Gill Moodie: The first South African media folk really knew about NewsDay was that the Zimbabwean Media Commission granted permission for new newspapers in the country and then a week later (on June 7), you launched NewsDay. I would imagine that you had been preparing for this for quite some time?
Trevor Ncube: Yes, which is why we have basically been able to hit the ground running. We have had over the past 12 months a core team to which we’ve been adding as we thought the prospects were improving for us to be registered (by the commission). For me, the turning point was the inclusive government (with Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister). When I saw it being put in place and in it there was a strong component about freeing up of the media, that was the window that I was looking for and I said: ‘This is our time; we’ve always wanted to do this’. So we started preparations then.

NewsDay's website.

Moodie: And this was about a year ago?
Ncube: Yes, on September 15 last year. That’s when we really started putting together a business plan in earnest and asking ourselves: ‘What do we need?’ One of the first things I identified was that we needed was a printing press because we didn’t have one.

Moodie: What have you been printing on up till now?
Ncube: We owned 25% of a printing press but we were not in charge of the management of that printing press.

Moodie: May I ask who is ‘we’?
Ncube: I shouldn’t use ‘we’. Alpha Media Holdings is the company that publishes NewsDay. I control 61% of that company and we publish two other weeklies (in Zimbabwe): the Zimbabwean Independent, which is a business weekly, and The Standard, which is a Sunday newspaper. We have a printing company that does commercial printing and we’ve just added a newspaper web press to that. The first challenge in buying the web press was the fundraising. The second was to go out and find the press.

Moodie: Which is a big deal. Did you have to go to Europe?
Ncube: We went to the Netherlands. We found one there and we did it in record time. We also had to identify a building (in Harare) that could accommodate a printing press but there wasn’t one. We had to build a new factory for the press, with a purpose-built foundations so that it doesn’t shake and so on.

Moodie: The web press itself must have cost about R40 or R50-million?
Ncube: No, it wasn’t exactly a brand new press but, ja, it wasn’t cheap. And then we had to ship it. Identifying the press and shipping it into Durban, building the press and putting it in – we did it in a record six months.

Moodie: That’s amazing. The standard is about 18 months, isn’t it?
Ncube: Yes, and our factory is one of the best printing press facilities that I’ve seen in the world – immaculately staffed, which tells us that there are still skills in Zimbabwe. When I went into that printing press I was so proud… To get the printers, we poached from other printers but we also found unemployed people. Industry in Zimbabwe is running at between 20% and 30% of capacity and unemployment is around 80% or 90% depending on who you listen to. So there are lot of skilled people who don’t have jobs and we managed to find the printers and specialised people to man the press. The next challenge was to find the editorial people and production people, people in accounts, sales and in distribution… We have had a core staff of about 12 people, looking at layouts and design for the newspaper, and also looking around in the market to see who’s available and who’s not available. We own our own distribution company – that’s the advantage that we have. One thing that 20 years in this business has taught me is that in African countries, it’s important that you control your own printing and distribution if you are to be a serious player… Click here to read the rest of the interview at Bizcommunity.

Now here’s a sign of the times. The Media Online reports today that a Chinese language newspaper has been launched in Botswana that will gradually be circulated throughout other African countries.

Much is made of the  Geel Gevaar and it’s true China cares not one jot for human rights but they are a  rising  superpower and it’s interesting to watch the balance shift.

Moneyweb ran an interesting piece a couple of weeks back about the increasing number of Chinese nationals doing business in Zimbabwe but the best insight I’ve had recently into China and its economic and political future is from a book published last year called "The Dragon and The Elephant" by David Smith, the economics editor of The Sunday Times in London. 

In the book, Smith looks at the future of the Chinese and the Indian economies. Of course, it’s complex stuff but not the doomsday  some would have us believe.

