Zimbabwe

Foreign investment is flooding back into African telecommunications, with Nigeria's sector hitting its highest FDI levels since 2019 while Zimbabwe's Econet creates a billion-dollar infrastructure company ahead of a stock exchange listing.

Zimbabwe has unveiled Zimbabwe Mining Week as part of a strategic shift from price-taker to price-setter in lithium, gold, platinum, and chrome markets, leveraging the Victoria Falls Exchange to establish local pricing benchmarks.

Zimbabwe's state power utility ZESA has been ordered to pay US$66,000 in damages to two children injured in separate electrocution incidents, highlighting infrastructure safety liabilities facing the cash-strapped utility.

While Nigerian polytechnic workers shut down operations over unpaid wage increases, Zimbabwean bank employees secure a modest salary increment, revealing divergent paths in labour negotiations across the continent.

A strike at Kenya's primary aviation hub has grounded flights while Zimbabwe's banking sector navigates workforce restructuring alongside negotiated wage increases, revealing the complex labour dynamics reshaping African employment landscapes.

A South African lorry driver's conviction in Zimbabwe and ongoing truth commission testimony in South Africa reveal how Southern African legal systems grapple with both historical injustices and present-day accountability across borders.

As lab-grown diamonds flood markets and prices tumble, the natural diamond industry abandons geology for sociology, selling nation-building narratives over carats in a desperate bid to preserve value.

A pit collapse in Ebonyi State killed three miners and injured four, while illegal miners in Zimbabwe confronted a legislator over unresolved grievances, exposing systemic safety and labour management failures across African mining operations.

Violent attacks in Nigeria's Niger State and a stabbing in Zimbabwe's Plumtree district underscore the persistent security challenges facing African communities, from organized armed raids to interpersonal violence rooted in social disputes.

Zimbabwe's digital economy faces mounting security challenges as police arrest 11 EcoCash scammers with $22,000 in assets, while Starlink ends service restrictions in major cities and tax authorities acknowledge implementation problems with new digital services levies.

Zimbabwean authorities have arrested multiple individuals including a fake police officer trafficking drugs and an armed robbery gang member, as courts impose significant jail terms in response to rising criminal activity across the country.

Regional central banks tighten currency oversight as Botswana's Bank of Botswana prohibits Valentine's Day cash bouquets citing defacement laws, while Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank prepares to issue new ZiG banknotes under strict monetary controls.

Zimbabwe's government collected US$18 million from vehicle number plate issuance in H1 2025, while releasing ZiG20 million to complete a registry office delayed for two decades, signaling improved fiscal collection and infrastructure investment.

Zimbabwe will commission Africa's first lithium sulphate processing plant within a month, while state-owned Mutapa Gold Resources plans US$150 million investment to more than double production to 250,000 ounces annually.