President’s AU victory and changing political seasons

01 Feb, 2015 - 00:02 0 Views
President’s AU victory and changing political seasons

The Sunday News

PRESIDENT MUGABE

PRESIDENT MUGABE

Opinion Dr Qhubani Moyo
TWO major events of very serious significance happened last week. The first was a visit by a delegation of French businesspeople who expressed a desire and interest in investing in Zimbabwe. The delegation which met President Mugabe has a very remarkable track record, running companies with a combined annual GDP of $10 billion and employing about half a million people in their various operations.

The President also used the same meeting to make clarifications on the country’s indigenisation law and helped clear some misconceptions which had become a sore thumb and scared some investors. The clarification of the indigenisation law to reflect the changing policy implementation environment is vital in meeting the country’s economic trajectory which looks bright and positive with the World Bank projecting an annual growth of around 3 percent. It, however, needed a strong verbal commitment from non-other than the Head of State himself to ensure that there is clarity and confidence building to allow for a new policy implementation environment characterised by consistency and clarity.

The second major event which has sent shock waves to Zimbabwe detractors was the election of President Mugabe to be chairman of the African Union. The election came at the backdrop of attempts and machinations by the country’s detractors who wanted to scuttle the whole process in fear that President Mugabe’s election would vindicate him that the country has been a victim of onslaught by the West because of its principled stance in promotion of the Pan African agenda.

His election thus sees not only his being titled President of Zimbabwe who is the Head of State and Government, Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces but also chairman of the African Union and Sadc. This is surely a very remarkable feat of achievement. It is his new responsibility as the head of the continental body which the Western countries never wanted to happen but as destiny would have it, the Summit at Addis Ababa on 30 January 2015 confirmed what they never wanted.

The net effect of his election creates a quandary for the Western countries who have continued to impose illegal sanctions against the country for purely bilateral disagreements with the former colonial master, Britain, who wanted to continue pulling strings in the country, forgetting that Zimbabwe is a sovereign Republic which needs to be respected and left to do its business on its own. What the colonial master seemed not ready to accept was that the independent Zimbabwe had everything within its ambit to make a determination of its own, rights part of which entail economic empowerment of its citizenry.

The land redistribution programme which inevitably changed the ownership of means of production was done in the national interest and desires to empower the country’s citizens against a few who wanted to control the economy alone and thus influence and direct politics to suit their personal and not national interests. It should thus be understood that it was wrong for Britain to drag a whole gang of its allies in the European Union and its cousin Uncle Sam from across the Atlantic to gang up against a sovereign Republic for making decisions aimed at empowering its citizens.

The machinations and economic losses that the country has suffered during the time of the illegal sanctions which have no United Nations approval is around $42 billion which just goes to show and tell that if the country was allowed to do its transactions properly it would not be in the economic dire straits that it finds itself in today.

It is against this backdrop that I view the two events as signalling a new beginning and new opportunities for the country to reconstruct itself and work towards creating a new beginning. The compelling reasons for my argument are that the country is fast getting integrated into the community of nations which is a very important and significant step towards economic growth. The isolation that we had found ourselves in was not helpful and there is a need to grab and utilise the opportunities that come with chairing such an important continental body as the African Union.

It is also important to begin to cement relations with the rest of the world. Already the country’s Look East policy has shown some significant signs of success. The mega deals that were signed during the President’s State visit to China in 2014 are a clear indicator that there is recognition of the country’s potential and desire to invest because of the huge economic opportunities that exist. The China mega deals, which were followed immediately by other mega deals by the Russians in mining, including the commitment to establish a value addition and platinum refinery in Darwendale, show the success of the Look East policy. But not only has that happened the European Union has also seen that the country is on the wheels and that there is a unprecedented interest and have moved to remove some of its embargoes. Right now they have removed the sanctions and committed to give the country $300 000 accrued dues from the obligations under the Cotonou Agreement.

However, the continued keeping of the President and First Lady on the sanctions list remains a hindrance and shows lack of sincerity because how do you say I want to do business with you but I would not allow your leader to visit my country. This is hypocrisy of the highest order and the sooner the European Union realises that the better. There should be unconditional removal of sanctions for all Zimbabwean entities, companies and individuals to assist the country’s recovery processes.

The same applies to America which remains stubbornly clinging to Zidera without realising that it neither helps promote American nor Zimbabwean interests. It only remains as a stumbling block to the realisation of opportunities by the two countries if relations were normal. It is without doubt that the sanctions are hurting ordinary Zimbabweans as those targeted have other means of survival but ordinary masses do not have. They are the ones who feel the biggest brunt of these sanctions.

The expression of interest by the French business delegation which I am sure represents a new thinking in most of the European Union countries is a reflection of the changing global perception about the country. That together with the election of the President to chair the African Union reflects changing political seasons. The confidence that the regional bloc Sadc bestowed on the President when they made him the chair of the regional body as well as the confidence by the African Union on the same man signals shifting political seasons.

What just needs to be done by Zimbabweans is to set aside their differences and grab the opportunities that are on the horizon. But it is also the internal commitment and actions by ourselves that will help drive investors see the country as an attractive investment destination. This commitment has to be expressed not just through verbal pronouncements but through actions. This is particularly important at the level of policy pronouncements. One of the biggest problems that the country has been facing has been fluctuation in policy pronouncement. Policy coherence is vital and key for those interested in doing business with the country to have clear knowledge of what it takes. This makes them enter with full knowledge of the opportunities and risks that accompany such investments and thus know how to deal with them in the long run.

The dynamic link between policy implementation and the political environment is key in decision making by investors and Zimbabwe has been found wanting in that regards. It is important that the President has made the key pronouncements on indigenisation and what needs to be done is for the necessary implementation ministries to sing from the same hymn book. The investment opportunities that are on our horizon also need an internal clean up in corporate governance especially in some parastatals.

The endemic corruption which had become the dirty flagship of most of these companies where underperforming entities had chief executive officers who were earning ridiculous salaries should be addressed forthwith. There is a need for responding to the new opportunities by an unwavering commitment and action in dealing with all forms of vices that retrogress economic progress. Dealing with corruption is serious and urgent business for the country and in so doing the responsible authorities should not hesitate acting in fear of some accusation by the perennial beneficial of the vice. It has to be dealt with without fear, favour or hesitation.

Over and above that, it is prudent to relax and align a lot of our laws that have caused bottlenecks where investors take unrealistic amounts of time for them to get authorisation. Some of these problems are resultant from lack for policy review because of being stuck in the past without taking into consideration the dynamics of the changing environment. Policy implementation should respond and if necessary change to the changing dynamics of the environment. Attempts to cling to the same old way of doing business in the name of principle without consideration of the new realities on the ground is a sure way of committing economic suicide. Policy implementation consists policy review which in turn informs the formulation process in line with the changing mandate.

It is thus in the hands of the people of Zimbabwe because the Sadc, the African Union and some Western countries have shown a confidence and a commitment to do business with the country. The ball is now in the court of Zimbabweans to complement the positive steps that have been taken by the regional and continental bodies in ensuring that the country moves towards a new economic and political trajectory. The AU victory and the visit by a French business delegation surely signify the changing political seasons!

  • Dr Qhubani Moyo is a policy and political analyst from Bulawayo East Constituency. He is contactable on [email protected] .

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