Yes, China is a huge economy and still growing, Smith says in the book, but it also has fundamental weaknesses such as it’s banking system, which is so up the pole that few multinationals are keen on being listed in China and that’s why the Shanghai stock exchange of little consequence.

Another point Smith made in the book was that he thought it perfectly acceptable — in fact desirable — for developing economies (such as South Africa’s) to protect their industries against cheaply made Chinese imports (think of our textile and garment industries) until the country is able to compete globally on a more equal footing.

David Smith has a blog, which is excellent for those with a basic understanding of economics.

1. Forget recession. The new buzz word is stagflation — and that’s what we’ve got, say economists in this News24 story, which is frankly a little too complicated for self-styled plonkonomists such as myself. So here’s the simple explanation: the term comes from stagnation and inflation and means we’ve got a stagnant business climate and low economic growth but high inlfation. A bit of a poser really.

2. Business Day, however, has written a handy, accessable little opinion piece on the problem. It’s well worth a read here.

3. SABMiller has announced a R6-billion BEE deal, whereby  they are selling 10% of its SA business to employees, black-owned licensed liquor retailers and liquor licence applicants. Read the story at Engineering News here.

4. SA’s most aggressive media company, Naspers, has done rather well on the back of recession-proof pay-TV in its annual results. The best insight into the company and its very smart head honcho, Koos Bekker, comes from a transcript of Alec Hogg’s interview with Bekker from Moneyweb’s SAfm radio show. Click here to read. 

5. And while on annual results, Moneyweb’s own are very interesting to read. Highlights include that earnings were hit by having to pay what seems a rather large sum in a British law suit after Mineweb defamed a Russian businessman, that  the global financial crisis spelled an increase in users and that plans for the year include offering online comparisons for consumers on car and home insurance from 10 financial  institutions.  Cool! Bring it on, I say. Read about the results here at Moneyweb.

1. It’s the state of nation address today in Parliament. Always interesting to see how fast and well the online media can cover such an event. Meanwhile, The Times reports that both Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki will be there. Click here to read.

2. Business Day has an interesting analysis of Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni’s unusual attempt to talk down the rand yesterday. Click here to read. He’s clearly worried about our exports, with mining and manufacturing showing record declines recently.

3. Moneyweb has an interesting international story about Australia bucking the world trend and avoiding recession thus far. The magic ingredient seems to be aggressive action from Oz’s central bank, which cut its repo rate by 425 basis points in  seven months, taking it to a record low of 3%. The government also came up with  A$52-billion stimulus package. Read the story here.

4. Business Report explains why food prices in SA supermarkets are still high while agricultural prices have dropped. Commodities are hard to understand but it seems the rand has some role to pay and it takes a while for lower agricultural prices to feed into the economy. You can take some solace from the fact that we’re not the only ones in the world with high food prices.  In Canada, for instance, food inflation is 17 times higher than overall inflation – at 7.1%  compared with 0.4 %. In SA, food inflation is 13.7%  compared with  8.4% overall. Click here to read the story at IOL.

5. Which brings us back to President Jacob Zuma’s address today. The M&G says our economic woes are sure to take centre stage in the speech. Click here to read a rundown of the concerns analysts would like to see addressed.

So, here’s some food for thought, all you lazy desk-bound folk: I think it’s high time we all start growing our own veggies. Which is why I’ve been scouting my garden for a sunny spot and went down to the local nursery to peruse their seed selection. For R112, I got myself a packet each of onions, aubergines (better than bacon in a Sunday morning fry up), garden cress, “yellow pear” tomatoes (never heard of them but they look good on the packet), radishes, coriander (we cook with a lot of this), beans (to re-nitrate some crap soil), cucumber (the only green veggie my four-year-old will touch) and chives.

What I hope to turn into crops.

Nevertheless, I’ve been reading up on drip irrigation (stick a plastic pot into the soil and water it so that the water soaks down to the roots with little evaporation) and my guess is that East London is a decent place to grow vegetables year-round because it is largely sub-tropical.

