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Video Copilot released the free roof pack in as part of its Superhero landing series. The video includes some great tips for Element 3D too! Download Roof Pack. Video Copilot is giving away a free collection of 3D Star Wars models that they built so you can learn to create your own visual effects. Note: All scenes rendered inside Element 3D V2.
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Adjust your seat to the right position to make it comfortable for longer periods of time. Have the entertainment items — movies, audio books, games, art supplies — most useful to the kids on hand and where they can be easily reached. Put snacks and water bottles where the driver and passengers can easily reach them.
At every stop, take a look around the cabin of the vehicle. Remove the trash and clear the crumbs to keep things fresh and tidy. If one movie has ended, pop in another and have it ready to play. A travel medical kit It is important to have a medical travel kit in your car. You must be able to handle minor medical emergencies yourself. Travellers are targets for robbers. Keep an eye on in-car valuables and lock suitcases and valuables in trunks whenever possible.
Or take shifts staying with packed cars where ever you park. Be vigilant and on the lookout for anything suspicious. Please do not give lifts to people you do not know. Avoid travelling at night, we are wired to rest and sleep at night. Make sure you have enough money for emergencies so that you do not become an inconvenience to friends and family if you have a breakdown or a situation that calls for money.
This amount is on the low side to be able to shift or control the market. So small that the market can be cornered and manipulated, which explain why the RBZ indicated that another batch of the coins was due for release. When a market is thin and shallow, it becomes a heaven for financial gymnastics and mecca for speculating.
The market has to be widened and deepened by introducing more coins of smaller denominations to attract more participants as currently a majority of working Zimbabweans are excluded from directly participating in the gold coin market. This partly defeats the purpose of the gold coins. As can be expected, unfortunately, there are a few misconceptions about the coins.
This is not the case as the buying and selling system, mechanics, terms and conditions make arbitrage virtually impossible. The gold coin is an investment opportunity to hedge against inflation, store value and diversify risk for medium- to long-term investors, not speculation free for all.
In financial markets, arbitrage happens when a market participant makes profits without being exposed to risk. Profit is normally a result of one taking some risk and reward of being a risk taker. So for arbitrage to happen you need to simultaneously buy and sell the gold coins, resulting in locking entry price and exit price ensuring that the price cannot shift whilst the transaction is being executed.
Simultaneously buying and selling an asset ensures there is no risk in price movements, assuming the buyer and seller both honour their obligations. Now coming to gold coins, such arbitrage opportunity does not exist as there is a mandatory holding period of days, in which, you have to hold on to the gold coins once you buy them. So you cannot buy the gold coins today and sell them next week even if there was a ready buyer. The additional requirements, such as know your customer KYC make speculating and financial gymnastics less likely as the issuing authority can easily trace, who is holding the coins.
This is critical in generating market confidence and market goodwill, which is required to enhance the attractiveness of gold coins as high quality asset desirable for any serious portfolio manager, in addition to the general public, who may have excess liquidity to invest. The gold coins are ideal for medium to long-term investors, who are seeking to diversify their portfolios and hedge against inflation. The gold coins have prescribed asset status, which means they will be highly sought after by pension funds, insurance and assurance companies.
This means these financial market players now have a wider choice to reach their compliance levels by investing in gold coins. Whilst the amount released is relatively small, what is more important is the idea and concept being introduced by the RBZ. The linking of gold to currency pushes the country towards the Gold Standard. The Gold Standard implies that a currency can be readily exchanged for gold worth the amount of currency involved.
This is exactly what the RBZ has introduced albeit at a very limited scale and without directly announcing it. It goes without saying that the RBZ, ministries of Finance and Economic Development and Mines and Mining Development need to come up with proper sustainable structure to mine and build significant gold reserves as previously most gold was being exported.
A currency that is linked to a highly valuable commodity is stable and is expected to outperform just paper money, which is not directly backed by a valuable commodity. The Russian rouble is a ready example of what happens when a currency is directly linked to a valuable commodity. If the gold coins are released in sufficient quantities on a sustainable basis, then the local currency should stabilise. This will reverse the trend, whereby holders of ZWL flee to the USD safety as there are no other ready acceptable alternatives.
If done sustainably and at the correct scale, this effectively means Zimbabwe will be running a Gold Standard currency as opposed to Fiat money, which is effectively paper money backed by nothing much except a promise to pay by the Central Bank. The RBZ needs to fine tune the mechanics around it such that the market is wide and deep enough to stabilise the local currency. A long road ahead with the usual humps and bumps! The idea behind the Gold Standard is that all the currency issued is backed by actual and real gold stored owned and controlled by the issuing Authority where.
The central bank would therefore be limited from printing excess money as it is limited by the amount of gold in its reserves. This helps to limit and avoid inflation and hyperinflation, which are phenomena driven by excessive money printing beyond the production capacity available.
