificates (ITF263) peaks as businesses seek to get it out of the way and stay on […]


OK Zimbabwe & NSSA are offering Pensioners a 10% discount

Discounts have been a little obsession of mine over the last few weeks, mostly for USD purchases. Shops like TM Pick N Pay and TV Sales are trying to entice their customers to make purchases in hard currency in order to recoup the elusive USD. However this time there is a discount of a completely […]


Discounts for USD: a game of haves vs have nots

Discounts for USD purchases is a “hidden” business practice in Zimbabwe. Late last year we reported on TM Pick n Pay’s 50% discount for groceries bought with US$ and it looks like they aren’t the only ones doing this. We were out on the town this week and popped into TV Sales and we noticed […]


Zimbabwe’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Tax Tables explained

Pay As You Earn (PAYE) is a system that is used to calculate how much from your gross earnings your employer is going to deduct to pay the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) Income Tax on your behalf. The Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06] specifies which parts of your salary as an employee are subject to […]


2022 ZIMRA PAYE USD and ZWL$ Tax Tables

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has released the 2022 Pay as You Earn (PAYE) tax tables for those who are earning in USD and in local currency. Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) PAYE 2022 RTGS (ZWL$) PAYE 2022 Zimbabwe’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Tax Tables explained DAILY TABLE Rates from – to 821.92 multiply by […]


Check out ZIMRA’s $180,000 a year tax credit for employing under 30s

The Youth Employment Tax Incentive can be found in section Section 13A of the Finance Act (Chapter 23:04) and rewards taxpayers who employ youths (below 30 years) in their companies. So before we go any further, a tax credit is basically a deduction on the amount you will pay in taxes if you meet the […]


2022 income tax brackets, presumptive tax and other adjustments

Act No.7 of 2021, Finance Act has revealed what the income tax structure in Zimbabwe will look like in 2022 “The Schedule (“Credits and Rates of Income Tax”) to Chapter I of the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] is amended— (a) with effect from the year of assessment beginning on the 1st January, 2022, in Part […]


5 New Year’s resolutions for the Zim govt

It’s the first Monday of 2022 and we saw quite a bit from the government and its agencies in 2021. I am sure we can all recall SI 127 of 2021 that was the latest attempt at price control even though most Zimbabwean businesses don’t have access to the Forex Auction. SI 89 banned the […]


Startups with climate adaptation solutions, check out this accelerator

Village Capital, under the Adaptation SME Accelerator Project (ASAP), an initiative supported by the Lightsmith Group, in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility, and Conservation International, is looking to accelerate 16 SMEs and startups in Africa and Asia that are scaling market-based and contextualized solutions to critical climate adaptation and resilience challenges. […]


Internet penetration, active mobile subscriptions & more from the POTRAZ Q3 2021 Report

The Postal and Telecommunications regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), today released the sector performance report for Q3 2021. Here are the highlights from the report: Active fixed telephone lines declined by 0.4% to reach 244,316 in the third quarter of 2021 from 245,322 recorded in the second quarter of 2021; the fixed tele-density declined by […]


Giving Econet & others tax breaks is one way mobile data quality can improve

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) recently released its sector performance report for Q3 2021 and yet again data is king in the country with usage continuing on the up because of the pandemic. However in saying that, the quality of data has been iffy for a very long time because there […]


Econet, NetOne, Telecel operating costs growing faster than revenues

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) released the sector performance report for the third quarter of 2021. One of the areas of concern is that of money, money, money. Mobile operator revenues up In the 3 months from July through September, the combined revenue for the three mobile operators grew by 15.8%. […]


FINSEC launches a private funding platform for businesses of any size

The Financial Securities Exchange Limited (FINSEC) has launched a private funding marketplace called FINSEC Private Markets. The platform comes in the wake of FINSEC’s other funding offering called the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) Portal which was introduced back in 2020. The GEM portal was designed to help small to medium enterprises find financial backing as […]


Local hosting service partners with SME Association of Zimbabwe’s business directory

Pnrhost is a local web hosting service that was founded in 2015 and set out to help businesses and improve their online presence. The company offers Web, email hosting, website development, domain registration and SSL Certificates. Pnrhost has announced that it has partnered with the Small and Medium Enterprise Association of Zimbabwe (SMEAZ) to offer […]


Cassava Technologies is rumoured to be in merger talks with a US firm

Econet Group is rumoured to be in merger talks with a US-based FinTech Acquisition Corp V for its technology division Cassava. According to a report by Bloomberg, the deal would seek to value Cassava Technologies at around US$4 Billion or more. Fintech Acquisition Corp V is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a […]


Cassava announces joint venture with UK cyber security firm to expand security operations & Microsoft cloud security expertise in Africa

ITC Secure (ITC), a leading advisory-led cyber security services company and a Microsoft Gold cyber security partner, and Cassava Technologies have announced today that they have entered into a Joint Venture (JV) to build and launch an extensive portfolio of cyber security services, powered by Microsoft Azure cloud technologies in Africa. “Digital transformation in Africa […]


Cassava Technologies signs deal with Japanese firm to further Africa Data Centres

Cassava Technologies has today announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mitsui & Co., Ltd (Mitsui), one of Japan’s largest global conglomerates. Cassava Technologies and Mitsui share the common vision of facilitating digital transformation across Africa. The partnership will bring together the technology, expertise and networks of both organizations to […]


Meta’s (Facebook) 2021 investments and activities in Africa

Meta (previously known as Facebook) has released its ‘2021 Africa Year in Review’, an infographic capturing some of the company’s significant investments and initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa this yea, focused on driving innovation, connecting communities, helping businesses to grow and supporting the tech and creator ecosystem. The infographic highlights key Meta successes and milestones across […]