British firm wins Batoka impact assessment bid

A British consultancy has won the bid to carry out a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment on the proposed $3 billion Batoka Gorge Hydro Electricity Power Station project, a source familiar with the developments said on Thursday.

Britain’s Environmental Resources Management (ERM), which has operations in more than 40 countries, will carry out the assessment through its South African office, a Zambezi River Authority official told The Source.

The ZRA manages Zimbabwe and northern neighbour Zambia’s joint ownership of the project.

“ERM charged $1.4 million for the project,” said the source, following a recommendation by Project Steering Committee when it met two months ago in Livingstone, Zambia.

The committee is a joint Zimbabwe-Zambia team formed to spearhead the Batoka power project which will see the construction of two power stations with a combined capacity of 1600 megawatts to be shared equally between the two countries.

The British company is expected to complete the project in 12 months.

However, the official said the project could take longer because of the need for a resettlement action plan for the transmission lines which can only be completed after route surveys have been provided.

Source: British firm wins Batoka impact assessment bid - The Source (10/04/14)

Kariba concerns cause review of disaster plans

Source: IRIN
In early March engineers at a conference organized by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA, a Zambia-Zimbabwe organization which manages the Kariba Dam), warned that the 128-metre-high dam could collapse, threatening at least 3.5 million people especially in Mozambique and Malawi.
Years of erosion had made the foundations of the dam weaker, said engineers. "Anything is possible, so there is a need to act to avoid risk and minimize panic,” Modibo Traore, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) in Zimbabwe, told IRIN. The Kariba Dam holds one of the largest man-made expanses of water in the world.
ZRA says the “situation at the Kariba Dam wall is a cause for grave concern”, and “all urgency is expected in order to avert any such catastrophe as dam failure”. It acknowledged the need for major repairs.
Pawadyira said the CPU was in constant touch with the military, police and ZRA to map out an emergency plan to respond to early warnings of a disaster at Kariba. “We have inspected the dam wall and are making plans, particularly with the military, which would provide helicopters and rescue personnel, on how to evacuate and search for victims of a possible… flood", he said. They are also warning communities of the threat; and are in constant touch with the Zambian and Mozambican authorities with updates, he added.
In the event of a wall collapse, Pawadyira said the waters would move with “tremendous speed”, and reach an area about 150km away within seven hours, a likelihood, he said, that required “utmost readiness” as the waters could easily submerge villages, buildings and drown people downstream of the dam, in Zambia as well as Mozambique.
A collapse of the Kariba Dam, which generates hydro-power, would not only affect livelihoods of communities and commercial entities that depend on it for tourism and fish, but also electricity in southern Africa, Erich Bloch, a well-known Zimbabwean economist, pointed out.
A fundraising committee has been formed to look for money to reshape and stabilize the plunge pool at the bottom of the Kariba Dam to reduce further erosion at the base of the dam which could lead to its collapse, according to ZRA.
When the dam was constructed between 1954 and 1959, engineers estimated that the pool would stretch for a maximum 10km, but it has spread about 90km putting additional pressure on the dam wall.
A joint communiqué by Zimbabwean and Zambian energy ministers, who visited the Kariba Dam recently, said major repair works needing US$230 million would start in 2015 with financial support from the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Union.
Kariba Dam collapse fears and disaster preparedness in Zimbabwe, IRIN (9 April 2014)

Courts uphold stay of execution against mining in Lower Zambezi Natonal Park

The Lusaka High Court has upheld the stay of execution granted to six environmental organisations against Government’s decision to allow the opening of a mining project in the Lower Zambezi National Park. This means that the Kangaluwi mining project will not commence until the final determination of the appeal to the court. The organisations are challenging the Government’s decision on grounds that it was wrong in law and fact because it posed a danger on many people’s lives.

Judge Mubanga Kondolo said that if he lifted the stay of execution which was granted to the organisations on February 18, 2014, their appeal against the Ministry of Mines, to allow the commencement of large scale mining in the national park would become nugatory and rendered academic.

Mr Justice Kondolo said there was no need for the organisations to specify or prove exactly how they were affected by the project as was argued by attorney general Mumba Malila because the consequences of damage could affect anyone. “I shall not pronounce myself on the rest of the arguments of the parties save to state that a damage to the environment is a matter of public concern and interest which affects all people born and unborn. For this reason I find that the appellants do not need to specify or prove exactly how they are affected by the subject project” Mr Justice Kondolo said

Mr Justice Kondolo further said that the stay of execution granted against the minister’s decision would not amount to an injunction against the State because it was not civil proceedings as contemplated by section 16 (2) of the State Proceedings Act.

Source: Anti-Mining in Lower Zambezi group gets victory against Government in Court - The Lusaka Times (7 April 2014)

Vic Falls hotels income up 20pct on increased tourists

VICTORIA FALLS, April 4 (The Source) – Major hotels in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe’s premier tourism resort, earned about $23.3 million from sales of nearly 178,000 rooms in 2013, as tourism showed signs of recovery and renewed British interest, an official has said.

The country’s profile, battered by years of a political and economic crisis, was boosted by hosting the 20th United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly, along with Zambia in August last year.

