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A Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) official has appealed to fiscal authorities to remove Value Added Tax and import duty on condoms to make them affordable to end users.

Addressing an Advocacy Meeting to Discuss Bottlenecks Affecting the Condom Market in Zimbabwe, Dr Owen Mugurungi, the Director of AIDS and TB Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) said dwindling donor support is forcing government to import its own condoms to continue HIV prevention initiatives.

We had a meeting today with the members of parliament so that we can give an insight into the challenges and barriers that we face in terms of the importation of condoms in this country. Remember, condoms are a very critical component in our HIV prevention. They are highly effective if used correctly and consistently.

One of the issues that we have faced over the years is issues around import duty and VAT. With dwindling donor support, the country really needs to step up and start importing its own condoms and the private sector has a role to play. Therefore, we need to make sure that we reduce the duties and VAT that is payable so that at the end of the day, the price is affordable for the end user, said Dr Mugurungi.

I am glad that members of Parliament and senate were present in their numbers and we made recommendations that they move a motion in Parliament to do away with the VAT and import duty on condoms. Countries around us such as Zambia, Malawi, and other regional countries have either zero import duty and very little VAT that is charged when condoms are imported, he added.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Coordinator in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Anna Machiha said some people who are accessing public sector condoms should be moved to private sector to ensure that only those who cannot afford to access free contraceptives.

Public sector condoms occupy the biggest market share, about 77 percent of the market, whilst social marketing occupies about 22 percent and 1 percent is occupied by the private sector and this is an anomaly. Why do I say so? There are people who are accessing free condoms or public sector condoms who can actually be moved to the private sector or social market and there are some who in the social market who should be in the private market.

This is work that we have been doing over the past two years to ensure that we look at the issues in our market and try to segment and make sure that we target condoms accordingly, living the free condoms for people who cannot afford to pay and then we move the rest to where they belong, said Machiha.

Zimbabwes national condom program comprises public sector condoms, private sector condoms, and Social Marketing condoms.

However, increased donor fatigue has seen major donors such as USAID and PEPFAR cutting their funding towards the procurement of public sector and social sector condoms in Zimbabwe from US$4 million in 2019 to US$3 million in 2020.

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Scrap VAT And Import Duty On Condoms, Fiscal Authorities Told - 263chat.com

Forget the memes. According to broker Teresa Boardman, if youve been around real estate for any length of time, you know that the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.

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There have been a lot of predictions about the economy and the housing market as home sales decline. There isnt much good news in the housing market right now.

Most of the predictions will be wrong, but partly right. The housing market is changing but it isnt the same everywhere. In some markets, houses are still selling with multiple offers and prices are still rising, while other markets are experiencing more of a buyers market.

So far I havent heard or read anything that indicates that home sales will rise and everyone with a real estate license will have enough work or that housing will become more affordable.

There is a reason why the real estate sales force is made up of mostly independent contractors. There have been layoffs in the industry but independent contractors do not have to worry about being laid off. Most of the people who work in real estate work for small, private companies.

There are some memes going around on social media showing a Realtor relaxing with a cocktail while other agents are stressed out. She is calm because she was an agent during the last buyers market.

Is there going to be a buyers market? It sure doesnt look that way where I am right now. If the market does change so that it favors buyers, will it be just like the last buyers market or will it be different in some important ways? Can there be a recession when unemployment rates are so low?

We all know people who started in real estate during the housing market crash and were successful because of it. There were real estate agents and companies that had their best years ever during the Great Recession and have continued to grow ever since.

During that same recession, there were people who quit real estate and started new jobs and built new businesses. Some retired early and some went into property management as more properties became rentals. Others bought up foreclosures and rented them out. Some went into foreclosure sales.

There are always opportunities in real estate. The real estate industry and market look very different than they did during the housing market crash, the Great Recession and the last buyers market. One of the biggest differences this time around is that homeowners have equity and unemployment is low.

