Carte Blanche with Perry

Exactly 30 days from the date a harried Mthuli Ncube wrote to the IMF seeking financial assistance, the finance minister put out a series of tweets announcing plans to launch the VFEX to trade in foreign currency. This new stock exchange is aimed at attracting foreign investors especially for the mining sector. Will this move bring some much needed relief to Zimbabwe’s economy?


Victoria Falls Stock Exchange: Zimbabwe’s knight in shining armour?

Roger Boka thrived as an icon, until his bank went bust. Roger was a man of many firsts. He was the first black Zimbabwean to own a private plane, and a Rolls Royce. In 1994, Roger became the first black to be given a tobacco merchant’s license. His bank, UMB, was among the first indigenous banks to be given a license. Yet on 29 April 1998, his business empire came crashing. A massive ZW$1.2 billion scandal involving forged CSC bills led to the collapse of UMB. This episode looks at Roger Boka, the maverick, and the collapse of his bank.


Financial scandals that shook Zimbabwe: Roger Boka & United Merchant Bank

On 19 December 2003, within a few hours following Gideon Gono’s maiden Monetary Policy Statement as RBZ governor, ENG Capital collapsed. It had failed to pay over ZW$100 billion it owed its investors. Two of the company’s directors, Nyasha Watyoka and Gilbert Muponda were subsequently arrested for misappropriating depositor funds totaling over ZW$61 billion. The collapse of ENG Capital sent ripples in Zimbabwe’s banking sector, and sparked a huge banking crisis. Thereafter 14 banking institutions failed, all within the space of a year. This episode recounts the chain of events that led to the collapse of ENG Capital, one of the biggest ever financial scandals in Zimbabwe.