Ross Kennedy, a southern Africa director of the African Travel and Tourism Association said 2013 had been good for the eight hotels of Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls Safari Club, Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, A’Zambezi Hotel, Ilala Lodge, The Kingdom, Sprayview Cresta and Elephant Hills Hotel.

“2013 showed an increase in arrivals of nearly 12 percent over the 2012 calendar year; but equally, if not more importantly, revenues grew by 20 percent in the same period,” Kennedy said, who is also the chief executive, of Africa Albida Tourism.

Kennedy said in 2012, the hotels earned $19.261 million from 159,000 rooms sold, adding that there has been a ‘remarkable’ growth from the UK market to Zimbabwe in the last 15 months, with arrivals trebling since 2012.

“The first two months of 2014, have seen the United Kingdom market continue to grow and it is now approximately 10 percent of total arrivals in Victoria Falls. We aim to grow this further to at least 20 percent of our arrivals,” he said.

Zimbabwe received nearly two million tourists last year and that number is seen rising by 50 percent by 2017, according to a recent report by a United Kingdom-based independent financial advisory company.

Source: Vic Falls hotels income up 20pct on increased tourists (04/04/14)

Construction of Kazungula Bridge to start in July

Construction of the US$190 million (P1.7 billion) Kazungula Bridge will commence in July, a joint statement by signed by the Botswana Minister of Transport and Communications, Nonofo Molefhi and his Zambian counterpart Yamfwa Mukanga states.

The two ministers noted that a lot of progress has been made in the procurement process for the contracts. “Out of the 26 companies that expressed interest to participate in the project, three have been shortlisted to bid for the project. It is expected that construction of the Kazungula Bridge will commence on July 12, 2014,” reads the statement. The evaluation of the technical proposals was completed last December.

The civil works for the proposed Kazungula Bridge and the railway line will comprise the construction of a 23 metres long by 18.5 metres wide rail/road bridge.

It will also include two one-stop border facilities, access roads and ramps across the Zambezi River. Speaking at the briefing, Mr Mukanga said the bridge is of strategic importance to the economic integration of the two countries and southern Africa.

He said the bridge will provide the much-needed connectivity and also link regional ports which handle exports and imports through Botswana and Zambia.

“The construction of Kazungula Bridge will address the challenges imposed by the existing ferry service, which is a major bottleneck to trade and smooth flow of people, goods and services,” he said.

Source: Construction of Kazungula Bridge to start in July, Mmegi online (31/03/14)
Construction of Kazungula bridge starts in July, Zambia Daily Mail (26/03/14)

Confusion over Old Bulawayo

Confusion reigns over the redevelopment of the Old Bulawayo Cultural Village with the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) and royal Khumalo family giving conflicting statements over the project.

Old Bulawayo was established by King Lobengula as his capital in 1870 after the death of his father King Mzilikazi in 1868. It was abandoned in 1881 due to colonial threats to his political power. In 1990, NMMZ identified the site as a suitable educational and tourist centre and through consultations with the Khumalo family it was reconstructed in 1998 as a theme park. Structures such as a wagon shed, the outer palisade, King Lobengula's palace, eight beehive huts and cattle kraal, as well as a nearby interpretive centre were constructed.

The historic site was, however, destroyed on 24 August 2010, by a fire that started five kilometres from the village. Efforts to reconstruct it have stalled with the NMMZ saying it required $50 000 to complete the project.

In an interview with Sunday News recently, NMMZ executive director, Dr Godfrey Mahachi reiterated that while they wanted to reconstruct the project, funding was a problem with no one coming forward to assist the organisation. "We have made it clear that we require $50 000 for us to reconstruct that village. We realised that we cannot rely on Government funding because they themselves are facing a liquidity crisis. While they can promise us that figure in the national budget this will only be based on the availability of these funds.

"This is the reason that we decided to take the route of trying to attract well-wishers to chip in and assist us reconstruct this village. We are mainly targeting the Matabeleland community and those people that have a direct interest in this village but unfortunately till now we have got nothing," said Dr Mahachi.

"We want at least $10 000 for us to have somewhere to start on. We cannot use our $5 000 because we will do something that is not significant. So with $10 000 I believe we can build some structures that could encourage more donors to come aboard," he said.

However, a representative of the Khumalo family, Prince Peter Zwide kaLanga Khumalo criticised the NMMZ for sidelining them and not being sincere about moves to reconstruct the site. He revealed that as the cultural custodians of the village, they were not informed about the burning down of the village and further refuted claims that anyone from Government or the NMMZ had approached them to raise funds for its reconstruction.

Source: Confusion over Old Bulawayo (Bulawayo24, 30/03/14)

Dawn properties under the hammer

 LISTED property concern Dawn Properties Limited, which has gradually come under the orbit of new investors under the Brainworks banner, has put some of its prime properties – Great Zimbabwe Hotel, Hwange Safari Lodge and the swanky Elephant Hills resort – under the hammer, with market watchers noting that the grand project of the new investors being led by businessman Mr Stewart Cranswick is coming full circle.