Those of us who worked through the Great Recession and housing market crash and pandemic lockdowns and civil unrest certainly gained experience and honed our survival skills, but we are no more prepared for the next market than the agents who started last year are.

Newer agents may be better off than some more experienced practitioners. Experience has taught us about all of the things that can go wrong. We have seen people fail and maybe even experienced some failure ourselves.

When the pandemic began none of us knew exactly how we would get through it. Most never imagined the buying frenzy after the brief slowdown at the beginning of the pandemic.

During the pandemic, we had to learn how to do things differently, and we had to learn it quickly. The learning curve was steep and the window of experimentation was small.

The business has been in a state of emergency ever since, with buyers making offers as soon as houses come on the market. They want to see them first, which can be challenging with no overlapping appointments allowed because of the pandemic. During the spring buying frenzy, houses would be booked with back-to-back appointments and there were waiting lists.

Housing prices continued to rise after the summer of 2020. If the people who had decided tomove away from the cityhad waited a few more months they would have gotten significantly more for their homes. Some would be better off living in the city now that they have to commute to work.

News of layoffs and downsizing in the industry is interesting and informative but it might not be as important to the average agent or team of agents as what is going on in the agents local market. Real estate is local.

The people who seem to do the best when the market changes are willing to try new things. They dont do the same things everyone else is doing, they come up with innovative ways to market and work. They dont focus on how things used to be. They take risks.

An agent who experienced the last major market shift probably isnt relaxed at all. She knows what it is like when the housing market changes and it isnt always pretty. There will be winners and losers.

There are opportunities that we cant see right now and trends that are in their infancy but that will ultimately change the way we do business.

Maybe real estate agents wont be replaced by the internet or by robots or maybe they will be. Now might be the perfect time to buy a real estate robot and train it.

I dont think new agents who have joined in the last couple of years are at a disadvantage. In fact, I think they may have more enthusiasm, energy and creativity. Thats good news for them and good news for the future of the industry.

Read more here:
Your prediction about the housing market is probably wrong - Inman

Programming note: Money Stuff will be off tomorrow and Monday, back on Tuesday.

Digital World Acquisition Corp. is a special-purpose acquisition company that has signed a deal to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which runs Donald Trumps Truth Social network,and take it public.Like most SPACs, DWAC has a time limit to complete its deal: Its corporate charter says that, if it has not completed a merger by Sept. 8 next Thursday it has to close up shop and return its money to shareholders. It is definitely not going to complete itsmerger with TMTGby next Thursday. (The main holdup is that the US Securities and Exchange Commission needs to review and sign off on the proxy statement for that merger; the SEC has various questions.) Actually DWAC can extend that deadline by six months, if its sponsors put up some more money, but six months probably isnt enough either.So DWAC has asked its shareholders for a longer extension: It has asked them to vote to approve an amendment to its charter to extend the deadline by a year to Sept. 8, 2023. The vote will be held at an online special meeting of shareholders next Tuesday, Sept. 6, two days before the current deadline.

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The Trump SPAC Needs More Time - Bloomberg

AUSTIN, Texas Sharing news articles with friends and followers on social media can prompt people to think they know more about the articles topics than they actually do, according to a new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

Social media sharers believe that they are knowledgeable about the content they share, even if they have not read it or have only glanced at a headline. Sharing can create this rise in confidence because by putting information online, sharers publicly commit to an expert identity. Doing so shapes their sense of self, helping them to feel just as knowledgeable as their post makes them seem.

This is especially true when sharing with close friends, according to a new paper from Susan M. Broniarczyk, professor of marketing, and Adrian Ward, assistant professor of marketing, at UTs McCombs School of Business.

The research isonline in advance in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. The findings are relevant in a world in which its simple to share content online without reading it. Recent data from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism show only 51% of consumers who read an online news story actually read the whole article, while 26% read part, and 22% looked at just the headline or a few lines.