I’m very keen to grow them in containers as I reckon it will be easier to control pests and the soil in my garden is pretty sandy and the growing space largely shaded. So it’s off to the dodgy junk yard on the West Bank this weekend to see what cheap containers I can come up with (I’ve been wondering about old metal filing cabinets for the job). I’ve also being reading up on companion plants and plan to grow marigolds and sorrel close to my crops to protect them from bugs. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Any suggestions from the gardeners out there would be appreciated and I’ll keep you posted.

2. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel says he is willing to carry on in his post if asked by the country’s new president, although he could not “carry on forever”. Read the story at Business Day here. There are rumours in the political journalism circles that JZ may ask him to be deputy president. It would be a wily move (and Zuma is a canny old fox) but would Trev, whose number four on the ANC list, accept?

3. Business Day also reports that retail figures fell a record 4.5% in February, much more steeply than expected. Retail is the third biggest sector in SA and this could mean another rate cut at the Reserve Bank’s policy meeting at the end of April. Read the story here.

4. Here’s an interesting business story. South African construction giant  Murray & Roberts has pulled out of a R5-billion contract in Dubai, bringing its cancelled order book in the Middle East and elsewhere to R20-billion. Read the Engineering News story here. M&R doesn’t play around and its CEO is highly regarded so my guess is that they’re making so much hay while the sun shines with 2010 contruction in SA (for example, the Gautrain) that they don’t need the hassle of Dubai.

5. Talk about putting it out there. The Sowetan reports that Gauteng Health MEC Brian Hlongwa says he is so rich (from his consulting firm) he does his job for the love of the poor. This after the accusations that he could not afford his R7.2-million Joburg mansion on his salary. Glory be, we wish our next president could find himself gainful employment (perhaps with Hlongwa) so that we can all stop being suspicious about whose bankrolling him while in office. Read the Sowetan story here.

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2. And if you believe that, you’ve forgotten it’s April Fools’. Here a nice little story on IOL on the origins of the day, which appears to have evolved in many cultures simultaneously to coincide with the start of the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

3. I always thought May 1 was the first day of Spring but Googling this has revealed that Spring and Autumn offically starts at the equinox –  when the sun is directly above the equator — and this year that was on March 20. Which means us in Southern Hemisphere are offically in Autumn and Spring will come around September 20/21… and that’s not  a  joke.

4. I know you’ve heard it before but the National Prosecuting Authority is now saying they will make an announcement on whether they are dropping the corruption and racketeering charges agaisnt ANC president Jacob Zuma on Friday. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Appeal has upheld an appeal by judges of the Constitutional Court relating to a dispute with Cape Judge President John Hlophe, whom the judges allege made inappropriate approaches to some of them about a pending judgment on Zuma.

5. And  Business Day says  South Africa’s trade deficit narrowed much more sharply than expected in February, as exports of vehicles and precious metals surged while machinery and oil imports dived. Read the story here.

2. Making legal history, the Supreme Court of Appeal will hear an application today by the judges of the Constitutional Court who are appealing against an earlier ruling in favour of the Cape Judge President John Hlophe. The Constitutional Court judges want a high court ruling overturned that found that they infringed on Hlophe’s right to dignity by making public an allegation that he attempted to interfere in a judgment involving ANC president Jacob Zuma. Read The Times story here.

3. Rhema Ministries, the church that recently hosted ANC president Jacob Zuma at a service in Joburg, has announced an income of “slightly above R100-million” for the past year, mostly from “tithes and offerings” from its 40 000 congregants. Read the story on M&G’s website here.

4. A Department of Trade and Industry-led team is looking into a three-pronged plan to rescue the car industry, says Business Day, including tax adjustments to stimulate demand for cars. Read the story here.

5. There will probably be an interest-rate cut of at least one percentage point, to be announced on Tuesday. Yippee! And economists say there are more to come this year. Read the News24 story here.