Nkosiphile Ncube from Mawabeni Village in Umzingwane District is training as a mortuary attendant at United Bulawayo Hospitals after becoming a mom twice before turning 22. The 25-year-old is raising two kids alone while her mother helps cover the daily commute costs from their rural home. She picked this career path because most people are scared of working with dead bodies, which means less competition when hunting for jobs.
Her family pushed back hard at first, saying she was way younger than someone who should handle that kind of work. But Ncube kept pushing until they caved, and she started the six-month program in August. She plans to finish up in February and hopes to land employment fast after that.
The Sista2Sista program...
Zimbabwe's athletics had a pretty solid run this year, with the National Athletics Association crediting better coaching programs for the turnaround. Director Lisimati Phakamile ran some certification courses in Bulawayo and said the country got more athletes into World Championships while setting national records through performers like Tapiwa Makarawu and Vimbai Masorera.
The association thinks the momentum can carry through the next Olympic cycle, and they want more podium finishes by the time the games roll around again. White City Stadium has been hosting back-to-back training sessions with 25 participants already signed up for one program. International coaches from Eswatini and Germany are flying in to lead specialized sprint...
Sweden announced it's pulling development funding from Zimbabwe and four other nations to redirect cash toward Ukraine instead. The Nordic government plans to axe aid going to Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Liberia, and Bolivia over the next couple of years. Benjamin Dousa, who handles international development stuff, said Ukraine became the top foreign policy focus, and they're bumping support there to roughly a billion dollars.
The shift frees up around $212 million that'll get pushed into Ukrainian infrastructure projects like power grids. Sweden has already ditched support for over ten countries since the current administration started running things, and Zimbabwe's finance minister already projected their incoming foreign...
Washington Navaya from TelOne got named Soccer Star after banging in 17 goals to lead the league, and he picked up his hardware at a Delta Beverages event in Harare. Scottland FC defender Kevin Moyo came second, while Simba Bhora's Emmanuel Ziocha landed third. Tonderai Ndiraya won Coach honors for the second year straight despite bouncing from FC Scottland after winning the title.
Other winners were Brighton Chimene for Referee, William Thole for Goalkeeper, and Mafious Chihweta for Most Promising Player. Bikita Minerals grabbed the Most Disciplined Team award, and Emmanuel Jalai took the Fans' Choice.
Harare-based financial services outfit Bard Santner wrapped up the year, saying things went better than expected despite tight liquidity and economic chaos across Zimbabwe. CEO Senziwani Sikhosana and executives Tatenda Hungwe and Lucia Chingwaru ran the show while the company pushed into asset management, microfinance, wealth management, and remittances through its TX Money Transfer arm.
The firm opened a Sandton office to go with its New York spot and snagged two South African regulatory approvals that let it operate as a credit provider and asset manager. Management claims it locked down a billion-dollar investment pledge from Aliko Dangote for cement and power projects after talks in Nigeria, though Dangote has floated Zimbabwe...
UK electric car sales basically flatlined last month, with the weakest bump in nearly two years after Rachel Reeves dropped plans for a pay-per-mile tax on battery vehicles. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said registrations crawled up just 3.6% compared to the year before, landing at roughly 40,000 units and missing the government target by a couple of percentage points. Tesla got hammered the worst, with sales tanking almost 20% while Chinese competitor BYD tripled its numbers by pushing hybrids.
Starting in a couple of years, pure electric drivers will get hit with 3 pence per mile while plug-in hybrids pay half that rate. Someone driving the typical annual distance would end up paying around 255 quid instead of...
Ocado scored a $350 million payout from Kroger after the American grocery chain ditched another robot warehouse in Charlotte and admitted three other automated facilities flopped hard. The British tech company's stock bounced up briefly before settling higher, but CEO Tim Steiner is still talking up the US partnership even though the original 20-warehouse dream from back in the day has shrunk down to just a handful of operational sites.
Investors with short positions are basically saying any future partner would be insane not to call up Kroger and ask why they bailed on the whole setup. Ocado has only posted one profitable year across its entire 25-year existence, and the company faces a massive refinancing crunch with hundreds of...
AJ Bell CEO Michael Summersgill said pension savers yanked roughly £600 million out of their accounts because they thought Rachel Reeves was about to wreck the tax-free lump sum rules. Thousands of people over 55 pulled cash during September and October, expecting the Treasury to cap the 25% withdrawal perk at £268,275. Reeves ended up leaving it alone, but the damage from months of speculation had already happened.
The government did mess with ISAs, though. Starting in April 2027, anyone under 65 can only dump £12,000 into cash ISAs, even though the total annual limit stays at £20,000. The twist is that HMRC will tax interest on uninvested cash sitting in stocks and shares ISAs for younger savers, and transfers between account types...
UK companies axed workers faster than at any point since the pandemic started, with private-sector jobs dropping 1.8% as Rachel Reeves kept everyone guessing about tax hikes for months before her second budget. Bank of England numbers show bosses are planning to cut another 0.7% of their workforce over the next year, and payroll employment tanked by 180,000 people compared to the previous year.
The chaos basically froze hiring decisions after Reeves floated a £26 billion tax package that had businesses spiraling. She teased breaking Labour's campaign promise on income tax hikes before backing off when her own party freaked out. Her first budget already hit employers with a £25 billion payroll tax that made everyone slam the brakes on...
