We’ll keep working to improve Zim-UK relations

SINCE the advent of the Second Republic, led by President Mnangagwa, the Government’s foreign policy drive has been pivoted on engagement and re-engagement. Our reporter DEBRA MATABVU (DM) recently sat down with the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr PETE VOWLES (PV), to discuss the state of Zimbabwe-UK relations.

DM: Who is Pete Vowles? PV: I am the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe.

I spent a bit of time here in the 1990s, but since then, I have worked for the private sector, for the World Bank and I have done six postings — diplomatic postings — probably half in Asia and the other half in Africa.

I was born in Oxford, but I now live in the north of Scotland, the very far north of Scotland, near Inverness. My wife is from Scotland. DM: You have been in Zimbabwe for about three months now and you have travelled extensively across the country, during which time you have learnt a few local languages. What motivated you to do so?

PV: Yes, it is true.

I lived in Zimbabwe in the 1990s and I worked in rural Mudzi (Mashonaland East province) and then lived in Murewa and a bit in Bulawayo.

I was here for about five years, but that was a long time ago.

Coming back as British ambassador is very different from my previous roles here; it is really important just to listen, to learn and to get around the country.

So, I have really prioritised travelling around, meeting people, just trying to understand Zimbabwe and all its diversity.

But also, I have done six postings overseas and I have never really learnt the local languages.

So, when I knew I had the job in Zimbabwe, and given I had been here before, I decided that this time I was going to learn some local language.

So, I invested; I had a couple of months of Shona training in the UK and then I do two Shona lessons a week at the moment.

I am really enjoying it.

I am afraid my Ndebele is not as good. But when I travel, I am trying to use a bit of the local languages.

So, when I am in Beitbridge, I use Venda and when I am in Bulawayo or Matabeleland, I use IsiNdebele.

I think it is important just to connect. It helps me understand the country, but also to connect with people. DM: How would you characterise the state of the two countries’ relations following many years of bilateral rancour? PV: So, when I met the President in October, we talked about the difficult relationship that the UK and Zimbabwe has had in recent years.

We talked about how both the UK and Zimbabwe need to continue to work hard to improve the relationship.

We talked about how, perhaps, trust had been damaged between Britain and Zimbabwe, but not broken.

We have so much in common in our language, in our people-to-people connections and in our legal systems.

And so, actually, we need, as two governments, to work really hard together, both of us, to get a more respectful tone; one that is of mutual respect.

And I think you are seeing that over recent years.

That is, we are trying to improve the way we work together.

I should say it is part of a wider approach. This is not just in Zimbabwe.

It is also how we work in Africa; very mindful, as the UK, of our colonial history and some of the really difficult histories we have in countries on the continent and recognising that we need to work with more equality and more recognition of national sovereignty.

The challenges we face today are so difficult globally that you cannot have one country thinking it has all the answers.

Britain does not have the answers and Zimbabwe does not.

But together we can find answers to some of the big problems.

Problems such as climate change, global insecurity and many others.

So, hopefully, you are seeing that play out as us trying to be more respectful across the continent.

But also here in Zimbabwe.

So, I am hopeful that certainly, in the next few months and the next few years, the relationship is improving. DM: What is your assessment of the efficacy of Zimbabwe’s re-engagement drive, particularly with your country and the broader Western world? PV: Well, of course, I am the British ambassador, so, I can only talk about the UK perspective on it.

And obviously the Government’s re-engagement policy is about more than Britain; it is about engaging in the world.

For the UK, I think we take the Government’s mantra — friend to all, enemy to none — in good faith.

We have seen some real improvements in recent years.

You know it was great that the President was able to come to the COP (UN Conference of Parties) meetings, the climate change meetings in Glasgow a few years ago.

It is also fantastic that he came to the coronation of His Majesty, the King (Charles III), last year.

We also increasingly have our ministers meeting.

Our African minister has met the President several times in the last year, including only

last month in Dubai.

That is a real sign of us having re-engagement between the two countries.

As I said, this is a foundation. There is more to do and we will keep working.

The key thing, I think, is when we talk about re-engagement from the UK and Zimbabwe’s perspective, is making sure we sort of find ways to talk about the mutual concerns, mutual challenges and recognise that it is two-way.

There will be things that Zimbabwe thinks about Britain and there will be things that Britain thinks about Zimbabwe, and we need to have both of those conversations because neither of us have all the answers.

So, it is a two-way process of discussing the issues together. DM: Can you outline the state of bilateral trade between our two countries and measures that are being put in place to enhance trade relations?

PV: We have a really long-standing trade relationship between Britain and Zimbabwe.

The volume is not as great today as it was perhaps in the 1980s and 1990s.

