Staff Reporter
When Western countries imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe from the year 2001, their plan was to decimate the economy, forcing people to rise against the Government and have the opposition take over the levers of power.
A number of companies have closed while others have remained operational, albeit at seriously reduced capacity as a result of the illegal sanctions.
But over two decades under the heavy weight of illegal sanctions, Zimbabwe and the ruling Zanu PF have remained standing, shocking those that imposed the sanctions, as to how this has been possible given their ferocity.
When President Mnangagwa became the leader from 2017, he decided to look inward for resource mobilisation to address infrastructure challenges, realising that the country would never get anything from multi-lateral financiers such as the International Monetary Fund.
Locally generated resources have, however, worked wonders as demonstrated by the many developments taking place including upgrades of border posts, airports, roads, clinics, schools, clean water provision and even agriculture.
In his address during the Second Structured Dialogue Platform Meeting on Zimbabwe’s Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution process held in Harare recently, President Mnangagwa said the Western sanctions had failed to break the economy and the peoples’ spirits.
“As you are aware, Zimbabwe has been under various forms of punitive sanctions for more than two decades,” said the President.
“Our country has demonstrated great resilience despite the deleterious impact of these sanctions on our economic, social and political landscape. The Southern African region has also not been spared from their negative and inhibitive spillover effects.”
President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was left with no choice except to adapt “to our reality”.
Zimbabweans, like any other people, have their needs, said President Mnangagwa, hence the Second Republic’s decision to look inward and use internal resources to provide a higher quality of life for the people, while growing the economy.
However, the country’s debt overhang of over US$14 billion, continues to weigh down heavily on the development efforts.
Said the President: “We have no access to new lines of credit, including from the multilateral banks, such as the World Bank Group.
“The Zimbabwean Government and the African Development Bank Group agreed therefore, to put this Structured Dialogue Platform in place, to provide space for constructive and structured dialogue on arrears clearance and debt resolution.”
The First Structured Dialogue Platform Meeting brought together international development partners, represented by 22 diplomatic envoys, and many senior Government officials and representatives of multilateral development banks. President Mnangagwa said going forward, Zimbabwe aims to produce outcomes that will lead to a High-Level Debt Resolution Forum.
He said the issues, perspectives and recommendations raised by both stakeholders and partners during the December meeting, were invaluable.
“The consensus and broad endorsement of a Central Pin Strategy, which is composed of three pillars, gives good guidance on the way forward. The first aspect relates to Economic Reforms. The second is on governance issues while the third relates to our commitment to a sustainable land tenure system.
“The compensation of former commercial farmers for improvements made on farms as well as the resolution of cases of farms affected during the Land Reform, which were covered by Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs), will also be considered under the third pillar,” said President Mnangagwa.
In terms of economic reforms, the President said Zimbabwe recognises that exchange rate stability is a key area that requires continued attention.
At the moment, multi-pronged routes are being pursued to ensure greater certainty around exchange rate stability, including the introduction of gold coins last year.
In respect of compensating the former commercial farmers, the Government has agreed to a compensation package for improvements made on the land.
The agreements were made under the Global Compensation Deed.
“We remain committed to the resource mobilisation efforts to enable payment of this obligation. Under the Governance Pillar, my Administration is unwavering in its adherence to constitutionalism, the rule of law and the tenets of good governance and democracy.
“We will ensure that our laws are applied consistently, without fear or favour. Zimbabwe will conduct free and fair elections this year, consistent with our constitution and electoral laws.
“In addition, human rights concerns are being addressed in line with our country’s laws and international conventions. On BIPPAs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade along with the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development are engaging the affected investors, on a case-by-case basis,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said he was confident that the process would yield win-win outcomes.
But over and above the arrears dialogue process, the Government continues to demonstrate its commitment through quarterly token payments to various creditors, according to an agreed payment schedule.
Zimbabwe is keen to be in good standing with all its creditors and determined to deliver favourable outcomes for its people and the expectations of creditors.
“I am personally appreciative of the valuable contributions and engagements since the first Structured Dialogue Platform meeting and stand ready to maintain an open-door policy, as an avenue to resolve any outstanding issues,” he said.
African Development Bank president, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, is the Champion of the Zimbabwe arrears clearance and debt resolution process while former Mozambique President Mr Joachim Chissano, is the high-level facilitator.
Both were in Zimbabwe for the Second Structured Dialogue Platform recently.
