The Vice-President and her followers have fallen under Mugabe’s axe but her rival’s path to power is not guaranteed
It was only after the delegates had all trooped home from the ruling party's congress that President Robert Mugabe finally announced on 10 December his replacement for the...
The campaign against the Vice-President comes from the top but it leaves the succession issue no clearer than before
Although Joice Mujuru is still nominally the country's only Vice-President as well as Second Secretary of the governing Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, she is under unremitting pressure...
Although ZANU-PF’s internal strife is playing out under the spotlight, the main opposition cannot seem to profit
Restoring credibility is now the challenge for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as much as for the governing Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. ZANU-PF hopes to re-launch...
Everyone – without exception – has to pick a side
As the contest intensifies for the leadership of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa appears to have put clear water between himself and his...
The First Lady is now running in the succession race but even she has hurdles to clear on her tour of the stadium
Dr Grace Mugabe and Dr Joice Mujuru graduated together with PhDs from the University of Zimbabwe in September and were capped by President Robert Mugabe in his role...
Amidst the vicious scrabble for the succession, ZANU-PF’s new best friend Moscow delivers investment in the platinum industry, money and planes
Nothing and no one seems able to stop the rival factions of the ruling party from undermining each other as they position themselves for the presidential succession. The...
The ruling party is paying back its top members' debts to China in the hope that President Xi Jinping will turn the money tap on again
Opposition politicians are outraged that President Robert Mugabe's government has used scarce public funds to pay off a US$80 million debt to a Chinese supplier which had been...
The central bank has set up a company to buy up bad loans. Many of the worst of them were to to ZANU-PF officials and friends
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has bought non-performing loans (NPLs) from two collapsed banking institutions and housed them in the new Zimbabwe Asset Management Corporation (Zamco). Although the...
ZANU-PF factions bickered when Mugabe was away in China and suffered the full force of his frustration when he returned empty-handed
President Robert Mugabe's movements are always top secret and the first indication of his four-day trip to Beijing was a picture of himself and Grace Mugabe being seen...
As the party admits Grace Mugabe to its pantheon, the ZANU-PF Women’s and Youth Leagues have muddied the succession
The outcome of the governing party's all-important elective congress in December looks no clearer after the rival factions jostled for positions at the Youth and Women's Leagues conferences...
Any hope that the December congress of the governing Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front would bring a degree of clarity to the succession race is fast fading as...
The succession battle is in turmoil after the President’s wife is proposed for a top ZANU-PF post
The nomination of Grace Mugabe for the leadership of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front's Women's League has put the cat among the party pigeons. The bandwagon rolling...
Party leaders worry that in a post-Mugabe world they may lose the land they seized from white farmers and they are secretly buying up title deeds
A wave of anxiety is passing through the highest echelons of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, Africa Confidential has learned. Relatives of President Robert Mugabe and other...
The intensifying fight for the ZANU-PF succession is affecting the retail fuel market as both factions promote rival businesses
A new contestant in the fight to control fuel sales has burst on to the scene as the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front's internal battles heat up. Engen...
Vol 55 No 14 |
- ZIMBABWE
- RUSSIA
The governing ZANU-PF has found a way to trade platinum rights for Russian weapons to replace those it lost in Congo
Zimbabwe is to boost its inventory of Russian strike aircraft after concluding a US$3 billion platinum-for-arms deal with Russia. The government is desperate to replenish its armaments, many...
Police have arrested a top editor suspected of being the mystery blogger who so seriously embarrassed ZANU-PF during the elections – but he denies all charges
The Baba Jukwa affair – when an anonymous blogger tweaked the tails of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front leaders during last year's election campaign – is taking a...
The case against Edmund and Phillip Kudzayi – accused of being the anonymous blogger Baba Jukwa – is teetering on the brink of farce (AC Web Feature, Baba...
The accelerating signs of a lame-duck presidency are visible and rivals in the ruling party are pursuing their own agendas
With little cohesion and less vision, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front is stumbling towards its elective congress in December. Despite his 90 years, President Robert Mugabe...
The government makes U-turns as it tries to halt a slide into even deeper economic crisis
The first statement by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) new Governor, John Panonetsa Mangudya, on 7 May was sombre and realistic. Reassuringly, it allayed market fears that...
The government is consolidating diamond-mining companies. This could put the President’s family in overall control
Since the government has declared that there isn't enough room in the diamond-mining area of Marange for the seven existing firms, Mbada Diamonds is expected to be the...
The global oil trader is taking over the ZANU-PF-connected fuels distributor as part of a regional expansion campaign
Trafigura is consolidating its grip on the fuel supply and distribution market in Zimbabwe with the acquisition of Sakunda Energy via its South African subsidiary, Puma Energy Africa...
President Mugabe’s refusal to favour anyone for the party succession is leading not only to uncertainty but to a free-for-all for the top job
President Robert Mugabe’s continued stonewalling on the leadership succession threatens chaos as increasing numbers of politicians from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front throw their hats into...
Promises of a bond issue and a revival in investment from a fund run by the former head of Barclays Bank offer a glimmer of hope for the government
After six months of unmitigated bad economic news, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has seized on the news that the Atlas Mara fund run by Bob Diamond, a former...
Promises of a bond issue and a revival in investment from a fund run by the former head of Barclays Bank offer a glimmer of hope for the government
After six months of unmitigated bad economic news, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has seized on the news that the Atlas Mara fund run by Bob Diamond, a former...
Farm seizures are damaging strong businesses but also threaten the availability of credit for the whole economy
A fresh wave of farm expropriation led by President Robert Mugabe's wife, Grace Marufu Mugabe, has unsettled the few external lenders still supporting Zimbabwe's fragile economy. Some are...
The latest crisis at Air Zimbabwe is mainly about politics, particularly the battle between the two factions competing for the succession
The factions supporting the two main contenders to succeed President Robert Mugabe – Joice Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa – are fighting for control of the state airline,...
The leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties have something in common: an increasingly noisy campaign to persuade them to go
Managing successions in any political system is tricky while the incumbent is still alive: in traditional Shona culture it has been well nigh impossible. In different ways, President...
Each of the factions vying to succeed Mugabe is accusing the other of cover-up and grand corruption as reports emerge of multimillion dollar pay-offs
President Robert Mugabe's frequent trips to Singapore are for nothing more serious than treatment for cataracts, according Rugare Gumbo, the Spokesman for the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic...
One of the presidential family’s business partners loses his mining rights after they fall out over a flat in Hong Kong
Zimbabwe has confiscated the platinum and copper interests of Hsieh Ping-sung without compensation after he fell out with President Robert Mugabe and his family, Africa Confidential has learned....
Vol 55 No 4 |
- ZIMBABWE
- CHINA
Recent forays in search of investment have failed but there is a lack of urgency in government efforts to revive the economy
January has been more depressing than usual for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). President Robert Mugabe had to cut short his annual leave and return from...
Zimbabwe's business leaders, championed by Belgium's diamond barons, are trying to draw in new money
In what may be Zimbabwe’s best hope of reversing economic decline, a high-level delegation of top executives led by Charles Msipa, the President of the Confederation of Zimbabwe...
Mugabe may be approaching his 90th birthday but that does not make the naming of a successor more likely
The only certainty for Zimbabwe in 2014 is that the succession issue will not be resolved so long as President Robert Mugabe is still in control. It is...
ZANU-PF ducked the succession issue at its conference but the drift is damaging the confidence of businesses and people alike
The Mashonaland West provincial capital, Chinoyi, got all dressed up for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front conference on 13-14 December but the deliberations produced no breakthroughs –...