But we are really keen and I think both the governments of Zimbabwe and Britain are keen to deepen and strengthen our trade relationship.

I think it helps for Zimbabwe to access UK expertise, technology, skills and finance.

So, that is really, you know, hopefully a good thing, a good offer for Zimbabwe.

If you can export products to the UK, then you can earn foreign currency that creates jobs.

So, there is a real advantage for Zimbabwe to access the markets.

And we have completely the best trading relationship terms between Britain and Zimbabwe — zero quotas and zero tariffs — that enable us to have free trade between the two countries.

I think we have come a long way. We increased trade by 44 percent in the last 12 months.

That is pretty good.

It is still not as good and high as we would like it to be.

For me, I think it is also really important trying to demonstrate what good, responsible business looks like.

Good businesses acting responsibly, coming to Zimbabwe, bringing real responsible, ethical business is what we are trying to promote.

So, I have been to see a number of business

ventures around the country.

I went to a mine in Gweru where there are really strong environmental safeguards; looking at employing local people from local communities.

The way it is connected with communities is really fantastic.

I have been to see renewable energy projects in Honde Valley with British companies, where you see clean energy being produced and fed into the system.

I have been to see a number of companies exporting horticultural produce; whether that be chillies trying to enter the UK markets.

And what has been really great about that is also how they are working.

These are companies working with smallholder farmers and communal farmers so that they can access the supply chain and they can reach British markets, too.

So, that is a real win.

If it is not just a large farmer, but actually the smallholders and communal farmers nearby can also access British markets.

And you can see produce in British shops that has come from a communal farm, which is great.

We just need to keep promoting that. DM: How has British capital responded to Zimbabwean overtures to invest here since the coming in of the Second Republic?

PV: I think that figure of 44 percent growth in trade flows between the two countries in the last 12 months has been positive.

There are plenty of companies that are interested from a UK perspective, both in terms of buying Zimbabwean products, and investing in Zimbabwe.

There was a trade delegation here recently that met with the President and we continue to promote those kind of two-way exchanges so that British companies can see the opportunities in Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans can see access to British markets.

It is important just to say I cannot tell British companies to invest in Zimbabwe.

What I can do is to showcase the opportunities.

I can help explain the context, the legal system and the politics so that they know how they can come in with their eyes wide open and understand what they are investing in.

I think for us, the biggest priority sectors where we get the most opportunities would be in the renewable energy sector, in horticulture and exports, (and) in the mining sector.

These are good opportunities where we have British expertise.

I also think it is important the Zimbabwean Government plays a role too, so it is not just the British government.

The Zimbabwe Government has a responsibility to attract investment, to provide the sort of operating environment that makes it safe to invest and to sort of arrive and then stay.

And British companies tell us often that the things they want to see are stability of the currency, the sort of usual things you would expect, sort of political, sort of policy stability, so that they know that if they are investing for five or 10 years, that it’s a safe investment. DM: The UK is presently collaborating with Government in the development of health facilities in some parts of the country through NMS Infrastructure. May you explain the scope of this collaboration, its progress and what it seeks to establish? PV:

NMS is a British infrastructure company and they were contracted by the Zimbabwe Government to build health clinics.

And so they are actually using the Zimbabwe Government’s own resources.

They contracted this company to build a couple of clinics.

And then subsequently the Government got finance from South Africa to contract the next set.

So, this is very much a company doing a job for the Zimbabwean Government.

It is a good example of a sort of joint venture ultimately.

So, the Zimbabwe Government said what it needed, where it needed them and brought the finance.

And then the British expertise has come in and is building that. DM: Zimbabwe is working towards readmission into the Commonwealth. How does the UK assess Zimbabwe’s chances of readmission? And will your government support Harare’s re-entry into the group?

PV: Well, the first thing to say is that the Commonwealth is a fantastic organisation network of 56 countries.

And the thing that I don’t think is always fully understood is that it’s a completely consensus-based organisation.

Every single one of those 56 has an equal voice.

So, the UK is one voice out of 56 voices on Commonwealth matters and decisions that come to it.

And that includes expansion or readmission of a group.

So, that’s a very important point.

I think our position right now is, we haven’t yet been given a recommendation; it hasn’t yet come.

When a recommendation comes from the secretary-general, we will look at it on its merits.

And if we haven’t made a decision, we need to look at it when it comes. The important thing I also need to add here is that for the Commonwealth members, this decision does not happen in a vacuum. Every single one of those 56 countries will be looking at the things we have been talking about.

They will be looking at the Commonwealth Charter and what their commendation looks like.

So, very much all the things we were talking about will matter in terms of that decision.

X: @dmmatabvu

Ambassador Vowles