HIFA 2014 – “Switch On!” Day 1

30 04 2014

HIFA is up and running again! Day 1 was BancABC day (they sponsored it) and there was plenty to see. I missed one Australian circus show as it was fully booked and as a photographer couldn’t get in (jeez, what are these guys’ priorities?). However there was still a Gong Myoung, a Korean mixed show of music and hip-hop that was amazing. An interesting type of music, some beautiful though I did not take to the opera much. NOBODY, and I mean nobody, does hip hop like the Koreans. Worth seeing just for that so catch them again at the 7 Arts theatre on Thursday.

Second up was an Italian guitarist Andrea Valeri who not only is an extraordinary player but a great showman too. He’s playing again on Sunday at Lay’s Global Stage and again with two other guitarists (I met one on the shuttle bus) in the Battle of the Guitarists at the same venue also on Sunday. Should be good.

Then I got my cellphone stolen by a pretend drunk which is why this is a bit of a rush – spent most of yesterday evening resetting passwords! Will get back to this and update it tonight – I promise.





CBZ (Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe) stumbles – badly

26 01 2012

Last Friday I was in the bank and got the cash I needed without a problem. I saw the ART Farm accountant there and he was muttering about not being able to do transfers. Over the weekend it emerged that they had a liquidity problem so it was with a bit of concern on Monday that I went to draw wages. They grudgingly gave me the $4000 or so that I needed but most people were only getting $1000 and they only had smaller denomination notes; $20 and less. There was clearly a serious problem here.

In Friday’s Independent newspaper CBZ was reported as loaning $713 million last year, more than double the next bank, BancABC. I have also heard anecdotally of a farmer who got a $1m loan from CBZ – clearly impossible to pay back in Zimbabwe’s economic climate. Then yesterday Shelton told me that he’d seen in the press that the liquidity problem WAS due to too many loans being given out. Just who was in charge of that aspect? Is this a case of “loans for mates” of Gideon Gono who has significant influence there? I wouldn’t be surprised.