As a result that currency exchange is closely related to gold as such its value and worth is stable and predictable. This is what the RBZ is pushing towards.
It remains to be seen how determined the authorities are to see this vision through. In this piece I will explore how this can be done in the local governance space to position the country on a trajectory of sustainable socio-economic growth and political stability. Importance of loca lgovernamce Having defined local governance as that sphere of interaction of policies, decisions and actions that happen at the most basic level of social and political organisation, it is also critical to then show its importance within the realm of economic development and social transformation.
Ishwor Thapha in an article Local Government: Concept, Roles and Importance for Contemporary Society July , defines local government as a relatively autonomous multi-purpose institution, providing a range of services with tax raising capacity. Local government is not only important, but imperative to locate local governance in the economic and social evolution of a nation state, especially a developmental state, such as Zimbabwe aspires to be.
Local governance is important in the sustainable economic growth and development of any given polity for the following reasons:. It is that sphere of governance that is close to the people. This is in theory anyway, because geographical proximity may not necessarily translate into actual access. The local government tier or structure provides essential services to citizens on a day-to-day basis or ideally is meant to provide critical services, such as clean water, sewer reticulation, refuse collection, street lighting, roads and other essential services.
It is the basis of a thriving democracy as people are able to make decisions about issues that affect their lives on a daily basis. I would like to argue that in the absence of well-defined local governance architecture, economic growth and social transformation can be stunted.
We must as Zimbabweans rethink and reimagine our local governance landscape, correctly positioning it as an enabler of economic growth and development and ultimately a qualitative improvement in the standards of living of ordinary Zimbabweans and indeed corporate citizens.
Assuming that our collective desire as a nation is a country epitomised by sustainable economic growth, development, access to basic services for citizens and increased incomes leading to quality standard of living, it is imperative to then position local governance in this equation. Ease of doing business has been a central tenet in policy-making in Zimbabwe for over 20 years.
Ease of doing business facilitates growth of economies through easier access to permits and licences for investors. Centralisation has inhibited processes and procedures which facilitate ease of doing business and this is largely due to the fact that local tiers of government, such as local government are plagued with a multiplicity of bottlenecks, such as but not limited to:.
Our quest for devolution of power to the lower tiers of government namely provincial and local government must take into cognisance that devolution is not an end in itself but a means to an end. We must rethink or re-imagine why we want devolution and what it will achieve. Section of the Constitution is a great place to start in that it outlines the following devolution imperatives:.
To transfer the responsibilities and resources from the national government in order to provide solid provincial economies; and. Indeed, this framework provided by the Constitution is a good place to start in re-imagining devolution as a tool of:. Giving the powers of local governance to the people. What does this look like? What does this mean? How can we imagine these powers and how will they be manifested in statutes of law?
How will communities manage their own affairs? How will this contribute to economic growth, equity and inclusiveness? A new legal framework has to be thought through and formulated, principally an enabling devolution Act. Also key is aligning other Acts of parliament with the desired decentralised and devolved dispensation.
Rethinking development planning The Traditional Leaders Act and the Rural District Councils Act create a framework for development planning from village to district level. In theory, development planning begins at village level through the village development committees Vidcos , which are chaired by village heads and these plans are then taken to the village assembly, which is a broader space chaired by the village head again.
Village plans then proceed to the ward development committee Wadco , chaired by the councillor before going to the ward assembly, which is chaired by the headman.
Ward plans are then taken to the rural district development committee consisting of line ministries, specific councillors and heads of departments before going to the rural district council.
This development process whilst being fairly good needs to be rethought and the following changes roped in:. Village development committees and assemblies should have elected chairpersons. Once most village heads are male it means virtually almost all Vidcos will be headed by men, which is a clear negation of the leave-no-one-behind principle seeing that women will be excluded.
A clear planning template must be provided for village and ward plans. Currently an individual sitting under a tree can draw up a village plan because there is no template. Capacity and roles of Vidcos and Wadcos — a lot of village development committees have become appendages of the ruling party instead of being agents of development.
Videos and Wadcos must be trained on their roles and responsibilities so that they deliver their development role. De-dualisation of rural local governance — traditional leaders and councillors are often at loggerheads in the local development planning process because their respective roles are not well understood. This is accentuated by the fact that at district level there is a District Development Coordinator, formerly District Administrator and Chief Executive Officer who again clash a lot of times thus affecting local development.
However, economic analyst Victor Bhoroma said this does little to help the workers in both the civil service and private sector as disposable incomes were being eroded by inflation. Economist Alice Chenjerai said revenue enhancement measures were critical as the economy was still recovering from the Covid related stress. She said any such measures, particularly through taxation, must be carefully calibrated to ensure that they do not create any disincentives against investment, consumption and production process.