Broniarczyk, Ward and Frank Zheng, a McCombs marketing doctoral alum, conducted several studies that support their theory. In an initial one, the researchers presented 98 undergraduate students with a set of online news articles and told them they were free to read, share, or do both as they saw fit. Headlines included Why Does Theatre Popcorn Cost So Much and Red Meats Linked to Cancer.

Next, they measured participants subjective and objective knowledge for each article what the students thought they knew, and what they actually knew. Reading articles led to increases in both objective and subjective knowledge. Sharing articles also predicted increases in subjective knowledge even when students had not read what they chose to share, and thus lacked objective knowledge about the articles content.

In a second study, people who shared an article about cancer prevention came to believe they knew more about cancer than those who did not, even if they had not read the article.

Three additional studies found this effect occurs because people internalize their sharing into the self-concept, which leads them to believe they are as knowledgeable as their posts make them appear. Participants thought they knew more when their sharing publicly committed them to an expert identity: when sharing under their own identity versus an alias, when sharing with friends versus strangers, and when they had free choice in choosing what to share.

In a final study, the researchers asked 300 active Facebook users to read an article on How to Start Investing: A Guide for Beginners. Then, they assigned students to a sharing or no sharing group. All participants were told the content existed on several websites and saw Facebook posts with the sites. Sharers were asked to look at all posts and choose one to share on their Facebook page.

Next, in a supposedly unrelated task, a robo-advised retirement planning simulation informed participants that allocating more money to stocks is considered more aggressive and to bonds more conservative, and they received a customized investment recommendation based on their age. Participants then distributed a hypothetical $10,000 in retirement funds between stocks and bonds: Sharers took significantly more investment risk. Those who shared articles were twice as likely to take more risk than recommended by the robo-advisor.

When people feel theyre more knowledgeable, theyre more likely to make riskier decisions, Ward said.

The research also suggests theres merit to social media companies that have piloted ways to encourage people to read articles before sharing.

If people feel more knowledgeable on a topic, they also feel they maybe dont need to read or learn additional information on that topic, Broniarczyk said. This miscalibrated sense of knowledge can be hard to correct.

For more details about this research, read the McCombs Big Ideas feature story and watch the video explaining Broniarczyk and Wards work.

See the article here:
Sharing on Social Media Makes Us Overconfident in Our Knowledge - UT News - The University of Texas at Austin

Mlily USA has developed an easy-to-use guide for retailers looking to be more effective with social media and marketing.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. In a move designed to help boost its retail partners social media and marketing prowess, bedding supplier Mlily USA has developed an easy-to-use guide that offers how-tos and best practices for establishing a vibrant social media presence.

The complimentary guide offers instructions for setting up a social media profile, creating and sharing posts, and tagging. It covers four of the most widely used social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Social media is an essential part of retail businesses to reach a vast audience, increase brand awareness and attract new customers, said Ryan Farber, vice president of marketing. Our primary goal with the social media guide is to support our retailers and meet them where they are. When it comes to social media, most of us, from novice to expert, can use support because it evolves quickly, and every channel has its own set of features and nuances.

Available through Mlilys partner portal as an interactive PDF, the guide includes a section on brand terminology, materials and technology, as well as access to other resources such as product information and visual assets.

Farber said the idea was derived from the companys sales and marketing teams that were spending time explaining the benefits of social media and the impact it could have on business.

Im Sheila Long OMara, executive editor at Furniture Today. Throughout my 25-year career in the home furnishings industry, I have been an editor with a number of industry publications and spent a brief stint with a public relations agency where I worked with some of the industrys leading bedding brands. I rejoined Furniture Today in December 2020 with a focus on bedding and sleep products. Its a homecoming for me, as I was a writer and editor with Furniture Today from 1994 until 2002. Im happy to be back and look forward to telling the important stories impacting bedding retailers and manufacturers.

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Hunting for ways to boost your social media presence? This mattress brand is ready to help - Furniture Today