Brainworks Capital Management, through its subsidiary Lengrah Investments – fronted by Mr Cranswick – has, after a series of transactions, managed to acquire a 45 percent stake in African Sun (formerly Zim Sun Hotels) and 28,4 percent equity in Dawn Properties.

Dawn Properties, which was formerly a subsidiary of African Sun Limited (ASL), was de-merged from the group as investors sought to unlock full value from its properties.

With Lengrah strategically positioned in the two entities, market rumours suggest that they might be soon rebundled into a single entity. Mr Cranswick lost out on Zim Sun, which used to be a subsidiary of Delta Corporation when the hotelier, together with OK and Pelhams, was unbundled in 2002 following the reorganisation of the business.

The businessman, who had a key shareholding in the entity, subsequently sold his shares to a consortium, Tolenta Investments, then led by local businessman Dr Shingi Munyeza.

But it seems Mr Cranswick, who is brother to former African Consolidated Resources (ACR) boss Mr Andrew Cranswick, has turned the tables.

Apart from holding a 19 percent stake in Lengrah Investments, Mr Cranswick is now the vice board chairperson in ASL.

Last week, Dawn Properties issued a cautionary statement advising its shareholders to exercise caution when dealing with the company shares.

People familiar with the development claim that management had settled to dispose of non-performing assets such as Hwange Safari Lodge and Great Zimbabwe Hotel.

However, the proposed disposal of Elephant Hills Hotel, which is a key property, is proving contentious and a sticky point, the sources say.

Dawn Properties owns Hwange Safari Lodge in the Hwange National Park, Holiday Inn Mutare, Caribbea Bay Sun in Kariba, Elephant Hills Hotel in Victoria Falls, Crowne Plaza Monomotapa Hotel in Harare, Express Holiday Inn in Beitbridge, Great Zimbabwe Hotel in Masvingo and Troutbeck Hotel in Nyanga.

All the properties are presently being managed by African Sun.
The proposed sale of the properties under new management is now being questioned.

“Stewart Cranswick was the operator of Landela Lodges which were then closed due to viability constraints. He also acquired UTC, which was later disposed. Could this investment by Cranswick be another way of looking for assets to strip so he can sell them on at a future date when the market corrects? What is of interest is, on 26 March, Dawn issued a cautionary for a disposal of assets,” noted a well-placed source.

“Some market analysts suspect that this is a way of trying to pick up cheap assets in a depressed market for later disposal when the market turns for the better. Is this not the time to hold on to such assets until the current liquidity crunch improves?” asked the source who refused to be identified owing tof the sensitivity of the matter.

Dawn Properties chief executive officer Mr Justin Dowa would neither confirm or deny that they had put some of their properties for sale.

“That is not something that I can talk about at this point of time,” said Mr Dowa.
Recent developments seem to indicate that ASL and Dawn Properties will be rebundled in the short to medim term.

At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on March 21, ASL shareholders elected to dispose of 16,54 percent shareholding in Dawn to Lengrah Investments.

But the disposal of the shares was initially reversed by the ZSE on February 25, 2014, after the bourse noted that the deal first had to be formally approved.

African Sun subsequently published a retraction circular.
Last year, the ZSE ordered African Sun to republish its financial results after the group failed to provide a detailed account.

ASL claims that it has been selling its shares in order to reduce its debt overhang, which has accumulated since dollarisation.

It is believed that proceeds of the disposal will also reduce the gearing – defined as a company’s net debt- from the current 48 percent to 34 percent. Further annual interest savings of $975 000 are also being expected.

The target communicated by management in the December 2013 analyst briefing was to bring gearing to below 30 percent.

“African Sun seems to have taken a path to deal with major setbacks it was facing since the dawn of dollarisation, which were hotels that were overdue in refurbishments, an acrimonious relationship with Dawn, operating losses and high levels of borrowings which had put a huge question mark in its going concern. It appears the company has dealt with all these very successfully,” said a source.

“The debt restructuring transactions have been necessitated by Dr Shingi Munyeza, then the largest shareholder who swooped his shareholding in the venture capital outfit led by George Manyere, Brainworks Capital.

“Through its subsidiary, Lengrah Investments, in turn, now owns about 46 percent of African Sun with a pending offer to minorities. It is through Lengrah that two other funds have come in, namely Wallal and Mudhut. This has brought about board appointments, namely Stewart Cranswick, Timothy Nuy and Walter Kambwanji. From these appointments it appears Timothy Nuy represents ADC, who are a significant shareholder in Brainworks Capital, Walter Kambwanji represents Brainworks Capital and Stewart Cranswick appears to represent the other two funds,” added the source.

Mr Cranswick, who was believed to be in Australia last week, only said “I am not the one” in an unclear terse response to questions sent to him by e-mail.

There are, however, fears that Dr Munyeza, who is currently chief executive officer of ASL, might be eased out of the group by the clique of powerful businessmen that has gained a stranglehold on the hotel chain.

Sources claim that at the March 21 EGM, Mr Cranswick also made an audacious $1,2 million bid to buy out African Sun’s management, a claim that could not be independently verified.

Source: Dawn properties under the hammer (29/03/2014)