Economic recovery beyond the politics of now

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By Gilbert Muponda

THERE is urgent need for a stakeholder conference to start mobilising resources for Zimbabwe’s economic recovery.

The current economic decline will require more resources to get the economy on a productive and growth path again.

Whilst politics has taken the spotlight for a better part of the last decade, it’s imperative that a national economic vision blue print be developed beyond any party or political lines. The economic vision blueprint will then act as guideline to mobilise financial, human and other resources necessary to get Zimbabwe’s Economy to work at full capacity to create desperately needed jobs and produce basics that are in short supply.

Over the last few years, focus has been on land and sovereignty which are important aspects of nation building but on their own are not enough to build a strong, independent and economically sufficient nation.

There is need to involve more stakeholders in developing a national economic vision which will have their support since it will be a result of wider consultation. Whilst land is important, there is need to look beyond the land and exploit other advantages that Zimbabwe has including the well developed education sector and communications infrastructure.

The National Economic Vision will then act as the leading vehicle to mobilise international resources not only in donor form but investment commitments from various sources including Sovereign Wealth Funds which are currently awash with funds seeking suitable investment destinations. There is a definite need to move away from donor dependency and N.G.O dependency. This can only be done through a comprehensive Economic Plan that’s clear on what is to be achieved and how it will be achieved.

Zimbabwe is rich in various natural resources some of which are currently enjoying record high prices due to the strong demand from China and India’s booming economies. Commodity prices go through cycles and the prices may decline well before Zimbabwe realises any tangible benefits from current commodity windfalls.

Zimbabwe has other advantages such as a relatively well developed financial system and skilled labour force. These factors make it fairly simple how to develop a workable recovery economic blue print. It is, therefore, critical that Zimbabwe starts packaging itself as an attractive investment destination.

Whilst the politics is very unstable by any standards, no situation is permanent, there is now need to look beyond the party and political lines and put Zimbabwe first.

It is clear that Zimbabwe’s current political arch-rivals claim to be fighting to preserve, build and restore national pride. But what seems to escape the whole fight is that probably by the time the fight ends there won’t be much of a nation to talk about in terms of economic infrastructure. Industry would be a mere fraction of what it was a few years back. The point here is there is now need to look beyond personal positions or party ideologies and try to focus the nation on re-building the economic foundation after close to a decade of recession.

Presently, there is a lot of international goodwill towards Zimbabwe such that the economic recovery may take much less time than what many political and economic commentators have been preaching. The focus has been on Zimbabwe for a considerable time that should the Zimbabweans themselves come up with an all inclusive Economic Vision blueprint, many nations and institutions are ready to assist the country get back to its economic feet.

Whilst the goodwill currently exists, it must be noted that nothing lasts forever. It only takes another major international emergency or event for all the attention and goodwill to dry up. During the early days of crisis, the international community used to be seriously concerned about events and situation in Somalia. And when the situation persisted and the nation’s owners failed to resolve their differences, international attention and goodwill waned. Now the international community mostly concerns itself with the safety of luxury cruise liner ships off the Somali international waters for safety from pirates. Otherwise there isn’t much of an effort to fix that country’s economy. This is a useful case study for Zimbabwe in terms of keeping investors and international community interested in the country. Once international and investor interest wanes, it’s almost impossible to recover.

Whilst it is important to win a political contest, it is even more important to have a comprehensive and realistic plan to mobilise financial, human and other resources to ensure that the economic production capacity can be enhanced, jobs created and inflation tamed.

Gilbert Muponda is a Zimbabwe-born entrepreneur. This article appears courtesy of GMRI Capital. More articles at www.gmricapital.com

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