From sanctioned to self-sufficient: Zim’s epic economic transformation
IN spite of the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States and her Western allies, Zimbabwe has continued to show remarkable resilience and tenacity to weather the storm in the face for the adversity wrought by the unilateral embargoes.
As the country sought to redress the colonial injustice of land imbalances by redistributing the land at the turn of the millennium to the previously marginalised black majority, the US responded by imposing blanket embargoes on Zimbabwe.
This is not withstanding the fact that our forebearers had been dispossessed of their heritage by the settlers.
Giving the land back to the masses, therefore, was absolutely necessary to ensure that the displaced indigenous people own one of the primary means of production.
To put it into perspective, the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe was a thinly veiled veneer that sought to arm-twist the country into reversing the land redistribution exercise.
Our detractors were acting out of the compulsion to alienate the Zimbabwean masses with the ruling revolutionary party, Zanu PF-led Government, that corrected the colonial injustices through the land reform programme.
The West wanted to rattle and cripple our economy through the illegal sanctions. They expected an implosion.
This, in their scheme of things, would precipitate a regime change in Harare after which they would install their cherry-picked puppets in power.
They were agitating for political crises. The sanctions, of course, are an affront to Zimbabwe’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, given that the land reform programme posed no threat to global security.
Predictably, the sanctions have had both far-reaching repercussions and knock-on effects on Zimbabwe on the whole.
The country has suffered on both economic and social fronts.
Contrary to the falsehoods peddled by the architects of these illegal sanctions that they were restrictions targeting individuals associated with the Zanu PF-led Government and their enterprises as well as the Government-owned businesses, the truth is that ordinary Zimbabweans have borne the brutal brunt of the sanctions.
Our economy has been dealt fatal blows while the welfare system bled as State activity was severely hampered.
The sanctions locked Zimbabwe out from accessing credit facilities from multilateral institutions. Her trade with other countries also somewhat suffered.
However, two decades on, Zimbabwe has continued to stand firm in resolute pursuit of reclaiming her breadbasket of Africa status.
Zimbabwe has continued to defy the
odds and pull her weight.
She is shaming her detractors by finding efficient and effective homegrown solutions, even to imported problems. Under the Second Republic, local resources are being mobilised and harnessed for economic development and social transformation. President Mnangagwa has made the clarion call for us to produce and process what we grow, manufacture and mine. Innovation is key in all this. Zimbabweans outside the country can also be part of the process by investing back home in agriculture, mining, tourism,
manufacturing and other sectors of the economy.
With Government promoting and emphasising on promoting the ease of doing business in the country, foreign direct investors are feeling encouraged to take up business opportunities in the country.
The President is on record saying Zimbabwe is open for business because the country is a friend to all and an enemy to none.
This has resulted in the New Dispensation’s engagement and re-engagement drive to strengthen relations with the international community.
At the height of the agrarian reform programme, it was highlighted that the land is the economy and vice versa.
Now the Second Republic is moving to ensure the effective utilisation and meaningful use of the land.
This has seen the mechanisation of farms, provision of farming inputs, construction
of dams and building of irrigation infrastructure as a way of ensuring sustainable agricultural production.
The ultimate goal is to achieve food and nutrition security as well as self-sufficiency.
The Second Republic is also establishing industrial parks and innovation hubs throughout the country to spur developmental transformation.
This is being done through Education 5.0 as universities, colleges and schools have re-configured their respective curricula in order to produce highly productive and innovative graduates that are equipped with skills that enable them to provide smart solutions to challenges facing the country.
Zimbabwe is endowed with natural resources like diamonds, coal, phosphate and lithium, among others, and the country is pivoting on these to spur economic growth.
Zimbabwe is targeting to grow its export revenue from minerals to US$12 billion by the end of this year.
Other industries whose operations had been adversely affected by the sanctions are also being resuscitated to their full capacity.
The ongoing drive to rehabilitate and build a robust infrastructure system is meant to activate other economic enablers and turn-around the country’s fortunes.
The Emergency Road Rehabilitation
Programme as well as the work done at Hwange Power Station Units Seven and Eight are all game changers.
With the devolution revolution also being accelerated to speed up development and equity initiatives, no one and no place will be left behind as communities are being transformed and uplifted.
With provinces harnessing resources in their respective regions, the devolution agenda permeates all facets of life.
These high impact and life-changing projects being implemented by the Government are major milestones in the face of the illegal sanctions.
President Mnangagwa’s administration has been both pragmatic and empirical in finding bankable solutions to negate the debilitating effects of the economic embargoes on Zimbabwe.
Looked at in this light, it would, therefore, not be far-fetched to put it that the illegal sanctions imposed by the US and her Western allies taught us to be masters of our destiny and take full responsibility of defining our own future.
Anchoring on the development blueprint — the National Development Strategy (NDS1) — Zimbabwe is well on course to achieve an empowered and prosperous upper-middle income economy by the year 2030.
After gaining political independence in 1980, Vision 2030 seeks the culmination of economic emancipation.
Under the astute leadership of President Mnangagwa, the country continues to make steady progress and noticeable strides in reversing the adverse effects of the sanctions, which are a crime against humanity.
Stone by stone, brick upon brick, we are building, developing and transforming the country.
Indeed, “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo”. The champion of Vision 2030, President Mnangagwa, could not have put it more aptly when he said: “We must remain Zimbabwean and African in our thoughts and deeds. This is a key ingredient for economic growth, modernisation, industrialisation and overall global competitiveness. Through research and innovation, Zimbabwe must realise industrialisation in Tsholotsho, Binga, Muzarabani, Chipinge and Kanyemba, among other areas.”