Letwin Mubonesi
Zimbabwe President Comrade Emerson Mnangagwa condemned sanctions during the just ended World Economic Forum on Africa which was held in South Africa between 4-6 September, 2019. He said that Zimbabwe is facing unique challenges of a malfunctioning economy and a “collapsed” local currency that will need a private-sector led strategy to get it back.
Addressing delegates to the World Economic Forum on Africa on Thursday, the President said the situation is becoming worse because of the sanctions imposed on the country by the West.
“My country is in a different situation, it has a collapsed economy, none of my colleagues here have a collapsed economy, we have a collapsed currency, none of my colleagues here have a collapsed currency. So we are building and reconstructing that collapsed economy. To do so, we have to interrogate what we need to do, what resources are at our disposal to reconstruct our economy under sanctions,” he said.
The President also talked about the need for investors so as to revive the economy and that the government should take a front seat to create conditions in which investors felt safe to inject their capital. He said corruption would need to be fought head-on by Government and the private sector for the economy to make headway.
The judiciary was also tasked to play ball because, “you may have commitment to fight corruption but if the institution of the judiciary does not support you, you don’t succeed,” said the president. Mnangagwa also mentioned the issue of having strong regulatory institutions so that the investors would feels more safe to invest and promised that he was working on this.
President Mnangagwa also joined the panel of Heads of State and Government to tackle Africa’s challenges while also focusing on country-specific circumstances. Among the panellists were South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaposa, Botswana’s Mokgweetsi Masisi, Namibia’s Hage Geingob and Prime Minister Mandulo Dlamini of Eswatini.
Seychelles President Danny Fabre, Ethiopia’s Sahlework Zewde, and the United Nations deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed were also part of the deliberations. The panel tackled the issue on Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World. President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe had taken a sectoral approach in resolving its economic challenges.
“With regard to Zimbabwe we have committed ourselves to say in the sub sectors of our economy, what programmes should we do to modernise and mechanise to develop that sub sector of our economy. We have looked at agriculture, which is primary in Zimbabwe. We must make sure that each hectare increases yield. We must continue to grow yield because we cannot grow the land. An adoption of technology would be critical for the economy while beneficiation of minerals would be key in growing export earnings. The private sector would have to lead such processes. That cannot come from the Government but the people this side (investors). We must continue to have conversations with the private sector to find out what they want us to do for them to feel comfortable. Yes, as Government we must look at the issue of human rights, but answer the question of creating a conducive environment for capital to be attracted to our jurisdictions. It is necessary to know the criteria they want to see happening or prevailing in the economy and those are the tasks I think are necessary,” said President Mnangagwa.
As he was addressing the delegates, many of them potential investors were keen to understand the situation in Zimbabwe but the President reassured delegates that Zimbabwe’s economy would soon be back on its rails. On Africa’s path to prosperity, President Mnangagwa said it was critical for the continent to first focus on the path it intended take and what it sought to achieve, stressing that inter-Africa trade was critical before the continent looked to the outside world.
He also emphasized the need for the continent’s institutions of higher learning to establish innovation hubs.
Meanwhile, the University of Zimbabwe and other institutions have already started establishing innovation hubs to drive technological advancement in Zimbabwe. Other leaders spoke on the need for inclusive growth, good corporate governance and the introduction of programmes that target the youth and women to foster Africa’s development.
Mnangagwa’s government however faces the mammoth task of ensuring the respect of Human Rights and freedom of assembly following the just ended August violet demonstrations, whose violence was largely inflicted by the police.
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