A three-phase overhaul is kicking off at one of Harare's biggest public hospitals to patch up years of infrastructure neglect.
Sally Mugabe Central Hospital is getting a facelift
Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in Harare confirmed a phased refurbishment plan.
Health ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri laid out the details.
Phase one targets the three-storey family support services building.
Water systems and broader hospital infrastructure are getting upgrades.
Specialist units coming in phase one
A full eye unit and dedicated theatre are part of the redesign.
Kangaroo care facilities for nursing mothers will be added.
Modern foetal monitoring capabilities round out the neonatal push.
Family support and preventive maternal services...
A mandatory 30% government stake in every PPP deal just became the new baseline for infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe.
New PPP guidelines locked in
Zimbabwe's cabinet greenlit fresh Public Private Partnership rules.
Every project vehicle must reserve at least 30% for government ownership.
Shareholding can be bumped higher than that floor.
Zida Act enforcement backs up the compliance framework.
Echoes of the indigenisation era
That 30% threshold mirrors the old Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.
Previous empowerment rules tanked foreign investment badly.
Authorities eventually gutted those mandates to lure capital back.
New guidelines walk a similar line with a different wrapper.
What the framework actually covers...
Harare-to-London nonstop flights might actually come back after top-level diplomatic talks put the route squarely on the agenda.
Direct flight revival on the table
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube and UK ambassador Peter Vowles met in Harare on Monday.
Restoring the Harare-London route was a major discussion point.
British Airways and Air Zimbabwe previously operated that connection.
Travelers currently reroute through Johannesburg, Nairobi, or Addis Ababa.
Expected benefits from reconnection
Travel costs should drop if nonstop service resumes.
Tourist arrivals and business partnerships stand to gain.
Ncube framed it as vital for commercial and personal ties.
Broader economic cooperation discussed
Expanding two-way investment...
A property-focused expo is gearing up to turn Zimbabwe's smart-city ambitions into actual bankable deals instead of just talk.
Smart Cities Expo heading to Harare
Zimbabwe Smart Cities Real Estate Masterclass and Expo 2026 lands on March 26.
Rainbow Towers is the confirmed venue for the event.
GRI chief Ngoni Dzirutwe is spearheading the initiative.
Global Renaissance Investments operates as a financial advisory outfit.
Core mission behind the event
Packaging urban projects so they actually attract capital is the goal.
Private-sector involvement in infrastructure delivery needs a serious push.
Dzirutwe wants the conversation shifted from theory to execution.
Pension funds and asset managers are key targets for investment.
Smart...
A hold rating just landed on Zimbabwe's freshest REIT, but the real story is a pipeline that could flip its entire value proposition within a few years.
Pfuma Fund REIT gets its first call
I.H Securities slapped a hold on Pfuma Fund REIT with a buy-on-dips angle.
Pfuma's current price basically mirrors the existing portfolio's worth.
Medium-term upside hinges on new developments boosting NAV.
IH described it as a stability-plus-growth hybrid play.
Listing and early market performance
Pfuma Fund REIT hit the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange on February 6.
Arctic Blue Asset Management is behind the launch.
Initial fundraising pulled in US$25 million at full subscription.
Market cap climbed to US$74.14 million by Monday.
Expansion...
Everyday Zimbabweans are basically getting squeezed even though the broader economy looks chill on paper.
Household income is still trailing badly
Earnings from crop sales and casual gigs lag behind normal levels.
Remittances and small-scale trading aren't cutting it either.
Basic goods remain out of reach for poorer families.
Purchasing power stays frustratingly weak across the board.
Currency and inflation are looking stable
ZiG's yearly inflation dipped to 3.8% for February.
Dollar-pegged price growth slid under 1% as well.
RBZ's tight monetary stance kept forex rates steady.
The formal-informal exchange gap shrank below 20%.
Farm labor market hit differently
Seasonal ag work dried up because wealthier households lack...
Two fresh charges just landed on Robert Mugabe's son ahead of a bail hearing tied to the alleged shooting of a gardener at their Johannesburg property.
New counts added to the case
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe and Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze face pointing-a-firearm and Immigration Act charges.
Existing counts already covered attempted murder, obstruction of justice, and illegal firearm possession.
Alexandra Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg hosts the Thursday hearing.
Bail applications from both men are expected during the session.
What allegedly happened
A 23-year-old gardener was reportedly shot in the back at the Hyde Park residence on February 19.
The victim worked as an employee at the Mugabe home.
Injuries were sustained, though...
Opening-day tobacco prices in Zimbabwe nosedived from US$4.60 per kilogram to as low as US$0.50, and growers are furious.
2026 tobacco season off to a rough start
First bale fetched US$4.60 per kilogram on Wednesday, March 4.
That opening figure already trailed last year's US$4.65 debut.
Farmers suspect the high starting price was just a publicity stunt.
Buyers quickly dropped offers to around US$1 per kilogram.
Prices cratered by day's end
Some growers reportedly got offered just US$0.50 per kilogram.
Video footage captured widespread complaints on the auction floor.
Oversupply arguments did not satisfy angry farmers.
The gap between the advertised opener and actual offers felt deliberately misleading.
Threats to pull crops...
Fresh ZiG banknotes with beefed-up security features are hitting circulation in Zimbabwe next month after getting formally gazetted.
New ZiG notes officially legal
Mthuli Ncube gazetted the banknotes that John Mushayavanhu unveiled during the 2026 Monetary Policy Statement.
ZiG10, ZiG20, ZiG50, ZiG100, and ZiG200 denominations all got the green light.
April 7, 2026, is the target date for entering circulation.
Older ZiG10 and ZiG20 notes will co-circulate indefinitely with the new versions.
Anti-counterfeiting upgrades
Intaglio printing, magnetic security threads, and color-shifting elements anchor the redesign.
Each denomination carries an embedded thread inscribed with its specific value.
Watermarks of the Zimbabwe Bird appear...