It means the tax rate is increased in line with the growth rate of nominal GDP. This royalty rate will also apply to the lithium sector. Bhoroma said by reviewing the platinum royalty rate, the government was looking at extra revenue streams in line with regional practices on taxing the extractive sector. Dhlamini said the rebate on equipment for scientific research was welcome given that most tertiary institutions have innovation as part of their core mandate.
Bhoroma said the move would spur scientific research in the country considering the fact that Zimbabwe has very limited investment in research and development.
Ncube also provided Vat registered operators with the option to pay duty in foreign currency to facilitate offsetting of output and input tax in the same currency. According to Bhoroma, this was largely expected because the Treasury is looking at improving its foreign currency coffers and meet core and non-core expenditure.
However, he said, this calls for the government to institute a free market-determined rate on foreign exchange to ensure that businesses are not indirectly taxed due to exchange rate disparities that lead to foreign exchange losses. Dhlamini said this will aid the accounting of transactions for most companies by giving them that particular option. It makes accounting and reporting on financial statements easier. Economist Justice Dzama said the issue of incorporating the US dollar component in the Vat of retailers would enable the government to collect the US dollar component from the shops without tax evasion.
Our business reporter Tanyaradzwa Nhari TN spoke to Muchanyuka on various issues including the tasks and challenges she faces in her new role. Below are excerpts:. Working for airlines gave me the opportunity to sit in leadership positions of the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe TBCZ where I became the president of the organisation.
To break this down, we are faced with the need to promote domestic tourism, increase regional receipts as well as to prioritise Mice meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions tourism. TN: Which areas do you think require immediate attention in the tourism industry? WM: To work with enabling sectors, especially on accessibility. A destination that is not accessible becomes difficult to promote and is less appealing to potential tourists.
It is therefore critical that our road and air networks talk to the needs of tourism for both the local and international visitor. The sector has been recovering well as evidenced by the performance of the first quarter, compared to the last 24 months. There has been significant growth in the domestic market, so naturally this becomes an area of interest and will have our attention.
We will promote the ZimBho campaign. We will also be paying attention to Mice tourism promotion because we believe this is a green field. We are also trying to reposition the destination in the source markets to competitively appeal to the international traveller.
This will be a position we seek to consolidate and improve. It is our plan to regain our lost position and surpass it. In this plan, we have anchored everything on three pillars in order to achieve our set objectives and goals. These are domestic tourism, regional tourism and international tourism. We pay particular attention to domestic tourism development, promotion and culture change. This will help us to increase the earning capacity of the sector which in turn will aid the international receipts.
We will use digital marketing as a tool to promote the destination to both local and international tourists. Our strategy will weigh on the promotion and hosting of Mice events to contribute to the total receipts. TN: Domestic tourism has long been a low hanging fruit and that mostly has to do with pricing, yet, so much potential lies in it.
For example, in India, the Taj Mahal attracts significantly lower fees for locals as compared to foreigners and the numbers are balanced out in the increased numbers of Indians who visit the attraction.
How do you plan to promote domestic tourism and deal with pricing issues? WM: I must say the ZimBho campaign has done well and we need to ride on its success to build sustainability. However, there is a need to cooperate more with industry so that they arrange promotions that suit the different market segments. As for pricing issues, these remain a point of engagement with industry to ensure that products are accessible and affordable and at the same time that industry remains viable.
Will this help and if so in what way? WM: Firstly, allow me to acknowledge the important role that the government has played in the recovery from the effects of the Covid pandemic. There are many inputs that the sector needs that require foreign currency and allowing players to retain forex revenue will assist them to meet those needs and most funds channelled towards upgrading of facilities. WM: We cannot exactly prescribe what they should use the funds for but it would be great if as a destination we focused on upgrading the product through refurbishments and training of personnel.
The infrastructure needs attention in most areas and this may go a long way in the transformation of the product. TN: Pricing levies and charges are being affected by the continued depreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar. As a result, operators are feeling the effects as these costs are passed on to tourists. It is a tax imposed on the consumer not the player. The player simply collects on behalf of the central government. Some of the issues are dealt with at macro-level and are beyond the ZTA.
We can only play our role as an authority to make a positive contribution to the economy. TN: There have been several promotions to promote Zimbabwe to locals. While that has helped increase domestic tourism the pace is still slow. Is there any plan you have to do things to promote local visits differently? WM: We believe that ZimBho has done well.
We will continue to promote it countrywide. However, there is more that can be done towards growing domestic tourism and we are exploring the different promotional options. We have come up with several strategies that we will soon be unveiling. TN: Power cuts have become an issue for hotels. Just recently, we heard how the five-star hotel, Meikles, is asking guests to use buckets for hot water. What are you doing to help hotels have alternatives when faced with power cuts?
WM: That incident at the Meikles was a once-in-a-long-time one and rather unfortunate. Things have generally improved for power generation in the country and we will continue lobbying with the relevant authorities to get tourism products the priority they deserve.
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