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Zimbabwe prints masses of money

The Zimbabwe government printed a staggering Z$21 trillion to buy foreign currency to pay off its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono has disclosed. The money-printing spree is expected to cause hyperinflation, which Gono predicted would increase to 800 % from the current 600 % in two months. President Robert Mugabe’s government is now off the hook for expulsion from the IMF after it cleared its US$ 9 million debt arrears to the IMF’s general resources account. The IMF in Washington confirmed this week that Zimbabwe had paid the money.

Law against money laundering

Finance minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila tabled the long-awaited Bill to combat money-laun-dering in Namibia on Wednesday. This is another move by the government to curb corruption. The "Financial Intelli-gence Bill" envisages an anti-money laun-dering advisory coun-cil and the Bank of Namibia will admi-nister the new law. Financial institutions have to keep records of clients and trans-actions and report all suspicious trans-actions to the finan-cial intelligence unit of the BoN. All electronic transfers within Namibia and across its borders must be promptly reported. Tipping off suspected persons will be a criminal offence and fined with N$ 100,000 or 10 years in prison.

Mozambican Visa from Pretoria

The British High Commission in Maputo is introducing new procedures of application for visa entries in that country, which are meant to "facilitate the Mozambican citizens, and this are that visas are to be issued in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, as from 6 March this year.

For that effect the mail company DHL has won the tender launched in London to carry the applications from Maputo and back, and the British High Commission in Maputo will no longer receive visa applications as from that date.
DHL offices in Maputo and Beira, the capital of the central Sofala province, will be open to receive visa applications and send them to the British High Commission in Pretoria. Decisions will be then channeled through the local DHL offices.