Mnangagwa on a charm offensive in China

ZIMBABWE’S President Emmerson Mnangagwa was warmly received in Beijing this week. President Xi Jinping described him as an “old friend of China”.

Xi also looked forward to opening a “new chapter” of relations with Zimbabwe’s new leader, who was making his first state visit outside Africa since replacing Robert Mugabe in November last year.

Mnangagwa visited China vice president in 2015.

This time he took with him a dozen ministers and about 80 business executives from the private sector.

And, as expected during this fiveday visit, the two leaders oversaw the signing of several deals and memorandums of understanding.

Zimbabwe and China have signed such deals before, often referred in Harare as “mega deals” although these have not quite cascaded into a flood of money towards the Southern African country.

In fact, China has had far bigger deals with other African countries such as Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Mnangagwa is keen on selling himself to the world and has buttressed the agenda for his nascent administration on economic diplomacy and realpolitik.

His mantra is that “Zimbabwe is open for business” and he has undertaken some key reforms such as scrapping the contentious indigenisation laws requiring foreigners to cede 51% equity to locals– except for diamond and platinum mining.

Mnangagwa has also taken tentative steps towards fighting corruption, as a number of bigwigs have been arrested on charges of graft.

On his previous visit Mnangagwa, deemed to be heir apparent, impressed by promising to offer a clean break from Mugabe, although the plan was almost derailed when he was unceremoniously sacked last November before staging a comeback, thanks to the intervention of the army.

He is in the driving seat now, finishing Mugabe’s term before the next elections in July. He must pass the hurdle of elections – and he is expected to ease past the weaker and fragmented opposition – before taking any new directions. Which must have loomed large in Beijing this week.

The biggest question is whether Mnangagwa will be able to take Zimbabwe’s relationship with China to the next level?.

China does not seem to have any problems expanding its sphere of influence: an extra incentive is that it may actually be wary of Western re-engagement with Harare, which Mnangagwa is also open to following less than coy courtship from Britain, especially which could not wait to see the back of Mugabe. China would not want its protege to run off with her former tormentors who previously imposed punitive sanctions on Zimbabwe. There is clear logic in this.

China will also seek to consolidate its hold on the economy, including the lucrative diamond trade. But it requires a clear, pragmatic and businesslike approach that goes well beyond Mugabe’s liabilities.mnangagwa could just be the man.

He is widely perceived to be a business-savvy leader who can create an environment necessary for investment. He is thin on Mugabelike demagoguery and rhetoric but is a doer who, in his first few months in office, has created a new work ethic.

Those are attributes that watchers, most importantly the Chinese, will be on the look out for. as