US refocuses sanctions on Zimbabwe leaders
Political Correspondent
The US has lifted economic sanctions on Zimbabwe but slapped fresh ones on its president and other senior leaders, accusing them of corruption and human rights violations.
The move aims to punish the ruling elite, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, while opening up access to the country’s vast mineral wealth.
Zimbabwe has platinum group metals, chrome, coal, lithium, gold, and diamonds, among other commodities, that have largely been off limits to Western investors due to the sanctions. Analysts said Washington was trying to catch up to Beijing and Moscow, which have been expanding their influence and interests in the nation.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been crippled by decades of mismanagement, hyperinflation and political turmoil. The US sanctions, imposed in 2001, have added to its woes by cutting access to international markets and finance.
The US said it remained committed to supporting the Zimbabwean people and their democratic aspirations but would not tolerate the repression and graft of the ruling elite.
US treasury deputy secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a note on Monday the US remained “deeply concerned about democratic backsliding, human rights abuses and government corruption” in Zimbabwe.
“The changes we are making today are intended to make clear what has always been true: our sanctions are not intended to target the people of Zimbabwe, Adeyemo said. “We are refocusing our sanctions on clear and specific targets: President Mnangagwa’s criminal network of government officials and businesspeople who are most responsible for corruption or human rights abuse against the people of Zimbabwe.”
The lifting of the sanctions on Zimbabwe could pave the way for more trade and investment opportunities, especially mining, which accounts for much of its export earnings.
Buntu Siwisa, a researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits University, said though Zimbabwe had adapted to the effects of sanctions, lifting them would provide “huge relief” to the economy. The US had only now decided to act on sanctions as its businesses were competing for minerals in Zimbabwe.
“They are competing for varied reserves of minerals with China and Russia, as much as they are positioning themselves for oil reserves in Uganda. So they want to open their access to the economy of Zimbabwe, despite Mnangagwa’s poor democratic leadership and human rights violations,” Siwisa said.
‘HUGE STEP’
Wits School of Economics senior lecturer Lumkile Mondi hailed the lifting of sanctions as a “huge” step by the US which had been left “far behind” by China in driving development on the continent.
Mondi said the future economy would be rooted in industrialisation, and critical raw materials such as cobalt, lithium and copper would be needed to drive it. These minerals, he said, were found in African countries considered to be “rogue” by the West, such as Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“This shift by Americans bridges a new bridge by opening up relations with the Zimbabwean people, while using a stick to punish those involved in abuse of power, including corruption,” Mondi said.
Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt said while the lifting of sanction was good news for Zimbabwe, “it’s unlikely this will have much of an impact on the economy”.
“The issue of Zimbabwe not performing well is linked to internal and external factors. Much impact would be realised if the country implemented structural reforms to grow the economy,” Roodt said.
Regarding fresh sanctions against the country’s leadership, he said: “Those individuals can circumvent those sanctions because they have access to the state. More than anything, the sanctions are just a nuisance to them.”
The new sanctions also target Mnangagwa’s vice-president, several ministers and businesspeople who are accused of being involved in illicit gold and diamond smuggling networks and overseeing the violent crackdown on dissent. The sanctions freeze their assets and bar them from travelling to the US.
Zimbabwe and the Southern African Development Community have dismissed the sanctions as unjustifiable and counterproductive, and have called for its unconditional removal. Harare has also accused the US of meddling in its internal affairs and of trying to undermine its sovereignty.
David Conolly, a former commercial farmer in Zimbabwe, told Business Day on Tuesday that the lifting of sanctions was likely to “open Zimbabwe up to the international banking fraternity. Zimbabwe is going to have to comply with the rules of the lenders”. US embassy spokesperson David S Feldmann did not respond to questions sent to him.